//------------------------------// // Chapter 60: The Beginning // Story: Dissonance: A Hidden World // by Braininthejar //------------------------------// “What is wrong... with me?” Indigo stepped forward, the space around him bending for another attack. “When the Splice pulled you in, it didn’t just split you into three pieces,” explained Twilight. “It also created the Elements of Harmony… by ripping them out of you, didn’t it?” Indigo shot forward with strands of power, aiming for the six lights. “Then give them back to me!” The ponies braced themselves against the attack, and this time the space around them bent to their will, stretching the plaza to put them just out of reach. “Should we?” asked Fluttershy, turning to look at Twilight. “Not like this,” replied Twilight, scowling. “We'll all be dead before he properly absorbs them. We need to integrate-" Indigo was standing right in front of her, his wing lashing forward, pinions extending like blades to go straight through her head and cut Magic away from her. The floor exploded, spikes of stone separating the combatants, Twilight regaining her shape before her friends could finish their screams of surprise. “You’re already dead,” spat Indigo, exploding the improvised barrier out of the way. The light of the Elements shot towards him, brighter and more focused now that the bearers had a clear purpose to achieve, but in split second he wasn’t there. “This is pointless,” he said, irritated. “It’s not even a fight. You can’t lay a hoof on me. It’s just a matter of how much pain you can endure before you break. How many deaths do you intend to die?” The floor turned like clockwork, sending clouds of white dust into the air as the arena grew. Indigo looked around in brief surprise before looking back at Twilight. “Ah, right. Verba betrayed me too. The Void Passage… worthless.” His power exploded. The sky parted, layers of magical constructions and semi-real spaces destroyed in an instance, until all that was left was Indigo standing on a featureless flat surface, opposite the six Elements, surrounded by endless void filled with swirling lights. “How much difference did you think it would make?” Twilight started replying, but she wasn’t quick enough to either finish her sentence or react. A spear of purple darkness pierced through her. No blood splattered as the strands split and multiplied, piercing through her flesh - her body seemed empty, only motes of blue and pink light filling the air around her. “See?” said Indigo, ignoring the power of the other Elements striking him in the chest. “You’re just memories now. I can destroy them one by one.” Somepony screamed. The darkness spread wider, scattering a cloud of motes until all that was left was the light of Magic in the center of the tangle. Indigo pulled it in, bringing the Element to close to his face. “When you don’t remember yourself, there is no you anymore,” he finished, opening his mouth to swallow Magic. “I remember her!” shouted Pinkie Pie. The white light jerked backwards, narrowly avoiding Indigo’s closing jaw.  “I remember her too!” said Rainbow Dash, glaring at Indigo, wings spread wide in defiance. Indigo returned the glare. Magic was slipping away from his power, gathering motes of light that quickly formed an outline of a pony. “Oh,I suppose you think you’re clever do you? Using your bonds to reinforce your identities, so you can defy me for a few deaths more? Pointless. Who will remember you?” he asked, shooting another dark strand at Dash. It barely missed the Element and pierced through her chest, but the pegasus would not budge. “What about me?” said Pierce. He was standing in the void outside, and just moments earlier he had been one of the lights dotting the bizarre sky.  As Indigo looked towards the unicorn, Rainbow Dash broke free and restored herself, then formed a shield, deflecting a blast aimed towards her ally. “A dead pony,” spat Indigo. “Why won’t you stay dead?!” He twisted his head, and a torrent of energy bolts spiralled out of his horn, filling the sky, many more than the Elements could’ve hoped to block. “Didn’t they tell you already?” said Pierce, bracing for the inevitable. “It’s too important.” He was hit once, twice, turning and twisting from the impacts, blue star matter spilling from his wounds. Indigo didn’t pause, directing the rest of his strikes against the Elements.  “One more won’t make a difference,” he said. “Or a thousand more. Which part of ‘god’ don’t you understand?” “It’s you who doesn’t understand,” said a filly’s voice. There were more shapes at the edges of the circle, some pastel and pony-like, others dark and emaciated. One was standing next to Pierce, who was slowly regaining his shape. “You’ve lost sight of what you’re doing. Now you’re just lashing out in anger,” said Tourmaline. “It’s helping nopony.” “You!?” Indigo paused. He stared at the filly. The Elements used the distraction to regain their footing and start regenerating, but even they looked at Tourmaline in surprise, all except Twilight, who merely spared her an understanding glance before focusing back on her magic. “You really are going to bring everyone here?” said Indigo angrily, glaring at Twilight. “Is that your idea? You’re using the Elements as a beacon to bring allies in?” “Isn’t that what you wanted in the first place?” asked Tourmaline, walking from Pierce to Twilight. “To have us all here?” “You’re not even Tourmaline,” said Indigo. “She’s gone, far beyond even death.” Tourmaline shook and her form wavered, but then she stomped her hoof and stabilised, looking up at him in defiance. “Am I? Didn’t you call yourself Obsidian, even when he was dead? Didn’t you say, ponies are just like chimeras, bundles of memories ? My mother, uncle Pierce, Scootaloo… they all remember me.” *** Somewhere in the mountains of Equestria a snake had cornered a mouse. The world had gone insane, but the snake lacked the facilities to evaluate that - whatever else was happening, it was still hungry and right now the small grey rodent in front of it was the most interesting thing in the world. A warm source of food, still looking frantically for a way of escape.  The snake lunged forward and the mouse tensed to spring away, but the strike never came. Instead, the reptile slowed down, and then froze, points of white light appearing in its eyes. The mouse did the same, seemingly no longer concerned with the danger, unblinking eyes shedding the same white light as its would-be killer’s. High above, an eagle was trying to orient itself in a night that was as bright as day. Its eyes lit up in white, and it glided on, only moving its wings enough to avoid collision with a tall tree growing from the mountaintop. *** “Liar.” Any semblance of Indigo’s composure was gone. Where just a moment before he’d show no more than a cold sneer, destroying with but a hard stare and barely moving a muscle, now his body kept twitching, his wings spread wide, and his eyes were wild. His horn flashed with an explosion that swept away everything in sight, a wave of primal power with nothing to form it but a pure instinct to destroy. Six bright points of light stood in the void against him, and behind them, many, many more. “I hope you know what you’re doing!” shouted Rainbow Dash over the magic maelstrom. “She does!” shouted Pinkie. “Just give her time!” “He’s getting worse!” warned Rarity, struggling for breath, the memory of her mane returning, flowing away in a cloud of glowing cinders, and regrowing again. “Even now you’re part Obsidian!” shouted Applejack at Indigo. “And Indicina too! Neither of them really wanted that!” “They don’t matter!” shouted Indigo in return, swiping across the Elements with another blast. Twilight could feel herself dissolve, her mind not fully able to ignore what her instincts knew should’ve been pain. She knew the others were hit too, but there were no screams anymore; the repeated nature of mortal injuries robbed them of their gravity. She could hear voices, echoing through their connection, as her friends tried to keep each other from dissolving into nothing.  “He’s too strong! I can’t cut through his delusions!” “You’re doing great, AJ. Keep him angry. It… hurts, but that’s…” “Better than if he knew what he was doing,” “Keep it up, girls.” The voices were mixing, and Twilight realised she could no longer tell who was speaking. But that could mean she was making progress. She tuned out even her friends’ voices, and focused on her spell, the last moment plan that required all the power of the Elements. I need more ponies. “Just die already!”  Another blast. Another death. Another return to shape, this time aided by power flowing from the outside. It’s working, though Twilight. We can do it.  