//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: The Magic // Story: Dissonance: A Hidden World // by Braininthejar //------------------------------// music link Fluttershy shrunk, the wings stiff at her sides. Gilda was looming over her with a sour expression. “Will you move your rump or not? We don’t have all day,” she growled. In truth, they had spent half a day climbing already. Half a day that she knew could have been just an hour or two if they weren’t so adamant about bringing her along. Fluttershy’s nerves made it too hard for her to focus on flying and even climbing up a steep hill was too much for her, forcing her companions to pick a much longer road around. Gilda wasn’t happy. Not one bit. A fast flier herself, her patience had been strained enough by having to wait for ground-bound ponies. Discovering that a pegasus, the only other flier in the group, was slowing everypony down so much, quickly brought her temper to a boiling point. “I’m telling you, we should just leave her,” she said, looking at the other ponies over her shoulder. “If we didn’t have to carry that deadweight, we’d already be coming back.” “Hey, she’s no deadweight,” said Pinkie Pie. “She’s just waiting for her chance to shine.” Applejack and Rarity slowly turned their heads towards Pinkie. “Well, I know it may be inconvenient now,” said Rarity, “but I’m sure you will be grateful to have taken her with you in the end.” “Fat chance,” scowled the griffon. “Now keep quiet and don’t stomp too hard. That part of the slope looks unstable.” That cut the argument quite quickly. The mares fell silent, walking in line, the angry griffon flapping slowly above them. Fluttershy was the last in the line. She was trying to keep her pace even and her movements controlled, but with every step she trembled slightly. She had a horrible feeling that something frightening will happen in a moment, a feeling so strong that it was as if she had already experienced it. A single leaf, knocked from a nearby tree by the tip of Gilda’s wing, fell upon Fluttershy’s back. The horrifying deja vu and the present became one. Fluttershy shrieked in fright. Applejack turned around and covered her mouth with a hoof, but it was too late. There was a rumble of moving rocks and then everything erupted into chaos, panicked ponies running back and forth, trying in vain to find a place safe from the falling boulders. Fluttershy barely managed to get out of the way, only to halt rapidly when her instinct to run from the collapsing slope took her to the edge of the path, the dizzying height visible below. The rockslide ended as abruptly as it had started. Applejack stood up, shaking the dust and debris off her. “Everypony ok?” she called hesitantly. She was answered by some hesitant cough from behind one of the boulders. Rarity rose from the dirt and looked around. Pinkie Pie, covered in dust from head to hoof, shook like a wet dog to get it off her fur. “Let’s do that again,” she said. Rarity looked at her, then around herself. “It seems we’re all ok. I lost my scarf though.” “Sorry,” muttered Fluttershy. Applejack smiled. “Ah, It’s no biggie.” “No biggie?!” Gilda fell from the sky, landing in the middle of the group with a loud thump, her wings flared angrily. “No biggie?!” she turned around, staring straight at Fluttershy. “You aren’t just a deadweight. You… pathetic coward almost got us all killed!” “Hey,” said Applejack, “Don’t be…” Gilda pounced forward, putting one talon on Applejack’s mouth while reaching into her saddle bags with the other. She retrieved a single red apple and held it up for everypony to see. “Killed,” she hissed, “buried under tons of rock.” “Crushed into pulp,” she finished, squeezing hard. The apple exploded in her powerful grip, the juice and bits of fruit dripping down her forearm. The griffon pounced again, this time landing right in front of Fluttershy. “This is why I hate... weaklings… the most. You’re worse than useless! You will get us all killed if we don’t get rid of you. We should have left you in your shack with your stinking animals.” “I… told you…I...” started Fluttershy, but her voice came out as a squeaky whisper. “Hey, leave Fluttershy alone!” shouted Pinkie, trying to get between Gilda and Fluttershy. The griffon pushed her aside. “That’s what I’ve been trying to do all day! But you dweebs insist on lugging that useless…” she stopped, stuck trying to find the right insult… all the way up here!” “Ya have no say in that,” said Applejack sternly. “She’s a part of the team