Broke: The New Frontier
Of the nature of our understanding of the universe, it can honestly be said that it is limited. Mankind is not just a new species, at times arrogant, at times all things, it is presumptuous. We fail to take into account that we have more knowledge than we even have certainty and as time goes on, we gain more knowledge and simultaneously gain more uncertainty. The step in front of us seems more and more shaky, and so the bridge must be the missing piece, faith.
You lament the loss of understanding, of memory and knowledge but you've already lost the thing that gave them any meaning: humanity, faith, and faith in humanity. Cynically, you paint your dismal tapestries of the world in your imagination, this inescapable vision you see in front of you and it paralyzes you from making any steps after. Your failure to reconcile certainty has robbed you of will, and there's nothing you can do about it but cry.
Your cynical views grasp at the like, for misery loves company while around you, people keep making random bursts of laughter, of joy, of art. You could say ignorance is bliss, but you're only ignorant in a different way. And you wonder, why, thinking it something of a distraction when it is in fact past the point you can't get past. You used to be like them, you can be again, and their songs will always outnumber your complex, depressing narratives anyway. Because jokes are easy to make and you're not supposed to explain them. That's why they're jokes.
And you wonder why nobody watches The Simpsons any more. Now, the joke's on you. I hope you'll get it one day. If not, well, I've been laughing and I'm not gonna stop.
The weapon training came remarkably easy to Dan. Finally, after hours of torture, there was a portion of his training that came naturally. Dan was indeed adept at using his weapons of choice in the various trials Zen prepared for him. From using the Pain Cane in close quarters, mastering how to throw it like a boomerang, taking it apart and reassembling it and even fighting someone using it against him, Dan quickly mastered the use of weapons. Dan suffered no damage from weapon training.
Instead, the environment did.
Zen had the misfortune to hold Dan's weapon training sessions in his own zebra training camp. Dan and camps did not go very well together.
"So, that should be it for today, right?"
Zen was not easily surprised and his expression showed. "How... why..."
Dan turned around. The zebra training camp used to consist of several fenced in areas, a place for target practice, an obstacle course, several wooden huts and a sparring ring in the center. There were even several barns for supplies, a barracks and an armory. It used to consist of these things, but now it just consisted of a crater.
"Ah, just like the last time I was at summer camp."
"There were no explosives stored here," Zeal said, more of a question than a statement. Dan simply turned back around and smiled at him. So Zen turned to Twilight, Chrys, Spike and Phoenix and repeated, "There were NO explosives stored here."
They all shrugged. At the same time. "He has a way with destruction and demolition," Phoenix said. (Though I'm not convinced this isn't just to get back at Zeal anyway.)
"So what's next?" Dan asked, almost too enthusiastically. Of course, he'd just blown up something and ticked off someone he didn't like, so that usually made him happy. And by 'usually,' I mean 'literally always.'
Zen Zeal's spear visibly shook in his hoof. The zebra would've been red in the face if he didn't have greater control of his emotions. But, before he could explode and possibly skewer Dan, Dan intervened and said,
"Hey! You're angry. And I can tell! See? The training has paid off."
And Zeal abruptly stopped, his face breaking into a slight, contented smile. "That it has. Your training is complete."
Chrys looked back and forth between Dan and Zeal. "Really? That's all that the training was supposed to do?"
"Of course not. But the rest of my training facilities have been destroyed, so training over."
"YES!!" Dan exclaimed. "I mean... great, yes, thank you for all the... instruction and stuff. So do we get the land now?"
Zeal pointed his spear to the south. "As we agreed, the Emerald Plains are yours, from the Eastern Everflow to the Westerly Easy Sea. The territory is yours, effective immediately, and the Zebra Kingdom border now begins at the beginning of the Jade Plain."
Their eyes lit up with the news. Equestria's territory just expanded by several MILLION acres. Land, fertile, green land was theirs. It would take months to establish a solid settlement, weeks alone to properly survey the land and locate the best locations for towns, cities and roads. Families of farmers, builders, workers, researchers and artists would all be recruited to join the effort in expanding the kingdom. An entirely new frontier. It would all be theirs.
"What are we waiting for? Let's go see it! C'mon, right now!" Dan shouted, running into the forest.
"Other way, Dan, south!" Spike shouted. He turned right back around and ran past them.
Zen Zeal approached the large crater where the huts had stood. He picked up a hoof-full of ashy dirt and let it slip loose. He inhaled and exhaled, eyes looking out over the destruction.
