Harmony Through Chaos - Book One: Emberdawn

“Psst!”

“...”

“Psst!”

“Ugh...”

“Hey! Luna!”

“Wha— Jackie...?”

“Yeah. Wakey wakey, sleepy-head. I thought you were always up at night anyway.”

“I usually am, but thanks to you I had to stay awake for most of the day yesterday.”

“Eh, suck it up. Sleep is for the weak.”

The Princess sat up to find the human kneeling beside her bed, grinning like a madman; and hey, who’s to say he isn’t one? “You would say that.”

“What... was that supposed to mean?”

“I don’t know...” She allowed herself to fall back into her pillows. “So tired...”

The human thought for a moment about how best to get the Princess out of bed. He went with one of the stupidest out of his many options. Without any hesitation, he reached over and flicked the tip of her horn. With a yelp, a flurry of motion, and a flash of indigo, the human was lying on his back on the other side of the room and The Princess was standing upright on her bed. “Ow...”

The Princess snorted indignantly. “Serves you right.”

“Well the goal was to get you up, so...” Still lying on his back, the human thrust both of his arms into the air and gave the universe a double thumbs-up. “Flawless victory!”

“I believe that your victory did in fact have a few flaws, but I am awake nonetheless.”

The human sat up and saw The Princess rubbing at her eyes with one hoof. The motion drew his attention to her mane, which looked like it could potentially have something living inside it. In fact... ’Holy shit! Did Scorpius just move!?’ The human had the courage—or stupidity—to walk up to the Goddess of the sun and intentionally anger her; he feared no God, but that thing— It scared him.

“Why are you staring at me like that?”

“Luna, fix your mane.”

“What?”

“Fix it.”

“Why is this—”

“Fixitfixitfixitfixitfixitfixitfixitfixit—”

“Okay!” With a flash of her horn, Scorpius’ nest was returned to it’s usual flowing state. “Would you mind telling me what that was about?”

“Scorpius was coming for me.”

The Princess raised an eyebrow at that. “You know that the stars in my mane aren’t real, right?”

“Oh.”

“Anyway, down to business. You’re probably wondering what I want.”

“Yeah, a little.”

“Well, I had an idea, but you gave me a better one.”

“How do you mean?”

“My guards warned me of something you said as you were leaving, and I came to a decision. I want you to kidnap me.”

The human bit his lip in thought and looked at the ceiling. After a few seconds, he crossed his arms and nodded. “M’kay. Why?”

The Princess walked over and sat down beside him. “Do you remember when my sister was going to tell you why she hates Chaos Mages, but she changed her mind mid-sentence?”

“Yeah...”

“What do you know about Lord Infernus of Gryphus?”

It had been hours since the moon had risen; Jackson and Felicia had decided to set up camp about halfway between Canterlot and Ponyville, where the two were currently huddled around a small fire. Felicia wasn't a happy changeling. "Jackson, you can't honestly be thinking of going through with this. The hive needs you!" She pleaded.

"It'll be fine." Jackson answered with a wave of his hand. "I'm invisible, see?"

Felicia facepalmed; a motion which she felt she would be repeating quite frequently in the coming days. "Yes, I do see. That would be because you aren't invisible."

"Well... I could turn invisible, but I have no idea how much energy it would take..." He looked thoughtful. "I should test these things some day..."

"My point is, Queen Chrysalis was right. Without you, the entire hive might starve to death. You are important!"

"Yes, yes, I know. I'm being careful, Felicia. I'm an engineer, and that means I solve problems... I can't believe I just used that line... But anyway, this is what I'm good at. I'll find a way into the castle and be out again just as easily. Celestia will be none the wiser."

"She's a Goddess. I'm pretty sure she'll be able to figure it out. Especially since they've been warned by those guards."

"Celestia won't think I'd actually try it. Only a madman would do something that stupid."

"So you're doing it why?"

"You probably should have figured it out by now, but I am most assuredly a madman."

Felicia chuckled before responding, "You're right. Don't know how I never noticed."

"It's cause my madness is invisible."

"Just like your logic is immortal?"

"Exactly!"

"So you're sure you want to go without me?"

"Yeah. I can move faster on my own. Just be ready if we need to keep moving once I get back."

