//------------------------------// // Chapter 14 – Chaos Theory // Story: Infinity Era // by JDPrime22 //------------------------------// 14 Milky Way Galaxy Equus Canterlot, Equestria Canterlot Castle Hours Before the Invasion It was the dead of night in Celestia’s and Luna’s throne room when Discord and Princess Luna appeared in a flash. By then, Celestia was already pacing through the empty room, muttering empty assurances to herself. She lifted her gaze from the marble floor and focused on the duo approach rather quickly. “Celestia!” Luna cried, basically collapsing into her older sister’s embrace. “Oh, Luna,” Celestia breathed, pressing her neck deeper into Luna’s mane, furthering the warm nuzzle between them. Discord made sure to hack into the nearest brown paper bag he conjured up at their overly-affectionate ways. The sisters broke away, Celestia’s hoof pressed firmly on Luna’s shoulder. “Excellent work. And the moons?” “The largest chunks have been dealt with. They will remain where they are. The smaller pieces of debris will burn up before they even reach the surface of the two planets,” Luna explained. That earned a sigh of relief and a growing smile out of the Princess of the Sun. “Excellent,” she said, turning to their guest Luna brought. He tapped his cloven hoof on the marble floor impatiently, yawning to himself. Celestia took a step forward, passing her sister. “Discord… I would wish to understand this phenomenon—” Finally reacting to his name, Discord rolled his eyes. “Oh, you and your former pupil are both the same. I also would wish to understand, because it’s beyond my understanding.” That was… news to Celestia. And Luna. At the very least, they thought the alien world was just a prank taken too far, or an optical allusion created by Discord just to get some more merriment out of terrifying Ponyville’s citizens. But seeing his expression, seeing the dead and serious look in his twisted eyes, they both somehow knew he was telling the truth. Somehow. Which meant the alien world was as real as ever. Celestia nodded, straightening herself. “Very well. And the alien planet…?” she asked, urging Discord on the information he most likely already knew. Discord crossed his arms. “It’s Earth,” he plainly stated. “The same that Princess Twilight and her friends…?” Luna asked, pausing as she came up to her sister’s right. Discord nodded to her. To them both. “The very same,” he said. Noticing the lack of humor in his tone, Celestia growled and looked away, knowing it to be true. “This can’t be a coincidence,” she said, muttering to the floor, but speaking loud enough so Discord and Luna weren’t tossed aside from the conversation. “Something has brought our worlds together for reasons we still don’t understand. I have already received reports from Hippogriffia of rising tides, ponies floating from the ground in Manehattan, and widespread fear over the loss of Luna’s…” And she stopped. She didn’t want to bring up the recent travesty, or bring up her gaze, but she failed at both. Luna’s eyes hardened, a painful look in each that she couldn’t help to resist. Celestia couldn’t blame her. For as long as they have been alive, raising the sun and raising the moon were tasks that each sister took with great pride. They did so for many years, and even when Luna was banished on the same moon, she somehow still loved and appreciated the gift she was given. She cared for the moon more so than she did for anypony else, minus her sister. Losing it… was like losing a part of herself. Now, she could only let the gravity of the two worlds move her moon, lest she risk bringing the shattered pieces away from their safe location and towards the planets. The devastation it would cause… Luna completely understood her circumstances, but she couldn’t completely hide her emotions. “If I may intervene for a moment…?” Both sisters broke away and returned their gazes to Discord, who stood with a raised talon. The two nodded and remained silent for what he had to say. Smiling at that, Discord twirled in mid-air choosing to hover near the closest stained glass window of Princess Twilight. Through it, he could see the blurred image of planet Earth. He stroked his chin, saying, “Yes, it would seem that Earth is causing several global anomalies, such as the ones you just mentioned. I wouldn’t be surprised if Equus is causing the same on Earth.” “Global anomalies?” Luna asked. Discord nodded. “What can we expect?” “Oh, the usual world-ending catastrophes…” Discord said, having an extremely long piece of parchment appear of thin air. He placed a pair of reading glasses on, clearing his throat and counting off each catastrophe on his free