Chapters Pony POV Series Chaos Verse
Fluttercruel: Chaos Theory Part 1
Fluttercruel: Chaos Theory
The white endless space stretched as far as he could see and his vision was very good. It had been his prison when he was defeated by Luna and Celestia and he was forced back into it after his last defeat by the six Elements of Harmony. His name was Discord, Spirit of Chaos. But something had changed. He wasn't alone anymore.
After the first good deed since eons the Draconequus finally found some company in the form of his daughter, Fluttercruel.
The former pegasus curiously examined her changed now chimera-like body. She had perfect control over her eagle claw and easily picked up the empty glass before her with it. It was a lot more precise than the hoof she had before and it felt like she always had had this limb. The lizard leg that replaced one of her hind legs didn't seem to have any noticeable advantages or downsides. Finally she carefully flapped her wings and despite one of them now being a batwing both moved in flawless unity. She noticed that the new limbs were the only thing colorful about her and contrasted her grey fur.
Discord had created a garden chair and sat there seemingly lost in thoughts, but right now the grey chimera was more focussed on the question if these wings could fly. She did however notice his shocked look when the personification of Chaos felt the scars on his face and body and finally used his power to let those disappear.
With one small jump from the bed she spread her wings and glided a few meters before she rose into the air with a few flaps of her new wings. She felt like nothing could stop her. Now she began to try one simple trick in the air, flying a loop, only for a brick wall to appear literally before her.
As she braced herself for the inevitable impact a big white pillow appeared before the obstacle and softened the crash. Feathers of all colors spread everywhere as she slowly fluttered to the ground. She wanted to ram her hoof into whoever was responsible for the barrier. Annoyed she groaned at the incarnation of Chaos next to her.
"Who thought this was funny?"
He teleported off the garden chair and stood before her with a strangely serious expression.
"It seems you did find that hilarious. Chaos isn't so easily controlled."
"So you mean if I think about anything, that random thing will pop up?"
A bucket of cold water landed on Discords head, leaving the Draconequus soaking wet.
"I see where this is going." Fluttercruel said with a slight smirk.
She did this almost on instinct but she was worried about the old man's reaction. The Discord she knew didn't seem like someone who could take a prank, intentional or not. She wouldn't forget the look he gave Fluttershy after she managed to resist his deception. But the incarnation of Chaos merely chuckled and teleported to her right side, now completely dry. As the bucket vanished into nothing he spoke to her with an almost gloomy voice.
"You leave me no choice. I can't have you running around and give Chaos a bad reputation. Too many already do that. I will have to …"
Then his voice sounded jubilant as he cracked a smile.
"…teach you how to use these powers. Trust me; I know how you could use Chaos to do things you have never even dreamed of."
The former pegasus felt the alien urge to faint at this turn of events. Learning Chaos from the spirit of Chaos himself? While this somehow seemed very logical, it still sounded like total nonsense. Then again her entire existence went against everything she knew. Mostly because she still had all the memories of the shy pony. It was strange to look at the past, she never had. All these memories of being kind, scared and submissive contrasted everything she felt right now.
"But first we need a more fitting background. Behold!"
Behind his back the Draconequus pulled out a green frisbee and threw it to the white ground with enough force to shake the white space, they were somehow standing on. The small object grew and grass began to grow out of it. Soon a field of green field surrounded them as far as she could see.
"Ha! I have finally proven those ignorant pony scientists that the world is flat. Just take a look."
For a few seconds both teleported to park bench floating further away in the white space and she could see, that Discord had indeed created a flat miniature grass-covered world around the size of Ponyville. When they arrived back at the field she had a hard time believing that she could ever create something remotely like this.
And why did it have to be a field of grass of all things? But after the dark place she just came from any bit of color was a change of pace and all this white was pretty boring as well. There was nopony here besides the two of them.
With another snap of his eagle claw, both were sitting on chairs facing a board the size of an average house. Twilight Sparkle stood next to the blackboard. She did look just like the original, walked energetically and smiling like the real deal but somehow Fluttercruel knew that this wasn't the true purple unicorn.
Besides common sense something else told her that this was an imitation. All these thoughts made her almost forgot to tell the unicorn what she thought of her. Fluttcruel opened her mouth, ready to say her how little her magic mattered when another idea stopped her.
The young chimera looked at the lively pony before her and wondered if that being was any different from her. If that Twilight was a fake despite looking so lively, then what did that mean for herself? Was she even alive? Or was she just a leftover spell that gained a mind of her own? Did she even have a mind of her own or was she just another puppet like the fake unicorn? Was she just something to pass Discord's time until he was unsealed again? All these questions made her head swim.
But somehow she felt there was a very important difference between the imitation of Twilight standing before her and herself. The young chimera decided that it would be pointless to torture herself any longer with questions she couldn't answer; she would get her answers now.
"What is the difference between me and her?" she demanded to know from the Draconequus that could squash her like a bug if he wanted to.
The grey pony stared at the old man, as Discord countered her stare with a face that seemed almost disappointed. Not disappointed at her, she knew that face perfectly well. Thanks to Fluttershy's memories she had very clear pictures of disappointed flight teachers in her head.
Fluttercruel wished that there would be anything she could do to show those arrogant idiots what it was like to fall to the ground with wings that were glued together. When they caught her and told her that they will repeat that until she learns to fly, Fluttershy had merely stammered something in return. But then the Draconequus let out another chuckle, interrupting her train of thoughts.
"Tell me, can you see it or do you feel it?"
The pegasus realized that whatever she did, this ability was somewhat normal for Discord. She was so frustrated, that she hardly realised what she had done. Maybe it was the power to distinguish between the Chaos he created and everything else. She remembered that back in the chaotic Ponyville he had no problem spotting the six ponies, no matter how much bisons danced around or pies fell to the ground.
"I can somehow sense that she isn't the real Twilight…"
"Hmmm, maybe you should concentrate harder. Just try it."
The former pony wasn't sure what he meant. As she focused on the purple unicorn again, she just saw something that looked and smiled exactly like the nerd she remembered. Unlike the butterflies, Discord had used in his failed corruption of the fluttering pegasus, this creation seemed like a perfect copy. Still there was just something wrong. A strange flow surrounded the unicorn. No, it was the unicorn itself. It was like watching a three-dimensional picture projected onto a river.
Suddenly Fluttercruel saw only shades of grey. Instead of the pony she viewed floating energy formed into the general shape of the unicorn. The power was in constant flow not unlike a river. Over the first form was another layer, copying the fur and face of the book-loving pony. Everything here was made with the same power, from the chair she was sitting on to the grass and ground under her. Despite the lack of color the energy was full of life, pulsating and ever-changing. It had its own rhythm.
Curiously she looked at herself and saw something totally different then the fake unicorn before her. The pegasus still saw her own body, solid as she expected it to be, but through and across it flowed Chaos. But there were much more layers to this Chaos than the construct before her had and it shifted over the grey pegasus like waves. It was like comparing an ocean to a river. And in her center she saw a glowing ball of light.
As sudden as the change came, it ended while she still looked at herself. All colors returned to normal.
"This flow… was that Chaos?"
When she returned her attention to her old man she noticed he had turned his back to her. Something fell into the grass. Was it some water left from her bucket incident? When he turned around towards her his smile was different then anything she had ever seen on his face before. He didn't seem as confident as before, instead he looked like he was about to burst with joy.
"After all these eons there is finally someone else in this world who can see how my creations really look like. Not even Celestia and Luna can view the very core of Chaos."
"But what did I just see and why is it grey of all colors?"
"Oh, I think we should leave the long-winded explanation to the world champion of exposition."
As her attention returned to the copy of Twilight Sparkle Fluttercruel noticed that the purple unicorn seemed to look impatiently at them. She noticed Discord sitting next to her and looking extremely attentive to the teacher. Fluttercruel knew that was just an act but she still had to chuckle. What sense would there be in insulting a construct?
"May I have your attention class? Today we learn about Chaos. It is usually known as the force between Light and Darkness but what does this actually mean? Neutrality? No, instead most scholars like to describe it as change or conflict. The bigger the differences between two forces the more Chaos can be found between them. This ranges from physical opposites like fire and water to the emotional spectrum like calmness and agitation."
Cheerful the teacher walked foreword, her horn brimming with power. Two transparent images of Celestia and Luna appeared above her. The Sun Goddess was surrounded by white energy and the Goddess of the Night radiated a dark power.
"Here we have the incarnation of Light – Princess Celestia - and in the other corner the personification of Darkness – Princess Luna. Both represent two forces different than each other in nearly every way. Both are two cornerstones of reality. And both govern their element and control it but there will always be frictions between these powers and this energy is known as Chaos."
At the point where both energies collided, both of their colors merged and became grey. A transparent image of Discord floated above it.
"I think we should take a short break here." The copy looked like she could talk for a few more hours about the topic but was barely able to hold herself back.
Without any further words, the teacher bowed politely and teleported away, leaving the former pegasus and Discord behind. The Draconequus stared at her curiously.
"Do you understand what I am trying to say? Most would say that teaching Chaos is actually impossible and nonsensical. Then again that is exactly my thing. But you did see Chaos, felt it and even created it. I think you can understand."
"I think I do," said the young chimera to her own surprise.
She smiled confidently as suddenly an empty bucket fell down next to Discord. Both looked somewhat embarrassed.
"Give me a break, I just discovered this ability!"
"I still consider this an improvement, at least I am not…"
The water followed separately and again Discord was dripping wet. Fluttercruel decided to change the topic as fast as possible.
"I honestly don't want to constantly water my teacher. How about we skip to the part where I learn to actually control my Chaos?"
As two floating blowers appeared next to him and dried Discord, the Draconequus gave a constrained smile.
"Well, I guess you are right. There is no need to beat around the bush any longer. You are ready."
Confidently he floated to the oversized blackboard. A crudely drawn picture of a container with water inside appeared on it.
"Your Chaos will continue to spontaneously create things until you learn how to use it and prevent it from lets say "overflowing". If I wouldn't regularly use my ability it would eventually erupt and create something on its own. And like the brick wall back then this can be somewhat annoying. I noticed that when I once created a porcupine before my face. But that was still no excuse for all the things I…"
The water level of the drawing rose until it overflowed and poured onto the incarnation before the blackboard. But this time he countered it with a rainbow-colored umbrella hat that manifested itself on his head.
The water started to drift over the landscape and formed a floating river, it continued doing this until part of it reached the edge of the small world and a few moments later the water returned from the other side and reconnected itself with the starting point of the river. It had become a circle floating over this little world. Giant bubbles rose from the water and drifted in the air. Then his umbrella hat meowed and began to fly away on its own.
"In Equestria we can use the Chaos that practically exists everywhere but here in this empty place we are limited to our own recourses. But don't worry much about exhausting it, it will soon grow back. There is also an easier way to do this, but that involves cheating against the rules of existence, so we save that one for later."
The water on the picture did rise again, only for some of it to separate itself and form a yellow ball bouncing out of the blackboard and past the former pegasus.
"The easiest way to do this is to imagine what you want to create, then concentrate and will it into existence. Just try it."
After everything that came before this seemed almost insultingly easy to Fluttercruel but she tried to imagine a yellow ball, just like the one she just saw. Then she concentrated on that image and a ball exactly like that popped up before her. As she grinned at her success the construct exploded before her eyes.
"Hey, I didn't want that to happen!"
She noticed him holding the ball, he had created, in his lion paw.
"If it would be that easy, it would be boring. The catch is that if something breaks your concentration, the Chaos could vanish as well, often with an explosion."
Like a pitcher he tossed the ball into one of the giant bubbles and it exploded in an almost comically large detonation for a mere bubble. The grey pegasus looked around at the field and the floating river, surrounding them that still existed despite herself drawing the attention of the old man. She groaned in annoyance.
"I guess I am the most pathetic user of Chaos you have ever seen…"
"Sorry, that spot is already taken. You just need more practise. Like everyone does, you should have seen the small sun Celestia created as a foal or the miniature moon when Luna still was young. Not that I am gossiping."
With these words a small moon and a tiny sun appeared above them. Both objects were about the size of the Carousel Boutique. They encircled each other for a bit but then the moon left to the other side of the world and everything around them suddenly seemed a lot brighter and colorful in this new sunlight.
After the young chimera concentrated again a second yellow ball appeared before her as she started to bounce it on her head. She smirked at the bouncing ball as she thought about what she could create next. At the highest point the ball turned into a morning star falling right down at her. In the last moment she jumped aside as it crashed with enough force into the ground to break through the thin soil beneath them.
Now Discord looked really worried. The younger incarnation of Chaos wondered why she couldn't think clear. She tried to summon a normal ball again and it worked just like last time. Fluttercruel would prove him what she could do. She was not his or anyone's doormat.
"Okay, old man I challenge you to a volleyball match! The first who scores one point wins."
Then Discord began to grin broadly. He had actually no idea how to really play this game but he did once saw some ponies play this against each other.
"Bring. It. On."
A volleyball net rose from the ground and lines appeared on the ground framing the playing field. The copy of Twilight teleported next to the net and took the role of the referee.
The former pegasus started her game by bouncing the ball on her eagle claw, before flying two meters in the air to launch an attack on Discord's field. The Draconequus teleported next to the ball and repelled it effortlessly with his tail. More and more constructs of ponies gathered around the game and watched it with interest. Rainbow Dash was one of them.
Fluttercruel had to rush to the left side of the field. It became harder and harder to concentrate on the game and the ball to avoid it from disappearing. The playing field under them turned into water. She launched the ball into the air, flew after it and then kicked it with all her might. Several ponies rooted for her, including a very familiar looking pink pony. Fluttercruel's determination to win this game grew.
The ball dashed at Discord and this time he had to use both his eagle's claw and his lion paw to fend it off. After that it flew to the right side of Fluttercruel's field. Another rush of adrenaline allowed her to reach it in time and she let the ball fly into the air with her head. By now the field under them looked like a sandy beach. The crowd of ponies around them was divided and the group around Rainbow started to support Discord while the ones on the side of Pinkie Pie encouraged her.
Then she jumped after the ball, swung both her pony leg and her eagle claw after it and her hit let the ball to crash down at Discord's field in a spiralling motion. The Draconequus tried to teleport into the path but misjudged the movement and the object flew right past him. It crashed onto the field, which now looked like crystal. The ponies around Pinkie Pie erupted into cheers.
"I won? HA! I won! In your face, old man!"
Still breathing noisily the young chimera wondered briefly if the Draconequus let her win. But the look on Discord's face was one of genuine surprise. Pinkie Pie hopped happily near the ball and made silly faces towards her reflection on the crystal ground. As Fluttercruel's concentration broke, the ball exploded again, leaving a huge hole in the crystal-like field.
The young chimera expected the pink pony to be covered in smoke and then maybe sing a song about it. Instead Pinkie Pie looked injured and her face and forelegs were covered in several cuts from the shards of the crystal-like field that were shattered everywhere from the explosion.
But what did unnerve the former pegasus much more was the hurt look the pony gave her. She tried to scan Fluttershy's memories for any reason she could have to want to hurt Pinkie Pie but there was simply none. The partying pony never tried to prank or hurt Fluttershy. Almost all memories showed the pink pony happy.
Then Pinkie Pie started to cry. It was not like the short fake cry after Nightmare Moon's defeat but true misery and unhappiness. Fluttercruel was paralysed with uncertainty. She didn't want this to happen in the first place and now she was somehow completely unable to mock the pink pony for her pain. Wasn't that what cruelty was all about?
A look aside to the old man showed her that he seemed to have a similar reaction. If she wouldn't know that it was impossible, she would think that he was disturbed as well. But he had broken the pink pony emotionally before, so Fluttercruel saw no way that this would phase him in any way.
But she couldn't shake off the feeling that he was as shocked as she was. As the two personifications of Chaos were unable to act the copy of Twilight teleported next to the pink pony and put a hoof on her shoulder. Slowly the crying stopped and eventually the purple unicorn teleported the construct of Pinkie Pie away.
"Until you stop blowing up we will have to keep our games away from them." The Draconequus sounded strangely serious.
"I… I am… I know I can do it. Name the game, I will show you!" the young chimera tried to grin but it looked forced.
"How about we try a niece game of chess?"
Her grin disappeared in one second. While his voice dripped with innocence, she didn't believe that for a second. Fluttercruel realized that she would likely have absolutely no chance against him. But then she remembered the chess lessons Fluttershy's mother gave the shy pony back then. She wouldn't go down without a fight.
At least a few of her memories were useful and didn't make her wanting to strangle the next pony she met. If she would ever meet anypony besides Discord here. She didn't want to get on his bad side; she was cruel, not stupid.
The incarnation of Chaos summoned a floating chess board about the size of Sugarcube Corner and created figures resembling the ponies they knew. His pawns were modelled after ponies Fluttercruel hardly remembered like Carot Top or Bon Bon, his knights looked like Fluttershy, his bishops resembled Applejack, his rooks were similar to Twilight and finally both the queen and the king looked like the Draconequus himself.
Now it was Fluttercruel's turn to create her own figures. Her pawns resembled more ponies she remembered from Ponyville like Lyra Heartstrings and Derpy Hooves, her knights were modelled after Rainbow Dash, her bishops were similar to Pinkie Pie, her rooks looked like Rarity and both her queen and king resembled herself.
She started to move her pieces aggressively, while Discord calmly countered most of her moves. It was clear that he did master this game a long time ago. Maybe he invented it, even that wouldn't surprise the young chimera at this point. But Fluttercruel did manage to take several of his pawns, two of his knights and one of his rooks. She really enjoyed knocking over the pieces with as much force as possible, especially the ones resembling Fluttershy. Then she saw an opening to take his queen and the opportunity to turn this game around.
Just as she removed his most important chess piece from the game, she noticed his smile. The incarnation of Chaos moved one of his few remaining pawns until the end of her field. Now she realized what was going on. He was using the rule of promotion to change his pawn into a queen. Only then did she realize that the new queen put her own king into checkmate. She had lost.
She would be lying if she said that she wasn't angry at her defeat. But the former pegasus was sure that she lasted quite long against someone who had literally an eternity of playing experience on his side. But suddenly she felt incredible tired and found herself asleep in seconds. Her chess pieces vanished into nothing. The last thing she felt was someone catching her before she hit the floating chess board.
Discord began to think about the day he just had. Most of it was the most fun he had since… never actually. He had never felt that good before. It was an eternity since he had played a good game of chess against anypony or anybody. He couldn't play against his constructs as he knew their every move. That was literally like playing chess against himself. At least it was like that before, now he wasn't so sure about that anymore.
The Draconequus slowly began to understand why Celestia continued to teach mortals, despite the pain she knew she would feel whenever one of them would inevitable pass away. Back then it seemed to be total nonsense to him and the incarnation of Chaos had started to wonder if the Sun Goddess had a masochistic trait. But now the Draconequus had to admit that teaching someone, watching them slowly open up to it and growing had a magic in itself. Magic? He had to chuckle.
And it was the one subject he knew better than anything else: Chaos. Discord could spend hundreds or thousands of years to share his knowledge with her. Suddenly he realized that he had found the one thing he always lacked in this empty space. But what was it? Was it company? That did never change him before and the Draconequus spent quite some time outside with the two Alicorns and the mortals before his first imprisonment.
Was it the company of someone like him? Both Celestia and Luna originally were just as powerful as he was and they each ruled over an aspect of reality just like him. But soon Discord began to see himself as superior to them. He still wasn't quite sure what he found but the incarnation of Chaos was confident that he would find it out. And the personification still had to process that doing something good felt good.
But Fluttercruel seemed so frustrated at times. It reminded the Draconequus at himself when he realised that there was nopony here to surprise with his Chaos and that there was no way to really do what he wanted to do. Only then it hit him in the face like one of her cold showers: He had created her to be cruel. And there was nopony here she could be cruel to. It was the only thing she knew that was not a memory of Fluttershy and she couldn't truly follow it.
There were the constructs but it didn't seem like she wanted to hurt them. Discord had still a hard time to understand how he could create them so lifelike this time. He had done that a few times before, the last time with the polonaise of fake ponies before he took a look into Truth. But they always followed simple instructions and that was it, these almost acted like their originals. His Chaos had changed as well. What did that mean for his daughter?
Where would her cruelty lead her? Discord already knew two possible ways but it was pretty clear that without Fluttershy there was no way that she would ever become like that Fluttercruel. The only thing he really could teach her was Chaos, trying to teach her any kind of morality or kindness seemed doomed from the start. So if he would raise her instead of Fluttershy would that eventually turn her into something similar to the other Fluttercruel? He only heard her voice but he really didn't want to see what was going on behind that door.
Looking at her sleeping in his arms he wondered if she would just end up repeating his path?
Once he wanted to control Equestria not only to prove to Celestia and Luna how weak those mortals actually were but also because he honestly thought that as the matchless and one of a kind wielder of Chaos, he was the only one fit to rule over everything. After his own encounter with Truth this goal seemed so shallow, pointless and downright horrifying.
Meanwhile the miniature moon rose over the world. Thanks to his Chaos the place suddenly seemed darker and the eternal white space surrounding them couldn't be seen anymore.
He looked around at the world he had created. It was chaotic, incomplete and nonsensical but it had something that wasn't there before. Discord wasn't quite sure what it was but again he had all the time in the world to understand the differences. Maybe that was the key to teach her something else as well? Still carrying the former pegasus he decided to create a house for her. With a snap of his eagle claw he shaped some Chaos into a flying house.
It looked similar to Fluttershy's house with the general shape of a hill, many windows and covered in grass and Poison Joke but it was slightly darker and hovered thanks to its giant batwings constantly flapping in the air. Inside it was decorated to resemble a dungeon with torches, axes and swords firmly placed on the walls. Discord looked forward to her reaction. After all he had briefly seen the world of her mind in a mirror when Fluttershy had sung the other Fluttercruel to sleep.
After he placed her in the bed the incarnation of Chaos went back outside. Suddenly Discord had an inspiration what this world needed to have more structure: Some mountains. Absolutely silent two big mountains landed next to the edge of this little world. Then he started to work on the details, adding some caves and an obstacle course inside and transforming one of the mountains into a (for now silent) volcano. Finally he added three settings to the volcano: popcorn, chocolate and lava. They might have a lava cannonball contest later.
While doing this he wondered how long their exile would last. Discord knew that time passed differently in this world. The Draconequus had tested it dozens of times, before he had to admit that the time here actually went slower than in Equestria. One day here were about 8 hours on the outside. He still had a hard time to believe that he did almost nothing in the 3000 years of his first banishment.
It might have taken even longer for his seal to weaken if the awakening of the Elements and the healing of the corrupted Luna didn't draw so much Harmony from it. Now hardly any time had passed and he already felt like he had done more than in the last 3000 years he was trapped. No matter how long it would take, this time he could hardly blame the ponies anymore for celebrating his defeat. But he still thought that the glass window of him looked horrible. Celestia should have left the art to her sister.
And it wasn't that he had done absolutely nothing in the time of his last banishment. It had given him very literally an eternity to practice his Chaos and eventually he was able to create a way of summoning it without the usual restrictions of having to draw it from conflicts between two opposites first.
The incarnation of Chaos was able to use it for the first time after the Elements had predictably lost his game in the hedge maze. He could have drawn a lot of Chaos from their conflicts but even that wouldn't have been enough for what he had in mind for Equestira back then. As he used the ability, the effect was overwhelming and within moments nearly the entire world drowned in Chaos.
After Twilight broke under the constant assault, Discord quickly stopped paying any attention to the ponies and concentrated on admiring all the random things this flow created. Now he realised the irony of one of his greatest triumphs leading to his eventual defeat.
His journey in Truth did show him so many worlds, so many possibilities. Only slowly Discord began to piece all these information together. Even for the Draconequus it was hard to process seeing countless worlds at the same time. By now he understood how Celestia could have become a Nightmare instead of Luna and how the Goddess of Light could have ended up becoming a merciless tyrant.
In many worlds he had seen four beings watching over everything: Fauna Luster, another huge Alicorn with an unpronounceable name, Havoc, and Entropy. In fact he saw them in so many worlds that he wondered if they existed in this one as well. Maybe in a different form or they were on the universal scale what Celestia, Luna and he were for this world?
He saw so much in Truth but only the things the personification of Chaos saw in the two other worlds led to his own change.
"That is it! The two worlds! Why didn't I realise that earlier?"
He knew that Fluttercruel would eventually ask what did happen to him anyway. The only real way for her to understand it would be to let her see these two worlds and if they were what allowed him to understand something about himself, then maybe that was what she needed to see as well.
Discord concentrated and split off two parts of himself. Then he linked both of them together and sent one right to where Truth was located. The Draconequus smiled when a distorted image of the last world he saw appeared in the part left behind. He was always good at bending rules to his own advantage. Carefully the incarnation shaped the image into a mirror and sealed it for now. Somehow he knew that he would need this window very soon.
The next time the Elements of Harmony were used again, his seal would weaken. But Celestia wasn't stupid and did likely notice the connection by now. She surely did something to strengthen the seal. Discord did notice the irony, after all in the past he did also manipulate the seal the two Goddesses had put on their own powers.
Somehow he felt strange. It was almost like a storm was coming but he didn't understand this strange fear. Nothing of any importance ever happened in this white space, so there was no reason to be worried. The Draconequus decided to ignore this feeling.
Satisfied with himself he decided to take a short nap for now.
Fluttercruel fell out of her bed and crashed into the floor under her. It took her some time to recover and reorientate herself but she soon realised where she was. Her bed was dark blue and the bed sheet was black with red stripes. Somehow it seemed strangely familiar. In fact the entire decoration surrounding her was so similar to what she would have changed Fluttershy's home into if she would have had the chance. All those cute and warm colors annoyed her. That was before the nerd and the farmer had trapped and expelled her into the dark place.
She would have died without any doubt. But she was saved: By Discord of all things. Why? Why did he do this? Something had changed but what was it? What did she feel right now?
The former pegasus was still thinking about the very center of her own Chaos. She was sure that she did see her own core. It was a strange but very comforting feeling. She was no puppet or just a mere leftover of some spell. Fluttercruel knew that she was somepony. For a very short moment her very own soul was floating just before her eyes.
Slowly the memory of her dream returned to her. It even had its own title: Cupcakes. The more she thought about it the funnier it seemed to her. The story was just absurd. There was no way the pink pony of all beings would be actually able or willing to do anything like this, ever. She started to chuckle. It was more like an odd joke, than a horror story.
Unlike with Pinkie Pie before she had a few unpleasant memories about Rainbow Dash. The weather patrol pony could be selfish and arrogant. The time when the blue pegasus completely ignored the fluttering pony falling down below the clouds came into her mind. Rainbow didn't even seem to realise what she had done.
"And for being so clueless Dash deserves… deserves…" to her own surprise Fluttercruel could hear her own voice quiver.
She knew what it was like to be on the other side of cruelty. These things in the dark place almost slowly tortured her to death.
"…deserves… nopony deserves that…"
The young chimera couldn't laugh at Rainbow Dash's suffering no matter how hard she tried. Instead she would like to charge right in, beat that Pinkie Pie imposter up until whoever she really is thinks that she is a cupcake and then mock the ponies in the village with so few ponies inside, that they apparently were too stupid to notice all the missing ponies.
Fluttercruel decided to take a walk to order her thoughts. As she opened the door, she realised that her house was floating over the ground and glided to the grass below her. Flying would have been more entertaining but as long as she could summon random obstacles she rather walked the ground like Fluttershy.
"Fluttershy..:"
The pegasus started to wonder what their relation was. Since she was created by Discord using Fluttershy as a basis would this make the ultimate doormat her mother? Now this would make her Family Appreciation Days much more interesting then the ones she remembered from Fluttershy's life. But daydreams aside the coward would just be afraid of her, especially with the way she looked right now. Fluttershy was afraid of her own shadow for Chaos's sake!
Soon she found the old man lying on the ground snoring loudly. Several of his pink cotton candy clouds were flying in the air but none of them did rain chocolate. Fluttercruel sat next to him. He didn't react at all. She knew that she had to get an answer out of him why he saved her. But the bucket of water was getting old, so she decided to do something surprising and just wait for him to awaken.
The Draconequus found himself in a huge room sitting on his own throne. Despite its size the place was almost completely filled with all kinds of stuff from creepily moving puppets to stuffed animals to weapons to muffins and a ridiculously big screen TV. Twilight Sparkle and Applejack stood before him but they were completely grey and dried blood could be seen in their fur. Twilight looked at him but he was unable to say anything.
Then she began to talk about what she did, it was something about burning notes, spells and books but Discord wasn't really listening. He was frozen with fear about what could come next. Finally the grey unicorn listed how many fillies practising magic, Changelings and Hippogriffs they killed in Ponyville on his orders. The number of lost lives was so high.
The grey Applejack began to whisper something to her comrade about this not being like the time with the test pattern on TV. Despite the unresponsiveness of the Draconequus she talked about who she hadn't exterminated. Then Fluttercruel and Pinkie Pie came into the room carrying weapons dripping blood. The eyes and the smile on the blood covered Fluttercruel shocked Discord back to his senses.
"This is not real. This could have been my kingdom but it isn't. And I will never create a world like this!"
Everything fell apart and dissolved into nothing only to replaced by a different image. It was like watching another vision.
"Did you hear a scream, Luna?"
"No, but you shall tell what you think of my design!"
The Sun Goddess looked at the horrifying chariot her sister had created to win the hearts of the ponies from Ponyville with. It looked ready to impale whoever unlucky pegasus flew next to it. And Nightmare Night was only a few days away.
"I like the pointy structure but it needs something round to even that out," the older Alicorn said as politely as possible.
"Hmmm. I know! I shall place a giant green eye on the front."
Princess Celestia had to use all her willpower to not facehoof at this.
She had never heard him scream. The pure look of terror on his face when he awakened startled her. Did he have a nightmare? Several of the floating bubbles and parts of the edge of the world vanished as he lost his concentration.
She had secretly hoped that she would surprise him but now it took the young chimera three minutes before she could hear normally again. The Draconequus had calmed down after seeing her and so she decided not to get sidetracked and concentrate on the question she wanted to ask.
"Why?"
"Why what, Fluttercruel?"
"Why did you save me?"
"What do you think, my little princess?"
"STOP PLAYING GAMES! Just tell me." the young chimera almost exploded.
The Draconequus signed and looked her right into the eyes.
"I think you can take it. Just one more question. Do you remember how it is like to want something more then everything else in the world?"
Fluttercruel started to think about it. She had wanted to change everything about Fluttershy when she had taken her place. But back then she thought she was Fluttershy. Later when she was banished to the dark place she just wanted to live. Now she wanted to understand what was going on and have some way to vent her frustration.
But thanks to Fluttershy's memories she knew what it was like to really want something but being unable to get it. She knew how lonely Fluttershy was when she was just a bullied filly and how happy when she finally made some friends in the other five. She hated to admit it but again the memories of the kind pony were actually useful for something.
"Yes, I think I know what you are talking about."
"Well, my goals involved spreading Chaos all over the world and breaking everyone that dared to stand in my way. I would be lying if I said that I didn't enjoy seeing them fail to resist me. For many lifetimes I followed this way. But then I saw what would await me at the end of this path."
A mirror like image floated before them. It showed a chaotic castle, Derpy Hooves futilely running around the structure, Pinkie Pie attacking random ponies with a look of pure insanity, Applejack constantly lying to her friends, Rarity living in a huge pile of worthless rocks and always trying to add more to her collection, the Princesses being turned into statues and forced to watch everything, Twilight remembering her past only to loose her memory to Discord's interference, Rainbow Dash trying to help somepony only to sacrifice another one in her place and finally Fluttercruel saw herself wearing the same outfit from her nightmare and doing the same things to the pony helplessly tied up. The changes in the scenery and ponies around them aging and dying made her think that this went on for an eternity. And Discord ruled over this madness. But there was something different about that Draconequus.
Only now she did realise she had unintentionally moved closer and closer to Discord. Her entire body was shaking with fear. Suddenly the dream wasn't so funny anymore.
The young chimera saw the image of an Alicorn she didn't know fighting against the corrupted Elements and this Alicorn was completely badflank. She threw around spells like it was nothing, countered every attack of the Elements and finally managed to turn Twilight back to her normal self. Only a few seconds later Discord brutally murdered the Alicorn and the other version of Fluttercruel started to devour the remains.
How was that possible? Sure, she wanted to be cruel to others but this couldn't be her future! The mere thought of cannibalism made her sick. If she had eaten anything since her birth she would probably vomit right now.
At this point Fluttercruel collapsed to the ground. But Discord caught her.
"I had the same reaction. But this isn't everything I witnessed. I also saw this."
The mirage showed Twilight looking into the night sky. For a split second a transparent Discord was sitting next to her. The grey unicorn watched the stars and suddenly said:
"They are still beautiful."
Fluttercruel was shocked that this stargazing unicorn was still able to hold on to the slightest bit of her character after she had suffered for so long. Why did the nerd seem so strong when Fluttercruel's other version just fell into the abyss? By now the grey pegasus was sitting right next to Discord and her body did shake much less then before. The fears started to vanish.
Then the image changed again. This time it showed Fluttershy's house when she suddenly met another Fluttercruel in a mirror, another version of herself. The watching chimera didn't understand why Discord had shown her this. The other Fluttercruel easily dominated her kind half and would likely win this battle of wills and just repeat the same actions she had seen in the earlier vision.
"You're lonely."
But with one sentence Fluttershy managed to turn the confrontation around and finally sung the other Fluttercruel to sleep. Images rushed past her: Fluttershy teaching Fluttercruel about kindness and friendship, Fluttercruel taking over and being nothing like the version she had seen before, Fluttershy being corrupted into a Nightmare by a well meaning Fluttercruel and finally Fluttercruel fighting her way back from oblivion to save her other half with the help of the others.
"These aren't visions of the future. They are other worlds, other timelines I saw. You are free to decide what you want to be. The question is what you want to be and if you are able to live with yourself. Thanks to the powers of Chaos it will be a very long life, so you better think ahead where you want to end. And you can be happy. My counterparts are monsters in both worlds, just like..."
He signed. She looked at him thoughtfully. Fluttercruel understood who managed the impossible and made the Draconequus reconsider himself and save her: Her other self. The other Fluttercruel's determination and strong will let her do the impossible and face down the corrupted Fluttershy. But that strength came from the teachings of the other Fluttershy. How could kindness be so strong? How could both pegasi overcome themselves?
Her father also overcame himself to save her. Discord did what nopony expected him to do.
Now she realised what the difference between the two Discords was: The eyes! There was something in his eyes that was completely gone in the eyes of the Discord ruling over this madness. In fact when she thought back about the moment she had seen him in the labyrinth his eyes were also very different back then, like a fire that was almost extinguished. But now they were burning with something that wasn't there before.
She wondered what she could be. And could the young chimera really be anything from a monster to a hero? That thought didn't even occur to her until now. So many choices were ahead of her and she would not be afraid of them. Maybe she would one day also understand this strength she saw in her other self? Fluttercruel looked at the empty sky above them and started to smile.
"You know what this night needs? Some stars!"
The cotton candy clouds moved aside and the sky was clear. Discord smiled at her and produced a piece of paper and a brush out of nowhere and drew the constellation of "Ursa Minor" on it. And just like this it appeared on the night sky.
Then he handed the brush to Fluttercruel who thought about what she could draw and decided to draw a picture of a dragon she was once shown by Fluttershy's father. It was a strange dragon without wings but with a long body and relatively short arms and legs which overall made him resemble the Draconequus sitting next to her. Again the constellation formed on the sky. It made her also realize that nearly everything she knew, she knew from Fluttershy. It was strange how the pony, that didn't even know that she lived, did so much for her by just existing.
She handed the brush back to the old man who drew a bucket on the paper. So the majestic constellation of the great water bucket appeared on the sky. Both looked at each other and broke into laughter.
Fluttercruel grabbed the brush and decided to place the constellation of the wet Draconequus right next to it. She had to admit that this was much funnier than dropping buckets of water on others.
Again Discord took the brush and this time he painted a very detailed constellation of a stargazing unicorn with a very familiar mane on the night sky.
She understood who this was and she began to wonder if the discorded unicorn saving him was what made him chose Twilight as the form for her teacher. Without even knowing it the grey unicorn managed to reach him, she was there when he needed help the most. This Twilight would never learn what she did with a simple sentence.
The younger incarnation of Chaos knew perfectly well how her father must have felt after seeing this. Without the grey unicorn nopony would have come to Fluttercruel's aid when the shadows started to devour her. Twilight Tragedy did save her as well. The young chimera began to think about herself.
"I am neither of them, not the being that choose to turn nightmares into reality nor was I able to fight my way out of oblivion by myself."
"You don't have to be any of them. I think I begin to understand. But I refuse to lose all sense of humor just because those two other versions drained anything creative and fun out of Chaos. Neither should you. I might not enjoy the suffering of helpless mortals anymore but there many other things we could still laugh at."
Fluttercruel briefly wondered if she would find her own place, her own identity. Some ponies could need a beating but there were some beings she wouldn't want to be hurt. What point did cruelty have if it was just directed at anypony without rhyme or reason? But just looking at her dad was strangely comforting. It was like she was standing right before her goal. She felt like everything would eventually be alright.
Slowly the miniature sun rose and the constellations vanished as the light returned. As she could see clearer, Fluttercruel looked around the small world and noticed the two big mountains that decorated the world. Popcorn erupted in irregular intervals from one mountain and the bubbles floating in the air reflected the light of the sun in all possible and some impossible colors.
The floating river and her hovering house both were chaotic and nonsensical but unlike the Chaos she saw in Ponyville there was some rhythm to it. As she glanced around everything she noticed that her body didn't share the same Cutie Mark Fluttershy had.
"Do you think I will ever get a Cutie Mark? I am not exactly a normal pony anymore."
"Hmmm. To be honest I don't know myself. I never got one but this doesn't mean anything. The other you wasn't exactly normal either. Both Celestia and Luna have those and they are also far from normal. You still have plenty of time to find out if you get one. Those things usually appear when you start to discover yourself."
Pony POV Series Chaos Verse
Fluttercruel: Chaos Theory Part 2
Then she started to notice several rings floating in the air next to the cotton candy clouds. They looked like they just waited for her to fly through them. Grinning sheepishly she spread her wings and rose into the air. This time no random obstacle would be in her way. As she flew through the first ring she concentrated and created more rings ahead for herself. Fluttercruel felt the wind (Discord had apparently added) on her face.
At first the rings just formed a straight line but soon she shaped more and more complex patterns. She got better and better and didn't realize or care how much time had passed. Suddenly she had an idea. Fluttercruel landed next to Discord who drew something that resembled a construction plan on a paper.
"Why don't you try it too, dad?"
"Hah! No problem."
Slowly he flapped his wings as his body began to rise into the air and flew up to her rings. Fluttercruel followed him instantly.
"You are not really flying, are you?"
"Well… I am in the air. That is what counts."
"Did you ever try to fly yourself without magic?"
"Of course I did. Didn't work out that great, but that was thousands of years ago. How hard can it really be? Even birds are able to do this."
With one snap of his fingers he stopped his own telekinesis and no matter how he moved his wings he fell to the ground like a stone.
As he prepared himself for leaving a Draconequus-shaped hole in the flat world a pillow jumped into his way. The collision spread colourful feathers all over the place.
Fluttercruel hovered down to him.
"Now we are even. I owned you one pillow. How about I teach you something about flying?"
Slowly Discord walked out of the pile of feathers. So this was how this teaching technique felt on the other end. Maybe he really needed some advice.
"Fine. Tell me what I did wrong."
The pegasus resisted the urge to say "Everything." and decided to try it step by step. She concentrated on the flying lessons she remembered. Fluttershy still failed them because of her fear of ridicule but even back then the fluttering pony couldn't blame her father for trying after the official lessons failed.
Fluttercruel still remembered everything from his determination to teach his daughter, his complete joy as she got her Cutie Mark to his and her mother's surprisingly understanding reaction when Fluttershy decided to live on the ground with the animals she had adopted. She wasn't sure if the parents of the doormat were really naive or really wise.
Fluttercruel focused back onto the present. What was the most obvious problem? The wings wouldn't allow anything the size of the Draconequus to fly. Well she remembered one very muscular pony that flew despite its tiny wings but the pegasus had to admit she no idea how that even worked. Maybe there was Chaos involved as well?
"Okay I honestly don't think you can fly with two wings that small."
Discord turned his head one-eighty to take a look at his bat wing and feathered wing. He tried to remember the width of the wings dragons of his size had. The incarnation then easily manipulated his own body and let the wings triple in height and width.
"Eat your heart out, Roid Rage."
A camera appeared next to him and he spread his wings dramatically. He hadn't expected Fluttercruel to jump into the frame and to assume the tree pose. Both stared at each other and fell laughing to the ground. The camera just continued to take the pictures.
The next few attempts slowly became better and after some tries the Draconequus managed some basic flying manoeuvres like the classical loop-de-loop. The young chimera began to think about how it was even possible for someone to wield the powers of Chaos like this and still have no idea how to fly by himself. Was Chaos really the only thing he did in all those years? She made a mental note to do her best to not become a one trick pony.
"This flying is actually harder than it looks like. Now all these pegasi competitions and festivals are starting to actually make sense. I think I can get the hang of it."
In the next days both worked to improve their basic abilities. As her chaotic creations became more and more long-lasting and varied, his flying became good enough to keep up with her. But he still lost every race against her. Just as she lost every game of chess again him, Fluttercruel was sure that she needed many years of experience before she could have any chance to defeat him in this game.
The copies of the ponies stayed with them and the pegasi challenged her from time to time to a race, especially Rainbow Dash. The young chimera lost almost as many races against the cyan pegasus as she won. But it would be boring to her if there was no challenge in defeating the self proclaimed greatest flyer of Chaos and wiping the smug grin out of Dash's face.
