Crossing Over the Arcane Hiatus

Chapter 17: Philosophy Lessons

“…And these are the palace gardens,” Celestia lifted a hoof and swept it across the landscape. The sunset was a nice touch. I’d only seen the gardens once before and that was from the air, the most obvious feature being the gigantic hedge maze that took up just as much acreage the castle did if not more. It was now a little after six, and since Celestia generally gets the nights off since the control of the moon was handed over to Luna, she and Twilight decided to give me a formal tour of the place. The path we were taking ran along the outer wall of the maze and between a series of ponds. The cobblestone pathway cleared and opened up to vast, expansive meadow of finely cut grass almost half the size of the labyrinth.

We continued our small trek through the meadow and started to head back in to the castle when Princess Luna appeared out of nowhere and landed in front of us.

“I have just cast the spell that will put the moon into its orbit,” Luna explained to the group. “It is scheduled to rise in another hour. Now how’s the tour going?”

“I’ve only seen the outside so far.” I turned around faced the giant maze that was now off in the distance. “But the outside of the castle is simply beautiful. I can only imagine what the rest of the inside will look like. I haven’t seen much of it.”

Celestia took the compliment well by slightly blushing. Twilight nodded her head in agreement to my assumption and Luna simply eyed me strangely. I followed her gaze to my waist where her custom made sling for Cindersbane wrapped around my waist. Who’d have thought the deity was good at stitching?

The more I became aware of the sword however, the heavier it seemed to get. Pushing that aside I tightened the makeshift belt and looked back up to Luna’s curious stare, which was now accompanied by Twilight and Celestia.

“Is something wrong?” Twilight asked.

I shrugged. “No, nothing.”

There was a slight tugging on the sword, like what a little kid might do to your shirt if wanting to ask you a question. I looked down and saw no one pulling on it, but there was another small tug back to where I just walked from. I craned my head around off towards the hedge maze again in order to decipher any secrets it might yield. There were none.

There was one more tug on the sword off in the direction of the labyrinth. I could feel the eyes of the three equines behind me looking at and over myself, trying to see what I couldn’t.

“Do you want to see the statue garden?” Luna questioned. Before I could answer Celestia chimed in.

“But of course!” The Princess shook her head. “How could I forget to show you that? It is arguably the centerpiece of the gardens.” Celestia began a slow trot off toward the maze and the rest of us followed close behind. After a minute or so of walking we reappeared in front of the maze, but this time at its entrance.

Several dozen stone statues of various ponies and other creatures were scattered around in front of the labyrinth. One had a pony standing on its two hind legs holding an oversized scroll. Another statue showed a royal guard standing triumphantly over the dead body of a cockatrice. Twilight was nervously weaving between the statues while Luna and I walked up to Celestia.

“I can’t believe I forgot to bring you here.” Celestia apologized for the second time, stopping in the middle of the fields. “There really is no better place to learn about Equestria’s history and noblest of ponies than the Canterlot statue gardens.”

“Could have gone to the library…” Twilight’s voice mumbled from somewhere, lost in the maze of stone figures.

“Why? You’re not afraid of a few statues are you?” I teased the air.

“Only one,” her disembodied voice hissed. “Discord is kept here.”

Standing behind them I saw Celestia and Luna visibly shudder. “That was going to be brought up eventually,” one of them said. “Why don’t we get it over with?”

“Might as well.” The other agreed, and together they motioned for me to follow.

Discord, huh? Damn, now I really wish I saw season two. I sighed and followed the two alicorns through the garden of stone.

”It’s a shame, really.”

Great, now I’m thinking to myself. I swear I’m going insane. Celestia and Luna led me to the other side of the plaza to a statue isolated from all the others. Twilight was waiting for us with a look of distaste in her eye. Going off of Celestia’s brief explanation earlier today, I’m going to assume this statue is of a draconequus evident by the mismatched body parts from a wide variety of species. I’d seen concept art of Discord a few days before my sudden appearance in Equestria a little more than a week ago, and the statue fit the image. Although in the way the bust was positioned, Discord didn’t look too scary. In fact I’d say he looked absolutely terrified. The statue of the spirit uselessly held his arms in front of him as if trying to stop and oncoming train.

“This is Discord, the spirit of chaos and disharmony,” Celestia began, looking disgusted. “Over a thousand years ago, he overthrew Luna and I so he could rule Equestria. Our nation was thrown into a state of disarray and the pony’s way of life was in shambles. Fortunately, we were able to retake the throne and banish Discord into an eternity of stone imprisonment.”

“He would do no harm kept as a stone statue,” Luna took over, “Until five years ago when he somehow escaped. Thankfully the Elements of Harmony were able to return him to stone, with hopes he will stay that way forever.”

“So, that’s actually Discord?” I asked. Celestia nodded her head.

”Somehow I think they’re leaving out some important details…” I thought. Shut up newfound voice in my head. Go away.

Twilight notably kicked the ground and brought her eyes back up to Discord. Her gaze shuffled around the stone tomb of the draconequus and behind it.

“Oh! Oh! Star Swirl the Bearded!” She yelped and ran off. “Is this a new addition?”

Celestia chuckled and walked around to the other side of the statue, leaving my eyesight just like Twilight. Luna stayed put though and kept her eyes on Discord. Bored, I walked past her to catch up to the other two.

“And Belona the Wise! I didn’t even know there was visual documentation of her!” I heard Twilight cheer.

Celestia nickered and responded as I walked around the statue. “We do have one painting in the Canterlot Library. She’s hidden quite well behind Star Swirl.”

Something grabbed my Cindersbane’s sheath agian, stopping me dead in my tracks. This was more intent though, almost tripping and sending my feet out from underneath. Luna probably wanted to ask me something so I twisted around expecting to see her holding me with her magic or something.

She wasn’t even there. Wait… I thought Cindersbane was unaffected by magic? I glanced down and my heart sank. Cindersbane was in its sheath, but hoisted horizontally in the air defying physics. The tip pointed like a magnet, straight towards a certain statue.