As Jackson stood up, Felicia stopped him by placing a hand on his shoulder. "Be careful, Jackie."

Jackson just gave her a reassuring smile; genuine, not his usual crazy grin he put on for show. "Like I said, I'm already being careful. By the way, that's the first time you've called me Jackie." With a snap of his fingers, the human was gone.

The faint light of the moon revealed a bipedal shape flitting between bushes. The eyes of a lone night-guard watched from the walls of Canterlot, uncertain as to whether or not he should raise an alarm.

There was a snap, and the night-guard was sent stumbling backwards from an elbow to the face. Another snap, and he was suddenly falling thirty-six hooves to the ground.

Jackson dragged the body of the guard closer to the base of the wall, where he proceeded to check for a pulse. He gave the unconscious bat-pony a pat on the back, then stood up and said, "You'll be fine."

Twenty minutes and five guards later, Jackson had made it to the castle entrance, where he found the same balcony from before. It had all been repaired, and— Why were the balcony doors open? 'This is quite obviously a trap.' He then proceeded to teleport up and through the doors taking care to avoid the blatantly obvious security runes on the doorframe.

He quietly moved to the bedside, where Luna was sleeping. “Psst!”

“...”

“Psst!”

“Ugh...”

“Hey! Luna!”

“Wha— Jackie...?”

“Yeah. Wakey wakey, sleepy-head. I thought you were always up at night anyway.”

“I usually am, but thanks to you I had to stay awake for most of the day yesterday.”

“Eh, suck it up. Sleep is for the weak.”

Luna sat up to find Jackson kneeling beside her bed, grinning like a madman; and hey, who’s to say he isn’t one? “You would say that.”

“What... was that supposed to mean?”

“I don’t know...” She allowed herself to fall back into her pillows. “So tired...”

Jackson thought for a moment about how best to get her out of bed. He went with one of the stupidest out of his many options. Without any hesitation, he reached over and flicked the tip of her horn. With a yelp, a flurry of motion, and a flash of indigo, he was lying on his back on the other side of the room and Luna was standing upright on her bed. “Ow...”

Luna snorted indignantly. “Serves you right.”

“Well the goal was to get you up, so...” Still lying on his back, Jackson thrust both of his arms into the air and gave the universe a double thumbs-up. “Flawless victory!”

“I believe that your victory did in fact have a few flaws, but I am awake nonetheless.”

Jackson sat up and saw Luna rubbing at her eyes with one hoof. The motion drew his attention to her mane, which looked like it could potentially have something living inside it. In fact... ’Holy shit! Did Scorpius just move!?’ Jackson had the courage—or stupidity—to walk up to the Goddess of the sun and intentionally anger her; he feared no God, but that thing— It scared him.

“Why are you staring at me like that?”

“Luna, fix your mane.”

“What?”

“Fix it.”

“Why is this—”

“Fixitfixitfixitfixitfixitfixitfixitfixit—”

“Okay!” With a flash of her horn, Scorpius’ nest was returned to it’s usual flowing state. “Would you mind telling me what that was about?”

“Scorpius was coming for me.”

Luna raised an eyebrow at that. “You know that the stars in my mane aren’t real, right?”

“Oh.”

“Anyway, down to business. You’re probably wondering what I want.”

“Yeah, a little.”

“Well, I had an idea, but you gave me a better one.”

“How do you mean?”

“My guards warned me of something you said as you were leaving, and I came to a decision. I want you to kidnap me.”

Jackson bit his lip in thought and looked at the ceiling. After a few seconds, he crossed his arms and nodded. “M’kay. Why?”

Luna walked over and sat down beside him. “Do you remember when my sister was going to tell you why she hates Chaos Mages, but she changed her mind mid-sentence?”

“Yeah...”

“What do you know about Lord Infernus of Gryphus?”

"..."

"..."

"You're joking, right? I've only been in this universe for a few days; no, I don't know anything about some stupid gryphon."

"My point is, he wasn't a gryphon. He was a Chaos Mage. The first Chaos Mage."

"Okay?"

"He was sent here only a couple years after the fall of Discord. He—"

"I like how you just assume that I know who Discord is." Jackson interrupted. "I mean, I do, but still."