Eventually Fluttercruel could create detailed objects but it was still difficult to not let them vanish or explode the instant something distracted her. Her Chaos also allowed her for now to do some basic magic like telekinesis.
To her it was the most fun to train her Chaos, when she turned it into a game. She created a paper plane and let it fly around herself. The small construct fired paper bullets at her while the young chimera acted like she was a giant monster, ready to squash it. Discord ensured her that this all was just the start.
"So what is this 'easier way' to create Chaos?"
"Did I really say it was the 'easier' way? Sorry, old habits die hard. But it was true, technically at least. To make it short, it is a trick I learned in the time of my first banishment. It allowed me to bypass the few limitations Chaos has but it takes a lot of concentration to pull it off. It could backfire horribly on you."
"My Chaos backfires often enough. I can take a few blasts."
"Not like this one. At first the spell begins to fall apart and then the build-up results in a huge explosion, something big enough to level Canterlot into the ground. It happened to me the first time I tried it here. I was just able to teleport aside."
For one second Fluttercruel saw her father with a surprisingly worried face, before the usual happiness returned. She merely smirked back.
"I won't need it for now anyway."
With a snap of her fingers the paper plane turned into a real plane, flew off and chased after a few sour candy clouds. Discord waved after the vanishing plane.
"I am sure you will learn it sooner or later."
Once when she was sure that he wasn't looking Fluttercruel approached the copy of Pinkie Pie. At first the pink pony seemed startled but her smile returned when she saw what the young chimera had brought with her: Pinkie Pie's personal cotton candy cloud on a dog leash.
"I… I am…"
The former pegasus signed. These ponies always made it look so easy. But after a few seconds the younger incarnation of Chaos was able to say:
"I am sorry."
Fluttercruel was caught off guard when the pink pony hugged her without hesitation and too shocked to return the hug.
"Nevermind! Drink something as well. Here is a straw."
Out of nowhere Pinkie Pie produced two giant drinking straws and both enjoyed some chocolate milk.
Over time other ponies challenged her to chess games as well. Twilight and Rarity were extremely good, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were easy to defeat (both had horrible poker faces) and Pinkie Pie seemed to be able to see all her moves ahead and the young chimera never won a single game against the pink pony.
While they usually were silent when they played their games of chess, Discord suddenly spoke to her in the middle of one game.
She had noticed that his bigger wings from time to time started to fold into a form resembling a cape. That combined with his more focused facial expression and his changed body language sometimes gave him an almost royal appearance. Fluttercruel wondered if he would hate if she would point out how different that made him look.
"To get better at this game you need to learn to make more complex plans and work the weaknesses and strengths of your opponent into them."
"I already know the weaknesses and strengths of each piece."
"That wasn't what I was talking about. I meant the bigger picture. Try to see all pieces as part of one opponent. The king is his weakness, one strike and everything will fall apart, the pawns are the primary defence and everything else, especially the queen, is the strength of your opposition."
For a short moment unpleasant memories of the encounter between the six heroes and Discord returned to her. She remembered Fluttershy's absolute fear when the Draconequus revealed herself to her. The entire time he was just playing a sick game against them but when Discord was about to loose to the fluttering pegasus he cheated anyway.
Thinking about it he didn't cheat in a single game they were playing in this world. Fluttercruel wondered if there was ever a different use for these skills at manipulation but she remembered how Celestia did use her own experience to do this. Even Fluttershy suspected that the Sun Goddess was the one that started the events that led to the healing of her sister from insanity.
Just like Chaos the ability to manipulate others could be used for anything. Didn't Discord use Chaos to heal her? Didn't he subtly led her to discover more about herself, instead of letting her doubts about her own existence consume her like they almost did with the other Fluttercruel? Didn't he show her where her choices could lead her and show her that she had in fact choices?
"And another thing: You need to practice your poker face before the mirror, you still make it too easy for your opponents to see what you plan to do."
While she didn't really felt hunger, from time to time she created various kinds of food, just to test the tastes. To her frustration she soon realized that food only had a taste when she added one into the construct. Without knowing how the meal was supposed to taste, she couldn't do that. So her hamburger tasted like absolutely nothing.
The young chimera found herself enjoying spicy and bitter things and was about to ask Discord what kind of food he preferred. But as she saw him putting mustard and honey on a pickle, she decided there were a few things she didn't want to know.
Her own sour candy clouds tasted surprisingly a lot like lemon juice. But there was a certain appeal to it. Discord always made strange faces when eating them, but then he just took another bite. Fluttercruel soon found out that the clouds were long-lasting enough to create an entire pool of dark chocolate milk.
When asked about what she saw in the center of her being, he told her that souls appear in the very core of Chaos. The Draconequus ensured her that souls always contain some Chaos, just like they contain Darkness and Light. The three foundations of reality, Light, Darkness and Chaos, were also the basis of every sentient being. It was the most obvious difference between Fluttercruel and the constructs Discord made to fill this void.
Even if they looked like ponies they were always lacking something both chaotic beings had. Still it was incredible how lifelike they had become over time. She didn't care the slightest what they might not have. The copy of Rarity started to sew dresses for her. Some were extremely weird, they looked like deliberately mismatched jester outfits with vibrant colors and with strange patterns such as polka dots and stripes.
Fluttercruel actually liked them but besides chess games and the occasional lesson these dresses were extremely impractical. To the young chimera it seemed much stranger that the white unicorn kept calling her "Lady Fluttercruel."
Father and daughter talked about what he knew of this world and about the two places close to it: The Limbo, where neither of them wanted to ever go to again, and the subconscious world of dreams. The last one did interest the young chimera for more than one reason.
She hated to admit it but she wanted to at least once meet her mo… Fluttershy and see her reaction. Would she fear her? Think she was another trick of Discord? Or would she actually see something else in her?
The subconscious world may be her only chance to do this. She didn't know how long it would take for the seal to break this time. When it takes as much time as the last seal did, Fluttershy will have passed away centuries ago. Discord told her that he would eventually show her how to teleport there. While he was unable to go there thanks to Luna's return, the Princess of the Night would likely not recognize Fluttercruel as what she is.
The older incarnation of Chaos told her that the subconscious world was spontaneous and changed constantly. Despite that it was the place where all minds of this world were linked together. There was only one real constant rule the Draconequus had found out: To get back to the white space all Discord had to do was to shock or surprise the person, whose dream he had entered, so much that their dream ended. But in their dreams the ponies did have an incredible tolerance for nonsense and surprising them was much harder than it sounded.
Even bringing a giant squid to fight the heroes into a dream about Romareo and Juliet was once not enough to wake up the dreaming theatre producer. But his next play was a very weird one. Most dreams were immediately forgotten and only had subconscious influence on the dreamer.
Over time Discord began to add more and more details to the world. Plants like Poison Joke and singing piranha plants appeared in the world, some of them floated through the air and made swimming motions. Various constructs were created to look like animals, from normal bees to bears with wings to juggling octopi to timber wolves. The world began to develop a life on its own.
More and more houses, some made completely out of cards, some cardboard cut-outs, some upside down, some floating, some made out of chocolate and some completely normal ones (they really seemed out of place) were placed on the ground and in the air, making the place look less barren. The copies of the ponies started to live in them.
One day she found him with the construction plan standing in the part of the limbo close to their world, before throwing the plan away and creating a weird pink and brown structure.
"So, what do you think?" the older incarnation of Chaos asked.
Somehow the pink parts reminded her of Fluttershy's mane. But she was sure that she was just seeing things.
"Eh, it's not pointy enough, and what's with all the pink and brown?"
"Ah, but you're missing the beauty of it, my little princess, the contradicting colors and shapes have a certain appeal to it, the ponies call it Modern Art."
"Eh..." She snapped her fingers. "There, that's better."
While scratching his chin, Discord inspected their new home/house/construct/whatever in mental limbo. Some ponies would say that it was more like something belonging into a Picasso painting. Other ponies would ask who Picasso is supposed to be. He looked closely at the sharp angled black shapes that his daughter had added to the structure. Finally he smiled at the creation.
"Haha! Now you're getting it, Fluttercruel! That's my girl!" he proclaimed proudly, putting his eagle claw on the shoulder of the young chimera while showing a genuinely pleased smile.
"Thanks, Dad," she said with a wide grin. While she didn't say it, she still wanted to be able to surprise him enough so that at least some parts of their domain vanished. Not that she had anything against how it looked but she saw it as a challenge to really surprise him at least once.
"Now come on, let's swim in the dark chocolate swimming pool, shall we?"
After a spending some time in the pool, Fluttercruel noticed that their new house was placed in the center of their little world. The cotton candy clouds, the floating rivers, some of the flying constructs, some trees and some houses seemed to continue the shapes and angles of their home.
Curiously she fluttered out of the chocolate and started to fly away from the world to get a better look. No matter from which angle she looked at it, it all seemed so connected, like it all was a giant piece of art.
He was right; it had its own appeal.
"I knew you notice it," she could hear his voice at her side.
"And you even worked my black shapes into it."
"Modern art needs contrast to be complete. I think you really added something to it."
"But one more thing dad, STOP calling me a princess. I am none and the very idea is kinda weird."
"Fine, I can understand that. If my little angel, wants me to stop using this royal title then she has some training left to do."
While working with her Chaos she also noticed that he would from time to time take short looks into the mirror he had created. His expression seemed hopeful. Fluttercruel wondered what he saw in there but was too busy to stop her Chaos from exploding in her face for the seventh time of the day. The constructs did keep their distance from her whenever she practised. While her failures still frustrated her, it was nowhere near as bad as in the beginning.
This went on for several days; it was hard for her to keep track of time in this void. Eventually Discord created a calendar the size of a house showing her how slowly time did move in this white space. Outside it would be only one more day until Nightmare Night. The young chimera knew what they could do to pass the time in a different way.
"How about we use this opportunity to have a little celebration?"
From the look on his face she knew that he would have never thought to celebrate a festival dedicated to Luna or her corrupted self. That didn't surprise Fluttercruel at all since the three beings weren't exactly at the best terms to put it nicely.
"There is no reason to let have them all the fun. And it is a good chance to teach you something about transformations. We will need good costumes."
After a snap of his eagle claw, both were sitting on chairs facing the same giant board from before. The Pinkie Pie construct sat in a chair next to her. Again the cheerful copy of Twilight Sparkle stood next to the blackboard.
"Attention students. Today we learn about the magic of transformation. For an average unicorn this is vey difficult and requires a huge amount of magic but for a being of Chaos the ability to change forms is almost second nature. It works very similar to how you shape Chaos into objects and magic. But in this case you work with the outer layer of Chaos surrounding yourself and shape it into a different form. Just try it."
Uncharacteristically unsure Fluttercruel decided to start with a minor change. So she closed her eyes and concentrated on her mane and started to imagine Pinkie Pie's hairstyle instead of her own. She felt a tingling feeling and as she opened her eyes, a huge mirror stood next to Twilight Sparkle. In it she saw that she was wearing the same ballooned impossible pink hairstyle, the partying pony did.
The pink pony in the audience applauded her enthusiastically. Fluttercruel had to chuckle and then changed it back to her normal appearance.
Now it was time for something more difficult, a complete transformation. The pegasus concentrated on the image of Rainbow Dash: The light blue coat, the rainbow-colored mane and tail, the red eyes and finally her Cutie Mark of a cloud firing a multicolored bolt of lightning. She felt her entire body shifting and the image in the mirror changed from her chimera-like appearance to a perfect copy of Rainbow Dash.
"With Chaos you always dress in style!" she said with the same voice of the weather patroller.
Discord and Pinkie Pie burst with laughter while the copy of Twilight seemed to restrain her cackle.
Fluttercruel decided to change back into her true form. She realised that when she awoke in this place, she absolutely hated her new appearance but it did grow on her. Her chaotic powers allowed her to see her own soul, proving to her that she did in fact exist in her own unique way and wasn't merely a leftover of Discord's magic. Now that Chaos had done this for her there was no reason to be ashamed of her real form.
But the lesson wasn't quite over.
"As you see as long as you understand the basics of Chaos, shapeshifting is quite easy. But unlike the disguises used by skilled unicorns or changelings, a being of Chaos can shift the entire body in nearly every way imaginable, creating tools, joke articles and weapons whenever they are needed. Try to immobilise this target."
With these words a copy of Applejack appeared next to her, watching the pegasus carefully.
"Ah don't like where this is going…"
Fluttercruel thought about this challenge. She could think of so many things to immobilise the farmer with: Bear traps, morning stars, knockout gas, flails, cages, quarterstaffs and so much more. But she didn't want to use any of these methods on the construct she had played some entertaining if easy games of chess and had some similar one-sided hoof wrestling games with.
So the best way to solve it seemed to be to create some kind of rope and just bind Applejack's legs together. But she had to surprise her as well; this earth pony wouldn't just stand there if she tried something like this.
Carefully Fluttercruel concentrated on her tail and let a single hair grow and move slowly around the grass and behind the farmer. She reminded herself on the movements of snakes to let it glide across the place. Now she had to act fast. The pegasus concentrated as much Chaos as possible into the edge and the top of the hair became a cord. Within seconds the robe tied itself around the legs of the surprised Applejack and lifted her into the air. After a few seconds Fluttercruel placed her gently back onto the safe ground. Applejack smiled and went back to the chaotic plants as the copy of Pinkie Pie hopped alongside her.
Her father clapped behind her.
"Now that was quite a show. You learn really fast. Let's see who the first one to reach our home is."
A line of floating rings appeared in the air. Both started to hover in the air and raced off to the goal. Rainbow Dash flew alongside them but eventually crashed into one of the many bubbles floating through the air.
"Bucking bubbles!"
The rings extended whenever the two incarnations were too close to each other and eventually both nearly crashed into their target. Unsurprisingly the copy of Twilight stood next to the finish line with a camera. Both chaotic beings asked her the same question at the same time.
"Who won?"
"Let's see… and the winner is… dramatic pause… for the first time ever Discord actually won a race."
A small golden trophy with the inscription "Fastest chaotic personification of Chaos since breakfast" appeared in his claw and a long piece of paper hovered next to him.
"I want to thank everypony that helped me to archive this victory."
He took a deep breath, preparing his seemingly long speech.
"I want to thank Fluttercruel, for being the first being since the dawn of existence that managed to actually teach me something."
The former pegasus seemed to be at the loss of words for a few seconds, but then she knew something to say.
"Hah! Trust me, you haven't seen anything yet. It won't take long and we will fly better than the Wonderbolts. But don't think just because you won one race, the next one will end the same."
Their training continued until it was almost Nightmare Night. Fluttercruel was staying in her house, while the Draconequus did prepare the decorations outside. She wanted to create a special present for her dad. He had saved her life and taught her so many things and now she wanted to return the favour in a different way. From the encounter with Pinkie Pie she knew that to find kind words was very hard for her.
The grey chimera had experimented with her own Chaos and tried to weave it together in a different way. She remembered the stitching lessons Fluttershy's mother had given her and used it to let the energy flow around itself differently. Instead of letting the flow itself take the form she bound the energy to itself and carefully weaved it together.
Fluttercruel concentrated the Chaos and formed it into a green gem. Then she created a silver bracelet containing the emerald. She remembered Fluttershy's father giving his daughter an emerald necklace as a present at her cuteceañera and telling her what an emerald symbolized.
She was impressed with her own progress and took a look at her own reflection in the mirror. Usually she used it to practise her poker face - a polite smile, not unlike the expression Fluttershy usually wore. The young chimera loved to wear it while crushing her opponents in games of chess. Fluttercruel had practically thought of every possible form she could take as a disguise for Nightmare Night but no pony or pony in a disguise was really fitting her.
But there was one guise that she wanted to try as her own costume. Her body shifted and the eagle claw and the lizard leg turned back into pony legs. The yellow feathered wing and the batwing on her back turned into two pegasi wings matching her coat.
Looking at the mirror and she saw an almost perfect copy of the Fluttercruel of the other world, minus her Cutie Mark. She intentionally left this one out. It was strange knowing so much about a different version of herself while all these ponies knew nothing about her. She began talking to the mirror.
"I am neither of you. Despite owning so much to you, there is nothing I can do to ever pay it back. Strange isn't it? All I can do is to find my own place in the world."
Somehow she felt uneasy. Not about the party, she knew that she would enjoy her first celebration ever but it was almost like there was something wrong. Not with her or with her father but with the world itself. Like something was there that didn't belong in the world she knew.
It was time. Carefully she hid the present under her wing and walked outside.
The world outside had changed a lot. It was night and the small moon could be seen in the sky. Several blazoned houses stood around her own one, making the entire place look somewhat similar to a small village like Ponyville. Everything was decorated in the typical Nightmare Night decorations, continuing the shapes and angles of their home. Every single cotton candy and sour candy cloud was adorned with Nightmare Night banners or balloons. The singing piranha plants sang about Hallowsomething but talking to them never got any result but another song.
Countless ponies walked around the place. Twilight Sparkle was disguised as some sort of ancient wizard, likely something from a children show. Discord had surely made this one up; Fluttercruel couldn't imagine the purple unicorn ever wearing something ridiculous like this. Pinkie Pie was a chicken, Applejack disguised as a scarecrow, Rainbow Dash was a Shadowbolt and Rarity was wearing an extremely pink princess dress nearly covered in a near infinite number of ruffles.
But they weren't the only ones: Noi was a princess in a lavender dress, Alula was an astronaut, Piña Colada was a ladybug, Dizzy Twister was a lion, Cherry Berry was a bee, Lemon Hearts was a grey mouse, Minuette was a surgeon, Raindrops was a Viking, Cloud Kicker was a witch, Sea Swirl was a knight, Wind Whistler was some ancient queen, Meadow Song was a ninja, Berry Punch was a ghost, the Mayor was a clown, Zecora was ironically a witch, Sweetie Belle was some vampire, Scootaloo was a wolf-pony (strange Fluttercruel somehow had expected her to be the chicken), Apple Bloom was the Frankenpony Monster, Dinky Doo was a fire-fighter, Lyra Heartstrings was a mummy and there was a white and brown colt she didn't recognize that was disguised as a pirate.
Then she saw Discord. He had changed his appearance into a grey pegasus whose color resembled her coat. His mane was white and the tail was black. He had a Cutie Mark of two opposing arrows merging into a common point.
"Happy Nightmare Night, my little angel."
"Happy Nightmare Night, dad."
The following party was extremely entertaining. They had the classical games of finding the apple in the apple-bobbing tub, which was slightly harder then normal version since the tub was the size of a small castle and there were even some oversized squids inside, ready to attack anypony.
Applejack did occasionally lasso an apple or even a confused giant squid out of the tub and gave them away to the copies of the children. Discord tried the game a few times and somehow caught nearly everything but the apples: A silver spoon, a hoof trimmer, a burning candle, an ice cube, some slippers and a stop sign.
The spider throwing game now included spiders the size of a pony being flung into a huge spider net that was even connected to the miniature moon. Fluttercruel never had so much fun with party games before. Then again this was her first party ever.
Rarity was tough competition in this contest but the younger chimera wouldn't have wanted it any other way. The Draconequus also managed to hit the giant spider net surprisingly well with the spiders.
Then there were the more outlandish activities like a live action show of Cupcakes with horrible overacting and underacting actors in incredible cheap costumes, which easily took out every bit of fear she felt for her nightmare. The costumes looked like one pony on the hind legs was hiding in the front part and the backside was empty and just lazily dangled around.
The first time she saw the oversized heads and strange legs Fluttercruel spent five minutes having a laughing fit. The copy of Pinkie Pie saw the scene and after seeing her alter ego she also found herself on the ground laughing at all of this.
The actors were patient enough to wait. The show started with the fake Pinkie Pie saying "Hi everypony, my name is Pinkie Pie and today I will make a cupcake out of Rainbow Dash." and ended with the Rainbow Dash costume inside another giant cupcake costume saying "Oh no, now I am a cupcake." in an almost bored tone.
This time it took Fluttercruel and Pinkie Pie a bit longer before their mouths could produce anything but laughter. The Twilight construct looked worried at the pink pony but after 10 minutes of constant laughter she had calmed down.
"Now that is how you giggle at the ghostie!"
Finally there was the game of pinning the tail on the Windigo. As the icy horse raced around the sky, Fluttercruel had to chase it down following its every movement until she was close enough to pin it against the mountain. It really took all her flying skills to track it down. Instead of a pin she was using a fiery spear she carried in her telekinesis. That game was a blast.
In the second round the Windigo hid in the clouds and tried to attack her from behind but was blindsided by the Rainbow Dash copy. The grey chimera took the chance to pin the icy mare to the moon in turn. Discord also tried the game and soon a dozen of spears made of fire were floating around the grinning incarnation of Chaos as the Windigo tried to escape him.
She didn't know how long these activities lasted but eventually Nightmare Night was over, as she approached her father.
"Thank you. Now that was a party. Even Pinkie Pie could learn a thing or two from this. And I have something for you."
Carefully she let her telekinesis carry the bracelet to Discord. He locked shocked and half of the decorations vanished. Then he began to examine it closer and closer. The former pegasus wondered if there was something wrong with it. This was the first time that she saw some of his Chaos vanish from something she did. Then he began to smile.
"Did you… create this?"
"Yes, of course. Can't you see?"
"Now that is the point. Even I had to spend some time to really see that this was produced from Chaos. Interesting the way it is woven together… But where are my manners?"
Suddenly he hugged her; somewhat shocked she hugged her father back.
"Someone once told me that an emerald symbolizes rebirth and foresight. I think that fits you perfectly. I have also heard that it brings good fortune," she eventually has able to say as their embrace ended.
Discord looked thoughtfully at the bracelet before putting it on his left arm. The Draconequus began to concentrate and a matching golden bracelet with an emerald inside appeared before her. She smiled and used her telekinesis to place it on her left foreleg.
Then he shifted back into his real form, the bracelet still placed on him. His face was strangely serious.
"I am sure that it will work out. And I think it is time to take the first step. A long time ago I did manipulate a seal placed on Celestia's and Luna's powers. But now…"
He raised his eagle claw and it was covered in white and black energy that disappeared as sudden as it came. For a short moment Fluttercruel felt a strange shockwave.
"I release my part of the seal. This is the only thing I can do for them to make up for what I did in the past to the foals they had adopted and then again with Twilight's group. I wonder how long it will take them to notice what did happen. I wish I could see Celestia's face when she finds out."
He chuckled but suddenly his face froze in place. Fluttercruel immediately rushed over to him but nothing seemed to have happened to him. The grey chimera felt the strange urge to scribble something on his face. Maybe with was one of the visions he was talking about?
His visions got clearer and clearer. The first one showed him the fearful Fluttercruel surrounded by darkness. It caused him to venture into the Limbo and save her.
The second one showed him the former pegasus fighting against something distorted. The Draconequus had never seen anything like this before and the vision ended again with her surrounded by the same hungry darkness ready to devour her. He may have overreacted slightly afterwards. But soon he began to plan how to prevent that from ever happening and how to work more combat orientated abilities in their training; he was sure that by now she could defend herself.
But it still bothered him that the second vision ended just like the first one. Was there something he didn't understand?
Right now he had another vision. Instead of Fluttercruel it showed him Fluttershy. Her eyes were closed and she mumbled something. She approached a cliff as her pet rabbit desperately tried to stop her. The yellow pegasus kept moving forward without hesitation and walked off the edge. She didn't spread her wings but let herself fall. Discord shuddered as he heard her scream. Then he again saw Fluttercruel fighting against something but this time the image was clearer and he could see a bare horse skull with a black horn. Finally he saw his daughter trapped in darkness again.
What the Tartarus did he just see?
Suddenly he found himself back in the white space. To his surprise his world didn't vanish but most Nightmare Night decorations were gone by now. The constructs looked worried. His own creations did certainly become more stable. Fluttercruel just stared at him with a mixture of annoyance and uneasiness.
"I just had a vision. I need to check something out."
Again he split of a part of himself and send it back to Equestria. Discord immediately flew to Fluttershy's house but it was empty, neither Fluttershy nor Angel could be seen. Was he already too late?
He began to remember where he had seen the cliff. The personification of Chaos would have never thought that mapping the entire world out of boredom, when he was sealed in his prison, would ever be useful. Thanks to that he knew that the vision took place at Ghastly Gorge.
Soon he found Fluttershy on her way to the cliff. Angel was with her but the bunny seemed to hardly be able to slow her down. She still had to climb the rise but that wouldn't take that long. Despite being the incarnation of Chaos and one of the aspects of existence that was absolutely nothing he could do against that in his current state. But as he got closer he felt a strange energy surrounding her and could hear her whispering.
"Don't worry. I will do it for you. I won't let you down."
It was like she was sleepwalking. No matter how hard Angel pulled or if he tried to trip her nothing seemed to work to stop her from walking forward to the dead end. Someone else was playing a sick game with her. It was clear that she wasn't doing this on her own free will. Nobody knew better how mind control worked and this seemed to be a variation of it. But somehow he recognised this power. It was similar to something he knew but also very different.
He began to analyse his options and there was only one way to reach the mother of his child before she perished. But to do that he would have to endanger Fluttercruel.
"A weighty choice is yours to make. The right selection or a big mistake." Discord said to himself, fully aware of the irony.
The memory of the vision was painful and even worse was the implication that there was nothing he could do to change it. Despite saving his daughter from Limbo, the vision was even clearer than before. Was this one of these self-fulfilling prophecies he used against clueless ponies before? As Angel continued to struggle, the Draconequus shifted back to his little world where Fluttercruel was still waiting for him.
"What did happen? Why the serious face?"
Seeing the normally cheerful incarnation of Chaos so distressed did unnerve the young chimera more than she wanted to admit.
"I saw a vision of Fluttershy falling to her death. And something is luring her over a cliff right now while she is sleepwalking. I don't know what it is."
"Then what are you waiting for? Send me to the subconscious world. I will find her and beat up whatever it is that toys with her."
He had to admit that it became clearer and clearer how much they thought alike. He hardly had to explain anything to her. And her determined expression did show him that she was serious as well.
"Okay. Disguise yourself. Remember what I have told you about that place. Now go!"
As she quickly shifted into the very first form that crossed her mind, he concentrated his Chaos and sent her into the subconscious world.
Was he doing the right thing again without hesitation? But he had no idea if he had done the right thing. Discord knew that despite his special gift Fluttercruel could be in real danger. Then why did he send her in there despite being afraid of loosing her? Why did she suggest it without hesitation? Since when was this doing the right thing stuff so difficult?
He signed. The only thing he could do for now was to trust her.
"What did happen? Why the serious face?"
She just knew that something was very wrong when he looked so serious before and after he left. In fact his condition seemed to be worse than before. What could trouble the incarnation of Chaos?
"I saw a vision of Fluttershy falling to her death. And something is luring her over a cliff right now while she is sleepwalking. I don't know what it is."
Her mother could die. Thousands of thoughts rushed through her head in seconds. How could that doormat let herself be tricked into this? Why was the mere thought of Fluttershy in danger so painful? She had never done anything for her! It was Discord who saved her from the darkness and it was Twilight Tragedy who saved him.
Even Discord had no idea what was trying to kill her mother. It could be anything. It could be too powerful for her. It could be hopeless.
She would not think like a doormat! The young chimera was proud on herself and everything she had learned so far. Fluttershy's memories taught her many things. Why were they so important to her? Because they were like the eye of the storm in her Chaos? Because they represented what she didn't have?
The grey chimera didn't know the answers but Fluttercruel knew that she wanted to save her mother. There was only one place where she could reach Fluttershy. She made a decision.
"Then what are you waiting for? Send me to the subconscious world. I will find her and beat up whatever it is that toys with her."
She tried to hide her fears but the younger incarnation of Chaos knew that Discord could see through her. But he still warped her into the world of dreams as she quickly and instinctively disguised herself.
When Fluttercruel could see her surroundings again, the pegasus noticed that she was in the middle of an enormous green field with Fluttershy's cottage, surrounded by woods and inhabited with countless animals. There was a gigantic tree right before her, it was as big as Canterlot itself. Nearly every possible animal was here, from bees to bears and seals to falcons. She was sure that this was the right place. This had to be the mind of her shy mother.
But everything seemed so normal. Only now did the pegasus almost passively notice what kind of form she had chosen under pressure. She had to chuckle at her yellow fur and pegasus appearance. But in the end she remembered that the old man had told her that ponies tended to ignore strange things in their dreams, so looking like Fluttershy might not be too problematic.
There was just this feeling that something else didn't belong here. And where was Fluttershy? Inside the cottage there was no fluttering pegasus but otherwise it did look just like the real house. This was Fluttershy's mind; according to what Discord had told her there should be a representation of her somewhere prancing around with some animals or something.
An embodiment of Angel was hopping around, seemingly searching for Fluttershy as well and after one short glance he ignored the chimera in disguise standing next to the cottage.
Then Fluttercruel was hit by a realisation. If all souls were at least somewhat chaotic, maybe she could find her parent with her other vision. Soon everything became grey as the disguised chimera carefully scanned the surroundings for Chaos. Neither the animals nor the woods seemed to contain anything but there was a weak glow coming from the huge tree.
Without hesitation the former pegasus flew into it. Suddenly she felt sick, like she was pushing herself through some kind of organic barrier.
As she could finally see again, Fluttercruel saw an exact replica of the world she just saw. There was the field, the woods and the cottage. But something was very wrong here. She felt being watched.
Another scan did show her that one soul was inside the cottage. Carefully she approached it. She knew that something was trying to kill Fluttershy. This thing could be right with her in the cottage. As silent as possible she created a small eye and let it flew towards the house.
Thanks to her little spy she could see and hear everything. Sure an eye also hearing things for her didn't make much sense but she was the daughter of Chaos itself.
Fluttershy, Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Rarity were all inside the cottage with her. But only Twilight and Fluttershy said anything, the others were merely standing around and smiling at the fluttering pony.
"Fluttershy, please, you must do it for us. We need to remove the Element of Kindness from you to give it to someone else."
"But Twilight, I can't…"
"How can you be so cruel? Scootaloo was horribly injured when the ponies panicked at Nightmare Night and only by giving her this Element we can save her life. You don't want her to die, do you?"
"NO! I could never…"
"Don't worry. You know you can trust us. You just need to jump inside. It will be over very soon."
As the insecure pegasus still wondered what to do, the purple unicorn pointed at tub filled with water that seemed to be imbedded into the ground.
Looking at all her smiling friends Fluttershy was able to walk towards the tub.
Fluttershy didn't notice the eye outside her window starting to fly around in panicked movements before vanishing.
Suddenly Rainbow Dash and Rarity were knocked to the ground as something flew past them and Fluttershy found her way blocked by a very familiar being: Gilda, the griffon. The sudden guest glared at her friends and then became fixated on her. She seemed to be wearing something on her arm.
"Get out of my sight, you cowardly dweebs."
Without warning the griffon roared and tackled the shocked pegasus outside the house. It happened so fast that none of the surrounding ponies could react.
The fluttering pegasus coughed from the painful impact but somehow her head felt clearer outside her cottage. But where did Gilda go to and what did she almost do on Twilight's suggestion? Everything that was logical before suddenly seemed so strange.
"Are we starting to wake up?"
Then she noticed the small pegasus standing next to her. It was a yellow filly with a long pink mane covering half her face and a long pink tail. On her left foreleg was a small golden bracelet. She had no cutie mark but somehow she seemed and sounded so familiar.
"I am sorry, I think I am not all there. Um… Who are you?"
"Hi! I am your daughter! And you didn't even name me!"
The small pegasus smiled at her so innocently and cute that it managed to calm down Fluttershy even after the strange events that just happened. It was hard to resist the urge to hug the filly immediately.
"Oh, I am so sorry for that. I am sure I will find a name for you."
Somehow the little pegasus seemed disappointed and even somewhat scared by her reaction.
"S… Sure. Sure. But first you should leave this place. Please, it is dangerous here!"
"Where do you think are you going?"
Without warning Twilight and the rest of the group suddenly stood around the two yellow pegasi. They didn't teleport there; they just appeared out of nowhere. Fluttershy's senses began to revolt; just making a clear decision became painful.
Normally she froze up in the face of danger. Just thinking about dragons or Discord made her body shiver with fear. But this always changed once the fluttering pegasus felt the urge to protect someone and right now she felt that she had to protect her daughter.
"You will come back and do what you promised to do!"
"I am sorry, Twilight but something is very wrong here and I have to help the little one first."
In fear of something she hadn't even seen, Fluttershy grabbed the filly and flew away in such a speed that she surprised herself. For a moment it seemed that there was some sort of invisible barrier holding her back but just as suddenly it was gone and she reached a very familiar field. It looked just like the last one but somehow it felt safe.
Her thoughts became clearer and clearer and by now she realized that everyone from Twilight to Gilda did act very strange including the filly still holding on to her for dear life. She caressed the little one for a moment before placing her on the ground. The filly did look at her like she wanted to say so many things but didn't have any time.
Then the gigantic tree behind them started to melt and to turn into a black disgusting mass. The heads of her friends began to form from this liquid but instead of pony bodies they were placed on long hydra-like necks. They talked in perfect sync.
"You are such a disappointment. You couldn't even do such a simple task for your friends."
"You are NOT one my friends! Who are you?"
"How can you be so cruel? Don't you remember your friend?"
The black mass began to spread and soon it started to cover more and more of the ground. The animals from bears and seals to falcons drowned in the crawling mess. Their expressions were of pure horror as they were dragged under it.
A spike burst out of the slime ready to hit the fluttering pony as Angel pushed her aside and was dragged into the mass as well. Without hesitation Fluttershy flew after him but somehow he managed to push her back to the side of her daughter with a look of pure determination. Then he was just gone.
As Fluttershy could only stare at this all-devouring Nightmare something grabbed her. To her relief it wasn't the darkness but another yellow pegasus looking just like her. The only difference was that she didn't have a cutie mark and was wearing a larger version of the golden bracelet the filly had. Was this her daughter? What was she actually? Her twin dragged her with a surprising strength into the air and both started to fly as far away from the darkness as possible.
By now nothing of the ground was left uncorrupted. Tentacles rose from the mess and tried to grab them. The first attempts were sluggish and easy to dodge but soon the strikes became faster and unpredictable. Fluttershy suddenly felt her body moving on its own, not unlike the time when Twilight took control of it in an attempt to help her friend to end her career as a model. Her body dodged attacks almost as fast as Rainbow Dash. Her twin practically screamed at her. Thinking became harder and harder.
"This is a dream! You have to WAKE UP! That is the only way to save you!"
"I… I… I can't. I am sorry, you try so hard but I can't do it."
The darkness rose from the ground and covered the entire space above them. They were trapped as the black slime moved closer and closer to them. In it she could see twisted forms of the faces of her friends grinning at her. Then the faces melted away and only the staring eyes of them remained.
Suddenly she felt the hoof of her twin on her shoulder.
"I hoped it would never come to this… I hoped it could be different… but it is the only way."
Her expression was grim and determined. What was the only way? Fluttershy suddenly became very worried about what would come next. The other pegasus looked at her with such sorrowful eyes.
Suddenly the form of the pegasus before her began to shift. Her fur turned grey, reawakening unpleasant memories. Her left foreleg became an eagle claw, her right hind leg reshaped itself into a lizard leg and one of her wings transformed into a batwing.
It all reminded Fluttershy at the awful day when Discord turned her against her friends and all the horrible things she said and did. The chimera looked at her and talked in her own voice. Disturbingly familiar pink clouds circled around her.
"I am truly your daughter and Discord is my father."
"But this doesn't make any sense…"
"Make sense? Oh, what fun is there in making sense?"
"NO! YOU CAN NOT…"
The entire world started to shake and everything around the fluttering pegasus fell apart like cheap glass. Fluttershy awoke screaming.
She found herself falling off the edge of a cliff. She froze in shock until she noticed Angel clinging to her neck. He was in danger!
Instinctively she flew back upwards and landed safely. Her entire body was shaking with fear.
How did she get here and what was going on in her head? She felt like she had forgotten something important but there was also the strong urge to immediately fly to Twilight to talk about what just happened to her.
Tears run down Fluttercruel's face as she found herself back in an empty part of the limbo. She landed somewhere very distant from the world Discord had created in this place. From the very beginning Fluttercruel knew what she had to do. From the very start she knew the only thing that would shock Fluttershy enough to awaken her from this twisted dream. But the young chimera hesitated. She knew that this was likely her one and only chance to meet her mother and talk to her.
She wanted to tell her so many things: About herself, about her father and about what Fluttershy's memories did for her. She didn't want her mother to see her in the middle of a battle and she didn't want to reveal herself like this to her. She didn't even dare to apologise herself before giving her mother the worst shock of her life.
She had lost her one chance. After this reveal Fluttershy would never consider the young chimera her daughter. To her she would always be a creation of Chaos. But it was worth it.
Then the tears stopped flowing. Fluttercruel knew that she had to do this.
"If I have to be cruel to her or manipulate her to save mom then so be it."
She had managed to use her powers without any mistakes and proved that even Chaos could…
Almost instinctively she changed her wings into metal and shielded her face as something almost stabbed her between the eyes. The sharp skeletal stinger was stopped just before her eye. Soon it retreated and Fluttercruel saw her attacker.
She looked almost like a twisted corpse. A bare skull with a black horn was connected over the visible spine to a black body. From the main body grew four twisted legs that resembled spider legs instead of horse legs and they ended in sharp spikes. Huge skeletal wings were placed on her back. Despite her monstrous form there was something strange about the creature. The way her body moved was so disturbingly familiar.
"Since you ruined the last game, now we will play for a little while."
Fluttercruel tired to fly away and come up with a plan but she soon found herself in a telekinetic hold. No matter how much she struggled, she couldn't escape it and floated closer and closer to the grinning skull.
Suddenly the body of the creature was moved into the air. The grey chimera noticed her father standing next to her and the look he gave the being was truly something out of a nightmare. The expression was much more hateful and angry than how he looked at Fluttershy when she won in his game.
"Get away…"
Suddenly a brick wall appeared under the being and she was slammed with high speed into it, causing the wall to break, before the creature was lifted up again. She didn't seem to be injured. For a brief moment Fluttercruel wondered how he had found her so quickly but then she remembered the golden bracelet she was still wearing.
"…from her…"
The broken wall turned into a metal plate with spikes on it and the monster was rammed into it. Then the being was moved up in the air again. She didn't even bleed.
"…you beotch."
Finally the metal plate shifted into a pool of acid and the creature was dropped into it. The Draconequus's attention was focused on his daughter and his expression became serious and worried.
"Are you okay, Fluttercruel?"
"Yes and I managed to wake up mo… Fluttershy in time. I wonder if she even remembers it."
Quickly Discord turned around to see the disturbing being crawl out of the acid. She didn't even seem phased by the liquid.
"What are you?"
"How could you have forgotten me? You are just as selfish as my sister."
"You..? But that is impossible."
Pony POV Series Chaos Verse
Twilight: Puppet or Pony
In darkness, a voice called.
(So the outside is done. And it is a perfect match. Now it is time to add knowledge about Chaos.)
There was so much Chaos. Who are you?
(Me? I am Discord, Spirit of Chaos and Dis… just call me Discord. I never tried this one before. The next step is to add what I know about Twilight, well most of it.)
Twilight?
(Get ready; now it will be your time to shine.)
I was standing on grass before a giant blackboard. I knew that my student would arrive within seconds. I was happy to teach her something about Chaos.
There she was: A Draconequus/Pegasus hybrid, one of her kind, Fluttercruel.
I walked forward with a smile. She looked like she wants to say something. I waited for her question.
Instead she asked Discord.
"What is the difference between me and her?"
The difference? That was easy, she was the daughter of Discord, while I…
Who am I?
I remembered reading books, making schedules, learning as much as possible and some ponies that meant a lot to me: Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Rarity. But something seemed to miss. I looked at Fluttercruel.
Now she watched me with such a strange expression and her eyes have turned grey. What did she see? Then she looked at herself like she just saw herself for the very first time.
"This flow… was that Chaos?"
Yes, Chaos, what I wanted to talk about. Why did she take so long to be ready to listen to my lecture?
"Oh, I think we should leave the long-winded explanation to the world champion of exposition."
Finally it was my turn. Discord looked very interested while Fluttercruel just chuckled. It was her first lesson, so she didn't know better. It was time to share what I know about Chaos. I could feel a nearly endless flow of information about it.
"May I have your attention class? Today we learn about Chaos. It is usually known as the force between Light and Darkness but what does this actually mean? Neutrality? No, instead most scholars like to describe it as change or conflict. The bigger the differences between two forces the more Chaos can be found between them. This ranges from physical opposites like fire and water to the emotional spectrum like calmness and agitation."
But mere talk was cheap; I would show her what I mean. I created two transparent illusions of Celestia and Luna and showed the very power that they embody.
"Here we have the incarnation of Light – Princess Celestia - and in the other corner the personification of Darkness – Princess Luna. Both represent two forces different than each other in nearly every way. Both are two cornerstones of reality. And both govern their element and control it but there will always be frictions between these powers and this energy is known as Chaos."
I let the two powers clash and at this point they became grey and an image of Discord appeared.
I guess that was enough for the first lesson. More would follow later.
I bowed politely before my student and teleported to another part of the world.
Very little was here, just grass, floating rivers and big bubbles.
I stared blankly around the world.
I felt strange, like I was without directions.
What did a teacher do when she is not teaching?
Who am I?
I was Fluttercruel's teacher and I remember many names. My own name must be somewhere in that collection. I remembered. I am Twilight Sparkle.
I heard noises.
I walked towards the source and saw a volleyball field with many ponies standing around it. I recognised them, especially Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. They were all cheering for a game between Discord and Fluttercruel.