and you’re just... replacing Dash for today.” “And even if she did put us in danger,” said Rarity, wrapping her spare scarf around her neck, “that was an absolutely atrocious way to say it. Decent ponies don’t do that.” “I’m not a pony,” growled Gilda. “Not the point, darling,” replied Rarity with a deadpan expression. Gilda reared, rising her claws to the sky in anger. “Why do we even need her!? You’re supposed to talk to the lizard, aren’t you? You have experience in charming dragons. Why bring her along at all?” Rarity flicked her tail in irritation. “The same reason we’re taking you along. It’s a long trip and something unexpected might happen.” “We’re taking you along in case of a griffin emergency!” piped in Pinkie Pie. Gilda looked at Pinkie Pie, then back at Rarity. “More unexpected than a rockslide…RAARGH!” She spun around, nearly slapping Fluttershy with the tip of her tail. “Fine! Whatever! Take the useless trash along, see if I care.” She then flapped her wings and leapt into the air, flying up the crumbled slope ahead of the group. Applejack looked Sadly at Fluttershy, who was still shaking. “Come on, sugarcube. It’s just a bit further.” *** music link “How much longer?” asked Twilight Sparkle in a strained voice. She was standing on the bottom floor of the fortress, surrounded by a complicated magic circle Obsidian had burned into the ground with his staff. Her eyes and horn blazed with white light as she struggled to keep a large section of a broken wall suspended in the air. Obsidian looked on with a scowl. “It looks like this is the limit of your ability. You can drop it.” Twilight relaxed and the mass of stone fell down with a mighty crash. The unicorn was caught off-guard by a cloud of dust it caused and for a moment she sputtered and coughed. Obsidian approached her, his staff tracing around her body, reading her aura. “It’s just like what you said about that star bear thing. I’ve seen all I needed to,” he said. “And what have you learned?” asked Twilight Sparkle. She was breathing heavily and her head was spinning. She couldn’t tell how long she had spent on the experiments her host insisted on. Still, it was better than having nothing to do; she knew that idle waiting while worrying about her friends would drive her crazy. The earth pony tapped his staff on the ground and a heavy, badly weathered book appeared in the air in front of him. It floated towards Twilight and opened right in front of her snout. “Just one last thing. This is a simple fire spell, the like of which we used in my time. Try to cast it.” With a groan, Twilight skimmed the page in front of her. She then closed her eyes and focused. A few seconds later, a pale blue flame appeared in the air over the tip of her horn. Obsidian stared intently at Twilight, then tapped his hoof, sending the tome back to its place, wherever it was. “That’s enough.” He walked around the circle, seemingly lost in thought. “It is obvious now, how your princesses have managed to stay in power for so long.” Twilight turned around, facing him with a scowl. “And how do you think it was?” She was getting tired of the stallion’s constant accusations and snide remarks. She had hoped that telling him everything would remove any doubts and apparently it did, but not the way she thought it would. “From the beginning it seemed strange that two ponies could wield so much power to be considered de facto goddesses. How could they be so much stronger than everypony else? But power is relative. You don’t always have to be unbelievably strong to be at the top. Just being very powerful will suffice if everyone else is kept weak.” “Weak?” asked Twilight, slightly confused. “When I asked you to show me your magic, it was easy to notice how much you overcomplicate your casting. You cast with your head, not with your heart. You start with a pattern that shackles your energy to flow exactly as you wish, sacrificing power for control. I gave you one of my own spells and you made the same mistake. So it’s not that your spells are inferior. It’s how you were taught to cast. You waste half your energy on keeping the rest under strict control.” “So, should I blow myself up instead?” asked Twilight angrily. “Just pump raw magic through my horn and hope for the best? When my talent fully awakened, I changed my parents into potted plants. These casting techniques were created over centuries of research, to ensure that such accidents would not happen, so everypony could use magic safely.” She paused, glaring at the earth