The others went off to catch up with Dan, but Twilight remained behind. Ever the diplomat.
"Thank you for... your help," Twilight said, always cautious with her words.
"You're welcome."
"Is there um, any help you can give me?"
Zeal said nothing for a short moment. He rubbed the scorched mark with his hoof, then picked his shield and spear from where he'd stuck them in the ground.
"Your dark and light chi are intertwined. Your body is not used to drawing from both sources. Sit."
"Uhm, but it's kind of-"
"Sit!"
She did as she was told. Zeal continued standing.
"Perhaps there is something I can teach you that your princesses cannot," Zeal said. "Luna trained you to harness darkness, yes? And Celestia and your school teachers the light."
"Y-yes," Twilight admitted. Basic magic spells drew on positivity, therefore considered "light magic." As could be expected, it was easier to control, was more easily defined but also required more focus and discipline. Dark magic was considered by many cultures to be taboo, and was dangerous because it obeyed the laws of physics and established knowledge even less. It was easier to use once properly drawn upon, and required less focus to make more potent spells but was also dangerous. It drew on negativity wherever it could find it, so while light required constant management to power it, darkness required constant management to prevent it from becoming too powerful.
A proper magical spell drew from a source, such as a positive feeling of emotion shaped by a complex thought, and willed into existence by natural magical energy. The process by which all three were linked was called channeling. Dark magic came from darker channels, and they did not tend to be isolated; one negative source fed on another. Creating multiple spells simultaneously and amplifying them was easier with dark magic, but control and focus were easier with the light.
"Focus on combining them," Zeal said.
Twilight's eyes shot open. "Wut."
"Eyes closed!" He bapped her. "You are lucky this isn't wartime. Yet. I am less forgiving to my students during wartime. You'll get no pits from me today, though."
Twilight rubbed her nose, not sure what he meant. "O-okay."
"There is positivity and negativity in all things. Light and darkness. They are elemental, and as such a component of all things. Light..." He reached down, brushed the ash off some of the dirt, Underneath, miraculously, green grass, still alive somehow. "And shadow."
Twilight could sense the life energy; she didn't need to see it. And she felt it everywhere. Zen Zeal was mostly dark energy to her, anger and lust for battle. A craving coursed through him to see his enemies under his hooves, spear and banner held high as fires burned around them. He was very nearly consumed by the desire for total destruction, just the dream of seeing kingdoms fall before him and nothing else. But... there was light, too. Laughs had from friends, mostly fellow soldiers. Even the kindess of Zecora was there, beneath it all.
She saw a vision of Zecora, perhaps a recent one, of putting notches in his spear. Perhaps their marriage was not so loveless after all. In that vision, she saw peace, unbelievable as it was. War and peace, not opposites but one in the same, going on at the same time. The vision shifted to the symbol of the Tao, the great swirls of black and white, spinning, spinning, spinning.
"Focus on a thought. A single idea."
"I already am."
"Everything contains light and darkness. In it, there is balance. In it, there is life. In it, there is magic. Draw from it, all of it, the positive and negative, draw as much as you can, but only as much as you need."
"But-"
"No!" Zen interrupted. "Contradictions are necessary. Focus it all, but not too much. As much as you possibly can, but not so much that you lose focus. Feel both. Let them flow."
"I-" She could feel it. It was even more potent than dark magic, something overwhelming but also balanced. It carried her like a song, flowing into her body and up to her horn. Should she control it or let herself go to it? What did she do next- harness, or embrace? Let it have the reins or take them herself?
"Hold. Hold."
"I... I..." She didn't realize she was no longer standing. Her horn was glowing purple but a glowing ring appeared around it, a ring of light and darkness. A glowing, gray halo of energy wrapped in dark, nearly black static shimmered above her horn. This was a spell that used both types of energy, combined light and darkness. Now, she just needed something to do with it.
"Wh-what... what doooooo... do I do nowwwww?" The magic was taking all of her energy just to focus and maintain.
"Perhaps something constructive?"
"I... I..." She couldn't hold it any longer. The humming, the song, the sensation, the energy, all too much. At the last second, she thought of rebuilding Zen's training camp. And the halo exploded.
When she opened her eyes again, it took a moment for sight to return to her. Light, color, her senses returned to her slowly. Zen Zeal stood in front of her, spear in hoof, smiling.
"As powerful as they say. You learn quickly."