hand. “Tsunamis, super storms, earthquakes ranging from any size, drastic changes in weather and temperature, polar shifts if we’re unlucky, near-zero gravity directly between the planets—that’s a new one—and many, many more.” He ended up with more fingers on his paw than he intended, having all the extra fingers and the parchment vanish. He took off the glasses, breathed on them and rubbed out the splotches with his paw. “You know, I would keep a close eye on the location of Earth at all times. Keeping track of its course can—” Discord froze in mid-sentence, his eyes growing wide, his pupils dilating. He fell flat on his face, twisting and twirling like a serpent with its prey caught in its grip. Celestia and Luna each shared a brief look of confusion before turning back towards the squirming draconequus. Sooner than later, he stopped squirming, and instead chose to lie on the marble floor and shoot his head up like an alert canine. “Wait…” he muttered, twitching his neck from side to side. “What is it?” Celestia asked, curiosity ripe on her tongue. “Let me guess,” Luna said, her deadpan tone showing. She waved her hoof in the air, staring up at the ceiling. “It’s your… sixth sense… or one of your chaotic senses?” Discord sat up, twisting his neck fully around to gaze at Luna. His slick smile showed as he replied with, “Actually, it’s my Spider-Sense, but good guess, though.” Slightly taken aback by that response, the sisters watched as Discord spun himself around—his head included—until he was facing the princesses. He said, “And according to it… we will be getting some unwelcome visitors of the extraterrestrial kind by sunrise.” Celestia’s eyes widened at that statement. There was something about Discord’s tone, or the way he said it, that didn’t spell well for her. Normally, she would take Discord’s advice with less than a grain of salt, but considering the circumstances and how Discord didn’t seem to be lying during the whole situation, she could only consider his words close to that of the truth. Which meant alien visitors would be arriving by sunrise. That was only hours from now. “Are they humans…” Celestia asked, just to be certain, “… from Earth?” Unfortunately, her heart fell when Discord shook his head, closing his eyes and breathing steadily, almost as if he could see the extraterrestrials he mentioned at that moment. “This is beyond Earth,” he said, voice nearly at a dead whisper. Completely unlike him. She knew he wasn’t lying now. “How many of these… ‘visitors’… are we getting?” Luna asked. Discord’s brow furrowed a tad. He growled, shaking his head, eyes still closed. “Hard to tell… but… they won’t be looking for friendship when they get here.” That was all she needed to know. Celestia stamped her hoof so hard on the floor it nearly cracked the marble, both Luna and Discord flinching and turning her way. “Discord, we need you to teleport Earth back where it came from, then work on protecting our world from these invaders!” she shouted, her furious expression nearly dying out when Discord waved his disfigured hands to her. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! Time out!” he declared, blowing a whistle and tossing a yellow flag into the air. The two sisters watched as the flag hit the ground, their eyes turning back to Discord wearing a referee’s uniform. It quickly vanished, replaced only with the draconequus lost in a hysterical fit of laughter. He wiped away an imaginary tear, holding his chest. “You can’t… you can’t expect me to teleport an entire planet across the whole galaxy now, do you?” he asked, his incredulous look facing the two sisters. “Are you saying you’re not powerful enough?” Luna asked, stepping forward. “You’re pushin’ it, kid,” Discord growled, all humor in his tone lost as he pointed a talon right at Luna’s chest. He looked to Celestia. “What I’m saying is that it would be no trouble whatsoever to teleport a pony Pegasus—let’s use Fluttershy as an example—and her annoying friends to another planet across the galaxy. But a planet and everything on it?” “Surely you’re up to the challenge?” Celestia said, a brow rising. Discord hovered in mid-air, circling above the two sisters. He smiled and said, “Well, I do enjoy a good brain-stumper every now and again, but the challenge to it comes from whether or not it was Earth or Equus that was teleported.” He landed right behind them, prompting the two to turn around. “If it was Earth that was teleported to us, and even if I could manage to teleport it, I wouldn’t have enough energy to bring its entirety back in its original solar system without causing some… side effects. Same goes for Equus.” Luna frowned. “What kind of ‘side effects’?” “How