pony. “So, you mean to tell me, that in your time magic was cast by instinct? And… there must have been some test where unicorns would become wizards or die trying, was that it?” She sneered at him in disdain, waving her hoof in the general direction where she knew the Void Passage was. Obsidian tilted his head, looking at her curiously. The staff at his side twitched, causing Twilight to flinch. Yet a blow didn’t come. The earth pony resumed his pacing around the circle, the unicorn turning nervously on the spot to keep his weapon in her view. “Tell me, Twilight Sparkle, did you use your casting technique when using the Elements of Harmony?” Twilight blinked in surprise.”N...no. But that wasn’t really casting. The power was already focused and I just directed it into a spell.” “Yes, of course,” responded Obsidian in a mocking tone. “The Elements of Harmony drew upon the boundless energies of the Dissonance and made them safe to use by channelling their chaos through the intricate pattern of…” He suddenly stopped, facing Twilight with a glare, his flamboyant speaking voice now replaced with a silent and cold one. “... Loyalty, Honesty, Laughter, Generosity, Kindness and Friendship. There is no structure beyond that, no magical connections beyond the necessary. Magic is emotion. It is formed by emotions. It responds to will. A strong feeling, a strong purpose, perhaps a strong memory or desire to give it direction, that’s all it takes to focus it. The stronger the focus, the stronger the magic. The rest is redundant, an inhibitor for your powers, designed to waste your potential.” “I have been personally trained by Princess Celestia!” interrupted Twilight with a shout.”She devoted countless hours to…” “Can you do aging spells?” asked Obsidian abruptly, interrupting her. Twilight hesitated. “I know the theory. But these are some of the most difficult spells to cast. Only the most powerful and experienced unicorns were ever able to perform them reliably. What does that have to...” “And yet, when you experienced a surge, you turned a dragon egg into a 50 foot tall adult dragon. Now after years of training, you find such a task unthinkable. Long years of tutelage under the absolute ruler of your land ensured that you cannot perform a feat you accomplished on accident as a foal!” Twilight stepped back, frightened by the shift in Obsidian’s mood. His eyes were now wild and a vein bulged on his forehead. Though his aura didn’t flare up like the last time he was angry, he almost looked like he was about to bite her. The earth pony circled Twilight like a predator, forcing her to stumble back into the circle. “And what about that King Sombra you told me about? Just listen to your own story. A half-insane wizard, a shadow of his former glory, cut off from the city that was the source of his power, facing against the unicorn ‘with the greatest raw potential princess Celestia had ever seen’, personally trained by an immortal wisemare ruler, groomed to be the most powerful defender of her realm, the bearer of Magic… Did you crush him with ease as you should have? No, you were completely at his mercy, powerless against somepony who actually knew how to use magic! And what did you learn from that? Did you figure out how you had been manipulated and cheated of your power? Did you question why your teacher sent you there without your greatest weapon or even any proper training? No! You learned the value of sacrifice for the good of Equestria, ever an obedient subject!” Obsidian paused, staring at the ground, his rage momentarily spent. Then he looked up at Twilight and there was nothing but contempt in his gaze. “You are not a unicorn, Twilight Sparkle. You are a sheep.” He turned away from her, his staff hitting the floor with enough force to stick in it like a spear. “And so is everypony else. You said it took centuries to develop those casting techniques? Oh, it must have. Mind boggles at the thought of how much effort this must have taken. Generation after generation, making small compromises, slowly sacrificing magical prowess for perceived safety, not even realising when they accepted… no, embraced mediocrity. What happened to the unicorns from your holiday stories, unicorns from my past, moving the Sun and Moon with their magic before the three tribes united?” He turned his head, looking back at Twilight. “The whole race robbed… castrated of their power, and nopony noticed. Weren’t you supposed to be a genius?” Twilight didn’t respond. She was standing still, staring