//------------------------------// // Chapter One - The Chapter Where Everything Goes Wrong // Story: The Science of Magic // by cammerhammer //------------------------------// “Bon-Bon’s going to kill me.” Lyra’s gaze slid over the blackened front yard. There was a perfect circle of green grass about six hooves across, surrounded by a doughnut shaped trench. Outside the trench was a perfect ringed mound of dirt that rose up almost past her knee. The rest of the yard was a mixture of charred grass and soot, save for the place where Twilight shielded herself from the spell’s backlash. Twilight gaped at the patch of grass. “What did you do?” “I kind of modified the spell so I could use it.” “What do you mean, ‘modified’?” “Well, I kind of applied music theory to the summoning spell so I could actually use it. In order to use that spell, though, I had to kind of split it into a couple smaller spells that harmonized with each other.” Twilight stared, flabbergasted, at Lyra. “Do you mean to tell me that you fixed it with music?” “Fixed?” “That was my spell you were using,” Twilight said. “I hadn’t finished it yet, which is why I came over in the first place. I was trying to finish work on that spell, and I needed to alter some parts of it. That sheet of paper holds the spell itself, obviously, and I figured I had left it in one of the books I was using. The only book that wasn't accounted for was the one I lent out to you, so I guessed that it was in your book. "That spell wasn’t even working. It would summon the object, but the banishing part would fail horribly.” Lyra grew pale as she realized what Twilight was saying. Twilight continued on without notice. “Are you hurt?” Lyra’s coat was streaked with ash, and her mane looked like she had tried to face Luna’s Royal Canterlot Voice head-on. “I’m fine. I just need a moment to recover, that’s all.” “Maybe we should take you to the hospital, just in case.” “Seriously, I’m fine.” Lyra turned to her books and saddlebags and started to levitate them towards her when her magic fizzled out, dropping everything in her grasp. She frowned, then tried again. One of the books started flapping around her head like a bird, the other morphed into a mirror, and the saddlebags expanded until they were just as big as she was. Twilight cocked an eyebrow at her. “Having trouble with your magic? Here, let me help you.” Twilight turned to the book flying around Lyra’s head and cast a spell at it. The book dropped to the ground again and started barking and nipping at Lyra’s hooves. "Ouch! Hey, what was that for?” Twilight gave a perplexed stare at the aggressive book. “I don’t understand. That should have dispelled whatever you cast on it!” “I didn’t cast a spell on it! I just tried to pick it up." Twilight groaned and shook her head. “Come on, let’s go to the library. I’ll try to sort out all this.”   Celestia paced the floor as Luna stared resolutely at a half-played chessboard, pondering her next move. “Tia, I would appreciate it if thou wouldst hold yourself still whilst I take my turn,” Luna grouched at her sister. “I’m sorry, Luna. It’s just something has me feeling uneasy.” Luna slid her kingside rook closer to the center of the board. “Oh? And what would that be?” “I felt something chaotic stirring. It was in great pain, too, like a creature being tortured.” Celestia returned to her side of the chessboard, surveying the field with a mild satisfaction. She slid her queen over to take one of Luna’s knights, pausing to assure herself of the move. “Your move, my dear sister, and check.” “Are you concerned that Discord has returned so soon?” “That’s not possible. He was only imprisoned last year, and it was done by the rightful wielders of the Elements of Harmony. The enchantment is much stronger than it was last time, so it would take a powerful force indeed to break it. “No, I felt something even older than that. It was something weaker, yet more malevolent as well. I wonder...” Celestia pulled herself back to the present. “No. It couldn’t be. We made sure they would never again threaten us or our little ponies.” The lunar princess moved a pawn in the way of Celestia’s queen. “Could you enlighten me of your mental workings, my sister?” "Do you remember the altercation we had with that race of bipeds? I believe they were called ‘humans,’ if my memory serves me right.” "Ah, yes.” Luna’s expression darkened at the mention. “A violent race, if I recall. They fought to the last soul against us, even when all hope was lost. ‘Twas a shame that they pitted themselves so sorely against us. We had no quarrel with them.” The elder alicorn took on a pained expression. “I’m still haunted by guilt, even after all these centuries.” “We did what we had to do to protect ourselves and no more.” “I know.” Celestia moved her queen again so it once more put Luna in check.