//------------------------------// // A Chaotic Departure // Story: The Blackened Skies // by gosha305 //------------------------------// Now that their next destination was decided, the only thing to do was to actually get there. And this was all but easy. Indeed, the chaos realm is inherently bound to chaos magic. Thus, accessing it through unicorn or even alicorn magic requires extreme skill. And even then, the caster still needs to call upon the ambient reserve of chaos magic, produced by all living beings due to their unpredictability, in order to communicate with it, persuading the mana to return to its original realm and simultaneously open a portal to it as a side effect. At least, this was how it worked in theory, but even after pondering the subject for countless hours, perusing antiquated tomes and crumbling scrolls, casting myriad of spells and incantations, nothing seemed to actually function. Complex formulas and archaic runes spiraling in their heads, the eight friends couldn't help but feel their rekindled hope fade away once again. In addition, Celestia's participation to the research was extremely limited. Indeed, she simply showed them the correct section of the library, stating she needed to go help the royal guard with a cultist uprising. Actually, the Sun Princess' recent behavior was rather strange to say the least. When Twilight tried asking her about the servants' state, she almost immediately drove the conversation away, rapidly mentioning that "They weren't able to adapt their sleeping schedule fast enough" as the only response. She herself didn't look right. It wasn't obvious to anypony, but Twilight, who spent a substantial part of her life as the Princess' protégé, was able to remark that something was definitely wrong. Celestia's eyes didn't look right. It was like a strange gleam appeared somewhere behind her pupil. Like something was driving her, an emotion she tried to conceal as well as she could, but which was far too strong, still managing to escape. Her voice also didn't sound normal. Every note slightly higher than usual. And all these servants, all these ponies plunged into a semi-hypnotized state, unresponsive to stimuli, almost asleep. It was extremely discomforting. But this wasn't all. During all the time they had now spent, tirelessly researching through Canterlot's library, not even once had they seen Luna. All this was becoming extremely unnerving, but sadly, now there was not the time to solve these mysteries, as another one, much greater still floated above their heads, menacing to destroy the entire planet. The Entity needed to be prioritized. "Oh, I think I've found something!" cried out Pinkie, staying more enthusiastic than most of the group. "That's also what you though the last 1791 times" responded Starlight, more annoyed by the Pink pony than by the research itself. "I know, but this time, I think I really found something!" she said, trotting towards Twilight and giving her the book. Quickly shifting her focus to Pinkie's tome, Twilight couldn't help but agree with the pony's enthusiasm "This does indeed look interesting." The cover of the item was wrinkled and vapid, but the image on it could still be identified. It contained a circle, its colors ranging from pale pink to deep purple. In middle of the latter, an incomplete cross could be noticed. Unlike its upper and lower branches that almost reached the circle's border, the horizontal ones only slightly spread from the center, almost immediately terminating. Around this strange shape, various items and symbols visibly represented the numerous types of magic existing in Equestria. What immediately caught Twilight's eye was the fact that, unlike most of the magic encyclopedias, this one seemed to incorporate chaos magic as on par with the others, as indicated by the presence of a representation of Discord's head amongst the other symbols. Careful not to break the delicate paper, Twilight slowly began turning the pages. Impressive by its size, the book's table of contents itself unfolded throughout numerous pages. It was truly a magnificent summary of all of Equestria's arcanic knowledge. Ranging from teleportation and telekinesis to all forms of transmutation and metamorphosis while even mentioning some darker disciplines such as necromancy or arcanic and vital siphoning. It wasn't long until she found what she was looking for: transdimensional travel. Here, upon a yellow page ornate with an ancient depiction of Discord, she found it. The spell that took all the theory they discussed earlier and made it flesh. Coincidentally, at this moment, Celestia returned from her mysterious occupation. Scanning the room, her eyes rapidly stopped upon Pinkie's find, the strange glow slightly growing brighter. Approaching the middle of the room, she stopped eyeing the book again. "I hope you found something useful." she said, her tone weirdly cheerful. Looking up from her book, Twilight replied, returning the cheerful tone "You arrive just in time, as I think I found exactly the spell we need!" "Great, all these books were starting to make me sick!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash, annoyed by the endless research. It was finally time to depart, leaving the normal word behind and plunging into a dimension of endless chaos. It was thrilling, but terrifying at the same time. Anyhow, there was no choice left, Discord was their only hope, making this voyage obligatory. Memorizing the complex formulae, Twilight readied herself. She couldn't do it on her own, Celestia and Starlight still needed to provide her the necessary mana. She pumped her magic into her horn, concentrating her entire mind and sending slight signals to the chaotic energy around her. It wasn't long until the spell worked, first a slight blue sparkle. A swirling maelstrom formed in midst of the library's air. It expended, the spiraling motifs, accelerating on their course. Soon, a big gateway, somewhat reminiscent of the one in Twilight's dream, stood before the astonished ponies. Wasting no time, they said their goodbyes to Celestia, the latter encouraging them in the journey, and entered the portal, confident and determined. Going into the chaos to save world's order. This whole situation could be seen as ironic if it wasn't from the doom threatening to bring this whole world to an end...