blankly forward, her eyes getting unfocused as her mind raced in frantic search for an explanation. “This doesn’t make sense…” she mumbled under her breath. “there must be some reason…” Obsidian sighed. “The reason is, you have been taught to accept authorities without question. The princess is your ruler and your teacher, so everything she says is true and you will try to disregard or explain away anything that doesn’t fit with it. Bah, you even do the same for me now. A couple knocks to the head, and I’m your infallible source of knowledge, except where it contradicts the princess. Here, let me show you.” The earth pony closed his eyes. there was a brief flash of blue from under his eyelids and then the circle underneath Twilight came to life, the scorch marks filling with magical energy.  Suddenly she felt her head growing heavy and her legs buckle underneath her, too weak to walk off the pattern. “There is a crazy stallion beating you with a stick, calling you worthless, telling you to stand in a magical circle as part of his experiments and you do as he says, accepting the explanation that it will let him read your energies better. Well, it will. Let’s see what we can do about you…” *** music link The attack came with barely a warning. One moment the four mares and a griffon were climbing up a mountain. The next, something growled among the jagged rocks. The ponies froze in place. The griffon did not, her flight taking her a couple meters further before she noticed the danger. Something big and furry pounced from its hiding spot with a roar, swatting Gilda from the air. “A manticore!” shouted Rarity, as the ponies started backpedalling down the slope. Fluttershy was initially paralyzed, her mind racing as she observed the attack. Rarity’s assessment was right, this was indeed a manticore, a heavily built male with a dusty red mane. It leaned forward to roar loudly at the sprawled griffon. Gilda tried to get away, only to flop back onto the ground with a hiss of pain. One of her wings, hit by the initial attack, was limp and bleeding. She tried to gain some space, roaring and swinging her talons at the beast, but only invited another blow, forcing her into an awkward dodge. She didn’t really have anywhere to run, her injury slowing her down and the angry monster not giving her a chance to take her eyes off him. “We’ve got to do something!” Fluttershy heard Applejack shout behind her back. What do I do? What do I do? He’s going to rip her to pieces, but he’s so scary, roaring like that… Fluttershy sprung forward, flying towards Gilda and tackling her out of the way. “Stop fighting him!” she shouted, even as the Griffon fell aside, screaming in pain. Fluttershy realized that in her haste she rammed Gilda’s injured wing. There was no time for apologies though. The pegasus found herself right in front of the roaring manticore. “Fluttershy! What are you doing!?” shouted Applejack. Fluttershy didn’t look at her. “Don’t get closer.” she said firmly stepping away from the beast, trying to make herself as small as possible. That’s what she was good at. Looking inoffensive. Avoiding eye contact. Not being a threat. She felt bits of spittle land on her face as the manticore roared again. Holding back her instinct to run, she shifted the positions of her limbs, making her silhouette appear slightly cat-like. A cat with wings… yes… I’m like you… I don’t want to hurt you… please don’t hurt me. Slowly the roars decreased in volume, turning into annoyed growls. Fluttershy kept watching the creatures’ body language, her own features relaxing slowly. She could do it. That was her gift. She continued her subtle effort, until the manticore snorted for the last time and moved back into his hiding spot. A part of her wanted to nuzzle the giant cat, but a more rational voice in her head told her that it was still dangerous. She walked backwards slowly, until she reached the spot that she thought was far enough, before moving aside to get to where Gilda was. music link “Wow,” said Pinkie Pie in stage whisper, following behind Fluttershy. “I thought it was going to eat you. I mean, I knew it wasn’t, but it still looked that way, didn’t it?” “He wasn’t hungry,” said Fluttershy. “How did you know, darling?” said Rarity, bringing a small first aid kit out of her bags. “He roared a lot,” responded Fluttershy. “He wasn’t trying to sneak up on us. He was trying to be scary. Did you see how dusty he was? I think… that rockslide earlier… it might have damaged his lair. He was scared