“Hurry up, Spike! We have to test this now!” The purple unicorn whines at her assistant, who was lugging various pieces of scrap metal, tools, pipes, wires, springs, gears, belts, pistons, and just about anything else that could possibly be used to build any form of device with any number of vague purposes, on a little red cart with a handle to pull the cart along. Spike strains as he pulls the massive weight, each hard tug only making the cart move half a foot and the back left wheel squeak as if it were dying painfully. He pants, falling onto his back and giving up.
“Augh... Hah... Hah... Twilight? Why do we need all this junk?”
“I'm glad you asked!” The sunlight made Twilight's smile a little brighter than usual. Spike groans, preparing himself for the usual rambling. Why did he have to ask? Twilight was making some kind of machine, and that was just about all he could tell. A really big machine. They were just outside the library Twilight called home where a huge mass of metal parts were being carefully pieced together to make some kind of huge mechanical mess, but by looking at it alone you'd never be able to tell what in Equestria it was meant to do.
“Blah blah blah blah blah” Twilight went on, her complex words smearing together in Spike's mind. He wasn't dumb and usually understood her advanced vocabulary, but now she was getting into technical, mechanical stuff. Generally stuff he didn't know about nor cared to know about. Suddenly, in his boredom, something to his right tugged at his attention. He turned. There were ponies passing along the street, a common sight during the day, but there was one pony that stood out. A gray one. It was staring. Spike couldn't tell if this unrecognizable pony was staring at him, Twilight, or the machine, but it made him uncomfortable. The pony was a stallion, and Spike felt particularly threatened by his gaze. It pierced him with something like an icy cold wind. Something didn't seem quite natural about him, but Spike couldn't tell what. He just stared back like a deer in the headlights, waiting for the watcher to move, even a little.
“SPIKE!!” Twilights yells the name for the third time, finally snapping Spike from his trance.
“Haugh?!” Spike jumped. “Uh, sorry Twilight.” The dragon scratches the back of his head. “So what does this thing do, anyway?”
“Augh!” Twilight huffs. “Weren't you listening?! This...” She gestures to the assembled jumble of scraps, wires, tubes, pipes, electrical circuit-boards, and gears as if it were something simply wonderful. “Is the most beautiful thing I've ever created!”
Spike looks the machine up and down with a critical eye, then turns back to Twilight. “A pile of junk?”
“Wh-?” Twilight seemed dumbfounded. “Pile of junk?! No! This machine is supposed to radiate magical energy outward and record it when the magic bounces back. It's like a bat's echolocation but with magic! We'll be able to locate places that radiate with more magic than others!” The lavender mare beams with pride.
“Why would we want to do that?”
“Hrrrm...” Twilight growls, lowering her head in frustration before closing her eyes as she raised herself again, composing herself. “If we can see places and ponies with more magical energy than others, then we can find a better place for practicing spells and maybe locate objects and places with supernatural qualities. The mirror pond, for example. The whole Pinkie Pie crisis could have been avoided if we knew about the pond ahead of time. And because everypony releases some specific amount and kind of magical energy, whether they know it or not, we could identify and locate any pony in Ponyville!”
When Twilight opens her eyes, she sees her assistant is looking off to his right, staring into the distance again.
She shouts, “SPIKE!!”
The dragon recoils, falling onto his back. “I was listening! I swear!”
There's a certain sort of malice in the mare's next words, “Spike, what were you looking at? I'd just love to see what could possibly be more interesting than recording the magic waves of Ponyville.”
Spike's expression turns something like exasperated, as if the question was meant to be rhetorical. Anything would be more interesting. “That guy over there on the street.” He points to the gray pony in question, who hadn't moved at inch and was still steadily watching the two. “He's staring at us. I don't like it. Something just doesn't feel right about him. Do you feel that? It's like there's nothing there, but he is there. Something... Not quite right.”
Twilight looks toward the pony in question and examines him from a distance. A stallion. Gray with a shadowy mane. He was completely monochrome in color scheme; coat, mane, eyes, and all. Twilight could just barely make out a horn poking from the curls of his unkempt hair. The unicorn was too far away to clearly make out his mane, face, or size, however. “It's a gray unicorn. So what?” Twilight turns back to the machine. “At least he seems interested in what I'm doing, unlike some certain unnamed dragons.” Twilight levitates some of the metal scraps and tools from the little red cart and continues her work on the machine.
“But don't you feel that? When I look at him it's like there's just empty space. It's like I go numb when I look at him. My head goes all empty.”
“Then ignore him.” She huffs, continuing to add parts, the entire machine glowing a faint purple as she assembles it. Once she's satisfied with her work she gives the machine a look over, calculating in her mind, making sure she didn't miss anything or forget a part or not screw anything on tight enough. She smiles, beaming with pride as she gingerly trots to a side of the machine with a computer screen and keyboard embedded into it. She begins efficiently and speedily typing out lines of code. “Spike! The checklist!” She commands. The dragon scampers into the library and comes back with a long scroll of paper, a bottle of ink, and a quill. Twilight continues typing as the machine begins to hum and whir to life. “Check these off as I go.” Spike nods, staring at the machine as the gears begin to turn, the pistons begin to pump, lights flicker on and off inside, fans hum as they spin, and a large antennae climb up from the center of the device.
Twilight raises her voice so she can be heard over the hum of the machine. “Power online.”
“Check.”
“Coolant functional.”
“Check.”
“Electrical running smoothly.”
“Check.”
“Data recording...” Twilight looks to her right, watching paper gush out of a slot in the machine. She smiles. “Online”
“Check.”
“Antennae functionality... Maximum.”
“Check!” Spike almost cowers as the machine hisses and clatters, getting louder and louder, making it harder and harder to hear Twilight.
“Program ready for activation!”
“Check!”
“Test one imminent!” She grasps a nearby red lever tightly in anticipation. “Counting down from five! Four! Three! Two!”
She yanks the lever down and closes her eyes, a wide smile across her face. She thought to herself, “This has to work! It just has to!” Her own thoughts of what this machine would be able to do made her oblivious to the fact that the machine was slowing down and getting quieter. The device no longer hissed and the gears no longer turned. The pistons slowed to a stop as lights went from white, to yellow, to orange, to off. The entire machine let off a low whir like a little wind up toy winding down to a stop. Twilight, becoming suddenly aware of the silence, looked back at the machine blankly. She stared.
