//------------------------------// // Chapter 26: The Story // Story: Dissonance: A Hidden World // by Braininthejar //------------------------------// "I'm sorry, I've never heard of it," said Aurora with a shrug. Twilight Sparkle gave a dejected sigh. A half-filled notebook she had been levitating in front of her dropped on the table.  “I don’t get it,” said Twilight, “I mean, I can understand history being falsified. Even… the fact you’ve never heard of Hearth’s Warming. Or… Starswirl the Bearded.” There were already some loose hairs sticking out of Twilight’s mane. Aurora eyed her curiously. “But that doesn’t make any sense!” continued Twilight. “Why put so much effort into falsifying everything? It’s so counterproductive. And how did they manage to remove so much from history in the first place? There were ponies there, remembering things, for crying out loud!” “Darling,” said Rarity from a large pillow on the other side of the bedroom, “Don’t you think you’re tiring our guest? You barely slept tonight and so did she.” “Yea,” said Aurora. “Didn’t that Obsidian guy say he’d just use a spell to show you everything anyway? I’m grateful to you for telling me about your times and all, but I don’t think I can take it for much longer. No offense, Twilight, but I’d rather be flying now.” “Well, he did say he’d prepare a vision,” said Twilight. “but I can hardly get all the information out of it. There is so much to know that there will probably be no time to view! You must understand, even Obsidian doesn’t know anything about your times. You’re a unique treasure trove of information.” Aurora rolled her eyes. “Oh, yes, I’m feeling trovy already. When did he say he’d have that spell ready?” “He could have it ready in minutes, actually,” said Twilight. “But he didn’t know how long it would take us, so he’s first making sure that everything else is in order. We have some things to take care of first, like healing Rainbow’s wing.” The door swung open, and Rainbow Dash strode into the room, Scootaloo close behind her. “We’re ready, everypony!” called Rainbow Dash, opening her wing, and waving it around for emphasis. “Obsidian’s fixed everything, and now he’s finishing some talks with Bling and Shining about our defenses. You can all get ready.” “It will be so awesome!” shouted Scootaloo, pushing past her into the room. “Charcoal?!” asked Aurora almost jumping off the bed to look towards the filly. “E… excuse me?” asked Scootaloo, confused. Everypony looked at Aurora, whose excited smile faded into disappointment as they watched. “I’m sorry,” said the pegasus. “You just… sound a lot like somepony that I used to know.” “Oh, right…” said Twilight, suddenly sad. “Everypony you were friends with must be, already…” Aurora turned, and swatted her playfully with a wing. “Don’t sweat it, Twilight. I may have missed the last couple centuries, but I’ve had more than enough time to get over my loss. I’m done mourning my friends. Now all that’s left is to make sure their bravery is not wasted. I will show you all you need to know, so you can beat the Shattered once and for all, right?” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure, you’re okay? Because Obsidian says he’ll need you to build that spell around, and I don’t want you to be-” Aurora returned her facial expression. “And what if I’m not? You guys all need my help. This is what my friends would want. It’s not the first time I lost a friend. But I can’t give up because of that. They may be gone, but all their hopes and dreams live in me now.” She walked past Dash and through the door, taking a moment to bow lower and smile at Scootaloo.  “So, where do I need to go?” “Obsidian said, it’s in the chamber upstairs, same as last time,” said Scootaloo. “But I wasn’t there last time.” “Wait,” said Rarity, “Are you going to watch it with us?” “Yup!” said Scootaloo, her wings fluttering with excitement, “Mr Obsidian said I can.” “But… there will be horrible things there,” said Twilight, “no offense,” she added, looking at Aurora, “should a little filly really watch it?” “Obsidian says there are horrible things here right now,” said Dash, “so the kid might as well get used to it while she can do it safely…” she paused, noticing Rarity glaring at her over Twilight’s shoulder. “I mean, I’m not that sure myself, but I’ve already promised Scoots she could watch it with us.” “Hey!” said Scootaloo, “I’m no scaredy cat!. Besides, I live in Ponyville. And I was there when Nightmare Moon showed up. And at that wedding in Canterlot. I’ve seen some monsters in my life,” she exclaimed, ending with a pout. Aurora patted her on the head with a wing. “You’re a brave one, I think I like you,” she said. “I say, you can go with us if you like. