//------------------------------// // 14. Neither a Borrower nor a Lender Be // Story: Inevitabilities // by Sharp Quill //------------------------------// “Do you have to tell him?” The quivering filly, her ears flattened against her head, tugged at Meg’s heart. Her niece had the pony body language down cold, not that it was a conscious choice. She wanted to say “no.” It would make her life so much easier to keep her brother Matt in the dark. She needed this like she needed a hole in her head. Hopefully, the draconequus would refrain from giving her one of those too. “Discord, we need to talk. Now.” Not waiting for a response, she turned around and launched into the air, rising above the apple trees. Either he’d follow or he wouldn’t; there wasn’t much she could say in front of the fillies if he didn’t. After climbing a few hundred feet, she paused and looked around. He was nowhere to be seen. “So that’s how you want to play it?” she muttered. That left only one option: take Susie to Twilight and have her turn her back. Meg began her descent and crashed into a cloud that appeared out of nowhere—a cotton candy cloud. She got back up on her hooves and spit out a wad of cotton candy; though drenched in chocolate milk, it hadn’t dissolved. “I’m really not in the mood for this,” she said, glaring daggers at Discord. He tore off a chunk of cloud, raised it above his mouth, and squeezed out chocolate milk. After wiping his mouth with his lion’s paw, he said, “Oh, come now. You of all people know how harmless it is to turn a human into a pony.” “That’s not the point! That option was considered and rejected by her father. What am I supposed to tell him?” He shrugged. “That his daughter disobeyed his wishes?” “That isn’t—” She groaned. “Fine. Let’s start at the beginning. Please?” “Since you asked nicely…” He was now sitting in a reclining chair, holding a glass of ever swirling layers of multicolored whatever that refused to mix. “The Crusaders—I am never ceased to be amazed by their chaotic potential—it helped me escape my stone prison, did you know that?” He smacked his head. “Right, of course you did.” He took a sip, and the beverage obliged by turning into swirling polkadots within a translucent teal fluid. “Anyway. They wanted to help Susie find her cutie mark, and they weren’t going to let a little thing like the fact that humans can’t get one to get in their way, so—” “So, you decided to lend a helping hand.” He licked at the glass as if it were a popsicle, melting it away; the beverage inside remained in place, rejecting its newfound freedom. “How could I not? The chaotic potential was off the charts!” Meg’s glare hardened. “Susie can’t get a cutie mark without being magical, and being coupled to the magical field is permanent. The whole destiny thing? That’s why ponification was unacceptable.” He was tossing the now glass-free yet still glass-shaped fluid back and forth between talon and paw. “Do I look like a harmonious Element of Magic to you?” “Wait. You didn’t make her magical?” “Well, I did lend her a teensy tiny portion—infinitesimal, really—of my own magic so she could fly. Sort of… she’s still rather young.” “Wasn’t that a cheap trick to play on the Crusaders?” “But they get so much enjoyment out of it! How could I deny my—” “Hold on. Did you say ‘lend’ your magic? As in, how you lent your magic to Tirek when he thought he took it?” The glass-shaped blob of polka-dotted fluid froze in mid-air. In a flash all his props disappeared. Well, I sure got his attention now. “You’ve been talking to him.” It wasn’t a question. Meg nodded. “A few hours ago.” “Does Twilight know?” “No. She wasn’t present at the time.” “I’d very much appreciate it if you didn’t tell her.” Not that anything would prevent Tirek from telling her himself, if he was so inclined. “Why? You obviously gave him just enough to make their fight end in a draw.” “One-sided fights are rather boring, wouldn’t you agree?” He hadn’t resumed his chaotic fidgeting. “Besides, everything turned out okay in the end.” Meg couldn’t argue with that; indeed, it was how the Mane Six acquired their Rainbow Powers and Twilight her castle. That seemed… too pat. Something wasn’t adding up, but clearly Discord had no intention of elaborating. “Did you know Tirek was originally human?” Discord stroked his goatee. “Odd he would mention that,” he said. “He thought knowledge of his true origins would hurt his image.” “He wants to return to his homeland back on Earth, to be human again. You’re one of the reasons why, apparently.” He waved it off with a paw. “Good riddance, I say. You won’t see me