//------------------------------// // Ch.06: Ends of the Earth // Story: Tapestry: A World Apart // by Star Scraper //------------------------------// “Oh thank goodness you're alive!” came a deep, masculine voice. One that sounded well-suited for the chaotic malevolence it usually brought. Rarity's eyes snapped open. She jumped onto her hooves – she was still in the same dress, on the stage – even the silken noose made of curtain rope still hung above her. In front of her sat Discord. “I know it's just tragic that nopony can be as good as me, but really, did you have to go this far? How did this even happen, anyways? Did you just decide, 'hey, if I'm going to go limp and die, why don't I just skip the dying part so I can decide not to get filled with worms if I change my mind later'? That's really the more reasonable thought. I never understood some of the weird things mortals do but I guess you're more reasonable than some, at least,” he said with a voice full of conceit. “Discord!” was all she was able to say, the sudden whiplash of emotions physically painful enough to stun her. “Or was it a murder attempt? Did somepony try to harm you?” His eyes glistened in a frightening way, something primeval sparked within him, a lurking monster hungering for a chance to be unleashed. “N-no! And what is the matter with you!? Just barging in to my boutique!? I – I –” “Might've gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for meddling ol’me! Oh, what's the matter? Opal got your tongue? Something caught in your throat? Upset you didn't get a kick from it? But you know I couldn't just leave you hanging!” He grinned. Her jaw hung open. She closed it, her face flustering, tears welling in her eyes. “The-the NERVE!” she fumed, struggling for words in her sheer shock at his reaction. “You absolute monster! I – I can't believe it!” “Oh, hey, your face would've been about that red, too. And it's a good thing you reconsidered – you know you organic things make such an awful mess when you die and that's such a nice dress.” “Don't you care at all!? Isn't there some compassionate bone in your entire disgusting, chimeric body!?” she shouted at him. “Speak of compassion! That's just racist! I'll have you know I'm not a 'chimera', and I resent being referred to as such!” he feigned offense, putting on a melodramatic pose of some insulted high-society dame, “I will have you know I am a draconequus.” “You – you're a monster is what you are! A chimeric monster! You just – not a word of concern, of compassion, of comfort –” “Well if I wasn't concerned I wouldn't be here! And a lot of good comforting words have done for you this last week – why, not a single one has gotten through!” She stomped a hoof with a huff. “Get out!” she demanded. “Now wait just one minute!” “GET OUT!” She screamed. He was unaffected. “I think I know how you can save Sweetie Belle.” He grinned wolfishly. “I SAID GET -” she stopped in the middle of her demand, the words suddenly striking her, melting her furious expression. Everything about it screamed an obvious “ignore him!” at Rarity. Who he was, the conniving tone in his voice, the wolfish grin, how he put his claw and paw together as he said it. But the offer was too much. And with how powerful he was... “I'm supposed to believe you have one ounce of care for me or her after that display!?” Then something clicked, and she began to realize who she was talking to. “I-I'm not using some evil dark magic you're trying to poison me with! It will just – kill both my parents or something! I won't hear it!” she objected, yet left one opportunity open, and Discord quickly took it. “It's not dark magic, though. Why, Aurora-head herself even gave it to Sparklebutt, and told her that at some point she'd have to read it, and it certainly has the power to save your sister. It's transcendent of this reality, harmony magic of the highest order, in fact” – he stuck his tongue out and wrinkled his nose in disgust – “why, I feel nasty just mentioning it. But it's not as nasty as the mess you were about to make – no, it's far worse, but here I am, being a compassionate and selfless friend to mention it to you, anyways, because I think it's only fair you know, and that you might be interested. Perhaps even find it a preferable alternative to suicide.” “S-save her?...” she stammered, suddenly noticing the wording he'd used. Her hooves felt light. She felt the room begin spinning yet again. Her mind froze on his words; not resurrect her, but save her. “Yes. You are still interested in that, I presume? But I don't know, really I'm not supposed to be telling you these kinds of things,” he corkscrewed in the air, coming to rest floating upside-down in front of Rarity, his mischeveious grin close to her face. “Why, little princess herself would be quite upset if she found out I told you. After all, reading The Book of Knowledge could hurt you, a lot. It will hurt you a lot. If you 'read' it. If you're willing to save Sweetie Belle.” “Th-that book?” she