~~Revertere~~
Mr Septonic
Chapter 13
Differences
Twilight stared at the door, thinking about past events. They told Chaos everything that had happened to them. He listened intently, and pitched in when he deemed it necessary, sharing his thoughts. She remembered him telling them to explain how they wanted to fight back against Ordinis, but after hearing of the events, he told them to hold on to their thoughts, and that he would talk to them in the morning. Twilight was happy that Chaos had decided to work on their side, but didn't know what to make of him. He seemed quite genuine in wanting to help them, but appearances could be deceiving. Especially when they have the upper hand in have their identity practically unknown. Laying her head down against her pillow, Twilight closed her eyes, wanting sleep. They had apparently been talking for some time, as it was already nearing late evening. Laying her head down against her pillow, Twilight closed her eyes. Only a few moments passed before her mind complied.
~~~
Twilight woke slowly, becoming conscious without even opening her eyes. Annoyed with how her head felt against the floor, she turned over, hoping for a better position.
"Wait..." Twilight grumbled. Eyes flashing open, Twilight sprung up onto her hooves, realizing that she didn't fall asleep on a stone floor last night. The first thing that she noticed about her new surroundings was that there was nothing around here. Just empty white space, with a tiled stone floor. She was alarmed to see that Chaos was there with her, sleeping against a tree in the distance. Also, that Applejack was a few meters behind her, currently sleeping. Extremely confused about her current situation, Twilight trotted on over to Applejack. "Hey, Applejack. Wake up." Twilight poked her friend in the head. "Wake up! You need to see this!" She yelled. Applejack sprung awake, swinging her head around in surprise at being suddenly woken up.
"Twi?" Applejack said upon noticing her standing next to her. "Wha...Where are we?"
"I have no idea. But I am sure I know somepony who can answer that." Upon saying this, Twilight turned, and started walking towards Chaos.
"I don't think that's such a good idea Twi. You sure he's okay with you waking him up?" Applejack said.
"It'll be fine. I think." Twilight reached where Chaos was sleeping, and poked him the leg. "Hey, uh, Chaos? Can you wake up please?" She said halfheartedly. Chaos flinched awake, making Twilight jump back from the sudden movement.
"APPLES!" Chaos yelled out. He then fell forward, landing face first onto the floor.
"What...?" Twilight stared at him, completely confused by his statement.
"I was having a dream about carnivorous apples. And...wow, this place needs to get jazzed up." Chaos stood back up, looking around him. "Like wow. You see how boring this place looks?" Both Applejack and Twilight ignored him, seeing how he was now acting in a similar way to Discord. And they knew how to deal with that.
"Chaos, we need to know where we are. And possibly how we got here." Twilight began.
"Do you now. Well, this place is what I like to call the Never. I created it actually. Pretty cool huh. Oh, and I also brought you two here. Now, before you start blabbing on oh why did you do this Chaos, you're so mean Chaos, I was just trying to sleep Chaos. I have good reason for doing this. Number one! I want to teach you a spell Twilight. Number two! I want to have a chat with you Applejack. That's it." Chaos starred at them, waiting for a reply. Twilight was left speechless, while Applejack deadpanned.
"Why do you need to talk to me." Applejack questioned.
"Because I don't really want to talk to the other one." Chaos pointed at Twilight indicating he meant her.
"Hey!"
"Kidding! But really. I want to tell you all about Lily, as I am sure you are going to need to know this. But before we get to that..." Chaos turned away from Applejack, and loomed over Twilight, laughing to himself and putting on a sly grin. This made Twilight quite uncomfortable, and made her step back nervously. "Time for some magic."
~~~
Twilight stood in front of Chaos, with him keeping a distance between them. Twilight was nervous. She was about to get a magic lesson from Chaos! She didn't know whether to be happy or scared. "Alright listen up." Chaos started. "I'm only going to be able to teach you one spell, as I don't believe we would have enough time for much else. The spell is a powerful offensive attack, meant to pierce your opponents defenses with ease. It's big, it's flashy, but it doesn't explode. Everything that makes a scary spell work. So. You ready?" Twilight nodded slowly, but tensed up, ready for the lesson.