“…Chris? Is something wrong…” I looked around to see Luna standing between myself and the others. Her eyes were just as wide as mine, I imagine. We were both frozen in place. Cindersbane tugged in the direction of Discord.

“No!” Luna shouted. Twilight and Celestia twirled just in time to see Luna jump at me. I was speechless, stuck in place as my legs refused to move. Cindersbane tugged harder until it pulled me across the ground and out of the alicorn’s path of travel. I smacked my face right into the stone figure of Discord and blacked out.

”Hey… Wakey, wakey…”

Something poked me, pointy but not sharp, like being gently prodded with a pair of closed scissors.

“Aw come on! I didn’t mean to push you that hard,” said the same crackling voice. “Do you have any idea how long I’ve waited for one of you to come along the right path?”

Wearily I opened my eyes and was immediately greeted by a great white fog. And it was everywhere. I’ve never been in the middle of a cloud before but this place could accurately sum this up.

“Great…” I moaned. “One moment I’m in the castle gardens and now I’m…”

“…In Hiatus.” The same voice answered. “Glad to see you’re awake, Christopher!”

“What? How do you…?” My eyes shot around the foggy abyss. “Where the hell am I?!”

“I told you. You’re in Hiatus.” The voice mused, slightly annoyed.

I stood up, yanking Cindersbane out of its sheath. “Where are you? Who are you?”

The voice chuckled. “Please, you don’t even know how to handle that thing. Regardless, you can’t cut my skin just like you can’t cut your own.”

How the hell did anyone know that? “…Celestia?”

The voice laughed. “Please, Cindersbane can easily slice through the Princesses like a hot knife through butter.” The voice started cackling uncontrollably. “Oh butter! I haven’t tasted the stuff in a long time! Then again, I haven’t tasted anything in a long time…”

“…”

“What? OH! Heavens no, I’m not going to eat you!” The voice nervously snorted before breaking down into a cautious giggle. “Why in the world would I kill our only savior? Come on, put that toy away.”

I lowered Cindersbane, but refused to sheath it. “Who are you?”

“Before I answer your question allow me to ask one of my own,” the voice said. “How many episodes have you watched?”

“Of what?”

“I think you know.”

“…Only the first season. The second one was going to air soon but then…”

“You wound up here. Darn, my job would have been a lot easier if you had watched at least the season opener. Then again, it’s probably good you don’t get any bad impressions before I tell my side of the story. I assume Celestia told you hers?”

“Story? What story?”

“Oh, right. Allow me to introduce myself!”

“Please do,” I grumbled.

The white mist parted ways in front of me to reveal a long, narrow corridor as if a tunnel was just bored straight through the mass. At the very far end, a wooden door appeared. It opened, exposing a dark room. Frighteningly, just like in the cartoons, a spool of red carpet bounced out of the doorway. It rolled itself out along the corridor until it eventually stopped at my feet. Out of the doorway emerged a figure, a very, oddly shaped figure. For starters it was about nine feet tall. Something else was off in the way it walked on two legs, as if a waddling penguin attempted to take long strides. Whatever it was, its face was hidden behind a giant purple fedora with a black feather sticking out of the brim.

Or in layman’s terms, a fucking pimp hat.

I can’t deny it went well with the rest of its getup; the signature broad-shoulder purple tuxedo, silky and long purple pants, and even a black cane. Whatever the hell this thing was, it took its merry time strolling down the newly made path of red carpet. I impatiently waited for it to get closer, tightening my grip on Cindersbane.

Four and a half minutes later, the weird biped finally got to the other side of the hundred foot hallway. Its hat was not fully secured on its head and tilted down, blocking its face. The creature brought up a… lion paw…? It brought up its paw to the front of its hat and with a flick of thumb sent it upward, exposing its face.

“Wa’sup hommie?” Discord smiled at me through a toothy grin.

Even with the vaguest of descriptions I got out of who he is; somehow I think I shouldn’t be surprised by this. And yet I was. And I was slightly petrified. A wrapped both hands around Cindersbane and brought it upright, threateningly pointing the blade at his neck.

Unfazed, he simply smiled at me. “You don’t shoot first before you ask questions, don’t you know that?” He brought up his other appendage, an eagle’s claw, and touched the tip of the blade that could cut through just about everything.

And the hardened titanium sword that was Cindersbane went limp like a garden hose.

I uselessly smacked him across the face with it.

*twack*

His purple fedora tilted slightly. Discord frowned. “I see Celestia was still able to corrupt you even without magic. That’s disappointing,” he moaned. Discord took a step back and grabbed ones of his pant legs. In a single, fluid motion he pulled upright taking the garments, hat, cane and all along with it. He snapped the fabric like a whip and in a burst of flame it was gone, as was the hallway behind him and once more I was completely surrounded by the white fog. Except now I had an unwanted companion.

“This is going to take so much longer than expected, but I think we should have enough time,” he stated lost in thought.

I stood my footing wielding a stick of rubberized metal. Short of breaking down, I’m not quite sure what to do now.

Discord clapped his palms together. “Well, I suppose I’ll let you decide. Shall we start off with an explanation of that weapon you are holding, the real history of Equestria, or your destiny?”

What.

Discord leaped into the air and started flying in rhythmic circles around me. I swung with Cindersbane but only ended up hitting myself in the jaw. Being hit in the face with cold, limp titanium still feels like being hit in the face with cold, hard titanium.

This only seemed to make him annoyed. “Well, since you perceive me as being the evil one, I suppose I’ll tell you my side of the story. Let’s start with the real history of Equestria, shall we not?” Discord chuckled and did a backflip, landing beside me on a plush sofa that was previously not there. He sat up; legs crossed, and dug a free hand deep in between the cushions. He pulled out a very large tome as well as some reading glasses. After donning his new spectacles, he patted the seat expecting me to go sit by him.

With nothing better to do I obliged.

“Good boy.” Discord grinned. “Now what I’m going to tell you may shock you, but your human brain should be able to process and comprehend the information. After all, if I’m not mistaken, it should sound very similar to some human history.”