and angry.” She opened the first aid kit and leaned over Gilda. The griffon looked up at her with anger in her eyes. “So… that too was your fault.” Fluttershy looked down at Gilda, but seemed to shrink a bit. “Yes. I think it was. Now stay still while I take care of your wing. It… isn’t doesn’t seem to need setting, but we still need to keep it from moving until we get you to a doctor.” Gilda growled angrily. “Why?” Fluttershy was unable to speak, holding one end of the bandage in her mouth, but managed to give Gilda a confused look. “Why did you save me?” Fluttershy leaned in to tie a piece of bandage, causing the griffin to wince in pain, then looked at her in confusion again. “What do you mean, why did I save you? You were about to be mauled by a manticore.” Gilda looked at her in disbelief. “Just like that? After all I said?” Fluttershy blinked, then continued her work. “What you said was very mean. Please, never do that again.” “That’s true,” said Pinkie Pie, popping behind Gilda. “You were a meanie. And she saved your feathers.” “It was her fault too,” hissed Gilda. “I dunno... “ replied Applejack, joining the conversation. “Now that I think of it, I’m pretty sure I saw you hit a tree with your wing. You dropped that leaf that startled Fluttershy.” Gilda stared at her in disbelief. “A leaf? are you serious?” “Please be quiet,” whispered Fluttershy. “The manticore is still there.” That cut the argument. Applejack and Rarity helped Gilda get up. Then, as silently as they could, the whole group resumed their climb. There was just one last part of the mountain for them to ascend and though the sun was beginning to set, the top was basking in bright sunlight. Fluttershy briefly remembered that there should have been smoke obscuring the top, but before she could grasp the notion properly, Gilda walked up to her side. “Back then, when they said it was my fault, you…” she started, staring at the ground. Fluttershy sighed. “Arguing about whose fault it is will get us nowhere.” she said softly. Gilda turned away from her. “I still think you’re weak,” she said. “I am,” said Fluttershy. “But I can’t be weak when somepony needs my help.” Gilda opened her beak, then closed it. She stood still as Applejack and Pinkie Pie walked past her. As the ponies reached the summit, disappearing into bright light, the griffon shuddered, her fur and feathers flaking away into nothing to reveal a skulking creature of solid darkness. The monster collapsed upon itself and disappeared, and soon after the whole mountain faded away. *** music link Twilight awoke with a start. She was still in the circle, her face flat against the warm stone of the floor. She tried to rise up and found her limbs still slightly wobbly. Obsidian was standing over her in exactly the same spot as when she passed out. “What… have you done to me?” asked Twilight, shaking her head to clear it. Obsidian gave her a bored look. “I dug through your head to see what could be done. Since you were taught from foalhood to cast spells wrong, your wrong reflexes were too deeply ingrained to correct… so I decided you’d be better off starting with a clean slate.” “What?” Twilight’s voice was silent, barely more than a loud breath. Her eyes widened in shock as she tried to start casting a spell and her mind drew a blank. Her horn didn’t even light up. She tried to think of her lessons and she realised that she still remembered all the days and nights spent over books, all her years of learning, the historical facts… everything but the spells. She didn’t even know how to start casting. “Why… did… you…” she asked feebly. Obsidian turned his back to her. “Because I could. Because you let me. Because you were a mockery of what Magic should be and I couldn’t have that. Because you talked back to me and worse, you talked back to me without having any actual arguments. Want to hear more reasons?” The response was a loud scream of fury as Twilight charged at his back. Obsidian’s staff moved on its own, tangling between the unicorn’s legs, causing her to tumble forward and faceplant. She stayed there, whimpering in tears of powerless anger. Obsidian turned around and looked down on her. “Also, to prove my point about you believing authorities without thinking. It wastes your intellect just as your learning wasted your magic.” He leaned forward, his voice becoming softer. “You must understand, Twilight Sparkle. There are… things in the world, much older than you and much more cunning. If you don’t learn to think for yourself, to