Then the young chimera won. I was surprised. I saw Pinkie Pie hopping happily towards the field. I remembered how often she was happy.
Suddenly the ball exploded before her and left her injured. She looked so hurt and sad. Why did this hurt? I was not injured but it was painful to watch. It didn't make any sense. Why? Why? Why?
I didn't want her to be hurt. I wanted her to smile. What could I do? There was no direction.
I felt the need to do something for her.
I teleported next to Pinkie Pie and put my hoof gently on her shoulder. She shuddered at first but eventually the pink pony seemed to calm down. Thankfully she stopped to cry. I felt just so relieved. How could Fluttercruel hurt her like this? But as I saw the young chimera, she seemed hurt as well. Even Discord seemed to be sad about this.
I thought it would be the best to gain some distance for now, so I teleported the pink pony and myself to another part of this world.
Pinkie Pie looked at me like a lost puppy, now I almost had to chuckle.
"Twilight?"
"Yes, Pinkie Pie?"
"Thank you, that was really nice."
"What are friends for?"
Finally she smiled again. This was well worth the effort. Suddenly somepony crashed into me.
"Ups, sorry."
As I looked around in disorientation, I could see a blue Pegasus with a rainbow colored mane hovering above me.
"Rainbow Dash!"
"The one and only!" did the self-assure Pegasus reply.
I hadn't expected anything else from her. Now I just wondered where Rarity and Applejack could be.
Despite the moon shining above me it was getting darker around here. That wouldn't make the search easier.
I illuminated the place around me with my horn and we three started to search for the missing two ponies. We could see Discord floating further away carrying his daughter and creating a giant flying house and two mountains.
After the Draconequus was gone, Pinkie Pie was immediately at the controls of one of the mountains and set it to create popcorn. Soon a lot of the stuff rained down from above and the pink pony and Rainbow Dash both kept eating it before it could fall to the ground.
It looked like they have a lot of fun.
I wished I could get some of it as well but there was hardly anything left that reached the ground. Suddenly Rainbow Dash started to catch the popcorn on her wings and hovered down to me.
"How about you try some as well?"
"Thank you, Dash."
Suddenly I felt a powerful surge of Chaos on this world. Discord was creating something special, I could feel it.
Rainbow and Pinkie reacted like they felt it was well. We were one with Chaos.
But I could also see that both were really exhausted. I could understand that, I also felt sleepy. We would continue our search tomorrow.
I could see the distorted image of six ponies from behind. I think there were Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Rarity. I didn't recognise the yellow pegasus. But she reminded me at Fluttercruel. Maybe she was a relative?
Then there was another purple unicorn. She looked so familiar. Was she me?
There was a dark Alicorn standing before them. Her name was… Nightmare Moon.
As energy glowed around them, the image moved back further. It was like whoever saw this instinctively took a step back when this happened.
What kind of energy was that? It just seemed so familiar.
The Nightmare hesitated for one moment and as the energy became stronger, the watcher fled the room. The last thing I could see was a rainbow.
The sunlight awoke me and Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash were still next to me. And they were snoring so loud that I wondered if they did wake me up with it. Seriously, how can they even continue sleeping with this noise?
Several rings floated above us and I could see Fluttercruel racing through them. I thought that might interest Rainbow as well.
"Rainbow. Rainbow! RAINBOW DASH!"
Somehow she was still snoring. She should have gotten a bed as her cutie mark. This called for a different tactic.
"The Wonderbolts are terrible flyers."
Now she finally was awake and flew up into the air.
"AH! Who said that?"
"Sorry but that seemed to be the only way to get you awake before it is night again."
Then Dash noticed Fluttercruel flying above them.
"Now just look at her smug face, so satisfied with herself. She will never learn to move her lazy flank faster if she keeps this up."
"Sounds strangely familiar, Dashie." Pinkie Pie adds with an arch smile.
"Hah. Just wait. I will show everypony that I am Chaos's fastest flyer!"
After Discord's first flying lesson was over I approached the Draconequus. I had searched everywhere on this world and by now I was worried where Rarity and Applejack could be. I saw many other ponies but there was no trace of the two.
"May I talk to you?"
"Hm? What? How? I didn't… What do you want to talk about?"
"We have been searching all this time for Applejack and Rarity but we couldn't find them. Do you know where they are?"
"Now this is new. But just give me a second."
I could feel Discord using more Chaos and as I turned around I saw the white unicorn and the farmer standing behind me.
"Girls! I was so worried."
Instantly I hugged them and they seemed a bit startled. But it felt just so right.
"Twilight? Your mane looks messy. Give me a moment to fix that."
"Ya ruin the moment."
Eventually the group hug ended and I noticed Discord floating near to us with a strangely serious expression.
"Thank you for bringing them here."
The eyes of the Draconequus were grey for a moment before they return to normal.
"You… You are welcome."
The next days seemed to fly past so fast. Rainbow Dash began to develop a rivalry with Fluttercruel and raced her whenever possible. I knew that she baited the young chimera into most of these races and that did work.
It was weird. While she was hard to wake up once she fell asleep, I actually remembered Dash being much lazier before. But maybe Rainbow just became more reliable after Fluttercruel kept dumping buckets of water on her when she overslept. However when the young chimera missed a lesson or a race because she slept longer, Dash was there to return the favor. Both took it very well and started to chase each other immediately.
Thanks to the experience Fluttercruel got much faster over time.
After the young incarnation of Chaos complained that all meals, she didn't know the flavours of, tasted like nothing Applejack began to cook dishes for her.
"Ah show ya how it is done and then ya could give out a round of chocolate milk for everypony."
So the farmer started to make meals for her. Surely Discord provided the ingredients for them.
Since she had enough free time and the chaotic plants could take care of themselves, she began to experiment more with her cooking. With all the ingredients and cooking utensils she could ever wish for, there was almost nothing she couldn't create. Some things were pretty normal like her pancakes but other dishes were so outlandish that they immediately got Discord's attention.
One looked like a giant cake but was entirely made out of fruits, vegetables, crops and fruit custard. Fluttercruel eyed it carefully.
"This does look way too healthy…"
"Trust mah Flutter. That's good eatin'!"
Suddenly Discord teleported himself right next to the culinary creation and looked really hungry.
"I think it is my turn to sacrifice myself and be the food tester."
After his painfully fake acting the incarnation of Chaos summoned a sword and cut off a small piece of cake.
Cheerfully he ate it within seconds, before flying a small circle in the air. For a second Discord looked almost envious.
"That is amazing. You really got me Applejack. Twenty-two stars out of ten! You should have been a cook instead of a farmer."
Carefully Fluttercruel summoned a knife and got a piece of this cake for herself. She knew how strange her father's taste could be.
But soon she smiled as well.
"Wow! This is… I mean… it is not too bad."
Saying something nice is still very hard to the young chimera. I guess that in a few months there wouldn't be any flavour left that Fluttercruel wouldn't know.
"Applejack, how did you come up with this?" Discord asked the cowpony, he looked a little...confused.
"Just somethin' I thought up."
"I see...Well, it was excellent," Discord said smiling almost proudly at the pony.
One day I saw Rarity talking with the Draconequus. He was holding a long list in his eagle claw.
"Mister Discord, I need these materials and a sewing machine. Inspiration has struck and I need to create something for Lady Fluttershy. I know it will look wonderful on her."
"Sounds good, here you get everything you need."
With one snap of his eagle claw all things Rarity wished for appeared before her. Her beaming smile was wonderful and within seconds she started to sew a dress for the young chimera.
Later at the same day I saw Fluttercruel approaching Pinkie Pie and looking strangely nervous. I reacted naturally and hid in the bushes nearby and pulled out a spyglass to see where this was going.
She better not hurt the pink pony.
The young chimera didn't do anything like this. I noticed the cotton candy cloud on a dog leash she was carrying with her. Was it a present for Pinkie Pie?
They talked silently and it was weird to see the normally so smug and exited incarnation of Chaos so calm. Eventually the pink pony hugged her and both enjoyed some chocolate milk together. I had to smile.
Over the next few days we all started to play chess with her. I think she really enjoyed it. Rarity and I were pretty good and sometimes we won, sometimes the young chimera was victorious. But despite me trying my best to train Applejack and Rainbow Dash both weren't that good with this game. Maybe they just needed more experience?
Pinkie Pie however was completely unbeatable; nopony ever won a game against her. I think she was using her Pinkie Pie Sense to win. This ability made perfect sense to me.
Then Rarity's first dress was finally ready. On this small world it was hard to miss any event that happened. The white unicorn hid the surprise within a big present box.
"Lady Fluttercruel, I have something special for you."
"Is it the biggest hamburger ever created?"
"No, this is much better. Behold this masterpiece!"
The box was opened with Rarity's telekinesis and a mismatched jester-like outfit with vibrant colors and strange patterns such as polka dots and stripes emerged from it.
Fluttercruel's mouth hit the ground.
"What do you think, Lady Fluttercruel?"
"I…"
Suddenly Rarity looked very worried.
"You don't like it? I can make a new one if…"
"NO! Don't dare to change anything. I love it!"
The young chimera practically dove into the dress and in one spinning motion she slipped inside.
"Fits like a glove. And you made this just for me?"
"It is a special present."
"Well, it is not that a great outfit for races but when I will wear this the next time when I will obliterate you in a game of chess."
"Just try it. I will not go down without a fight."
"I won't have it any other way."
More and more life appeared over time on this world: Poison Joke, singing piranha plants, bees, bears with wings, juggling octopi and timber wolves. Discord created houses for us to live in. Pinkie Pie obviously chose the house made out of chocolate.
Applejack started to take care of the chaotic plants and Rainbow made sure that the cotton candy and sour candy clouds changed places often enough.
Rainbow made a bet that it would take the hungry pink pony less than one month to be homeless again. I think that was her way of warning Pinkie from eating her own house. The weather patrol pony herself took a floating house.
Rarity lived in an upside-down house and claimed that it gave her more inspiration for dresses. Applejack chose a house made out of cards and put her cooking equipment inside. She said it didn't matter much to her in what kind of house she lived as long as it was close to ours.
I chose the really strange house that was bound to the ground, seemed to be made out of wood and had no chaotic extras to be close to my friends.
In the next day Discord and Fluttercruel created their own house to be placed in the very center of this world. Pinkie Pie said that Picasso would be proud. I just wondered who this Picasso pony was supposed to be.
The next few days were mostly calm. Sometimes I had to stop Pinkie Pie from trying to drink the entire chocolate milk pool. I don't think she was serious about it. Once Fluttercruel had to chase Rainbow Dash over half of this world to get the pancakes Applejack had made for her back. Overall Pinkie Pie and Fluttercruel got along very well. Sometimes it was like watching two sisters but it was hard to tell who had the role of the older sister.
Pinkie Pie once walked up to me and seemed strangely serious.
"Twilight, I would like to know something."
"Sure what is it?"
"How do you take care of somepony who is hurt? I was hurt once and it felt really good when you were there for me. I… I wish I could return the favour for others but I don't know how."
"Well that is not easy. I read once in a book that if you can see that somepony is suffering, you need to stay strong for this pony. You need to be the one who appears confident and reliable, even if you are also hurting inside. You don't need to hide your pain forever but in this critical moment you can give somepony else strength with it."
Afterwards I explained a few first aid techniques to her. She really took this lesson to heart. I felt like the best teacher on this world afterwards.
Somehow I remember Pinkie Pie being different, more carefree. And I faintly recalled her living with two adult earth ponies. But I never saw any pony resembling them on this world. Was there an error in my memories?
But we all tried to stay further away from Fluttercruel when she practised her Chaos. It exploded much too often to be safe. I didn't want anypony to get hurt. Despite that she was a good student and learned everything I taught her about Chaos in a very fast rate. Sometimes one of my friends sat next to her and listened to my lessons. I think they found them boring but did it to spend some time with me and Fluttercruel.
I began to work on a few spells based on Chaos and some other spells I knew. It was impressive how many spells I could remember. Somehow it felt like I had spent a lifetime learning them.
There was a shield spell I faintly remember casting while Discord sat on a throne before me and I was floating next to a few other ponies. It was strange. There was no throne here. But regardless I began to create a chaotic counterpart of that spell. It felt good to take the individual components apart and create something new by using Chaos instead of mana. This new spell shaped concentrated Chaos into a powerful barrier. I had to admit that I was very proud on the result. I would teach Fluttercruel that one later.
One day Discord appeared behind me and said that Fluttercruel needed a lesson in chaotic transformation. That was actually much further back on the curriculum I had created but I thought she was ready for that. I rushed over to Applejack to ask her if she would want to help me with the lesson. The cowpony agreed almost instantly.
Again I remember her being much more stubborn. I am not sure why my some of my memories seem to contradict what I see and experience here. For now I need to concentrate on the lecture.
Soon both Pinkie Pie and Fluttercruel sat before me, ready to listen to another lesson about Chaos.
"Attention students. Today we learn about the magic of transformation. For an average unicorn this is vey difficult and requires a huge amount of magic but for a being of Chaos the ability to change forms is almost second nature. It works very similar to how you shape Chaos into objects and magic. But in this case you work with the outer layer of Chaos surrounding yourself and shape it into a different form. Just try it."
The young chimera seemed unsure but concentrated and her mane began to change. I would recognise that ballooned pink hairstyle everywhere. As Fluttercruel opened her eyes she noticed the mirror I had summoned next to me.
Her reaction was priceless. She really seemed to enjoy it and Pinkie Pie also had her fun. Then the incarnation of Chaos became a copy of Rainbow Dash. I guess the pegasus would not like it to see another version of herself running around.
"As you see as long as you understand the basics of Chaos, shapeshifting is quite easy. But unlike the disguises used by skilled unicorns or changelings, a being of Chaos can shift the entire body in nearly every way imaginable, creating tools, joke articles and weapons whenever they are needed. Try to immobilise this target."
And right on clue Applejack appeared next to me. I didn't even need to call for her. It was like we were all connected over Chaos.
"Ah don't like where this is going…"
I just knew that Fluttercruel would not hurt her and she didn't disappoint me. I noticed the hair growing out of her tail and sneaking up on the farmer. AJ didn't see it coming and soon she was trapped by the young chimera when the hair turned into a rope and lifted her from the ground.
But after a few seconds she was carefully placed back to where she had stood before. I hadn't expected anything else. Both Applejack and Pinkie Pie went back to the plants afterwards. I think the pink pony just wanted to sing along with some of the piranha plants.
Discord and Fluttercruel raced towards their house and I teleported myself there for the photo finish. I guess technically that would make me the one of won the race. Soon both almost crashed into their home/house/construct/whatever and wanted to know who won.
"Let's see… and the winner is… dramatic pause… for the first time ever Discord actually won a race."
It was not easy to say that with a straight face. He really seemed to enjoy his first win. Discord created a small golden trophy with the inscription "Fastest chaotic personification of Chaos since breakfast" and prepared to give a speech. This might take some time.
"I want to thank Fluttercruel, for being the first being since the dawn of existence that managed to actually teach me something."
Now that was a nice change of pace. I have to admit that I was speechless that he didn't take this chance to talk about himself. Fluttercruel had a similar reaction.
Some of my memories of Discord showed him acting very different: arrogant and dismissive. I am not sure what to think about that. He had always treated us with respect and could be so nice from time to time. Why would someone like him act so mean-spirited?
Soon it was almost Nightmare Night and Discord had created costumes for everypony. Only Rarity absolutely insisted to make her own costume and said she wanted to try something really eccentric. Considering what her usual designs looked like, I had no idea what to expect.
It was the night before Nightmare Night when I took the time and looked up to the stars above me. There was Ursa Minor, the thin dragon, the great water bucket, the wet Draconequus and me. Me? Why was there a constellation of me in the sky?
The strange dream I had once came to my mind. I remembered the other version of me. Something didn't add up.
I remembered reading books in a library that didn't exist on this world.
I had noticed that all of us, besides Discord and Fluttercruel, could talk telepathically. Why did I only notice that now?
Many of my memories showed me and my friends from the outside, instead of my own perspective.
I knew so much about Chaos I never remembered learning or reading about.
Why do so many of my memories not match this world? I remember ponies, houses and entire cities that seem to be missing.
Why do I have faint memories of ponies with wings and horns turning sun and moon?
Why do I remember living with a small purple and green dragon if there isn't a single dragon on this world?
Why does my house feel too big for a single pony?
What had happened to this world?
Or was something wrong with me?
Confused I walked towards Discord's home and saw him sitting on top of it watching the stars as well. Soon he noticed me and floated down to the ground.
"Excited for the big next day?" Discord asked curiously.
"I just can't sleep but why are you still awake?"
"… My dreams were very… unpleasant. So I decided to stop sleeping for a while."
"Can you tell me who the unicorn constellation represents?"
He looked at me like he had seen a ghost. But eventually the Draconequus recovered from his shock. He teleported us to the edge of the world and nopony else was there with us.
"You have really grown. I bet you don't even notice how much."
"I don't understand…"
"You will. But first let me answer your question. Her name was Twilight Sparkle but then she began calling herself Twilight Tragedy."
"But that is my name. Is she another version of me? Was she the pony I saw in my dream?"
"What dream? Tell me about it."
And soon I described to him what I saw in this strange dream. Back then I hardly thought about it but now it seemed much more important.
"I guess I own you an explanation. What you saw was my perspective of these events just before Nightmare Moon was defeated. I often watched the other world when I was bored and the future Element of Magic quickly got my attention. I had my suspicions that she was going to be the one wielding this power."
"Stop changing topics! Who is she? Who am I?"
For a moment Discord looked sad.
"Sorry, it is just much easier for me to confuse others than to make things clearer. You saw the moment where Twilight Sparkle became the Element of Magic and defeated Nightmare Moon."
"But that doesn't make any sense. I am Twilight Sparkle and I never did that."
"... I created you from Chaos. I had done that very often before but never in all these years had I ever seen Chaos so alive."
"Then I am just a construct, a fake?"
Was everything I remembered wrong? Were all my friends just puppets? Copies of real ponies?! Was I a puppet?
Was the mean-spirited Discord I remember the real one and this was just an act, just a mask and any moment he will start to laugh that I was foolish enough to believe him?
Nothing of what I did here mattered, right? I was just a puppet to entertain his daughter and now that I have realized that, he will just throw me away and replace me with another happy version of Twilight.
Surely my development was just a mistake, a glitch and the next Twilight will be a constantly happy teacher of Chaos... Maybe I just think I've developed and I've just been doing exactly what he wanted me too...
... Are these tears? No, I am just a puppet. Puppets don't cry. I-I'm just seeing things...I'm not real...
"Twilight! Do a back flip!"
"Wha… Why? Why should I do that?"
Discord smiled at me and wiped my face off with a tissue.
"If you were just a puppet, you would have followed that order without second thought. If you were just a puppet, you wouldn't cry about that idea." He showed me the tissue...it had tear stains in it.
What? Then...I really did cry? I made my own decision?
"And would a puppet ever realize she was a puppet?"
I look into his face, expecting a cruel smirk but his smile seems genuine. I guess thinking about it...I have done a lot of things that wouldn't make any sense for a puppet to do... Like realizing she might be a puppet and thinking about it. But they would make perfect sense if…
"Then… I am alive?"
"You were born from Chaos but that doesn't make you less real than others. But I saw many worlds in Truth. I saw many, many ways that life could be born. I saw machines developing a life and an identity of their own. In that world, I had a sister named Strife, she went to the top gods and petitioned them to be considered real life, and the gods agreed. There is a Twilight that calls herself Twilight Tragedy and I have also seen one that calls herself Twilight Sparkle. They are both equally real and just because you were born in a different way doesn't make you less real than them. There are other versions of me as well."
The memories he had given me showed me Twilight and her friends acting similar but also very different. Neither I nor any of my friends were perfect copies of them.
We had our own characters and I think, the longer we exist, the more different we will become.
And that makes sense. If there would be two versions of Twilight Sparkle growing up under different circumstances, it would only be normal that they would become more different over time. Anything else would be really strange. I may have been created as a clone of her, but if anything, I'd be more like her twin sister than a copy; we look alike, have some things in common... but we're not the same.
There was nothing wrong with me.
I had to smile; I guess this was exactly what I needed to hear. Discord really helped me to overcome this confusion. I believe him. I chose to believe him.
"I see. But Fluttercruel is different. Does she have a mother?"
"… Yes, her name is Fluttershy and you saw her in this dream. She is the Element of Kindness."
So she was the pony I can faintly remember and who I saw in my dream.
"Will she ever be able to meet her?"
"Why are you so worried about her? Shouldn't you be more interested in yourself?"
"I think somehow I always knew it but never put the pieces together. I just want to know about the difference between us and them. What is the other world like?"
"I will tell you what I know…"
Then Discord took the time and explained me how Equestria was like. How the ponies lived under Celestia's and Luna's rule. How the Elements of Harmony were like and how they overcame Nightmare Moon and Discord.
It was amazing to hear this. It was a world so completely different, so strange and yet so familiar at the same time. I just knew that it was true. Had they not defeated Discord and started his journey, I wouldn't even exist. And he'd still be the same person he was before, not the person I've known all my life. I own them so much.
"I'm so proud of you all...I've never been able to create something like you...my previous creations were really puppets doing what I programmed them...But this entire world...It's changed so much since I made it...and I think it, you all, and Fluttercruel are some of the only things I'm honestly proud I made."
"Discord...You've changed a lot too...I can hardly tell you're the same Discord from my dreams...I guess you aren't anymore."
He gave me a smile and I smiled back.
I learned so much in these few hours, about the world and about myself. I understood how we reflect what was happening there but also and what we did by ourselves. There was no reason to be afraid of this existence. Yet my house still felt too big for one pony.
"Somehow I wish I had a companion, somebody like Spike, somebody who would live with me and keep me company. But I don't want to simply copy her…"
Discord looked thoughtful for a moment before a light bulb appeared over his head. Then the light bulb grew wings and fluttered away.
"How about you get a special companion as a Nightmare Night present? It could be a chimera with parts of a phoenix, an alligator and a rabbit."
"...Could the chimera also be part skunk and part snake?" My memories of the original Twilight had some bad encounters with those animals...but I thought they were interesting beings.
"Hmm...Ok, but only because of Nightmare Night. Doesn't that sound like a lovely combination?"
"Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! I love it."
Only then did I notice that I was hopping around in circles.
"Ahem. But you can take your time, you can wait until Nightmare Night is over and Fluttercruel is asleep."
I was looking forward to Nightmare Night. Sooner or later I would have to talk with my friends about this. Maybe they have already found this out on their own? Who knows? Who cares if there is somepony else who shares my name and my face? They have their own life, I have mine. I am not a puppet. I am just me.
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Pony POV Series Chaos Verse
Luna and Celestia: Unwanted Half Part 1 Luna
Luna and Celestia: Unwanted Half Part 1 Luna
Luna and Celestia: Unwanted Half
Only a few hours remained until Nightmare Night as the Goddess of the Night - Luna - paced aimlessly around her own luxurious room in the Canterlot Castle. The entire room was decorated to replicate the night sky: Constellations and nebulas were painted onto the walls, the bed sheet was a perfectly accurate star chart, the furniture was enchanted to appear like dark clouds and the marble floor replicated Equstria as seen from the sky.
One of the more prominent features of the room was an easel with a painting of a new and unfinished constellation. Even Luna wasn't quite sure, what it should be in the end. But then the ponies usually saw something completely different in her creations, so the ruler of the Night didn't worry about that at the moment.
More important to her were several dictionaries, history books and countless books about making good first impressions lying on the floor. Most of them were quite current by the standard of a Goddess, only hundred years old.
Some of the dictionaries were a lot older but Luna had decided to catch up with everything she missed in thousand years, starting from the beginning. Even after one year of work the ruler of the Night still had over 400 years left to recap. Her personal guards were mostly busy bringing her new books and carrying of the ones she had finished.
"Only three hours left and our preparations aren't even half done."
Her sister, the Goddess of the Sun - Celestia – was surprisingly understanding in this time and had never pushed her into showing herself more on formal events or taking any duty, she didn't ask for.
The ruler of the Day didn't even complain when Luna didn't attend the Grand Galloping Gala. The memories of the horrible scream of "You're ... going to LOVE ME! " echoing through the entire castle would still haunt the Princess of the Night forever.
"And they called us the Princess of Nightmares…"
And Celestia said that despite the destruction of one fourth of the castle by the animal stampede this was still the best Grand Galloping Gala since hundreds of years. Luna dreaded to ask how the Galas before that ended. Despite the soul crushing scream the Princess of the Night did regret her absence, she knew how much her sister was bored by this event but she couldn't bring herself to appear in public yet.
After the things she had done as Nightmare Moon she didn't just have to make a good first impression, she had to make a grand, perfect and flawless first impression. Luna had seen the dreams of her subjects; she knew that most of them still feared her. It was not nearly as bad as in the past but she would never let the same tragedy repeat itself.
"But we will not let Celly shoulder the burden of leadership all by herself! THIS IS WHY WE ARE DOING THIS!"
At these times the traditional royal Canterlot voice did come almost automatically, but at least it only appeared when she was unconfident, nervous, exited, happy, overworked, psyched, cheerful, stressed or unsure. The Goddess of the Night didn't use it all the time.
She knew her sister had her own burden. Celestia blamed herself for sending the Elements to confront Discord on their own but it was the only choice they had. Only the six could wield the Elements now. But the Sun Goddess was working on a spell that might make things easier for Twilight and her friends in the future. It wouldn't be the first time.
After Luna's fall into madness the incarnation of the Light had created the memory spell that eventually helped to save the other Elements after Twilight's reawakening. Now she was working on a spell that could allow the two Alicorns to channel the power of Harmony over the bearers into themselves.
Right now the incantation was horribly slow but eventually they might be able to use that to avoid having to send the young heroes into every danger that requires Harmony. Both Alicorns agreed that the six had a right on a normal life without constantly having to face monsters like Discord.
Lost in her thoughts Luna tripped over one of the many books lying on the ground: A book about modern royal protocol. Without taking at second look at it the annoyed Princess of the Night threw it under her bed. Fanatically she went over her other books again, repeating the lectures of the royal "we" and the traditional royal Canterlot voice, not even noticing, that she picked some of the oldest books in the room.
"And again: Citizens of Ponyville! We have graced your tiny village with our presence, so that you might behold the real princess of the night! A creature of nightmare is no longer, but instead a pony who desires your love and admiration! Together we shall change this dreadful celebration into a bright and glorious feast!"
The Princess was sure, that such a kind and suitable royal speech would win the hearts of their subjects, especially the hearts of the ponies that had greeted her so friendly the last time they had met. And she simply had to change the gloomy nature of the festival; it was a constant reminder at her old failure.
Outside her loyal guards prepared her chariot for her grand appearance. It was custom made by her servants and they followed the Goddess's instructions perfectly. Nopony dared to mention, that the dark, spiky design with the single constantly starring eye at the front was horrifying.
It was not they feared her, her servants knew her better than this but they just didn't have the heart to do so. Originally the Princess of the Night considered enchanting the eye so it could move around and stare at ponies nearby. Eventually she decided that this may be a bit too impressive.
The chariot had mysteriously vanished the night before Nightmare Night and Celestia had offered her own as a replacement. But the determined Luna together with her night guards had searched every bit of Canterlot until they had found it again in an abandoned building. She still had no idea how it ended there as she had decided against enabling the chariot to move on its own. Since then it was constantly guarded by her best troops to prevent another disappearance.
Inside the ruler of the Night decided to take one final nap before it was time for her grand entrance. She had to distract herself with something. As the Princess slowly fell asleep, she dreamed about an almost forgotten time and the very first thing she ever heard.
"Remember you three represent the three foundations of this world. You, Celestia, are the Light, my little Luna embodies the Darkness and last but not least Discord is the Chaos between those two forces."
It was the only time they had heard the voice of their creator. After everything the Draconequus did the incarnation of the Night never understood why their creator would fabricate something as Discord, if Celestia and herself already were the perfect Harmony. There was no place for Chaos on this pure world.
They were mere children as the world was still young: Two Alicorn fillies and a small Draconequus. Celestia was the first to realize her true power, only a few hours after their creation the personification of the Light was able to raise the sun and bathed the world in light. It was the most beautiful thing Luna had seen in her so far short life. Around twelve hours later Luna was able to use her own ability to bring out the moon but somehow it seemed a lot less impressive than Celestias bright sun. She had hoped that it would glow as well and not just reflect sunlight.
As Luna pouted disappointingly at her creation, Discord stepped in, lifted the dark foal up and spun her around. Suddenly pink clouds appeared above them raining chocolate rain on them. Curiously all three of them drank the rain. It tasted absolutely horrible. All three broke down laughing. Somewhere between the laughter the Draconequus managed to comment their creations.
"We two really need to work on our act."
They slowly grew and discovered more about their abilities, while realizing that unlike every other being they had encountered, they didn't need to eat, drink, sleep and didn't age. Over time Discords chocolate rain actually became drinkable, while Luna added more and more stars to the night sky and realized her ability to enter and oversee the subconscious world. Sometimes when a pony suffered under an especially horrible dream, the incarnation of the Night just attacked the nightmare and absorbed it into herself.
Soon Discord realized that his Chaos wasn't limited to chocolate rain and his creations became more and more outlandish. His creations often exploded and acted more like wind-up toys than living beings. Over time his Chaos became more durable but his creations still seemed lifeless.
They just continued to follow the simplest of orders indefinitely. Whenever one of them crashed into something or fell over, the empty creations shattered like cheap glass. The Draconequus loved to point out, that his abilities made him something completely different from the mortals and their daily suffering.
"What would those little ponies do without us? Without your light they wouldn't even be able to grow this weird food stuff. They are weak and worthless without the magic we bring into this world. Even with it they …"
"Don't mock them. Just because we don't share their pain, doesn't mean that we are better than them. They are much stronger than you think."
Celestia always was the first to defend them. At the time it did seem somewhat excessive to her younger sister, but as time went by and Discords remarks and pranks, even towards the two other incarnations, became more and more dismissive and mean-spirited Luna understood her sister more and more.
Somehow Discord seemed to be more and more frustrated over time. Whenever the two asked him what was wrong he always changed the topic. Eventually the personification of Chaos abandoned the small group without saying a word and the two sisters were left by themselves.
Luna decided to watch over the mortals in the subconscious world but that turned out to be harder than expected. The place was so overwhelming huge and she couldn't only see a small fraction of it at the time.
That changed when after seven years Discord returned. It happened on a day when Luna was all alone trying to practise some spells. He literally appeared without warning before her eyes.
"Ahhhh!" the shocked Alicorn found herself screaming in surprise.
"Ahhhh! Sorry, I didn't want to startle you. But you looked so down that I wanted to cheer you up. Why do you look so sad? Did Celestia bully you?"
His tone and body language were playful but he kept his eyes on her. There was something different about his eyes but she couldn't quite narrow it down.
"You merely surprised me! And my sister would never hurt me. Where were you all this time?"
"Moi? After Celestia kept talking about how strong these mortals are, I spend some time with them, disguised as one of them. It was quite entertaining. They taught me this wonderful game called chess and in turn I really started to enjoy playing my games with them."
"So you began to like them more?" The Alicorn still had trouble to process that he would spend time with the mortals on his own free will.
The look he gave her after she said that should have told her that he hadn't merely played chess with the ponies. But Luna was too occupied with her own problems and thought that some games couldn't possibly cause any harm.
"I had my fun with them. How do your trips to this subconscious world thingie work?"
"Not as good as I had hoped, unfortunately. The realm connects every mind on this world and it is just so huge. I want to protect them but I simply can't be everywhere…"
"Are you telling me that Celestia didn't tell you about this spell by now?"
"What are you talking about? What spell?"
His expression and body language were still cheerful but his eyes stayed fixated on her. Looking at his eyes was somewhat strange, it was like something was almost gone. But she was much more curious about the spell.
"She didn't share? Ohhhhh. How selfish. Don't worry, I will tell you everything you need to know: It is a spell to separate a part of yourself and be in multiple places at the same time. I saw her working on it months ago. And she is done by now, so she should have told you..."
"She didn't tell me anything about that! It must have been a mistake. That's it. She would never hold something like this back. Especially not, if she knew that I needed it."
Only much later did the Goddess of the Night realise that the correct question should have been, how he could know all these things if he was gone since seven years.
"You think that it was a mistake? You are too trusting. I think it shows you how much this Harmony stuff and you really mean to her. But luckily for you I am here to show you how it is done."
Then he taught her the spell and it did exactly what he promised her it would do. It was almost surreal to see through two pairs of eyes but soon she rejoined with that part of herself. The spell was absolutely perfect to cover more ground in the subconscious world and protect more mortals at the same time.
At first she thought that Celestia would love to hear about his return but now she wasn't so sure anymore. Why did her sister hide this spell from her? Why was she not willing to share? Did Celestia not trust her?
Only after her own second encounter with the Elements would she realise that the Draconequus didn't tell her about the not so minor side effect this spell could have. The longer it was used and the more the caster split himself or herself apart, the more stress it would cause for the being. The spell could erode the sanity of the being casting it for too long. And Discord knew already that the ruler of Darkness would use the incantation constantly to watch over the subconscious world.
"Now that was easy. But do me one favour in return and don't tell Celestia about this little lesson. You know how she is, always seeing danger in EVERYTHING I do. So what if the original weather system is gone after the little incident? It turned out that the pegasi are perfectly able to control the weather themselves. Who would have guessed? Now her ponies can prove how strong they really are."
"I think she is worried about them and about you as well. She would never do anything to hurt her family." Luna tried to remind him that Celestia would never harm him or her.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that. You shouldn't trust her. Trust is a weakness and just leaves you open for an attack. One day you will desperately need her help and she will do nothing for you. Why do you think she didn't teach you a spell, she knew you would need desperately? Her precious ponies and this big ball of light mean much more to her than…"
"ENOUGH! I will not listen to this any longer!" the Alicorn stomped with her forelegs on the ground.
For one second the look on Discord's face was one of pure hatred, only to be replaced by the same goofy expression he usually wore.
"Fine, have it your way. But you better watch your back."
Without further words he vanished as sudden and quietly as he had arrived.
Luna told herself that Celestia merely forgot this spell. Still the two kept their distance from the mortals until one day, when they found a white unicorn mare lying next to a tree. She wasn't moving anymore.
Both Alicorns knew what that meant but suddenly they heard crying. The Sun Goddess reached the unicorn first, her face uncharacteristically stern.
"No, I won't let another one die today. We will find a family for her."
The Goddess of the Night reached the foal next. It was absolutely adorable: She had silver fur not unlike that of her mother, the mane and tail were purple and her big purple eyes were sparkling in the sunshine.
They hid their wings under illusions and tried to find other family members for the newborn but there were none to be found. As Luna became more and more frustrated, she made a suggestion that would have more consequences then she thought.
"Why don't we just raise her instead?"
To her surprise her sister accepted the idea immediately and raised a question on her own.
"We shall! What do you think we should name her?"
"I don't know. You found her first. You should decide. But how about Solar Wind or Sparkler?"
Both personifications decided to live under the other mortals in disguise, nurtured the foal and watched it grow older as they stayed exactly the same. Both Goddesses concluded that while they didn't need the bits, they should find work to fit in better. The incarnation of the Light started a successful career as a storyteller, while Luna became a showpony, impressing the audience with illusions.
At the same time they slowly changed their appearance to simulate an aging process. Nopony realized who they really were and soon they learned more about the mortals than in the near infinitive years before that.
Eventually both decided to seal the majority of their power to ensure, that they wouldn't expose themselves by accident. They would regret that decision later.
Celestia eventually started to teach the little Sparkler about magic, while Luna thought that making her a personal student went too far. Soon the young unicorn got the nickname Solar as well. One fateful day the child was playing with two of her friends: a pegasus named Surprise and an earth pony named Tootsie. All three of them were practically family by now.
The group was in a region that would later been known as the Everfree Forest. For now it was just a peaceful field filled with all kinds of flowers. Suddenly the ground beneath them gave away and both Alicorns rushed to the aid of the foals.
The Sun Goddess reached them first, saving the young unicorn and earth pony, as Luna rescued the little and still unable to fly pegasus.
"Thank you, mother. That was incredible!"
"Thank you, lady Celestia!"
"That was scary!"
Luna growled at the reaction of the ungrateful pegasus. She would have loved Celestia for that. The children always liked her sister more and little Solar and Celestia were so close.
Soon the Goddess of Darkness got distracted by a strange energy she felt in the hollow ground below them. After her sister had sent the children back home, both Alicorns removed their illusions and explored the caves to track down the source of this power.
After flying deeper and deeper inside, the incarnations found a silver sphere resting on a stone pillar, surrounded by six colourful orbs slowly flying around it. One orb was purple, another blue, the third one violet, another yellow, the fifth one green and the final one was red. Both had never seen anything like this before.
The next events rushed so fast past Luna that she could only see few moments: She saw herself, the ruler of the sun and the three ponies studying the strange orbs. The image of Discord's return appeared to her, as the sisters realized that the spirit of Chaos had manipulated the seal they had placed on their own power. Now they couldn't break the seal without his help, leaving them significantly weaker than the Draconequus.
Not only that but he had created countless monsters from animals that acted as his army and enforcers: Manticores, three headed dogs, Timber wolves, hydras and cockatrices. He had created them from living beings and they were much more durable and persistent than the constructs they knew.
Finally the Alicorn of the Night witnessed the three ponies returning to the sisters. They were older now but something was wrong, all three of them were grey.
Everything melted away and shifted into the remains of the former Canterlot. Discord's statue fell to the ground of the broken city. His opera-like stance was the eternal proof, that even in the end he didn't take the other incarnations seriously. Smoke rose from the ground, most houses were either damaged or destroyed and the gigantic clock tower, the former central landmark of the city, was now a smoking crater.
Discord had turned it into a giant death course and then blew up the entire structure when the two Alicorns made some progress inside. If Luna hadn't been able to blast an opening into the weakened wall, they could have been done for.
Celestia and Luna floated down slowly, both constantly encircled by the six elements. The remaining monsters fled the city as fast as possible, only a single three headed puppy remained behind. It would later be given important guardian duties. At the same time ponies slowly tried to shake off the influence of the chaotic energy, returning to their normal colors.
Many ponies had followed the sisters into their battle and kept the monsters and corrupted ponies out of their way. A young Starswirl collapsed exhausted to the ground as his three opponents slowly returned to their real colors. His famous ancestor would be proud.
Suddenly the elements stopped their dance and landed on the floor. Luna struggled to even stand on her legs. The Goddess of the Light breathed heavily and walked up to Discord's statue.
"You will regret your crimes against these innocent mortals. I will make sure of it."
Her horn radiated pure energy. The incarnation of the Light would cast her final judgement on the foul creature before her. Slowly her Cutie Mark turned brighter.
"Please, sister. It is over," Luna begged her sister, somehow horrified what could happen next.
"No, as long as he exists, he will be a threat. Unless I rip out his soul and banish it into the sun, he will return to torture them."
Her Cutie Mark was now a glaring light and it spread, until the sun symbol wasn't even visible anymore.
"Look at them! They are mere mortals. Discord said they were worthless, but they are all fighting his corruption now. They are still standing, while he became a statue. They are STRONGER than him!" the ruler of the Night screamed at her sister.
"I must save…"
The sudden arrival of three ponies interrupted the sisters. All three were on the edge of a nervous breakdown.
"Mother, I am so sorry! I don't care if I am adopted. You will always be my mother!"
"Please lady Celestia, forgive me! I didn't want to…"
"Auntie Luna, I didn't mean what I said! You are not a monster! You can be scary but fun!"
Instantly the strange light around the incarnation of the Sun vanished and Celestia managed to smile weakly at her family. Broken bonds could be repaired. But the damage was done and after Discord's reign the ponies would need guidance to rebuild their nation.
The entire scenery dissolved and reshaped itself into the throne room of the royal Canterlot castle. Hundreds of years had passed since Discord's defeat and the death of Sparkler and her best two friends of old age. Their lines continued even into the present, even if the names would change over the hundreds of years, their descendents were even considered nobles by the other ponies.
Celestia and Luna had honoured the suffering of the three ponies as well as the misery of every pony under Discord's rule in one of the glass windows, depicting a white unicorn, a yellow earth pony and a white Pegasus suffering under Discord's Chaos. The Princesses had managed to rule the land in perfect Harmony until one fateful day.
Still the feeling that the ponies would always love her sister more frustrated the Princess of the Night more than she wanted to admit. They both did rule over Equestria. They should be equals. She wondered if that state would change if she could govern the country by herself for a short time.
After hundreds of years of failure Celestia and Luna had finally managed to open the strange sphere the Elements of Harmony did once circle around. The incarnation of the Darkness stood next to her sister's side curious, what may lie inside. Another Element? Or maybe even a message from their creator? The Princess of the Sun was uncharacteristically serious.
"Little sister, we ask you to wait outside."
"NO, WHY … should you be the only one to see this secret? We have worked together for all these years to open that darn metallic ball and now you want it all for yourself?!" Luna was shocked to find her accent slipping under stress.
"Lulu…"
"DON'T PATRONIZE ME YOU SELFISH NAG! It is always about you!" Both sisters looked hurt after Luna's outburst and the ruler of darkness opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out of it.
"Listen, somehow I have a bad feeling about this, so please just wait outside. When I know that it is safe, I will call you right back in."
"Fine…"
Still agitated the ruler of half a day walked outside. All of their guards followed her and waited for any sign of Celestia. After five minutes of silence the guards became uneasy. After ten minutes without any sign from her sister Luna was almost hysterical with fear.