She panted. "Th... thanks." She looked around. "But... nothing happened."
"Give it a minute." Zen turned around again. At first, it seemed like nothing, but then, the crater rose from the ground. Zen Zeal's training camp returned, the huts popping into existence again, the fences, the shooting range, the target dummies, the barracks, the armory and even a gelato stand that hadn't been there before. Well, technically it was a frozen yogurt stand, but this was her first attempt.
"I must now see to the training of my own warriors," Zen said. "Enjoy your new lands."
"Did... did one spell do all this? I barely... I barely used any energy." Despite the physical and mental exhaustion, her magical energy was still at peak. She wasn't drained at all, at least not magically like when she used the other forms of magic.
"Once you are properly conditioned, you will be able to use all types of magic in any way you see fit. The only limits you set will be the ones you set yourself," Zen said. "Those are the most important of all, and not lightly treaded upon. You should be able to better control your dark form now. But, I'll have Zecora send some relaxation potions in the mail. That'll help, too. Also, tea."
"I... I see. Thank you," she said. Fused light and dark magic, which went by many names, was among the most potent and dangerous magics that could be performed. Starswirl himself rarely dabbled in them, and wrote that the fusion of light and dark was second only to harmony magic, the magic of friendship itself in terms of power and potency. Harmonious magic was said to only come from the Fausticorn herself, only usable by those who bear her elements. Nothing could stand against it, so it was pretty OP.
"Before you go, a final word of caution. Some losing battles must be fought, Twilight Sparkle, no matter how costly. You and your friends are clever minds, the second time I've faced such opponents. And the second time I've lost." He turned to her, standing. "I lost my faith the first time. Facing Dan those months ago, I found faith again. So the land is a gift. Use it well."
"I will. We will. Thank you." Twilight walked away to join her friends. Zen turned to summon his armies, eager to begin their rigorous training.
There was a finality in the way Zen Zeal had said, "some losing battles must be fought." Did he see the future? Did he see them lose? The zebras had been fighting the mountain goats for decades, mostly winning. The goats were stubborn and isolationist, and their culture revolved around visions of the future.
What had the zebras been doing since they returned home, only to find everything reset? Would they be angry? Would they lash out at their neighbors, the goat folks? They hadn't been invited to the summit in Trottingham... Trottingham, which hadn't changed virtually at all in years. And then he comes to her...
Twilight galloped ahead to catch up with her friends.
"This jungle is actually a lot easier to traverse than the Everfree Forest."
"It's traversed more frequently. By zebras," Spike said. It was nearly impossible to tell, but nearly every part of the Jade Jungle was patrolled by zebras. It was rumored there were also colonies of deer in the dense jungle, along with other societies of creatures, but only the zebras knew. Zebropolis, the city of gold that was ACTUALLY an entire city made of gold instead of just being like a big temple or some other bullshit, lay deeper in the jungle to the north.
Once they crossed the Jade Plains, they would reach their new land, the Emerald Plains.
"Dan is happy about this," Chrys said. She could tell in more ways than one; girlfriend, changeling, living being able to recognize joy. It was nice to see and feel him being so happy. Maybe a little too happy.
"Spike?"
"Yeah?"
"You wanna go ahead and keep an eye on Dan? Make sure he doesn't get too far ahead of us?"
"I'm guessing you want me to hop on his shoulders and keep pointing him in the right direction. Yeah, I got it," Spike said, jogging ahead to catch Dan before he ran into something. He'd just gotten lessons on awareness, but his enthusiasm was threatening to get the better of him now.
"Thanks, Spike."
It was just Phoenix and Chrys alone, then. They walked slowly, somewhere between Dan in front and Twilight behind them.
"I take it you wanted to ask me something?"
Chrys sighed. She knelt to duck under a branch. "I dunno, Nick. Things just keep changing, then going back to the way they were just to change again. It's hard to make sense of it all."
"I know. Believe me, I know," he said. As they often did, his thoughts went to Mia. "Just because things change doesn't mean what happened before doesn't matter. We build upon it. One thing leads to another."
"I guess... but that's the past."
"I don't understand."
She looked back at him. "I mean, is it destiny that things keep being repeated? Or is something wrong? If Marksaline said that a universe is a song, does this mean we're a broken record?"
"I, uh... woo, I don't know about that one," Phoenix said. He stepped over the same root she did, Chrys held back a large fern until he passed. Clearly, she waited on him for an answer.
"I think we have... something good going on right now. I think we should keep it. That's all, really."