She chanced a look around her, just in time to see the disappearing silhouettes of the two ponies who helped her recover; for a blink of an eye, Shining Armor and Cadence stood at her sides, before dissolving back into the magical storm. She could feel more coming. The stars were growing thicker around Indigo, the pony shapes taking more and more familiar forms. There were changelings who had followed Rarity to battle. There were Crystal Empire soldiers, even some Wonderbolts, now appearing at Rainbow’s side. Twilight had no time to look around, but instinctively recognized each one, as her spell bounced from pony to pony, finding thoughts, emotions and memories that connected the souls to one another. Another blast tore at her, a bullet of concentrated hate and anger that drowned out her thoughts. For a moment she didn’t know who she was or what she was trying to do, only that someone hated her more than anything that ever existed. “Hang on, Twilight! You’re almost there!” Spike? The focus returned. Twilight existed again, a touch of familiar claws on her shoulder bringing her back to reality. She pushed once more, and in that moment there was a sensation like a dam breaking. Tumbleweed appeared between Pierce and Tourmaline. Granny Smith and Big Macintosh stood beside Applejack. Fluttershy was surrounded by her animals. The void filled with voices. Encouragements, cries of defiance, arguments and challenges and insults. There was a young gryphon king urging his subjects to keep fighting, there were mothers protecting their children, animals defending their nests and thugs defending their turf. There were heroic speeches and animal roars, too many to hear and distinguish any single one. A thousand voices, A hundred thousand, millions. And then everything disappeared, and a single voice spoke. “Why are you hurting me, love?” Indigo’s tantrum stopped. The countless stars winked out, leaving the void empty, save for the distant lights of Sun and Moon, following endlessly along their paths. In front of him, there was only Twilight now, the Elements of Harmony orbiting her slowly. She inhaled and transformed, her limbs stretching until she matched Indigo in height. Her coat turned white, her mane grew in deep red locks. Her horn turned long and pointy, and swan-like wings grew from her back. Finally a new cutie mark appeared, completing the transformation: an inkwell. It wasn’t the shape Indigo remembered, but he wouldn’t mistake it for anything else. “Gaia,” he gasped, his fury gone. “You’ve returned to me.” The goddess looked at him sadly. “I never left you. Couldn’t you hear me? I was with you, in every breath of every living thing.” Indigo shook his head. “Those creatures? It wasn’t you. You left me alone, for millennia.” Gaia approached Indigo, looking him in the eyes. “They were me, every one of them, the good and the bad, the wise sages and tiny insects. All of their stories. All that time I was waiting for you. Why didn’t you join me in creation?” “Join?” Indigo’s frown returned. “You mean die like you did? All this time I spent to get you back, and you want me to die?” Gaia shook her head. “Not die. Live a billion lives, experience all the facets of existence together. Why make your life a single story, when you can live all of them?” Indigo’s nostrils flared, and bright fires lit up in his eyes. “Live? You call that life? Like that was really you?”  He looked down on his chest. “When they did… this… to me, did you try to stop them? Did you even notice? Or perhaps you so wanted me to be with you, that you felt tearing me to shreds would be a good idea!? Now, which was it?” Gaia stepped back from his outburst, folding her wings. “You lectured Twilight on the nature of gods. You should know mine. The story of that disaster was also my story. And when I saw the future, and knew it would not work, I made myself whole to fix it.” Indigo’s aura flared around him. “After four thousand years!?”  Gaia looked at him with a worried expression. “That’s how long it took. You didn’t use to notice millenia… it might be because you became just three ponies. Your perspective was quite different.” Indigo stepped towards her, black flame rising around his body, the tips of his feathers disintegrating in his own conflagration. “You can’t do this to me! It wasn’t supposed to be like this!” “You’re right,” replied Gaia. “You’re in such horrible pain, my love. Let me heal you.” At that, he exploded, literally, sending his flames in all directions. “Don’t touch me!” But the goddess simply walked through the flames, ignoring them even as they singed her mane, the Elements forming a protective halo as they orbited her neck. The two alicorns struggled briefly, but it wasn’t a real fight; the crippled god could