“I just had this wrenching feeling that one of those things had somehow made its way to our world. I’m not even sure if I should be concerned about this. After all, it’s just a feeling.” “I wouldn’t worry too much about this, Tia. After all, we have much more help on which to rely if something were to go afoul. After all, we now have both princesses, a Royal Guard and the Elements of Harmony to protect Equestria from mischief. Besides, I think your student Twilight would be the first one to let you know if something was amiss.” Luna grinned impishly as she took Celestia’s queen with a bishop. “And that, my sister, is checkmate.” “What? Nonsense, I can...” Celestia sentence derailed as she scowled at the board. “I don’t understand. How can you still beat me at this wretched game, Lulu?” "When you have a thousand years all to yourself, you have to fill up that free time with something, like playing yourself at chess.” Luna smirked at her fuming sister. “Don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll beat me eventually. Just don’t forget our little bet, Tia. No backing out this time.” "You are truly horrible, little sister.” A scroll materialized and dropped onto the chessboard. Celestia lifted it up and examined it, a smile spreading across her face. “Well, speak of the windigo; it’s Twilight. I wonder what she has gotten into this time.” Celestia unrolled the scroll and read the contents, her smile slowly being replaced with a mask of neutrality. She levitated a piece of paper, inkwell and quill to the table and quickly scribbled out a note before sending it back to Twilight. “What is it now, Tia?” “Apparently there has been an incident involving one of the Ponyville residents. It would appear that one of the unicorns there summoned some creature and it managed to somehow interfere with magical processes nearby. Twilight was with this other pony when the event occurred, and both of them have been having difficulty using their magic since then.” Luna blinked and tilted her head. “‘Some creature’? Sounds like quite a coincidence, if you were to ask of my opinion.” “I fear that they might have brought over one of those humans. You do remember how they were capable of twisting magic, don’t you?” “I don’t think it will be a permanent issue for them. If I recall correctly, the magic-subduing ability of humans wore off rather quickly.” Celestia nodded. “I know, but I want them to come over to the castle so we can give them a full checkup, just in case. Modern doctors will not know what to look for like we will, so I want to make sure for myself that they won’t suffer lasting effects.” Celestia called out to one of the guards posted outside the door to the princesses’ game room, “Lancer? Could you round up one of the pegasi chariot teams to collect Twilight Sparkle from her station in Ponyville? An urgent matter has come up that requires her attendance and that of a guest she will be bringing.” Luna cleared her throat. “Aren’t you forgetting something?” Celestia sighed. “And also, could you bring the small box from under my vanity?” Lancer furrowed his brow. “Did you lose to her again, Your Majesty?” “Yes.” “You should know better by now than to try and beat Luna at chess.” “Lancer...” The pegasus saluted. “Yes, ma’am, I’m on it.” He flew off before the solar princess could notice how close he was to bursting into laughter. One uneventful trip across town found Lyra and Twilight back at the library. Twilight quickly dictated a note to her teacher regarding the situation at hoof, having Spike send the letter as soon as it was written. Stripped of magic, the unicorns quickly found their options limited in terms of entertainment. “So, what do we do now?” Lyra meandered aimlessly through the library, looking for a book to pique her interest and failing miserably.             Twilight awkwardly nosed her way through a book as she returned, “Wait for Celestia to reply, I guess.”             “Fun.” Lyra tried to call up her magic, but felt it sputter out before she could even form a thought of what she wanted to do with it.         “You do know that spell wasn’t designed to transport living creatures, right?" Lyra looked back towards Twilight. “What do you mean?” “Most summoning spells are designed to carry inanimate objects. I designed that spell to be as efficient as possible, at the cost of less protection on the object.”         “Which means?”         “At the very least, whatever animal you summoned probably got burned or torn up pretty badly. The injury is also proportional to the distance traveled by the spell, so the farther away the summoned animal comes, the more it is injured during travel.”         Lyra felt her heart tighten. “Can you tell how far you took the item you were summoning?”         “Most spells don’t allow for that, but I added an awareness charm so I could tell whether to follow through with the summoning. After all, if you expend too much energy trying to cast a spell it could end up hurting or killing you.”         “So, what would happen if I tried to summon something that wasn’t in Equestria? Would I be able to tell where it came from?”         Twilight cast a suspicious glance towards the minty unicorn. “It depends on how far the spell had to search for the item in question. Why? What did you try to summon, anyway? It sounded pretty vicious.”         Lyra took a slow breath. “Well, I wanted to test the outer limits of the spell I found. It was really easy to cast since I could focus on the resonating bands of energy instead of on the spell itself, so I was looking for something challenging. I remembered reading something about a magically resilient creature and thought that would be a perfect subject.”         “And what was it?”         “It was something called a ‘human.’”         “What?!” Twilight leaped up and faced Lyra, inches from her muzzle. “You summoned one of those things here?!”         “What’s wrong? What’s so bad about it?”         “Didn’t you study them before trying to bring one here?”         “No?”         Twilight cantered over to a shelf and clumsily pulled a book out with her mouth before turning around and dropping it on the table. She grumbled about not being able to turn the pages fast enough before hollering for her assistant.         “Spike, can you help me please?”         The diminutive dragon came rushing down the stairs before saluting smartly. “At your service! How may I help you?”         “Can you turn this book to page 644?”         Spike narrowed his eyes and gave Twilight an are you kidding me look. “Why don’t you, you know, use your magic?”         Twilight shot a grumpy look at a suddenly guilty-looking Lyra before answering carefully, “We had some issues with a spell and now my magic isn’t working right. Look, just turn the pages for me.”         “Okay, okay, I will. Sheesh, you need to stop being so uptight, Twilight.”         Lyra trotted over to the other side of the table as Spike flipped through the book to the proper page. A picture of a two-legged creature in a loincloth filled the upper half of the page. “Hey, that kind of looks like the picture in my book!" “Humans were never a very common race. Seeing as they were nomadic and were quite violent towards each other, they never really took root anywhere long enough to form their own nation. “One thing that set them apart from most of the other races of animals was their nonmagical nature. In fact, they were capable of dampening the magic of other creatures. I haven’t found out how, but apparently the stronger ones were able to focus this ability to completely shut out the abilities of any magical race for a short period of time. Turn the page, Spike. “Obviously unicorns couldn’t perform spells. Pegasi couldn’t fly or stand on clouds. Earth ponies lost their dexterity and strength. One human in particular, Ganor the Strong, was legendary for being able to even cut off dragon fire. Well, this explains why we are having trouble with our magic.” Lyra looked troubled. “So what are we supposed to do, then?” Spike let out an enormous burp and a scroll materialized in the air above them. He snatched the scroll before it hit the table and unrolled it to read the message. “My dear student Twilight, I am sending a chariot to pick up you and your friend to be examined here in Canterlot so I can ensure that you are alright. If something has obstructed you from properly accessing your magic, we must make sure that it is only a temporary situation. A pony permanently drained of magic is not natural and can cause complications in the future if it isn’t taken care of quickly. The chariot should be at the library within two hours. Be ready to stay for a day or two. Although I’m glad I will get to see you again, I wish it were under better circumstances. Your mentor, Princess Celestia.” Spike rolled up the scroll and placed it in Twilight’s “messages from Celestia” box as Twilight