An Island built in the sky

by Brotato

Ch. 18 [Part 2] The bigger picture

Chapter 18

Part 2: The bigger picture

Hammer ran down the hallway leading toward Celestia's throne. Bright Sunlight shone through the windows that lined it, momentarily causing him to squint his eyes every time he passed by one. After hearing the faint and disturbing disembodied laughter, Hammer wanted to be as far away as possible from that place. While he would've face whatever was laughing, at him, he had trouble doing so due to the lack of a physical form. He had never truly feared an enemy that he could see, and could feel the punishing blow of his Cael Hammer.

"Halt!" Hammer slowed his momentum to stop in front of the two guards beside the doorway leading to the throne room. The one to his left had yelled at him, while the other seemed to be rolling his eyes. Even stranger was being stopped in the first place. Didn't Celestia at least tell the royal guard who he was?

"Is something wrong?' Hammer asked, chest heaving as he took in deep breaths from his run. Persperation showed on his face clearly from the window he was stopped next to.

"No running in the hallways!" The guard yelled. After saying that, he returned his attention back to staring down the hallway.

I'll do more than run, you stupid... Hammer grumbled. Brushing away the guard's silly request, he opened the doors a bit more forcefully than he wanted to, causing them softly tap the walls beside them. The sound alerted the guards in the hallway, along with the ones in the throne room. Upon seeing him, the guards lowered their guard and returned at attention.

The room itself was certainly something to behold. Colored glass windows lined the room, along with several white pillars. The throne itself was made of gold. Water poured from a basin at the lower portion of it, while a red velvet carpet rolled up to the seat where Celestia was seated. She was currently surrounded by four royal guards and Twilight Sparkle.

"Hammer," Twilight began happily, but sense something was wrong. "Is everything alright? You seem... angry."

Hammer took notice of the slip in his composure. He had a small frown and furrow on his brow that had formed after meeting the friendly guard in the hallway. He rubbed his face as if to wipe it away. "Yeah I'm fine," he consoled. "A guard in the hallway was just being annoying. Nothing to worry about." Seeing Twilight smile with believing everything was fine, he smiled as well. "So any idea when we'll see the others?" He added.

Hearing the question, Twilight sighed. "I haven't received a return letter yet. The pegasus must be having trouble finding the island. How hard could it be to see a chunk of earth floating in the air? How?"

"Twilight, I'm sure the letter returning as we speak," Hammer spoke, doing his best to calm Twilight. "Until then, please keep yourself from pulling your mane out."

"Right... sorry."

Hammer looked up to see Celestia finding the whole thing amusing since she had a smile on her face. He took a step toward the throne and bowed. "Hello, Princess."

Celestia rose from her seat and took her time leaving the throne, walking toward Hammer and Twilight. "Hello again, Hammer. I hope you found your work with Chip to your liking?"

Hammer's smile faltered for a moment after hearing Chip's name. "Complete opposite actually." Hammer explained the same story he told her sister, Luna. Even adding that they chatted a bit as well. After saying his piece, he crossed his arms and awaited for the Princess' reaction.

Celestia gently sighed. "I wish I could say I'm disappointed in your reaction, but there was no way Chip knew about your past. I'm sorry he acted that way toward you, Hammer. I should have stopped when he refused at the start."

"No harm, no foul. I got my revenge by finishing a job that would've taken ten times as long. Maybe he'll think twice before judging a book by its cover." He let a smug smirk grow for a moment before continuing. "But let's not talk about it anymore. It's now part of the past. Besides, I have something very odd that I left out from my story. Are you aware that a ghost is haunting your garden?"

"A ghost?" Celestia rose a skeptical eyebrow. "I don't believe any parts of Canterlot are haunted. Did something happen to prove this?"

"Oh, something happened alright. I heard faint laughter behind me while I was about to leave the garden. But when I looked behind me... nothing was there." Hammer took a moment to shudder as a cold chill ran down his spine. "I was sure no one else was in the garden at the time."

Twilight prodded her bottom lip with a hoof, deep in thought. "Are you sure you weren't just hearing things? Maybe it was the wind," she suggested.

"No, I'm positive I heard something, and there was no wind at all. The weather is very calm and sunny outside."

A soft cough from Celestia caused both of them to look her way. "It seems the only way to resolve this problem is to go see for ourselves." Twilight asked about her duties as Princess, but she held up a hoof to stop her worries. "Today has been a tad slow. Nopony coming to ask for advice, or receive my blessing. No bills to sign, fights over land to settle, et cetera et cetera." She waved a hoof nonchalantly in the air.