“It didn't work...” Her shocked expression turns to one of frustration. Impatiently, she pressed some buttons on the keyboard with haste. The screen was displaying the letters she typed for a moment before going completely black. Rage made itself evident on Twilight's face. She mashed the buttons and yanked on levers, trying to get the machine to do something, anything!
“Why isn't this working?!” Twilight yells. “Spike!” The dragon stands upright, at attention. “Fetch me the diagnostics!”
Spike stares with an empty expression, obviously not comprehending what she meant. Twilight slaps a hoof to her forehead, gesturing to the small pile of paper that had spewed from the machine. Spike rushes to it, tearing it from the slot in the machine it came from, and hands it to Twilight. She scans the paper, her eyes following the text with rapid speed. “Okay. At least the diagnostics worked. Cooling... Electrical... Thrust... Programming... No errors... No overheating... There wasn't any sound like a piece breaking...”
“Uh, Twilight?” Spike asks.
“Data collection functional... Antenna worked... No loose pieces...”
“Twilight?”
She groans, turning to her assistant. “What is it, Spike?! I'm trying to figure out what went wrong!”
Spike stares at another side of the machine, pointing with an almost fearful expression on his face. The mare's eyes follow Spike's gesture to see a stallion in all shades of gray touching the machine and examining each part very closely, tapping on some of the parts with his hoof and putting his ear against the metal to hear the echo.
“Hey! Get away from there!” Twilight trots next to the unknown pony, who had just earlier been staring at them from across the street. “Er, I would greatly appreciate it if you refrained from touching the device. This is very delicate machinery, and I'd hate for you to break anything, so could you maybe...” The stallion ignores her, moving to the next side of the machine and continuing to test each part, tapping them, rotating the gears, testing the scraps of metal. Twilight stomps, glaring, talking through her teeth. “I'd suggest you be a bit more careful with this kind of thing! This is delicate machinery and I couldn't stand it if you broke it out of carelessness!” The gray stallion slams his hoof against a box-like part of the machine, making a little metal door open. Twilight gasps, too stricken with terror at the thought of the machine breaking to do anything.
The gray pony turns to Twilight. His face is blank and he shows no clear expression nor emotion in his cold, stone-like eyes. He takes in Twilight's apparent horrified expression, his thoughts unreadable and unknown.
The monochromatic unicorn speaks, his voice somewhat deep and just as gray and emotionless as he looked. “The lithium-injection tube is in improper alignment with the photon infuser core and the negative flow of electrical energy.”
This is all the stallion says before going silent and staring steadily with his piercing, perceptive, dark gray eyes. Twilight stares back, dumbfounded. She was too stricken with fear for the machine, confusion at the vocabulary, and a slight amount of admiration for a pony who knew his machinery just as well as her, to understand what the expressionless stallion had just told her. “What?”
Keeping his gaze fixed on Twilight, he reaches into the metal box and yanks out a metal cube that somewhat resembled a car battery. “The batteries were in backwards.”
Twilight looks from the stallion, to the battery, back to the stallion, then back to the battery. She growls. “Well, give it here!” She swipes the battery away from the stallion and pushes him aside to get a good look at the circuit-board the cube had come from. “In backwards!” The mare scoffs. “Backwards! How dare you!” The parts inside glow with purple magic as Twilight works to fix the problem. “You probably looked at it wrong, and just tore it out!”
“Do you know what you're doing?” The gray pony asks with no apparent emotion, his words flowing like a stream, but sting firmly like a rock.
“Of course I do!” After finishing putting the battery back, she turns to the colt and glares. “How dare you even begi --”
He cuts her off. “Because you put it in backwards again.” The sentence tore into Twilight like a sharp piece of flint swiped at her ego.
Twilight stares for a moment before her face twists and contorts with malice, frustration, rage, and other emotions that made her just want to kick this colt fifty yards away from her. The stallion's blank, relaxed, stone-like stare keeps her from just ranting his ears off or resorting to actual physical violence. There was something about how un-threatened he was by her. Like it wouldn't have mattered if she did shout at him or try to physically harm him. It was as if he wasn't there, and it wouldn't have mattered. She'd just be yelling at empty space. A hollow husk of a pony. Twilight's breath became heavy with frustration, but she just couldn't respond. There was absolutely nothing to say. Her mind went blank as she glared at him, and she simply froze in place.
The colt turns his head to the dragon who shared a similar blank expression to Twilight, and who was still pointing at the monochromatic stallion.
“You. Spike, is it? Do me a favor and get me those pliers?” His voice is kind, but still firm and cold like granite ground smooth and round by a river. The kind of stone that would slip easily from your grasp, but seriously injure someone with its weight.
It takes a few moments, but the serious gravity of the words snaps Spike out of his trance long enough to dash to the little red cart and get a pair of pliers. A glassy gray glow of magic like a foggy, dusty window encases the tool and levitates it over to the place where the battery had been re-installed. The stallion gets a closer look as he maneuvers the tool, bending wires and crimping springs until the battery is loose again. Twilight and Spike simply stare emptily as he works to twist the metal cube in a different position and re-attach the wires to new places.
He speaks, his voice static, stone-like, emotionless. “There isn't quite enough power. I'm going to inscribe a rune that will allow the battery to draw additional energy from its surroundings. I assume this is alright with you?” The gray unicorn turns to Twilight, who snaps out of her own trance for a moment.
“Uh, rune?” Twilight couldn't recall hearing the term used like this before. The stallion steadily stares, waiting for an answer. “Er... Sure.” Twilight's mind was a bit foggy, and all traces of anger had left somewhere while this gray unicorn was re-positioning the battery. The same went for Spike, who couldn't muster up any thought at all. The stallion nodds, turning back to the battery. His horn glows again and what seems to be a transparent black quill appears in front of him. The magic pen carefully scratches against the surface of the battery, causing an odd symbol to appear on it and glow the same color. The utensil cut deep, carving the inscription in. It was an unusual mark that Twilight thought she had seen before elsewhere, but her mind was too fuzzy to think of where. When the stallion was finished, the quill disappeared and his horn stopped glowing. The rune, however, began to glow a bright blue, causing the entire machine to spring back to life and hum at full speed again. The gray unicorn grunts, making the quill appear again, and inscribes several other symbols on the metal which cause the machine to run much more quietly and allowing for a normal tone of voice to be heard within such close proximity to the device.