"Right. Sorry. Anyways, Lord Infernus was sent here only a few years after the fall of Discord as an experiment of sorts. Whatever forces regulate the universe didn't really know how much power Infernus would need to restore balance, so they just gave him infinite power. That... was a mistake."

"No shit."

"Shut up, Jackie."

"Uh-huh. Yep."

"Lord Infernus—as his name may suggest—was a pyromancer. Using all of his power, he created a sword out of solid flame; The Emberblade. With the power contained in the sword, he conquered all of Gryphus before my sister and I managed to defeat him."

"How'd you manage that if he was all-powerful?"

"We dropped the sun on him."

"Well shit, that'd probably do it."

"It also took out half the planet. That would be why—despite their violent nature—the gryphons have never attacked Equestria. It took thousands of years just for that side of the world to become habitable again, and thousands more before they could begin to rebuild. I was... gone for the last bit of that." Luna's ears drooped as she said the last part. Jackson immediately surprised her by walking over and giving her a hug. "What are you doing?"

"Hey! I may be an asshole, but no sane being could resist giving a sad pony a hug."

"Right..."

Jackson released her, then backed away again. "Well, confused pony is better than sad pony. Sad pony is bad pony."

"Let's... move on."

"Right, so what was the moral of the story? Don't anger the Goddesses?"

Luna flashed him a smirk. "That too. But what I'm trying to say is, I want you to kidnap me and take me to find the lost Emberblade."

"Once again, why?"

"Before my banishment, one of the duties of a Princess was to protect her ponies. When I got back, things were different."

"I still don't get it."

"Gah! How are you so dense!? I want to go on an adventure again, but Tia won't let me!"

"Well why didn't you say so!? Let's go!" Jackson ran out onto the balcony, where Luna followed. "Uh... You avoided the security runes on the doorframe, right?"

"Security... runes...?"

"Goddammit."

Celestia, flanked on either side by a squad of guards, burst through the door. "Jackson! What do you think you are doing!?"

"I'm kidnapping your sister at her request because she's tired of you refusing to let her go on adventures." In response to Luna's resulting glare, he explained to her, "Revenge for not noticing the blatantly obvious security runes."

Luna still looked angry. "I didn't see them, and on that note, how do you even know what a security rune looks like?"

"I don't, but what other kind of rune would be hanging around on the doorframe of your conveniently open balcony?"

"... Touché."

Jackson grabbed Luna and pulled her backwards. As he did so, he called out, "Avante!" Before disappearing off the edge of the balcony.

Celestia rushed forwards and prepared to dive off the balcony after her sister... except no one was there. In fact, there was no sign that the human or the alicorn had ever been there. Celestia sat down at the edge and shook her head in confusion. "Sister, what are you thinking...?"

Felicia sat in silence as the last wisps of flame died down. Still she waited, looking into the glowing embers in silence. Just as she stood up to go check Canterlot for Jackson, he appeared beside her with a snap, holding onto a terrified Princess Luna. The Princess shoved Jackson sideways and sat down with a quiet thud. "Never. Again."

Jackson lied down and yawned. "Eh... You get used to it."

"You've done that before then?"

"Uh... No?"

"I'm starting to think that this was a bad idea."

"Yeah, probably."

Felicia walked over and nudged him with her foot. "Jackson, the Princess is nocturnal."

He gave an unenthusiastic swat at the offending appendage and mumbled, "Long distance teleport made me tired. We can be nocturnal tomorrow..."

Luna sat down and looked at the sky. "It's alright," she told Felicia, "Let him rest."

Felicia snorted, then went and sat down beside Luna. "So did Jackson tell you the plan? Cause he didn't tell me."

"Actually, the plan is mine. We are going to hide out in Ponyville for a night and get some supplies, then we will return to your hive so that Jackie can finish his business with your Queen. From there, we will head to Baltimare and catch a boat to Gryphus."

"Do I even want to know why?"

Luna looked down at the false human beside her and shot her a wry grin. "We're hunting for the Emberblade."

"Oh. Joy."

"It'll be fun."

"Fun? Ugh. You're just like Jackson." Felicia stood up again and went to lay down beside the still-warm embers of the former fire. "Nocturnal or not, we're going to be up during the day tomorrow, so you should probably get some sleep. I don't want to listen to Jackson complaining about your slowness in the morning."