I stopped struggling to sheath Cindersflop and looked up to him. “How do you know anything about humans?”

Discord opened the tome to a random page. “Please, Christopher, this is a history lesson. We can talk about your destiny next if you so desire. Now then, allow me to begin.” Discord cleared his throat and squinted at the book. The pages, I might add, were completely blank save one page that simply said ‘Press Start’.

“Read,” Discord instructed the book.

The book did not reply.

He pressed a finger firmly on the text.

Nothing happened.

“Oh Phooey. Out of batteries.” Discord shrugged and tossed the worn tome behind us. It sailed effortlessly though the walls of the mist and a few seconds later, exploded. I looked back to the Spirit of Chaos and he was busy stroking his beard.

“Okay, my memory may be a bit rusty but hey, I’m part elephant. At least I think I am. I forget. Anyway, on with the show! A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…”

I scowled. “You’re kidding.”

“Yup!” he replied happily. “Another thing, before we begin, I couldn’t help but notice you believe in the multiverse theory Hadron had put so much hard work into.”

“Yes…”

“Throw it out the window!” Discord flicked his wrist in the air. “There is only one universe and that is this one. Every possibility of existence lives in this one universe. There are no others, just this one. And it is infinitely expansive! It never began and it with any luck it will never end! Those ‘maps’ of the universe you humans have are just the limits of what your technology can reach. Your ‘forever expanding’ theory is completely ludicrous. It’s just like being in a bubble caught in the open air, really.”

I stared, with what I hoped was look of disbelief clearly etched on my face. “So your telling me there just happens to be an actual world a cartoon show was 100% accurately portrayed?”

Discord snapped his talons. “Bingo, we got a winner! Just a different bubble in the same field of open air, really. Every possibility exists. The only way to cross from one to the other is through the gaps in between, also known as Hiatus, which is where we are now.”

I continued to stare. “Sounds like a lot of bubbles.”

He smiled. “There’s a lot of open air. Now then, on to the real lesson. I fully expect you to believe this, as literally saving everything relies on me gaining your trust. This is the 100%, unrated truth and not whatever it is Celestia has told you. I’ll even Pinkie Promise! Cross my heart and hope to fly stick a cupcake in my eye!” Discord jabbed himself in one of his pupils and began his tale.

Forty thousand years ago, Equestria did not exist. Instead there was an old kingdom that stood over the same land, appropriately titled the Old Kingdom. There were two rulers, a King and a Queen, who maintained order over not just their nation or the entire world, but the universe itself. They had done so since the beginning of nothing. The King used dark magic and maintained the control of chaos, making sure there was enough natural destruction and violence in the world. Meanwhile the Queen used light magic and was in control of order, making sure there was enough peace and prosperity in the world. Together the two royals created a perfect balance; an equilibrium of equivalent exchanges. After all, chaos cannot exist without order, nor can order exist without chaos.

These two rulers did not interfere with the lives of their world’s inhabitants directly. Rather, their actions and decisions were known as the natural harmony, as was it across the universe. Nature flourished and it diminished across the galaxies. Nature killed itself and it regenerated. So was the way of the natural world.

What were these two rulers, you might ask? Why the King was a draconequus! And so was the Queen! With every offspring they gave rise to a new species to introduce to the universe. Dragons, dogs, gryphons, you name it they gave birth to it. But their crowning achievement was the equines. They were flawless and imperfect, orderly and chaotic; the essence of natural harmony. At the Queen’s decision they were to be honest and strong. And with the King’s wisdom they were to be liars and frail.

So came the Earth Pony.

At the Queen’s request, they were to be intelligent and loving. And with the King’s judgment they were to be dumb and heartless.

So came the Unicorn.

At the Queen’s rule they were to be understanding and bold. And with the King’s will they were to be arrogant and meek.

So came the Pegasus.

But even with these amazing new creatures, ones that would intermingle and bring natural harmony to themselves, they were far from the perfect being. Perhaps they were too intelligent? Or was it that they were not arrogant enough? The unbalanced traits of the equines made them a threat to themselves, to the point where they even refused to submit to the Crown. In order to save their children the King and Queen combined them all.

So came the Alicorn.

The alicorns were flawless in every way. They had the traits and characteristics of all the other ponies combined into one form. The natural harmony was perfectly stable within the alicorns and they were able to guide the other equines, straightening them whenever they came out of align. They stood as the pinnacle of the King and Queen’s achievements, the intermediaries between them and the ponies they created. Equine life was at a natural balance, and it was so for ten thousand years. That is, until the Cataclysm struck.

It is still unknown what caused it and it likely never will. A sudden imbalance in the natural harmony of the universe occurred. Planets, life, and civilizations everywhere across the universe were threatened by the fluctuation as an excessive amount of unnatural chaos rapidly surged. The King was powerless to stop it, and in his feeble attempts he withdrew all measures of creating more chaos while the Queen used an excessive amount of order to bring the situation under control. As a result, not only the Old Kingdom but the entire universe experienced peace on an unprecedented scale. There was no war, no famine, and no violence. Everything was prosperous and life thrived.

However there was no longer a balance of harmony. Order cannot exist without chaos after all. In a desperate bid to save the universe from the Cataclysm, the Queen destroyed herself.

And chaos cannot exist without order. Without both the universe would tear itself apart.

In an attempt to save harmony, the alicorns came to the King in this time of need, by taking complete control of throne of the Old Kingdom. The King himself stepped down from power so he wouldn’t upset the delicate balance of equivalent exchange. Now, the elder draconequus lived amongst the creatures he created.

However he was still the essence of chaos. Everywhere he went, he threatened to upset the natural balance of the world and the universe. The alicorns came up with a simple solution; they split themselves. Instead of a single alicorn being a combination of chaos and order, there were now two, one for each respective element.

And this worked. To counteract the swelling chaos of the Old King, the alicorns would respectively increase their numbers in order while restraining their numbers in chaos. Over the next ten thousand years, the chaotic alicorns died out and the Old King returned to his seat on the throne.