many innocent lives are you willing to risk?” Celestia joined her sister in that growing frown. Luna snorted, looking to the glass windows and the shadow that planet Earth cast upon Equestria. “Then we’re stuck like this,” she mumbled. “For now,” Celestia said, stepping closer towards the glass windows, the shadow that Luna saw earlier slowly cascading into their throne room. “Until we know fully what we’re dealing with, I would wish for Discord to protect these worlds from these invaders.” She twisted her neck around, spotting Discord still standing behind Luna. “Can we trust you with that?” she asked him. He chuckled, then laughed, then bowed to Princess Celestia. And he said, “I may not be able to move these worlds, but you can bet your sunny little butt that I can shield them!” Celestia ignored his comment, instead saying, “For all of our sake, you need to.” Discord winked, vanishing with a snap of his claws. “How are we supposed to know fully what we’re dealing with, sister?” Luna asked, taking a step closer to the windows where Celestia stood. “We have allies on Earth,” Celestia said, gazing out the stained glass window. The blurred image of Earth was all she could see covering the night sky like a pure black blanket. That blanket continued to spill into her throne room, reaching her hooves. “Some of which Twilight and her friends have grown well-suited with.” “The Avengers?” Luna asked. She noticed the subtle movement of Celestia’s head, almost like a nod, but stopping halfway and gazing to the floor. “Sister, you know as well as I that their last encounter ended with the disbanding of the Avengers. Their team, their friendship, all of it was shattered due to the recklessness of their leaders, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash.” Celestia turned her neck back, eyeing Luna with a raised brow. “And have we not forgiven Twilight and Rainbow Dash for such actions?” she asked, already knowing the answer. Luna did too, sighing. “Yes… sister. Despite…” “Despite how hypocritical it may have been… Oh, Twilight,” Celestia sighed. The memory of their private discussion was still ripe on her mind. The utter shame in her former pupil’s eyes as Celestia lectured her for nearly an hour on trust and friendship, both of which Twilight desperately needed during her time on Earth, was absolutely heartbreaking. So much so that Celestia felt a warm hug and an assurance from the Princess of Friendship was all she needed in return. An assurance that told her that Twilight would uphold the Magic of Friendship… no matter what. And as for Rainbow Dash… she fared well. Celestia’s lecture for the Pegasus was shorter, briefer, and less harsh than it had been for Twilight. While she was angry that Rainbow would deliberately break several of Earth’s laws and threaten the peace between their worlds, she was also relieved to know that Rainbow Dash upheld her Element through it all. For Steve and his friend that desperately needed help. For that… she was forgiven. It had been so long. Time seemed to do the trick, as her previous encounters with Twilight and Rainbow Dash seemed to show vast improvement. They were smiling to one another, laughing, being as good of friends as they ever were before... Earth. Their friendship... appeared to be healed. That didn't mean the scars had vanished. Celestia gazed out the stained glass, returning to the present. “Twilight informed us that though they may be separated, they are still a team, and can still be assembled at a moment’s notice.” Celestia’s voice began to trail off the longer she gazed up to Earth blotching out the darkness and beauty of her sister’s night sky. A natural feeling of sadness swept over her, but Celestia ignored it for a now. “Perhaps… there would be no better time than now for such.” Luna slowly began to nod, standing by her sister’s side and gazing into the massive black orb that began to consume the night. Celestia continued. “After all… if anyone is to have a larger grasp on the situation at hoof, it would be them.” “Shall we inform Twilight and her friends, then?” Luna asked, Celestia turning her way. “After all… if there’s anypony that would be willing to bring the Avengers back together, it would be them.” Celestia smiled to that comment of hers, nodding in response. She and Luna both turned away from the window, the elder saying, “I will return to my quarters and send a letter right away. Hopefully they will be able to arrive tomorrow morning.” “Let us pray that Canterlot isn’t a complete frenzy by then,” Luna scoffed, trotting towards the exit. Celestia nodded, following Luna out of their throne room, away from the dark blanket that covered it. “Let’s.”