She ordered the guards to stay back. Slowly she opened the door and saw her sister collapsed on the floor. Carefully she picked her up with telekinesis and moved the Sun Goddess out of the room, immediately followed by sealing the entire throne room with her magic.
The incarnation of the Sun breathed evenly but her eyes moved aimlessly around the room. They rushed Celestia to the doctors living in the castle but they were completely baffled by her condition.
No pony had ever seen anything like it. Luna couldn't even reach her sister over the subconscious world, which normally connected everypony, not just in their dreams. She regretted everything she had said.
Everything became blurred and the dream reshaped itself into the balcony of the royal castle.
"Princess, please you have to try and move the sun. It has been two days of constant sunshine."
One of the court members – a purple earth pony whose name Luna didn't bother to learn - merely spelled out the obvious. The Princess of the Night had studied Celestia's notes for the last two days, trying to find out how to move the sun and how to give the ponies of Equstia some much needed rest.
Countless times she had visited her sister, only to find her in the same catatonic condition. Finally as the second day was almost over, she managed to concentrate her power on the sun and moved it down slowly and then raised her own moon.
She nearly fainted from the effort. The entire court praised the return of the night. Exhausted the Princess fell asleep after two days without any of it. Like always she started to watch over the subconscious world. There she saw and heard what her subjects thought of the turn of events.
"The Princess of the Night is said to have poisoned her own sister."
"No doctor could help Princess Celestia, it must have been a curse from her traitorous sister."
"Now the Princess of Darkness is the only ruler, she must have planed this…"
"I hate the Princess of Nightmares! I want Princess Celestia back!"
The last dream came from a young earth pony foal. Luna awoke screaming. She began to think that no matter what the Princess of the Night did for them, her subjects would never love or even like her as much as Celestia. Her ability to take their nightmares into herself only caused her subjects to fear her even more and some gave her the title "Princess of Nightmares" or sometimes "Queen of Nightmares."
There had to be something she could do to improve her image, if she couldn't get admiration, then maybe she could at least get the respect she deserves as the ruler of Darkness.
As the next days went by the Princess of the entire day still found it draining and even disturbing to move the sun, like it was an Element she shouldn't temper or even make any contact with. Over time she began to despise the sun. Still for her mostly ungrateful subjects she endured this suffering; at least her sister would understand her plight, should she ever reawaken.
Luna shuddered at the thought of losing her sister - her only family - forever. That wasn't what she wanted to happen when she thought about ruling the land by herself.
After one week she couldn't stand to even look at the sun anymore, it was the eternal proof that whatever the ruler of the night did for her subjects it would simply never be good enough. They ignored her wonderful constellations and meteor showers only to worship this gigantic, painful and worthless ball of light.
The dreams of the ponies also got worse and worse. Eventually the incarnation of Darkness saw ponies dreaming about hunting and burning her. The image of herself burning on a fire as the bright light started to consume the flesh on her head and wings would hunt her in her own nightmares. She felt completely unable to absorb this horrible nightmare.
After two weeks without her sister, the Princess moved one night almost apathetic to Celestia's room. But the bed was empty.
"Celly? Sister! Where are you?"
Soon Luna noticed a shadow outside the window and found her sister standing just on the balcony. Carefully the ruler of the Night moved closer to her. Celestia looked at the world around them like she had seen it for the first time.
"Sister? Is that you?"
The answer was an energetic and sudden hug by her sister.
"Lulu… Oh I am so happy to see you again. That was an unbelievable journey. You will not believe what I have seen! There is so much life outside of this world; so many different worlds and universes."
The Princess of the Night couldn't believe what she heard. Her self-centred sister enjoyed her vacation in dream land, while she had to shoulder the entire burden of ruling the world and moving both the sun and moon. Celestia was completely selfish. Luna's pain meant nothing to her. She couldn't believe that after all these years Discord was right about her.
"Sister…"
"We are lucky to live in such a peaceful world. Sure we had Discord, but there are so many other horrors, that could have infested our world. In these few hours I really learned to appreciate this world and the wonderful living beings here."
Was she really that blind? Did she really not see what her sister, who stood right next to her, was through and instead cared for some worthless dream?
"SISTER! You were asleep for two weeks! I had to move the moon AND the sun the entire time! EVERYPONY still hated it! THEY ARE ALL AFRAID OF ME!"
"Lulu… I… I am so sorry. I didn't know…"
The ruler of half a day realized that she was truly alone. Even her own sister would rather side with the ungrateful mortals than with her own flesh and blood.
"I ruled Equestria all by myself and these ungrateful mortals still hated me for it. I don't need them. I don't need you. I DON'T NEED ANYPONY!
Slowly darkness surrounded the Princess of the Night.
At this very moment a grey mare entered the balcony and seemed to burst with joy after seeing Princess Celestia recovering from her condition. She completely ignored the younger sister standing right next to her.
At the same time the Goddess of the Night grew taller, her armor became more imposing, her mane grew and trashed around violently and the color of her fur became pure black.
"YOU UNGRATEFUL LITTLE PONY!"
The ethereal mane formed a sharp pike and aimed right at the head of the unconcerned pony. Without any hesitation Celestia quickly used telekinesis to pull the mare to her side.
"Until they learn to bow down to the night and praise the true ruler…"
Darkness exploded from the incarnation of the Night and spread over the entire world.
"… the night will last forever!"
Vanishing in insane laughter the ruler of Darkness left one devastated Alicorn behind on the balcony of the Canterlot Castle. In the sky all stars vanished, leaving only the moon behind. Now the night was even darker.
Again events rushed so fast past Luna, that she could only see few sections: She saw her battle with her own sister and the seemingly eternal sleep in banishment. Then the incarnation of Darkness saw her awakening at the Summer Sun Celebration as her sister didn't even fight back against her and was banished into her own celestial body.
Luna's dream shifted again, this time she remembered when the reawakened Elements of Harmony formed into a rainbow. As the power flew directly at her, the Nightmare was too surprised to evade and hesitated. Once the power surrounded her there was no escape anymore, she felt a pain she never felt before. She was nearly crushed by all of her memories appearing before her eyes at the same time.
She saw herself fighting and almost killing Celestia and struggling against Discord to protect her sister.
She witnessed the suffering the months of darkness had brought over the ponies as well as the joy and relief the ponies felt, when the night returned after its absence for 2 days.
She remembered the nightmares the ponies had about her and she was reminded at the times when she protected her subjects from their own nightmares.
She viewed Discord tormenting the mortals for his own enjoyment and the time when all three of the immortals calmly listened to their creators voice.
The Alicorn didn't want to feel all her hatred, greed, bitterness and envy anymore. Finally she was able to let go of it. It was an incredible relief and the Harmony around her suddenly was a lot less painful, in fact it felt warm and comforting.
The ruler of Darkness shrank down in size, her fur turning into a much lighter shade than before her transformation. Now she could hardly stand on her own hoofs from the exhaustion. Only then did she notice her older sister standing above her.
"It has been a thousand years since I have seen you like this. Time to put our differences behind us. We were meant to rule together, little sister. Will you accept my friendship?"
Luna couldn't believe what she just heard. After leaving her alone with this burden for 1000 years and everything she did as Nightmare Moon, Celestia still considered the ruler of Darkness her little sister. She still considered her worth saving.
"I'm so sorry! I missed you so much, big sister!"
"I've missed you, too."
As the dream ended Luna awoke calmly in her room. She decided that there was no turning back now. The Alicorn would confront these ponies again and do her best to win their hearts.
Still the incarnation of the Night wished this encounter could be as easy as her encounter with the Elements of Harmony. Just one strike and all doubts and hatred would disappear. Why couldn't it be always that easy?
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Pony POV Series Chaos Verse
Luna and Celestia: Unwanted Half Part 2 Celestia
It was impossible big. There was no end to it. Celestia had no idea what she did look at. The last thing she remembered was carefully opening the metallic sphere, after her sister and every guard had left.
Now she saw an endless flow of images.
For a second several names echoed past her: Pool of Truths, Mirror of Souls, Gate to Self, Abyss of Fears, Existence's Shadow and simply Truth.
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Why should she just trap his soul in the sun?
Her light shined brighter than before.
Eventually he would escape that prison as well. There was only one way to make sure that he would never harm another pony again.
The light was so bright that it was harmful to look at it. Nopony besides her sister was there to help her.
Celestia crushed Discord's very soul against the desperate pleas of her sister. Immediately afterwards the Sun Goddess began to change as her light engulfed the ruler of the Day completely.
"I MUST SAVE THIS WORLD!"
Now it was painful just to look at this new being. While she still had the general form of an Alicorn, she seemed to have no real body. It was like the Goddess was made out of pure energy. The air around her heated up and fire started to spread around her and began to burn down the few remains of the city.
The ponies that were still in the city tried to run away as the fire got closer and closer.
"I MUST PURGE THIS WORLD OF ALL EVIL!"
Without hesitation the Goddess attacked her terrified sister as well.
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Queen Celestia ruled in perfect Harmony over Equestria. There were no signs of possible dangers for her subjects like Discord, Windigos, Changelings or even the creatures of the Everfree Forest. But there was also no hint of her own sister. A very long time ago Celestia had changed her title to Queen.
One day the entrance exam to Celestia's School for gifted unicorns started with a promising purple filly. The test was to hatch a dragon egg but the foal seemed too stressed to do anything. Suddenly a large noise triggered her magic, hatched the egg, turned her parents into plants and the entire room into chaos. Soon Queen Celestia arrived to comfort the filly.
"You have a very special gift. I don't think I've ever come across a unicorn with your raw abilities. But these abilities are untamed and dangerous. Just look what you did to your own parents."
The child broke down in tears as the ruler kept comforting her.
"Don't worry, I have already called my guards and they will bring you to the best doctors in Equestria. They will remove your horn and you will never be able to hurt anypony again. Then I will be able to break the curse you put on your parents."
The unicorn looked hopefully at the Goddess before her.
"Can you… can you really help them?"
"Yes, my dear. Don't worry and leave the rest to the good doctors. They will remove this evil from you and you will still get a special place in my school. There are many others like you, you can still learn the history and theory of magic and become a scholar."
The Queen embraced the child with her wings to calm her down.
Within minutes the little filly was carried away by guards dresses in pure white. The Queen had already healed the teachers and asked her personal guards to bring the plants to her own room. As promised she would break the transformation later. Celestia used her magic to seal the almost catatonic newborn dragon back into his egg. This was not the first time she had done this.
The teachers left and the ruler of Equestria was all alone and started to sob.
"Why? Why must these cursed Elements keep disturbing the peace of my kingdom? Discord and Luna were threats to the safety of my subjects by why does this kind of power have to manifest itself in mere children? This wasn't what I wanted when I started to rid this world of all threats to the helpless mortals!"
Her weeping became worse. The eyes of these children and her own family never stopped to hunt her in her sleep. She could sometimes still hear the last screams of the Changelings when she had burned down their hive.
In moments like this she seriously thought about supporting one of the rebellions against herself and let them overthrow her. But who would raise and lower sun and moon if she would be gone? There was no escape.
As someone knocked on the door Queen Celestia quickly evaporated her tears.
"Come in," she said serene and collected.
Blueblood, Captain of the Royal Guard, entered calmly and bowed politely.
"Your majesty, we have another candidate for today, a young Miss Lulamoon."
"Send her in."
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Twilight Sparkle stood besides a white unicorn stallion and before another pink Alicorn. The annoyance of not being told about the marriage of her brother vanished as she heard who he was going to marry. Smiling both the unicorn and the Alicorn started to dance.
"Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!"
"You still remember me!" the purple unicorn said with a beaming smile.
"Of course I do. How could I forget the filly I love to sit for the most?"
The image shifted and showed the same purple unicorn sitting all alone on a stairway as the familiar Alicorn walked down next to her.
"I thought that I saw you speaking with Discord but now I am not so sure anymore. I'm sorry," the unicorn sobbed.
"No, Twilight… I should apologize for deceiving you. I will stop hiding my real self from you."
The Alicorn stomped her hoof on the ground and they were both teleported into a dark cave with countless huge crystals around them. The body of the Alicorn shifted and changed into something else.
Now her body was that of a brown snake, and she had the head of a gray horse. One of her wings was swan-like and the other one looked like it belonged to a flutterpony. One of her back legs was that of a black cat, and the other of a duckling. While her tail was a fox's, her front legs were as a bear's paw, and a green gnarled hand with warts on it.
"My real name is Pandora. And I was talking to my brother through the mirror and made it VERY clear that he is not invited. He suggested a wedding in the classical Draconequi way with the groom mind controlled to make silly faces and evil clones of the bridesmaids. "
"I… I was suspecting something completely differ… What happened to the real Cadence?"
The expression of the Draconequus before her became mournful.
"I was always the Cadence you knew. There was another one a long time ago but she died in a very permanent way. Her last wish was for me to look after this world. I have been doing that for many, many years no matter what my brother tried."
Pandora looked at her own reflection in one of the crystals.
"I had expected your brother to run away in fear when I showed him my real form as an explanation of why we shouldn't date. He wasn't fazed at all. Shining said he didn't care what I am and that he fell in love with who I am."
Twilight seemed to struggle to comprehend what she just heard.
"Princess Celestia told me the story of the Draconequi. Your brother is Discord but… So I guess the two pegasi claiming to be your family up there aren't what they seem to be either."
"Yes, Beat and Sonata aren't their real names. But I guess Anarchy and Strife would be a bit too suspicious…"
This time Twilight Sparkle just fainted.
___________________________________________________________________________
"…Shall we continue with the story, teacher?" asked the purple unicorn Princess Luna.
"Of course we can. Now where was I…"
But before the Goddess of the Night could continue her story to her faithful student two unicorns interrupted her.
"Princess! Princess!"
Two members of the Royal Guard almost fell into the room as they knocked the door down. The Princess of the Night recognised them immediately: Flim and Flam, one was a member of the Day Guard and the other a Night Guard.
After Nightmare Flare was healed from her insanity, the ponies still feared her and were very hesitant to join the Day Guard. The two brothers saw how hurt Celestia seemed about this rejection and decided that one of them should join her personal guard. Then the two unicorns had decided which one should become a Day Guard with a flip of a coin.
Both were well know for being some of the most dependable soldiers the Royal Guard had and their tendency to finish each others sentences.
"We are terribly sorry…"
"…for disturbing your majesty."
Both quickly bowed down to their ruler and continued their explanation. They knew that the Princess considered wasting her time worse than interrupting her.
"But court mage Trixie found…"
"Apple Gem in the garden and there seems to be the taint of dark magic in her!"
___________________________________________________________________________
"So remember your great power also brings a great responsibility."
Celestia waited for the reaction of the winged being before her, her sister by her side and just as curious about the next step of the mortal who had just awakened as an Alicorn.
Merely getting her to Canterlot was difficult as she had stopped at every hospital and orphanage on their way to bring some smiles to the inhabitants. And it did work. The foals loved her lively bouncing balloon animals and the stories she told them.
"Okey Dokey Lokey."
Both signed in relief. Despite her new powers her character didn't change that much. But Pinkie Pie seemed much more balanced, more in control of herself. Well, most the time at least.
Her mane and tail had become even more ballooned as her body had grown as well. Now her proportions were much more like the ones of Celestia and Luna. A pink and white horn grew from her head, looking almost more like a candy cane than a normal horn. Her new majestic wings had feathers with all shades of pink in it, including the darker one her fur turned into when she was unhappy before. But some of the feathers were also white.
"I have just one question," Pinkie Pie said smiling from ear to ear.
"We shall try to answer it," Luna assured the new Alicorn.
"How can I make chocolate rain clouds?"
Both Princesses seemingly didn't lose their composure at all but the sun outside skipped slightly ahead of its normal position.
Berry Punch saw this, threw her glass away and decided that this was a sign to stop drinking. If it had been dark enough the ponies could have seen their moon spinning like a humming top.
"That might be unwise. You will make them think that Discord had returned," Luna finally managed to say.
"You need to start slow and rediscover yourself step by step. It will be difficult but I am sure that you can do it."
The reaction of the pink Alicorn was to rush at the two rulers and hug them. With every step she did leave a small pile of confetti behind.
"Does this mean we are related now?"
"We… think so," Luna managed to say.
"Yeah! Now you are honourable members of the Pie family! And you will get wonderful along with the Cakes as well!"
Celestia had to chuckle, remembering her last visit in Sugar Cube Corner. The Cakes had a hard time accepting that the Princess was drinking tea in their shop; this would be too much for them.
It wouldn't be easy to teach Pinkie Pie how to fully understand her powers but she had so much support from her friends, once they had recovered from their collective fainting. The Sun Goddess had never seen so many couches in the same place.
The other five heroes had been a big help in bringing Pinkie to Canterlot and once the five had recovered from their exhaustion, they would return to Ponyville for now. The Goddess of the Night considered letting them visit her friend regularly via teleportation.
She knew that Pinkie Pie needed all the support she could get to stop her own tragedy from ever repeating itself again. She would not let another Alicorn fall into darkness.
Luna knew that they could do it together.
___________________________________________________________________________
The grey Twilight walked through her empty castle. 400 years ago the interior stopped changing. The dust maids were long gone and by now the castle was regularly dirtied and cleaned by her own magic. For over 500 years the fortress was flying above the world of Chaos below her. It made it so much easier to fulfil her duty without any outside interference.
She walked past the room containing the aged Spike. Soon after the fall of the Draconequus the dragon became violent and the grey unicorn had to remove his free will. For some reason it felt painful to her but she remembered the advice her Master had once given her and ignored that uncertainty.
A grey hippogriff and her hatchling were flying past the window at high speed. It was strange to see her still around, even enduring the chaotic storms that constantly circled around the castle. A chaotic blast had changed the mare a long time ago and after that her speed was increased so much that she flew around the castle faster than Twilight could ever remember Traitor Dash flying.
Only a few years ago the muffin she always carried around turned into a little unicorn. It was hardly surprising in this world of Chaos. After that both continued to change races so often that Tragedy lost count. She knew that her Master would be proud to see that.
Soon the immortal mare had reached her throne room where the other 5 Elements of Chaos obediently awaited her orders. They had followed her every order for all these years, not that there was anything else they could do.
Twilight Tragedy remembered the time when it all started in Ponyville. Her Master was too slow and Fluttercruel had already murdered the filly that laughed at his joke. Not that it mattered to Twilight, it was just another life lost that day, nothing special. For some reason the Draconequus didn't like that at all and as punishment the grey pegasus had to spend three years as a happy Sea Pony.
After a mission at Sweet Rock Aces and meeting a strangely familiar green earth pony Twilight began to have strange dreams. In them she saw a purple unicorn. They ended up fighting and in the end Tragedy won. But it was an empty victory. Her memory got better and better and she realises that the Chaos of her Master became stale over the centuries. She recognised many ideas he reused constantly and started to desperately think how she could help him improve his Chaos. Twilight knew he would object, so she started to plan it all by herself.
She began to learn spells on her own, always trying to learn what could benefit her Master in a way even he might not realise yet.
Her research eventually showed her that there was a much greater power sealed within the Elements of Chaos and that they could in fact be used together. She was sure that if she could direct this power of Chaos on him, it should be able to cleanse his dissonance of whatever was holding him back. The grey unicorn was sure that it had to be some outside interference that didn't allow him to create the perfect Chaos.
She knew that the other five would view her plan as turning against their Master and either attack her instantly or betray her. From experience she knew she couldn't trust any of them. So the obvious solution was to remove their free will completely.
Fluttercruel was the first one to go and her current existence as a sea pony made it so much easier. As her Master turned her back to her normal body, he actually seemed sad about something for the first time. He blamed her condition on the time she spent with the Sea Ponies. Twilight didn't want to think about what he did next to them. She didn't understand his reaction and kept the Valeyard and her Master busy with a minor rebellion of Queen Tiamat.
Then she just continued to free Angry Pie from her burden as well. Liarjack had noticed that something was wrong but was overwhelmed by the obedient Fluttercruel and Angry Pie before she could ruin their Master's surprise. Rarigreed didn't even notice what happened until it was too late and finally Traitor Dash had the strangest reaction and merely said:
"I deserve this."
Twilight Tragedy didn't understand that either but ultimately that was of little consequences.
Finally it was time to give their Master his present but to her disappointment the six Elements together merely caused pure chaotic energy to circle through his body. Grey, black and white glows covered him and kept burning through his body and spirit.
His screams might have horrified her if she wasn't so used to that from his, Angry Pie's and Fluttercruel's targets already. His condition didn't change and soon she suspected that the pain made him almost brain-dead, unable to do anything.
Even the Valeyard was unable to cure him and the grey mare had to admit that she had failed Discord more than she could ever atone for. Of course she didn't trust the earth pony at all, so she replaced his sonic screwdriver and the keys to the blue shed with decoys, let Angry Pie and Liarjack guard the TARDIS, held the Valeyard within a telepathic hold, teleported the countless items he had somehow hidden close to him into the block hole, let Fluttercruel break his legs and had Traitor Dash and Rarigreed next to her in case he could still do anything.
The Valeyard claimed that her method of using the Elements of Chaos was wrong. It was clear that he was of no more use and might be a danger to her Master in his current state so she just removed the Valeyard's free will as well and dropped him off somewhere on the world.
Then she decided to take over her Master's duty and bring the order of Chaos to the world. Twilight had sealed the body of her Master inside the moon to protect him and in irregular intervals she used the Elements of Chaos to redirect his power onto the world below.
The energy took the form of chaotic storms that changed gravity, transformed beings into different species or objects, speed up the aging process, brought objects alive, turned adults into foals, caused airquakes, turned everything into glass, created flying volcanoes or let it rain chocolate rain. She knew her Master would love the ever-changing nature of this world.
The life was born, changed and eventually it died one way or another. The species she knew had gone extinct and were recreated so many times that she stopped counting. It was the eternal circle of this world.
For her Master she would keep it turning until the end of time. It was the only thing she could do for him now. At least the other five were a lot easier to work with than before.
Today it was time to unleash another storm of Chaos onto the world below. Wordlessly her fellow Elements assisted her.
___________________________________________________________________________
"NO! I don't… want to hurt… my friends!"
Neither brute force nor Twilight's magic could remove the white manacle that had controlled her. But as Fluttershy was able to resist its power it fell finally off the yellow pegasus. Carefully the ponies of Canterlot looked outside their windows.
Rarity was slowly able to stand back up. The next attack could have seriously injured her or even worse. But she didn't care about that, she was just too happy to see her friend back to normal.
"Finally back together! Now we just need to take the Elements back and blast this Alicorn jerk into the sun," Rainbow Dash said proudly, trying to hide her own exhaustion after the battle.
"Ah doubt that Morning Star will let them just lay around somewhere, we need to…"
"My dear subjects will not have to worry about that," said a voice devoid of all friendliness.
Without any further warning the six ponies found themselves in a telekinetic hold and were lifted from the ground.
More and more ponies could be seen in the streets. Some tried to help them but a powerful force field threw them back.
Then they saw him again: An Alicorn as majestic and awe-inspiring as Princess Celestia. But unlike her he was always nearly completely covered in overwhelming light. Not even his cutie mark could be seen. His voice sounded wise and controlled but they were no longer fooled by his appearance.
Twilight was the first one who noticed that something was wrong after the Princesses suddenly vanished. Her worst fears were finally confirmed as she used a spell, Princess Luna once taught her, to shield her eyes from the light around him and she saw his soulless and lifeless eyes.
"Are you looking for this my worthless subjects?"
His light dimed a bit and they could see the Elements of Harmony slowly circling around him, glowing in the same green light as they did.
"Maybe my sisters should also see this."
Behind him a dome of light appeared with the exhausted Celestia and Luna ramming against it. Their bodies were covered in countless injuries and scars. The two Alicorns tried to tell the Elements something but the dome didn't allow any sound to travel through it.
The ponies of Canterlot and the six trapped ponies were shocked to see them in such a poor condition. The attention of the fallen Alicorn returned to the six heroes.
"Tell me, what are you without these little trinkets? With them you defeated Nightmare Moon but without them a mere cockatrice or an insignificant Hydra are too much. You must face this truth: You are weak and pathetic. Mortals will always be weak and pathetic. Ponies will always be weak and pathetic. I am the only Perfect Being created by Mother. Don't think there will be another chance for you to annoy me. I will just break your little necks. So tell me, what are you?"
Twilight knew that this was it. He would end their life no matter what she said. Morning Star smiled cruelly at them. She looked to her friends, seeing them all looking back at her, more concerned for her than for themselves. And then it hit her.
"You're wrong."
"I'm perfect, I am incapable of being wrong."
"You're not perfect ether, or you'd know what I'm talking about. And I don't care what you think of them, but I believe with every part of my heart that my five friends are the greatest and most wonderful beings I have ever met in my entire life. You are nothing compared to them!"
The six all reached out despite of Morning Star's magic, managing to grab one another's hooves, ready to face whatever came next together.
A spark glimmered in her horn and suddenly similar sparks glowed in the bodies of her friends. Morning Star tried to keep them apart but a power greater than his own pulled their bodies together. To his shock, the magic holding them shattered like glass as they embraced each other, the sparks turning into a fire.
"Impossible..."
Celestia and Luna watched in awe as they saw the Fires of Friendship. The heart shaped power charged at Morning Star and didn't stop no matter what powerful barrier he created in its path. To his own frustration he was unable to use the Elements to shield himself. Finally the power broke through his last barrier and engulfed Morning Star.
"No! I am perfect!" Morning Star screamed in complete disbelief as the flames hit him full force.
For a moment the self-proclaimed ruler of all Reality thought he could see the image of his Mother looking at him with disappointment and sorrow. His eyes went wide in shock. But as suddenly as it came it was all over and the fallen Alicorn was gone.
The crown and necklaces just fell to the ground. Seconds later, Morning Star's own scorched crown hit, shattering to pieces.
The dome above the two Princesses broke apart and vanished. Both were never more proud of the six friends standing before them.
The Draconequus roared as he destroyed the moon and the burning pieces rained down on the helpless mortals on the world below him. He looked like he had the rear legs of a buffalo and a bull, the tail of a monkey, the arm of a gorilla, and the other one was a tentacle. His wings were one lizard crest and one dove wing.
"Destroy more… have to destroy more…"
Three other Draconequi teleported between him and the world. They would only stare at the look of pure madness in the eyes of their brother.
"Hey, I just had planed a few revolts on that place!"
"Stop that right now, Destruction! How are the mortals supposed to adapt to fiery death from above? You will just kill anybody on this world."
"Please Ruin, stop doing this," Pandora pleaded.
They already knew that he targeted their projects and ignored the Alicorns until they got in his way. Two members of Nature's Law had already paid a horrible prize for that. The siblings knew that their brother wouldn't stop until he got his confrontation.
"Well, weeell, weeeeeell. Family has finally come. How nice of you. It is time to eat. Discord showed me how much I really meant to you when that bastard almost devoured me. Dad was sure cheering for him. And he kept cheering when I turned the game around. Dad was tasty as well."
The other three Draconequi were prepared when Destruction suddenly attacked them and quickly dodged aside. Three blasts hit the enraged Draconequus.
___________________________________________________________________________
Her favourite teacher found the pink pony with slightly darker fur and a straight mane sobbing under one of the many trees outside the school. Not even the songs of the Sea Ponies could cheer her up. The grey pegasus sat down next to her.
"Why so down Pinkie Pie?"
"Its… its nothing Mister Tempest…"
The pink pony practically hid her face behind her straight mane. She was a terrible liar.
"Now I am really worried. You never call me that."
Carefully he used his left wing to move the mane aside and looked her into her eyes.
"I am sorry Tempy. It is just that Lotus and Aloe said that nopony really likes me and that they all just think I am a big joke and that they are all laughing at me and that I am adopted and that the only job I could ever get would be as a circus clown and…"
"That is the biggest piece of stupid I have heard in 30 years. You have six wonderful friends; they spend time with you because they like you and because you really are funny. They are always laughing with you… And what is wrong with being adopted?"
"Its…well… I don't know."
"You should realise that if someone adopts you and is willing to raise you as their child, it must mean that they really love you. Even the great hero Patch who brought magic back into our world was adopted."
Patch's story did survive history relatively intact and by now most ponies suspected that the surprisingly accurate retellings of her adventures like facing down a dragon and Grogar had to be exaggerations. He suspected that Celestia made sure that this story wasn't forgotten. Finally Pinkie Pie's smile returned to her. But her teacher wasn't done.
"And you are so creative you could become anything, maybe a cartoonist."
"Our arts teacher fainted when she saw my picture. After that she claimed that the proportions of the mint green pony I did draw were all wrong. But that was exactly how I saw her in my dream…"
"Lady Sunny Days might kill me for saying this but: Even teachers can be wrong. And didn't Mrs. Moonflower change her opinion about your drawing later?"
"Yes, she said it was creative and now I have gotten an "A" for it. She really seemed sorry for something but I didn't quite understood what. The song I sung for her didn't cheer her up either."
"Erm. Some people need just some time alone, maybe your picture opened an old wound…"
He knew he needed to switch the topic as soon as possible.
"When Trixie heard what the twins said, she nearly drowned them with a conjured raincloud. She is currently in detention for it. If there would only be a way to cheer her up…"
Suddenly the colors of the pink pony became bright and cheerful and her mane became bloated and ballooned.
"I know how to. I will cheer her up Pinkie Pie Style!"
The earth pony was gone in a pink blur as the grey pegasus chuckled. There weren't many beings in this world that could shock Luna but somehow Pinkie Pie just managed to do that. It was silent for one second but then the hyperactive pony returned as fast as she left.
"I almost forgot the most important part: THANK YOU!"
After a quick hug she was gone again. The grey pegasus looked at the other ponies of her group. Applejack and Rarity were racing each other, Rainbow Dash tutored Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy was reciting poetry before some ponies. They all made such progress.
Sadly he looked into the sky. He knew that it was only a question of time before Nightmare Martyr would find this world. Even together the three Alicorns were only able to wound the Nightmare and forced her to retreat for the moment. Galaxia was heavenly injured in the battle but together Celestia, Luna and he were able to heal her.
Maybe the Rainbow of Light was really their only hope to defeat the former Cadence once and for all? Somehow by just looking at these ponies living their normal lives he knew that it wasn't hopeless.
___________________________________________________________________________
Only then the overlooking and very confused Celestia noticed a trail of energy rising from the ground. Curiously she followed it until she flew further above the world and realized there were other worlds nearby connected with the same raw power.
Then she saw countless worlds carefully woven together with this very energy. The connections between these worlds seemed to form a bigger picture that eluded her. Was it like a spiderweb or maybe more like a gigantic tree? Even the Goddess couldn't fully comprehend it. No matter how far she moved away from it, there was no end to these worlds. Since the voice of her creator it was the first thing that made her feel small in comparison.
Curiously Celestia flew closer to a single world. By now she didn't see the world in real time but more as fast flow of events with countless minor occurrences between. Only thanks to her nature the Goddess of Light was she not overwhelmed by everything that was going on.
She realized that maybe world was the wrong term for this construction. It was its own universe. A nearly unlimited number of planets formed a beautiful construction.
The incarnation of the Sun saw herself, her sister and an extended family of Alicorns. She had to admit she was slightly jealous at this version of her. Celestia was especially envious on the fact that there were still a mother and a father watching over them. The ruler of the Day never had such an extended family, even if one of them – Morning Star – was a complete monster, arrogant and prideful. He reminded her somewhat of Discord.
"Hm, I guess this would make him the black sheep of my family."
But then she saw another Discord there as well. There was something different about him but the incarnation of the Day couldn't quite pin it down. He had his own not quite so extended and loving family of Draconequi. His mother Entropy and father Havoc seemed to be horrible abominations.
Now she knew that the Discord she knew would hate to see this. The spirit of Chaos was always so proud of his unique nature. Once both sisters had to invent the solar eclipse to stop him from ranting about his one of a kind nature. But the look of his face was well worth it.
In this world both Celestia and Discord spend time together and learned from each other. She taught him to plan ahead. At first the watching Celestia thought this would turn this Draconequus into a better person. After all the Discord she knew left their little group very soon. But she was wrong, if anything he became worse and worse.
Just like the incarnation of Chaos she knew he enjoyed the suffering of others for his own entertainment. But this version went much further and had much more experience. So much that he could trick others into carrying out his twisted orders and sit back and watch the results.
Finally the watching Celestia realized that the other Discord actually had two fangs but there was also more that was different about him, it was something in his eyes. It was hard to describe. It was like something this Draconequus seemed to have lost completely, while the incarnation of Chaos she knew still had some distant traces of it.
The other Celestia felt responsible for his crimes and left her family to run away towards a strangely familiar world. Only to see it fall apart in an uncontrollable explosion caused by one member of the Draconequi.
"No, not again!"
The watching Celestria tried to interfere, only to pass right through the events. There was nothing she could do for all the suffering ponies. For the second time in her life she felt completely helpless. The first time the incarnation felt that way when the three corrupted ponies, which she considered her own family, arrived home and there was nothing she could do to cure them.
The other Celestia had a similar reaction and returned home broken, only to learn that more horrible events were planed for this poor world about to be crushed by hatred.
"And those beings dare to call themselves Nature's Law!" Celestia snarled with anger.
Only then the overlooking incarnation remembered that they never claimed to be forces of good. And while most of them were kind to mortals, Nature even in Celestias own world could be cruel at times. The memory of the dead white unicorn lying next to a tree was an image that would never leave her. But these Alicorns still radiated something that was very comforting. They felt like family to Celestia.
The other Celestia had a different conclusion and went to the most disturbing concept the incarnation of the Sun had ever seen so far: Entropy. To save this world from its fate and erase hatred she made it deal with this being and obtained small pieces of it to follow her own orders. Somehow those seemed familiar to the watching Sun Goddess.
"Erase hatred? Is that even possible?"
Several members of the other Celestia's family tried to stop her and she fought against them. Eventually with the strange alliance of Luna and Discord she managed to break through their defences and unleashed the small pieces on the world.
"These pieces, they are… NO!"
The very moment these beings were unsealed the overlooking Celestia recognized them as Windigos. She watched in horror as they started to turn the entire world into a lifeless piece of ice, while hatred continued to devour the remaining ponies. The goddess who brought them there was not able to stop the Windigos, the other Alicorns couldn't interfere, the Draconequi couldn't fight them, it was hopeless.
No matter how long the incarnation of the Sun looked at this world, its suffering seemed endless. She was about to leave when she heard a voice.
"DO NOT YET LOSE YOUR HOPE. CELESTIA, CONCEPT OF THE SUN, YOU WITNESSED PERSONALLY WHAT OUR CREATIONS DID WHEN ALL SEEMED HOPELESS, AND YET NOW YOU LOSE FAITH IN THEM?"
The Princess of the Day was startled at first but after a few seconds she realized that the mother of the other Celestia had spoken. It wasn't meant for her. Was it?
Celestia noticed a strange pattern: One earth pony, one pegasus and one unicorn were free of the hatred that seemed to poison everypony else. The three were guided by an Alicorn and a Draconequus.
This sort of cooperation was a complete shock to the incarnation of the Light. Sure her creator had made Luna, Discord and herself for a reason that to this day still eluded her. But only now did she realize that the three incarnations never in their entire existence ever had finished or even started a project together. They did spend some time together and grew up together but that was it.
Then those three mortals did what the gods were unable to do. They summoned the very concept of existence into their world to obliterate, no to fill the nothing inside the Windigos. Celestia smiled at this image. It reminded the incarnation of the Sun at the very moment when Luna and the three mortals saved herself from becoming a monster. It reminded her of the mortals that fought alongside them against Discord. They could be so powerful.
Briefly images flew by her: The healing of the world many Alicorns and Draconequi desired became the start of a horrible war between both fractions.
She had just met these beings but their brutal demises were so saddening. Celestia always wished for a bigger family. Seeing this extended family she never had die or be horribly injured almost broke her. Only the memory of her own caring sister supported her through all of this.
Havoc seemingly lost his mind and one Alicorn – Cadence – sacrificed herself to allow three of her sisters to escape into a familiar world, Discord devoured his brother Destruction and the avatar of his father, the Alicorns and Discord were reborn onto the world without any memory of their past. Suddenly she saw a kind version of the Draconequus.
"Even he had innocence in him?"
Confused the incarnation of the Sun followed the flow of time as more visions appeared to her: Discord ate his own kind side alive, the Draconequus tortured the mortals and turned his own loving mortal mother into a weapon, Discord was defeated, only to raise from the remains of his statue after it was destroyed by the Alicorn Galaxia, the Draconequus possessed a panicked mortal and twisted her body into a replica of his own, Discord killed the unlucky Galaxia in a horrible and permanent way, Discord destroyed one of the Elements and everything turned to madness.
The entire body of the overlooking Alicorn was in pain. It was so much insanity concentrated into one point. Watching all these horrible events compressed into each other was nearly breaking her mind.
"You float one inch towards my daughters I will kill you and seal your spirit into one of my horseshoes!"
The watching Celestia saw an incredible determination in this mere pony who stood up to the mad god. Mimic knew that she wouldn't survive this battle. Again a mortal succeeded were the Alicorns failed and her sacrifice didn't only allow the others to escape but also did cause permanent damage to the Draconequus, breaking one of his fangs. Finally the Alicorn was able to think clear again.
"Now he looks just like the Discord I know. Is this his fate?"
But the remaining two Alicorns were seemingly helpless against his overwhelming power. All they could do was to hide as the world suffered under his insane rule. His unspeakable crimes would have continued into all eternity if the other Celestia and the other Luna hadn't found a way to work around the missing Element with their own trust and finally defeated Discord with the help of his own mortal mother, Shady.
It made the watching Celestia realize that…
The memories broke apart as Celestia was still unable to see what was going on before her eyes. After all these visions it was hard to concentrate on the present.
"Princess?"
Silver Hooves, now totally confused and terrified, stood next to the ruler of the Day standing shell-shocked on the balcony. Everypony heard the disturbing laughter of her sister echoing through Canterlot. Memories of her encounter with Truth still circled around the mind of the incarnation of the Light. Slowly Celestia remembered that her beloved sister just turned into an insane Nightmare before her very eyes.
"Please your majesty; it is time to raise the sun."
The sun! Celestia realized, she had to raise her celestial body. The ponies depended on it and maybe this would bring her sister back to her senses. To her frustration, she found out, that she wasn't able to raise the sun as long as her sister actively blocked her path with the moon. She had to find a way to talk her out of it.
The older sister looked at Silver Hooves standing by her side. Most ponies thought that she was not worthy to serve the Princesses with her strange eye condition, her almost legendary bad luck and her sometimes clumsy movements. But Celestia knew that she had a kind heart and respected her determination to work just as hard as anypony else despite her condition. After quickly explaining the basics of the situation to Silver Hooves, the goddess of the sun rushed into Luna's room, hoping to find any hint about what happened.
After searching fruitlessly for hours, Celestia decided to question their subjects and court members but neither of them had any further explanations but several of them had noticed that the Princess of the Night had become more and more distanced over the last two weeks.
Eventually the Princess of the Day entered the throne room again; the seal on it had vanished as Luna left Canterlot. Carefully she closed the sphere so that nopony might take a look at the reflective inside and put another seal on it. As she saw the window depicting Discord's defeat by the two Alicorns her expression became wistful.
"It is my fault. I left my little sister all alone with this burden. I should have been more careful."
Then the incarnation of the Light looked at the window depicting the struggle of the three ponies.
"I will not give up on her. No matter how long it takes, I will be there for her! I promise you that I will save her."
Celestia quickly realized that she needed something to remind her sister on everything they experienced together. After all memories of happiness, friendship and joy were able to break out several ponies from Discord's corruption. She decided, that the Elements of Harmony would remind Luna at their greatest moments.
But first she had to find her corrupted sister. Even as she mobilized every servant, guard and pony she could send, it was difficult to track down the Princess of Darkness. Everypony was ordered to immediately call for backup and not attempt to fight her. Celestia knew she was the only one who had a chance to calm Luna. At the same time the mortals suffered under the lack of sunlight and the dying crops caused mass starvation.
After several months of unsuccessfully searching every part of Equestria the Princess of the Night was found in the second royal castle build in a place that would later be known as the Everfree Forest. Everypony had fled the palace when the insane goddess entered it and destroyed the entire roof. Celestia feared that her sister's madness had become even worse. She had stopped hiding and was basically offering a confrontation.
The completely empty castle was disturbing but even worse was the empty look on her sister's face, when Celestia found her. The Princess of the Night starred motionless at the moon. She stood in a room that was originally designed to become a second throne room.
It had huge windows, several massive pillars and a special column in the middle of the room, designed to place the six elements of Harmony and the larger sphere of Truth on it. Luna's throne was still in one piece while Celestia'a throne was broken and thrown across the room.
"So you came… I have been waiting for you. Did my sister come to swear her alliance to the eternal darkness?"
"I came to talk to you."
As the Princess of the Darkness slowly turned her head around she saw her sister encircled by the six elements.
"Instead you want to turn me into a statue just like Discord?"
"No, please we have to talk, Luna!"
"Don't call me that! I am Nightmare Moon, the one and true ruler of Equestria."
Without further warning spears of darkness rose form the ground as Celestia spread her wings and soared into the sky. The Nightmare followed her and both winged beings flew through the hole in the roof into the dark sky above the castle.
Both Princesses charged at each other, their horns brimming with raw magic as they clashed into each other. The impact threw both back and the Luna quickly flew into the clouds below them.
Celestia looked around worryingly and quickly dodged the blade of mist that was launched at her from the clouds. More sharp weapons followed as her sister stayed hidden from her eyes. Celestia knew that she couldn't dodge these attacks forever. The Sun Goddess concentrated her power and created a bright light evaporating all the clouds around her.
Her sister was nowhere to be seen.