"Very well," Hammer said. He simply began walking back to the garden with Celestia, Twilight following behind Two of the guards from the throne also followed, mostly to guard the Princess. Hammer slowed his fast pace so he was beside Twilight. "So how are you going to find out if there's a ghost or not?"

"Easy," twilight began, happy to explain how the spell works. "I read several books about ghosts and most of them overlap their facts. Ghosts are known to absorb any forms on energy in their presence. Magic, fire, even ponies can be susceptible of being drained. That's why if you start to feel cold, it means they're taking your energy. Which, to be honest, doesn't sound like a very pleasant experience. Anyway, all I need to do is bait the ghost with a high source of magic, and it will most likely appear before us. Does... any of that make sense?" She smiled sheepishly, not sure if Hammer was understanding her.

"I think so," Hammer rubbed his neck as he listened to her rant. Finally reaching the doors leading to the garden, Hammer opened it and held it open for the others to go through. Receiving a small nod from Twilight and Celestia, he shut it behind them when everypony was through.

"So it was this spot the 'ghost' started laughing?" Seeing Hammer nod, Twilight looked for anything out of the ordinary nearby. To her disappointment, she saw nothing. A slight wind tussled with her mane, but was clearly not enough to cause distress in the form of disembodied laughing. "Alright," Twilight started. She picked up a broken off branch with her magic and dropped in front of her. "I'll enchant this branch with a simple cloud-walking spell. It should be enough to lure the ghost and..." she shifted nervously. "Appear before us."

"Hang on, shouldn't we do this during the night?" Hammer furrowed his brow in confusion.

"No!" Twilight shouted on reflex, earning an eyebrow raise from everyone around her. She slapped her hooves across her mouth and a blush grew on her cheeks. "Uh... I mean, no. We should be fine if I put it in the shade." Twilight simply placed the branch below a large tree. "And now we wait."

Hammer rubbed the bridge of his nose in impatience. "Oh goody," he said sarcastically. With nothing else to do, he sat down in the grass. Celestia and Twilight following suit, but the guards kept standing at attention beside them.

Minutes seems to pass by rather quickly. Twilight would have small talk with Celestia, both of their eyes watching the branch with interest. Their excitement to discover a ghost was slowly turning into boredom as nothing was happening after twenty minutes of staring.

Hammer had enough. Standing up, he brushed off several blades of grass on his pants. "Well, I guess I'm just going crazy then! Sorry for wasting your-" He stopped suddenly, his eyes going wide, when he heard it again. Although it wasn't behind him this time, but somewhere down the trail. Without telling the others, he slowly walked down it, hoping to hear it again.

"Hammer?" Twilight spoke up. "Where're you go-" A quick hand-signal with his palm held toward her stopped her questioning.

"Shh, listen!" Hammer whispered. Once again he heard the laughing. To his surprise and shaking nerves, it was louder. He looked back toward the others, a pleading look in his eyes. "Please tell me you heard that one." They both shook their heads, making Hammer begin to wonder if he was going insane. His determination to find out the source, in his own mind or not, pushed him forward nonetheless. He followed the noise from the most recent laugh, leading him to the odd statue that he had asked Luna about. The statue of Discord.

Hahaha!

The sudden outburst of laughter in his mind shook him deeply. Was the ghost finally inside his mind? Was he being possessed? Steeling his mind for what might happen, he took a chance to try speaking to the phantom.

Hello?

The spirit took a moment to chuckle before responding. Ah, hello Hammer. Or may I call you Kid? I've been wondering when you'd find me.

You know who I am? Hammer was stunned to hear this spirit knew who he was. Was it following him ever since coming here?

Of course, the spirit stated matter-of-factly. I didn't sift through multiple realities and plan for several years just to forget the name of the human who would release me from my prison.

Everything clicked together like a picture puzzle. How could he have been so blind to not know this wasn't a spirit, but the very entity that resided inside its stone prison. The shock and confusion left Hammer staring with his mouth partly agape at the statue, as if it had come to life. Did this creature know about Caelondia and everything about him? Does he know about Rucks and Zia? Questions flowed through his mind and they needed to be answered, but he had to be calm. Spouting off questions rapidly never ended with getting answers.

How much do you know about me? Hammer asked slowly.

Everything, human.

Discord's answer sounded sketchy at best. There's no way he could know everything about him. He would've known sometime in his life that this creature was following him.

