It was a pleasant evening for introspection. It was times like these that Flix thought back upon his life in Equestria and his family, despite the fact that he had walked out on them months ago. He could hardly imagine how far he had come in such a short time. Flix smiled at the bunyips as he sat down next to them. He looked over at his ally, Mula-Gunang, and chuckled as he remembered how they first met. That damn boomerang – how was he supposed to know that those things could be thrown so that they would loop back around? Mula looked over toward Flix and grinned, then looked down as Orlonda curled up next to him and yawned. He could see the bunyip blush through his matted fur. All Flix did was grin back, and soon his gaze drifted back to the fire and the night sky that looked like it had sprung forth from it.
This was it. It had taken him nearly half a year, and traveling around the world, but he was content; he was happy. He looked at the white markings on his feathers and fur that he had earned hunting with the tribe, then he looked over at IkaIka and Orlonda who had similar markings. However, Ika’s had been earned from fishing, and Orlonda’s from scouting.
Orlonda – the changeling was so loyal that she had followed him to the ends of Equus. He had worried about her when they had reached so far away from their homeland that she had actually disconnected from her hive network. She had wailed and cried out for hours of the night, and it had taken days for her to recover enough to walk around again without emotional support. Now she was so much stronger than when they had started, her chitin so shiny, and her will that once was weak was now unbreakable.
As Flix gazed at the fire, it started to change. At first it was just flickering, but then it abruptly flared and suddenly Discord was standing next to the fire. The bunyips all stood up and were starting to reach for their weapons. Discord, rather than snapping his fingers to do something to stop them like turning them all into drawings, let out an unholy roar that nearly knocked them over.
“SIT DOWN!”
Shocked, they all sat simultaneously before the Chaos Lord turned his gaze on Flix. He was not joking. He was not playing. For the first time, Flix felt a little scared of him.
“Flix, it is time for your final exam,” he hissed as he walked toward the hippogriff. This kind of behavior was not like the Discord that Flix knew.
“Repeat the mantra,” Discord commanded as he stepped forward, a strange fractal pattern starting to snake out from his one draconic leg and onto the ground.
Flix knew this part; it was one of the first things that had been taught to him by Discord. He took a deep breath as his eyes closed. They slowly opened back up – his pupils red and the sclera yellow. “I am Chaos. I am the force that creates diversity. Order leads to Stagnation. Stagnation leads to Death. Chaos keeps Order at bay. Order keeps Chaos at bay. The fight has no beginning, no ending. The fight is eternal and the world thrives in the turmoil.” Flix slowly looked back up to Discord who was closer than before.
“What are my rules?” the draconequus demanded.
“The Chaos Lord cannot change the course; he can only introduce factors to increase the viability of the outcome. The Chaos Lord does not take sides; he affects all sides equally, but not at the same time.”
Discord put a claw on his shoulder and started to smile, but it conveyed sadness rather than pleasure. “Flix?”
“Yes, Professor?” Flix was definitely worried.
“All of your family will die within two hours,” Discord said plainly. “What will you do? This is your final test. All restrictions are released. Save your family and pass; I will have nothing left to teach you.” Discord disappeared and the fire went back to normal.
“WE ARE LEAVING NOW!” Flix screeched as he took off towards the boat.
Mula, Ika, and Orlonda stood up and hastily followed Flix.
“How are we going to get back to the House?” Orlonda cried out as they ran. “We are clear on the other side of the world!”
Flix landed on the boat, and as he waited impatiently for the others, he raised a foreleg and held his talons in mid-snap. The normal white flash of power was being restrained and was growing in intensity. His entire talons were brightly lit by the time his three companions had readied the ship.
“What’s wrong with your talons?!” Ika asked in dismay.
“I’m building up improbability and forcing a certainty. I don’t care what Discord warned me about – I will not let them get hurt!”
His claws finally snapped and the entire team disappeared, boat and all, leaving a crater on the beach.
A few moments later, the boat appeared over the large pond next to the castle that was the Griffonian House, and it splashed down, destroying the peace that the House normally enjoyed after the sun set. Flix held his head in pain and the trio looked at him with concern. When he looked back, they gasped in surprise – one of his eyes was the solid tone of a changeling, an orange one to be exact. He started laughing.
“It’s… it’s not that bad, I bet,” Flix laughed as he stood up, panting.
“What happened to you?!” Orlonda cried.