Suddenly she felt pain in her left wing and was unable to fly anymore. As she fell to the earth the Princess of the Day could see a large mass of mist changing from a blade back into her corrupted sister. Only now did Celestia realize that the sword had left a deep cut in her wing and must have broken a few bones in it.
The Nightmare smiled and followed her with high speed. Celestia crashed back into the floor. The impact had enough force to leave a small crater on the ground of the throne room. Everything started to blur for the Sun Goddess as she saw Luna charging right at her.
Just when the ruler of the Night was ready to impale her sister with her own horn, she was blinded by another bright light. This time the spell was fired directly into face of the attacking mare. This distracted her long enough to allow Celestia to grab Luna with her telekinesis. Then she slammed the Nightmare into the pillar behind her.
"I am so sorry, please stop!"
The Nightmare just growled in annoyance and used telekinesis to throw her own throne at Celestia. Instinctively the Sun Goddess defended herself with the remains of her own throne. Both thrones broke completely from the impact.
"Words are meaningless now. Dance with me, sister," Nightmare Moon said almost emotionless.
Darkness surrounded the windows behind Celestia and broke them into countless pieces. The shards all flew directly at the Goddess of the Sun. She knew that she would not be able to hold her sister and defend herself at the same time.
Celestia let go of her sister and quickly grabbed two pillars with telekinesis and teleported the structures in front of herself, causing most of the shards to break on contact.
Only few of them got past this shield and left several cuts on the Alicorn's body.
"This battle requires your full attention. Are you so worried about our precious sun-loving subjects?"
As she concentrated on her sister, she was just able to jump aside as another blade created from fog attacked her. This strike left a large cut in the floor where she was just standing. Celestia finally fully realized that her sister was using lethal force on her. Had this attack hit her, she could have lost a leg or even more.
Both Goddesses concentrated their magic: Celestia created a sphere of fire before herself, while Luna completely removed heat of the air around her and shaped it into a sphere of ice in front of the dark Alicorn.
As their attacks charged forward and crashed into each other, both used more and more of their magic to push the opposing force back.
The spheres grew and grew until they almost filled the entire room and both incarnations lost the control over the violent magic, sending it flying off sideways. It struck another part of the castle, obliterating everything in its path.
Luna concentrated some of her darkness before herself to protect her eyes from the next glaring light Celestia created.
But she didn't react in time as several of the broken window shards rose into the air by telekinesis and reflected the light over the entire room, illuminating the entire castle in the process. This time Celestia used the distraction to grab the ruler of the Night and didn't let go of her.
In anger the nightmare unleashed her power and several spikes of darkness rose slowly from the ground aimed at her sister.
"Please Lulu, you have to stop this insanity!"
"NEVER!"
The stingers had almost impaled the ruler of the day, when she decided to use the Elements again her own sister.
The spheres swirled around her erratically as a concentrated prismatic beam was fired at Luna. It was much less powerful, than the last time both sisters had used the Elements together.
The Nightmare's form twisted and turned before taking on the form of a black sphere and flying into the air right at the moon. Immediately after the impact the silhouette of Nightmare Moon appeared on the moon.
As the spikes around her vanished into nothing, Celestia fell exhausted to the ground. The Elements weren't in a much better condition as five of them turned to stone and crashed lifelessly into the floor. The sixth Element – Magic – continued to encircle the Goddess of the Light, shining its light onto her for several seconds before vanishing into nothing.
Then the realisation hit Celestia. She had lost her sister for a second time. Not only was Luna corrupted by her own power, she was completely out of reach. Celestia on the other side was left behind by herself, all alone. First Discord had turned against the mortals and now Luna as well. Would she be the next?
Was this the point where she would become just like the other version of herself? Would she crown herself Queen and rule over everything with an iron hoof?
Without her sister blocking the process she should be able to move both moon and sun to recreate the normal day-night-circle. But what good would that do? Only two weeks of this burden did drive her own sister insane. How could she fare better?
"Princess, are you alright?"
Only then the remaining Goddess noticed that several ponies had entered the hall and surrounded her with worried looks. Silver Hooves was standing right next to her, one eye fixated on the incarnation of the Sun.
They were still there for her. After she had failed them and her sister they were still there for her. Celestia had abandoned her eternal task in one short moment of carelessness, but they seemed so worried for her.
The Goddess of Light knew how powerful mortals could be. The last world she had seen in Truth made it so much clearer to her. Ponies like Mimic and Shady stood up against the impossible odds with their entire being. Ponies like Silver Hooves and Solar were there for her when she needed them the most.
She knew she had to do it for them. The Sun Goddess would not fail them again, no matter how long she would have to carry this burden all alone. And she would find a way to heal her sister.
Slowly the moon moved down and the sun rose.
"Yes, I will manage. Let us return to Canterlot."
Soon after her return to her castle, a vision appeared to Celestia: She saw a dragon egg hatching, six ponies wielding the Elements of Harmony and finally Nightmare Moon returning to her true self. The Goddess of the Sun never forgot their faces.
Over time the second castle was abandoned completely as the impact of the Elements was strong enough to disrupt the normal flow of magic and life around the area. A wild uncontrollable forest grew around it, giving shelter to many of the monsters Discord had created. Silver Hooves got married, had a loving family until she finally died at old age. Her line would continue into the present.
Celestia continued her eternal task and ruled over the Equestria together with her court. She decided that Truth was too powerful and dangerous and sealed it in a cave under the royal castle and secured it with enough protective enchantments so that nopony would ever notice that it even exists.
The sphere of Truth started to melt after the use of the Elements and soon it looked only like a tiny speck of water on the ground. After what had happened to her, she didn't want to risk what could happen if anypony else looked inside Truth. Others might never reawaken from their slumber.
At the same time she tried her best to replicate her sister's constellations and to raise interest in astronomy. Every time she moved the moon, Celestia concentrated her mind on Luna, fighting of the alien feeling of moving something she shouldn't touch.
She never stopped believing that the vision would come true.
Eventually the mortals that Discord had declared worthless fulfilled her greatest wish and healed her sister. Celestia was sure that he would never understand that.
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Pony POV Series Chaos Verse
Luna and Celestia: Unwanted Half Part 3 Nightmare
Luna and Celestia: Unwanted Half Part 3 Nightmare
I felt a pain unlike anything I could remember. It was worse than being connected to and moving this horrible sun and it was more painful than the banishment to the moon by the hoofs of my traitorous sister. How could six mere mortals do that to me? Everything seemed to fall apart. Help! Somepony help me! It is eating me alive!
"It has been a thousand years since I have seen you like this. Time to put our differences behind us. We were meant to rule together, little sister. Will you accept my friendship?"
No matter how painful it gets I could still hear a voice. But it took me some time to realise who was talking.
"Celesita…"
It was a very familiar voice, a voice belonging to someone who once had my trust. Before she abandoned me, banished me to the moon and sent her Elements of Harmony to torture me.
It took a while before my other senses returned. It seemed that I was floating above somepony. Slowly I was able to recognise the two beings standing under me. One was small and dark and the other one tall and bright. Even in this state I knew that the tall figure had to be my traitorous sister. Eventually I was able to identify the small pony on the ground next to her.
It was me. My sister was standing over another version of me, a weak version of me that could hardly stand on her own hoofs. There was no pride in her eyes.
"Then who is she?"
She was in such a weak and pathetic state that it reminded me of the ungrateful ponies when my eternal night caused all their crops to die. Finally the copy was able to stammer something.
"I'm so sorry! I missed you so much, big sister!"
It was disgusting. How could she dare to apologise! Celestia and her ponies are to blame. She and the entire world should have to beg for forgiveness. This coward under me had no right to call herself ruler of the Night.
"So Discord was right all along, both about my sister and about the mortals. Without magic these little ponies are nothing. But he didn't realize how powerful and dangerous they could become with its aid. The Elements took everything away from me. My servants, my sister and I don't even feel my moon or my stars anymore."
Slowly my vision faded. I suspected that this was finally the moment where I would die and this cowardly imposter would take my place. But I didn't die. Instead I found myself back in a very familiar place. Even if it did look different every time, this was without any doubt the subconscious world.
This dream had taken the shape of a huge yet simple designed ship in the middle of an endless empty ocean. It lacked details and was what simpleminded foals did think real ships would look like. I could smell the dreaming mortal nearby. It was a small colt, his coat was white and had dark patches on it.
"These supposed Elements of Harmony only bring me suffering. I should have never unearthed these cursed things with Celestia!"
Carefully I moved closer to the ship's rail. I needed to take a look into the water to see that I was still Nightmare Moon, the unopposed ruler of Darkness. My fear was that they had even taken this away from me.
I saw a terrified small foal looking back at me, even younger than the other Luna I had just seen.
" They have stolen everything from me, even my life…"
I just wanted to cry and never stop. How could have everything gone so wrong? How could I lose everything to mere ponies? How could they do this to me?
"I am not pathetic. I am not pitiful. I am the true ruler of this world. It all belongs to me!"
Tendrils of dark magic danced around me and I embraced them. They were the only ones that came to my aid.
I could feel my body changing and growing. I could feel bones breaking and reshaping themselves. My flesh felt like it was melting. The pain became even worse and now it was like a fire that devoured me completely.
No, stop. I didn't want that to happen! I didn't want to die. I didn't want to feel this pain anymore. I didn't want them to hurt me anymore. It was like I was cut in million pieces and they all vanished one by one. IT WAS ALL THEIR FAULT!
Then the pain suddenly stopped. I could move my legs but something was wrong with them. I could only slowly rise from the ground and took another look at my reflection in the water. Did I manage to restore my true glory?
I wasn't even able to scream when I saw my reflection. My body didn't turn into the one of Nightmare Moon. Instead of the dark and majestic Alicorn, I had taken the shape of a twisted corpse.
My head had lost all flesh and the ethereal mane; instead it was reduced to a skull attached to my spine, only my horn remained as black as it was before. The impressive wings had undergone a similar change and became skeletal, while growing twice in size. My legs had become segmented and outspread, now resembling four spider legs ending in sharp spikes. My one of a kind cutie mark had also vanished. And finally my ethereal tail was replaced by a sharp skeletal stinger.
I was completely shocked by my new appearance. The cursed Elements had finally succeeded and turned me into the being my subjects were always afraid of. In the end they had turned me into what they always saw in me: A monster.
I clearly wasn't Nightmare Moon anymore. But at the same time I didn't feel the hesitation I felt earlier. As my traitorous sister had paralysed me I was only able to very slowly use my darkness to impale her. This moment of weakness allowed her to seal me away with these damned Elements. Later another moment of hesitation did stop me from evading the attack of the Elements.
Now I was free of this hesitation. From now on I would never hold back against Celestia, her Elements or her subjects. This time I would not ask the mortals to bow down to me but force them into the dirt.
"They have taken so many things from me but they have also finally opened my eyes to the truth. I should thank the Elements of Harmony for that. Maybe it was their inexperience with this power that had this wonderful effect."
Eventually my attention returned to the lonely mortal who dreamed a meaningless dream of sailing the sea with three earth ponies he hoped would become his friends. He was so caught up in this fantasy that he didn't even notice me or my awakening. It was another clear proof that friendship was a weakness.
All four clueless beings stared onto the endless sea as I surprised two of his imaginary friends from behind. Curiously I stabbed the two with the spikes of my forelegs and could fell their essence flowing into me. It was so easy, they offered so little resistance. I would have smiled if it would be possible.
Only two targets were left, both shaking with fear before the ship's rail. The final dream stood in front of the colt, futilely trying to protect him.
"Friendship is an illusion; your friends will never be there for you when you truly need them."
To show this truth to him, I causally stabbed the last dream with my tail and all life left the fake body. Nothing of any importance was lost. At the same time the real foal screamed in pure terror and jumped into the water. His cry was such a wonderful sound.
For a brief moment I felt alone but as sudden as the dream started it ended and I found myself in another dream. Each bit of the little foal's soul and mind I had absorbed had made me stronger. I never understood the true potential of this remarkable power before. Now a part of him will always be with me. To think that I once wasted this ability to save foolish mortals from their nightmares almost made me laugh.
Without any effort my form shifted into a perfect replica of Nightmare Moon. But that wasn't real anymore. I had become a new person thanks to the Elements.
"I am not Nightmare Moon, neither am I the Princess of the Night. I am… Nightmare Phobia."
Soon I shifted back into my real form.
"I will consume everything in my way until I have become the true and single ruler of Equestria. There will be no more suffering brought upon it by the Elements. They will never take anything else from me."
I knew that eventually this imposter would retake my original position and watch over the pitiful dreamers in the subconscious world. I am sure she had all my memories as well. I would expect no less from Celestia. But even then I would still have the advantage of knowing everything she knows and being able to hid myself as something she would just write off as a mere part of somepony's dream.
Over the next year I absorbed countless parts of the minds of clueless mortals. I never stayed in one dream for too long and constantly shifted into different forms, often impersonating monsters or ponies my generous hosts were afraid of.
The easiest emotion and part to absorb was fear. It could be found nearly anywhere. But I also learned a lot about the present times and the miserable ponies that have brought my downfall.
Twilight Sparkle the so called faithful student feared that if she would give a ticket to only one of the selfish beings she called friends, this would alienate the others. She was scared that nopony wanted her unimportant help in the Winter Wrap Up. The unicorn was afraid of the unknown even if it just involved the strange powers of her insane pink friend. Twilight was afraid that her only somewhat impressive magic would make her an outcast. But most of all the pony feared that she wouldn't live up to the expectations of Princess Celestia. Her fears alienated her from her friends and others.
"You are sweet…so sweet…so sweet…"
Applejack the self-proclaimed dependable Element of Honesty couldn't share the simple truth that she feared the possibility of herself failing at her promised work.
The deluded Pinkie Pie was afraid to loose her dim-witted friend to a brash griffon and feared that all of her friends suddenly stopped to like her and her worthless parties.
Rarity feared that her friends would not accept her designs and that she will ruin her career if she follows their selfish wishes. She was scared that her actions towards her cowardly pegasus friend would break their friendship.
The only seemingly confident Rainbow Dash was afraid of her approaching failure at the Best Young Flyers' Competition.
Fluttershy feared that the bird she futility tried to heal would perish anyway. The cowardly pony was afraid to loose the three suicidal foals she was supposed to watch over to the forest of darkness. And despite claiming to love all living beings the pegasus had an almost mortal fear of adult dragons. Not to mention Fluttershy's fear of her own shadow and being afraid of large groups despite being a herd creature.
A pathetic dragon was afraid about being replaced in the only role he ever knew. He also feared that after she was kidnapped by the Diamond Dogs he would never see his crush ever again, while he should be more worried about the fact that she would never return his feelings.
Three foals were afraid that they will never achieve their Cutie Marks and will remain the laughing stock of the other children and all of Ponyville.
The entire hypocritical population of the supposedly tolerant and open Ponyville feared the strange Zebra living in the Everfree Forest.
The citizens of Appaloosa and the group of buffalo were afraid of each other and ready to outcast or eradicate the other group.
Finally nearly the entire world drowned in fear as the spirit of Chaos returned to play his entertaining games with everypony. He really showed me very clearly how selfish and greedy these supposed heroes were.
At the same time I could sense his own fear. The Draconequus was good at hiding it but he feared the Elements of Harmony more than anything else in this world. Not only because they were his one weakness but also because he didn't understand them or their power.
"You are ALL so enjoyable… so enjoyable… so enjoyable!"
But the more I absorbed the harder it became to remember my old life. Memories that were clear as day began to fade and eventually disappeared completely. The childhood I once had with my traitorous sister and Discord was long gone. Soon I didn't even remember the names of the mortals I once adopted with Celestia. But ultimately these memories weren't that important. Nothing of any importance was lost.
Soon I felt stronger than ever before. I faintly remembered that this was the amount of power an Alicorn should wield before we foolishly sealed our powers for the sake of upholding a masquerade to the worthless mortals. It completely eluded me how I could ever care for them if all they ever did was harming me. I was such a foal before.
But I needed more, more power. I was losing myself so fast that I simply had to replace what was lost even faster. So many tasty minds were in this world but as long as their lives outside were mostly happy, there was not enough fear of them to devour here. Discord did well in drowning the world in despair but now they were starting to recover from it.
I needed more, much more. As long as I was merely in their dreams I would never be able to harvest more. They forgot most dreams soon after their awakening and there would be very few long-lasting effects. But the subconscious world isn't limited to dreams.
"It is time for a friendly visit. After all I still have to thank them for my liberation."
Better than anypony else I knew how weak the mind of Celestia's prized student really was. The Princess was so proud on her and seemed to care for the unicorn like the child she never had. After the exhausting struggle with her friends and the battle against Discord her mind was weak and offered little resistance as I entered it completely.
I will do this out of gratitude. While she was one of the ponies that banished me and took away so much from me, they have also given me a new clarity in turn. Her fear dominated her so much, so we will make a perfect match. She will help me spreading my gift around the world.
"You will see my point of view."
She needed almost no inducement. The prized student merely missed one of her unimportant deadlines with one of her many worthless friendship reports. But she was so fearful of a possible punishment by her teacher. The unicorn was still afraid of disappointing Celestia and didn't fully recover from what Discord had done to her.
"Now that is almost funny, deep down you fear Celestia."
My mere presence was enough to let the fear in her mind grow. The foolish unicorn lamented about the possibilities to her dragon companion.
„What if she makes me go back to Canterlot and puts me back in school and makes me prove I'm taking them seriously by giving me a test?! What if I don't pass?"
"But why wouldn't you pass…"
"She's my teacher. Do you know what teachers do to students who don't pass? They send them back a grade! But she won't just send me back a grade. She'll send me back to...magic kindergarten."
This was almost too easy. I just had to add a nice vision of everypony in magic kindergarten laughing at the panicky unicorn. Without even realizing it, the prized student recreated the vision with her own magic in reality. For being the Element of Magic she was lacking control over it. In turn Twilight practically froze up and quailed in fear.
It was wonderful. All this time, over a year I had done so little besides eroding the sanity of a few ponies. One of them lost the ability to speak and could only bark like a dog anymore. That was amusing but it would not aid me any further. Now I was finally feeling like I was in control again, like it should be.
Unfortunately the dragon interrupted this promising state and the purple unicorn decided to just find a friendship problem before sundown. But everywhere she went, I was with her. There was no escape.
For some strange reason Ponyville had the safest and most normal day in years and there was nothing for her to be learned about friendship. Predictably none of her weak friends could help her. I knew better than anypony else that whenever you really need someone, they will abandon you. Soon she had another breakdown on a park bench and looked at some fillies skipping. Now it was my turn to aid in her awakening.
Before her eye the background changed into a hellish realm, all trees died and the three foals became shadows laughing at the unicorn. Again her somewhat powerful magic recreated this relaxing image in the real world until the small annoying dragon interrupted it again. How could one unimportant mortal keep interrupting me? But at least the added visuals did cause her paranoia to grow worse.
In this state even her friends were unable to calm down the overanxious unicorn and eventually she fled back in her library.
"You are all alone now. Nopony was willing to help you with your task. They were too busy with themselves. If you want something done, you have to do it yourself."
"If I can't find a friendship problem...I'll make a friendship problem!"
I was satisfied with her progress. That was the main weakness of the Elements of Harmony, if just one would fall apart, they would all become worthless decorations. It was hard to believe that these objects were successfully used against Discord and me twice. But that was of little importance.
It all worked perfectly, I just had to add a bit of my own magic into the "want it, need it" spell and I had a VIP box to watch the entire town fall into hysteria. It was only a matter of time before somepony was injured. No mere unicorn was able to break the spell now.
"It burns my brain, so enjoyable, so enjoyable…"
"TWILIGHT SPARKLE!"
Suddenly my traitorous sister returned to stab me in the back and cancelled the spell. Now it was my turn to feel fear. All of my existence was placed in this mortal shell, if Celestia had found me here, she would destroy me instantly. I hid in the deepest part of the unicorn's subconsciousness as both went back to the library.
At least I thought I could see the ruler punish the failure without mercy but she dared to console the purple unicorn instead! Thankfully my arrogant sister was too distracted to further check the mental state of her prized pupil and as other ponies were close enough to the library I took my chance to run away.
I found myself in a dream of a grey mailmare playing with some young unicorn in an endless forest. Both were without any significance. I just wanted to finally feel alive again but Celestia had to take even that. These miserable ponies are also to blame.
My body grew and reshaped itself into the one of a hydra and I ripped the entire forest around the unimportant mortals apart. I got closer and closer until the pony awoke screaming and I found myself in the next dream. Her fear made me feel better.
"What went wrong? Everything did fall into place until Celestia showed up. She steals the love of my subjects from me. They belong to me, every single one of them. They are all mine!"
Suddenly a realisation hit me.
What did I want from them? Did I really want their love or their fear? Did I want to break Twilight or turn her into a tool to spread fear? Did I want to punish the Elements or reward them? Why did the moon that was always loyal to me abandon me in favour for a fake Alicorn? Why is it suddenly so hard to think? Was there something wrong with me?
My head swam. I had to order my thoughts. I faintly remember my parent telling me something before abandoning me with Celestia and Discord. What did the voice say?
I remembered! It was "You shouldn't trust her. Trust is a weakness and just leaves you open for an attack. One day you will desperately need her help and she will do nothing for you."
I should allow this advice. I just have to rely on myself and everything will be alright. If I can't trust my own sister, there is no one in this world that I can trust.
"Still it was just the test run. Maybe I should try a weaker pony next. After all Nightmare Night will be the perfect opportunity of some entertaining mass hysteria and if the rumours are true, the imposter will be there as well. And I still have to repay her for my liberation."
I let out a constrained laughter before vanishing into the next dream.
Nightmare Night came soon and everything was well prepared. Over the time I had carefully manipulated the dreams of both adults and foals to spread the fear that Nightmare Moon would return to devour them all, just like it was told in the old lore. Their dread was so delicious.
This time I would not make the same mistake of concentrating on only one pony. Now I spread myself over all the little children present at the old statue of Nightmare Moon and as the fake Princess Luna arrived right on schedule with her Night Guards and relaxing looking chariot I just needed one panicky scream of the pink pony in the chicken costume to cause mass hysteria and let everypony ran back to town.
As the little foals arrived back in the town square I could spread my influence even further and covered nearly all ponies present. Another scream of the Element of Laughter let me easily cause another panic.
"You have to understand that neither the ponies nor your sister ever cared for you. You were always their victim. But you don't need them. Free yourself from those bounds. You don't need to feel anything for weak mortals; it only allows them to hurt you."
Soon the fake Alicorn walked out of the insignificant town, followed by Twilight Sparkle.
By now dozens of eyes were available to me to see their every move. Both went to the small house near the Everfree Forest where the Element of Kindness lived. It was time for my next move and I concentrated a large part of myself in the mind of the fragile pegasus. I could hear Twilight Sparkle and especially the fake Princess outside.
"Don't worry, Princess. Fluttershy can give you some great pointers. She's delicate and demure, with the sweetest little voice. "
Now I just had to create the vision of disguised foals laughing at the yellow pegasus and the effect was immediate.
"Fluttershy! Fluttershy! Fluttershy can hardly fly!"
"GO AWAY! NO CANDY HERE! VISITORS NOT WELCOME ON NIGHTMARE NIGHT!"
Despite the impressive scream, the purple unicorn was able to forcefully introduce the terrified Fluttershy to the equally fearful fake ruler of the Night. The imposter seemed to remember the voice of the cowardly pegasus but didn't show it.
"Fluttershy...you must remember Princess Luna."
"CHARMED!"
"She has taken control of your friend and now she will enslave you as well."
Predictable Fluttershy retreated back into her house, but against her will she was pulled back by Twilight's telekinesis. It showed clearly how little her friendship really meant to the other Element.
"Likewise."
"TWILIGHT SPARKLE HAS SPOKEN OF THE SWEETNESS OF THY VOICE! WE ASK THOU TEACHETH US TO SPEAK AS THOU SPEAKEST!"
"But maybe she will just steal your voice."
"Okay."
"SHALL OUR LESSONS BEGIN?"
"Okay."
The fake Alicorn was afraid of being rejected again, even from this worthless pony.
"SHALL WE MIMIC THY VOICE?"
"Okay." Fluttershy was almost completely terrified with fear and her so called friend treated it like a minor inconvenience. I had to do so little to cause her breakdown.
"HOW IS THIS?"
"Perfect! Lesson over!"
The yellow pegasus immediately fled back into her house just as Twilight closed the door, causing the coward to smack painfully into it. After some more unimportant lessons by the purple unicorn the replacement finally managed to turn down her volume and she hugged the shy pony in return. How could the pony, that was once my target, dare to hinder my progress with another one?
But I could enjoy the next wave of fear as the group of foals returned and saw the scene. I just had to add a row of sharp teeth and red glowing eyes to their vision of this imposter. The rest happened all by itself.
Somehow the fake Alicorn still didn't give up her foolish aim of gaining acceptance and tried to play a harmless game of "throw the spider" with the townsponies. It all went well for her until she pulled a somewhat familiar earth pony foal out of the water and decided to bring the spider toys to life to make them crawl onto the target.
I had soon enough fear to work with to let the entire town fall into mass hysteria, children and adults alike. Like mindless pawns they crashed into each other and into their booths. I needed just a little more and they would trample their own foals to death. I was so close.
"BE STILL!"
Somehow the replacement had realized the danger and stopped the panic the only way she knew: With fear. After that she cancelled Nightmare Night and I could feel her giving up. She had given up on obtaining anything but distrust from her subjects. Or she would have if the annoying purple unicorn didn't interfere again and dragged her away. But the familiar darkness gathering for a moment around the fake ruler did cheer me up again.
I lost contact with them. Even having this many eyes to work with didn't do much if the pathetic mortals were all busy recovering from their panic attack. But soon I managed to gather myself into the foals again and accompanied them to their final candy offering. The imposter had to be somewhere around here.
Suddenly Nightmare Moon stood before them to accept their candy offering.
How could somepony else dare to use this form and title? It was my greatest achievement when I still existed outside the collective subconsciousness! It belonged to me and me alone!
Even worse was that I felt my control over the weak pawns carrying me slipping. One of them walked up to the fake Nightmare Moon who turned out to be… the pathetic replacement?! How could she still resist the truth? How is that possible?
"Um... Princess Luna. I know there's not gonna be any more Nightmare Night, but do you suppose maybe you could come back next year and scare us again anyway?"
"Child. Art thou saying that thou... likest me to scare you?"
"It's really fun! Scary, but fun."
"You…?"
Finally I recognized the small foal. It was my first target: The little colt that dreamed of sailing the sea with his friends.
"It... is?"
"No, stop this nonsense. Why are you rejecting my gift?"
"Yeah! Nightmare Night is my favourite night of the year."
"Well then. We shall have to bring NIGHTMARE NIGHT BACK!!!
"Whoa! You're my favourite princess ever!"
"Why am I not reaching you?"
The darkness around the imposter vanished into nothing. How could a fake created by Celestia and the Elements be able to win the admiration of the mortals? How dared she to win their hearts? Both she and I were speechless but the purple unicorn said something instead.
"See? They really do like you, princess."
"Can it be true? OH, MOST WONDERFUL OF… I mean... Oh, most wonderful of nights."
As the connection to my hosts broke completely I found myself back into a random dream. I wasn't angry anymore, I didn't care anymore. A sudden calmness overcame me. I knew that many memories were gone and even the time when I ruled over Equestria with my backstabbing sister was almost gone. Nothing of any importance was lost.
I still knew enough to keep going, both Discord and the creator warned me about Celestia. I might not have much time left but I will use it to take her and her cursed Elements down. The fake moon could be seen in the sky of the dream above me.
"Dear backstabbing sister and thief who stole my life, today I learned a valuable lesson. I realized that you should always tie up loose ends and that if a seemingly unimportant pony survives, it will be a possible threat in the future. The time for games is over. I will start by sharing the wonderful gift of oblivion with one of the bearers. But who shall it be?"
Illusions of the six bearers appeared before me.
Rainbow Dash disguised as a shadowbolt pranking somepony, Twilight standing next to Princess Luna, Applejack hosting games for everypony, Rarity sleeping with a huge grin on her face, Pinkie Pie standing proudly next to an enormous pile of sweets and finally Fluttershy hiding under her bed.
It was clear what I had to do to make them all fall apart; I had found the weak link. My time had come.
The night was almost over. And Princess Luna felt like it was the most wonderful night she had ever experienced. For a brief moment she felt something familiar before the pleasant feeling vanished. But the Alicorn was too happy to care about that for the moment. When she returned on the chariot pulled by her personal bat-winged pegasi guards, nopony was waiting for her at the Canterlot castle.
After the landing her guards immediately started to fly away, sensing that their Princess had something to do. They took the nearly endless amount of sweets with them, storing them next to the creepy chariot. The Princess had also allowed them to take some treats for their own families.
"Thank you for your good work." Luna said cheerful before they vanished.
As she walked into the castle the incarnation of the Night could see several servants running around, bringing buckets of water into Celestia's room, while carrying her belongings outside. Celestia herself carried most of her items with her telekinesis. Smoke did come out of the room. Luna wondered if her sister's new spell did backfire but she never tested spells in her personal room.
"Sister, what happened?"
"I hoped that we would be able to clean up the mess before you would return. Was anything destroyed?"
One of the many servants walked forward.
"I am afraid the hoof signed fourth autobiography of Prince Blueblood and several tabloids were completely destroyed, my majesty."
Somehow her sister managed a straight face and merely nodded.
"I need to talk with Princess Luna, so please take care of this matter until I return."
Soon both incarnations had reached Luna's room, which was still a mess.
As Luna took a closer look at her sister she noticed something she rarely saw on her: a big grin. She hadn't seen Celestia this happy since the night she was healed from her corruption.
The Sun Goddess just couldn't stop to smile and soon Luna joined as well. Both Alicorns put the heads together and stayed like this for several minutes. Slowly the sun was rising in the background as both combined their powers so that the incarnation of the Light could spend a few minutes alongside her sister. Eventually the Princess of the Night became serious again and spoke up.
"Tia, I am sorry. I should have listened to you."
""That's quite alright. So when did you notice?"
"Yes, it was so clear when I arrived and everypony was afraid, even some of the bearers of the Elements. And still I refused to change my methods. Twilight Sparkle practically had to drag me around the entire town."
"I thought I couldn't simply tell you all the things that had changed. I thought it might be too much. You were still struggling to get used to the new world. That was the reason you found the book about modern royal protocol next to your bed and your chariot vanished one night before Nightmare Night, while I offered you mine. I am sorry. I should have just told you."
"And I was so obsessed with making a good impression that I didn't even want one single detail of my plan to change and I tripped over the book and threw it under my bed without even looking at it…"
Suddenly both princesses looked at each other and broke into laughter.
"It truly was a wonderful night."
"Indeed, it took me some time to realize that it is a night of innocent scares, harmless pranks, and lots of candy. But why did you get so worked up back there?"
While talking the two Alicorns lifted the dozens of books littering the entire room with their telekinesis and sorted them next to the door.
"I was with you in Ponyville. I used a spell that allows me to split of a small part of me and to see places that are otherwise unreachable. When the villagers almost trampled each other dead I got a little … tense."
The incarnation of the Night remembered that spell very well. Her overuse of it did erode her sanity just as Discord had intended it to happen. She feared what might have happened if they hadn't placed the seal on their powers, causing the Draconequus to speed up his plans. Would he have waited until she was consumed by madness before attacking them? Would she have aided him in her madness? Who could have used the Elements with her sister in her place?
But after this night Luna was sure that the ponies could have done it. If the six could defeat Nightmare Moon and Discord, there was little doubt that even in the past there was somepony who could have taken her place.
She wondered what else her sister used this spell for, maybe to watch over her student in her more dangerous adventures without being noticed. After all the spell was impossible to track down. The incarnation of Darkness still suspected that Discord had used this very spell to spy on the two Alicorns and to learn about the seal on their powers.
The two sisters sat down next to each other and watched the sunrise together. Now Luna was more determined than ever to take some of the burden of Celestia's shoulders. After everything she had done for her, now it was her turn to be there for her sister as well. Eventually Luna spoke up.
"Tia, it is okay. I know you have a full schedule today. You are already late, you must go now."
"Thank you, Lulu. I will always be there for you if you need me. I need to tell you one thing first. I have been using this spell for some time now to regularly check on Discord's status and you will not believe what I saw there a few days ago. But we need to test something first. Please take my hoof."
Luna recognised the spell circling around the extended hoof. It was the magic to break the seal on their powers. They had tried it countless times but there was nothing they could do to overcome Discord's manipulation. Until he gave up his part of the seal, they would not be able to unseal their full power. And that would never happen.
Still she trusted her sister and so she took her hoof and started her part of the incantation. Runes started to appear on their hoofs, spreading over their bodies and to their cutie marks. The spell never went that far whenever they had tried it before. Suddenly the Princess of the Night could truly feel her connection to the moon, the stars, the night, the dreams and the collective subconsiousness.
Her connection to everything became so much closer. Luna could see from the look of her sister's face that she must be experiencing something similar. Both felt so complete, so one with everything.
The Princess of Darkness could also feel that there was something very wrong the dream of one of the bearers of the Elements.
Pony POV Series Chaos Verse
Discord: Complete Existence Part 1
Discord: Complete Existence
"Impossible? I never thought I would hear this word from you."
Fluttercruel stared at the being that had followed her into the endless white space: A bare horse skull with a black horn was connected over the visible spine to the black and strangely familiar body. Out of the main body grew four twisted legs that resembled spider legs instead of horse legs and they ended in sharp spikes. Huge skeletal wings were placed on her back.
But her father Discord stood by the side of the young chimera. The heartbeat of the young chimera was still racing from the ordeal in her mother's dream. She just knew that she would be dead if the Draconequus hadn't interfered. This was the second time he had saved her life.
"Well, beings can change over time and I think you changed as well. Did you do something with your hair?"
The younger incarnation was shocked with his suddenly very different, almost playful tone. She knew that way of speaking very well. Fluttershy's memories showed him constantly talking like this to the ponies he saw as his enemies. His face was relaxed and almost goofy; Fluttercruel would recognise his poker face everywhere.
But right now she still wondered why the being before her was so disturbingly familiar. Fluttercruel had never seen her before but the way she moved her body did ring a bell. Some of Fluttershy's memories seemed to react.
She really wanted to summon a few weapons and show the creature that nopony messes with her or her mother. But if the three things Discord had tried before didn't work, than she needed a plan before doing anything against this unwelcome guest.
"Very funny. I came to the realisation that you were right all along and wanted to pay my sister back for what she did to me. And you of all beings got yourself a little family. I can see who the mother of this lovely child was."
Within seconds the form of the creature shifted and became a perfect copy of Fluttershy smiling innocently. Fluttercruel almost fell over in shock and for a moment she swore she saw her father's right eye twitching. But she could feel his telekinesis catching her. She promised herself not to fall for such a cheap trick.
"Quite the resemblance but when did you finally have to admit that I was right? Let me guess, it was right after you were hit by all the dreadful harmony?"
Slowly the fake Fluttershy started to walk a half circle towards the two incarnations of Chaos.
"Indeed, I think we should cooperate. We both suffered under Celestia and her minions of Harmony, so why not work together? I am sure I can get a few hundred clueless mortals to create enough Chaos around your statue to break you free."
"And in return I could create a body for you in the outside world. Wouldn't this sound wonderful?"
For a second the imposter of the pegasus looked shocked and stopped in her tracks only to resume her normal speed a few seconds afterwards. Slowly her body shifted back to the form they had seen before.
"Yes, I can see all that coming together."
(Did you notice it, Fluttercruel?)
Fluttercruel blinked in surprise but recognised the voice of her father in her head. Discord started to slowly walk a half circle in the opposite direction of the creature and his daughter quickly followed him. Could he read her thoughts?
(In case you are wondering, no this is just one way telepathy. I can't hear your thoughts; I think I will show you how you do that later. If I wanted to read your mind, I would have given you a diary as a Nightmare Night present.)
The Draconequus looked into her eyes and winked. Even now as they were confronted by this creature she had to chuckle.
(But for now you have a lesson in manipulation 101. The way she walks, talks and rambles about her sister would make her seem to be Luna. But she isn't the same Alicorn that escaped her corruption; I saw how the freed Luna acted around her sister and this is nothing like that. I know when somebody tries to deceive another. So she had to be something else. Admittedly I had to guess on the not having her own body part but that seemed to be the most obvious explanation of why I have never seen her in Equestria and why she was active in a dream. Sometimes even when you have to guess it is the best to act like you know everything.)
The young chimera finally realised where Fluttershy had once seen these movements, it was when Nightmare Moon appeared at the Summer Sun Celebration.
"I am terribly sorry for hurting your family. If I knew that the two belonged to you, I would have taken a different target, maybe the insane pink freak."
Fluttercruel almost snarled. She couldn't believe that the creature talked about the attempted murder of her mother like it was nothing. The skull of the being seemed to be fixated on her.
(She has a good poker face but I don't believe her for a second. Be careful, she is targeting you. Stay by my side.)
"Mistakes can happen. Like when I broke the weather system with a single game of domino."
"Good old times. Celestia and her lackeys of Harmony will always interrupt our fun, don't they?"
(Either her memory is really faulty or she didn't know it from the very beginning. There were no domino pieces involved and I am sure that both Alicorns would never forget that.)
The younger incarnation of Chaos couldn't help herself to be impressed by all these information learned with an only seemingly boring and friendly conversation. She also realised that this was the third time the being had mentioned the Sun Goddess.
"But that will change soon, so what do you call yourself now? Nightmare Moon doesn't quite fit you anymore. Or do I have to come up with a new name on my own?"
"I decided to declare myself Nightmare Phobia, true ruler of Darkness."
"Now that is a catchy name. Did you notice there is another version of you running around, ruining your good reputation?"
"That pathetic imposter is a disgrace for this title and I will make her pay for her embarrassing display of weakness!"
(And here we have another weakpoint; she is extremely sensitive about her identity. Try to think of some good insults to distract her later.)
Both Discord and the Nightmare continued to slowly circle each other. Fluttercruel knew that she could attack them any time but the uncertainty did unnerve her more than she wanted to admit. She shook her head; being afraid of tomorrow was pointless. The young chimera decided to focus on the present.
She could sense some Chaos nearby; Discord was concentrating it into two points very close to them. Something was forming but the young chimera couldn't see anything yet.
"So you merely want to have your revenge against Celestia, the other Luna and the Elements and wouldn't mind if I turned the entire world into my personal kingdom of Chaos afterwards?"
"You want this world? You can have it and everything you ever wanted if you help me with my agenda. You can have your revenge against the Sun Goddess that disrupted your last plan with an insignificant letter and against the pawns that sealed you into a mere garden decoration. You can turn your greatest failure into your greatest triumph."
Worried Fluttercruel looked at her father but he smiled back to her. The Nightmare was getting closer.
(You know what is funny? Before I met you, I would have taken her offer. Of course I would have backstabbed her in the moment I didn't need her anymore. But now I… Let's just concentrate on her. She already knows that I will not take her offer.)
"That sounds wonderful. I guess there is nothing else to say."
"Indeed."
Without warning darkness appeared and covered the remains of the Nightmare's wings and they grew back into black bat-like wings. The entire process did hardly take a second and then the creature rushed forward at Fluttercruel, ready to impale her on one of her forelegs.
Suddenly a black spear impaled the Nightmare midair on the white ground.
The being hissed as the two incarnations of Chaos flew away from her. The young chimera noticed another black spear hovering next to her. But it wasn't completely black, the spearhead was blue.
"You are so enjoyable… so enjoyable…"
Slowly the being started to absorb the spear that had stabbed her and darted after them. Without warning she started to pick up speed and charged right at father and daughter.
Both quickly dodged aside into different directions and the Nightmare rushed past them. She had never expected Discord to be able to move that fast. As the black spear floated next to Fluttercruel, the young chimera concentrated on her own Chaos.
(Don't worry; I will stay by your side.)
A morning star hit the creature in the back and exploded afterwards. The detonation left a wound in her back. But almost instantly her black flesh and fur grew back and the injury disappeared.
Five more black spears began to float around Discord, two of the spearheads were red, three of them were blue. At the same time the Nightmare created four spheres of darkness around herself. She fired them all directly at Fluttercruel and charged herself at the Draconequus.
All five spears impaled Phobia in midair but it didn't stop her from getting closer and closer to him. She only slightly flinched when the spears with the blue spearhead hit her and they still hardly seemed to slow her down. Meanwhile the young incarnation of Chaos saw that the black energy had almost reached her.
The dark spheres separated themselves and started to close in on her from four different directions.
Quickly the former pegasus snapped her fingers and was surrounded by a large mass of junk. It was everything from chairs, lamps, couches, teddy bears, swords, giant playing cards, doors, books, a few cakes, clocks, sweets, potted plants to kitchen sinks.
As the spheres collided with all her creations, everything exploded. After that the darkness and all the items were gone but Fluttercruel was nowhere to be seen.
"You will make a wonderful meal. And after I have devoured you, nothing will be able to stay in my way. Equestria will fall."
Shocked Discord summoned barriers of fire and electricity around himself while the Nightmare just crashed through the obstacles. Briefly the eyes of the Draconequus turned grey. She ignored every injury since they healed faster than the barriers inflicted them. Even as Discord blew up the spears that still impaled her it didn't slow her down that much.
After being hit by the Elements of Harmony and journeying through Limbo, Discord was still weakened. The Nightmare had almost reached the incarnation of Chaos and was ready to impale him with her tail.
"Hey, Half Moon!"
Enraged she looked to the side the insult came from. Fluttercruel waved happily at her.
Then another black spear pieced the Nightmare's skull from the opposite direction. The creature was ready to ignore this and to concentrate on her target before her. Suddenly Fluttercruel teleported next to the weapon and grabbed it with a smirk.