not match a deity that was whole, nor did Gaia intend him any harm. As her power enveloped him, his flames went out, and then the Elements started to leave her, following strands of her magic to touch Indigo’s physical form, and then slowly dissolve. With each piece of his soul properly returned to him, the god struggled less and less, until finally Gaia let go, the two looking at each other once again as equals. “I… I am complete now,” said Indigo slowly. “I didn’t realise how much I’d lost.” Gaia nodded her head. “You had no reason to. You waited for me. You touched the souls of ponies, but you didn’t talk to them, laugh with them. A bird that never gets to fly will not know that his wings have been clipped.” Indigo shot her a glare. “I’m still in pain, you know. It still hurts horribly. You have no idea how much I missed you.” Gaia bowed her head solemnly. “I truly don’t. I lived every heartbreak the world has suffered, but nopony has gone through what I put you through.” Indigo exhaled slowly and turned his gaze away from her. “What happens now?” “Now we find a way to make it work. I don’t want to lose you either.” She approached, and he faced her again. “Just like that? It will be fixed?” She looked him in the eyes. “It will be. We may be very different, but our love is the first love that ever existed. Without you, I would never have loved anything else. Together, we defined love. You did all those things to be with me, and I do love you too. We just need to find a way.” “The simplest way would be to just be together again,” said Indigo. “But you can’t do that, can you?” “Die a billion deaths, forsake my creation, and abandon what defines me, in the name of love?” asked Gaia. Indigo shook his head. “No, I can see now that it wouldn’t have worked. And what kind of love would it be for me to demand it?” He took a deep breath and sighed. “This was so much simpler all these millenia ago, before we both changed.” “I am what I am,” said Gaia. “I didn’t really change, merely found my place. But you, love, you changed a lot.” “Not by my will,” replied Indigo, looking down on his own chest. “Life changed me.” The goddess smiled. “Do you want to change back?” Indigo eyed her curiously. “Back to what I was?” Gaia nodded, new light in her eyes. “You were changed, and against your will. If you don’t like it, why not undo it? ‘A god with a heart of a mortal’, didn’t you say so?” Indigo frowned. “Aren’t you?” Gaia shook her head. “This is different. I’m all the mortals, each voice its own, but together they are a song that fills the world. But you… your heart carries only two ponies, and they are a pair of tragic lovers.” “I thought they gave definition to my pain,” said Indigo, “but my pain only really began with the Splice. When I was Magic, I saw you differently. Before the light was ripped out of me. Back before Dissonance got its name. Do you want them back?” Gaia nodded. “I think they too deserve their rest at last.” “Will I get anything in return?” Gaia considered the question. “I could give you somepony happier. But I have a feeling that that won’t do. That’s not how it worked. You gave mortals the gift of magic, to always keep your soul in touch with mine.” “But they forgot what it was,” said Indigo.  “I’ll see to it that they won’t this time,” said Gaia. “Now I know how to set things right. Our connection will be embodied. Follow my lead.” Gaia took a step forward. Indigo matched her move, and as the alicorns’ horn tips touched, power sparked between them. Two bright motes of light flew out of his open mouth and into hers.  And then Indigo’s wings spread wide, until they became the sky, and Gaia filled it with stars. *** Enigma felt nothing. Things around him changed, souls swirling like an endless school of fish, but he didn’t notice. He merely floated between worlds, like a rudderless boat pulled at by currents, the nature of a soul pulling him towards the others while his link to pattern repelled them and kept him separate. He had no thoughts on his state, his feelings burned clean from him, his memories as devoid of meaning as a book when it’s not being read, just a tiny speck of metaphysical dust on the surface of what for the first time since the creation of the world was a single being. But then it was noticed. On the cosmic scale it was nothing more than scratching an itch. On his scale, he was swept with a wave of power that ripped out his pattern connection like it was cobwebs. Emotions flowed through Enigma, and for a