stand in his way.” “Do you know how he came to this realm and got turned into a centaur?” “I had nothing to do with him becoming a centaur; I hadn’t even met him yet.” Which only begged the question. But if he didn’t want to properly answer it, her efforts were better spent elsewhere. It was time for the million bit question: “Do you know how he escaped from Tartarus a few years ago?” He put talon and paw on his sides. “I was a stone statue at the time, in case you forgot.” “That didn’t stop you from following what was happening on my world during that time.” “My, my, how the centuries fly by.” He looked at a sundial on his wrist, shook it, then looked at it again. “Nope, looks like they haven’t.” He gave her a patronizing smile as the timepiece sloppily melted off his wrist. “You’re still too young to know about such things.” This was getting nowhere. With a sigh, she tried a different tack. “Changing the subject back to Susie… Will she now transform between human and pony each time she crosses over?” If there was any hope of keeping this a secret from her father… “She’s not a proper, magical pony, so no, she won’t.” A chirping bird emerged from a full-sized cuckoo clock that now adorned his wrist. “Will you look at that? I’m going to be late for my next appointment.” Before Meg could say anything, Discord was gone. The cotton candy cloud beneath her vanished. Her wings shot out on instinct, arresting her fall. “A little warning would be nice!” There was no reply, of course, much less an apology. She looked down at the clubhouse, barely visible under its tree. Now what? She wasn’t inclined to tell Matt. It just wasn’t worth the aggravation, and as it looked like no harm had been done, by any reasonable definition of “harm”… So do I take her to Twilight now, or later? She exhaled. Everything had been going so smoothly for most of the past year. Why did it all have to go to hell now? Screw it. She began her descent. Susie was already a pony; remaining one for a few more hours wouldn’t make a difference. She might as well get the most out of the experience. The only real deadline was her parents’ next visit that evening. Obviously, Twilight would change her back before fetching them. Upon reaching the clubhouse, she stood in the doorway. The Crusaders were standing around an unsteadily hovering Susie, offering feedback on her performance. It wasn’t that great, but neither had been her own flying that first day as a pony. Whether that was a valid comparison was a good question; not only was Susie quite young, she wasn’t hovering on her own magic. “Where’s Discord?” Apple Bloom asked, having noticed her presence. Meg stepped inside. “He… had other business to take care of.” “Are we in trouble?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Look, just don’t mention this to her parents, okay? I guarantee you’ll be in trouble if you do.” “So we can keep on trying to find her cutie mark?” They were all so eager for her to say yes. Why did she have to be the bearer of bad news? “I hate to break it to you, but Discord hadn’t been completely upfront. Susie cannot get a cutie mark.” She looked at her niece, so joyful in her hovering. “I’m sorry, Susie, but you are not magical. Only the Element of Magic can change that.” “But she’s flying,” Scootaloo objected. “That’s magic on loan from Discord. It lets her do all the usual pegasus stuff, I’m guessing, but it won’t let her get a cutie mark.” “Oh,” a dejected Apple Bloom said. “Well, it was worth a try.” “How long can I keep this magic?” Susie asked, ears fully flattened. That was a good question. “I honestly don’t know.” Meg tilted her head up into the air and with raised voice said, “Hopefully until she becomes human again.” She then added, “And not a second longer.” “Can he still hear us?” Susie asked. “I don’t know,” she said, not sure if she really even cared. “I’ve seen Twilight do that, for what it’s worth. And speaking of Twilight, let’s go see her and have her check you out. She’ll need to change you back before she fetches your parents, anyway.” “But I wanna remain a pony! Can’t it wait until they come?” “I’ll decide that after Twilight checks you out.” Meg turned around and started walking. “Let’s go.” “Can we fly there?” She stopped and turned around. She had planned on flying there, but there was no way Susie could fly that far. Trotting that far wasn’t much better. There was no other good option. “Get on.” Susie fluttered over. “You’re really letting me ride you?” “You’re a lot smaller right now, so don’t get used to it.” She’d seen enough pegasi carry their foals this way, so she knew