“There.” The stallion takes a few steps back, watching the machine, his expression still unchanged as if it were carved in rock. He turns to Twilight. "I'd suggest you be a bit more careful with this sort of thing. This is delicate machinery, and I couldn't stand it if you broke it out of carelessness.” He turns and begins trotting away. “Perhaps you should keep a better checklist?”
Twilight and Spike stared a moment more as the monochromatic stallion trotted out of speaking distance and then out of sight before they snap out of their dumbfounded silence. Their minds suddenly clear again, and they gain an awareness of what had just happened. Twilight blinks a few times, only now realizing what the colt had said. It should have made her furious, but looking at the machine running so smoothly now she didn't feel like yelling. She was more amazed than frustrated. Twilight examined the glowing symbols on the machine, her brow slanting before she mutters, “Jerk... Messing with my machine... A better checklist, he says...”
Spike shudders, “See what I mean? Empty feeling. Who was that guy?”
Twilight moves back to the computer screen which was now glowing with electric life again. “Don't know, don't care. Never seen him before in my life and quite frankly I would be able to stand for not ever having to see him again. Good riddance.”
Spike pauses a moment before dismissing the event entirely, telling himself what had just happened probably wasn't important. Might as well not have happened at all. Twilight seems to do the same and focuses more on her machine, typing out lines of code as the device whirs with an added rock-like kind of stillness that wasn't there before. A cold calm. Peace like what came from the words of statues.
_ _ _
The night air was warm and hung in the darkness, offering a kind of comfort to those rendered blind by the shade. It swirled as if whispering something secret, meant not to be known. The colors of the houses melted into shades of gray and stood tall, ominous. There was something mysterious about this night, and the stars above twinkled with curiosity as they observed the town below. The wind whisked against the window panes of Twilight's library now, moving from one window to another and making each rattle as if searching for a specific transparent barrier. If you could look into the last window it reached, you would see Twilight laying in her bed, the room standing stiff around her. The rattle of the panes did not disturb her as she slept something a little less than soundly under the warm covers of her bed. She twisted and turned, however, a sort of peacefulness on her face but whispering something urgently. Her eyes were lightly closed and lips were mouthing unknown words. She tossed and turned in her sleep, dreaming something she had not dreamed before, and something that altogether didn't make much sense.
This was a dream in a dark forest, or rather a bright forest in a dark scene, or even a dark forest in a bright scene. This forest was warm and welcoming despite its outward appearance. The night was bright with the light of the full moon, and the trees bowed away from the trail Twilight was walking. She smiled brightly as she walked beside the gray stallion to her right. His presence was soothing, and made her mind at ease. She was close enough to feel the warmth emanating from his body. Immersed in the butterflies nesting in her belly, she turned to look at the gray stallion as he spoke words she didn't care too much to listen to. She watched his smile. This was the stallion from earlier today, she realized, and it made herself smile to see emotion on his face. Looking at him now, she could see that he was clearly as tall if not taller than Big Macintosh, but far less muscular and burly as the apple-bucking stallion of Sweet Apple Acres. He seemed to hang loosely on his frame and moved gracefully, despite how it seemed as though he dragged himself forward as though his feet were weighted to the ground. Twilight giggled at the thought as she watched him walk in his funny way, his legs slumping and flowing like a marionette while his torso, neck, and head remained stationary, firm, and sure.
Sunlight stood still and solid, providing a wall clear enough to see your reflection in. The ground shone like the light of fireflies dotting the night sky, emitting a glow much like a candle with each hoof step. The air was lush and green, the wind carrying thick leaves that would pass through you if you so wished, or leave a burn where it touched that would quickly turn icy and vanish. This place was unknown to Twilight, but she was too focused on the pony walking beside her to notice her surroundings.
“You look very cute when you smile.” He said, his usually gray expression showing more an emotion of whimsical pink. His emotionless coat was still bleak, but seemed to hum with a light joy in being nothing.
At this, Twilight smiled even bigger, her whole body flushing a blushing hue. “I'm glad you think so. You have a very nice smile, yourself. You should do it more often.”
He paused, his comforting eyes flaring various hues of pink before turning a dry green like a dessert fire. His eyes were always piercing, but this was a warmth that came from his eyes. A warmth that touched Twilight at her very core. A piercing kind of fire that seemed to hum through her body. “I'll try.” Now, his smile became lighter, his glow of neutrality intensifying to a slightly bluish color. “But only if you can promise me something.”
Twilight continued walking with the gray unicorn she had only met just earlier that day. She looked at the gray stallion expectantly as the whole scene, trees carried in the wind that would burn with touch, fire in the green that smelt dry and arid, reflective and dazzling sunlight creating a barrier you would have to walk around to feel, even the floor below that glowed like stars and the sky that appeared as an enormous dirt path seemed to lean in as the mare asked, “Yes?”
The stallion no longer smiled, making the scenery around him turn a little bit darker, and begin to melt like water freezing over. “You are one of the Elements of Harmony, correct?” Twilight pondered the question for a brief second before her thoughts were interrupted by the pony before her. “You hold one of the powers needed to bring balance with a single bolt of energy. You turned Discord back to stone.”
“Well, yes.” The area around them seemed to fade away to an empty space where nothing could distract from the stallion's words.
He pauses for a long time, simply staring into Twilight, his face showing a sapphire sorrow. “Do you think... Do you think harmony chooses who it cures to preserve the balance?” He interrupts again before Twilight can respond, holding up his hoof and turning two shades of blood red as the seriousness of his tone sinks in. Twilight was meant to listen. “Many were, 'discorded' in that time. Yourself included. You turned as gray as I and as lifeless as stone. Do you ever wonder, when Discord was banished and everything went back to the way it was, do you ever wonder if the Elements of Harmony... Forgot to cure anypony?”
Twilight couldn't help but giggle at the thought, the air about her glowing a faint yellow for a moment. “That's impossible. The Elements of Harmony forgot nobody.”