Nightmare Phobia tried to stab the young chimera with her tail stinger but Fluttercruel quickly teleported away. And she took the weapon still attached to the Nightmare's skull with her.
It ripped the head out in the process. Black goo began to splatter everywhere from the spine.
Fluttercruel appeared aside her father and quickly threw the weapon away as the skull, still attached to the spear, began to melt into the same black mass that came out of her body. Discord didn't hesitate and caused the weapon to detonate, taking the dark slime out with it. He decided to congratulate his daughter later for figuring out how teleportation worked on her own.
But Nightmare Phobia's skull merely began to grow back on her body. She focused her attention back on the two exhausted incarnations of Chaos.
"There is no need to be shy, just stay where you are."
"This looks almost like a fair fight. How I hate those things." Discord complained.
The Draconequus decided he had to change the factors to his favour. With one snap of his fingers more and more cotton candy clouds appeared around them and obstructed the view of the Nightmare.
Phobia was struck with several ice attacks from random directions and tried to find the source of the attack.
Meanwhile Discord grabbed his daughter and teleported back to his little chaotic world.
Everything here still looked like Fluttercruel remembered it but all Nightmare Night decorations were gone by now. Their home/house/construct/whatever still looked like something belonging into a modern art painting. Standing on the grassy ground she could see the two big mountains, her own floating version of Fluttershy's house, the oversized blackboard, the floating giant chess board and the huge calendar.
Rainbow Dash looked hungrily at the meal Applejack was cooking. Pinkie Pie and Rarity played a game of chess against each other and the white unicorn had hardly any pieces left. Twilight sat in the middle of the chaotic world and seemed sad.
"So what is the big plan?"
Fluttercruel knew that her father would have one. There was no doubt in her. But she felt more exhausted than ever. It seemed both she and her father had already spend most of their chaotic energy in the last few hours. They were never so active for such an extended time and their Chaos hadn't regenerated.
"We can't fight her in an open battle or we will soon make a mistake and she will absorb us just like the spears. I already know that brute force, acid, fire, ice and electricity don't work on her that well."
The incarnation of Chaos looked at the small sun going down and the miniature moon rising over the chaotic world. The familiar constellations appeared over her.
"I laced the five spears with a bit of power…"
Another black spear with a blue spearhead appeared hovering before him.
"But I never thought I would be able to turn the essence of Laughter into a weapon."
The young chimera wondered where the Nightmare was right now and how long it would take her to arrive here. She knew that this break wouldn't last long.
"We will wait for her to come to this chaotic world; here we will have an advantage. But first I will have to do something."
He snapped his fingers again and a microphone appeared in his lion paw.
"Attention all inhabitants: I have something important to talk about."
The other constructs left their houses and lined up in the center of the world. The two incarnations of Chaos could see ponies like Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Noi, Alula, Piña Colada, Dizzy Twister, Cherry Berry, Lemon Hearts, Minuette, Raindrops, Cloud Kicker, Sea Swirl, Wind Whistler, Meadow Song, Berry Punch, the Mayor, Zecora, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, Dinky Doo, Lyra Heartstrings and Pipsqueak. Other constructs were plants like Poison Joke and singing piranha plants or animals like bees, bears with tiny wings, juggling octopi and timber wolves.
"Now in this upcoming battle strength will not be in numbers. If we give her the chance this Nightmare will just devour you all. And then she could be even more powerful. I promise we will recreate you later just like you…" Discord said sounding sombre.
"Dad?"
"I… I don't know if I can even do it. They were never so alive. What if I can't bring them back? I need to think of something… I've got it!"
The constructs continued to look at the two incarnations with curiosity as the Draconequus was finally able to continue, he seemed to be incredible exhausted.
"Change of plans. I will create a safe zone for you. It will be a sphere of Chaos with a build in shrink spell. You will all be able to fit inside and I will teleport you far enough away once the Nightmare arrives and once this is over I will bring you back. So please step forward."
"No."
"Who said that?"
Discord eyed the constructs in confusion as Twilight Sparkle walked to the front row.
"That will not work. We are one with Chaos, we can feel that you will not be able to do all of this at the same time. You will not be able to protect us and survive at the same time."
"So what is your idea?" Somehow Fluttercruel was afraid of the answer.
"…You should reabsorb the majority of our Chaos and use that power to overcome the following battle. But you will not survive on your own, some of us should stay behind and fight on your side."
Discord was almost speechless.
"Do you really understand what you are suggesting?"
"We sensed it when the battle started. Please, if you… should you be devoured by her, every single one of us will disappear. We are Chaos, this way we can at least leave a heritage behind. I talked with everyone about it and every one of us is ready."
Discord could hardly believe how loyal they acted. How could he ever create anything like them?
"Are you insane? You have just grown so much and now you want to throw it all away like… like…" Fluttercruel nearly exploded.
All constructs nodded, not simultaneously but some faster and others slower.
"We want to do it for you and for the other world, for the other ponies outside. What would happen if one of the concepts of reality would completely disappear from this world? We simply can't allow that to happen. Please promise us to survive and to never allow this to happen."
"I… I will keep this promise until and beyond the end."
Fluttercruel looked at her father and at the constructs before them. She knew that they were right but it was so hard to let go. Finally she nodded silently.
With another snap of his fingers Discord released the Chaos from them. They vanished into pure Chaos that floated over to the Draconequus and his daughter.
The two incarnations absorbed it and refilled their own recourses. Only five constructs were left: Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Rarity.
Fluttercruel was more than happy to see them still around, she wouldn't forget the time she had spent with these five. But on the other hoof this meant that they would face the Nightmare together. She knew very well that their enemy could attack them just like all the smaller parts of Fluttershy's psyche.
She and her father had spent a lot of time with these five constructs. The young chimera knew that these five in particular acted much more alive than any other construct.
The former pegasus looked uneasy at the 5 ponies created by Chaos before her.
"Lady Fluttercruel we promise that we shall be of assistance." Rarity said firmly.
"Ah am doing this for my friends and for 'Bloom and the rest of the Apples on the other side."
"You will need someone to watch your back and who else but Chaos's greatest flyer could do that?"
"Now you are just silly, we do it because we are friends. We don't need another reason."
"I know that I was born by Chaos. But the time that I had in this world and the ponies I could befriend here are precious to me. Now I want to return the favour. I promise that should she overpower us, we will release our Chaos and return to the source. We will not hinder you in battle."
Finally Discord had regained his composure. The copy of Pinkie Pie looked hopefully at him while the construct of Rainbow Dash seemed sure that their offer would be accepted. The Draconequus soon had a few ideas how the five could help them in the upcoming battle.
"You are one with Chaos, so you know what she is going to try to do with you. Are you still ready to fight against her?"
All five nodded.
"Then take this."
Instantly the oversized blackboard, the floating giant chess board and the huge calendar all disappeared and the Chaos used to build them floated into the 5 constructs before them. For a short moment the five glowed as they absorbed the power.
"You are Chaos, use this power boost to your advantage."
They could feel their speed, strength and magic becoming more powerful.
"Hey, Fluttercruel, are you okay? I can't let my best competition fall behind. Without you the races would be boring." Rainbow asked.
"I am fine, but when did you get so… worried about someone else?"
"I liked to race with you. That was the reason that I was created but you and everyone else here always treated me like a real person. I loved that feeling, I felt … alive. I simply had to bait you with some banter and smug acts to make you fly faster."
"And is that the reason you took the pancakes ah made for Flutter and she had to chase you over half of this world to get her meal back?"
Dash looked slightly embarrassed at the curious cowpony next to her.
"Partly… they did look really good."
The young chimera tried to avoid staring the farmer into her eyes, the memories of the fear of her mother was still clear before her eyes.
"You never met the other Apples; don't you think they would be just confused or afraid of you?"
"Family is more than being related by blood. Made of chaos or flesh and blood, an Apple is still an Apple. And the Apple family always tries to focus on what lies ahead. We are Apples, we just keep on rollin'."
The other constructs gathered around Fluttercruel and her father. Seven beings of Chaos stat on a small world in the eternal white nothing. The construct of Twilight looked at the constellation of the stargazing unicorn above her and signed.
"This problem will not be solved with a snap of your eagle claw."
"So who exactly is this evil Alicorn that is giving you so much trouble?" Pinkie Pie asked.
"She is what is called a Nightmare. I saw many of them in the other worlds. And someone…"
Discord took a look at the copy of Twilight Sparkle.
"… gave a very detailed explanation. A mortal pony can become a Nightmare if he or she is reborn as an Alicorn without the heart being aligned with all creation and stuff. The taint of black magic plays also a role. An Alicorn can also become a Nightmare if the balance in the heart is destroyed and black magic is involved. The mind game I played with Luna ultimately turned her into one."
"Ah don't get it. Didn't the Elements turn her back?"
"That is the problem. These things are supposed to restore the balance to a heart but something must have gone wrong. Now don't look at me to explain it! Don't forget who I am. I drove Luna with that spell insane… Wait a minute maybe that is the reason that there are two of them running around. Maybe the spell is the cause..."
"I don't care about Miss Crescent's backstory, dad. How do we get rid of her? She isn't the kind of person that will see the error in her ways and embrace friendship and sunshine. She bucking wants to devour us."
"Lady Fluttercruel, watch your language!"
"And what if I don't?" the young incarnation of Chaos asked with a smirk.
"Then you force me to seal you inside an extremely pink princess dress with more ruffles than you ever want to see in your entire life."
"You are evil!"
The young chimera had to chuckle, turning a present into a punishment was a nice contradiction. And she preferred the chaotic dresses the white unicorn had made for her much more over anything pink and princessy.
"So what is the big plan, dad?"
"First things first, we know that her healing factor is incredible powerful and I made a quick scan while battling her. There is no real weakpoint to her body. The body has muscles and joints but there are no internal organs. She has a core inside but put an extremely powerful forcefield around it."
"So let me get this straight, she will heal whatever injury we can do and there is nothing we can do to break the shield around her weakpoint, is that about right?" Rainbow Dash said looking stressed.
"Yes and we are going to exploit that." Discord smiled widely. Doing something good was hard but finding weakpoints was almost second nature to him.
"Ah don't get it. Isn't she invincible?"
"No, nothing is. She put a lot of effort into eliminating all possible flaws and weakpoints but she just switched one weakness for another."
"I get it. Half Moon is putting most of her energy into her defence and if we keep attacking her and forcing her to regenerate and waste her power on attacks, she will eventually run out of juice to protect herself. Then we can win this battle." Fluttercruel's eyes were filled with glee.
"But it will take a lot of time and effort to break her defences. Never underestimate her. One mistake could doom you." Twilight stared at the former pegasus.
The young chimera signed. She knew it wouldn't be that easy. It was her way of trying to give them hope. But she couldn't shake off the feeling that this would be the last time she could talk to the five beings she spend so much time with. The copy of Twilight looked also strangely sorrowful, almost like she knew it as well.
"Dad, I just have one question. Do you regret… the events that led this Nightmare here?"
The Draconequus looked at his daughter like she had told him to stick his head into the sun.
"Saving… your mo… Fluttershy? Not a bit. I started to regret a lot of things but this one is one of the few things that I am still happy with. And once we are done with the Nightmare you can sneak back into the subconscious world and try to have a calmer meeting with her."
"Wha… What do you mean?"
Pinkie Pie smiled at the young chimera.
"Don't be silly. You have her memories. How can you not know? Do you think Fluttershy, after being able to forgive Luna for trying to bring eternal darkness, will hold a grudge against her own daughter for saving her even if it had to happen in a nasty way?"
"The Nightmare will be here within a minute." The older incarnation of Chaos could feel her getting closer.
"Well then…"
Fluttercruel snapped her fingers and seven glasses of dark chocolate milk appeared before everyone. They all picked up their glasses.
"… to Chaos."
Everyone drank their glasses.
The Nightmare arrived at a small flat world with many houses, some made completely out of cards, some cardboard cut-outs, some upside down, some floating, some made out of chocolate and some normal ones. The darkness around her wings disappeared and they turned back into skeletal wings.
Discord stayed hidden for now. He suspected that she could feel her prey was close by and wouldn't be distracted by the cotton candy clouds, sour candy clouds, floating rivers or giant bubbles.
The Draconequus had considered cheating against the rules of existence and summoning as much Chaos as possible with same trick he had almost conquered Equestria with. But since the Nightmare had the ability to absorb his Chaos and who knows what, it would likely just be a big buffet for her. And there was the risk of it backfiring and endangering his daughter and the constructs. For more than one reason he didn't do it.
After everything he still wasn't nearly at full strength. He had to conserve Chaos whenever it was possible and fly normally to not waste power on that. For the very first time he might have to face an opponent that was more powerful than he was. It was a very unpleasant feeling but right now other things were more important.
The skeletonized stinger of the Nightmare scratched over the ground.
Then she saw the Elements.
Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity and Applejack stood exactly like they did as they had struck her down the last time. As the creature saw the necklaces and the crown on them she attacked them in rage.
It was just like the incarnation of Chaos had expected her to act, her extreme healing factor and strength made her act careless. She felt invincible. And she reacted impulsive to anything that reminded her at her past. He knew very well how self-assurance and arrogance could make somebody blind to something so obvious.
As she rushed forward something hit her with high speed from behind. Growling in frustration Phobia turned around and saw a black spear sticking out of her back. Somehow it was a lot more painful than the last ones.
Discord had to chuckle. Mixing Chaos, Laughter and acid together to create a poison of Laughter was a very effective way to cause a lot of damage to the Nightmare over time. Laughter was really the total opposite of fear.
The necklaces and crown dissolved into nothing. The ponies began to spread around the Nightmare as the darkness gathered around her.
Tendrils of dark magic erupted from her and snaked over the ground. As they reached the ponies, the darkness under them took the shape of sharp stingers.
Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy quickly flew into the air to avoid the attack. Pinkie Pie jumped with super-equine speed aside and quickly took Applejack with her. Twilight and Rarity teleported right over the angry creature. Both unicorns gathered some energy into their horns to prepare an attack.
But the Nightmare stabbed at them with the sharp skeletal wings and they both quickly teleported away from her.
In pain the being pulled the spear out with her own telekinesis and saw that the blue spearhead was practically dripping with a blue substance. She threw the weapon after Fluttershy who turned her wings into steel and defended herself against the attack while still somehow staying airborne.
With a smirk the seemingly shy pegasus shifted form and she changed back into Fluttercruel.
"Ah, what a nice welcoming committee but unfortunately the conductor of this lovely event forgot to show himself."
"Sorry, I am truly sorry. I was just busy setting up a few surprises just for you." Discord suddenly stood next to his daughter and spoke with a painfully fake kindness.
"Do you not realize that you all are mere appetizers for my glorious return to power?"
"Will you finally shut up and just get over here? Are you trying to talk us to death?" Fluttercruel snapped back.
"Oh, oh let me try this one!" the copy of Pinkie Pie jumped up and down and suddenly the Nightmare was surrounded by dozens of smiling balloons.
"When I was a little filly and the sun was going dooooooown."
"The darkness and the shadows they would always make me frooooooooown."
Enraged the Nightmare charged at Pinkie Pie but the earth pony was already gone as the spikes were rammed with enough force into the ground to leave cracks around the impact site. Energy blasts from Twilight and Rarity and lightning from clouds set up by Rainbow Dash hit the creature in the back but the injuries healed in a second.
"I'd hide under my pillow from what I thought I saw, but Granny Pie said that wasn't the way to deal with fears at aaaaalllllll."
Pinkie Pie was flying high above them standing on several smiling balloons while cotton candy and sour candy clouds danced around the sky.
"She said, Pinkie you gotta stand up tall, learn to face your fears, you'll see that they can't hurt you just laugh to make them disappeeeeear."
"HA HA HA"
Nightmare Phobia's black wings reappeared and she flew after the pink pony, destroying every balloon in her path. Every single one of them exploded and they managed to slow her down. After the smoke disappeared the singing pony was already gone.
Fluttercruel hid in the pink clouds nearby and used the confusion to send four swords flying at the Nightmare and every one of them hit the joints of one of her spider-like legs. The creature howled in frustration.
"Sooooooo, giggle at the ghosty."
The voice seemed to come from every direction and only now could the Nightmare see that Rainbow Dash had placed Pinkie Pie back on the ground.
As the being tried to absorb the weapons they all exploded with enough force to slam her back onto the ground. But again the wounds vanished within a second.
"And to tell that big ol' scary face to take a hike and leave you alone and if he thinks he's scary than he's got another thing coming and the very idea of such a thing just makes you wanna HAHHAHAAHAHA laaaauuuuuuugh."
Applejack stood on one of the normal looking houses like it was a wild cow. Suddenly the house zoomed foreword and crashed into the Nightmare, leaving her buried under the debris. Applejack jumped quickly as far away as possible.
"YEAH-AH!"
The remains of the building were blasted apart with raw power but now it took the Nightmare's injuries several seconds to heal. Debris flew everywhere and impaled themselves into several buildings around them. The construct of Rarity was standing too close to explosion and the impact of the fragments knocked on her back.
Instantly the Nightmare rushed towards her and tried to impale the white unicorn with her spikes. With her last power Rarity rolled aside but the sharp blade left a scratch on her body. The construct cried out in pain and her movements got slower. Slowly hairline cracks began to spread from the scratch over her body.
It was like mere contact with the Nightmare was poison. Rarity took one final look at Fluttercruel and closed her eyes with a smile.
Before Phobia could impale her with the skeletal stinger, the construct turned back into the Chaos she was created from and vanished before their eyes. Both Discord and Fluttercruel felt a surge of power.
"I am still hungry but that was funny."
The young incarnation of Chaos wanted to charge at the Nightmare but was held back by telekinesis.
(She is trying to bait you. You must keep your distance, no matter what!)
Breathing noisily the former pegasus started to calm down a bit. She tried to say herself that the constructs all knew that this might to happen but it didn't make it any less painful to see.
The calm serenity in Rarity's eyes as she defied the Nightmare even as she was about to perish was so confusing. Fluttercruel had a hard time to believe that anypony could be so selfless.
The shape of the Nightmare melted away and she turned into a perfect copy of the vanished unicorn. Everything from the shade of her fur color to her smile was identical.
"Don't worry, I am fine. Nothing of any importance was lost. Why don't you embrace your friend?"
A tree was flung with high speed at the imposter and slammed her into the upside down house. As the attention of the Nightmare turned to the one who threw the object she saw Twilight staring at her with an expression of disgust, Phobia never expected to see on that face.
The fake white unicorn smiled and teleported next to the purple construct. Before she could reach her several bolts of lightning blasted her away. Rainbow Dash was flying next to several cotton candy clouds. The blasts left little circles of burned grass behind whenever they hit the ground.
Twilight used the distraction to blast the Nightmare with a fireball into the back before teleporting away. Since the body of a unicorn lacked all of her natural weapons the creature turned back into her real form.
In anger Phobia looked around and searched for the weak link in the remaining group. She stared at the construct of Applejack. The Nightmare saw the earth pony that lacked the nonsensical abilities of Pinkie Pie as an easy prey.
As she charged forward through all attacks the others threw at her from flying buildings, spells or weapons, the farmer could only stare in shock. But before the Nightmare could reach her, her victim vanished into a blue blur.
Rainbow Dash had quickly grabbed the earth pony and hugged her for dear life while flying with an insane speed away from the Nightmare.
"AJ, would you take a look behind us?"
"She is following us. And she looks angry."
"Good. Now I will show her why I am Chaos's greatest flyer."
The Nightmare flew faster and faster to reach her fleeing prey. A few fire blasts and sharp weapons hit her from behind but she ignored them for now. She knew that she would recover as soon as she had devoured the two escaping ponies.
The two could see smaller parts of the Nightmare breaking off and taking the form of dark cockatrices and black timberwolves as they attacked the others. Both constructs knew that they were on their own for now.
Without any hesitation they flew inside the opening in the top of one of the mountains. Phobia followed them without second thought. She could sense their fear.
The inside was a nonsensical obstacle course and everything looked much bigger than the entire mountain was on the outside.
No matter how fast she flew, Rainbow Dash managed to stay ahead and didn't lose Applejack. The creature became more and more frustrated and began to launch spheres of darkness at them but the pegasus managed to avoid them as well. Her speed and manoeuvrability was absolutely insane.
She hid behind the multicolored bars placed as obstacles for Fluttercruel and her. Rainbow Dash knew this place inside out. The Nightmare didn't know what came next and crashed into several of the obstacles. In fact it seemed like the bars actively moved into her way to hinder her. She suspected that the farmer did have control over them.
Phobia began to create several spheres of darkness and let them float towards certain points to cut off the escape routes of the pegasus.
Soon Dash had less and less room to maneuver and eventually all possible escape routes were blocked by countless spheres and Rainbow was forced to fly into a dead end.
Rainbow Dash looked absolutely exhausted. Her strength was nearly completely spent.
"You might have escaped if you would have dropped the dead weight, you are carrying around. But don't worry; this will only hurt for a short moment."
"I couldn't have flown half as fast if I weren't doing it to protect her."
"Rainbow, it was a real honour. You really are Chaos's greatest flyer. Now it is time for my final dish."
"The Apples couldn't be prouder."
With a smile Applejack kicked the stone wall behind her and cracks began to spread around the impact site. She had put her entire being into this one strike. Both ponies were hardly able to walk anymore.
Both constructs smiled at each other as they turned back into the Chaos they was created from and disappeared before the furious Nightmare.
Phobia couldn't believe that she was denied her meal again. Both Discord and Fluttercruel felt more power of Chaos returning to them and crushed the remaining smaller copies of cockatrices and timberwolves between two houses.
Only then did the frustrated Nightmare realise that red fluid began to drip through the cracks, the attack of the earth pony left behind. As quickly as she could she flew back up as a flow of lava broke into the mountain.
The magma rose much faster than it should, it was almost like it was hunting the Nightmare. But she put more and more effort into staying ahead of the flow. Her injuries took longer and longer to heal, so for now the being wanted to avoid being hit by something like this.
Soon she has almost reached the exit as Phobia saw something huge hovering over it.
It was a gigantic sword made out of lava and it stabbed downward right at her. The Nightmare quickly dodged aside but the Chaos cheated and magma erupted from the sides of the sword. The scorching substance burned her wings.
The creature fell into the burning abyss below her as the rest of the giant sword was rammed inside. An otherworldly scream of pain echoed through the entire white space.
Fluttercruel hovered next to the Draconequus controlling the sword. Twilight and Pinkie Pie stood uneasy next to them on cotton candy clouds. The two constructs had never seen the two incarnations of Chaos that angry or exhausted.
"That was for Rarity."
"She will survive that as well," hissed Fluttercruel.
"I know, but it did a lot of damage. We need to finish this as soon as possible or we will run out of Chaos to use."
"And you two are better more careful." the younger incarnation of Chaos said looking sombre at the final two constructs.
The temperature around them fell harshly and the entire magma started to harden and froze over.
As the Nightmare blasted herself out of the mountain around her, the fragments shattered themselves over the entire world. The few houses left standing were wrecked, the variation of Fluttershy's house was levelled to the ground and even the main house in the center of the world took damage. Discord's mirror into other worlds fell to the ground.
This time the body of the Nightmare had several minor injuries in the form of scars and cuts that refused to heal.
Fluttercruel blocked any smaller debris that flew into the direction of the last two constructs with floating shields, while Discord destroyed all bigger pieces that came into their direction.
"You are nothing. You are mere stepping stones on my road to revenge!"
Nightmare Phobia roared as she teleported next to the four survivors. But they had anticipated that and several spears with blue spearheads and normal weapons like knifes and swords hit the creature, causing her to crash into the ground again.
As the being rose from the ground, there were still countless weapons sticking out of her body. Discord was floating before her, he smiled at her and grasped in a very fake surprise.
"Look behind you! That is no moon!"
"If you think I will fall for that old..."
Without any warning the miniature moon crashed down on her and buried her even deeper into the ground.
"You got me. I lied. It was the moon. That was for Applejack."
On the other side of the world the young chimera and the two constructs with additional gossamer wings floated next to the small sun. Both Twilight and Pinkie Pie were happy that the chaotic copy of this spell wasn't as fragile as the original version.
Pinkie Pie pointed into the direction she had to aim, as Twilight marked the position with her magic.
(Fluttercruel! Do it now!)
"I am on it, dad!"
With a snap of her claw she sent the small sun flying right at the point Twilight had marked. They could all hear the screaming of the Nightmare as the sun collided with her.
Before the two constructs could say anything, Fluttercruel teleported them all back to her father.
"And that was for Rainbow Dash."
The small sun buried deeper and deeper into the world as cracks spread over it. The grass around it erupted into fire that started to spread over the entire world. By now most of the green was completely destroyed by the ongoing battle.
The two copies of Twilight and Pinkie Pie saw the world they were born on burn to the ground.
Discord looked at them but he knew not what he could say. They had all lost so much in this battle and he somehow doubted that even this was enough to finish her off. Fluttercruel was uncharacteristically silent and looked lost in thought.
This time the being didn't blast her way out of the stones around her in flashy motion. Instead dozens black tentacles broke out of the ruins and started to drag anything they could get a hold of into it.
One tentacle aimed right for Fluttercruel as Pinkie Pie quickly pushed her aside. The young chimera changed her tail into a rope and managed to grab the pink pony. She dragged her down as the attack flew above their heads.
"What was that? Did you want to die?" the former pegasus sounded hurt.
"What are friends for?"
"Friends are NOT there to die for each other!"
For a moment the pink pony looked speechless as Discord teleported them all high above the burning world. The incarnation of Chaos looked very exhausted. They all knew that they started to reach their limit.
More and more of the remains of the world were dragged into the black mess under them. The mass was bombarded with attacks from the four chaotic beings above them. But neither spears laced with laughter, weapons, explosions or spells seemed to have any effect.
"Now it is your tiMe to faLl into the abyss."
She started to absorb the ruins of the buildings including their home/house/creation in the center of the world. The Draconequus let several objects explode as they fell into darkness but even that did hardly seem to slow the creature down.
Discord's mirror into other worlds was dragged into it. No matter how hard he tried, for some reason he couldn't let that mirror self destruct. The incarnation wondered if the connection to Truth was too stable to be destroyed that easily.
Fluttercruel shivered as the black mass grew and grew. She had seen that before in Fluttershy's mind. But this time there was no one to wake up to escape the trap.
As the Nightmare had absorbed the mirror the uncontrollable growth became even faster.
Discord and Fluttercruel tried to teleport away but were unable to do that. Their resources were nearly completely depleted. The darkness surrounded them.
"You aRe alL mine."
Everything went black.
Pony POV Series Chaos Verse
Discord: Complete Existence Part 2
Discord could see something. A disturbingly familiar castle could be seen under him as the checker pattern around it covered the entire world around it. It was like looking down on a distorted image while everything around him was completely dark.
"You could have had everything. Why did you reject your gift of Disharmony?"
The Draconequus recognised the voice instantly, it was his own. Quickly turning around he saw a bigger version of the mirror, he had created, floating before him.
His reflection smiled back coldly.
"I can feel that I am fading away and now she shows me you of all things? Now that is definitely not the way I wanted to go." Discord said dryly to the mirror.
The mind of the incarnation of Chaos was racing how he could get out of this. He knew this was likely just a smokescreen to distract him while he was devoured. The Nightmare had absorbed the mirror, so she could have access to the knowledge of this world. Or his own connection to Truth was going berserk and this was an elaborate vision.
But by now the energy of the Nightmare had to be almost depleted as well. The darkness around him was thin; he could still feel a burst of Chaos outside. If he could just break through this attack…
"You knew what would have been the easiest way to overpower the Nightmare? Whenever you absorbed one of these five puppets back you became more powerful. I have no idea why but their Chaos has grown on its own. Not that I care. But here is the joke: Would you have absorbed your Fluttercruel back into yourself you would have enough power to easily defeat this Nightmare. Just devour your own flesh and blood!"
The reflection burst into laughter. Instinctively Discord took a few steps back as the mirror followed him.
"Now don't act like you actually care for her! She is a creation of you! You were just doing this father act to get a loyal minion, didn't you? And just think about it. If you could defeat this Nightmare and add her power into yours you would be powerful enough to break free of this cursed seal of Harmony."
The grin of the reflection became even wider.
"If you would miss her, you could just recreate your daughter by infecting Fluttershy in Equestria again. Even better, your daughter would also gain a body in the process! Hell, you could create some sisters for her as well. Just think about the chaotic being you could have created from Pinkie Pie!"
"SHUT UP!"
The mirror floated even closer, Discord could look into the empty, soulless eyes of his reflection.
"Then tell me, what is your plan to escape? Wait. You don't even need to tell me how, just say do you see any other way to overcome this Nightmare?"
The incarnation of Chaos was speechless.
"Do you need an inspiration? Then how about this?"
Images of the world ruled by Discord flew past the Draconequus. He witnessed how the former bearers of the Elements became more and more corrupted until they were finally ready to accept the Elements of Chaos.
Countless mortals died by chaotic monsters created by Discord or by his six minions. Other were broken in body and mind beyond recognition. Families and friends were broken apart or turned against each other.
He saw Derpy running around the castle for all this time to free her daughter turned into a muffin. It continued for 100 years, 200 years, 300 years and 400 years.
He saw Cadence's final battle and painful death and understood what this world had lost with her. The suffering continued for 500 years, 600 years, 700 years, 800 years, 900 years and 999 years.
The pain of the world seemed endless and it all was compressed into a few seconds.
"That is how you should wield your power! And Cadence's and Twilight's faces were just priceless! I always have to laugh when I see the recording of it!"
The Draconequus looked around the place in panic but there was nothing to work with. He took a look on the silver bracelet with the emerald inside, the present his Fluttecruel had made for him.
He remembered what he had seen in his first journey into Truth and the talk between Twilight and the little earth pony he had seen in the mirror later on. Those two scenes were suspiciously missing in this seemingly endless display.
Discord smiled at the mirror. He knew what kind of game this was. Truth was used against him but it was only part of the picture and not the entire truth. The Draconequus had used partial truths often enough to recognise this technique.
"Now please continue to inspire me. Don't stop here. I am sure you still have hundreds of years left to show."
Now the smile on the face of the reflection vanished. Discord knew he had to take the opportunity and turn the conversation around.
"I think I should take this chance to thank you. After all it was you who inspired me to do what I have done. Without you, I wouldn't have reconsidered myself. Without you, I wouldn't have seen the other world."
Now the reflection looked furious.
"SHUT UP! That is not…"
Before the image could continue Discord interrupted it. Small cracks began to appear on the mirror.
"Without you, I wouldn't have saved my daughter. Without you, I wouldn't know where her cruelty might lead her."
"No! That is wrong. Stop it."
The cracks began to spread all over the mirror.
"Without you, she wouldn't have made this decision. Without you, she wouldn't have saved her own mother from certain death."
"No…"
Now the damage was nearly completely covering the mirror.
"You saved Fluttershy's life! That is all thanks to you!"
Without any further words the mirror began to break and the cracks spread over the entire darkness around the Draconequus. Everything broke apart like cheap glass.
Discord knew this was the opening that he needed.
Slowly Fluttercruel could see the constructs of Twilight and Pinkie Pie floating next to her. Twilight looked exhausted and the pink pony could barely move. Only then did the young chimera notice the energy shield surrounding them. Her vision was still somewhat blurred.
The purple unicorn was shielding them all with her magic.
"Are you finally awake? I wanted to say that you were always a good student and I am proud on you. But there is one more spell I want to teach you."
"What are you talking about?"
Only then could the incarnation of Chaos see that both constructs were injured. Cracks similar to those Rarity had started to spread from Pinkie Pie's left foreleg and Twilight's face.
"Damn it. Why can't I save a single one of you?"
Twilight didn't know what to say but Pinkie Pie raised her head and managed to smile weakly.
"Don't be silly. We knew that would happen one way or the other. Remember we were born from Chaos but even if… even if we would have been dolls or toys or whatever, we wanted to help you two. I just wonder what it would be like to live like the ponies of the other world, to have a family and so on."
"You can still do that if you just keep going. Dad and I will blast Half Moon apart and then we will rebuild the chaotic world. It will be much better than before. You have to see it!"
To her own shock Fluttercruel could hear her voice quiver. The cracks did almost completely cover the face of the purple unicorn.
"Sorry, but we can't follow you much further. Discord gave us a boost of Chaos but our energy is almost completely spent."
Pinkie Pie looked so uncharacteristically sad and the construct of Twilight continued for her.
"This is my final lesson. This shield spell is based on something the other Twilight used to protect her friends from Discord in their last encounter. This version uses concentrated Chaos to form it into a barrier around the caster. It works very similar to how you shape Chaos into objects and magic but this time you keep the raw energy around yourself and form that into a barrier. Just try it."
The young chimera took a deep breath and tried to replicate the spell. The first attempt collapsed into itself and the second try did cause a minor explosion. But the two constructs stood far enough away to avoid any damage.
Twilight didn't look like she could hold her spell much further. Her entire body was covered in cracks but by sheer force of will the unicorn continued to cast her protective incantation.
But with her third attempt Fluttercruel crafted a working shield around herself and the two constructs.
Exhausted Twilight ended her spell and now the young chimera felt the constant assault of darkness on the other side.
"Thank you… my fr…"
In the middle of the sentence the purple construct collapsed and changed back into the Chaos she was created from. Fluttercruel could feel a burst of power flowing through her body.
She started to sit down and sobbed. As her concentration weakened, the shield did weaken as well.
Fluttercruel could feel a hoof on her shoulder. The last construct sat next to her and began to talk. Deep gashes spread over Pinkie's entire left foreleg.
"You know I have been thinking a bit about everything. You were born when Discord corrupted Fluttershy with Chaos. You wanted to be cruel. Then you did something incredibly kind and risked your own life to save your mother."
The pink pony looked wistfully at her ruined leg.
"I think I was born when your father wanted you to not be lonely in this world. All I wanted was to see my friends smile, to see you smile. You look so cute when you smile. In the end I fought alongside you and hurt someone to protect my friends. I don't think it is important how someone is born but what they do with their lives. Could you tell me one thing, why did you apologize to me after I was hurt by your explosion just after we met?"
The young chimera looked into the eyes of the pony next to her. She knew that Pinkie wanted to distract her from the all-devouring darkness outside and it seemed to work.
Upholding the shield became easier the less she thought about the danger outside. She knew that this was their last chance for a talk.
"Because… I have to admit it's hard for me to say. I think I didn't want to hurt you. I wanted to be cruel and that is still there but… there is more. Cruelty isn't all I am. I still think that some ponies deserve it but to different degrees."
Fluttercruel could almost see her memories of ponies bullying Fluttershy.
"The jerk ponies I can remember pushing Fluttershy around should feel what that is like. The horrible flight instructors I can remember should be reported to the authorities. I doubt what they did was in any form legal. I thought about dropping them from high attitude and catching them just before they crash on the ground but I think the other idea is much worse for them. And this Nightmare who tries to kill you, dad, mom and me should be pounded into dust…"
"Sorry if I have to push you in one direction but why did you want to help your mother or us?" Pinkie Pie interrupted.
"Because… I can remember what it is like to be kind to others and others being kind to Fluttershy. These memories are… precious. They felt so right. And my father and all of you were kind to be. After the chaotic Ponyville my next memories are about the dark place where everything wanted to torture and kill me. Then he saved me, made me laugh and taught me so much about my Chaos."
Fluttecruel looked at the golden bracelet still on her arm.
"I am sure that he put a tracking spell inside. Hm, dad is always planning ahead. That will never change but I think we both became something different over time."
"So what do you think is more important? Is it Kindness or Cruelty?"
The young chimera had to chuckle.
"To be honest I have no idea. I didn't think about it until recently. But I do know that I wanted to help you."
The gashes had spread over most of the body of the pink pony and hairline cracks were already on her face. Fluttercruel knew that they had almost no time left.
The shield around them was bursting with power and began to push the darkness around them back.
"That is good to hear. I wished we had the chance to talk more before all of this happened. It felt really good. And Fluttercruel, I want to remind you that I will always be your friend. I thought you were like a big sister."
"Now I see it, you actually have a family: Father, me and the rest of Chaos. You are a real pony to me."
Fluttercruel looked into the eyes of the pink pony before her. She wouldn't turn away in the last moments. Pinkie Pie smiled with tears in her eyes.
"Thank you."
As the last construct turned back to Chaos Fluttercruel felt another burst of power and cracks began to form in the darkness around her shield.
The young chimera knew that this was the opening that she needed.
An infernal scream echoed through the entire white space as the darkness was blown apart from the inside by two powerful explosions of Chaos.
The remaining darkness was thrown off its two resistant victims and crashed hard into the ground next to the center of the chaotic world.
The small world of Chaos was almost completely wrecked; only some pieces of their home/house/construct/whatever were still left standing.
Both incarnations of Chaos were relieved to still see each other but Discord instantly understood what it meant that he couldn't see the two last constructs with his daughter.
Breaking free of that trap had almost completely exhausted the two of them; both knew that they couldn't risk anything. This was their last chance to win this battle.
(Now listen well, my little angel. I need you to create something for me.)
The darkness concentrated itself back into the form of Nightmare Phobia. But she also looked weakened and her right wing and parts of left side of her skull were missing. To her frustration she had to realise that these pieces of her didn't regenerate anymore.
The poison was taking its toll and her vision was blurry. But she could still see the small grey chimera standing close to her. Discord was nowhere to be seen but the creature didn't care anymore.
She turned into darkness and overwhelmed the former pegasus before she could react. Fluttercruel did put up absolutely no resistance.
"You aRe NotHing. YoU Are noThiNg. YOu arE nOthIng."
Then she saw Discord floating before her. He smiled but it only showed his teeth, his eyes were devoid of any friendliness.
"You made your choice and now I am afraid you just lost the game. I guess I forgot to tell you the rules but nopony is perfect. And I am sure that the real Luna wouldn't have fallen for that old trick."
"HoW DAre yOU…"
Suddenly Nightmare Phobia felt absolutely horrible, like something was building up inside her.
"Let me at least give you this consolation prize. Arrivederci!"
Without any warning another black spear with a blue spearhead stabbed the being and fixated her on the ground next to the center of his world. As fast as he could the Draconequus teleported away from her.
Soon he sat on the park bench floating much further away from the chaotic world. Fluttercruel already waited for him. It was the same place from which he had first shown her the world, he had created. She could see the constellations that they had made together.
"So Half Moon absorbed the fake?"
It wasn't a construct but just a big empty doll made to look like her. She would not lose anypony else to her.
"She swallowed it hook, line and sinker."
Discord created two pairs of sunglasses and handed his daughter one of them. Both put them on without hesitation.
"Your Chaos was good enough to trick her and I placed a nice surprise inside."
Fluttercruel noticed that the park bench did move away from the remains of their world as it seemed to get smaller and smaller.
"Do you remember what I once told you about the 'easier way' to create Chaos and what happens if that spell fails? Now you are going to see what happens when it goes critical."
In a blinding light a gigantic explosion engulfed the broken world. It looked nothing like the explosions she was used to. For a second it was a black ball of energy, then it was a huge fireball, then a sphere of lightning. It started to alternate between countless stages and changed faster and faster. Lightning and fire erupted from it and vanished. This continued until it collapsed back into itself within seconds, leaving nothing but empty white space behind.
The younger chimera could only stare at the place where she once lived together with the constructs and her father. Now everything was completely gone. Discord looked shaken as well. She knew he was trying to hide it for her.
She remembered Twilight teaching her about Chaos and always looking after her fellow constructs. The purple unicorn was the very first construct she met and stayed with her as long as she could. The young chimera felt a tear rolling down her cheek.
Fluttercruel recalled the races she had with Rainbow and how long both of them could argue that one of them hadn't won this race, because the wind was inconvenient or the sun was too close to their flight path.
The young chimera almost saw Rarity making chaotic dresses for her and acting like her chaperone. What would she think of her now?
Fluttercruel remembered the dishes Applejack had cooked for her. The farmer had insisted that if Flutter didn't know these tastes, then she would learn them one by one.
But most of all she remembered Pinkie: The time they had spent together, the things they had laughed about and the last moment they shared. She almost felt the hoof of her friend on her shoulder as she thought about her.
Discord put his lion arm around her.
They had created this world together but the feeling of losing it was nothing compared to the pain of seeing her friends perish.
By now both were completely exhausted from the long battle and the sunglasses vanished into nothing. As the glasses vanished she could clearly see a tear in Discord's right eye.
"Dad?"
"Yes, my little angel?"
"Screw this! There is no need to hide your sadness anymore. If you want to be sad about them, then be sad. You don't have to hide your pain! I won't either."
The Draconequus looked thoughtful and mournful at the space where they had lived.
"I… never felt like this. I saw many mortals pass away over time, some sooner, some later. But I was never so invested in their lives before. This feeling is so…"
"Dad, I feel it too. I can understand it. Some things can't be put into words. What do you think would Twilight say to all of this?"
"Hm. Probably that it was their own choice and they did it for us and for Chaos. She would… would say that we can grieve but that we should not lose ourselves in despair, that this was the price of being alive. She would say that I can't change the past and should concentrate on the future."
The Draconequus looked at his daughter.
"Now this sounds much more like something she would want to hear."
"You are right. They were unique and are independent enough to be with the big Alicorn with the unpronounceable name right now."
Somehow Discord just knew that they would not end up in the Limbo.
"Fluttercruel, I wanted to say… thank you, for everything."
"Nah, don't mention it."
Both incarnations moved closer together. Discord tried to think of anything else he could say right now.
"But they would be proud on what you were able to do."
"I just wish we had more time to…"
Fluttercruel shook her head and decided to change the topic as soon as possible.