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.” She grinned right in the filly’s face. “We’ll see if you’re as brave as Charcoal was.” As they walked out through the door, Rainbow Dash leaned towards Rarity. "Also, Obsidian thought she could use a distraction," she whispered. Rarity responded with a glare that made Rainbow tense her neck, and turn away ucomfortably. *** The light of the spell faded, leaving the nine ponies standing on a black stone platform surrounded by a starry void. Aurora and Scootaloo walked around, examining their environment curiously. “So, this is the fabled testing ground you’ve told us about?” asked Aurora over her shoulder. Obsidian scowled. “Yes, the one each bearer of the Elements was supposed to go through. We’ll get some scenery here as soon as the Passage finishes learning from you. “ Aurora turned. “Learning from me? You mean, it’s alive? Is it… reading my mind?” "Is there anything you’d like to hide?” said Obsidian. “And yes, but not the way you think. All of this is alive. And every moment you spend here, your nature interacts with your surroundings. You’re a bundle of memories, but everything here is memories too. For the Passage, learning from you is as simple as smelling you is for a dog.” Aurora wrapped her wings tightly over her sides. “So, it will know everything I know?” “As long as you’re here,” replied Obsidian. “And it was created to retain memories relevant to test construction. So, the stories of your valiant deeds are likely to outlive you here.” “How long will it take?” asked Dash, louder than she needed. “When we came here, our test started almost right away, didn’t it?” Obsidian rolled his eyes. “Patience, my young apprentice. You’ll get your bedtime story soon enough.” He stopped, blinking. ”I shouldn’t have said that. I’m still learning not to.” “If it’s going to take a while,” said Twilight Sparkle, “I might start with giving everypony a short introduction. I have learned quite a lot from talking with Aurora, and all of you could use some context for what you’ll see.” Pinkie Pie sat down on the rock floor, facing Twilight. Applejack and Fluttershy looked at her with hesitation. The groan of Rainbow Dash rolled across the platform, and disappeared in the void without an echo. “Forgive me, darling,” said Rarity, “I know you enjoy your lectures a lot, but we might not have quite that much time. Would you mind, if I tried to tell the short version? I’ve been with you through most of your talks with Aurora, and I think I could give them the gist of it.” Twilight looked taken aback by the proposal. “Well, if you think you can do it better…” Rarity gave her a reassuring smile. “I have a little sister, you know. You may be better at lecturing in a more… scholarly style, but I think I have more practice with telling stories.” Twilight smiled, then shot Rarity a dirty look as her brain processed the implications. Meanwhile, Pinkie waved her front leg in the air, trailing pale blue lines with her hoof, until they suddenly coalesced into a bag of popcorn. Obsidian looked at her first with surprise, then with a content smile. Twilight gave a dejected sigh. “Oh, well, in that case, please be my guest.” She walked towards her friends, and everypony formed a semicircle in front of Rarity. Eight pairs of eyes stared into the unicorn. “I hope Spike won’t be upset he’s missing this,” said Twilight under her breath, “even though I think it better for him.” “Well, you needed a trustworthy guardian anyway, didn’t you?” whispered Obsidian, looking towards her. “Shh, it’s starting,” hissed Pinkie Pie at them both. Rarity looked around the group, and lit up her horn, the simple spell creating an illumination resembling a theatre spotlight. “It all happened over a thousand years ago,” she started her story. “Legends say that before that time, the land of Equestria had been ruled by the Elements of Harmony, six noble ponies exemplifying the virtues of Friendship. But one day, the heroes were defeated, destroyed by their ancient enemy, the Shattered, who then spent centuries ruling Equestria with an iron hoof.” The light of Rarity’s spell shifted, and dimmed, taking a reddish hue, casting sinister shadows across her face. “It was a grim time, of huge cities and smoke-belching factories, when pony magic was weak, and monsters like Discord ruled the land just outside of what the Shattered controlled. The few who showed devotion to their tyrants lived in luxury. The rest toiled in a gray world of hard work and drab clothes, longing for the day when their heroes return to bring Harmony back to Equestria.” The light got a bit brighter, just a little flicker. “And return they did, time after time. The Shattered tried to destroy the Elements of Harmony, then, when that failed, tried to hide them away. But whatever they did, sooner or later, the Elements would call to new ponies, somehow finding their way to those who were worthy of becoming the new heroes.” Rarity made a dramatic pause, and extinguished her horn almost completely, leaving only a thin halo of light around her face, a beacon in the darkness. “To try to stop it, the Shattered stooped to even worse villainy. They would force all the young ponies to go through tests, picking out