“That's right...” The bleak unicorn before Twilight smiled, but his eyes showed clear pain in the words. The world around them turns more gray and desolate than before. “The Elements of Harmony forgot Nobody... Nobody is the one Harmony forgot...”
A faint echo sounds through like a bitter whisper. Maniacal. It was a deep, genuine laughter. A serpentine form snakes behind the gray Stallion, taking definite shape. Twilight had not seen this new apparition since he was turned to stone. Discord himself towered over the monochromatic, emotionless stallion. He smiled slyly as the stallion before Twilight repeated, “Harmony forgot Nobody.”
Discord merrily chimes, “And it's just killing him!”
Before Twilight can react, Discord, wearing a large malicious grin, snaps his fingers. The ground under Twilight seems to break, making her fall through. The world around her goes black and she sees nothing. She screams loudly for help before she makes a large splash in bitter cold, in addition to scalding hot water.
Twilight Sparkle's scream could be heard all through the library, and made Spike jump out of bed with a start and rush up to Twilight's room to see what was the matter. He saw the mare sitting up in bed, mane mangled and messy, face ragged, eyes gaping wide and white, her mouth contorted into a twisted frown. She breathed heavily, staring at the wall on the other side of the room, sitting in a cold sweat.
“Twilight! Are you okay? What happened?” Spike approaches the side of the bed, staring up at Twilight, ready to help with anything she needed. Twilight didn't respond, but instead continued to eye the other wall, staring as if fearful. “Twilight?” Spike lightly touched her arm with the intention of comforting her, but Twilight's immediate reaction was to jump back screaming, falling out of the bed and causing a few large tomes from the bedside table to fall on her. “Twilight!” Spike rushed around the bed and hastily pulled the books away as Twilight groaned, clutching her head. Evidently, one of the books slammed into her skull.
“Oww... What happened?” The mare asked, rubbing her temples.
“You screamed!” Spike responded, putting the heavy books back onto the table. “You must have had a nightmare!”
The unicorn took a moment to rub the pain in her head away, only slightly succeeding, before trying to think back to what her dream was. It came back with shocking clarity, and made her shudder. “Worst dream I've ever had...”
“What was it about?” Spike inquired, worry on his face.
“Discord was there... And so was that unicorn from yesterday...” She paused, obviously dreading revealing the next fact. “In the dream it was like I had a crush on him.”
Pinkie Meet and the Irritation of Discord
Dear Princess Celestia,
I haven't learned anything new about friendship to write to you, as that isn't my purpose in creating this letter. I apologize a thousand times in advance if it isn't in my place to do so, but I'm writing to you with a question instead of an answer to one. Once again, I'm very terribly sorry if I'm not very well permitted to write for any other purpose than the study of the magic of friendship, but, if it's perfectly alright with you, so long as it is proper, only if I'm not crossing any boundaries, and again I apologize for making such a request, but I need... A bit of advice.
Yesterday while working on one of my latest project of which I have enclosed a full report, patent, summary, blueprint, and diagnostic sheets from the first test run, I was, sad to say, unlucky enough to meet a certain stallion. I never got his name but it seemed as though he didn't want to tell me either. My machine broke down and he did manage to fix it, even with my... Stubbornness at the time... And made off without so much of a goodbye but an insult instead. He was gray all over and you could see his unicorn horn poking out of his extremely unkempt hair. Out of everypony I've met in Ponyville since I've arrived here, he was by far the least fun to talk to. He's the only pony I wish I could have kept from meeting, even though it feels wrong of me to say. He seemed ignorant, and you couldn't look at him without zoning out or staring as if into empty space. It was a very odd thing, really. My mind went completely blank when I looked at him directly, as did Spike's. Granted, that's something Spike is a bit more known for, but it was still very unusual and unnatural. In addition, he seems to have certain knowledge of old, runic magic that puts symbols into use. I've found several books on the subject and read each of them three times over, but even now my knowledge of this kind of magic is vague at best. This unicorn clearly has access to information that I, a high level unicorn with full access to every tome and scroll in Canterlot's extensive collection, do not.
All of this, however, isn't the true reason why I'm writing. I had a... Disturbing dream. It was a rather pleasant one at first, but went horribly awry. This part I dread in telling due to the reason why it was at first enjoyable. In the dream, me and the stallion I just spoke of were walking together as if we were a couple. Looking back, now fully awake, I can hardly stomach the idea of somepony so rude and so prone to ignorance being who I choose as my special somepony. But back to the subject at hand, we were walking together and making light conversation. He then stopped and asked a favor. He asked me if I was one of the Elements of Harmony, and, as I recall, asked if I thought it was possible for the power of the Elements of Harmony to overlook or simply pass over ponies in need of its power. He referred specifically to the ponies that were, “Discorded” in the time of Discord's rise to power. Such ponies, me and my friends included, turned completely gray and their personalities changed to something opposite of themselves. I told him it was impossible for the Elements of Harmony to simply ignore ponies in need. I remember clearly that my particular wording was, “Harmony forgot nobody.” I admit it was a poor choice of wording but do keep in mind I wasn't conscious at the time and couldn't catch my mistake. It's this next part, however, that troubles me. He smiled at the words as if I had said something right but he looked so obviously pained by them, as if it was something very hurtful to say. He chanted the words in different configuration. “The Elements of Harmony forgot Nobody... Nobody is the one Harmony forgot... Harmony forgot Nobody.” If this wasn't unsettling enough, Discord himself appeared behind the stallion and, as if in reply to the colt's words, “And it's just killing him.”
Discord snapped his fingers and made the ground disappear from under me so that I was falling, and eventually fell into what I thought was water that was freezing over, but at the same time, boiling. It's very strange. I woke up from the dream in a cold sweat, and Spike tells me that I sat up screaming. What really bothers me, though, is what this all has to do with Discord. The stallion mentioned the, “Discorded,” as he called them, and asked specifically if I thought the Elements of Harmony might have forgotten to cure one of these afflicted ponies. He himself does look like, and maybe even behaves like one who has been twisted by Discord's powers and manipulation, what with his completely gray color scheme and negative outlook, but that could never be the case, right? The Elements of Harmony cured everypony. There is still something very unnatural about him. I've never had that vivid a dream before either. I'm thinking that the dream might mean something. I'm asking you for your opinion. Do you think I should investigate this, or am I wasting valuable study time thinking about it?