asked, recoiling. The only things she could remember about it were the endless grim, terrible warnings Twilight gave. “Really, I've never known you to stutter, Miss Marshmallow. It's like you've been just melting this whole time. Insomnia, stress – it's funny really, you had everything you needed to deal with this loss in a healthy way and tighten bonds with your family like Applejack did way back when when her parents died, but you just had to lash out and retreat from the only things in the world that could've kept you sane,” his voice bore a cocktail of conceit, pity and genuine sympathy. “And instead of tightening the bonds with your family and friends, you opted to tighten a bond around your neck. Or, almost. Congratulations on not, by the way, it would've been a terrible choice, really. Books are a much better way to die.” “Twilight warned us about that book.” She took on an aggressive posture, leaning in to his face. “And she didn’t say anything about it being able to bring ponies back! Why would you do this, Discord? What do you have to gain from trying to get me to go read such a dastardly tome!?” “Well if I wanted to kill you I – well honestly I could've just left you here and I'm sure you would've found your way back to this rope sooner or later.” He floated up to hold it in his griffon claw, then looked down at her, “You're only going to get crazier the longer you go without socializing, and even more angsty the longer you go without creating. Since you currently intend to do neither, and the wannabe princess wants to be a real princess with big princess underwear, then there's a few things she'll need to see for herself, and I'd say saving Sweetie Belle is an excellent catalyst.” He floated back down to her, putting his lion paw on her shoulder, “and there's a few things you'll need to experience before you see how utterly stupid what you're doing to yourself is. I mean, really, Sweetie Belle had some temper, sure, but she loved you and here you've managed to convince yourself you're killing her beloved older sister for her sake just because she tore some old poster in a tantrum? She felt bad about it, too. You should ask her about it next time you meet.” His grin, like his words, was an odd combination of wolfish preying and genuine excitement to help her. Her mind raced as she tried to make sense of his offer, and her sister’s fate. “If you don't want me to die why are you saying I should read that book – is it – some kind of 'life for a life' exchange?” Her face crossed with horror as she anticipated the choice – but immediately made it in her mind. She was so close to killing herself, anyways, what was there to lose if she could give Sweetie another chance at life, to undo her mistake? Discord flipped again, putting his paw and talon to his cheeks in excitement. “Oh, just look at your face right now! Such determination! Such spunk! Such life! But it's so darn hollow!” He pounded his paw into his talon as his expression turned bitter as his brows furled. “You're not willing to trade your life for hers because you love her so much, but because your life doesn't mean anything to you right now! That's not the right way to go about it at all! It won't do! Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned this at all!” he floated off towards the door, crossing his forelimbs and feigning leaving. “Wait!” Rarity cried out. “No, whatever it is, I'm willing to do it! For Sweetie Belle – if this can really bring her back – but what is it, if it's not my life for hers? Why, then, did Twilight say the book would kill whoever reads it? And what do I do to save Sweetie?” He stopped, turned around, then in an instant was back in her face, wearing a genuine grin again. “Excellent!” He wrinkled his nose and swiped his paw through the air, “Eh, but first you can start by taking a shower! And washing that mane! Make yourself look good, ready to shout, 'hello world!' Then meet me back here in an hour, and no: You won't die. Not literally, but you're going to ask yourself many times why you shouldn't and you may want to, that’s what Twilight meant, even if she didn’t know what she meant.” Suddenly his face became intense, gazing straight into her eyes, urgency suddenly crashing into his voice, as he pointed at the silk slipknot she'd tied. “So I want you, right now, to look at that noose, and tell it why you refuse to wear it again!” She looked at the loop of rope, then back at him, opening her mouth to object when he cut her off. “-Go on, hurt its feelings.” He waved his paw at her. “Hate it more than you've ever hated a camera! This is for your own sake, really. Because it's going to chase you a lot where you're going and nothing less will do! You can't just say 'no' to death, Rarity, where you're going you're going to have to scream 'no!' at it with everything in your lungs and spirit and more!” He edged closer to her, growing more intense and emphatic as he spoke. She fought the urge to cower under him – I – I have to be strong