"Tell me one thing; did you have a plan B in case Miss Crescent didn't fall for this trick?"
Discord looked somewhat embarrassed.
"Well, actually yes. I would have teleported us both to the subconscious world and that would have gotten Luna's attention without any doubt."
He pulled out a white letter with a symbol of two opposing arrows merging into a common point.
"Even if she would have attacked me, you could have taken the chance to deliver this letter to Celestia or Luna. Both just love their letters."
The young chimera had to chuckle weakly.
"You were actually going to do that?"
"It was plan B for a reason, but it still beats getting eaten alive."
She didn't like the way he sounded when he talked about it. Would he even have enough power left to bring them both to the subconscious world?
Discord manifested a glass of chocolate milk in his claw. "To the constr-...no, to our...friends."
Fluttercruel manifested herself a glass of bitter chocolate milk and toasted her father. "Our friends." Both incarnations drank, milk and glasses, to their fallen friends.
Suddenly both felt a power building up behind them and as they turned around simultaneously they saw white and black lines circling around each other and forming the overlapping symbols of the sun and the moon.
Then the white space opened at that part and two very familiar Alicorns flew through the opening: Celestia and Luna. As sudden as the hole appeared, it closed itself after the two winged beings had passed it.
Now both incarnations of Chaos were completely speechless.
"I am sorry we are so late but despite our full power it took a lot of time to get past this barrier," Celestia said slowly floating down to the park bench.
"It was too late to save her but at least you managed to stop her from hurting anypony else. But she should have been my responsibility." Luna added with a sombre tone.
Fluttercruel was the first one to recover. She felt strangely energetic after the two Alicorns appeared. The young chimera remembered that the construct of Twilight once told her that the source of Chaos was the difference between two forces. And right now two powers that were total opposites stood before them.
She noticed that her father seemed a lot less exhausted then before. He must have felt it as well and the Draconequus also quickly hid his letter on the park bench. The white letter could be hardly seen on the similar colored bench.
It was strange. While she felt mortal fear from seeing the two Alicorns of Harmony standing before them, Fluttercruel also sensed something very nostalgic. Almost instinctively she fluttered between the two sisters and her father.
"For Chaos's sake did we skip a few pages here? How can you even know what just happened here?"
"Well… to be honest I used the same spell your father used to look inside Truth. I have been using this incantation for some time now to regularly check on his status. After Twilight acted so strange, Discord was my first suspect. But I have to admit that I never suspected him to ever do something like this for anypony."
"Wha… what did you see?" Discord was finally able to talk and his mind was racing.
The incarnation of Chaos couldn't believe that he never thought of this possibility. He had "borrowed" this spell from her. If he was able to use it to cross the seal from his side, it was possible from Equestria as well. Of course the Sun Goddess also could use it to see what he was doing.
The incarnation of the Light looked thoughtful.
"I saw almost everything. How you healed Fluttercruel, how you two created this world together, how you broke the seal on our powers, how you lost these individuals and how you fought against Phobia. Meanwhile Luna was able to see the encounter in Fluttershy's dream but it was already over before she could reach her. Without you two we would have also lost Fluttershy to her."
Her sister interrupted her.
"Still your crimes against ponykind remain and the seal of Harmony on you didn't break. And don't think that we have forgotten what you did to us."
The Draconequus tried to avoid looking into Luna's eyes.
“I understand that now. After everything that happened I know what it was like for you to see your subjects in danger and being unable to help them. When I did play my games with the ponies, you must have felt helpless.”
Now Fluttercruel took her chance to talk back.
"So why did you even bother to come? You could have just waited outside and attacked Half Moon in case she is done with us."
"Because no matter what happened, we three were born together, we are still a family and I will not abandon someone who did try to change. Even if it is too late for some…" Celestia said with a stern voice looking to the space where the world of Chaos once stood.
"Still the optimistic one… then again you were right with Luna and the six bearers. I… I wanted to say… Damn it! You know I thought I had hundreds of years to prepare a speech before I meet you again." Discord tried to calm himself down.
"I didn't have time to prepare a meaningful speech either! Just say it!" Luna snapped back.
"I… I am… I am sorry for… everything I did to you two and the world. Just everything."
Fluttercruel could hardly believe what she heard.
"Wait a bucking minute? Family?"
"Well the short version is that we have the same origin. It all began with us hearing a voice saying 'Remember you three represent the three foundations of this world. You, Celestia, are the Light, my little Luna embodies the Darkness and last but not least Discord is the Chaos between those two forces.' After that…" Luna started.
I was dying. I knew it would happen sooner or later but now even Discord turned against me and killed me. What did I do wrong? I never hurt him but he attacked me without any provocation.
It was dark around me. Thick fog-like darkness surrounded me while the ground seemed to be made of sand. While there was no wind, it still moved on its own. I couldn't see much further and there was nothing here to be seen or heard. This place was completely silent.
Is that blood that started to ooze out of my wounds? I don't want to die before I was able to take my revenge. Celestia, this imposter, the bearers and Discord would all pay for what they had done.
My body isn't moving anymore. I can't feel most of my legs anymore. Are they even still there? I can feel parts of my head, my main body, one of my forelegs and the left wing but nothing else. The darkness that left me started to color everything around me even darker. The pain! That isn't normal! Why did Celestia do that to me?
Slowly I could see others surround me. They looked strange, almost like they are not really there. It is like they are shadows. Some look like ponies, some might have once been dragons and I think I can see a few other beings that I don't even know in this group.
"DiD yOU cOme tO hElp Me?"
They didn't answer my question. Slowly they moved closer to me. They made me feel hungry.
As the first shadow pony stepped into my darkness it sunk into it without a scream and I was finally able to appease some of my hunger. It tasted strange but I felt better, the pain became less. I needed more of them.
They had no fear and wordlessly they continued to walk into my darkness. They were so generous and kind. Why couldn't these traitorous ponies of Equestria be more like them? I felt myself becoming more and more. Why didn't I find this wonderful place sooner?
My darkness began to spread over the place, absorbing more of these selfless shadows.
"I neEd mOrE! CoMe ALL to mE! LeT us all GO toGeTHER!"
I felt myself grow. It was wonderful. I didn't feel any pain anymore. This was like it always should have been. I can feel their hate for everything that exists. I can understand them.
They keep walking into my direction like they are following an unspoken order. There is no hesitation in them. They come willingly to sacrifice themselves to me.
We will no longer be casted aside. Now it is time for Celestia… no for the entire world to pay for what they have done to us. It will hurt Celestia more than anything else if I take away the world she loves so much.
Pony POV Series Chaos Verse
Discord: Complete Existence Part 3
The white space started to shake.
"Who dares to interrupt our story?" the Alicorn of Darkness shouted.
Small black hairline cracks started to form where the small world of Chaos had once stood. Within seconds the ruptures became bigger and bigger. Now some cracks had reached the four beings. Celestia felt something big approaching them. Even the air seemed to burst with strange magic.
"Run."
Nobody objected to this idea and all four spread their wings and flew as fast as possible. None of them wanted to use a teleportation while everything around them seemed suddenly so instable.
Something crashed into the cracks from the other side and they spread even further. Finally the middle part began to break completely apart and revealed a huge dark opening. It looked like the maw of a beast.
By now the four felt that they had gained enough distance from this hole and paused to take a look just as something broke through.
The long construction that started to grow there did look somewhat like the head and neck of a hydra. But it was entirely composed of shadows crudely merged together and as big as the Canterlot Castle. Some of them still struggled futilely, while others didn't move at all. While the part that would be the head had a giant maw with countless of different teeth inside, it had no eyes.
Luna grabbed her head in pain.
"This feeling, that being is Phobia! What… What did she do to herself?"
"You should be more worried about what she wants to do this us. I doubt she just broke past this barrier to have a tea party." Fluttercruel remarked dryly trying to hide her own panic.
Discord saw right through her act but he was more worried himself then he wanted to admit. In all these years he couldn't even put a dent into this white space but somehow this creature started to tear it to shreds.
The cracks continued to spread around the neck-like part of the Nightmare. It seemed that even more parts were attacking the barrier between the realms. Then seven more heads started to break through all at once.
The heads of the being kept moving in regular intervals, almost like they were mandibles of something much later beneath the surface.
Luna tried to get the attention of the Nightmare with the Royal Canterlot Voice.
"PLEASE LET US TALK! IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE THAT WAY!"
But no part of the being before them reacted the slightest to that. The Alicorn of Darkness hovered a few steps back.
"Is she… already gone?"
Luna was shocked. All this time she had no chance to talk with her and now that it was finally possible, Phobia didn't even seem to be able to listen to her anymore.
Celestia put her hoof on the shoulder of her sister.
"I am so sorry. I should have felt something was wrong with Twilight. I should have…"
"No. She was my responsibility and all this time I was not able to sense that something was wrong with the subconscious world."
Discord floated next to the two shocked Alicorns.
"I hate to take the role of the voice of reason but you can work out who was responsible for what later. She just broke through one barrier of reality, she might do that again. What do you think will happen if she reaches the subconscious world? What if she even goes one step further and enters the world completely? Does one of you by any chance know how to stop her?"
"I know a spell that might help us. I created it so that the six heroes wouldn't need to face every threat directly. It allows us two to channel Harmony over the Elements into ourselves. We can use our own power to create a connection with the six bearers and call down the Elements of Harmony from them."
"That is cheating. I love the idea, count me in!"
Discord chuckled as the jaws of the two Alicorns nearly fell to the ground. Fluttercruel fluttered next to her father.
Both Alicorns stood next to each other as several bright lines began to spread from the two sisters and connected them to each other. Meanwhile both Discord and Fluttercruel instinctively took a few steps back from the Harmony surrounding the two Princesses. The young chimera fluttered closer as the incantation ended.
"Okay, I already know that there is some catch to it. Just spill it out. We two can't simply sit back while you love and tolerate the everlasting crap out of the Nightmare."
The two Alicorns didn't look amused at her choice of words.
"Indeed, it will take us a lot of time to charge up the spell completely, about 22 minutes," Luna said coldly.
"Twenty-two minutes! What did you expect your opponent to do for twenty-two minutes? Dancing?" Discord pointed out the very glaring weakness of that incantation.
"Some would monologue even longer if we let them do that." Celestia added with an ambiguous smile.
Draconequus had to cough while Fluttercruel had to restrain her laughter.
"Actually, we can keep casting this spell without standing still. We just need to last that long."
The heads of the Nightmare began to move into their direction, the flow of Harmony did finally get her attention.
More cracks began to spread around them as one head lunged foreword at them and the four spread their wings and all evaded into different directions. As the head crashed into the white space, where they had just been talking, black cracks began to spread at the impact site.
Meanwhile the young incarnation of Chaos felt herself nearly bursting with power after being so close to the two concepts of Light and Darkness.
Immediately Fluttercruel created several blades, spears and morning stars and launched them all at once at the titanic creature before here. As they collided, she let them explode, which blew a few dozens shadows out of the part that she hit but almost instantly more shadows pushed out from the middle of the mass and closed the hole.
Then the shadows that were freed started to aimlessly walk around the white space.
(Nice try, but that won't work. We will drown in shadows before we do any real physical damage to Miss Nightmare. I am to your left.)
The young chimera scanned the direction and quickly teleported to where she felt her father. The two Alicorns were also close by.
"We need to get her attention before she can reach the subconscious world. I will not allow her to harm anyone else on our world," Celestia said sternly.
Luna nodded gravely; she would not let her own mistakes destroy the world that was willing to forgive her.
Both noticed that Discord and Fluttercruel kept drawing power from the conflicts around them. The incarnations of Chaos could now use their full strength. Discord smiled.
"Now this is it. There is not a single mortal you need to be concerned for in this realm and no need to hold back. Here we can fight with everything we have. Are you ready for our first dance?"
All four nodded and flew off into different directions.
If Celestia had learned one thing from seeing the battle between Discord and the Nightmare, then it was how much Phobia hated the Sun Goddess. This would make her the perfect distraction in this confrontation.
The Alicorn darted over the creature and the eight heads followed her movements. Then their mouths opening and every single head fired a red energy blast the size of Sugarcube Corner at her.
The Goddess of Light teleported out of the range of that attack, only for the spherical blasts to join into each other right where she was a mere second ago. After that the combined attack chased after her with a crimson glow.
Suddenly a second Celestia flew past the heads and the attack stopped in its track, unable to decide which Sun Goddess it should follow. The Alicorn it had chased first used this chance and gathered pure bright light into her horn.
Within seconds she fired her own beam of energy at the sphere and pushed it back into one of the heads.
It exploded with a powerful red blast that did push back everyone who was airborne. As the smoke cleared itself they saw that one of the heads was completely blown apart and countless shadows began to wander around the white space next to the Nightmare.
The second Celestia changed her appearance back to her true form: The Alicorn of Darkness.
"We need to do something about these shadows or we will be overwhelmed sooner or later!"
Right on clue a grey comet crashed through the shadows and every one that was hit was blasted apart. The remains of the shadows began to immediately return to one of the countless dark cracks on the ground. The Alicorns understood that they returned to their own realm.
"Was that…"
Celestia had trouble finishing her sentence. Then she noticed Discord floating nearby.
"Oh yes! Just take a look!"
He pulled out a picture of the grey comet and in the middle of it the Alicorn could see Fluttercruel smirking.
"Now this is her one chance for payback towards these stalkers. And I am almost done with my idea. Just a few seconds more."
As sudden as he appeared the Draconequus vanished again.
This time Luna flew before the seven heads to gain their attention. Even without eyes they followed their prey and opened their mouths to fire many small dark lasers at the Alicorn before them.
Luna flew up into the air and started to fly faster and faster away from the attacks. But they followed her flawlessly. No matter if she flew loops or suddenly changed directions, they were after her.
She tried to teleport out of their reach but this time the Nightmare didn't gather the energy together and the numerous lasers still followed her.
Suddenly one of the heads of the creature moved forward and took the impact of the attacks meant for her.
Soon the Alicorn of the Night noticed some puppet strings that were attached to the neck. Above them Discord pulled the strings on that part of the Nightmare.
But the other heads noticed it as well and two of them lunged after the incarnation of Chaos floating above them with wide open maws. Quickly he pulled up the head part under his control. The other two were too fast to stop their attack and instead of hitting Discord they bit the neck into three parts.
More parts of the Nightmare crashed to the ground and turned back into shadows. Some of them immediately fled back into the cracks. The ones that stayed and looked around for anything they could devour were broken apart by Fluttercruel flying with an insane speed through them. In this broken state they could not resist the pull of Oblivion and were dragged back into their own realm.
Before Discord could celebrate he noticed another head right behind him. Several spheres of Darkness collided with the part of the Nightmare, slowing it just down enough so that the Draconequus could teleport out of the way.
He could see Luna flying by his side.
"Did we just end up saving each other?" The Alicorn said surprised and amazed at the same time.
Discord and Luna quickly needed to change their direction as another attack came their way.
This time the energy fired by the creature took the shape of a red and black version of Nightmare Moon smiling coldly at the Princess of the Night.
The Alicorn snarled at the reminder of her greatest failure and charged foreword. Both winged beings collided and kept pushing each other back and forth.
Meanwhile Celestia was busy fighting with the other parts of the Nightmare.
At the same time another head aimed at Luna and tried to devour her.
But in her way a giant cotton candy cloud appeared and plugged the hungry maw completely. The creature tried to get rid of the pink mass in her mouth but not matter how much she shook her head or tried to swallow it down nothing did work.
Meanwhile Luna was fighting with the energy construct before the struggling head. The fake Nightmare Moon tried to push her inside. The Alicorn of Darkness smiled as she teleported aside and the energy construct raced into the sticky maw.
The impact was enough to let the energy explode and again shadows rained down to the white space while Fluttercruel was busy sending them back to where they belonged.
All three beings flew together and stared at the remaining five heads of the Nightmare.
"Drop the act, we know that you are still somewhere inside controlling this mess. These are not the attacks of a mindless being." Celestia said with determination.
Four of the heads bowed to the one in the center as the shadows that formed its head started to move and the construction opened like a twisted flower, revealing the remains of Nightmare Phobia.
Her body seemed to grow out of the shadows around her and her skull was almost half gone. The incarnations knew this was likely just another trap to trick them into attacking this supposed weakspot.
"There is NotHing LeFT tO say TO TRAITORS!"
The voice didn't come from her body but seemed to echo from every direction at once.
"Oh no, you will not get out that easily. Why did you never try to reach me or my sister? We could have helped you," Luna shouted almost desperately.
"YoU DiD THAT to ME. You REally thINK I woUlD pLeAD for ForGIvenESS aFTer EVERYTHING?"
"What did we do to you? You hid in the subconscious world, tried to break my student, hurt my little ponies and tried to murder the Element of Kindness. Afterwards you were responsible for the demise of five individuals and nearly killed Discord and his daughter. You did all of that." Celestia said with a sombre tone.
"WHaT are YOU taLkING about? NONE oF tHAt dId EVer HAPPEN! YoU aTTaCKEd ME witHOUt REAson aND thrEW me inSIDE tHIs PRISon."
"No, please you have to listen…"
Before the Alicorn of Darkness could continue the creature shrieked insanely at them and the body of the Nightmare vanished back into the shadows. Luna lowered her head in sadness. She could almost see Phobia's mind eroding further and further. Soon the head had reshaped itself into its old form.
"…if you are not willing to listen to reason, then we will stop you from harming anypony ever again."
The Nightmare fired several smaller energy blasts at the three concepts but this time the spheres exploded as the three beings tried to evade. They all teleported into different directions to gain more distance but the creature started to spread the attacks all over the white space.
Fluttercruel narrowly avoided a few attacks while several of the remaining shadows were less lucky and were vaporised. Their remains fled back to where they came from.
Discord tried his best to stay as far as possible from the attacks but they were nearly everywhere. He flew as fast as he could but then one of them exploded right before his face. It was incredible painful and felt similar to the attacks of the shadows.
One blast was enough to cover the face of the Draconequus in several cuts and another one blew up next to his left wing and damaged it too much to be able to fly anymore. But right now he had more than enough power to fly with telekinesis instead of using his wings.
He quickly needed to dodge several other explosions aimed at him; it seemed the Nightmare was concentrating on him now that he was wounded.
Both Alicorns used the distraction to concentrate their magic. Luna drained the heat of the air around her and shaped it into a sphere of ice. As she fired it downward her sister heated up the air around herself and the resulting sphere of fire followed the first attack.
Both spells were much more powerful than anything the two Alicorn could have casted with the seal still on them. Before it was broken such an attack could have affected an entire room, while now both spells had enough power to freeze or burn an entire city.
The sphere of ice hit the head in the center and while it started to freeze in its tracks, the fireball hit it next causing the entire head and neck to explode in a blast of fire and ice. This attack had enough range to damage the other heads as well and stopped the bombardment.
The creature suddenly stopped all movement.
Luna, Celestia and Discord distanced themselves from the immobile being.
(Get behind me, my little angel. Right now! Something is happening.)
Fluttercruel interrupted her latest charge at the few remaining wandering shadows and teleported towards her father.
The last four head-like structures began to circle around themselves.
Then they attacked the bases of the other neck-like appendences with the same dark lasers Luna had to evade before.
All four remaining winged beings stared at the display of self-mutilation when the parts began to hover and merge together.
The merged mass took a somewhat spherical form.
"Since you are all so stubborn, I will share something special with you before the end."
This time the voice came out of the sphere before it shrank into itself and took equine form.
Her appearance resembled Luna. The being had her body shape and her face but the colors were wrong. The body itself was as black as Nightmare Moon while the part were her cutie mark should have been was somehow even darker and seemed to absorb any light that was near her. But the most glaring difference was her mane and tail. Instead of being ethereal or energy-like, both parts seemed to be made out of shadows desperately but futility trying to get away from her.
"It is impossible to fight the end. You will realise that soon enough. But for now let us play!"
Beneath her the cracks continued to spread and rip the white space apart as the Nightmare smiled coldly at her targets.
"I kinda liked you more when you were a voiceless monster. Can't you go back to that mode?"
Discord smiled innocently as the Nightmare charged forward. But the two Alicorns were prepared. They had enough encounters with the Draconequus to know when he was baiting someone.
Quickly both positioned themselves to the left and the right of the incarnation of Chaos and fired a sphere of ice and a sphere of ice at the same time at the creature. Their timing was perfect and both attacks hit the being simultaneously, resulting in an explosion that caused several dozens shadows to burst out of the being and fall to the ground.
Fluttercruel wisely decided to get as far away from the Nightmare as she could be and started to concentrate on hitting the aimless shadows on the ground.
Her wings were glowing with power as she rushed with high speed through the horde and the blade-like wings sliced the shadows apart. All this did to them was to let them loose shape momentarily before they were dragged back into the Nothingness.
"Isn't much fun if your victim can fight back, right?"
But the young incarnation of Chaos had created a few constructs in the form of small eyes so that she wouldn't loose track of what the Nightmare did, just in case she would try to cheap shot her.
Discord took a second to admire her ability to plan ahead before he had to dodge an attack by Phobia. Her mane swung into his direction and as he teleported into a random direction away from her, the Draconequus could hear how the attack cut the air apart.
He knew one thing for sure; he didn't want to be hit by that.
The two sisters had taken the chance to fire another coordinated attack at the Nightmare while her back was turned to them. Both Alicorns concentrated their respective power into their horns, crossed them and released the charge simultaneously on their opponent. Beams of Light and Darkness encircled each other and formed a united blast. The power pieced through the Nightmare, releasing more shadows from her.
Not even flinching from that, the Nightmare turned around and her eyes flashed red. Suddenly Luna was entrapped in a cage of crimson and dark energy.
The incarnation of the Night tried to teleport her way out of the trap but it also blocked her teleportation.
Celestia flew between the Nightmare and her sister, while Discord teleported to the side of the Alicorn.
"Don't you want to attack her from behind while I get her attention?"
"No, she sees that coming by now. We need to switch tactics slightly."
"Try to hit her with something big. I will do the rest."
The incarnation of Chaos didn't hesitate and created a tornado made out of lava around Phobia. She calmly stood in the center of it and concentrated to redirect this attack at the trapped Luna.
She was interrupted when Celestia slammed into her and the impact knocked the Nightmare inside the tornado.
The Sun Goddess panted in pain; merely touching the creature was incredible painful now. She quickly teleported outside of the tornado and decided to check up on her sister.
The cage slowly became smaller while Luna had tried various spells to blast her way out of the containment that also made her an easy target, but none of them worked so far.
Celestia flew closer towards her as suddenly the Nightmare teleported before her and swung her mane right at her head. The Alicorn tried to teleport aside but the attack came too fast.
Then a massive diamond appeared over her head and slowed down the attack just enough to allow her to teleport next to her sister safely. Instead the diamond was cut in half and the two halves started to move on their own and bisected the creature. More and more shadows burst out of her as the two diamond halves turned back into the Chaos they were made from.
"And that was Tom's contribution to this war."
Discord immediately got her attention and while she flew after him, Celestia still tried to get her sister out of the trap. By now the cage of energy was so small that Luna could hardly move.
"Wonderful, my spells doesn't work either…"
"Wait a second Celly, I tried to solve this the wrong way. I need to think more inside the chimney."
As Luna disappeared before her eyes, Celestia thought at first that she somehow made the teleportation work but then did she see the tiny version of the Alicorn of Darkness fly outside. A mere shrinking spell let her escape the trap.
Meanwhile Discord tried to gain some time by summoning enough cotton candy clouds to cover all of Equestria and hid inside. The furious Nightmare followed him and tore the floating clouds apart.
Her mane cut countless clouds in half and narrowly missed Discord's eye as he hid deeper inside. Soon the number of the cotton candy clouds declined.
Then a smiling pink version of Celestia stood before the Nightmare.
"Hello, I am a distraction!"
"You are just a worthless decoy!"
The creature decided to ignore the obvious fake and to continue her search for the real Draconequus.
Just as she turned around the seemingly unimportant fake concentrated black energy into her horn and fired darkness at the being. The spell erupted at contact and turned into a black hole. The remaining cotton candy clouds were sucked inside as well. Celestia's imposter quickly teleported back to her real sister to gain some distance from this attack.
"Why did it have to be pink of all colors?"
With an innocent smile the image of the pink Alicorn dissolved and turned back into Luna. Discord was by their side and couldn't stop grinning.
"A pink version of Celestia? Do you want to become the next spirit of Chaos?"
"The less predictable we are now, the better," Luna added still smiling.
She could feel the Nightmare was still resisting the pull of the black hole. Celestia knew what she had to do now.
"Let me try something. Luna, please take care of the teleportation."
(My little angel, get as far away from this black hole as possible.)
Instantly Fluttercruel stopped her charge at the few remaining shadows and teleported aside.
Celestia flew foreword and concentrated bright energy into her horn. Discord pulled out Sunglasses as the light got brighter and brighter.
Then she fired pure concentrated light inside the black hole. Luna quickly teleported them all as far away as she could, while the young chimera followed them instantly.
This time the light erupted into a brilliant supernova. Since it was powered by the Sun Goddess herself it expanded immensely and did evaporate the remaining shadows on the ground. Their remains fled back into the Nothingness
"Show-off," Discord mumbled under his breath while checking his daughter if she was still alright.
The black cracks had spread over most of the white space by now. The only thing left besides the four winged beings was the park bench with Discord's letter still on it.
As the bright light finally ended and collapsed into itself, no trace of the Nightmare was left.
"Hey, you didn't even need your Harmony trick," Fluttercruel pointed out.
Celestia suddenly felt uneasy. There was something wrong here.
"I somehow doubt that she is really gone. And the condition of this place keeps getting worse and worse. This is not over yet."
Discord looked down and saw that the black cracks continued to cover more and more space. In the black abyss they could see something moving. It was something big.
"DId yOU enJOY MY lITTLE PUPpet SHOw? I SURE hoPE SO. IT wAS MY fiNAL GIFT fOR YOU."
The white space began to break completely apart and something impossible big pushed its way through the barrier between time and space.
The temperature dropped almost instantly. It was so cold that their breath was visible.
The body was simply too big to categorise it. It could have been anything from insect- or snake-like to completely beyond any real shape. Tentacles, wings, eyes, teeth, mouths and several unrecognisable parts could be seen, but they didn't form something complete.
It was like someone had crudely combined a near infinitive number of former existences into one point.
It wasn't below them or above them. It just felt so wrong. It was everywhere. They were trapped inside.
The two Alicorns feared that they had failed their beloved subjects. They knew that they were the final line of defence; the ponies would not be able to defend themselves from an attack out of the subconscious world.
Celestia and Luna tried to reach each other but the darkness around them pulled them apart.
Discord could only think about the danger his daughter was in right now.
Fluttercruel looked at her father and tried to reach him but he was already struck in the darkness as well. He took one short look at her and casted a teleportation spell on her. The last thing she could see was her father slowly being dragged into blackness around him.
There was no escape.
The creature didn't waste any time and concentrated as much darkness around the three trapped beings as possible. She could feel how she slowly devoured them.
Then her attention turned to the subconscious world very close to this realm of existence.
"I…I sHaLl CONsume… ConSUME… CONSUME EVERYTHING."
Some of her tentacles rushed forward and broke through the last barrier protecting the mortals like it was nothing.
Twilight Sparkle awoke screaming in her library. She had fallen asleep in her bed after reading a few books to get some distraction after Nightmare Night.
But now every single one of her senses brought her only one message: Agony. It was like every single one of the pain receptors in her brain was activated at the same time. The unicorn fell out of her bed and could hear similar neighs of pain outside. The screams echoed through all of Ponyville. Twilight recognised the voices of Derpy, Cheerilee and Berry Punch.
She wanted to do something, she wanted to help them but merely getting out of her bed was an ordeal. Weakly she made a few steps but within seconds she collapsed on the ground. The purple unicorn felt so horribly weak.
Since walking seemed to be no option, she tried to teleport herself outside the library. But to her shock nothing happened and not even a few sparks flew out of her horn. It was like all her magic was suddenly gone. It was the labyrinth all over again.
Horrible memories flashed before her eyes: Discord taking their horns and wings away, luring them all into his trap and her failure to protect her friends from him.
“Calm down. That is over. Calm down. Discord will never hurt them again. Calm down.”
She tried to get up again, only to fail another time. Twilight hated to admit it but in her current condition she was no help to anypony.
The unicorn lost track of time. How long was this going on? It just didn’t stop. How many minutes did this already last? Why couldn’t it just end?
Twilight considered closing her eyes and trying to rest for a minute. She could feel her grip on consciousness slipping away. The unicorn felt like something was devouring her entire self.
Applejack was just about to go to bed after she had finished the last chores on the farm. After Nightmare Night there was so much still to do and somepony had to do it.
But her family insisted that she would sleep longer the next day whenever she had to do some midnight chores. They all had learned from her ordeal in the last Applebuck Season.
She would not work herself to death ever again.
Just as the farmer was about to go to bed, an immense pain did struck her down. It felt like every single of her muscles was pieced by blades. She let out one short scream and could hear more coming from within the farm house.
The earth pony collapsed on the floor. But she continued to try to stand up again. No matter how often she fell back, the cowpony refused to stay down.
Yet slowly her power became less and less. Her entire body writhed in agony.
She wondered for a moment if she had learned nothing from the ordeal of Applebuck Season. Her body felt so weak. Applejack was afraid that all of this pain was her own fault. That she worked too hard again, that she let her family down again.
It was like nothing of what she did even mattered.
As she became weaker, she considered trying to take a short nap.
Pinkie Pie had a bad feeling. Her Pinkie Pie Sense had told her that a doozy was about to happen but she had no idea what it could be. The twitches and tics of her body were very strange in the last few weeks. Even the small mountain of candy next to her didn't distract her that much from this feeling.
It was like something very important was happening somewhere very close by yet very far away.
She hated to admit it but she blamed herself that Luna’s entrance got so out of control. She should have tried to reduce her own act of fear. It was funny at first but the other ponies, especially the fillies seemed genuinely terrified. The pink earth pony should have acted more like an adult. Somepony could have gotten hurt.
Then without warning a pain unlike everything she had ever experienced struck her down. The normally energetic pink pony felt like her body was lead. Normally she was insanely fast and could outrun nearly everyone but now it was like something was draining her.
Her Pinkie Pie Sense was going berserk and made everything even worse, spreading agony like waves over her entire body. Tears of sorrow ran down her face.
Screams could be heard all over Ponyville.
Pinkie Pie wondered how she could make them feel better. Maybe a song would help the ponies forget the pain? But the earth pony was so tired. She could sleep for a moment and surely she would come up with something. She had to get a better idea. No song would change this situation for the better.
What would the other ponies need? Was there really nothing she could do to help them?
Rarity was finally done with her latest dress. She had worked long into the night to restore the dress Luna had ripped apart. The white unicorn turned around as she heard Sweetie Belle snoring in her room. It was a long day for the filly as well.
Sweetie Belle was even too tired to move her mass of candy into her room and just dropped it near the entrance door. Rarity wondered how many dresses for Pinkie Pie she would have been able to decorate with all these sweets.
The fashionista signed about how loud her little sister could be.
Rarity could barely scream when a horrible pain almost crushed her. All her stitching utensils and the finished dress fell to the ground as she collapsed.
Never in her entire life had she felt that dreadful. In moments like this her eye for details was a curse. She could feel the agony building up in various specific points in her entire body and sensed exactly how the pain spread over her. There was no end towards it. Her hoofs didn’t stop shaking.
After working herself nearly to death to create enough costumes for all of Ponyville, she was almost totally exhausted even before this pain kept pinning her down. She had no strength left to resist.
"I must have overworked myself. I think I will just take a short…"
Her younger sister let out a horrible scream and suddenly Sweetie Belle was silent. Rarity could only stare at the door with wide eyes.
The fashionista tried to stand up to help her little sister but fell back to the ground again. She felt even weaker then before and could hardly lift her head anymore.
“I am too weak. I… I am so sorry…”
Fluttershy was on her way to Twilight when she made a short stop near her house. Slightly embarrassed the timid pegasus pawed the ground.
"Er Angel, I think we should not bother her this night. I mean the night was long and tomorrow is still another day. I don't want to disturb her sleep just because I have been sleepwalking. Is that okay with you?"
Angel facepawed and signed when suddenly both beings were struggling to even stand. An agony unlike anything they had felt before had hit them without warning. The suffering flowed over her entire body.
It was sheer torment and felt like something was trying to tear her wings off. Fluttershy’s wings instinctively glued themselves towards her body.
She felt so weak and helpless again. What kind of pegasus was unable to use her wings in the critical moments? Fluttershy wasn’t even able to stand anymore.
The rabbit’s entire body was shacking. Slowly Angel raised a paw and tried his best to push himself up. But he was unable to move.
The shy pegasus cringed as she forced herself to move her wings. The pain was real and she couldn’t control that but it didn’t stop no matter how she moved her wings. Carefully she put her left wing around the rabbit next to her.
"It is okay. It will be alright. Do not worry. You will be fine soon."
Fluttershy could feel the tears running down her face.
Rainbow Dash was ready to take a well deserved nap after pranking half of Ponyville this Nightmare Night.
She wondered if both Pinkie and she might combine their efforts in the next year to spread pranks through Cloudsdale as well but her candy collection probably came first for the pink pony.
But that would not stop her. The blue Pegasus struck a pose.
"Fastest pranker in all of Equestria."
In the middle of the pose a horrible agony struck down the weather control pony. She let out a scream but soon afterwards Rainbow hoped that nopony had heard that. She didn’t want to ruin her image. The pegasus had to groan, how could she think about that in a time like this?
But to her surprise the anguish didn't leave and the constant pain began to drain her. Her wings started to shake and her entire body suddenly felt so heavy. It was like she was crushed by invisible weights.
There was nothing she could do, no matter how she moved it never stopped. The pegasus felt like something was devouring her alive.
Dash thought that it might be the best to take a short nap and surely afterwards she would feel better. Weren’t short naps not always the answer?
In the Canterlot garden, close to the castle of the Alicorns, Discord's statue began to shake. The movements of the monument became more and more hectic but all royal guards were too busy with their own problems to notice it.
Finally the statue fell to the ground. It didn't shatter, it wasn't even damaged. But at the spot were it once stood small black hairline cracks began to form.
Pony POV Series Chaos Verse
Discord: Complete Existence Part 4
Discord: Complete Existence Part 4
Fluttercruel was all alone.
Her father had seemingly teleported her as far away as possible but she was still surrounded by blackness. There seemed to be no escape from it. It was everywhere.
She had instantly activated the shield spell Twilight once taught her and for now it seemed to keep the darkness around her at bay.
The grey chimera could see absolutely nothing around her. There was only this misty and disturbingly alive blackness.
There weren't even shadows in it. Not that she missed those.
But this dark mass itself seemed to eat away her power and she felt like she was slowly fading away. The shield of Chaos around her only slowed it down.
Suddenly Fluttercruel saw a small light far away in this all-devouring darkness.
The young incarnation of Chaos blinked in confusion but the light was still there.
What could it be? Was it Celestia or maybe a signal from her father?
As she could feel her shield getting weaker and weaker, she flew as fast as possible towards that light.
It seemed to take forever but then Fluttercruel reached it and was disappointed with what she found.
It was the mirror Discord had created to show her the other worlds. That wouldn't do her much good at a time like this.
But maybe she could at least see something in it.
She moved closer towards the mirror as her shield evaporated into nothing.
The grey chimera just saw herself in the mirror, no fancy spirit journey or divine advice happened. She was still all alone in darkness. To say that Fluttercruel was even more disappointed was an understatement.
Then she noticed a small shining light in the mirror, it was just beneath her front leg. Fluttercruel found the same thing in reality. She recognizes it immediately: It was Discord's letter.
As fast as she could she ripped out the seal, opened the letter and read its content.
"Dear Princess Celestia and Princess Luna,
when you are reading this, you have chosen to believe Fluttercruel that our world is in grave danger. I won't waste any of your time and just tell you what I think is going on. A part of Luna broken off when she was healed by the Elements and by now this small piece has become powerful enough to devour us all. I have released the seal on your powers. You must be ready for her and blast her with everything you got: The Elements of Harmony, your full powers, the magic of unicorns and whatever else you can find. You will only have one chance. Don't waste it.
And Fluttercruel I knew you would read this! Your really are my daughter and I am sorry I was never really able to spell out how you make me feel. I have just no experience with these sorts of things.
The short time I spent with you was the happiest moment in my entire long life. You made me really understand how alone I actually was all this time. How could I be so blind for thousands of years? Please don't repeat my mistakes. I have seen what you are capable of and I want you to know that you wield the power of Chaos in a unique and special way.
So now I will share my best trick with you. You already know that Chaos can be created between two opposing forces but you can also replace one of these powers with your own Chaos. It sounds easy but please believe me, it isn't. That trick takes a lot of concentration otherwise it will just implode into itself and destroy you. But if you can keep the Chaos stable, it will start an endless replication. I know Chaos drawing power from Chaos itself, wonderful idea isn't it?
It is easily the second best idea I ever had. I know you will eventually be able to do it. But wielding Chaos isn't what defines you.
I admired your determination to fight in Oblivion despite everything being against you. You didn't give up. It was similar to the kind of strength that let these six ponies defeat me. I think you got that from your mother.
Now I have put my full trust in you. I know that you can do it.
The Spirit of Chaos and proud father, Discord."
Fluttercruel didn't know she had any tears left but she cried. She continued to cry and stood up.
"I won't let everything fall into darkness. Not dad. Not mom. Not anypony. She won't take anyone else. I have a promise to keep. I WON'T bow down to her!"
She felt something in herself, like a power waiting to burst out. The young chimera knew that she had little time left before the darkness around her would devour her as well. Fluttercruel wondered if maybe it was already too late to save anypony on this world.
"Nah, they wouldn't just roll over and play dead. I know that they are tougher than this."
Then she started to create a small sphere of pure Chaos before herself. She had hardly any power left, there was only one chance. The former pegasus concentrated herself fully on the sphere and tried everything she could to stabilise it. The Chaos was carefully woven together and then she started to try to drain more Chaos from the conflict between the Chaos and the darkness around her.
Nothing happened.
She could feel the sphere starting to destabilize and the blackness around her was getting closer. Fluttercruel couldn't even see the remains of the mirror anymore.
A piece of the sphere fell off and the young chimera caught it with her eagle claw and carefully put it back together.
More pieces started to break off and she hugged the sphere for dear life to keep it together. She covered it completely with her body and wings. It was her only chance.
She knew very well what would happen if she failed.
Fluttercruel send the last bit of her own power into it.
For a moment she felt a familiar hoof on her shoulder. She started to whisper.
"I think I get it now. Cruelty and Kindness are two sides of the same coin. Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind to somepony and sometimes kindness is the cruellest thing you can give somepony. Both come from the bottom of the heart and that is what makes them so either precious or painful. You need to understand somepony to be really kind or cruel towards her or him."
The young chimera could feel two other hoofs on her shoulder.
"Chaos can be both. I saw this power do wonderful things and saved mom with it. I saw this force bring destruction and suffering and used it to fight against the Nightmare. That is no contradiction; it is simply part of my… no of our reality. I am Chaos."
Two more hoofs joined the other ones. She felt a tingling feeling on her body and saw a brief flash of light. But even looking at it didn't break her concentration. Fluttercruel wasn't able to see her friends but she knew that they were with her.
Her cutie mark was a single butterfly with a green body and grey wings, surrounded by a red chaotic vortex.
The Chaos of the sphere started to grow. Pure power erupted from it and grey energy began to spread from it, forming floating rivers of raw Chaos. She didn't let go of it. The flow started to form a circle on the ground.
The energy started to spread even further as the circles became bigger and bigger. The young chimera knew that the creature would soon regret that she had spread herself so thin. The darkness was weaker here and she started to overpower it. Fluttercruel drew more power from the ensuring conflict.
Discord was right; this process could replicate itself forever. The power started to erupt and became bigger and bigger. The harder the darkness fought back the more Chaos was created and the easier the darkness could be overwhelmed and pushed back.
The extensions of the being that had broken through to the subconscious world were pulled back into the white space.
Fluttercruel flew forward, instinctively knowing where she had to go. The young chimera could feel her father, he was still alive. Eventually her power managed to reach the three imprisoned beings. It was hard to see who was imprisoned in which black mass but luckily the first incarnation she freed was Discord himself.
"Now that's my daughter!"
Fluttercruel knew that his expressions were well worth everything: Surprise, joy, pride and determination. Then he flew to her side and they both guided the Chaos even further. The other two traps were evaporated into nothing.
Celestia and Luna looked as shocked as Discord was before but quickly took their positions next to them.
"We have charged up our spell completely. Let us finish this once and for all," Luna said without wasting any time.
Now most of the darkness that once completely covered the white space as far as they could see was compressed into one single part about the size of Sugarcube Corner.
The pure Chaos around it formed itself into a barrier around the remaining darkness as the chaotic chain reaction kept supplying the shield with power. A certain teacher of Chaos would be proud to see this variation of her technique.
At the moment the Nightmare was looking spherical with many different eyes on the main structure and countless arms, claws, tentacles and other appendages growing out of the lower part.
Both Discord and Fluttercruel directed the Chaos directly at the body before them and completely covered it with the energy. The Nightmare tried to escape but she couldn't move anymore. She was trapped.
The two Alicorns immediately started their incantation. Harmonic energy circled around them and the Chaos that was everywhere carefully avoided it. Then one by one the power of the Elements appeared around the two incarnations. The two sisters felt like old friends were returning to them.
Honesty circled around Luna as Generosity awakened in Celestia. Loyalty formed itself next to the ruler of the Night as Laughter came to the ruler of the Day. Finally Kindness floated around the incarnation of the Darkness as Friendship appeared again to the incarnation of the Light.