And the security of natural harmony was once more intact.

But now there was another problem. The equines were failing themselves again like they had twenty thousand years ago. And with no alicorns to watch over them they threatened to create an unnatural surge in chaos that could cause another Cataclysm.

And so came the next generation of the draconequus. The King mated with the alicorns, striving to create the next species that could rule over the equines. And after a few years of trial and error, came the ruler of all equines.

And her name was Epona.

Epona was a strange draconequus. To everyone’s surprised delight, she was just like the first generation of alicorn; the perfect combination of all equines. She even looked like an alicorn too, so much so that she used the title of one. Epona reigned over the equines for the next five thousand years. Natural harmony was once more held in balance.

But what happened to the other draconequi; the failed attempts? Why, they were used as enforcers of order and chaos, spreading across the universe to maintain the natural harmony of the beautiful system. Some however, were kept in the Old Kingdom as a precaution in case of another near miss with a Cataclysm. Hopefully they would never be needed.

Five thousand years after Epona began her reign, she came to a decision: Her job was too tedious for one spirit to manage. With no help coming from the King or the alicorns, and the draconequus reserve being kept on constant watch, she came to only one option. Epona split herself much like the previous generations of alicorns had.

So came Nightmare and Daydream.

Nightmare would administer chaos to the equines when necessary, and Daydream would do the same with order. This natural harmony was kept constant for another five thousand years. The entire universe was kept in impeccable stability.

Ten thousand years before the creation of Equestria, another catastrophe struck. The alicorns were dying. The very creatures the held the position of the Old Queen was ironically in disharmony themselves, and as a result there would be the risk of a Cataclysm. Gradually, the reserve draconequi began to replace their ranks to keep natural harmony in check. But now Nightmare and Daydream were faced with a cold fright. They were the last of the alicorns. And they too would eventually die. In a bid to save their race, they had many children together.

Two thousand years later, Nightmare and Daydream came to a sudden realization. The Old King and the reserve draconequi were absentmindedly letting uncontrolled uneven amounts of natural chaos and order slide past. They thought saw the signs before the Crown did, and swiftly addressed the Old King about their fears.

But the Old King reassured them he was aware of these minor inequalities of chaos and order. They were nothing significant, and in the event one of which became greater than the other, the Old King would simply switch out one of the reserve Draconequi with one of the opposite element. Nightmare was pleased with this.

Daydream was not.

Any changes in natural harmony, she warned, could cause another Cataclysm no matter how small they were. The Old King stood his ground arguing that he would fix any significant change before a powerful surge could happen and that the current inequality was too disproportionate when compared to near misses of the past. Daydream continued to protest, declaring him foolish and unwise.

In the name of keeping peace, the Old King offered her a seat as Queen of the Old Kingdom and to throw the other draconequi back into reserves if she was not pleased with the current system. Daydream accepted and became the new Queen, maintaining order through the universe.

But there was no order with the equines.

Nightmare was left solely in charge of the species. The Old King realized his mistake and tried to convince Daydream to return to the rule over the equines yet she refused to move. With no other choice he brought out the reserve draconequi to reign alongside Nightmare. However the ponies would not even consider not being ruled by none other than the alicorns. Nightmare was forced to take from her own children and put them in power, much like what the Old King and previous generations of alicorn had. Natural harmony once more blossomed.

Five thousand years before the founding of Equestria, Daydream passed away due to coming of age. Nightmare would soon die as well. The Old King once more brought out the reserve draconequi, but not before capturing the essence of Daydream. He promised to do the same for Nightmare when her time came, and he would pass their qualities on to two offspring of her choice.

Nightmare decided upon her most recent offspring, two sisters; Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.

With her passing a thousand years later, the Old King made Princess Celestia the element of order and Princess Luna the element of chaos. The other alicorns stepped down from the throne and once more natural harmony was achieved. This time, to avoid a similar event, the Old King did everything in his power to hide the tiny harmony changes he was in charge of from the two alicorn sisters. And this worked for another thousand years.

Yet he was unsuccessful. Princess Celestia noticed the indiscriminate changes and began to worry. Princess Luna reassured her older sister that nothing was wrong; however Celestia did not want a repeat of the events with Daydream and Nightmare so she took to addressing the problem herself.

By raising the amounts of natural order.

The Old King immediately noticed these changes. As he tried to compensate, so did Celestia until the entire universe was dangerously yet again on the verge of a Cataclysm. With no other option, he banished Celestia to the world’s sun, imprisoning her until things died down. Luna immediately made the wise decision of sending herself to the sun along with her sister, so harmony could be maintained on every level.

Again the equines were in a state of disarray which threatened to spin out of control. Luna was able to convince Celestia to return peacefully and she did, once more calming the equine population. Another near miss with a Cataclysm was swiftly avoided.

However, resentment filled the heart of Celestia. She became enraged at the Old King, accusing him of wanting to destroy the universe. He fought back, accusing her of the same actions and threatening banishment to the sun; one that wouldn’t be so short lived. Celestia was stubborn and would not allow the Old King have the universe residing in his unreliable hands.

Celestia, the deity of order, declared war on the throne.

What he created would be his undoing. With another Cataclysm on the horizon, the Old King sacrificed himself to maintain preservation of the universe. The reserve draconequi were once more sent into hiding. The Old King himself granted the alicorn sisters to be the rulers of all of the Old Kingdom, giving them unimaginable power so they could finally keep the world in natural harmony for eons, just as the Old Queen and he himself did millennia ago.

The two sisters were to be known as Daydream Sun and Nightmare Moon. With the consent of the Old King, they entombed him in stone for the greater good.

The two sisters took manual control over the natural harmony of their world so they maintain order and chaos on a much more accurate scale. They raised the sun and lowered the moon, even. Then they sought to create an artificial backup system; one that could administer appropriate amounts of chaos and order automatically. They hoped that one day it would be able to run itself.

They created the Elements of Harmony.