“Chaos can be externalized or internalized. The chaos affects the environment, or it affects you.” He snapped his claws again and they appeared in the staff dorm quad, much to the shock of everyone that happened to be out during their quarterly festival.
“What is the meaning of this?!” A mare ran up to the group dressed in a second year cadet uniform. Then she recognized one of the newcomers. “Flix? What are you doing here? What is going on?!”
Flix was about to explain when several explosions rung out, and three of the four observation towers collapsed to the ground.
“It’s already happening! No time! There’s no time!” Flix screeched as he grabbed onto the pony’s neck to drag her attention back to him. “Tell Lord Path that the House is under attack, and that I forgive him.”
The talons holding the squirming pony lit up again, and in a loud bang, the pony disappeared and Flix hit the ground in pain, holding his arm as it changed. While everyone watched, the skin ripped open as scales replaced it, the remnants of a griffon arm falling to the ground. Flix flexed the draconic arm, recovering from the pain.
“Flix… you are changing!” Ika gasped.
“You don’t control chaos magic, you request a vague result and it will yield... if feels like it. To outright command it carries a heavy price.”
Flix stood up with a growl and looked around. He could see the dull shine of leather and the occasional striped form lit up by the fires being created. The student barracks’ alarm started blaring, and the others soon joined in, but one thing he noticed was that they were on the far side of the compound, but the majority of the forces were heading toward the civilian staff dorms.
“They want to kill innocents!” He turned around to face the stunned and confused staff as he yelled in a voice much too loud for his body. “GO INTO YOUR HOMES, LOCK THE DOORS, AND DO NOT OPEN THEM!”
The civilians started screaming as they began to pile into their homes.
Flix started to laugh ironically. “Every House Path son and daughter has a trial by fire, and here I was trying to avoid it.” He looked toward his friends and allies. “Do not let them through! No innocents will die tonight!”
Orlonda and Ika looked at the hippogriff in awe. He had always been so carefree and relaxed. This was somebody new; this was somebody very different. They hoped that it would be enough until his family was able to come to the rescue.
There were some signs of resistance to the invaders. While most of the House Path warriors were with the Equestrian forces that were being led to war in Zebrica, the remaining youths and the teachers were not without ability. Surprise and great numbers were on the zebras’ side though. As Flix’s companions led the charge against the horde, the students with sufficient skills rallied behind them. The difference in experience was telling though, and if it wasn’t for the efforts of the foursome, the carnage would have been terrible. More than once, a life was saved at the last moment by the intervention of one of the four.
IkaIka fought with fluidity and grace. Orlonda was fired up by the energy of the passion and hopes of those she battled to protect. Mula reveled in fighting for a cause. However, Flix fought to protect precious life at whatever the cost. While he tried to use his weapons for the most part, more than once in desperation he directed chaos magic too specifically, and it rebounded on him. His right hind leg was the next limb to painfully morph into a match for his bunyip companion’s, making him collapse to the ground in agony. Blinking away tears of pain, he got back up and resumed the fight, only to eventually have to use chaos magic in the forbidden fashion once more. This time he gained a sea-pony’s tail, not only stabbing him with pain, but also throwing off his balance with its unfamiliar weight. Still he fought, but still the zebras came.
Flix ducked under a sword slash and bucked a zebra in the face, knocking him out and leaving him in a heap on the ground. He turned to see Orlonda close to him, fighting a zebra warrior with horn blasts, but Flix noticed a second zebra lunging at her with a spear. His eyes went wide with fear as he leaped at her. It was over so quickly, he didn’t have the time to knock the zebra out.
Orlonda heard a cry behind her. Whirling around, she saw Flix standing up above her with a spear coming partway out of his chest. She let out a scream of fury and blasted the zebra away.
Flix let out a loud screech as his eyes fogged over in pain. All of his companions formed up around him as the Zebra forces ignored the staff for the moment to deal with the four serious threats.
“This is bad. This is very bad! How are we going to win?!” IkaIka cried.
Flix grated out, “We don’t have to win… they just… have to lose.” He held up the claws of his dragon limb and they began to glow brightly. He coughed as he focused, blood starting to dribble out of his beak. “You lose... we win….” The chaos power erupted as the zebras lunged toward the four fighters.
# # #
Path, Carpacia, Shining Armor, and Free in alicorn form appeared in the sky over two miles above the compound. Path instantly fell, but he quickly took a proper freefall position. Free dived and caught him in his arms while the other two fliers matched his approach to the compound.