see past the schemes and machinations, there will be no hope for Equestria.” “Just look at your current situation. You are at my mercy, confused. Also, thinking yourself crippled. I didn’t even have to lie to you. I just prodded you towards the wrong conclusion and you did the rest to yourself. You could wield the power of Honesty and I’d still be able to trick you, as long as you didn’t use your brain.” “Now, you have enough correct knowledge to find out where the facts don’t match. Prove to me that you can be more than a puppet; use your brain and tell me what is wrong.” The silence that followed might have lasted minutes or ages. All the while Obsidian stood over Twilight, motionless as a statue, waiting for her to answer. Finally, Twilight swallowed loudly and whispered. “You didn’t remove my memories. Memory spells are not difficult, but you can’t remove large or important pieces like this…” Obsidian smiled. “And if I told you, that my magic is more powerful than any you have read about?” Twilight shook her head feebly. “No, it’s not the problem of magic, it’s the problem of the mind. Everything is connected to everything.” In response, Obsidian stomped his hoof repeatedly. For a second Twilight feared that he would kick her. It took her a second to realise what he was actually doing; it was an applause. “The memories of using magic are a part of nearly every day of your life,” said Obsidian. “They really are connected to everything else. If I just ripped them all out like that, the rest of your mind would be scrambled beyond repair. Best case scenario you would be an animal, good only for grazing in the meadows. So what I did instead was put a blocking spell in your mind. It interferes whenever you try to recall anything connected to magic. This gives you a clean slate to work with. The spell isn’t very complex either; you can overpower it through simple brute force, once you figure out how to focus your magic correctly. Once you have learned that, you can have your memories back. Just imagine you’re a foal, trying to use your horn for the first time.” “I… hate… you,” answered Twilight feebly from the floor. Obsidian shrugged. “Will do for a start. Just don’t rely on it too much. Hate is a tricky focus. You don’t want to end up crazy like that Sombra guy, do you?” He turned away and walked towards the stairs. “I’m leaving you now. I have things to do. Don’t bother me until you’ve learned to use magic.” As he left, Twilight closed her eyes, unwilling to make the effort to get up just yet. “Just what else do you have to do here?” she whispered under her breath. *** music link Rarity was just finishing her third tube of ice cream when she heard a knocking on the door. “Hello, is anypony there?” asked a female voice from outside. Rarity sniffed loudly, suppressed an unladylike burp and got off her chaise longue. “I’m not taking any new orders today,” she said loudly through the door, trying to keep her voice steady. “I’m not a customer,” responded the voice. “I’m a fellow contestant. My name is Suri Polomare. We met last year during Ponyville knitting competition?” it added hopefully. Rarity looked at herself. She didn’t have to run back to the mirror to know she had puffy eyes from crying and some of her hair were out of place. “I’m… sorry, but I’m afraid I can’t see you right now,” she said. “Oh, I can understand that,” said Suri, “I saw how you were treated and I’m appalled. To lose your models on the eve of the event like this must have been quite a blow.” She stayed there, listening at the door for an answer. When none came, she continued. “But that’s not really why I’m here. You see, I’ve found a key in front of the town hall and I think it’s a spare key to the main hall where all the dresses for tomorrow’s event are being kept. Probably a janitor lost it or something, but everypony has already left for the night. I can’t find anypony to give it to. You are the only trustworthy local I know of, so… would it be a big problem if I left it with you? I guess I could just hold on to it myself, but… the truth is I’m not sure I will be able to attend the event after all. There may be some personal matters calling me to Manehattan first thing tomorrow…” Suri stopped her monologue and listened at the door. After a while there was a sigh from the other side. “I suppose I can help,” said Rarity’s resigned voice. Suri leaned forward and slid the key under the door, then, mumbling a quick ‘thank you’, she turned around and disappeared in the growing darkness.