if I'm going to do this... “So go on, already! Don't wait for me to stop talking, show us that you actually care about your sister! Because if you do you'll have to do more than just talk over ponies, you'll have to realize YOU are the only one who can save Sweetie Belle! And if you die, she dies! It's not about your life, anymore, she's standing on a stool here, this noose around HER neck and-” She could see it – if she was the only being that could bring her sister back, and if she'd stepped off the stage wearing the knot she would've ended not only her own life but any hope of her sister's rescue – “NO!” she screamed at the rope, grabbing it in her magic, and yanking it so hard the decorative knob it was mounted to above the stage ripped clean off in a metallic thunk. Discord's eyes shot wide, watching the bronze knob fly right past him and land on the floor. He then turned to Rarity, who was panting, legs spread in a fighting stance. He grinned and clapped. “Bravo! Now, you'll -” “And I'm not being manipulated by you!” she whipped around and snapped at him, her eyes and voice as fierce as her sudden attack. He held out his paw and talon and waved her back. “No, no, I'm just pointing to the thing you're looking for! Now, if you want to survive more than five minutes after reading that thing you'll need a spirit like this!” Leaning back, he reached out and carefully patted her head with his paw while she just kept glaring at him. “Now go wash up, get yourself that fire ruby, a nice black cloak for the event, and meet me back down here and I'll show you what you want.” Her eyes were wide, a ferocity in them nopony was used to seeing, and her voice more scathing and angry than anypony had heard, “You expect me to go 'pretty myself up' while you hold my little sister as leverage!?” she spat. He again waived his forelimbs, “No, no, it's not like that at all! It's just –” his voice quickly switched from desperation to a more normal tone, “– well to be completely honest you're kind of scaring me! You aren't going to murder somepony, you're going to save your sister. But that fire in your eyes says otherwise!” Her intensity simmered to a growl. “I'll do anything to save my sister.” “Even dark magic?” he asked, putting on a tempting voice and a spark in his eye, leaning in so his pupils were just a hair from hers. She quickly snapped out of her ferocious state, stepping back, but anger still tinged her words, “Uh – I – you said it wasn't dark magic!” Discord relaxed, leaning back and speaking easier, “It's not, I just wanted to get you out of that murder mask you were wearing. Now go clean up. It'll help clear your mind so you can think straight because you're going to need that last bit of sanity you have. Now go! I'll be right down here, waiting.” She pursed her lips, sighed, then took a more controlled glare up at him. “Okay. But this matters a lot to me, Discord. No tricks, no games. I know who you are and what you used to be, but you've changed, and I'm trusting your reformation that Fluttershy led, because I trust Fluttershy – and I’m trusting that time with Tirek taught you better, because I trust Twilight.” “And it did,” for the first time, his voice was serious and respectful, only to lose it again in an instant, “I'm the master of chaos, Rarity, not the god of social tact, so forgive me for being myself,” and suddenly the sincerity was back in his voice, “but I'm really doing this to help you, because you won't help yourself, and Twilight needs to read a book, and no other reason. You will cause a lot of suffering, but ultimately it will be worth it. You know dark magic promises gold upfront and later gives death, but I'm promising your suffering, so later you can unlock what you desire most. That, too, can be a lie sometimes, but not this time. “No tricks, no deceit, you know what you're getting into, Twilight warned you, and don't forget. That's why I'm telling you to dress up and brace yourself because you're going somewhere terrible, worse than you can imagine. The 'you' you are today will die, but only as the penultimate act of your – and Sweetie's – rebirth. That is my truthful promise. So go prepare yourself, Rarity. I'll point the way, but once you embark, you must make this journey on your own.” Rarity just looked at him, dumbfounded. “I didn't expect that from you...” she said. “Oh, if I were always following the same routine, even if it was a complete inability to be serious, that would still be a form of order, wouldn't it? And shame on me if I ever take the slightest bit of order, and become – ehck – predictable! Now go. My patience isn't as infinite as I am,” he told her. “And word from the wise; take that fire ruby along. Such a useful gem fire rubies are.” “Alright... I'll be quick.” She turned and ran up the stairs. Discord sighed and leaned back, again floating in the air, now alone in Carousel Boutique. “What? I really am being honest. Oh, mortals and their little affairs... Foals cry over spilled milk and