Pure Harmony radiated from the two Alicorns as the trapped creature let out an infernal scream. Nightmare Phobia put everything she had into breaking the Chaos around her.
Three tentacles ending in sharp spiked erupted from the black mass and broke through the barrier. One aimed directly at Fluttercruel still guiding the Chaos, the other two targeted Celestia and Luna who were both unable to move as long as they continued this part of the incantation.
Discord concentrated most of his remaining power into a blast of pure Chaos and fired it at the sharp weapon rushing towards his child. The tentacle continued forward into the energy. Slowly the Chaos began to erode the appendage and finally it vanished into nothing before it could reach Fluttercruel.
The other two tentacles flew past the Draconequus and right at the currently helpless Alicorns. Discord could hear two impacts.
As Discord turned around he saw that two of the Elements had taken the attacks. Loyalty had shielded Luna while Laughter had guarded Celestia. As the sharp spikes were struck in them, they slowly began to turn to stone. For a moment Discord could see images of Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie looking determined.
Suddenly the two tentacles moved backwards and ripped out the two Elements.
The Draconequus could only stare in shock as the Nightmare had managed to interrupt the spell in the critical moment. The other four Elements continued to circle around the Alicorns but their movements were hectic and panicky.
His daughter would not be able to hold Phobia in place until the spell is charged up a second time.
The energy of Loyalty and Laughter slowly began to vanish, as the two appendages stuck in them started to turn completely to stone.
Discord made a decision.
"Fluttercruel, I promise I will be there for you but right now my sisters need my help. It will only take a minute."
He could feel her grabbing his lion paw.
"Dad, you better keep this promise. I will keep little Miss Half Moon busy for you."
She let him go as he flew forward to the two Elements. The Draconequus had almost no power left, otherwise he would have just teleported over to them.
"It is nonsense, I can do it."
Even his broken wing didn't stop him. The Nightmare howled in anger behind him but he ignored it.
"It doesn't make any sense, I can do it."
The tentacles that had touched the pure Harmony had completely turned to stone. Discord knew very well that this could happen to him as well. Every second of this flight was painful but somehow he was able to keep going.
Discord was almost there.
As he got closer, the two sisters could hardly believe what they were seeing. The incarnation of Chaos hoped that if he threw them the two Elements back before they vanished, it would still be possible for Celestia and Luna to continue their spell.
"All or nothing, I am not afraid anymore."
The Draconequus grabbed the two Elements of Harmony, the only things that could hurt and defeat him in the past.
Everything went white.
A familiar voice echoed through Discord's mind.
"Remember you three represent the three foundations of this world. You, Celestia, are the Light, my little Luna embodies the Darkness and last but not least Discord is the Chaos between those two forces."
He could hear his daughter laughing. The Draconequus remembered this moment perfectly. It was when he was able to make her laugh at her horrible nightmare by turning it into a Live Action Show.
Discord could feel the scars the shadows had left on him for a second. The incarnation of Chaos remembered how he went into Oblivion to save her.
It was strange. There was so much Harmony everywhere but it didn't hurt him like last time. He still preferred Chaos but this wasn't too bad either. It was somewhat comforting.
"Discord?"
Slowly he was getting used to all the light and could see both Alicorns standing next to him. Celestia was still accompanied by Generosity and Friendship while Luna had Honesty and Kindness.
"Celestia? Luna? Did we …die? Nah, I would never end up in the same place with you."
"No, we are establishing the connection to the Elements right now. That is what it feels like."
Celestia had a hard time spelling out what she knew was the truth, but the Sun Goddess could still hardly believe it. Discord had fought at their side but she never suspected him to be able to go this far and defy his own Disharmony for his daughter.
"So I managed to push them back towards you?"
Wordlessly Luna pointed towards him and he noticed two energies by his side: Laughter and Loyalty.
"That… That doesn't make any sense…" Discord was almost unable to say anything else. He could understand Laughter coming to him but Loyalty of all things?
"Make sense? Oh, what fun is there in making sense?" Celestia said with a smile.
"Twilight…"
Only now did she notice Spike crawling weakly towards her. He practically dragged himself forward with his right claw. She knew that her number one assistant needed her help.
Owlowiscious was also by his side but the owl seemed too weak to help the dragon. Not for one second did Spike complain that her nightshift assistant did lean on him.
More than anything Twilight was worried about her two friends suffering before her eyes. But they were fighting their suffering; they hadn’t given up so easily. She tried to get back up. She had to try it for them.
Twilight Sparkle suddenly felt something very comforting besides her horrible pain. Slowly she rose from the ground and helped Spike to stand. Her horn still felt like someone rammed a knife into it but she didn’t need her magic to help her friends. The baby dragon's feet were still shaking but her support allowed him to stand surer. She would not let her Number One assistant to fall.
Slowly they moved to the window and saw several ponies outside their houses. Mayor Mane, Miss Cheerilee and Berry Punch were standing outside and had already begun to organise a search in the village. Others might still need help.
It was one of the things she loved about Ponyville, beings like Nightmare Moon and Discord could torment them but eventually the ponies would stand back up and try to continue their lives. No, it wasn’t just Ponyville and this wasn’t only limited to ponies.
"Now Spike, once you feel better I want you to take a letter. We need to inform the Princess as soon as possible. And then I need to get down there and help them in this search."
Owlowiscious carefully hoped to their side, carrying the writing utensils. He was still too weak to fly and Spike put his claw on him to help him. The dragon already felt better.
"I'm ready. And don’t think that I will let you go alone, I will go with you."
Twilight had to chuckle, sometimes Spike could be more stubborn than Applejack. But she was grateful that he was there for her.
"Dear Princess Celesita…"
The Alicorn of Light could feel her friendship.
Applejack thought about taking a nap for one second before rejecting this idea. She was much more afraid about her family being in danger. They might need her help right now.
"Ah can stand on my own. Ah don't need help for that."
Her body collapsed again.
“Ah… Ah need help. Ah can’t do it on my own.”
Then the farmer heard somepony carefully moving before her door. The footsteps were silent but slowly somepony managed to open the door with her head.
It was her sister Applebloom. The face of the filly was filled with pain but she kept going and forced her body to move forward.
“Sis… are ya okay?”
Applebloom continued to walk towards her. The filly was still weak but she seemed to be more worried about her big sister. The farmer was so proud on her little sister.
"Ah need your help, 'Bloom."
Both supported each other as they carefully trotted into Granny Smith's room and found Big Macintosh already there.
He tried his best not to show it, but it was clear that he was through the same things she had experienced. Granny Smith smiled weakly at her family. Winona was also there and slowly wagged her tail.
"We are not lettin' some fancy pain pin us down. We are Apples, we just keep on rollin'."
"Eeyup."
The Alicorn of Darkness could feel her honesty.
The pink pony heard two voices from Sugarcube Corner's main floor.
"Pinkie?"
"Are you alright?"
There was no doubt who these two were. Normally she would just pop up next to Mr. and Mrs. Cake but she was far too weak for any sudden bursts of speed.
Slowly the pink earth pony raised her two forelegs. Somehow she knew she had to be with her foster parents downstairs, even if she had to drag herself downstairs. She could not allow herself to worry them.
It was painful to drag her body down the stairs but if she survived an avalanche, then she could get through falling down a few stairs as well.
As she saw her two foster parents Pinkie Pie’s first reaction was to hug Mr. and Mrs. Cake as they hugged back even tighter. Gummy looked out of her ballooned mane.
"Don't worry, we will survive, Aunty Pinkie Pie will protect you."
It was clear that her two foster parents were suffering just as she did but they seemed to slowly recover by themselves. The pregnant Mrs. Cake had still trouble to stand on her own.
"Pinkie, we always wanted to say… we were always proud of you. Except the one time when you made these baked bads and poisoned half of the town." Mr. Cake said with a half-smile.
"I know you will be a great big sister for the little one." Mrs. Cake added with an honest smile.
With much effort Pinkie Pie and Mr. Cake eventually managed to carry the pregnant mare to the next couch.
“Where did you get this couch from Pinkie Pie?”
“Rarity occasionally summons them when she is fainting dramatically. And the ponies say that I do strange things.”
Despite everything else both Mr. and Mrs. Cake had to chuckle.
The Draconequus of Chaos could feel her laughter.
"Sweetie! I am coming!"
Defying everything that pinned her down the fashioista slowly rose from the floor of the Carousel Boutique and walked towards her sister’s room. She needed her, nothing else mattered now.
Her magic didn't seem to work under this stress so the white unicorn just knocked the door open with her head. Her entire body was covered in sweat and her mane was a mess but she didn’t care.
Sweetie Belle was in the middle of the room. It seemed that she had tried to reach her older sister before collapsing there. Why didn’t she stay in her bed? The white unicorn dreaded how this agony must be for her younger sister. She had to do something for her.
She wasn’t sure what she could do but she as fast as she still could Rarity staggered over to her little sister and picked her up.
Carefully the white unicorn carried her sister to the bed. She was far more concerned with her safety than with her own pain.
"Sweetie, please say something… anything," the fashionista pleaded.
The little unicorn was so cold that Rarity used her remaining strength to take some of the most expensive and comfortable dresses. Then she folded the clothes around her little sister. The white unicorn hoped that it would keep her warm. Rarity was hardly able to stand by herself now.
Sweetie Belle’s breathing started to get even again and slowly the filly opened her eyes.
"Sis…Sister? Did I fall into… your dresses? I am sorry."
The older sister was crying tears of joy. Opal slowly entered the room and jumped onto the bed. The cat sat down next to the still shivering filly.
"No, everything is fine. You can have them all."
Celestia could feel her generosity.
Her pet saw how hard Fluttershy tried to smile for him and to say anything that might make him feel better. Carefully Angel wiped off the tears out of her face.
They could hear screams of agony coming from her cottage. Her other animals were also in danger. Slowly she forced her body up. She tried to pick Angel up with her wings but he knocked them away and glared at her. In the next moment he managed to slowly stand up by himself and both walked towards her cottage.
Every step was painful but she had to do it for them. She was more afraid about her friends than about herself. Both pet and pegasus leaned against each other.
It felt like an eternity but Fluttershy reached her house and the animals started to feel slightly better as they saw their caretaker returning. The hawk weakly hopped towards her while other animals looked relieved but were too weak to stand up. Even the bear had trouble on stand on his own.
"Thank Celestia you are all alright."
Finally the stress and pain were catching up with the pegasus and her feet began to stagger. Angel tried his best to stabilize her and soon both slowly walked forward into the middle of the group of her animals.
Fluttershy quickly counted her animals and all of them seemed to be here but still she felt like something was missing.
As she looked around the room to see that everyone was safe, she took a brief look into the mirror. Fluttershy still felt like she was forgetting something important.
The pegasus was worried about her friends, her family, her animals and about somepony special who she didn't even remember.
Luna could feel her kindness.
Rainbow Dash could hear the screams outside. They didn't stop.
"Cloudsdale is in danger!"
Not knowing if she could do anything, Rainbow Dash slowly stood up and forced herself to move towards her door.
It felt like hours but eventually Rainbow Dash stood outside her cloud house. Everypony in Couldsdale seemed to suffer just as much as she did. Other ponies started to walk outside, some trying to escape their pain, while others wanted to help somepony.
In the middle of the street she could see Scootaloo lying on the ground.
A few pegasi were working on the house on the other side of the street and had fallen off their scaffold. Of all the pegasi Billy Dumbbell did help the fallen workers up. Rainbow Dash never thought that she would see something like this.
But now the equipment was starting to slowly break lose. Then it began to fall right onto the orange filly.
Scootaloo opened her eyes and could only stare in shock.
To her surprise she felt her body flying into the next cloud building with a high speed she never felt before.
The scaffold crashed into the clouds without harming anypony as the filly could only blink in surprise. Then she saw Rainbow Dash breathing audibly next to her.
"Are you okay Scoots?"
The body of the mare before her was covered in sweat and Rainbow struggled just to stand. This sudden burst of speed nearly took her everything she still had left but Dash was just too happy to see that the filly was safe to care.
"You… you saved my life. You are the coolest pony. No you were that already… You are the coolestest!"
Rainbow had to laugh, ignoring her pain for the moment.
"I will keep the old title, I am just happy that you are safe."
Discord could feel her loyalty.
"They are still standing; they are still fighting back…"
Discord could hardly believe it. He had seen the mortals fighting against impossible odds but actually experiencing it himself was something completely different.
"And now it is our turn. Our own conflicts have brought the ponies nothing but suffering. But this time it will be different. This time we shall protect them with everything we have!" Luna proudly and loudly proclaimed.
The two Elements circling around the ruler of the Night radiated pure energy. Celestia extended her hoof towards her sister.
"I will be by your side to the very end. The ponies stopped me from becoming a Nightmare, they were there when I was about to give up all hope, they brought my sister back to me and saved the world multiple times. Now we will protect them."
The Elements around the Sun Goddess shined even brighter. Luna took the hoof of her sister.
Discord put his eagle claw on the two hoofs.
"It would be silly to stop here. I have a promise to keep and I will not let something minor like this fake end interfere with that. Light, Darkness and Chaos are either evil or good. They can destroy and ruin or create and protect. It was always my choice to do what I did."
"Discord…" Luna started.
"I went to the mortals to show you how weak they are. No matter what the mortals did, I was unwilling to see anything else but weak toys in them. That was the reason that I was unable to accept that the healed six were standing before me and that was the reason that I lost the battle."
This was the first time Celestia and Luna ever heard the spirit of Chaos say something negative about himself.
"I saw their strength and I can't ignore it anymore. Thanks to them I finally have a family and my Chaos feels truly alive for the first time. What I want more than anything… what I really want… I wanted to save my daughter, I wanted to save her mother and now I want to protect this crazy chaotic Equestria with everything in it."
The two Elements around Discord glowed brightly.
Everything went white again.
The three incarnations saw the creature floating before them. She was still mostly trapped by Fluttercruel's Chaos and didn't even seem to notice them.
"WHY ARE THEY STILL STANDING?"
The three looked at each other and nodded.
"WHY? WHY? WHY? HOW Can THEse tiNY INSIGnificant WEak PATHETIC MORtals STILL RESIST?"
They focused on the Elements and one by one they did awaken. Only now did the Nightmare concentrate back on the three incarnations standing before her.
"YoU DON'T mAKe A DIFFERence. YOU ARE NOTHING."
Celestia felt her connection with Twilight, her sister, the other Elements, the other mortals she had befriended and even something from Discord. It was very little power compared to the overwhelming might she could feel before her but it was a start. She knew that these bonds had saved her in the past. A glowing star appeared on her forehead.
"HOW DARE yOU tO staND IN MY WAY?"
Luna had accepted the truths about her. She knew that despite Discord's manipulation she was responsible for her own actions as Nightmare Moon. The ruler of the Night knew that the consequences might hunt her for the rest of eternity but she was ready to bear that. But she also knew that thanks to her immortality she had all the time in the world to make up for her own mistakes. A glowing light in the shape of an apple appeared over one of Luna's eyes.
"STOP IT! ThIS is imPOSSIBLE!"
Luna and Celestia realised that the Elements had never truly left them. They were always by their side but as their own battle erupted the two sisters had turned their back on them. Now that their own bonds were healed again, the Alicorns were able to see it. One of the things Twilight had shown Celestia very clearly was that broken bonds could be repaired.
Discord always wanted to make his daughter smile. The Draconequus knew that he had succeeded many times with that goal. To see a smile in a tortured world had saved him once. But without a world there would be nopony left to smile. Below his neck a light in the form of a balloon brightened the darkness.
"ArE YoU IN-sane? ThIS HARM-ONY WiLL de-STROY YOU."
Discord merely smiled back. The countless eyes of the Nightmare began to move around erratically.
Celestia wanted to share anything she could with her ponies. They had been by her side when she needed them the most and even when she failed to save her sister. Her family and the mortals were the most precious things in this world. After everything that they had done, it was only fair that she had worked over 1000 years for them. The Sun Goddess would do it for another 1000 years if it would be necessary. A diamond of pure light appeared over her heart as her own cutie mark glowed brighter.
"NO! Pl-EASE, No! NoT again! DoN't H-URT mE a-GaIN!"
Luna knew how powerful kindness could be. Even after everything she did, her sister and the mortals hadn't given up on her. Twilight had done so much for her no matter how difficult it was. Fluttershy's kindness was stronger than Discord's manipulations and she could feel right now that the pegasus was worried about the daughter she didn't even remember anymore. She would not disappoint the mare who showed her how to tone down her voice. The outline of three butterflies glowed on her right foreleg as her own cutie mark radiated power.
"P-LEse StOP thIS! I wiLL n-EVER HurT any-PONY again! I k-knOW I WAs siCK! BuT I aM f-feELING BETter NOw! Y-yOU C-Can S-STop! STOP!"
On the body of Nightmare Phobia her eyes went almost berserk and constantly shifted into different directions.
Discord would never in all this time in his prison ever expect for Loyalty to come to his aid. But the Element just did that. He always admired unexpected things, even if they disrupted his plans. And by now it didn't seem so strange after all. Didn't he always stay on the side of his daughter, tried to protect her mother and aided the two Alicorns in battle without wasting one second on backstabbing anyone of them? Didn't he always try to stay loyal to his Chaos? Loyalty wasn't easy but now that he had a family he would never let go of them. Finally a glowing lightning bolt showed itself on his right wing and the Chaos around him radiated pure power.
"No. NO. NO. nO. NO. No. NO. No. no."
The three incarnations looked at each other and knew what they had to do. They all knew that the being before them was too instable and too insane. While her own fear of what was coming next was very real, she would backstab them the first chance she would get.
They felt the bearers by their side and the Elements within them.
The being screamed in rage but there was no escape.
Six lights shined brightly in the white prison. Lines of different colored light began to connect to each other and the colors changed faster and faster: Purple, blue, violet, yellow, green, red and finally white. A gigantic rainbow rose up and hit the creature before them. Her scream echoed over the entire white space as the being tried to fight against this power.
Nightmare Phobia desperately tried to separate herself so that the blast would only hit a part of her and the rest could use the distraction to escape.
But the connection between the three aspects of reality obtained more and more power from the world they were protecting. They could feel the heartbeat of the bearers.
Twilight Sparkle looked at her two friends with her: Spike and Owlowiscious. Both were so different yet they had managed to become friends. Slowly the three started to recover but more than anything she wishes her other friends and her family would be with her.
Suddenly two small lines of light spread from her and connected her to the dragon and the owl. Even as the mortals didn't see the connections, they felt something very comforting. Another link appeared between her two assistants. Suddenly dozens of lines spread from the purple unicorn.
One white thin line connected her with Applejack. It would have been a bit too fancy for the farmer's tastes if she could see it, but it made her feel better. Then more links started to spread from her. Some connected her to the Apple family in the room: Big Macintosh, Applebloom, Granny Smith and Winona. Between them new lines started to form and joined the Apples together. Then more links began to spread from her family members as well.
Another white line connected to Rainbow Dash. The feeling somehow reminded her on the Elements of Harmony. There was a link between her and Scootaloo and the sensation made the little filly even more exited. More lines spread from Rainbow towards other buildings of Cloudsdale and even to the training grounds of the Wonderbolts. In turn more and more connections spread from these houses as well. They were thin at first but over time they became wider and brighter. One line that came from the blue pegasus flew off into the direction of the griffin territory.
Rarity was so relived that her sister had started to recover, white lines connecting the two ponies together. Opal purred next to them. All three were feeling better already and more and more links spread from them as well.
Fluttershy was afraid of the strange feeling at first but as her animals seemed to get better, she didn't mind it. In fact she herself felt much better already and she and Angel started to help the other animals up and find secure sleeping places for them. The connections spread all over the room. Links between herself and every single animal in the room build up and much more connections spread from her to outside her house. A single white line ended just in the middle of the air.
Pinkie Pie had to giggle. No only were she, her foster parents and Gumpy connected by weird lines but there were also three lines from the pregnant Mrs. Cake to herself. The pink pony had hoped that she would get more than one sister or brother and actually made a bet with Mr. Cake about that. Now she would get an extra large cake but this time she wouldn't eat it all by herself. She would invite all her friends for a big cake party. More and more lines spread from her foster parents to the outside of the room and dozens grew from Pinkie Pie herself. It didn't seem that anypony else could see these strange lines.
More and more connections spread around Ponyville. Mayor Mare, Cheerilee, Snips, Snails, Twist, Pipsqueak, Derpy, Dinky, Filthy Rich, Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, Featherweight, Berry Punch, Rub Pinch, Cheery Berry, Golden Harvest, Bon Bon, Lyra Heartstrings, Shoeshine, Rose, Daisy, Lily, Lemon Hearts, Minuette, Amethyst Star, Sea Swirl, Dr. Hooves, Pokey Pierce, Goldengrape, Noteworthy, Lucky, Caramel, Orion, Tootsie Flute, Nurse Redheart, Mr. Greenhooves, Lotus Blossom, Aloe, Holly Dash, Mr. Waddle, Junebug, Truffle Shuffle and many others were all part of the larger and larger growing energy. Connections spread everywhere.
In Cloudsdale Lightning Bolt, Cloud Kicker, Raindrops, Rainbowshine, Sassaflash, Parasol, Dizzy Twister, Medley, Merry May, Flitter, Cloudchaser, Thunderlane, Rumble, Roid Rage, Blossomforth, Wild Fire, Billy Dumbbell, Hoops, Score, Spitfire, Soarin', Fleetfoot, Rapidfire, Breezie, Misty and many more pegasi spread the links even further.
The lines started to spread all over the world.
They reached Canterlot and thousands of white links illuminated the city. DJ Pon-3, Octavia, Hayseed Turnip Truck, Donut Joe, Fancypants, Fleur de Lis, Twilight Velvet, Nightlight, Magnum and his wife, Hoity, Toity, Photo Finish, Prince Blueblood, Philomena and countless others felt the connection.
The lines found Appleloosa and the nearby Buffalo tribe. Braeburn, Sheriff Silverstar, Chief Thunderhooves, Little Strongheart and many others felt the same comforting feeling.
The links reached Manehattan and now the city was brighter than ever. Aunt and Uncle Orange, Sapphire Shoes and thousands of ponies and other beings felt the calming connections.
The power spread further and further over the world.
It reached countless members of the Apple family no matter where they lived or where they were at the moment. Apple Fritter, Apple Bumpkin, Red Gala, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Caramel Apple, Apple Strudel, Apple Tart, Baked Apples, Apple Brioche, Apple Cinnamon Crisp and many others felt like they had another family meeting.
The energy found a lonely rock farm. Inkie, Blinkie, Clyde and Sue were hoping that Pinkie Pie was doing fine wherever she was.
The power even reached some beings in the Everfree Forest like the Sea Serpent or Zecora. The zebra remembered her relatives that were so far away and wished that they were all well. Many lines spread from her and started to connect her with her family. The zebras noticed the feeling. At first several lines came out of the direction of Equestria but soon they also connected the zebras themselves. Friends, family members and even the other tribes were linked together.
It reached the Diamond Dogs in the deepest caves and dragons in the highest mountains.
Gilda at first thought this strange feeling was lame but several other griffins also looked like they were experiencing something familiar. Several white lines came from Equestria. But somehow nobody was worried, after all the pain they had just felt this was something completely different. It reminded many griffons at the ponies they had once met and who weren't as bad as expected. Then the connections spread from griffon to griffon as well.
The travelling showpony was all alone on a clearing in a forest near Canterlot. Trixie was looking into the sky and suddenly didn't feel that alone anymore.
Fluttercruel couldn't believe how much power was drawn into this attack. The young incarnation of Chaos saw much more than what she remembered from Fluttershy's memory. She wondered if this was the full power of the Elements of Harmony.
Only then did she notice a white line that was connected to herself.
"Fluttershy?"
The Nightmare tried to defend herself but the attack came from every possible direction and no matter what defence she put up nothing was able to stop or even delay the energy. She wasn't even able to scream anymore as the power overwhelmed her.
I felt the horrible power flew through me as well. There was no escape. It was the first thing I actually felt since I had become one with all these shadows. Most had left me by now and I could see that the others disappeared as well.
They fell out of by remaining body and the fled back into the black ruptures that led to the place where I found them. I was all alone.
What had happened to me? Why did the three beings look so sadly at me? Even Discord's daughter looks like she pities me.
I could finally remember what I had forgotten. The time I once spend with Celestia and Discord. How could I forget that? What had I almost done?
My spherical body fell apart, revealing the remains of my old body inside. There was so little left of me. The Harmony now lessened the pain but it couldn't heal me after I had embraced the Nothingness. It was too late for me.
I had welcomed the end, my own end with open hoofs.
My last remaining wing disintegrated.
I tried to raise my last remaining foreleg to reach them. I wanted to say something, anything to them but I felt my head vanishing into nothing.
I…
Fluttercruel saw the last parts of the Nightmare turn to dust and fall into the same ruptures the shadows fled into. There was nothing left of her. She was relieved that it was finally over and the ponies were saved. But somehow she still felt sad.
She wondered if the mortals had even noticed what had happened here.
The Harmony was able to rebuild the sections of the white space that were broken and much of it flowed into the subconscious world and the real world as well. There was a lot of damage to heal. It felt comforting after all the things she had to see and hear. For a moment she saw ghostly images of the five constructs smiling in this energy before it vanished.
Everything looked just like it was before she and Discord had built their small world here.
The three beings that had casted the impossible spell crashed hard into the ground. None of them were moving anymore.
Fluttercruel rushed to the side of her father.
"Wake up! Wake up you incarnation of laziness! You promised. You promised to me that it would only take a minute."
The young chimera could hear the two Alicorns slowly rise from the ground.
"Is it over? Is she… gone?" Luna said weakly.
"I think so… Discord!"
Celestia rushed to the side of Fluttercruel but the Draconequus didn't react at all. She wondered what kind of healing spell she might be able to cast on him.
Then a bucket filled with cold water hit the incarnation of Chaos in the face.
Without warning his body jerked upward throwing the bucket off. The bin flew right past the face of the Alicorn of Light, barely missing her.
"I'm awake! I'm… awake?"
"That was the stupidest thing you have ever done, dad."
"Give me a break; I hadn't any better ideas to make the spell work again."
"You could've died, you moron."
"You think that was an easy decision?"
"Don't try to talk your way out of this one, dad."
"You are becoming more and more like me."
"I'm fine with that!"
Both incarnations of Chaos hugged, Discord folded his wings around her.
"Dad, they're seeing this."
"It is not like I care about that right now, my little angel."
Celestia and Luna both had to help each other just to stand after the exhausting spell. The power of all three casters was almost completely drained after the incantation.
Luna looked to the spot where the Nightmare vanished. She didn't leave a single trace behind. The Alicorn wondered if the events could have been different if they had a chance to talk to each other before she had completely lost herself.
She knew what it was like to be lost in insanity but even in her darkest moments she didn't go that far. The Nightmare had sacrificed herself.
Celestia hugged her sister. She knew that she would need time to get over these events. But there was something she needed to talk with her about.
Meanwhile his daughter helped the Draconequus to stand and Discord looked at the cutie mark of his daughter with amazement. He saw the single butterfly with a green body and grey wings, surrounded by a red vortex as her very own symbol of Chaos.
"You earned your own mark. That is incredible! We will have the best cuteceañera ever. You could change your name if you want. How about Eris?"
"Not a chance that I will change this name. I have just one question. What does this cutie mark even mean?"
"It stands for mastery of Chaos!" the Draconequus said sure of himself.
"No, it symbolises the calm in the center of the storm." Luna countered, now standing with her sister close to the two incarnations of Chaos.
"Maybe it means the kindness hidden under Chaos?" Celestia said carefully.
"Just wonderful, now I have three different… Wait a minute. You might be all right. Who said a cutie mark can't have more than one meaning?"
"Didn't you say this once, Celly?" Luna said with a faint smile.
"That was a long time ago. It was back when I tried to make things easier for the ponies…"
The Sun Goddess gave Discord an ambiguous smile.
"But I can remember very clearly that you called us your sisters for the very first time."
"So you can hear everything while you are in the middle of the spell… I mean… You must have misheard something."
"You really said that, dad."
"You better be careful. That would make you their niece and then they might give you the title of a princess," Discord whispered to his daughter.
Fluttercruel decided to be silent for now.
"And you did help us save the world." Luna added with a smirk.
Discord almost fell to the ground in shock.
"Now you are just trying to kill me."
"Quite the contrary, for that we decided to give you a reward. You may choose yourself but it has to be reasonable." Celestia proclaimed.
This time both incarnations of Chaos almost fell to the ground.
Discord looked thoughtful, while Fluttercruel wondered what he might ask of them.
Maybe her father would request to place his statue in one of the most disharmonic places possible, for example a lawyer's office? Or he could ask them to create a glass window about these events. Or he could request his face to be painted on the moon. Or…
"I ask you for only one thing. I can't deny what I have done and even after all of this, the seal of Harmony is still in place and prevents me from breaking free. I can accept that as a punishment for all the things I have done to the ponies and to you."
He smiled at Fluttercruel.
"But my daughter did only a few very minor misdeeds in her short time outside. 1000 years of banishment doesn't sound very fair for what she did do. So here is my request: Allow her to leave this place. If she needs to prove herself first, let her journey into a plane where she can be constantly watched by one of you, like the subconscious world. There is somepony special there who she has to meet again anyway."
The young chimera didn't care who was watching her right now, she cried tears of joy.
"I think my little angel does have something in her eyes, maybe chocolate rain."
It was the very first time he had asked the two Alicorns to do anything for anyone besides himself. Both Luna and Celestia looked at each other and nodded.
"Very well, we accept this request and will allow her to move under guidance in the subconscious world." Luna proclaimed.
Both Discord and Fluttercruel had beaming smiles. Celestia stared into the eyes of the Draconequus.
"Why didn't you ask us to make these events public? Are you so afraid of the ponies learning what you did for them?"
"Nah, they wouldn't believe it. How are you going to explain these events anyway? The truth will not work this time."
"Maybe we will declare that dangerous rogue magic caused the effect but we managed to prevent that from ever happening again."
Discord had to chuckle.
"That is technically not even a lie. I guess Honesty didn't come to you for a reason."
"So you're not honoring these events in a glass window? Damn it, there goes our chance." Fluttercruel pouted with a faint smile.
"After everything that happened before, they wouldn't understand it…"
Celestia looked sombre. She knew that after the recent day of Chaos the ponies would not be able to believe the events that had taken place just outside of their world.
"You will not hear me complain about that. I looked horrible on your last window," Discord added.
"Maybe we could try something more abstract this time?"
Luna looked at her sister, while the Sun Goddess considered that idea.
"But you can at least place my statue back to where it belongs. I am starting to get a headache from my body lying on its head."
All four had recovered enough to stand on their own. Luna noticed that the two Alicorns and the Draconequus all radiated much less power than before.
"Wonderful. We just got our full power back and now most of it is drained again."
"Well Lulu, I guess we will have to survive Heart's Warming Eve, Hearts and Hooves Day, Equestria's National Dessert Competition and the Royal Wedding with our remaining powers until we have recovered."
"What could possibly go wrong?" Discord added with an arch smile.
"Cut that out! On the other hoof, we better prepare in case something does go wrong," if Celestia had learned one thing then that fate usually loved to exploit opportunities like this.
Luna approached the young chimera.
"Are you ready for your second journey into the subconscious world?"
"Wait! Right now? Shouldn't we…"
"Someone is waiting for you. We shouldn't let her wait."
The younger incarnation of Chaos looked at her father who nodded back. Fluttercruel decided that this was not the time to act like a doormat.
"Fine, I'm ready. Just wait for me, dad."
Both the Alicorn of Darkness and the former pegasus vanished into the nearby realm, leaving Discord and Celestia behind.
"How about we try a nice game of chess?"
"… There is something I want to do first."
Concentrating on the point where his world of Chaos once stood, Discord let his power create a statue. On the pedestal stood five life-sized figures of ponies: A unicorn with an energetic smile was in the center, an earth pony with ballooned hair smiled widely on her right side, a sophisticated unicorn with a curly mane stood behind them looking approvingly, an earth pony with a cowboy hat stood on her hind legs and struck a small pose to the left side of the energetic unicorn and over them flew a pegasus with a cocky smile.
A golden inscription on the pedestal said: Not how we are born defines us but how we live.
A second larger pedestal rose from the ground under the first pedestal lifting the statue even higher and this part was completely belted by golden letters spelling out each and every name of the constructs that had sacrificed themselves to give Discord and Fluttercruel a fighting chance.
"I hope that the big Alicorn with the unpronounceable name has a place for them."
Celestia lowered her head and whispered a prayer for them before answering Discord.
"I am sure that they have earned it."
Slowly ground began to appear around the statue, creating something the two incarnations could actually stand on.
Only then did Discord notice that one small part of his old world did survive. As he teleported the small shard of his mirror into other worlds into his eagle claw, the Sun Goddess watched it with interest. At first it merely showed the reflection of the Draconequus but then the image inside shifted to a sleeping grey earth pony foal.
Celestia almost let out a scream of surprise as she was still able to recognise this version of Twilight Sparkle from one of the darkest worlds she had ever seen. But something was different; Twilight's colors shifted erratically going from purple to grey to everything in between.
And this unicorn did show emotions in her sleep. Her face seemed incredibly sad, her body shivered and even in her sleep she hugged the potted plants for dear life.
The Sun Goddess wished that there was still hope for her. Both she and Discord watched intensively as Twilight's face became calmer. Suddenly the image filled with light.
Both incarnations looked at each other.
"Was that what I think it was?"
Discord could only blink for a few seconds.
"YES! She made it, she finally did it! This unicorn is always good for a surprise."
The Alicorn couldn't remember a single moment of the time before his banishment when he ever laughed with such pure delight. She was just so proud on this version of Twilight.
The speed with which the ground grew around the statue tripled and soon the world began to extend much further than the old world did. Meanwhile Discord flew small circles over it while he continued to laugh. Grass and countless other plants began to rise from the ground. Celestia was pleasantly surprised how peaceful everything looked.
"Discord? Will you try to create new constructs to live in this world?"
Suddenly he stopped his random movements and hovered down to the Sun Goddess.
"I have to admit that I don't know that right now. I loved their company and seeing them growing. Maybe I could create constructs not directly based on mortals but some who combine various aspects into their own unique mix, some could be ponies, some griffins, some dragons and there are so many possibilities. The first one could be the chimera I once promised Twilight… But they will always depend on me. Without my Chaos and my concentration on them, they wouldn't survive. It might be the best if…"
"You can't do that on your own. But you don't have to do it all by yourself. Luna and I also talked about that and if you want we will help you with them this time. I think together we will be able to create them in a way that they are not completely depended on you."
"You would do that… But I have already chosen my reward."
"Consider it a gift of us towards them."
They saw Discord and Celestia standing below them, now both following the events in the mirror.
"It is time to go."
The white unicorn looked at the massive black Alicorn whose wings and face were just white bones. The five constructs were the only ones left after the other constructs had already moved on.
"Thank you for letting us stay just a few moments longer, Mister Mortis," Rarity said politely.
"Ya still remind me way too much at the Nightmare."
"That is not his fault, he was born like this. But he feels completely different. We should know better than to judge a book by its cover." Twilight added.
"Hey, at least we could stay a little longer at Fluttercruel's side when the others went ahead. She would probably say we are the clingiest souls she ever met."
"Rainbow! But I hope that her meeting with her mother goes well this time. I was just so happy when she turned this battle around with her Chaos." Pinkie Pie smiled.
"We did what we could for Lady Fluttercruel and Mister Discord. Now we simply have to trust them to find their own path."
"Hm, how are we going to explain all of this to the original Elements of Harmony when they will eventually join us here?" Pinkie Pie looked lost in thought.
"We could claim to be their evil doppelgangers." Rainbow grinned from ear to ear.
"In Pony Heaven? They wouldn't believe that for very long…"
"Yeah but it would be funny to see their faces. And we would get their full attention for the story afterwards."
Applejack still eyed the Alicorn of Death uneasily.
"Are ya related to Celestia or Luna?"
"It is a complicated matter."
Twilight walked next to the earth pony.
"You mean it would take a very long lecture to explain this?"
"Exactly. And My Father can explain it much better. You will soon meet him."
The farmer looked unsure at the Alicorn before her but after one glance at her friends she decided to ask her question.
"Are… are 'Bloom and the rest of the Apples okay?"
"You are the only Apple that will make this journey today."
"… Thank you."
The five souls nodded and walked closer to each other. They were ready.
Soon Fluttercruel recognised her surroundings. The same oversized green field with Fluttershy's cottage in the center was still surrounded by the same woods. Numerous animals were frolicking around but thankfully the gigantic tree was missing this time.
"First things first, I need another form. Something that she would not be afraid of, maybe I could use the appearance of her as a child again. That did work pretty well…"
Luna watched the grey incarnation in confusion.
"What are you talking about?"
"I am working on making a good first impression. Since it was just a dream for her, she probably will have forgotten the last meeting. Now this must be a grand, perfect and flawless first impression."
"Now you sound just like me, niece."
Fluttercruel's pupil dilated in shock.
"Pleasedon'tmakemeaprincess!"
"What?"
The Alicorn of Darkness started to laugh as the young chimera looked at her in annoyance.
"What is so funny?"
"You know that this is the very first time someone asked me to not make her a princess. If you knew how many nobles were obsessed with that."
"I couldn't care less for such a cutesy title. No offense."
"None taken, but listen to the advice of somepony who tried the same thing: It will not work that way. You can not prepare for everything. And I think in this case you should try to show her who you are from the very start."
"Are you ins… serious? We are talking about Fluttershy who is afraid of her own shadow! How do you think she will react to her Draconequus/Pegasus hybrid daughter? If she would remember our last meeting she would be scared half to death."
"I saw how your last meeting went. The last time I had help when I was in a similar situation and I will not ignore somepony else who needs help."
Fluttershy could hear voices outside. The last thing she remembered was to bring all her animals back to their sleeping places before falling asleep next to her bed herself. Angel looked ready to carry her himself into her bed.
Now she was in her cottage and the rabbit was preparing a salad for them. Then she could hear somepony knocking on the door of her cottage.
Angel looked annoyed but as soon as she opened the door she could see Princess Luna appearing somewhat exhausted.
"May we come in?"
"O… Of course! I wanted to say that I am so sorry for the way I acted the last time! I didn't know what came over me! I am so very sorry! I am so…"
"That's quite alright. Hm, now I start to sound more and more like her. But I am here to give you and somepony else a special gift."
"Oh that isn't necessary. I didn't do anything special."
"You did more than you know. We will allow you to subconsciously remember certain dreams and regain the memories of them whenever you meet her."
The horn of the Alicorn of the Night touched the head of the shy pegasus and purple light enveloped Fluttershy's head. Angel jumped up to come to his owner's aid but an invisible forcefield stopped him from interfering with the spell. Suddenly the foggy almost vanished memories of the dream became crystal clear.
"Wha… She… my… Discord's… Why… She was really… She did… save me?"
Luna nodded calmly.
The kind pegasus tried her best to understand her unsealed memories. Fluttercruel had entered her dream to save her from this Nightmare and in the end she had revealed her true form towards her to shock her awake. Discord's daughter had saved her life. Her own daughter had saved her life.
"How could I have forgotten her? I am a horrible pony…"
"NO! YOU ARE NOT… you are not a bad pony. Despite it happening in a dream, you didn't forget her completely, that is why I was able to bring these memories back to the surface."
"Will this just happen again, once I will wake up? Will it all vanish?"
The Alicorn of Darkness put her left wing around the pegasus standing before her.
"Don't worry about that. These memories will now always return when you meet her in this realm. You will never truly forget her."
Fluttershy looked torn apart for a few moments before she shock her head and made a decision.
"… can I talk with her?"
"Allow us to call her. FLUTTERCRUEL, NOW YOU MAY ENTER!"
The subtle use of the Royal Canterlot Voice pushed Fluttershy slightly away from the Alicorn. Then her daughter entered the cottage.
She looked just like the last time they had met: Grey fur, an eagle claw instead of the left foreleg, a lizard leg for the right hind leg, one of her wings was a batwing while the other was a yellow pegasus wing. But there was one important difference: She had her own cutie mark by now.
"I wanted to say that I am sorry for what I had to do. But I was too afraid that it might not work if I warn you before that. There was so little time to…"
The shy pegasus remembered the sorrowful eyes her daughter had before she had revealed her true form and who her father was. Even now she had a hard time to understand that she and Discord of all beings in Equestria had a daughter.
And she looked and moved so much like him. Fluttershy pawed the ground nervously.
"I… I understand. It is hard to find the right words but…"
Her actions spoke for herself. After the encounter with Discord, the shy pegasus knew that appearances could be deceiving and she couldn't deny what her daughter had done for her.
Fluttershy hugged her daughter.
"You are a good pony. You are not a newborn anymore, you have grown. And most of all I want to thank you for saving me."
Fluttercruel hugged back.
"I wasn't alone. I had some guidance on my way. You wouldn't believe the story I can tell you."
"I would love to hear it."
"It all began with me hearing 'Time to be cruel' in the hedge maze from Discord and then…"
Now Angel looked like he was about to faint while Luna quietly walked outside and decided to let the two catch up on everything they had missed. To her surprise the rabbit followed her.
The dark Alicorn sat down next to one of the smaller trees as the rabbit still looked at her in confusion. Mother and daughter were still talking inside and it could take some time for Fluttershy to learn the full story.
But thanks to the influence of Luna the dream would last as long as necessary. And after everything that had happened the kind pegasus needed a long rest to recover. The Alicorn decided to say something to the rabbit next to her.
"Family can be something wonderful, don't you agree?"