those that showed more capacity for friendship that others, to make sure they never become the new bearers. Those picked up by the tests were brainwashed to become their slaves… or never heard from again.” “Until me and my sister were taken for testing,” interrupted Aurora. Obsidian tapped his staff on the stone floor. Around them, in the void above and below the platform, the giant rings started rotating slowly. “We are ready to begin the vision,” said Obsidian. “Well,” said Twilight Sparkle, “that was a good deal shorter than what I had in mind.” Aurora took a deep breath, and fell silent. *** Two mares huddled togetheron a hard bench, the rhythmic rumble of the train around them. The armored behemoth dashed along the rails, belching black smoke into the air as it carried its cargo, three passenger cars and a dozen wagons  worth of goods, towards its distant destination.  The first mare was Aurora, notably younger and thinner than she was now, her expression worried and vigilant, as she held the other pony tightly to her chest. The other pony was a blue unicorn filly, small and thin, with unkept mane that seemed to have been recently cut shorter. She was sitting with her eyes closed, her face to Aurora’s chest, leaving the pegasus to observe her surroundings.  “...that whatever it is, we will face it together,” whispered Aurora reassuringly. She looked aside towards the barred window. Behind it, the landscape was rushing by, the cleared area around the rails slowly giving way to a forested landscape.  The train echoed with a loud bang. The blue filly jerked, startled. Aurora covered her tighter with her wings.  “It’s one of the roof cannons. Some monster must have wandered too close,” she explained in a calm voice. The train kept moving forward, its pace unbroken by the disruption. “What happens if they separate us?” asked the filly, looking up. Aurora loosened her hug, keeping her in her hooves, just far enough to look into her eyes. “They won’t. I won’t let them.” “You won’t have any say if they want to,” said the filly seriously. Aurora’s features hardened. “They’ve tried once already, haven’t they? We are here together, because I didn’t let them.” She hugged the filly close again. Then there was a grinding noise, and the train began to slow down. The blue unicorn looked towards the window. “Aurora, what’s going on? Are we there already?” Aurora let go of the hug, and looked outside through the bars. “It’s way too early. It… looks like there’s some small station here, but I can only see a bit of it.” Minutes passed, and nothing happened. The two mares looked out of the window, then at each other, waiting for the train to resume its journey. Finally, something happened. The sky outside was illuminated by a bright flash, and lightning cracked above the train. “What’s going on!?” screamed the unicorn, startled.  Aurora spread her wings, ready to fly, though there was nowhere to in the small cabin.  Her ears twitched, and then, for a brief moment her hair stood on end. “That’s not a storm,” said the pegasus, “not like any I have ever felt, anyway. It think it might be a chaos anomaly - whoa!” She nearly fell down from surprise when the train jerked into motion again. Quickly, it started building up speed, but the noise they expected did not come - it was now shifting smoothly, as if flying. Aurora looked outside and saw the landscape rush by much faster than she had seen before. “It’s Envy,” whispered the filly, her eyes growing with fear. Aurora met her gaze. Now she too was scared, though she quickly tried to hide it behind a mask of confidence. Then there was a sound of hoofsteps in the corridor outside, and the two mares turned in unison, the older one putting a protective wing around the filly. “You there!” called a voice from outside. “Wake up! The leader wants to see you!” The mares looked at each other. “What? What does he want with us?” asked the younger one. Aurora shook her head. “I have no idea,” she whispered, before calling louder “We’re awake! You were shooting a cannon, for crying out loud.” “Well then, get ready then,” responded the voice. “And don’t even think of doing anything stupid. They told me you’re quite fast, but you can’t outrun lightning.” The cell door opened slowly. The locking mechanism and the hinges were well oiled, in complete disregard of the needs of drama. Aurora peered outside. There was a single guard there, an earth pony stallion dressed in a heavy, silvered armor, his eyes looking sternly through the visor of his helmet. “Come on, “ he said, pointing his hoof towards the front of the train, “You don’t want to keep the leader waiting.” “What does he want with us?” asked the filly. The guard shrugged. “Not my business, perhaps he’s just curious.” He herded them towards the second car of the train. Unlike the other ones, this one was lavishly decorated, with soft, beige carpets muffling the sounds of their hoofsteps, and gilded arabesques on the mahogany paneling.   