mortals cry over life and death. Really.” Making it rain within days after Hearth's Warming was not an easy feat, but it had been arranged, nonetheless. Though a few deaths a week wasn't too unusual for a town the size of Ponyville, it was unusual enough for a pony so young, yet clear of the dangers of infancy, to die, that rain could be arranged to mourn the occasion. And as the sister of one of the Elements of Harmony, Sweetie wasn't without any notoriety. Windows' shutters were latched shut and the streets were completely barren as they turned to a mix of snow and thick, black mud. A figure cloaked in deep black ran through the back alleyways and puddles to Twilight's castle. Completely invisible in the night, she was revealed only by flashes of lightning providing a brief glimpse of her shadowy form and sparkling red ruby she wore on her chest. In a large reading room in her home, Twilight had taken her time to reflect when the rain had started. Now as she worked by candlelight, the sound of rain pattering against the glass windows had turned from a solemn reminder to a gentle comfort. The gentle glow from her candles flickered over six different chalkboards covered in magical theory and equations. Books and scrolls were scattered around the floor. She looked over another piece of paper with yet more notes, triple-checking her work. Owlowiscious stood on a perch in front of her. “...and... got it!” Twilight stood up. “Okay Owlowiscious, it wouldn't be right for me to do this without making sure one last time... you're completely okay with this spell, right? There will be no negative consequences at all if you shake your head. But if you nod, for about a minute, you'll hear my thoughts, and I'll hear yours. Are you absolutely sure you're okay with this, despite the uncertainty I've explained to you?” “Hoo.” The owl nodded. She glanced back at all her notes one more time – a string of connected spells that would allow the two minds to touch each other directly. An owl may not be as intelligent as a pony, but that's where the excitement was – finding out what she would see, and how he'd respond to hearing the thoughts of a far more intelligent mind. She glanced back at her owl pet – perhaps one day to be more of a friend than pet – and her horn began to glow. With a flash of arcane light, she felt her magic echo off of Owlowiscious – and nothing else happened. “You feel anything? Hear anything? Think or feel anything unusual?” Owlowiscious shook his head. “Hmm.” Twilight put a hoof to her chin and cocked an eyebrow, thinking for a few moments before stepping away to look over some of her notes spread across the floor at the base of one of the blackboards. “I was wondering about the translation from old Latin... Maybe I didn't capture the right essence of what the original phrase meant...” Her eyes scanned over the ancient transcription, then to her modern Equestrian translation, furrowing her brows. “Ooh, oh oh, It's 'I wake as I dream', not 'as I dream I know', ugh – but it's ambiguous when you say it in old pony-Latin! But I thought for sure Haycartes' Cognito Ergo Sum discourse was ruled out in Barnes' previous work – but maybe after that he changed his mind and decided to incorporate some of that existential philosophy into his own work? Because with that change in phrase that whole spell takes on more of a metaphysical twist than a visionary one, even vaguely solipsistic...” she trailed off, turning back to the notes on Barnes' spell she'd translated. Her ears perked as she heard the front door to her castle open. She whipped her head around, “Ouch!”, she cried as it twisted painfully far. She pulled a hoof up to her neck and rubbed it as she turned around, “Haha, maybe that spell worked better than I thought, I seemed to think I could turn my head like yours,” she told Owlowiscious, then chuckled uneasily. “Hoooo,” he cooed. “Well, I guess I better see who our guest is... Wait, how did I hear that from in here?” she asked, turning to her owl. “Hoo,” he answered. It was always a fun hit-and-miss guessing game to figure out exactly what Owlowiscious meant, but she always had a feeling, and this time, it was unusually clear. “Good point – I'll worry about that later, clearly some of that magic – ” she began walking towards the door to the large room, “ – but first, I should see who our guest is...” Perhaps I should just teleport to the front door... But it's always kind of rude to jump in front of somepony. So she settled on just teleporting to a nearby hall on the second floor, and did it, appearing in the spacious hallway, a large open doorway to the atrium just ahead. "Hello?!" she called out, hoping the uninvited guest could hear her through the open doors. After looking around and listening, hearing nothing more, she tentatively made her way down the enormous, dark royal carpet to the loft over the grand foyer. A minute later she found, by the front doors, a wet carpet and spots of mud. She gritted her teeth in concern, pondering