it was doable. “Put your front hooves ahead of my wings.” Susie plopped down on her back, knocking the breath out of her; the filly definitely lacked fine control. Meg walked outside and spread her wings. “Ready?” “Uh huh.” “Hold on tight.” With a downward thrust of her wings, she leaped into the air. Susie squeed with excitement. She was also squeezing her for dear life, fortunately not enough to impede breathing. It was reassuring in its own way; she just knew that unless she did something really stupid, her niece would not fall off. Up through the canopy they flew, into the open sky above the rows of apple trees. “Is that Twilight’s castle?” Susie asked once it came into view over the hills. “It sure is,” Meg said. “And that’s Ponyville, and over there on top of that mountain is Canterlot.” Due to the surrounding hills, none of that had been visible from the homestead. “Can we go there and see Princess Celestia?” “I’m afraid not, Susie. The princess is very busy running Equestria. We can’t just drop in unexpected.” Not without a good excuse, like, say, a human child being turned into a pony via chaos magic. But she’d leave that up to Twilight’s discretion. “Oh.” Ponyville unfolded before them as they flew over the final hill separating the town from Sweet Apple Acres. Meg tuned out Susie’s running commentary of the familiar buildings she was spotting. A familiar rainbow contrail shot across the sky in front of them. It turned towards them. “Look who’s coming, Susie.” “Rainbow Dash!” The prismatic pegasus matched velocities and came up alongside them. “Hiya squirt,” she said, flying sideways. Meg still had no clue how she did that. “Who’s the filly?” Dash asked. “My niece, Susie,” Meg said, preparing for the inevitable followup questions. “Huh? I thought Twilight wasn’t going to do that.” Dash scrunched her muzzle. “And without the rest of us?” “She didn’t. Discord did.” “Seriously?” Dash noticed where they were headed. “I’ll fly ahead and give her a heads-up.” The fastest pegasus in Equestria was replaced by a rainbow stretching all the way to the castle. Susie’s eyes went wide. “Wow…” “You had no idea he was originally human?” Twilight asked. Spike returned from the kitchen and set a plate, bearing two teacups, on the table in the middle of the library. Celestia helped herself to one before replying. “No. When I had first encountered him, he claimed to be the last of his kind. There was no reason to doubt that claim; centaurs had never been numerous, nor have I ever seen or heard of another.” Twilight put down her own teacup. “I don’t know what to do. Letting him go free seems wrong, but how many centuries of imprisonment is right? On the other hoof, he’ll be a powerless human in another realm, a realm that has changed unimaginably since he’d left it. He’ll no longer be a threat to anypony.” She averted her eyes. “And he’ll grow old and… pass on. And that will be that.” Celestia gave her former pupil a gentle smile. “Problems often lack ideal solutions.” Her smile turned into a pained frown. “Often, you must accept that and go with the least bad solution you can find.” Twilight met her eyes. Like your first solution for Nightmare Moon. “If he had, somehow, stumbled upon a portal,” Celestia said, changing the subject, “I wonder how he planned—” Rainbow Dash burst into the room. “Twilight! Discord changed—oh, uh, hi, Princess.” “Please continue, Rainbow Dash. What did Discord change?” “Uh, right… Discord changed Susie into a pony. Meg’s bringing her here right now. They’ll be here any minute.” “You gotta be kidding me.” Twilight tried to rub out a growing headache. “I’m sorry, Celestia, but I’m afraid this takes priority.” “I quite understand. I’m curious myself as to what has happened.” Celestia addressed Rainbow Dash. “Could you guide them to us?” “On it.” The prismatic pegasus was gone. “As I was saying, I wonder how he planned on becoming human again, if he could return to his realm. He must know that a centaur cannot survive long without magic.” “The innate centaur breathing magic,” Twilight surmised, happy to take her mind off of Discord for the moment. “It was rather obvious, to my magical senses anyway.” “Maybe if we knew how he became a centaur in the first place?” Spike asked. “He’d be happy to tell us,” Twilight said, “if we agreed to his terms.” She waved it away. “Not that it really matters. I can turn him back into a human regardless.” Sounds of approaching pegasi drifted in through the doors, including those of an over-stimulated filly. With a distinct lack of enthusiasm, Twilight said, “Let’s see what game Discord’s