jumped up and started pacing the room. “It must be really bad if the Princess needs to see us! What if I never get my magic back? What if I lose my cutie mark because of it? Will the Princess decide I can’t be her student anymore? Will I stop being an Element of Harmony? I guess I couldn’t be the Element of Magic if I can’t do magic. Will I be disowned? I can’t be disowned! I don’t know where I would go! I have no—” “Twilight!” “What, Spike?!” “If it was really that bad, the princess would already be on her way over to see us. I’m sure she is just taking some precautions.” Twilight slowed down, eventually plopping back down on the bench. “I guess you’re right, Spike. I shouldn’t overreact over this.” Twilight took a few deep breaths to collect herself, then looked up at the clock to get her bearings. “Okay, the chariot should be here around four-ish. Are you coming with us, Spike?” “Sorry. I can’t. I promised Rarity I would help her hunt for gems tomorrow.” “So, I’m supposed to leave you here for two to three days, unattended?” Spike fidgeted uncomfortably where he stood. “Of course not...” “Oh, really?” “You could let me stay with Rarity.” “I highly, highly doubt that Rarity would be okay with that. If you are going to stay in Ponyville, I’m going to leave you with Fluttershy.” Spike wilted. “Okay.” Twilight turned to Lyra. “Is there anything we need to get from your house?” “I don’t think so. We brought my saddlebag over and I already had most of the stuff I would need anyway in there. Do you think it has shrunk back to normal size yet?” “I hope so. I almost broke my back trying to pull it here without magic.” “Let’s check on it.” Lyra trotted to the front window and looked outside. “It’s still big, but not as much as it was before. I think it’s gradually shrinking. Should we check on the book?” Twilight cast a glance to a locked chest that was thumping quietly in the corner. “I think we should give it another hour.” “Agreed.” “Twilight, my faithful student, it’s good to see you again.” Celestia walked with Twilight and Lyra down a corridor within the Canterlot castle. Lyra had spent the entire trip to Canterlot on pins and needles, worried that the punishment for summoning a potentially dangerous creature to Equestria would involve copious amounts of prison time or removal of her horn. Fortunately, her meeting with Celestia had banished such worries with extreme prejudice. The princess was more than understanding of the situation, quickly alleviating Lyra's fears. Celestia turned to Lyra to properly greet her, formalities being forgotten until this point. "So, you must be Lyra Heartstrings, the one responsible for the stapler. It’s nice to finally meet you.” Lyra blushed furiously. “Seriously, does everypony know about that?!” “Well, it did show up in the middle of my meeting about import tariffs.”     “What do you mean?” Twilight nudged Lyra. “You know how the stapler sneaked up on Spike, and he shot a stream of fire at it when it surprised him?” “Yeah?” “Didn’t you wonder where it went to after Spike breathed on it?” Lyra scuffed the floor with a hoof. “I assumed that it was burned up by Spike.” Celestia gave a gentle laugh and responded, “No, I taught Spike how to use dragon fire to send messages to me. If he completely engulfs an object with flames, it is sent to me instead of being incinerated. So, when he shot fire at the stapler, I ended up getting it in the middle of a meeting.” Lyra felt like hiding in a hole. “Oh. I’m sorry.”     “Oh, it’s quite alright. That was the best surprise I think I have received in the last century. Morning Star still refuses to sit within fifteen hooflengths of me at meetings in case I get another malevolent office supply sent to me. Luna actually kept it as a pet.” Twilight did a double-take, quickly scanning the area around them, as if she feared it would jump at them from behind a corner. “Wait, do you mean to tell me that you kept that thing around here?” Celestia nodded. “Why not? Once Luna calmed it down, it was really kind of cute, in an odd way. All you need to do is feed it staples every so often and it stays pretty happy.” Lyra cleared her throat and quickly changed the subject. “So, princess, what did you need us here for again?” Celestia's smile withered away. "Well, I need to make sure that you two are okay. Anything that causes a pony to be unable to use magic is a serious matter. We will check up on your state of being personally just to be on the safe side." "'We'?" Twilight replied. "My sister and I." Celestia guided them into a small door that lead to an examination