//------------------------------// // In between training montage // Story: Messing up timelines sure does cause mayhem // by ShadowLord Ver50 //------------------------------// A few more days passed as the school of Friendship was being built, and students were being gathered. During this time, he practiced getting more proficient with his magic and attempting to do a few more advanced things. While Chaos magic warps the very fabric of reality, there are a few stunts that even Reality Warper's have to work a bit before doing. When he asked Discord to show him one of these stunts, he causally pulled in a ball of energy that would soon become the Big Bang. . . . Yeah, he had work to do- Currently, he was in the process of learning one of Discord's favorite combat-related tricks. Beam conversion. "To your left!" Several weak bolts of energy shot at him, and he quickly reached his magic out, compressing them and morphing them into butterflies. He felt magic form on his right and quickly did the same. Seeing small purple clouds was only confirmation of his success in doing so. He felt a large amount of magic gather together, and quickly spun around to see a humongous ball of energy that blasted towards him fast. Aster wasted no time, quickly gathering and concentrating his magic to compress the orb into a showing of multi-colored butterflies. He panted in exhaustion as he slumped down, Discord appeared beside him, in referee outfit. "Quite the performance! 9/10, extra marks for finally being able to get rid of the big one. Now, we have to work on your endurance." The Spirit of Mayhem and Havoc groaned, curling up a little. "Do I have to?" He whined. "Would you rather be unable to tank a blow from Twilight should it come down to it?" He asked rhetorically. Aster sighed, slowly getting up. "Hopefully, it never reaches that point..." He murmured, stretching a little. The training for Reality Warpers was far more tiring than he imagined. "You never know with Equestria's favorite Princess," Discord shrugged, "She may be cool and calm one day, but the other she'd be on the verge of mental break down." Aster gave a brief hum, looking down at his paws which were somewhat sore from snapping his fingers so much. "If I think of attending Twilight's school, do you think she'll let me naturally use my magic, or will I have to wear some sort of restraining bracelet?" "She'll probably trust you enough to let you have access to your magic." Discord mused, "Anti-Magic restraints are a very expensive thing, and if news gets out it's being used on a student, Twilight could kiss her career goodbye." He turned and raised an eyebrow at the younger. "Why do you want to attend anyway? Most kids think school is boring, save for the Twilight when she was a filly." Aster sighed. "School is still better than sitting around with nothing to do, isn't it?" He didn't want to bring up the Cozy Glow topic, not yet at least. Discord didn't like spoilers. Discord shrugged, "Fair. Now get up, we still have work to do!" He grinned ear to ear, completely ignoring Aster's tired groan. While he was not training, he was busy building his 'persona', so to speak. " 'Ahaha! Do you honestly believe you can best ME? The Spirit Of Mayhem?'...No, that's too diabolical." Aster sighed, plopping back down on his bed. "Think, think. You're the Spirit Of Mayhem, so you're gonna want to be only slightly less chaotic than Discord...Oh! I think I got it!" He got back up, clearing his voice a little. " 'Howdy! I'm Aster, Spirit Of Mayhem and Havoc! Aw geez, what's with the straight face? Don't tell me you haven't seen a Draconequus before!'...Actually, wait, that's just a rip-off Flowey Impression." He fell right back down the bed. "Ugh...this isn't going anywhere!" He complained, burying his head in his pillow. After a solid good 10 minutes, he tried once more. "Hello, ponies and other creatures alike! I, am Aster! Spirit Of Mayhem and Havoc!" He incited once more, before groaning yet again. 'Ughhhh, too formal...' "I see a certain someone is having trouble." Discord remarked, teleporting into the room just now. Aster groaned a little, already sensing the other's amusement. "Well, how would YOU go about it then?" He snarked in irritation. Normally he wouldn't dare act snarky towards the other, but exhaustion does things to you. "Simple, I'd be myself." Discord replied, lying down on air. "Don't think about it too hard! Just try to act natural!" "Natural?" He questioned, eyes narrowing. "So basically: 'Hey there! I'm Aster, The Spirit Of Mayhem and Havoc!'" "Yes, that would work," Discord sat up a little, folding his arms. "You have to remember that a Spirit is defined by his actions, not words." "Yeah! I know...it's just," He looked away, "It doesn't feel natural." "Well, think of it this way. What's the kind of character you like to exaggerate yourself to be? What character do you think you can play well enough to not feel too disconnected?" Discord asked. "Umm...well, A trickster, or a joker I guess..." He responded. "Now, try to model your tone and voice off of them!" "Uh...okay. Ahem," Aster cleared his throat, sitting up. "'Greetings! I'm Aster! The Spirit Of Mayhem and Havoc! A pleasure to make your acquaintance! Hehe! I've heard quite a looooot about you!'" He blinked after finishing, holding his paw up to his chest. "That...wasn't bad actually...It might just work..." He muttered. "Another thing you could try," Discord suggested, "Would be changing your name. Or at least maybe adopt an alias. Aster sounds more Astral than it does Mayhem-ey." "Huh...now that you mention it..." Aster's lips pressed into a thin line. 'Aster? That's a nice name!' 