Your humble student,
Twilight Sparkle
My dearest student,
I have said before that not every letter you write to me has to be a lesson in friendship. It's nice to get out of that tedious schedule from time to time, as much as I enjoy hearing about you and your friends. I'm very happy you've decided to share your troubles with me, but you don't need to be so formal with all this. There's no need to apologize for simply asking for help.
This seems to be a very interesting device with many valuable uses, but I don't think a full diagnostic, patent, and blueprint was necessary. That said, I'm still very proud. Luna used to experiment with wooden contraptions back when we were both fillies. It was a very different time then. There wasn't a lot of metal being put to use anywhere other than on the battlefield, but some craftsponies made tinker-toys out of wood that Luna would collect, take apart, and re-assemble. It was very funny seeing her get so exited when they came to life as she turned the crank of each after putting them back together. Her face would light up brighter than my sun and it would always make me smile to see her so proud of herself. I'm getting a bit off-topic, now.
Getting back to the subject at hand, I cannot say if the Elements of Harmony may have overlooked somepony somewhere. I have little more understanding of them than you do, as I've only put them to use a few times myself. As great and mighty a power they hold, it may have its reasons for skipping somepony. While it seems entirely impossible, I might see some reason for the elements to overlook such an affliction as being altered by Discord's magic. Though, there isn't much I can say about it, really. There's little chance for this stallion of yours to have much to do with Discord in any way, but your description of him does pique my curiosity. My own knowledge of rune magic is vague at best, which makes me wonder who this stallion's teacher was. Certainly no one of my knowledge. It's a lost art and most tomes or scrolls with more detailed description were lost quite some time ago. It is possible this pony has his own collection. The chance to bring back such such an ancient art is reason enough to pursue him.
Perhaps, however, there's more to this investigation than you would like to believe? In the dream, you two were a couple? Are you sure these concerns about somepony that you've never met before and still don't know the name of, no less interacted with for such a short span of time, is less about what makes him strange and more about you? You make it sound as though you do have a crush on him. It is with a very light heart and a very wide grin that I write this, as you've never expressed any interest in any stallion before. This is the first you've written about a colt and I would love to hear more if you decide to learn more about him. Though I may be a princess, I have an admitted soft spot for gossip. I encourage you to follow this pursuit wherever it may lead. If not for your own interest in him, then for your own peace of mind or the chance to learn more about rune magic.
With high hopes for you,
Celestia
Twilight's eye twitched slightly upon finishing Celestia's letter. Her mouth quivered and her expression contorted to several different versions of frustration, irritation, and aggravation. She let out a huff and tossed the letter aside.
“A crush! Hmph! As if I would ever stoop so low as to find an interest in THAT stallion!” She trots over to one of the many shelves, searching for a particular book.
Spike, picking up the letter, walks over to Twilight. His eyes follow the lines of text as he speaks, “She does have a point. This is the first time you've ever really talked about any boy before.”
The mare's eyes are like daggers when she glares at her assistant. “That's not true! I've written about Big Mac before.”
“So you like Big Mac, now?”
Twilight's face goes blank, then contorts back into an even harsher glare. “Wh– NO! I don't have a crush on anypony!” She stomps over to the next series of shelves as her assistant continues.
“You've only mentioned Big Machintosh in letters about Applejack. In the letter you sent this morning, you went into a lot more detail than just a name. And you did say that in your dream– ”
“I DON'T HAVE A CRUSH ON ANYPONY!!” Twilight's yell could have been heard across Ponyville, possibly scaring quite a few ponies on the street. She scolds Spike, trotting up close and nearly pressing her nose against his as she talks through gritted teeth. “I don't have a crush. Not on Big Machintosh, and certainly not on this stallion. My interest in him is purely for figuring out what's so wrong about him. There's just something not right about all this and it bothers me. Despite that, this is also an excellent opportunity to learn about rune magic. That's it. No crush. No love interest. No date. No special somepony this or star crossed lovers that. It's... Just... Research.” After having made her point clear, she trots back to another bookshelf, scanning the various volumes for a certain title.
“Research, huh? Could've fooled me.” Spike mutters, crossing his arms. He raises and inquiring hand, “If this is just research, then why try and find him at all? He seems to be getting by and isn't bothering anypony. Is it really right to get involved in somepony else's business in the first place? Besides, how are you even going to find him? You don't even know his name.”
Twilight finds the book she was searching for and levitates it from the shelf, making it follow her as she gets her saddlebags. “The sooner he proves to indeed be nothing to worry about then the sooner I can forget all about him and move on. I have to see if there's anything to this feeling I have. I don't usually have such vivid dreams, and I just feel like this means something.”
Spike smiles deviously, pointing. “Means you like him.”
Twilight stomps, whining, “It does not!”
Spike chuckles as the purple mare slings her saddlebags over her back and prepares to leave. “Now how will you find love with an attitude like that? Try and act cute if you want his attention!”
Twilight growls, opening the door. “Goodbye, Spike.” She slams the door hard as she leaves. Spike was obviously going to be of no help. She had to form a plan of some sort if she was meant to make any observations. First, she had to find out who this pony was and where she could find him. She had never seen this pony before yesterday, so it was possible he didn't even live in Ponyville at all. All she really had to go on was the memory of what he looked like, and the strange feeling that set him apart from most ponies. She couldn't put her hoof on what it was that made him so strange, but she did, however, have an idea for getting more information about him and find out for herself.
“Did he have hair like fwoof-fwoo-foo,” The pink pony's arms raise above her head and waggle around, “Mouth like blehmehmehmehmeh,” Her hooves make a dribble-drabble movement in front of her muzzle, “Eyes like,” Pinkie Pie's expression suddenly becomes bored and stony, before turning back to her happy self, “And an attitude like,” She flops onto the ground, letting out a deep sigh of aggravation. She hops back upright with a wide grin. “Is that like him?”
“Er, that certainly sounds like him, yes.” Twilight stares, a bit confused, but certainly amused.