The first of the ten elements produced is arguably the most important; Magic. Over the course of the next thousand years, five more would be created; Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, and most recently Loyalty. These six alone were enough to maintain natural order. Equine life flourished. Times were good. To celebrate, the alicorn sisters renamed the Old Kingdom. It is now known as Equestria.

However, order cannot exist without chaos.

A thousand more years passed and Nightmare Moon feared the worst. The remaining four elements have yet to be created. The automatic backup system that was the Elements of Harmony was overwhelmingly biased towards order. No element that could cause chaos had been produced yet and her fears became graver when she realized her sister had been corrupted by order. Any attempt to show Daydream Sun the truth and possible consequences did not go well. Daydream Sun argued that the Old King had simply made up the stories of natural harmony, just so he could maintain power over the throne. Order was tranquil! There was peace! No wars or suffering! Nightmare Moon protested, but her elder sister was more powerful than she was. Daydream Sun was going to doom them all.

So reluctantly, Nightmare Moon created chaos by keeping the moon locked in the sky, all to keep natural harmony in balance. Daydream Sun tried to convince her sister otherwise, but Nightmare Moon stood firm to do what is right. And the two alicorn sisters fought.

Using her light magic, Daydream Sun overwhelmed her younger sibling’s dark magic and banished her to the moon. And in honor of her sister, she dropped the title of Daydream Sun. Over the course of the next thousand years, Princess Celestia would periodically attack the mind of her sibling; warping the memories of her sister and implanting thoughts of her own all so that when she eventually returns, Celestia could bring her back to her side and they could rule Equestria together once more as sisters in peace.

Equestria prospered in the time of Nightmare Moon’s banishment. War was nearly nonexistent. Famine was almost unheard of. Violence was practically unimaginable. However, the Old King still lived even from within his stone tomb. And he still had power. Ever since he was turned to stone, he had been hard at work maintaining the amount of chaos in the world. Because of Celestia’s power, Equestria had been made unreachable but the rest of the planet was not. To maintain equilibrium, the rest of the world suffered while Equestria prospered. Eventually Celestia was being pushed hard by political adversaries of aggressive nations, and the Old King took every opportunity he could to infiltrate what was once his nation. Over time he gained footholds in the land, some environmental like the Everfree Forest, others social like slaved labor enforced by Diamond Dogs underneath the country’s own soil.

After all, chaos cannot exist without order.

Equestria might no longer be in full order, but it was still missing incomprehendable amounts of chaos. The entirety of the universe still stands on the edge of another Cataclysm even to this day all because of this. The Old King couldn’t deny that the balance hasn’t shifted slightly in his favor, but he needed an edge to make full natural harmony. And with the return of a now twisted Princess Luna, he was pushed back further from that goal. Simply causing chaos was enough for the time being, but if another Cataclysm struck due to a surge of excess order he would be powerless to stop it. He mourned his wife. Epona needed to return. He needed to retake the throne.

He started by releasing the draconequi reserves. All of them. However, since they were already in equal numbers of chaos and order this was a useless attempt.

Next, he tried to escape himself and forcefully administer righteous amounts of chaos. However he soon realized he was too weak and was once more turned to stone, this time by the unfinished Elements of Harmony.

So he came up with a third plan: bring in specialists of chaos. He decided upon a world billions of years old; one he created long ago and since forgotten. One with a species previously unknown, one that developed on its own from the natural harmony of the planet.

He brought humans to Equestria.

WHAT. THE. FUCK.

Celestia is some sort of wicked tyrant?! Nightmare Moon was trying to save the universe by refusing to lower the moon?! Discord is a good guy?! This just throws a wrench into everything I knew.

Discord, amused by my bewilderment, leaped off the couch and landed a few meters away with his back turned against me. “I guess you could say…” he began.

“…That the phrase, ‘my little pony’…” He turned back towards me. His reading spectacles were gone and in his palms was a pair of sunglasses. He slipped them on.

“…Has taken on a whole new meaning.”

“YYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!” came a disembodied battle cry.

I stared at him. “I… I don’t even… do not know what to believe…”

Discord poked me in the chest. “Well you better believe. It’s your destiny to save the universe, bucko. And hey, humans are a naturally cynical and sarcastic being! You’ll do fine!”

“Well I’m going to need some convincing then,” I mused while standing up. This was a lot to suddenly take in, even if it was real. “For starters, Earth isn’t exactly the most orderly planet. Why hasn’t a Cataclysm happened there yet? And why Equestria? Why do you stay on this world and not any others?”

Discord stroked his beard. “To answer your first question, I won’t deny that you’re planet is out of align. True, there is a bit more chaos than what would be ideal, however it could be a lot worse. The children I sent out to maintain balance in the universe are constantly struggling to keep things steady. Another thing is that the whole system interconnects. If I may use the ‘body’ analogy again as before, imagine each world as a separate organ. A virus infects one, and all the others are ill as a result. Believe me; your civilization is long overdue for some order.”

“And as for your second question, it’s simple really. This world is the center of the universe; the focal point that Hiatus is anchored to. Just like the brain of a body, magic pulses of order and chaos are sent throughout Hiatus across the universe to make sure natural harmony is at a balance. But this brain has a tumor. ‘Affect one you affect them all.’”

Discord jumped into the air. A portion of the cloudy mist stretched outwards in a horizontal pillar for him the lay on. He continued, “Which leads us to the next lesson; your destiny. Shall we discuss the Arcane Prophecy? Actually, no. Where’s the fun in that? I love riddles!”

He continued to take pleasure in my… whatever I was feeling. Anger? Confusion? All of it and more. “So what, Celestia is really a draconequus? You’re insane,” I stated bluntly.

“Hey! I don’t suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!” Discord rolled around on his pedestal laughing. “And no, Celestia, Luna, nor any other current alicorn is a draconequus. When Epona split, she made sure of that.”