"Alright. This spell is cast a little differently from your normal spells. I want you to try and form a spear with your magic. That's all."
"Just a spear? OK..." Twilight concentrated, and willed her magic to life. Her horn flared up, leaking magic into the air before her, roughly taking the form of a spear. "Is that good?"
"Yes that's fine." Chaos replied, flicking the spear at the head. "Now, pour magic into the spearhead, make it the focus point. But don't leave the rest of it empty, put just enough into pole section to give it weight." Twilight nodded, and did as she was told. It was surprisingly hard to do as he asked though. She had trouble separating the power into two focal points. In fact, she was barely able to do it at all. "Having trouble?" Chaos asked, noticing her struggle.
"No, no. Its just, very draining to do this." Twilight responded through gritted teeth.
"Really? Well I shouldn't find that surprising. I do have a lot more power than you do." Chaos closed his eyes, thinking hard on what to do. Twilight stopped, as she realized she would just exhaust herself if she continued. "I got it!" Chaos exclaimed. "Try to put one source at the back of the spear, and use it like a flood gate. That way the magic will concentrate at the head, but will still leave power distributed everywhere else." Twilight nodded, and attempted. It was much easier than before, and she managed to finish without too much effort. "Great! Now, hurl it at me."
"What?!" Twilight exclaimed.
"Throw it at me."
"Wh...why?!"
"Well we need to test how strong you managed to make it. We can't throw at a rock as it can't make its own shield. We need to see how it fares against another's magic."
"But, won't I hurt you?"
"That's the goal yes." Chaos replied. "But I doubt you could do any serious, life-threatening damage to me. So come on. Give it a hurl." Twilight was still unsure, but complied. It was logical to test a spell that was meant to pierce magic, against magic. "And throw it hard, don't want false data do we?" Chaos chuckled before putting a glistening, blood red mirror before him. Twilight halted for a moment, staring at it in amazement. As far as she knew, Ordinis and Chaos both used magic not out of horns, as they didn't have any, but out of what appeared to be their main appendages. But what amazed her was that Chaos never moved. There was no hint of any kind of activation or spell casting. The shield simply appeared before him. Shaking her head, she recomposed herself, and aimed. Taking a step back, Twilight threw the spear hard, aimed right at the center of the shield.
~~~
Chaos smiled as she stared at the shield in front of him. He assumed that she was amazed at his magic, and was studying it now. He didn't mind. He enjoyed the attention of others. Staring at her, he noticed she was finally ready to throw her spell at him. I wonder how strong it'll be. She is the supposed Element of Magic, but I can't see how she can be that...wait. Right before the spear made contact with the shield, Chaos noticed something peculiar about it. He noticed that it was going to go through his shield like it was nothing, and make a direct hit on him. Possibly going right on through him in the process. Chaos was startled. He had no idea prior to this that this Twilight was capable of something like this. And it wasn't like he made his shield that weak. This spear was just that strong.
Twilight's spell ripped through the shield like butter, and impaled itself in his left side. Twilight, Chaos, and Applejack were all shocked by this. Chaos the most, seeing how he now had a magic spear in his side. Chaos fell to one knee from the shock, while both Applejack and Twilight ran over to him, shouting if he was alright. Gripping the spear, Chaos used his own magic to disintegrate it, and put his hand over his now bleeding side.
Twilight gasped at seeing a bright orange fluid running out from Chaos' wound, and immediately started to cry. Applejack tried to get closer to see if he was OK, but Chaos held out his free hand, keeping her from getting close.
"I'm OK, really. I just wasn't expecting her spear to be that powerful. I must say, I really underestimated you Twilight."
"I'm so sorry! I...I...I didn't mean to hurt you, but you said to throw it hard, and..." Twilight said through sobs.