“Okay, now did he walk more like this,” She asks as her legs flop, flow, and drag forward. “Or like this?” She takes out a white fedora, placing it atop her head along with dark glasses before doing the same leg motion, but moving backward in a perfect moonwalk across the floor of Sugarcube Corner as her head bobs like a chicken. “Hoo-hoo!” She does a swift turn and stands upright, a hoof raised high in the air, head turned away, and the other hoof over her crotch as she lets out the signature sounds of Michael Stallion, “Oww! Sham-aoun!” She moonwalks back, passing Twilight's blank expression, speaking again, “Like this? Oh, Filly-Jean is not my love-er. She's just a girl, who thinks, I am the one!”
“Umm... How do you do that?” The purple unicorn stared at Pinkie's hind hooves as they glided across the ground. She couldn't understand how she could look like she was going forward, but go in the other direction instead. She shakes off such thoughts. “No, more like the first one. Dark, gray, depressing, messy hair, unicorn, stallion, taller than Big Mac but a lot slimmer, negative,” Twilight's gaze into empty space becomes a glare as she recalls the details. “Snide remarking, disrespecting, rude, informal, and simply hard to look at.” She huffs in disgust at the thought of the stallion.
“Oh-oh-oooohh!” Pinkie tosses the hat and glasses away, out of sight, and hops gleefully around Twilight. “Nope!”
“But–”
“Nuh-uh! I don't know anypony in Ponyville like that!”
“But you know everypony in Ponyville! You said so yourself! Surely you know something.” Twilight's expression turns to one of concern. “Are you sure you haven't seen him before?”
“Sure I've seen him!” She continues hopping, making Twilight continually turn her head back and forth to try and keep talking to her directly as Pinkie circles.
“Then why did you say you didn't?”
“I never said I didn't!” Pinkie smiles brightly.
Twilight begins turning around in circles to keep a steady gaze on the bouncing pony. “You said you didn't know anyone in–”
“In Ponyville like that! Yep! He doesn't live in Ponyville, silly!”
The constant turning was making Twilight dizzy. “Ergh... Well, then... Why didn't you just...” Twilight wobbles, her hooves slipping out from under her and making her fall onto her back with a thud.
Pinkie nearly presses her forehead against Twilight's, her face inches away and appearing upside down to Twilight. She was standing over the unicorn's head, looking down. “He lives in the Everfree Forest! Kinda like Zecora! I've never seen where he lives, but that's where he goes after he comes to the market every Tuesday and Thursday for dried fruits and nuts.”
Twilight gets up, somewhat intimidated by the uncomfortable closeness of the pink mare. “Do you know his name?”
Pinkie smiles, “Nopi-nopi-nope! He never told me his name. Just kept calling me... Er...” She puts a hoof to her chin. “Cret... Cret-in-oose...”
“Cretinous?” Twilight asks, her ears going down and her eyes falling half open in lack of surprise.
“Yuppy-yup! Cretinous, inane, fatuous, puerile, and a bunch of other names I don't know. I think it was very nice of him to call me such fancy things!”
Twilight puts her hoof to her forehead. “No, he wasn't... Er... Nevermind. Can you tell me anything else about him? Where I can find him? Anypony he knows? If he won't come back to Ponyville until Tuesday, then can you tell me anything about where I can find him before then? This is important and I can't wait four days to speak with him.”
“Well...” Pinkie thinks back for a few moments, her normal voice slurring as she ponders. “I don't know. I can't look at him for long until my head goes all wonky.” Pinkie rubs the sides of her head to illustrate her point, smiling. “It's like it goes all empty! And after my head went all wonky and empty and enky-wompty, he'd just walk away until I got my Pinkie back in me so I could go up to him and try to talk to him again!” She bounces around Twilight again. This time, Twilight refuses to try and keep her gaze fixed on the bubbly, bouncy mare. “I think he might have said something about a creek when my head was all empty, though. I think it was,” She puts on the best bored face she can and slumps very obviously onto the ground, her voice getting deep and dark. “Just leave me alone. The sooner I can get the supplies I need, the sooner I can get back to my meditations by the calming waters of the forest creek. I much prefer the feeling of moss and stone beneath my hooves than your callow insistence on stepping into other ponies' business.”
Twilight thinks this over as Pinkie begins bouncing around her again. “That certainly sounds like him.”
“Then he wrote a funny looking squiggly thing on my forehead that made my mouth too numb to talk!” She smiles, tapping her hoof to her forehead. “I had to go home and wash the ink off before I could say another word! It was supio-dupio coolio! I went out looking for him again when I washed it off, but I couldn't find him.”
“That must be him!” Twilight stomps confidently. “He's the only pony I've ever met who can use rune-spells! It sounds like I can find him somewhere around the only creek in the Everfree Forest I know of. Thank you, Pinkie!” Twilight begins trotting to the door and making her exit.
“Let me know when he asks you on a date!”
Twilight freezes in place. She turns, “What?! Did Spike–”
“When you walked in, I got a tail-twitchy, hoof- antsy, heart-poundy! That means you have a crush!”
Twilight's face contorts to all manner of frustration, irritation, aggravation, and humiliation before she turns and leaves, shouting, “I DON'T HAVE A CRUSH!!”
_ _ _
Peace... Such quiet and serene peace...
Few could know the sound of silence as this stallion did. Here he sat quietly upright, eyes closed, listening closely to the words of the creek as it flowed eternally onward. If you were to look at him, with his coat and mane in shades of gray, you might mistake this unicorn for a statue. He kept just as still as one, and just as quiet. Though he was silent, the thoughts in his head were bothering him with their surprising volume.
He opens his eyes and looks down from the dull white rock he sits upon. Half of this monstrous rock, worn smooth by time, was buried deep within the ground away from the creek; making the rest of the mass of granite point forward over the water and towards the sky. The stallion perched himself on the flat tip that hung over the water, and simply looked down at where the creek ran through a reflective pool before continuing on its journey somewhere far away. The tree line broke a few yards away from either side of the running water, but their wide canopy offered a cooling shade unto the shores. The sun had begun sinking in the sky, but its rays still flowed onto the reflecting pool and made it shimmer with the luster of gold while the green from beneath the clear water made it appear as if encrusted with the deepest shade of emerald. This was, however, just an ordinary pool of water no more special than the rest of the waters that flowed through the creek. The rock this unicorn was perched was nothing special at all and in fact a very common mineral. This stallion himself was no one very special either, though most would agree that he was rather unusual. If you had the heart or the courage to ask his name, he might have ignored you as if you weren't there or told you, “I'm nobody.”