Discord sighed. I see you don't believe me. What if I told you how your mother died? Sad story really, Discord added.

You leave her out of this you bastard! Hammer glared at the statue, doing his best to hide the strong chills that ran down his spine, sending goose bumps across his entire body. Memories of his sick mother appeared in his mind, and he tried to desperately brush them away. It's in the past now.

Exactly! This is your past, Hammer, Discord said in a booming tone. It cannot simply disappear. It will haunt you forever. Like a ghost, he added softly. He then started making fake ghost noises and laughing.

Hammer was truly beginning to understand how random this... "creature" really was. I've learned to forget my past, and so far it's been working. Now begone!

Oh, I've forgotten my past so it doesn't affect me now, Discord mocked, sounding almost like Hammer. What about Zulf, hmm? You going to forget what you did to him? Leaving him in the snow like that. For shame, Kid. What happened to friendship and tolerance?

Hammer had enough. If there was one thing that sparked the simmer of anger that was growing in him, it was being mocked. He grabbed his hammer from behind his back and firmly gripped it until his knuckles were white. "I'll show you tolerance!" He suddenly outburst, swinging wide to smash the legs of the statue.

"Hammer, don't!" Twilight shouted to stop him, but it was too late. The hammer contacted with the statue, shattering its hoof and clawed foot. It tipped to the side and snapped in half at the torso, the upper half resting besides the stand while the bottom rolled behind it. Hammer didn't stop there as he pounced on the torso and proceeded to turn it into fine gravel. When he was about to finish off the other half, he was lifted by a yellow aura and pulled away. "Let me go!" He struggled fruitlessly as he floated toward Celestia.

"That's enough, Hammer." Celestia said in a firm, disappointing tone; her gaze clearly not amused by his actions. "Twilight," she continued while keeping her gaze on Hammer. "Gather your friends. They will be needed very soon." Her hoof lightly pushed Twilight away and she stuttered dumbly for a moment before running back to the throne room. Just as her head turned back forward, the dust that was settling around the statue gathered into a small vortex. When it was tall enough to be a large dust devil, it burst across the garden and a long snake-like familiar shot into the sky.

Discord flew until almost above the castle and let out a cackle that the entirety of Canterlot heard clearly. Throwing his arms in the sky, he reveled in being able to feel and move again. He twirled and spun in the air while whooping wildly. Canterlot realized their days were about to get worse.

"I AM FREE!" Discord shouted, laughing yet some more.

Much worse.

Comments

[Mike32oz]

[Midnight Blues]

Dammit. Well now kid gets to try out his weapons on him.
Burn it with fire!!!

[the_sane_maniac]

1257718 no, BLAST HIM WITH CALAMITY!!!!

[Midnight Blues]

1258812
True dat

[7x9000]

FUUUUUUUUUUUUU

[7x9000]

1258812
Better Idea, Calamity Cannon and (/me forget first part) Mortar. Get the combo in the game while at the Bastion. You'll hear what Rucks says, its awesome.

[MagusBlack]

1261249
"Oh, now that is just overkill" or something to that effect right?

[Rainbow_Dashtruction]

1266546 I aint even a grammar nazi.
Although I guess I'm badass seeing as I made my about 14.5K word fic only have ONE mistake (I said hands instead of hooves) in despite 0 editing

[7x9000]

1262655

Actually Its "Alright, now that's just plain overkill. I mean, come on!"
Best line in the game.

[Paper Crease]

1266337
Chill, mister grammar nazi. Not only was I not in the mood for correcting grammar, but I've only got about a fourth grammar nazi blood in my body. Besides, that was, I dunno, a week ago? Also, you know that thing that doesn't happen to half-blooded or more grammar nazis? Where sometimes grammar and spelling will correct themselves?
Yeah, no. There's still some auto-correct in my brain.

[the_sane_maniac]

1261249 "OK, now that's just plain overkill. I mean, come on."

[PlaguePaladin]

SHIT KID, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!!!!!!!

[sirraf]

use ultima! oh wait wrong fantasy setting...

[TheArchive]

Instead of making up a bunch of stuff to make a stupid way for Discord to escape, couldn't you have done it a better way? Giving him powers he doesn't have, making the Kid an idiot and not having him mention the statue in any way at all, having him flip out over something Discord shouldn't know about, and having Celestia not do anything.

Honestly, that's about as believable as saying the statue fell into a plot hole which caused it to break.