moment he had a vague feeling of self. Then the power pulled him in, and with a sigh of relief, he was reabsorbed into the bigger whole. *** As the eldritch lights disappeared, the night sky started coming back to normal. The snake lunged at its prey. It wasn’t very quick with the attack - it wasn’t a very smart snake, but it could still feel there was something wrong about the scene. The mouse it was trying to eat was already a part of it. The mouse jumped away, but not very quickly. It knew it didn’t want to die, but just as strongly knew that the snake was hungry. It was a very confusing night. ***   Bluebonnet opened her eyes and found herself floating in a blue void.  I’m still here, she though. Did I die? No, that was not it. She could clearly feel a pull of something that she knew was her body, calling her to return. It’s over. We’re all coming back, I think. So why am I still here? She looked around. Suddenly she knew her reason for lagging behind. “Tourmaline!” she shouted into the void. A nearby light flew in her direction and turned green, slowly taking the shape of a small filly. Bluebonnet moved forward, slowly, taking step after step where there was no ground to stand on. Tears welled in her eyes. “Tourmaline… is this really you… or is it another dream?"  Tourmaline stopped in front of her and looked up at her face, her lip quivering. “I...I think I am. I mean, I feel different, like some parts are not me… but I’m… I think I’m all that’s left of me.” Bluebonnet didn’t wait for any more words. She just leaned in and hugged her daughter, their necks intertwining as they cried into each others manes. “I’ll never lose you again,” whispered Bluebonnet. There was a heavy silence that stretched on and on. “Mom…” Bluebonnet’s heart sunk. “Yes, darling?” “I think... I’d like to be born soon.” “Born?” Bluebonnet jerked nervously, but didn’t release the hug. “You felt that when we were one, didn’t you? We’re all one… part of the same living world. Nothing ever really dies… but… everything changes. Life goes on. This is why not everypony is here. I saw uncle Pierce look for dad earlier, but he couldn’t find him. And I too will go back soon.” Bluebonnet tried to respond, but felt her throat clench. She could only manage a sob, squeezing her daughter in a desperate hug through what felt like eternity, with only the incessant pull of her living body giving her any sense of time. “Go…” she finally managed, choking on tears. “Go, my little filly. Live.” In response, Tourmaline lifted her hoof, and squeezed just as hard. “Thank you, mom. I’ll…” She paused, and just listened to her mother’s breath for a while. “I’ll forget you when I’m born, won’t I? This is how it works. But Gaia will remember. And you too will remember me?” Bluebonnet smiled through the tears. “Forever and ever.” “Thank you,” said Tourmaline. “Thank you for everything, mom. I… I think it’s time for us to let go. But… don’t be sad, please. You’ve been sad for so long. And… I want you to be happy. I want you to find something that will make you smile again when you come back, okay?” Bluebonnet closed her eyes and tried to calm her breath. “I will.” “Promise?” “Promise. There’s a beautiful world out there, and I’ll know that somewhere, you’ll be a part of it. I’ll make it more beautiful for you.” “Thank you, mom.” *** Twilight Sparkle opened her eyes. She could feel the grass under her cheek and the cold night air over her coat. Around her, she could hear the groans of other ponies waking up. She jerked up and instinctively lit up her horn to see what was going on. The point of light appeared further away from her face than she was used to. “Twilight?” she heard Applejack say. “I think we’re alive. Why are we alive?” “I’m not complaining,” muttered Fluttershy. Twilight tried to form an answer, but was distracted by the long and pointy horn on her forehead. She turned her head to look at the rest of herself, and saw a large, purple wing on her side. “Well… That’s not the body I started the night in,” she stated, trying to remain calm. She stood up and wobbled, feeling like a foal learning to walk - her limbs were much longer and lankier than she remembered.  “Whoa!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash, jumping up to examine herself in turn. “What’s going on?” Twilight looked at her friend, and saw that she too was taller, though not to the same extent, and her pinions now had silver tips.  