This guy is undeniably nuts. Everything he’s saying just goes up against everything I’ve known. Albeit it wasn’t much before I came to Equestria and even now I still know very little. The show was very vague in the history of Equestria, and Celestia still could have changed the history books I suppose, but still…

I raised an eyebrow. “You mentioned humans…”

“Oh yes, humans! How I most certainly love your kind! Naturally chaotic and orderly, they are the absolute perfect being. What’s more is that I had no influence over your species’ evolution! It was all natural! If any creature deserves a hand, it’s you.”

Discord offered me a high-five that I kindly refused.

He shrugged. “Anyway yes, I have brought many humans to Equestria. A couple hundred humans to be exact. Although it’s a bit funny really; common sense doesn’t appear to be all that common among you does it? Of the 264 I brought here, there’s now a lovely population of thirteen. Fourteen if you count yourself.”

He twiddled his thumbs. “And I have some; I suppose you’d say ‘unconventional’, methods of sending humans across Hiatus. You see, unlike beings here in Equestria your planet appears to be very distant from all forms of magic. So to send a single human here it requires a lot of dark magic that needs to be focused on a single point. This usually results in a swift kick to the jaw or a knee the crotch courtesy of mwah.”

Much to his enjoyment I winched.

“And I’m sure you know I didn’t kick you to send you here. Oh no, instead I set up an elaborate trap that utilized a gargantuan amount of magic, all in the name of preserving your human body. Whenever I previously sent a human here, their body conforms to the magic of Equestria and POP! Your human is no longer human! Rather their bodies were turned into that of a pony. Well, usually it’s a pony since their much simpler. I’ve experimented with turning some humans into dragons, gryphons, or what have you, and often with some exceptional results. You are the first one I’ve been able to keep in their original body.”

Slowly I nodded. “And for that I thank you.”

He gave me another one of those toothy grins. “You’re quite welcome, my dear. Now, there are thirteen other humans in Equestria and you need to find ten of them. They no longer look like humans, and they were smart enough to go into hiding. Admittedly, other than the fact they are still in Equestria I have no clue where they are so we have zero leads. Any questions?”

What the hell is going on? “Yeah, I got one. Why should I believe any of this?”

His eyes narrowed and he growled. “Because the literal fate of the universe rests on your shoulders? You think I would be making this up? Are you willingly going to sit by and watch the universe fall to another Cataclysm, one that would destroy it, me, you, and everything?!”

I was silent. Discord continued to stare daggers, literally. Actual daggers were protruding out of his eye sockets. I’ve never been able to tell when someone lies, but being the brink of rage would probably make it hard to not tell the truth; a point I know for a fact when the mind is weak. Discord, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but he appears to be telling the truth. Or at least he thinks he is. Whether it’s the actual truth or what he simply believes is yet to be determined.

“Tell me about Cindersbane.” I threw the floppy sword onto the foggy ground. I unbuckled the sheath from my waist and tossed it away as well. Discord sighed and picked up the weapon by the hilt. A flick of the wrist later and it was completely straight again.

“Ah yes. It has been a long time since I’ve seen this marvelous thing. Perhaps this deserves a history lesson too, huh?”

“We have all the time in the world, don’t we?”

Discord sighed. “And there lies the problem. I’ll have to keep this brief.”

It was five thousand years ago. The Old King had just been dethroned and accepted his fate. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were now in control of the natural harmony of the world, and therefore the entire universe. The Spirit of Chaos was once more wandering the lands, pursued by the alicorn sisters who together with their magic would easily overcome the elder draconequus.

However he needed time, for it would not be the last time the universe would hear of him. With the alicorns in control they would easily be able to find him. So in order to be harder to track, he kept his production of chaos to a minimum. The draconequus wasted no time retreating to deep within the southern jungles to his mountainside sanctuary, the one where the reserves were held; where his children were safe. Using as little magic as possible, the Spirit of Chaos pried opened the casing and released one of his kin.

This one, a very young draconequus not too unlike him, emerged. Her body was of a tiger, her head that of an eagle with tuffs of silver feathers sticking out of the normal brown. Her tail was sleek and long like what belonged to primate. Her legs were built for running so all four were adopted from a cheetah. Her wings had the aerodynamics and muscles stolen from the design of a hummingbird. She was made for speed.

“Father,” she started. “What is it you inquire?”

“A mission,” The elder draconequus stated bluntly. He clapped his palms together and slowly began expanding them. With every inch he separated them, dark matter began to reform and take place in the gaps between. He continued to increase the distances of his hands; six inches, eight, a foot, two feet, all until the object he desired materialized in front of him. A sword with matching sheath, and a scroll.

He handed off the weapon to his daughter. “Take this and hide. Secure yourself deep within the crevices of the farthest corner of this once great nation and wait.”

The draconequus took her new possession, unsure of her new quest. “Wait for what, father?”

“Time.” The Spirit of Chaos snorted. His whip-like tail snapped against the stone ground of the jungle clearing. “Only time will be able to tell. Make haste, Unity, for right now there is very little of it, especially for me.”

“I hope you care to explain, Discord.” A new voice demanded. The elder draconequus spun around into a defensive stance. Unity grasped the weapon tight against her body, hiding behind her father. Two silhouettes eclipsed the evening sun before landing in front of them.

“Princesses…” Discord hissed. “May I ask what you are doing here?”

“Just a little cleanup,” Celestia jeered. “I thought you were going to come willingly.”

Discord tensed. “And I thought I should be able say goodbye to my children.”

Luna smiled empathetically. Unity shifted from behind, ready to run away. “Goodbye?” She questioned.

“Hush Unity, Daddy’s talking to his granddaughters,” He mused from over his shoulder. “…Your young, rebellious nieces.”

Discord turned back to face Celestia who’s horn was now fully glowing. Luna, oddly enough, was standing back unmoved. Celestia began a slow approach. Unity tightened her grip on the sword she was just given.

“It’s a shame it had to come to this, Discord.” Celestia glared as she got within yards of him, her horn shining bright like the sun. “If only you weren’t so tyrannical.”

“I was about to say the same actually,” The draconequus hummed, bringing up his claw. He snapped two of his digits together and now a swirling ball of dark energy manifested itself in his palm. Celestia took a step back and Luna swiftly ran up to back up her sister, her horn glowing as well.

