//------------------------------// // Harmony // Story: The Survivor // by Chemtest //------------------------------// “Welcome, to the Prison of Chaos. It is not... pleasant, any more.” Survivor looks around into the empty void, before snapping his eyes back to the light, “It once was?” The pony shrugs, “We have no morals, technically, so we can only speak on what our mission was. For our mission, yes. There was the whip collection, the stretcher, the knives, all of our tools. They found good use, as well. But, Chaos doesn’t respond to pain. They faded over the millennia.” Survivor holds up a hand, “Wait, you tortured the person here?!” The pony nods, “Yes. We had deemed it necessary for Chaos to experience the pain he accidentally brought upon ponies. His name was Discord, but if he calls us Harmony, than we shall call him Chaos. Forgive us, Bearer Survivor, we haven’t introduced ourself, as physical creatures such as yourself like to do. We are Magic, best known by the Element named after us. It is pleasant to meet you.” Survivor glares at the pony, “No, it really isn’t. You tortured someone!” The pony tilts it’s head, “Tortured? We punished, as we were commanded. Chaos was to face justice for his century of Unrule. We punished through pony fears, that of pain and death.” He looks away, eyes glaring into his own mask, “That... what did he do?” The pony smiles, “Chaos led the world in anarchy for one hundred years. During that period, he threw all semblance of Order out. Flowers tasted like bacon, licorice tasted like steak, trumpets sung opera, and bees were black with yellow stripes. Ponies lived through his chaos.” Survivor looks back at them, “That isn’t a fitting punishment! One hundred years of what is pretty much a paradise is not worth one thousand years of torture!” The pony loses the smile, “We didn’t torture him, after the first century. Not in the normal sense. We had finally found his weak point, and we decided to turn his punishment into pure Order. No color, no noise, no sensation other than the crushing weight of not being able to move. For Chaos, there was nothing worse.” Survivor floats closer, not even noticing the blue light coming off him as he does so, “That is even worse than torture, that is pure hell! You did that to him, and claim you are justified!?” The pony form looks at the blue glow, and actually takes a nervous step back, “We are not in control, our Bearers are! We couldn’t kill him with kindness, we weren’t told to! We-we left it for you, Compassion!” Survivor floats a bit closer, causing the pony to stumble back onto their flank, “I don’t care what excuse you have. You tortured a living creature in a specialty made hell for a thousand years! You do not deserve to claim you are Harmony, you are not!” The pony crawls back, yet Survivor gets closer and closer, “Please, if we didn’t do this, the world would have been doomed! Edis told us!” He floats closer, the blue glow keeping the Element in place, “How do you know him? Who is he?” The Element looks up at Survivor, it’s pony form slowly fading away, “Edis, God of Endings! He carries the Book, we had to trust him! He told us, we couldn’t use kindness, it would lead to our defeat and the Destruction! We had to, for the greater good!” Survivor looks at the rapidly fading pony, “What book?” The Element shouts out in a panic, “Book of Endings! It sees the end of everything! Thousands, thousands of Destructions! You need to be there for the victory, if we wish to live! Discord needed to bring you here to release him, we had to do it!” The pony becomes nothing more than a head, the blue glow growing stronger, “Really? He wouldn’t have saved us if he was made better?” The Element begins to tear up, “He would have rescued all of you! Every human, he would have brought to Equestria!” Survivor looks at the Element, his eyes numb, “What?” The Element stares back, fear evident within, “He would have saved every human. Every man, woman, and child. We couldn’t allow that to happen! You-“ Survivor draws his revolver, and points it at the Element. His eyes are filled with tears, “Seven billion people! Seven billion killed, all because you couldn’t stop torturing a creature!” The Element begins to cry tears of pure energy, “You wouldn’t-“ The blue glow quickly begins to fill the void, replacing the darkness, “I don’t give a shit about me! I couldn’t give a shit if I were to have died! I couldn’t give a shit it I was tortured for all eternity, I would save them! You would dare to sentence them all to death because of me!? You- you-“ he fires his revolver, “bastard!” The bullet cuts through the metaphysical form of the Element, reducing it back to it’s gem. Survivor looks away from the star shaped gem, now with a bullet hole in it. He looks outward, where the void has now become a calm blue. He collapses onto his knees, and screams into his blue void. His scream turns into crying, and then into wailing and sobbing. He collapses onto the metaphysical floor, his black wear cloaking him like a smudge in the calm blue. Yet, his form still glows the same blue. He continues for what feels like an eternity, so overcome in his despair that he doesn’t even notice the void around him turning more crystalline. Then, suddenly, he feels a comforting feeling around him. His crying slowly slows down, and his mind starts to pay attention more. At that moment, he realizes he is being hugged. The crystalline figure that was doing it feels his shock, and takes a few steps back, “You aren’t the only one, Survivor.” He instantly snaps his head to her. A crystalline woman, glowing a similarly crystalline blue. She wears a long dress, one that reflects the glow back in, thus making seeing her easier. His mind clears, and he pushes himself back to his feet, “What do you mean?” She smiles, a kind and motherly smile, “You are not the only human, let alone the only one left in your family. Heh, perhaps I’m being a bit too mysterious.” She giggles a bit, “Your brother, Kendrick, is alive.” Survivor shakes his head, “How is that possible? These ponies haven’t seen a human before.” She nods, “You are correct, the ponies of this Equestria haven’t seen one. Let me introduce myself. I am Karma, Kendrick is my Champion. I do not technically fall under a universe, with how I travel around them. But, I care fondly for Universe Three, where Kendrick is. You are in Universe Four. I... need help. Kendrick has split in two, the pacifist, and the bloodthirsty.” Survivor looks at her, “Why are you telling me this?” She looks into his eyes, “Because you are so sad... because you are just a child. Because you deserve to know your brother is alive, and you deserve to speak to him. Even if not for long. You can also reach to him, and I need him to do this.” She extends a hand, “Please, Survivor, can you spare the time?” He looks at her hand, the calm blue around him fading down. He grabs her hand, and the blue flairs back up to an almost blinding degree.