playing now.” Before long, Rainbow Dash returned. Meg, entering the library right behind her, landed in front of the princesses. The unfamiliar pegasus filly on her back went wide-eyed at seeing the Princess of the Sun. “Hello, my little pony.” Celestia giggled. “Well, ‘little pony,’ anyway. You must be Susie.” Susie nodded, mouth hanging open. “Could you scan her, make sure there’s nothing, I dunno—” “Say no more.” Twilight got up off her cushion and walked towards them. “When Discord’s involved, it never hurts to be extra vigilant.” Susie looked like a normal enough pegasus. She grasped the filly in her magic and lifted her off of her aunt. Susie squirmed at the unfamiliar sensations. “Please be still,” Twilight said. “This won’t hurt.” Scanning her, there didn’t seem to be anything physically unusual. Twilight then scanned for innate magic; as the Element of Magic hadn’t been used on her, she ought to be devoid of magic. “That’s odd.” There was magic, and plenty of it. It superficially looked like innate pegasus magic, but… “She’s full of chaos magic masquerading as pegasus magic.” “Discord did say he lent her some of his magic so that she could properly function as a pegasus,” Meg said. “I don’t know for how long. Would that get in the way of turning her human again?” “Don’t turn me back,” Susie protested. “Meg said it was okay.” Twilight turned to Meg with raised eyebrow. “That’s not exactly what I said, but—” she exhaled “—close enough. I figured the damage is already done. It wouldn’t hurt for her to remain a pony until you fetch her parents. That way, I can give her a tour of the town. Unless you see a reason to change her back now. And please don’t tell Matt what happened.” No, her brother would not be happy at this turn of events, not in the slightest. “I don’t see any obvious reason to change her back right this second.” Celestia had joined Twilight, standing beside her. “I’d like to scan her too.” Meg shrugged. “A second opinion wouldn’t hurt.” “Can you hover?” Celestia asked the filly. “Uh huh.” “Twilight, please release her—slowly.” Susie extended her wings and began flapping, taking up the slack as Twilight released her. A yellowish glow engulfed the filly as Celestia began her scan. Rainbow Dash also came closer, the better to study Susie’s technique. A few seconds later, the glow subsided. “Quite fascinating. I did not know Discord could do this.” “She’s hovering about as well as I’d expect for a filly her age,” Dash said. “I agree,” Celestia said. “Can you stand on a cloud, Susie?” “I don’t know.” “Let’s find out.” The diarch’s horn glowed, and a small cloud grew in the library, only a few feet off the floor. “Please fly over to this cloud and try to land on it.” Susie unsteadily fluttered up and over to the cloud, then slowly lowered herself. She touched the cloud, tested it, and folded her wings. “I did it!” Rainbow Dash landed next to her on the cloud. “You sure did! How would you like a quick flying lesson?” “Really?” “Don’t go too far,” Meg said. “I’ll take her up to the balcony. You can keep yourselves occupied talking about stuff until we come back.” “That’s a good idea,” Twilight said. And it was a good idea. Susie did not need to hear what needed to be discussed. “Follow me, Susie.” Rainbow Dash lifted off the cloud and slowly made her way out of the library, with Susie doing her best to keep up. Once they were out of sight, Celestia broke the silence. “I see no reason for concern. I detected nothing that would interfere with the undoing of her transformation. As for Discord’s magical assistance, it is tied to her pony form; it will end on its own once she’s returned to her proper form.” “That’s my conclusion, too,” Twilight said. “That still leaves the question of why he did it.” Meg rolled her eyes. “That he was happy enough to tell me. Basically, the Crusaders wanted to help Susie find her cutie mark, that required she’d be a pony, and Discord decided to make that happen—because the quote-unquote chaotic potential was off the charts.” “But she still couldn’t get a cutie mark,” Twilight said. “He decided to leave out that detail, as it would ruin the Crusaders’ fun. He has a soft spot for them. Go figure.” “Can’t imagine why,” Twilight said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “Anyway, it sounds like Discord was just being Discord. No real harm done.” Meg gave her a sharp look. “So long as Matt doesn’t find out.” “The chaotic potential may well be ‘off the charts,’” Celestia said, “but we need not help that potential be realized.” Regardless, something like this should have been foreseen. All too evident was Discord’s interest in humans who came to Equestria, starting with the very first two—the first two in modern Equestria, anyway. But who’s to say his interest wasn’t as ancient as this realm? Which brought Twilight’s thoughts back to Tirek. “Did the subject of Tirek happen to come up while you were chatting with him?” Meg’s wings twitched a bit. “Yes. On Tirek’s interest in returning to my world, he said ‘good riddance.’ He wouldn’t stop him. On Tirek’s human origins, he knew, but he was already a centaur when they first met.” Her wings shuffled some more. “I got the impression he knew more than he was letting on.” Twilight couldn’t help feeling the same about Meg, though what she could possibly be hiding baffled her. “Do you think your leaders will take him?” Celestia asked. Meg shrugged. “I don’t know. It would certainly help if he was willing to share his knowledge of the ancient world. But he could also be perceived as the archvillain, a problem you’re dumping on us, so… like I said, I don’t know.” Spike placed a plate full of snacks on the table. “What if he told them how he got to Equestria? Wouldn’t humans use that to come here?” “You’d better believe it,” Meg said, “if it still exists. Which it doesn’t—not according to Tirek.” Celestia picked out a pastry and lifted it in her magic. “If it existed once, it could exist again.” “Why wouldn’t magic pour through this hypothetical portal, as had happened with the doll?” Twilight asked. “Obviously, that hadn’t happened.” Celestia smiled. “If we knew the answer to that, I imagine much would be explained.” Meg suddenly looked up. “Do you still plan on going back in time to see how my doll got bound to that leak?” Recent events had pushed that project to the side, it was true, but in light of this… “Absolutely,” Twilight said. “Perhaps it’s even connected.” “I want to come along,” Meg said. “I know I’d be more of hindrance than a help, but that… that event has turned my life upside-down. I want to see for myself what caused it.” Bringing her along—and Steve, with his special talent—had always been an option. “I’ll keep that in mind, but I can’t make any promises.” “That’s all I can ask for.” The pegasus got up off her cushion. “I’d like to go check up on Susie, if that’s okay.” “By all means,” Celestia said with warmth. Meg stepped outside onto the large balcony. Susie was over a cloud struggling to make figure eights. Rainbow Dash must have fetched it from the sky to cover the unforgiving crystalline floor. “That’s it… lean into the curve… that’s it… now try to go a bit faster…” She didn’t want to interrupt them. Susie was having too much fun. Her niece seemed to have better control of her pegasi—no, borrowed—magic than she herself had had in her first few hours. It must have been one of the advantages of using borrowed chaos magic. Susie noticed her aunt’s presence, lost control, and tumbled into the cloud. She got back up on her hooves, unharmed. “Meg! Can I be a pony again after my parents go home?” There had to be some way to let her down easy. “I don’t know, Susie. That’s up to Discord, and he’s not known for his… consistency?” Rainbow Dash snorted. “I’ll say.” “Can’t Twilight make me a pony again?” “Well, yes, but she can’t give you magic, not like Discord can. If she did make you magical, like how she made me magical… your father would be mad—really mad. And without magic, you can’t fly.” Susie pouted. “It’s not fair!” “Life isn’t always fair.” Meg nuzzled her. “Enjoy this while you can. When I come back, I’ll take you to Sugarcube Corner. How does that sound?” She could use another cinnamon and daisy swirl vanilla shake herself. “Something with flowers in it?” “Only if Rainbow Dash gives you a passing grade.” She flew away, not giving her a chance to negotiate. “I’ll be back in a bit,” she yelled back. Meg didn’t have any particular destination in mind; she simply wasn’t ready to return to the princesses just yet. Would the ‘Discord’ solution satisfy her brother? It did address his strongest objection. That his daughter was subject to the whims of a chaos spirit, reformed or not… And who knew if he’d lend his magic again in the future—Discord himself might not even know. She was flying a big circle around Ponyville, over the farms that encircled the rural town. Something caught her eye as she passed over a road heading into the north side of town: a lone wagon, pulled by a single, blue pony. There was something familiar about it. “Right, Las Pegasus,” she said to herself once it clicked. The royal courier must have reached her and delivered Twilight’s message. It was Trixie.