“You wouldn’t dare…” Celestia hissed.

“Nope!” Discord said happily. The ball of dark energy disappeared in a flash. The two alicorns blankly stared in confusion; their own magical weapons primed to go off in an instant. Discord stepped aside and swung his arms into as if to present something.

But there was nothing to present. Unity was gone.

“WHERE DID SHE GO?!” Celestia screamed in rage, her horn now encased in a layer of overglow; another layer upon the original aura. Her usually ever-flowing mane now resembling the licks of fire rather than the calm of a watery stream.

Discord shrugged. “Somewhere safe,” he said silently. “Now then, it appears my fate is sealed. Let’s get this over with shall we? I find it very funny that you, the deity of order, are the cause of all this chaos.”

Celestia snarled. “I am the deity of order, granddad,” the word spat out of her mouth. “And I am bringing it.”

“You are destroying it,” Discord hummed in content. “Ironic, is it not?”

Behind Celestia, Luna shuddered. Discord took notice and curiously stared. Then he grinned. “Well, let’s get this over with. Hopefully you two can maintain perfect, absolute natural harmony.”

She softened a bit. “We will.”

Celestia’s horn bellowed out pure, raw light magic. Luna quickly recovered, pushing her own abilities and together they produced enough magic to overwhelm Discord’s own. However he did not even bother fighting back. Instead he whistled a merry tune, calmly waiting for the inevitable. Celestia charged the draconequus, stabbing him with her elegant horn. Only it didn’t penetrate. Rather, it began a cascade of events that would render the draconequus crippled.

Discord only laughed as he was turned to stone.

Discord rubbed his temples. “And that’s all I know of Cindersbane. I created it, infused it with most of what remained of my magic, and then used the last of my reserves to brisk Unity away. What she did with it is her story.”

He slumped from his position on the outstretched pillar of fog. It suddenly broke off into a cloud that he was now floating around the room-like cavern on. Still holding the sword and its sheath, he lowered his desired mode of transportation low enough to come to eye level with me.

“You see this?” He pointed to the tree of life symbol carved out of the sheath.

“Yes. It’s the tree of life; sacred geometry and all that stuff.”

“Exactly.” Discord mused. “And the tree of life symbolizes…”

I finished his sentence. “…It’s the symbol of life itself. It connects life to the physical world. When combined with the fruit of life they become the flower of life; the blueprint of the universe.”

Now he looked impressed. “Impressive…” Just as I thought he’d say. “I suppose Celestia told you that too?”

I shook my head. “Luna did, actually.”

“Luna, huh?” Discord scratched his chin. “Eh, never mind that. Anyway, each of these circles represents a place a soul can be bonded to the weapon. When ten souls are bonded, one for each respective grove, Cindersbane will force a new Element of Harmony. It will be the first of chaos, one that will finally start to turn the tides of things.”

What.

“Force a new element?” I’m not genuinely surprised anymore. “Which one?”

Discord shrugged. “Nobody will know until it’s produced. You see, of the ten there are four elements of order, four of chaos, and two of neutrality. The ones of order are Laughter, Kindness, Generosity, and Honesty. The two of neutrality are Loyalty and Magic. The four of chaos are obviously unknown.”

“However there is a catch. A few, actually…” He went on to explain. “The souls can only be bonded when this…” He showed me the unicursal hexagram etched on the pommel. “…touches that.” Now he pointed to my arm, where beneath the sleeve the same symbol was scarred into my arm when I burned a bloody wound shut.

“You are already bonded with the weapon, though.” Discord sheathed Cindersbane and tossed it my way. “And another catch is that those symbols are on every human in Equestria, of which we have got no clues to where they are. And there are thirteen of them. And you need to find ten. And if one dies when they’re bonded, you’ll have to replace it with another. Make sure no humans die for it’ll make things ever so slightly easier for you.”

I held the weapon in my hands. A pulse of visible green arcs of electricity shot down the entire length of the sheath, illuminating the runes that were on it much like when I first held it earlier today. They shined dimly in the afterglow before they faded. The surges of electricity stopped as suddenly as it began.

My mind is full of fuck right now…

“And the final catch…” Discord sighed. “You have no idea how to use the dark magic contained within it, nor do you even know how properly wield a sword. Don’t lie to me; I remember your efforts to swing at me earlier.”

“Hey, you could barely call it a sword when it acts like a slinky!” I yelled.

“Point taken.” He smiled. “But you need some basic training. When a manticore charges you in the woods you don’t want to miss. That sword might not pierce your skin but it doesn’t mean everything else can’t.”

Discord popped off his cloud and landed on all fours. He began stomping the misty floor rhythmically until a large pillar of fog erected out of the ground, standing up right. He glided over to the new formation and snapped his fingers. The mist parted to expose a wooden mockup of a manticore, roughly eight feet tall.

“Go on, give it a swing.” Discord motioned to the effigy. Not quite sure what to do, I drew out Cindersbane and took a step forward, tightening my grip. The wooden target was ten feet away and I closed the gap. Raising the sword high over my shoulder like a golfer post-swing, I aimed for a vulnerable part. The face seemed important. I brought the sharpened blade straight down between the eyes before embedding itself halfway in the wood.

“Good,” Discord applauded. “A manticore always expects their prey to sidestep to avoid the attack, so coming straight at them would have thrown it off. However, this one was stationary.” Discord clapped his hands together and the manticore faded out of existence.

“Quickly, two o’clock high!” He pointed and I followed. Another massive wooden effigy of a manticore was barreling down on me, forearms outstretched with pointed claws drawn.

I screamed. Not thinking I grabbed Cindersbane by the blades and held it up to cover my face. The manticore smashed straight into the flat sending vibrations all across my arms, rattling my ribs as the force propelled them both straight into my chest.

But it didn’t hurt. Cindersbane was glowing blue, somehow absorbing most of the momentum carried from the dummy. The target awkwardly fell to the ground in a heap, its entire head cracked from the force.