room. "And here we are." Twilight and Lyra looked around the room. It was the same boring white of all examination rooms, with a stainless steel table and a small counter and cupboard. Next to the table stood Luna, examining a clipboard and wearing a lab coat. "What in Equestria are you wearing, sister?" "Well, we are performing a medical service to these two. Should we not dress the part?" Luna magicked away the clipboard and turned towards the group gathered at the door. "So, should we get started? The sooner the better, correct?" "Indeed. Okay, Twilight, on the table you go." Twilight clambered onto the table and knelt down on the cold metal. "Couldn't you have heated the table first?" "Thine comfort ranks far lower than thine safety, Twilight." Luna waved her horn at the door, closing it and activating the lights within the room. "This might feel a little odd." The princesses flared their horns in unison and encased Twilight in a silvery spherical blob of magic. The spell lasted for several seconds before abruptly stopping. Celestia winced and shook her head as Luna staggered back. "What happened?" Twilight queried. "What's wrong?" Celestia turned to the green mare who was trying her best to turn herself invisible with her nonfunctioning magic. "Lyra, what did you summon? You didn’t tell me when we talked about it before." Lyra bit her lip. "I summoned a human, okay?! I didn't know it was going to work, or that we would lose our magic because of it, or that humans were so dangerous!" She turned around and sat facing the corner. "I'm sorry. I messed it all up, again." Celestia opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the sight of her sister shaking her head. Luna took a deep breath and trotted over to the distraught unicorn. "We—I understand what it is like to feel as though you have utterly ruined everything," she began uncertainly. "Don't feel as though it is all for naught. No matter how bleak it seems, it is never truly hopeless. Don't despair, young one. Neither Twilight's magic nor yours is gone for good." Lyra perked up, almost imperceptibly. "It isn't?" "Nay. The sorcery of humans is short-lived at best. Your magic should be back in full force within a day or two." Twilight slid herself off the table. "Princess Celestia, how is it that they can take away our magic?" "I am not sure," the white alicorn sighed. "What we do know is that the strength of their anti-magic was linked to the emotion they were feeling. The more distraught a human was, the more powerful the effect and range of their anti-magic. Lyra, how did you manage to bring the creature here? Their very nature cancels out many spell effects on them. It must have been a powerful spell you used." "Not at all, princess. I guess Twilight had been working on the spell, and I used it to practice because the strands of magical energy harmonized within the spell itself. My special talent is music, so I'm really good at things like resonance and harmonics." "Interesting. Of course, now we have to deal with the issue of this thing loose in Equestria." "No, we don't." "I beg your pardon?" "I sent the human back. The spell was designed to banish something after summoning it. I have no idea how the spell would be useful, but it worked well enough to get rid of the human. I just wanted to test how good the spell was and I didn't want to get stuck taking care of the thing afterwards." "That takes care of that problem," said Celestia, stunned. "You apparently are better at magic than you let on." An enormous rumbling shook the castle, throwing the group of ponies to the ground. "What's going on?!" shouted Lyra, trying to make herself heard above the noise. Luna winced and staggered towards the door. "I have felt this magic before. A certain draconequus has decided to grace us with his presence." "Not again..." Twilight snorted in exasperation. "How did he get out?" Discord gazed mirthfully upon the floating castle, recently disconnected from the mountain it was anchored to. "Ahh, it's good to be back." A stick popped into his outstretched paw, which he used to rub vigorously on a spot on his back. "Finally, sweet relief. And now the real fun begins. Oh, Celestia! Luna! I know you are hiding in there! Come on out! I even have some cotton candy clouds for you to enjoy!" The mismatched creature floated down into the garden just outside the castle where he set a tea party table, complete with dancing silverware. He sipped chocolate milk from one of the teacups as Solar Princess and Co. burst into the courtyard. "Yoohoo! Over here!" "Discord, thou heinous