the possibilities. A common thief wouldn’t think to rob a castle like this belonging to a princess wizard like myself, would they? When’s the last time Ponyville even had a burglary? Surely it’s something else. Maybe some lost filly hiding from the storm… Hovering down to the ground level, she began following the spots of mud. She bit her lip. Cleaning this is not going to be fun or easy... A great mess of spots was visible a few steps in, as if the uninvited guest had realized what they were doing and cleaned off as much as possible to stop leaving tracks. "J-just announce yourself! It's okay! You're not in trouble!..." she called out, then finished quietly to herself, "unless you're doing something bad..." her voice wavered with concern as she carefully went down the hallway, deciding to forbear from cleaning the carpet just yet, reserving her magic – just in case. As she walked, she glanced around the various dark, looming chambers. I'm sure it's just my imagination... Nighttime and storms makes this place kind of creepy... I just need more lighting... She tried easing herself, yet nothing seemed to help the knot in her stomach. Surely if Rarity ran off to go read the book, Discord would've warned me? Why hasn't he reported back yet, anyways? Spike may be young, but maybe he would've been a better choice, after all. Rarity thinks he's cute and surely wouldn't hurt herself with him around, right? Ugh, but she would’ve just locked him out like any of the rest of us. No matter, I'll get back to that after this... She looked around the clean hallway after a short while of walking. The intruder had managed to clean themselves off very well, and after searching every small sideroom and seeing nothing, she decided to continue down the hallway to the library. She finally arrived, walking slowly into the grand round room shelved high with books. The room was dark, and would've been black, except for the soft candlelight provided by the mounts on the walls. Rain pattered against the stained glass windows and thunder rumbled, granting the room both a cozy comfort and the eerie haunting of a dark mansion deep in night when faced by a small, lone pony. "I... I should check," she muttered to herself, slowly stepping off the carpet, onto the crystal floor. "I-I mean, I doubt.... There's no way... But I should check." She magically pulled the carpet to the side, revealing a trap door in the floor, and gasped when she saw the lock wasn’t on the latch. She rapidly tore the door open, and inside the dark, tiny room below, the Book of Knowledge was open in front of a hooded figure. The intruder whipped around to see Twilight – revealing Rarity's face under the black hood. "NO!" the alicorn lunged at her with wings and magic, grabbing the book and pony in her telekinesis and tackling her friend to the ground. "Ooohf!" She landed, pinning Rarity down. “NO!” Rarity screamed back, and in a surge of magic, threw Twilight off. Twilight's wings flared out, catching her in the air, and she quickly gripped Rarity again in her own magic, freezing her in place and suppressing her magic as she held her – Rarity’s forelimb halfway stretched to the book lying on the floor just out of reach. And Rarity felt every bit of it. In an instant tears were running down her face. “No – you're not stopping me, Twilight! I have to – for Sweetie Belle! She'll die if I don't! You have to – ! You – you have to let me go!” she cried. Twilight froze. In an instant it came back to her – her decision to keep the book here. She had already decided to let Rarity go. So why should she stop her? She had already made her choice. She opened her mouth to talk as her grip on Rarity weakened. And Rarity felt Twilight’s wavering resolve. She immediately overpowered Twilight's magic plug on her horn with a yell, blasting past it with a flare of magic light, grabbed the book in her own magic, and flung it open towards her hoof. “Rari-!” The alicorn saw the book flying to her friend in blue magic – but not before the book met the unicorn's hoof, and she was gone, leaving the book tumbling to the floor. She gripped it in her own magic, but it was too late. “-ty!” Her heart sank as she realized what had happened. Rarity was gone. She was alone now. You – you couldn't just wait one moment to talk, first!? No, of course not. She was smart to act fast. I was fighting her, so she took the one sure opportunity she had. Damnit, we could've gone together! You didn’t have to go alone! She looked at the open book – there was a blue hoofprint glowing on the page, with words written above it in a strange script. She couldn't read it, but she felt, when she saw the script, that all she had to do to enter was put her hoof on the hoofprint. Opposite the page more of the strange script started writing itself. As she looked at the text, she felt, cold, terrified, alone, but a fiery determination driving through it all. She shivered the feeling off. Okay, I promised I wasn't doing this alone, so I'm not!