Most of the car consisted of a large, open room, with sitting cushions alongside the walls. In the center, there stood a pale green alicorn stallion, dressed in an elaborate white suit. His intricately styled mane fell onto his shoulders in emerald locks. The stallion looked at the two mares as they approached, the guard stopping in the doorway behind them. “So, you are the little troublemakers I’ve heard so much about,“ said the alicorn. Aurora looked at the stallion, dozens of answers swarming in her brain. In the end, she forced herself to settle for a simple, “Yes, sir.” “You are Aurora,” continued the stallion. “What is your assignment?” “Weather duty, sir,” answered Aurora. “We water the crops for farmland seven.”  The alicorn nodded with a smile. “And for some reason, after years of serving the community faithfully, you decided that it would be wise to interrupt the official testing procedure, to get your little sister out of there? I must say It doesn’t happen often. What were you thinking?” Aurora swallowed loudly. “I just didn’t want to see her hurt.” The alicorn rolled his eyes. “And you really thought we’d hurt her? Whoever took care of your education must have been lax in his duties. We don’t hurt our faithful servants. You, on the other hoof… that was an act of rebellion, even if understandable one. I’m surprised the guards didn’t break your wings for it.” “They meant to, but they didn’t want to... send me in damaged,” said Aurora. The alicorn raised an eyebrow. “That’s silly. Empathy would have just put you back together. Doesn’t matter. What’s important is that you’re here, and a proof that we might need to adjust the testing procedure. Your own testing two years ago didn’t show any anomalies.” “Yes, sir,” said Aurora, not sure how to react. The alicorn turned from her, towards her sister. “And this is your sister, Aqua, isn’t it? Dowsing duty?” “It’s Aquila,” said the unicorn. The stallion froze, his eyes locking on the face of the little filly. “I’ve seen your file, young lady. You’re no eagle.” He took a couple deliberate steps towards her. As he closed in, Aurora could feel the static charge around him, the carpet rising around his hooves, even though his own mane remained in perfect shape. “Do you know, who I am?” Aquila took a deep breath. Just as she opened her mouth, she caught her sister’s horrified gaze. “Respect,” she said. “You’re Respect, protector of ponykind.” “Please, forgive her, sir,” said Aurora. “It’s just that there’s been four Aquas already in the dowsing division. She insisted on having a name of her own.” The stallion looked from one mare to the other. “So, Wisdom’s new naming convention law is meeting some resistance, and from foals? Tell me, how are we going to have order here, if you don’t cooperate?” Aurora’s ear caught a sound of uncomfortable shifting behind her. She knew the guard wasn’t happy with the development. “I could be doing something more pleasant, and less boring you know,” continued the alicorn. “I could be enjoying myself at my palace, or performing for my adoring audience. Instead, I’m here, moving this train so it gets to its destination faster, making sure everypony gets through the discordant lands with the same number of heads they started the journey. And what do I get in return? No respect, that’s for sure. You insist on spreading chaos, sabotaging our efforts to bring peace and prosperity to everypony. You can’t even stick to your assigned name.” He didn’t raise his voice. In fact, the rant sounded more like whining than an actual display of anger. And yet the temperature in the room seemed to drop a couple degrees. Aurora turned her face away from the leader, just in time to catch the look of fear in the guard’s eyes. Desperate, she caught the first idea she could use. “Wait, you are… moving this train? All by yourself?” *** “Was he?” asked Twilight Sparkle with astonishment. “I mean, I know they are very powerful, but that was an armored train. It must have weighed over-” “Shh!” hissed Pinkie Pie, “Keep watching.” *** The alicorn turned towards Aurora. “Yes, I do. Didn’t you know it? It is by my power alone that we now float over the rails…” He looked at her closer. “Do you think cheap compliments will erase the bad impression you two have already made?” Aurora suppressed an urge to step away from the stallion. “No, sir. I was just curious how it’s possible.” The alicorn snorted. “Despite my youthful appearance, I am old and wise enough to recognize a panicked lie. It seems you are not so different from other ponies after all. I thought meeting you would break the tedium of this journey, but it only served to annoy me. Go back to your cell until I call for you again.” The two mares bowed, and slinked towards the exit, welcomed by an angry glare of the guard. The three moved down the corridor, eager to leave Respect behind as quickly as possible. *** “But how did he move the train?” asked Twilight Sparkle. “Did he ever explain that?” Aurora shrugged. “Magnets.”