'I...guess as alias could work? What do you suggest?" Suddenly, a book appeared in Discord's hands. "Let's see... a Spirit often takes names that are synonyms for what they're a manifestation of, so your's would be: Riot, Maelstrom, Uproar-" "Actually, I think Aster is just fine." He insisted. Discord shrugged as the book vanished. "Suit yourself." And with that, he was gone yet again. Aster sighed, slumping down. "Well, at least I got my act together...now actually work on how I'm going to behave..." He groaned, curling up. This was going to take a while. Silence had never been so deafening before. Aster sighed, he was completely invisible to the naked eye as he currently walked towards his current location. A certain cave in the Everfree forest was housing a very certain crystalline tree, and he was currently going to pay a visit. It was actually one of the first things he wanted to do after formulating his plan, visit the Tree of Harmony. Of course, this had given him questioning looks from Discord. But since he finally learned how to open portals between realms, he was basically free to enter and leave Equestria anytime he pleased, he just couldn't really enjoy it due to his current plans of secrecy. The reason he wanted to do this was simple. He knew how protective Harmony is over her chosen, and if she felt like he was posing a threat or attempting to use them in a malicious way....well, let's just say Canterlot Garden will be one of the awards winners for most exquisite lawn decorations. He stopped as he arrived at the cave, shivering as he felt the air buzz around him. It was rippling under the weight of Harmony's might. Any normal creature normally wouldn't be able to feel it, and even the Alicorn princess might be unknowing of it, but being one of the creature's Harmony's power counteracts, he was all too aware of it. He gulped, and slowly set foot in the cave. Step after step after step, the buzzing grew more present the deeper he ventured into the cave, up until the point where he was sure he couldn't even feel his own skin. Eventually, he finally reached it. The Tree Of Harmony. It stood, tall and mighty. To any other, it would be a beautiful work of nature. To a creature of chaos like him, it was an imposing force of judgment, and if judged him guilty... Aster shook his head, electing to ignore how he could barely feel himself doing so over the buzzing. 'I have to make sure it doesn't come to that.' He cleared his throat and began to talk. "H-hey there! I'm Aster, uh the Spirit Of Mayhem and Havoc, but uh! Don't worry, I don't plan on ruining Harmony or anything- hahaha no! I'd be an idiot to attempt something like that-" He stooped as he saw the Tree light glow rapidly as if it was blinking. Nervously, he backed up. "I- um, I'm sorry but, are you saying something?" More unhelpful blinking. This isn't going anywhere. "Uhhh...wait! I-I'm gonna ask a few questions, and i-if it isn't to much of a bother, could you please answer the questions? Two blinks for yes, one blink for no." The tree dimmed a little, and either whatever was causing it to blink was finished or it was actually listening. Only one way to find out. "Can you hear me?" He asked. The Tree Of Harmony glowed rapidly twice. Aster gulped, the answer yes definitely a yes. He kinda had a feeling, given she flat-out talks later. "Okay soo..." He trailed off, being limited to yes or no questions was seriously annoying. "Um, okay, let me introduce myself again. I'm Aster, Spirit Of Mayhem and Havoc. I-I know that sounds bad and everything, but I'm not here to rip apart Equestria's Harmony or anything. Heck, I'm weaker than Discord so you shouldn't have anything to fear from me..." The Tree blinked rapidly yet again, and Aster was really wishing he learned ciphers like morse code. Aster took a deep breath and continued, "O-okay, so, the reason I'm here is that...I know of a...calamity that's going to befall Equestria in the future...one that your new group of chosen will stop! So uh, don't think that I'm here because of timeline complications or anything!" The Tree's light dimmed, and he took it as a sign she was listening. He let out another exhale, shifting nervously. This was it, he needed to get through this part. "But uh...one of the outcomes of the calamity is um...debatable in how good or useful or ethical it truly was...So, I'm going to try to stop the calamity from happening.....Not because I want to rob your newer chosen of opportunities or lessons or play myself as a hero or anything!... I just feel like since I know what's going to happen next...I should at least attempt to stop it....of course, I'm not gonna kill a pony or anything, and if I can't stop it my own way...then I'll everything play out as normal." Aster had to admit, the few times the Tree glowed during his rant gave him a heart attack. Still, it didn't...seem to be mad or anything. So that was good. He hoped. "I uh, just came by to let you know so you don't think I'm trying to manipulate your new chosen ones or anything..." The Tree glowed yet again, shimmering. Aster didn't know what it meant, and he was honestly too scared to try to interrupt her reaction. "Well uh, nice talking to you!" He grinned nervously, charging up his own Chaos magic. "Um, I'll be going now! Bye!" He snapped his fingers, teleporting outside of the cavern. The moment he re-appeared he heaved a sigh of relief. 'That was the scariest thing I've ever done...' He thought to himself, he looked up at the sky, seeing the sunset into the horizon. 'Well, I guess it's more accurately the scariest thing I've done yet.' He corrected with a frown. Days seemed to be going by so fast. Twilight's school was almost done, and soon he'd have to begin his own plans. He can only hope this goes well.