"It's OK Twilight, it is. Besides, it isn't that bad. I'll dress it up now, so just hold on..." Chaos summoned a red dresser next to him, and opened the top drawer. He pulled out some red, see-through bandages, and proceeded to take care of his wound by wrapping it around his whole mid-section. Some of his blood spilled through his fingers, hitting the floor. It, however, sizzled and evaporated on contact. "There, see? All better. Nothing to worry about." Chaos sat down, laying one arm across his legs, the other, limp at his side.
"B...bu...but your hurt and all." Twilight stuttered out behind sobs.
"This is not that serious, and I've treated it quickly." Chaos lifted his arm straight into the air, proving his point that his side was alright.
"Come on Twi, he's fine!" Applejack said reassuringly. Chaos sighed to himself, seeing that Twilight was really taking it hard that she hurt him. Digging through his thoughts, Chaos searched for a way to try and calm her down, but how. Then it came to him.
"Hey Twilight, how about I tell you how my magic works? I'm sure you of all ponies would love to hear about that." When he finished, Twilight rubbed her eyes dry, and looked up at him, still sniffling.
"Doesn't your magic work like everypony else?"
"Not even close." Chaos smiled to himself, knowing he had her. "You see, me and Ordinis have a very unique form of magic. It's called Enhancement Magic."
"Enhancement Magic?" Twilight asked, her curiosity taking over.
"Yes, I just said that. But it appears we don't have much time left here, and I still need to talk to Applejack about Lily, so this'll have to wait for later."
"Not much time? What ya mean by that?" Applejack exclaimed.
"Ah, you see, time in the Never works like a dream would. How long is a dream? You'd probably only have one or two a night, and they seem short, yet ten hours have past." Chaos looked at her with a compassionate look. "And believe me, it is almost sunrise by now. Now, where should we start."
"At the beginning?" said Applejack. She was in no way wanting to learn everything there was to know about this Lily, but she still didn't want to blow through it quickly.
"HA! There's no way I'd be willing to tell you everything." Chaos' answer made both Twilight and Applejack jump. "But I suppose I could simply fill you in a little at a time...Very well. Let's start at the...start."
"Lily was the daughter of two ponies. A earth pony called Rail, and a pegasus called Sunshine. Although Rail's friends usually called him Tracks to piss him off. He was a lover of anything remotely close to industry. He was also the one who came up with this whole idea of locomotion. Sunshine was a weather pony, and was especially good at making beautiful summer days. She loved the sun. Also hated winter. Anyways, Lily grew up being a gardener, and got her own little flower shop a couple of weeks after she moved out of her parents place. She always had her favorite flowers, Lisianthus, in stock. She absolutely adored the purple ones, and usually had one in a vase on the front counter. She lived a relatively normal life during her very early years, usually alone. It wasn't like she was slow to trusting. She just never thought about relationships before. Well, that is until she met me. We met on the eve of the summer solstice. For me it was love at first sight. For her, it was more in the lines of creepy. I only saw her for a moment, but I didn't approach her. I kept my distance for three weeks."
"Three weeks?!" Applejack interrupted. "What were ya waiting for?"
"Well Applejack, I had duties to perform, and I didn't get out much. I wanted to be absolutely sure I wasn't going to mess something up. Moving on. I went into her shop and complimented her flowers a bit, also some fruits, no vegetables. From there I slowly edged my way into her life, and asked her out. I'm going to skip forward a little here, but eventually, 15 years down the road, Ordinis found out about my relationship with Lily, and saw it as a 'gigantic threat towards the balance' and such. I laughed in his face and ate my toast. It was like, 5 in the morning. After that, we argued a bunch, and certain events unfolded from there. Even to this day I remember her, as if she was still here next to me. But, that's all I have to say about that today, you two should get back. Besides, all of this is just a small piece of history. Nothing to get crazed about" Chaos looked at the two mares in front of him, clearly see the sadness and pity in their eyes. Closing his eyes, Chaos closed off the Never, sending all three of them back into reality.
~~~
Chaos woke, staring at the ceiling. Sighing, he swung his legs off the bed, and headed over to the bathroom to prepare for the day ahead of him. Thoughts of the far past still lingering in his mind.