rogue!" "Ah, the Princess of the Night. It's nice that you are actually awake for my takeover this time." "Thou truly art a villainous blackguard! Cease your games instantly!" "Oh, Luna, you always were too serious. I thought that you would have stopped using the old speech by now, but I guess it is hard to change how you talk after a thousand years of being stuck with only your voice to hear." "Aaaaaaaaaaaaargh!" Luna charged him, horn down and ready to blast him with magic. With a contemptuous wave of his claw, the princess blinked out of sight. "Now, where were we?" Celestia's eye twitched. Discord himself only knew a few things that set Celestia off. Messing with her little sister was one of them. "Give. Luna. Back," Celestia seethed through clenched teeth. "Now, Tia, you know that isn't how I work." Discord took another sip of chocolate milk. "If you want your precious sister back, you'll have to complete a little challenge of mine." Back in the place where sat your first throne, Is the location of where I was first turned to stone To regain a loved one that is once again lost, The pony of Magic must—” Discord was abruptly cut off as his face was batted in by a hovering lyre. I'm so dead. I'm so very, very dead. Lyra quailed at the sight of the mismatched beast she had just assaulted with her lyre. Her beloved instrument still hovered in her shaky magical grip as Discord rubbed the side of his head. As she closed her eyes, waiting for the worst, Lyra realized that Discord was laughing. "Oh, you ponies really are too much! I might have to keep this one around for later!" "You want me to stick around with you?" Lyra couldn't help but stare incredulously at the spirit of Chaos for his unexpected response to being bludgeoned with her lyre. "But of course. What good is a little chaos without others to revel in it with me?" "I think I would rather be eaten by parasprites." "Oh, come now, is that any way to talk to your new ruler? After all you did to free me, no less?" Twilight narrowed her eyes. "What are you talking about? We just got here." "Oh, come now, Twilight. Both of you are tainted with the same kind of magic that broke through my prison. This one here—" Discord gestured to Lyra "—is practically coated with it. Discord turned to Lyra again, putting all his focus on her. He bent down so that all she could see were his eyes. "You might as well join up with me, you know. Everyone will hate you for releasing me again." Lyra felt her resolve weaken. This is all my fault. I should just give up and accept the inevitable. She looked over to Twilight and Celestia, both of them standing firm beside her. No. If they can stand against him, so will I! Lyra tightened her grip on her lyre, pulling it back to hit Discord again with it. "Eat brass, funny-face!"         The chaos god heaved a mock sigh of disappointment. "I was so hoping for your willing cooperation. No matter, I can always make you join me." With that, he slithered up to the unicorn and placed a finger on her forehead. Lyra froze in place, feeling all her resolve being twisted and her thoughts bent into dark and unfamiliar shape. What's going on? Unexpectedly, though, the mind magic was undone by an unknown force. With a rush, she felt something pouring into her body that burned like fire and tingled like electricity. She let out an unearthly shriek as she felt herself being consumed by the rush of energy, losing consciousness before she even hit the ground. Discord chuckled internally as he watched the dawning moment of comprehension spread across Twilight's face as he placed his paw upon Lyra's head. There was nothing like bending one's will to your own. Then it all fell apart. He felt his magic being overcome, then turned against. With that, it suddenly clicked into place. He knew what had set him free and what was happening. He had experienced it once before when he was much younger. It was the most terrifying experience of his life. This time, though, it was being specifically channeled elsewhere. His magic was being stolen from him. All that was Discord was being taken away. The draconequus let out a feeble yelp as he tried to break the flow of energy, but it was too late. With a strangled gasp, his shrinking body collapsed on the ground. Twilight quickly ran forward to drag the unconscious mare in front of him to safety. It was secondary information to him, though, as a pastel mane filled his vision. He shivered as Celestia's form towered over him, her eyes glowing with all the fury and magical strength of the sun itself. "You will regret coming back."