Pinkie Pie bounced up, clicked her tongue, and conjured a tall mirror to examine herself in. “I don’t see a difference,” she said, before pressing her hoof onto her goat horn, causing it to retract inside her puffy mane. “If I were to make a guess,” said Rarity, pushing past Pinkie to look at herself, casting her own light spell and examining her membranous wings, “I’d say we got some kind of special treatment from Gaia.” “Is it because we’re heroes?” asked Rainbow Dash, who had already taken into the air to test her wings and, satisfied with the result, was now checking on Fluttershy. “I don’t think gods work like that,” said Fluttershy. Like Rainbow, she was slightly taller now, with deep red wing tips, and her mane had grown back, forming luxurious curls. “So, if it’s not a reward,” said Applejack standing up. “That probably means we still have a job to do.” She stomped for emphasis, and then looked around her friends, and back at herself. “Whoa, I’m as big as Big Mac now. And you’re an alicorn.”  She then looked at her hooves. Flowers had sprouted from the ground where she had stomped. “What in tarnation?” Pinkie Pie giggled. “Girls,” said Twilight, finally regaining her balance. “I think we’ve managed to save the world. Indigo is back to where he should be, and the war is over. But there is still a lot of work if we’re to fix everything, starting with…” She looked up at the night sky. “I think it is time for the sun to rise.” The six ponies looked at each other. “That’s right,” said Rainbow Dash. “It’s our job now… but we don’t have the Elements anymore.” This was true, Twilight remembered. The Elements were returned to Indigo. One look at her friends’ eyes confirmed that the connection they used to have with them was gone. And yet… “Princess Celestia didn’t need the Elements to raise the sun. And… it seems I’m an alicorn now. I’m not quite sure if I have enough power, but it’s definitely worth a try.” She opened her wings, faced east and braced herself. “Girls, could you help me, just in case?” Without a word, they formed around her, the same way they had done so many times before. When the power flowed into her, it was different than she remembered, but at the same time, she could clearly recognize each of her friends. She kept facing east, but her magical senses caught five strands of power flowing into her, each coming straight from a pony’s heart, even Rarity’s, who was more used to casting with her horn. We still do have power. Is it what our friends gave us, or is it Gaia’s gift? Or perhaps Indigo’s? She added her own magic into the spell and pushed, sending the call far over the horizon.  And in that moment, somewhere that was everywhere, two timeless beings touched. The new dawn broke, and for a second, all was right in the world. The six mares watched the sun rise slowly, letting the soft light caress their faces. The weather teams hadn’t been able to do their jobs for days, but the sky was almost clear. It was looking like a start of a very pleasant day.  “So, what do we do now?” asked Applejack at last. She stomped with irritation, looking down at the flowers that were now growing in a large clump underneath her hooves. “With what has happened,” started Rarity, “everypony should know that the crisis is over. They’ll need our help either way but we don’t need to rush there to reassure them just yet.” “In that case,” said Twilight, “let’s go home. There’s enough space in the library to sleep, and I’ve had a really rough night. We can start figuring out what to do next once we’ve rested. Is that okay with you?” She expected some arguments, but all she got was nods and murmurs of agreement. She wasn’t surprised. She had just woken up in an unfamiliar body, after her old one was repeatedly evaporated. She didn’t know if she should be physically tired, having just started existing in this form, but her brain had no doubts; mentally she was exhausted.  She walked towards the Golden Oaks’ library, her friends close behind her. This is just the beginning isn't it? she thought. We'll have to go back to the Crystal Empire, put everything back in order, and then help everypony in Canterlot and Cloudsdale. There will be changelings to take into account... oh, and we'll have to decide what to do with Gloria. Now everypony will look for us to decide what to do next. Wait, if I'm an alicorn, will I have to rule Equestria now...? “Pinkie,” asked Applejack. “What are you still giggling about?” Pinkie Pie turned her head, looking at the line of flowers trailing behind her friend. “Hi hi… Appletheosis.”