"What do you think our future is?"
"I don't know," he shrugged.
So she thought. "What do you think our future should be?"
"I..." Had any of them really thought about it? Well, Dan had, obviously. And he told them.
"You should open a law office here," Dan said. Spike was sitting on his shoulders, head covered in ferns. "I'm going to keep designing security features, plans. Implements. I'm writing a guide already."
"You're writing a security guide?"
Dan nodded. "Not my first, actually but a new one. You know... with new stuff."
"That's a nice idea, Dan," Chrys said. "I think that's a good plan."
"Yes..." Phoenix said, thinking. "Not just for Equestria, but for Earth."
"Yeah," they all agreed. In truth, they had all had the same idea. "And Nick, you could write a guide about law in Equestria."
Phoenix rubbed his neck. "I, uh, I don't really write."
"Huh. Phoenix doesn't write."
"Well, I make notes or lists or something but I'm not- I'm more of a speaker, you know?"
"No. Nothing you're saying is making sense right now. Let's go see where I'm going to build a castle."
"Castle?" Chrys's eyes lit up. "With um-um, lots of rooms?"
"I doubt he's talking about building a hive, Chrys."
"Shuddup! Shuddup, you don't know. You don't know that, Nick." Chrys' maternal changeling instincts were kicking in. With a proper mate acquired, her biological clock now directed her towards the production of offspring, meaning hive. A proper changeling hive, above ground this time, with plenty of rooms for the first few million eggs. Human and changeling DNA, like human and Equestrian DNA, or pony and dragon for that matter, was biologically incompatible, but there were not completely incompatible. Where nature failed, science could provide.
They reached the Emerald Plains. There wasn't much to see, but that was a bit of a relief. There was no sabotage, the water was clean, the grass was green and healthy. Zen Zeal was a general of his word; no trickery or deception, just fertile land that stretched out from east to west, form mountain to river and rolled up and down and swept across and out to the horizon. Land. A new frontier to build a new addition to the Kingdom of Equestria.
They camped for a couple of days in the Emerald Plains. Few creatures ventured near them; the occasional birds flew overhead, some animals ventured out of the jungles but all was peaceful for the moment. Eventually, they flew back to Equestria, back to the Golden Oaks Library.
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If you can blend them, then they are not so much opposite as orthogonal.
Could Dans old associate, Chris, not Chrysalis, be a Paladin of Indiference at all?
I wonder where totally converting the planet comes in energy releases relative to supernova, given its less than parts per million of merging stellar class black holes?
A new Chapter means it’s ~Sunday~
now let me see n’ere *dons reading glasses*
Okay I’m not gonna lie, sometimes the beginnings of your chapters make me feel simultaneously really smart while reading them ... then I feel dumb cos I only think I understand what Barro’s trying to say, seriously the only part I know I understood was “Ignorance is bliss” ... hey! I still watch the Simpsons!
Ahh Weapons Training, if the Zebras really do have foresight then Zeal done bucked up here for not foreseeing he should’ve done this fad away from the camp
Wow, Zen’s a doubly good teacher ... our girl’s levelling up her Magic like crazy, I wouldn’t be shocked if she learned Ultima before too long!
Now for my Favourite Quotes:
This. Right here. I haz a happy cos of this!
(More to come, BRB Pinkie Promise!)
Phew and that’s everything I love (most) about this week’s chapter and I’ll eagerly await the next!
Thanks for making my weekend awesome as always and I’ll see you~next time~
Your Eternal Fan
^_^
(Hope this week has been kind to Good Barro and that the Invisible Zombies continue to not crave Author Pony for their next meal!)
Your "Ace Attorney" everyone.
Really feels like things are coming to a head, can't be too long now.
As for the king and queen...well, this is Dan we are talking about here, so normal logic doesn't usually apply to him. Maybe he'll figure out how a way to Hakai them out of existence through some nonsensical method or something.
Hive hive hive hive hive!
Demolition Fan.
'Human and changeling DNA, like human and Equestrian DNA, or pony and dragon for that matter, was biologically incompatible, but there were not naturally compatible' - this sentence feels off, 'there' should be 'they' and the second part kinda says the same as the first?
10862056
Wrote this one very late. Been having to stay later at work, ongoing health issue. Had swelling in my throat ever since I got vaccinated. Hard to sleep, but thankfully getting better. Thankfully. Going to a doctor in July. Have to wait that fucking long.