But now, something was bothering him. He stared down at his reflection in the pool and cocked his head to one side. He couldn't quite grasp it, but something was different about him today. He placed a hoof to his chest. It felt heavier, weighed down by something unfamiliar. When he did so, the image of the purple mare he met the day before flashes in his mind for a brief moment.
“Twilight...” The name broke the silence, making the hazardous forest around this stallion seem to stand stiff as if something had just gone wrong. He recalled that this was the name that dragon, Spike, called her. If any other pony were in his position right now, their brow would be slanted downward in confusion, but this stallion's face remained static and unchanged. Why did he remember this? She wasn't very significant nor important to his affairs, and yet he remembered her name. For that matter, he remembered the name of that dragon. This made more sense, as he had never seen a dragon before and it was a very interesting thing to see a dragon, especially a baby dragon, in Ponyville. But what was special about this mare? He had seen countless earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns before. What made this mare any different from any other pony?
“Twilight...” He repeated the name, staring at his reflection in the pool and putting his hoof from his heart to his chin in contemplation. “Hmph.” He disregards it, thinking that maybe this heavy feeling in his chest had more to do with gastric distress instead of some pony he didn't know. He closes his eyes and relaxes his body, taking a long, deep, breath. He took in the silence, the peace, the serenity. It seemed almost as if nothing could ruin this moment.
Like nothing would break the silence...
Squeak-Squeak-Squeak-Squeak-Squeak-Squeak-Squeak-Squeak-Squeak-
The stallion sighs. Of course. This had to happen now, of all times. He turns his unchanged face to look over his shoulder and back at the shore of the creek. The image of a giant hamster-wheel immediately caught his attention. The second, and less important detail was the thing running inside this wheel. It was a very tall, serpentine figure whose body looked more like a composite mix of all sorts of creatures. His right arm was that of a lion, while his left was that of an avian. His left leg was that of a minotaur while his right was something reptilian and scaly. He sported a long flowing dragon's tail in addition to a blue feathery wing beside a purplish bat wing, both securely on his back. His gray face resembled a donkey more than a pony, and was accentuated by a long white goatee and bushy white eyebrows. This particular character sounded remarkably like John de Lancie in voice.
Discord, with an extremely bored expression, was running round and round in an irritatingly squeaky hamster-wheel fixed to be about his size. He whines.
“Oh why must I be stuck with the most monotonous pony in existence? There's nothing to do around here! You just sit there and do nothing for hours on end while I'm left to wither away in boredom!” He puts his wrist against his forehead as if in grief.
The stallion on the rock simply turns his head back and closes his eyes again. Discord lets out a huff, snapping his fingers and making the hamster-wheel disappear. He paces.
“It isn't bad enough that I get trapped in stone for another few centuries, the only pony that can see me now is you.” He appears directly in front of the stallion now, floating in the air. “Blegh! Boring, dull, doldrumatic and monochromatic you. Why don't you do something? Anything! I can't stand this stupid creek anymore! Go off and fight a manticore! Walk into a dragon's den! Paint your coat a new color for my sake. I mean, I like gray. It shows me who my friends are and who I've already toyed with, but it just gets so dull sometimes! After having seen the same gray pony a hundred times a day you start to just yawn at the sight of him! I don't understand why you can't at least go to Ponyville more often. At least things are actually happening there. Here it's just a stupid rock,” He taps his talons against the granite, “And this stupid river!” He spits into the running water. “It's too quiet!” He slaps his hands to his face and continues whining. “Going back to just being a lifeless statue is almost preferable to being a figment of your nonexistent imagination!”
The stallion keeps still, remarking, “Then why don't you? You're interrupting my meditations and I'd rather if you did stay in Canterlot gardens instead of pestering me, who you've already warped beyond comprehension.”
“Oh don't be so dramatic.” Discord makes a toothpick appear in his lion hand and begins picking his teeth, leaning his bird arm against the rock as he stands mere feet above the water. “I just revised your attitude and stole your memories is all. Made you an emotionless husk of a pony.” He begins laughing uncontrollably, curling up in the air with his hands on his belly. “You should have seen this other pony! Rarity! I made her think a giant boulder was a diamond! A diamond! Haha! She named it Tom! Of all names for a rock, why Tom?! Hahahaaa!” His legs kick at the air as he wails with laughter.
“I know.” The stallion sighs. “You've only told me a few hundred times.”
Discord immediately stands upright again. “Oh you're no fun. It's bad enough that I'm powerless and limited to your field of vision, but why must you be so booooring!”
The stallion doesn't respond, keeping his eyes closed and taking deep breaths in a kind of serene peace few could achieve with such aggravation, though he didn't feel anything of the sort. He didn't feel anything at all. He was an empty husk of a pony. Whatever he was before had been taken away long ago, back when Discord was still in power. He could hardly remember anything from that time, or for that matter anything before he was made into whatever he was now. Certainly not a pony. Ponies have emotions, goals, a sense of achievement and belonging. This stallion had none. He hadn't the least idea why Discord kept appearing to him either, but he assumed that it had something to do with being the only one left Discorded after the Elements of Harmony changed everything back. It didn't matter much. Nothing mattered. Everything was simply tolerable.
Discord scratches his chin, assessing the situation before smiling maliciously.
“Do you want to know how it happened? You don't have any memory of anything before I made you my pet. You were cowering, running scared. You should feel lucky that I chose you. Not everypony got to leave their emotions and memories behind. Such trivial things. Material things. Having emotions only means they'll get hurt in the end. Twisted and turned around so that what made you so happy becomes the very thing that grieves you most. I saved you from such a fate, and I'd say you're in my debt.”
The stallion sits silently, ignoring Discord. The serpentine figure twiddles his thumbs for a few moments, waiting for some kind of response. When none comes, his voice becomes a bit unsure.