“Why did we appear so far off-course?!” Free yelled.
“They must have an anti-magic field up. That’s the only reason why the return crystal would–” Shining Armor was cut off as they saw a massive white flash over the staff quarters that lit up the night sky. For a moment, the entire compound was brilliantly illuminated, and then it was dark once more except for the normal lamps.
“What in Tartarus is going on?!” Carpacia yelled out as well.
Free was already gathering information from his drones on the compound. “A zebra attack… unknown number… something massive just happened in the staff area, and all contacts there were just lost!”
Carpacia changed her course for the compound. “Going to come in low and hot!” she declared.
Free and Shining followed suit as they shot toward the barracks where most of the visible fighting was occurring.
# # #
The last of the zebra warriors had been subdued, and Path, Free, Shining, and Carpacia finally found the opportunity to investigate the magic outburst that they had seen earlier. While they had started walking into the staff buildings cautiously, they quickly became completely confused by what they found. Everyone and everything was made out of stone – the buildings, the ground, all of the staff, and of course the zebras. In the center of it all, there were three figures with their backs to one other central figure. Path walked around and looked at the central figure.
“Flix... Oh, Flix, what have you done?” Path ran a hoof along his son’s side as he looked at the spear that went in through his back and out his chest.
The others watched as Path nuzzled his son’s cold stone face.
Eventually Carpacia spoke up. “My drones are reporting that the stone effect seems to be wearing off at the fringes.”
“Mine are telling me that everything is resuming its normal state,” Free said as he grabbed his comm. “We need all remaining forces to the staff housing now!” he bellowed into it.
# # #
Path was still pacing around the statues in the center of the square when Roseclaw joined him. She put a wing around her husband and drew him into a hug.
“He saved everyone, Rose,” Path said slowly. “Flix prevented so much innocent blood from being shed, and he only caused relatively few zebra’s deaths. The stone spell he set in motion wore off on everyone but him and those three around him. He’s a hero.”
Roseclaw said proudly, “Our son is a true warrior, and he has done great honor for our House. He did not fail us as we had failed him.”
Nobody noticed Discord when he appeared behind them until he spoke up. “The student has passed the test. He did what he had to do to create the best possible scenario. To save the ones who had shunned him, he has forever marked himself.”
“This is your type of magic, Discord. When will it wear off?” Path asked.
“Chaos magic is chaotic even to me. The best answer I can give you is that it will wear off when it wears off. To try and force it would be a very bad idea.”
“So Flix is now a statue with a spear though him, while his teammates stand guard around him for Celestia knows how long?”
Discord looked sternly at Path. “This is not the same as when the Elements of Harmony were used to turn me into stone and then undo it. This is caused by Chaos itself. Flix used chaos magic and demanded that it do something exactly. To ask such a thing carries a heavy cost, if it can be done at all. Notice how parts of him have changed? That won’t go away. How he is now is how he will always be. When the spell wears off in time – and it will – he will need somebody to help him. The first thing he will feel is a pain unlike anything you have ever felt, even when compared to when your mana channels were burned out.”
Path regarded Discord for a long moment. “You... are being very serious about this.”
Discord gave him a humorless smile. “My student sacrificed himself to save hundreds. He thought outside the box and passed his last test. I am very proud of him.” Discord let out a heavy sigh. “Looks like I will need to find a new student while my first one sleeps.” He then rolled over upon himself and spiraled away into nothingness.
# # #
A few minutes later, a flash of light filled the square, and several forms emerged from it and landed in a heap.
Destined threw his forelegs over his head to stop his skull from exploding, and he moaned, “Never again! Damn magic barrier!”
Blue scrambled to his hooves and looked about wildly, ready to fight the enemy, but saw nothing except his startled parents. “Where’s the battle?” he demanded.
Pif put a hoof around his neck, pulled him around to face her, and barked, “Stand down, Blue! My drones tell me that the battle with the zebras is over.”
Lucida groaned as she pulled herself from under Watchful and Citrine. “Now I know what a time-bounce feels like. Can’t say that I want to experience that again.”
“Tell me about it!” Destined said fervently, having decided that his head was not going to blow up after all.
Roseclaw stepped up to Blue, giving his new appearance a thorough looking over. She fixed him with a fierce glare and said sternly, “You have a lot of explaining to do, Mister!”
As his adrenalin high faded, Blue began to feel a touch of nervousness. “A-heh! Long story, Mama.”
# # # # # # # # #