“I see you didn’t do that consciously…” Discord mused, inspecting the damage. “It will take time before you can do anything on a whim. Just keep practicing and you’ll learn to do so eventually. Now then, six o’clock high!”

I quickly recovered and turned, holding Cindersbane snugly in my grasp. But this target wasn’t a manticore. Instead, a wooden gryphon swung down like it was on a pendulum. It was too close to even lift my weapon so I dove to the ground to avoid its menacing talons. I watched as it kept flying, turning up and around to do another strafing pass.

I was still on the ground though, so that was a bit of a problem. But maybe it wasn’t though, as an idea crossed my mind. I squeezed the handle and rolled over as the gryphon dove downwards. I rolled once more and slashed up and out, missing the center mass but making contact with my intended target. Cindersbane effortlessly clipped the gryphon’s right wing and it tumbled out of the sky and through the mist of the ground below.

Discord clapped. “Well done! You’re learning faster than expected!”

I stood back up. “Well, it’s basic logic. It had the high ground advantage, so I took that away.”

He smiled. “Well, let’s see how you deal with something that always has the high ground.”

Confused, I watched as he snapped his claw. Behind him, two giant obelisks of wood emerged out of the foggy ceiling and landed behind him. Discord flew over behind me and laughed at whatever face I was making. I bet he wished he had a camera, but now I think it’d take more time to take a picture than for me to die. Those two wooden structures belonged to the front arms of an enormous wooden dragon.

“What do you do now?” Discord whispered behind me.

“Run?” I squeaked.

“Correct!” Discord laughed and the dragon disappeared from sight. “Sometimes it’s better to run than to fight. Now, how about this one?”

I turned around to face Discord but he was gone. In his place was the wooden body of a pony, a filly unicorn nonetheless. Needless to say I was shocked. Largely in part due to it being a pony, but also because of the steak knife it held in its mouth. And it was advancing. Fast.

“What’s the matter?” Discord’s voice called out from somewhere. “Can’t kill a pony?”

My heart was jumping. Discord was trying to get me to kill a pony, but why? Was this just some sick psychological game? Hell, who’s to say everything he’s saying isn’t? How the hell do I know I’m not comatose right now? Oh right, pain. I don’t think you feel pain when in a coma.

The filly effigy bolted past me, the knife slicing at my shin. “Dammit!” I yelled, hopping back on my other foot. The filly was coming around again for another pass, blood dripping off of the knife it held. This wasn’t a pony anymore. This was a threat.

Cindersbane, one way or another, was now arching with red streaks of electricity. As the filly got closer I swatted at it. I didn’t even use much force; I just wanted it to get away but the sword sliced straight through the neck decapitating it with no resistance whatsoever.

“Hmm…” Discord flew in to inspect me, thrusting his face awkwardly close to my own. “You can’t bring yourself forward to slay a pony yet. That’s troublesome, but I suspect you’ll get around that eventually.”

My eyes went wide. “No… no I won’t. I-I won’t kill a pony.”

Discord sighed. “And yet you did. You channeled the dark magic of the weapon to do what you wanted it to do.”

I glared at him. “I wanted it to leave me alone!”

“And it did! Poor sucker won’t be going anywhere!”

I was about to argue but Discord raised a claw to stop me. “Nope, not enough time to dispute this. I showed you all I can in this short amount of time and we’re only just scraping the surface as it is. I sincerely hope you believe me and that the things I taught you will aid you on your journey.”

“What journey?” I asked, but then realized it was rather obvious.

“You better get started,” Discord ignored me. “The next Cataclysm will strike in a little over a year if you don’t stop it. But to give you some more time I’ll send you some years back in time, maybe two or three. More if necessary. I’ll give you a few days to gather supplies first and then I want you to go to the ruins of the old castle in the Everfree Forest, you got that? Find ten humans, bond them, and force the next element to save us all.”

“Wait what are you-“

He cut me off and kept talking. “I’m running out of concentration, so that’s all the time we have. Good luck!” Discord waved at me with a cocky smile. I was about to speak again but then everything went black.

The cymbal-clapping monkey in my mind is on a drug-fueled craze right now. Everything was still black, but I could see. At least, I hope I could. I can feel my eyelids batting for what it’s worth. Oh lord I hope I’m not blind. No, wait, that’s the moon high above me. A bit blurry, but I can see. It must be nighttime.

“I-I think he’s… he is! He’s awake! Chris is awake!” I heard Twilight’s distant voice.

“He’s awake!” She cheered. Suddenly she sounded like a jet engine as she threw head in front of my eyes.

“Twilight! Calm down!” I heard Celestia’s monotone voice call out. Twilight was shoved out of the way by magic. I groaned, rubbing my eyes. What the hell just happened? Somehow I… where the hell am I? Oh right, moon, I’m outdoors still. Stone gardens perhaps?

I shifted my head to the base of the statue of Discord. Yup.

Celestia now filled my vision. “Christopher? Are you alright?”

“I think so…” I said weakly and sat upright. Surrounding me was Twilight, Celestia, Luna, and two dozen or so Royal Guards.

“I knew he shouldn’t have been given that sword…” I heard Twilight mutter to herself. Geez, don’t these ponies know I can hear them fine? I thought I already established that with them!

“Chris? Did anything happen? Did you see …Discord?” I turned my head and saw Luna leaning over me.

“Um… yeah… he wanted me to, to...” Oh god I’m still grasping my head around it.

“We can discuss it later, Luna,” Celestia waved a hoof. “Forgive me, Chris. This whole time you were in contact with the statue and we were afraid to pull you away. There was no telling what could happen, so we had no choice but to let you be.”

I chuckled ever so slightly. “…Probably for the best then, right?”

Celestia nodded. “Come on now, you must be tired. We can discuss tonight’s events in the morning.”

A/N: inb4phallicjokesandconspiracytheories.

Also, it wasn’t easy, but I made this chapter over 10k words long to celebrate the achievement of over 10k page views. Sorry it’s a bit late, but I want everyone to know that I love you guys.

Also I drew my idea of Cindersbane.