“You can't seriously just be content sitting there all day, can you? Don't you want to, I don't know, try and cure yourself? Undo the damage? Go out and try to find who you were before?”
“No.” is the simple answer that comes from the stallion's lips.
“Wh–” Discord scratches his head in confusion. “Well why not?! You can't be content with yourself the way you are now! I mean look at you! You're an empty shell with nothing but dust in it and you just sit here all day in silence without trying to do anything to change it! You live under a tree! A tree! And all you eat is trail mix. Those nuts and dried fruit you get from town. It's disgusting. Do you feel no shame?”
“No. You took away my emotions.”
Discord growls, regretting this particular action from when he was free. “You are Discorded. The title has my name in it! You are under my power!”
“Okay.”
“Wh– No! Not okay! Because I'm stuck with you now and you refuse to do anything I tell you to!”
“Because you're a manipulative monster who only cares for his own goals and entertainment.”
Discord seats himself beside the stallion. “Bah. You're no fun. You're too sure of yourself... Or not sure of yourself – I don't know! You're just a mindless zombie and yet you seem to know what you're doing. What are you doing, anyway?” He shakes his head, “Never-mind. Doesn't matter. I'm just talking to a little colt lost in the woods without any idea how he got there in the first place.”
There's a long silence, a moment of peace where the babbling sound of the water below the two seems to drown everything else out of mind.
Discord rolls his eyes in aggravation. “You can't even remember your name. You don't know who you were, where you lived, what you owned, you don't even know who your friends were if you had any at all.”
The stallion pauses before speaking, his voice dark, clear, and smooth. “I might be insulted by the fact that you think you can get a rise out of me if I didn't pity you more. After all, I'm your only entertainment for the next century and I'm well aware of how worthless I am as an entertainment piece and as a pony in general.”
“Oh don't be so depressing.” Discord looks down at the running water, thumping his avian fingers against the rock below him. “You're such a downer sometimes.” A smile creeps its way across his face as he turns to the stallion as if to lie on his belly, hands supporting his chin as his legs kick at the air behind him. He was floating again and doing his best to look like a gossipy schoolgirl. “Hey! Look on the brighter side of things! You met a mare yesterday!” Discord gets up close against the stallion, nudging him with his elbow as he hoots wildly. “You have a crush on her, don'cha? You've been thinking about her all morning! So what is it? Do you long to gaze into her amethyst eyes? To hold her close and protect her? Or does she just turn you on?”
How Discord could read his thoughts, the stallion didn't care much to know. He was thinking about the purple mare from the other day, sure, but wasn't quite sure why. He certainly wasn’t having any such thoughts as those mentioned, or so he thought. “You should know that because of you, I am incapable of feeling such emotion.”
“Oh pish-posh! Nonsense!” Discord smiles, standing on the unicorn's head as the poor colt tries to continue his meditation. “You feel emptiness, don't you? The painful, bitter embrace of the frozen abyss that is mortal existence? The harsh realities behind honesty, loyalty, kindness, laughter, generosity, and friendship? The gaping hole between you and what you want?”
The dark empty feeling in the stallion's chest seems to grow at these words. He takes a hoof to it as if to clutch a wound.
Discord smiles at this effect. “Of course you do! Now, if you can feel all those negative things, you should just as well be able to feel happiness... Love...” Discord uses his flexibility to continue standing on the unicorn's head, but at the same time look him directly in the face, his muzzle only inches from the colt's. He raises his brow and his smile climbs as he slowly utters the words, “Lust! Of course, I won't make it easy for you, but you can find happiness. I hope you do!” The serpentine demon stands upright again. “I love happy ponies! They're the best to toy with! To see all that joy crashing down to rubble...” Discord's spine quakes as he shudders, biting his knuckle. “It's delicious! So,” He snaps his fingers, making a screen appear in front of them. This warped frame flickers before viewing a certain lavender unicorn, breathing heavily, saddlebags draped over her back as she makes her way through the thick foliage of a dark forest. Discord continues, curling an arm around the gray pony beside him and gesturing to the mare in the image as she continues toiling forward, “Why not give it a shot? You two are perfect for eachother! You're both bookworms, you're both good with the wibbly-wobbly stuff you do with the forehead thingamabob, and you're both absolutely no fun.” Discord flicks the unicorn's horn, “And here's something! You show no emotion at all while she's the most emotional pony I've ever had the...” He rolls his hand in the air, his face becoming stern for a moment. “Pleasure... Of meeting.” After this, he innocently touches his index fingers together. “She completes you.” Having made his point, he rolls onto his back lazily. “I mean, come on. You're a stallion, she's a mare. It fits, so get down to bid-ness!” He makes a large pelvic thrust in the air above him.
The stallion's eyes, having been open since the screen before them appeared, were transfixed on the purple pony as she clumsily stumbles along through the trees. “Is this image in real time?” He asks in concern.
“Hm? Oh, yes. That's really her and that's really what she's doing now.” Discord puts on a pair of sunglasses as he begins to start sunbathing, taking out some tanning oil and smearing it on his chest.
The gray unicorn watches the screen. “She's in this forest. Why would she venture out here alone with nothing to protect herself?”
“Well you have those scribbles on your hooves that you use to fend things off. Don't worry about it! She's fine. She can fend for herself.”
The stallion gasps as a large vine climbs up Twilight's leg and yanks her up into the trees. A loud scream echoes through the forest from behind the two simply sitting on the rock. Discord raises his glasses from his face, “Huh. Well then.” Disinterested, he puts the glasses back on and continues his tanning. The stallion, however, rises from his perch and begins rushing toward where he heard the cry. He leaps into the dense foliage of the Everfree as he begins chanting. Glowing red lines and runic letters appear on his face and arms as he goes, speaking louder and louder. Two balls of fire form at his sides as he comes upon the spot, looking up to see the helpless unicorn was unconscious. She was woven in a cocoon what looked to be a spider's web, but was made entirely from thick discolored vine. Immediately getting to work, the stallion gestures forward with his hoof, causing the balls of fire to swipe at the vines like blades, freeing Twilight from her imprisonment, and making her fall from the canopy. The gray pony catches her on his back, noticing her slightly mangled saddlebags nearby. He takes them up in his mouth and begins to carry her off to safety.
