An Island built in the sky

by Brotato

Ch. 19 [Part 3] The bigger picture

Chapter 19

Part 3: The bigger picture

It took several minutes before Discord felt he had celebrated his freedom long enough. He slowly floated down in a laying down position as, if he was on a sofa, directly in front of Celestia and Hammer. With a snap of his talon, he summoned a small glass of chocolate milk. He was about to help himself to a sip, but caught both of them staring at him.

"Oh, how rude of me." Another snap of his fingers and two more glasses appeared in front of Hammer and Celestia. Hammer managed to grab ahold of his with minor spillage, while Celestia simply let it fall to the ground; shattering against the paved trail.

Celestia took a step toward Discord. "Until the Elements are here, you will stay where you are and not cause any-" She was interrupted when Discord repeatedly flicked a finger against her lips, completely mumbling everything she was saying. He then stood back and took a large gulp of his glass, grinning with an amused expression.

"Oh Celestia. You say that every time I'm freed. Next I suppose you're going to explain how I'm going to be stopped and put back into my prison yadda yadda." He waved a lion paw in the air without care.

"Exactly." Celestia scowled at Discord's dismissive attitude. "Will you submit, or do I have to result to force?" Her horn began to glow to emphasize her point.

Discord laughed. "Don't fool yourself with those ridiculous threats. I've easily dodged your magic before and today is no different." He chucked the now solid block of chocolate milk over his shoulder and frowned when it didn't explode. "Odd... must have got caught on a bush," he muttered. "No matter! Now, before I go," he looked a Hammer with clasped hands. "Thanks for setting me free, and good luck talking to Celestia. She's sort of a cranky pants-" He couldn't finish as Celestia had enough of his antics and fired a yellow beam at his chest. However, he disappeared in the blink of an eye and the beam harmlessly dissipating several feet later.

Fine, I know when my stay has been over, Discord's voice echoing in their minds. But know that we will be meeting again soon. Tata! With that said, he let out another chortle in their minds which slowly faded away.

Celestia brought a hoof to her forehead and slowly rubbed to ease the building headache that presented itself. For a second time the god of chaos was free again by an outside source. She would need to increase the guard and have the elements prepared at all times for his return. They wont be caught with their proverbial pants down.

Knowing that was the best she could do at the moment, she looked at Hammer. He didn't seem in the most comforting position after releasing Discord. He shifted his footing constantly and would give her an occasional glance. He released her worst enemy, but why? Discord was a master puppet-master when it came to controlling others. Was it possible he controlled Hammer into destroying his prison?

"Hammer," Celestia began, doing her best to keep her voice in its normal motherly tone. "I'm very displeased with what you have done, but can you explain to me why you did such a thing? Discord is surely causing chaos somewhere as we speak."

"I heard him speaking to me in my mind," Hammer explained. "He somehow knows about my past and where I'm from. I don't know how as I've never met him before in my life, but he managed to use it to his advantage." He hung his head in shame for knowing he hasn't learned a thing about his anger. "I let my anger control me yet again."

"He knows your past?" Confused interest showed in the form of an eyebrow raise. "If that's true, then I underestimated his power if he can travel to different dimensions." Celestia was no stranger to the endless realms that existed alongside hers, and she knew better than to tamper with such powers. However, Discord would be perfect with doing such a things. He was meticulous when it came to not raising suspicion; to stay back and observe until the time was right.

Celestia was at least happy to learn Hammer wasn't in league with Discord. "Anger is just as powerful as one of the elements, Hammer. I cannot say I'm happy you released Discord, but I'm content to know you weren't fully in control of your actions. I hope you will learn from this mistake and help us with capturing him?"

Hammer returned her look with a stern gaze. "I caused this mess, it's only right for me to fix it." He glanced at where Discord was last standing before looked back at Celestia. "So, what's the plan?"

Celestia motioned with her head for him to follow and they hurriedly traveled through the hallway. "Twilight is already gathering her friends and the guard will be on full alert for anything suspicious. With the help of Luna and myself I can only hope it's enough to stop him."

---

A distraught pegasus had shown up not too long ago with a letter of utmost urgency, creating a commotion amongst the four ponies. When Rucks asked out of curiosity, he was surprised to find out Kid had somehow turned human again. The thought of having his original form brought a rare giddiness to his chest. While being a pony was nice and all, having his hands greatly helped with his work.

Sadly they had to depart to the city of Canterlot for business of some sort, leaving Rucks to his own devices. While he would've gladly joined them, he couldn't bring himself to leaving the Bastion alone again. Instead he bid farewell at the edge of the island as they left on the blimp.

To kill time he decided to inspect his creation some more and delve further. He hummed a small tune while walking through the Bastions inner workings, his hooves echoing against the metal catwalk. Below the soil and grass above, black metal pipes ran along the walls and ceiling, once filled with world-forming energy. The cores and shards Kid had gathered held this fuel; each one containing the memory of the place Kid had taken it from.

Rucks tapped a nearby piped, hearing the not surprising sound of hollow pipes. It echoed down the hallways for several seconds before dying off. He was grateful nothing else seemed damaged, minus the pipe taken out he had shown to Kid. This was the entire reason why Rucks was confused. A broken pipe couldn't be the reason the Bastion reacted so strangely, leaving the same question running through his mind: Why did the Bastion send them to Equestria?

Taking a left, he stopped in front of a metal door. On the front it read 'Do not enter' in bold text. The pipes were more numerous since he in the center of the Bastion itself. For him, this is where the magic of his creation begins. Biting the metal wheel, he tugged clock-wise until the wheel spun freely.

The room was mostly barren of anything interesting. While the other rooms had been roughly put together to represent the feel of a warm home back in Caelondia, this room was surrounded by cold metal plates. Wires littered the floor in a variety of colors, all of them connected to the device in the middle of the room.

A black metal bubble sat close to the floor, carried by the multitude of pipes connected to it. The dozens of pipes from outside the door also continued along the ceiling and converged into a larger pipe above it. Small windows dotted the bubble to allow a peek at its contents. What Rucks saw inside left him stunned. A liquid that constantly changed colors sat undisturbed inside the bubble. The same shifting colors that took form of tendrils when Kid activated the Bastion.

What is this odd substance? The energy's natural hue after being extracted from a core were bright green. Yet the way it flowed and moved inside the bubble like a giant lava lamp was too similar; the only difference being the color.

Just then, a crazy thought hit Rucks. The Bastion wasn't made to transport to other worlds and universes. It was to restore their world back to its original form. With the help of the cores and shards to act as the blueprints. That being true, was it possible that someone changed the "blueprints" of their world to create Equestria instead?

A part of him knew it was possible, and it frightened him greatly. But the amount of work needed to craft a core like that would take years. Possibly even decades. There was no way someone could have come up with the 'blueprints' for Equestria several decades before the Bastion was even just a sketch on a piece of parchment.

"So who would go through all of this trouble just to re-create Caelondia into Equestria?" Rucks rubbed a hoof to his chin in deep thought. Without an answer, Rucks shook his head in defeat. He decided to finish his patrol through the Bastion and bring the topic up when Kid came back.

Comments

[Brotato]

1268035 Because overkill is the best way to kill.

[ThereIsNo4thWall]

This chapter was awesome! I'm still hoping for Zulf to appear at some point, but I know I'll love this fanfic either way.

I just STILL really want Zulf in here though, heheheheheh.