Luna stayed looking at her stars long after the others had fallen asleep. Eventually she looked at Jackson and giggled to herself. "Oh Jackie, you have no idea what you are getting yourself into..." After that, she lay down, resting her head on her forelegs, and fell asleep.

"UP!"

"Ah!" Luna jumped to her hooves, eyes flying open. She immediately regretted that second part.

While Luna waited for her eyes to adjust to the sunlight, Jackson was busy trying to wake up Felicia. The tired changeling was having none of it. "Lee'me alone..."

"No. Up."

"Go away..."

"Upupupupupupup!"

"Uuuuuugh... You enjoy waking people up far too much..."

"Fine. We'll go, and you can explain to Chrysalis why you aren't with us when we get to the hive."

It took six seconds of hectic scrambling for Felicia to get upright, at which point she immediately began walking towards Ponyville. "Alright! Let's get going, shall we!?"

"We're not Leaving yet.”

Felicia responded by repeatedly bashing her hand into her face. “Why was it so important that I get up then?”

“Seriously? I’m the only one who realizes this?”

Luna stretched, then got up and walked over to the two of them. “Exactly what is it that you’ve realized, Jackie?”

“Felicia and I—the only two humans on the planet—are now wanted by the Royal Guard, and we’re just going to walk in there?”

“...”

“Why are you both staring at me?”

“Um, wow.” Felicia said as she sat down on a nearby rock, looking as though she was about to pass out from shock. “I think that might be the first intelligent thing you’ve said all week...”

“Well I’m just going to have to do something extremely stupid later to make up for it. In the meantime; ideas?” With a flash of green fire, Felicia turned into a pegasus with a chocolate coat and a dark brown mane. Jackson was going to make a sexual joke about the chocolate thing, but instead settled for, “Fuck you. What am I supposed to do?”

Luna grinned and began to slowly walk towards him.

“Luna? What’cha doin’?”

Luna’s grin got wider, and she kept moving forwards.

Jackson began to back away. “Luna?”

Twilight Sparkle slipped out of her bed and made her way downstairs. Objective 1: Coffee. She took one step towards the kitchen, and was immediately blocked by Spike. He looked even more tired than she did. “Twilight, you got a letter from the Princess in the middle of the night, and I had to stay up so I could give it to you when you woke up. Here.” He held out the letter for Twilight to take.

In response, Twilight scrutinized the scroll and coherently stated, “Ugh.” Apparently Twilight’s a bit less of a morning pony than Jackson... She walked around the half-sleeping dragon, then grabbed herself a cup of coffee. She drank the entire cup in one go, shook her head violently, poured herself another cup, then levitated the letter over to her. She took a sip of her coffee as she unfurled the letter. Said coffee quickly found itself on the other side of the room. ”WHAT!?”

Despite his semi-conscious state, Spike knew well enough that the sort of reaction he just witnessed couldn’t mean anything good. “What is it this time?”

A suddenly coherent Twilight answered, “Princess Luna has been kidnapped by a changeling and an agent of chaos!”

“Oh... If that’s all, then I’m going to bed.”

“Spike! This is—” Spike was already gone. “Great.”

*Knock knock knock*

“Oh, what now?” Twilight walked to the front door and opened it, revealing none other than Princess Luna. To her left was a brown pegasus mare, and to her right was a unicorn stallion who appeared to be the mare’s twin. “Wha’?”

“Hello Twilight Sparkle, may we come in?”

“But... Princess Celestia said that you were kidnapped!”

The unicorn facehoofed. “See, Luna? I told you this would happen. I’m always right.”

Luna glared at the stallion and answered, “Jackie, be quiet. I have this covered.” She then turned back to Twilight, and gave a clearly fake smile. “Tia was just playing a prank on you, Twilight Sparkle. As you can see, I am perfectly fine. I Wouldn’t even bother telling her we’re here.”

Twilight skeptically raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

Jackson turned to the pegasus and said, “Felicia, go look for someplace to camp outside of town. If Luna keeps coming up with horrible cover stories like this, I highly doubt that we’re gonna be staying here.” Felicia chuckled, then nodded and flew off. Luna was still attempting to keep that fake smile going. Twilight was not convinced. “Epic fail.”