//------------------------------// // MLP CMC idea // Story: Eltirion's Chaotic Collection // by Eltirions //------------------------------// The chariot of the two sisters landed on the edge of Ponyville, where Twilight Sparkle and Spike, having been forewarned by a letter from Celestia, waited on them. ‘’Princess Celestia!’’ Twilight greeted the alicorn. ‘’Princess Luna! It’s so good to see you again!’’ ‘’The feeling is mutual, Twilight,’’ Luna replied. ‘’How are you and your friends recovering from Discord?’’ ‘’Oh…’’ Twilight’s ears drooped. ‘’We’re doing fine.’’ Luna nodded. ‘’Very well. We have firsthoof experience with how damaging Discord can be.’’ ‘’Not helping, Luna,’’ Celestia spoke up, before offering Twilight a smile. ‘’It’s good to see you again too, Twilight, Spike.’’ The dragon waved. ‘’’Lo, Princesses.’’ ‘’Spike!’’ Twilight guffawed. ‘’Show some respect!’’ Luna waved her hoof dismissively. ‘’Nay, ‘tis fine, Twilight. We know young Spike thinks highly of us both.’’ ‘’If I speak out against that,’’ Spike asked with a grin, ‘’do I get nightmares?’’ Luna adopted a look of faux-hurt. ‘’How dare you insinuate such a thing!” she said over-dramatically. Twilight giggled and Celestia couldn’t quite contain a snort of amusement. Then she composed herself again. ‘’Twilight, this is not a pleasure visit.’’ Twilight turned serious as well. ‘’Why are you here then? I can’t think of anything.’’ ‘’Before you say it,’’ Luna cut in, ‘’no, the Elements will not be required at this time.’’ Twilight sighed. ‘’That’s a relief.’’ ‘’We are here because we wish to speak with the three fillies that enabled Discord’s escape,’’ Celestia continued her sister’s explanation. ‘’Do you know where they are?’’ ‘’If they’re not in school, they’re probably at their clubhouse,’’ Spike reasoned aloud. ‘’Please lead us to this clubhouse,’’ Luna requested. ‘’Princess, you’re not going to do anything to them, are you?’’ Twilight asked. ‘’Of course not, Twilight,’’ Celestia assured her. ‘’Leaving aside the fact that they are foals, there was no way they could have known the consequences of their actions, and there is no law against releasing Discord anyway.’’ ‘’What about the laws against prison break?’’ Twilight pressed. ‘’Discord was never convicted of any crime,’’ Celestia informed the two of them. ‘’His imprisonment was before the institution of Equestria, if you remember.’’ Twilight nodded understandingly. ‘’Yes, of course. Spike, do you know the way to the clubhouse?’’ Rolling his eyes, Spike replied, ‘’Follow me.’’ The two princesses drew some stares from the other ponies as they walked through Ponyville, but by now the inhabitants of the town were so used to strangeness that they went back to their business after a few seconds. For the alicorns, it was a remarkably novel experience, to be able to walk freely without being surrounded by guards and crowds. After a few minutes, they arrived at the clubhouse. ‘’I’ll go tell them you’re here,’’ Spike said, before walking up to the door and knocking on it. ‘’Guys!’’ he called. ‘’You’ve got visitors!’’ A rumble came from inside, and then the door was opened by Applebloom. ‘’Howdy, Spike,’’ she greeted him. ‘’How are ya?’’ ‘’Pretty fine, Applebloom,’’ Spike replied with a smile. ‘’But I’m not the one that’s here for you.’’ And he stepped aside. ‘’Good afternoon, Applebloom,’’ Celestia said as she stepped forward and offered the filly a smile. ‘’Uh- good afternoon, Princess,’’ Applebloom said, obviously shocked. ‘’Err-’’ her eyes widened even further as she saw Luna standing next to Twilight. ‘’May my sister and I come in?’’ Celestia asked kindly. ‘’O-of course, yer highness!’’ Applebloom said, before stepping aside to allow the two alicorns in. ‘’We’ll wait outside,’’ Twilight said to Luna, who nodded, before entering the clubhouse. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo both stared at the alicorns as they seated themselves on the floor. ‘’Err, it’s an honour to meet you, your highnesses,’’ Sweetie Belle said, ‘’but why are you here?’’ ‘’Been wonderin’ that mahself,’’ Applebloom admitted as she sat down on the floor next to her friends. ‘’We wish to talk about your part in Discord’s escape,’’ Celestia informed them. ‘’We didn’t know!’’ Sweetie Belle immediately defended herself and the others, jumping up from the floor. ‘’Please don’t send us to jail!’’ ‘’Calm down; you will not be punished,’’ Celestia assured the three fillies. ‘’We simply wish to ask you three some questions.’’ ‘’Oh…’’ Sweetie Belle’s cheeks flared red. ‘’Okay.’’ She sat down again. ‘’What do you want to know?’’ Scootaloo asked the alicorns. ‘’Before we start,’’ Luna said, ‘’you should know that we want honest answers. No lies.’’ Her dark blue eyes swept over the three fillies, and they all nodded timidly. ‘’First question,’’ Celestia took over, ‘’do you prefer the day or the night?’’ The three fillies’ faces all scrunched up as they thought about this. Sweetie Belle was the first to answer, ‘’I prefer the day.’’ ‘’Why?’’ Celestia inquired. ‘’I don’t know…’’ Sweetie admitted. ‘’It’s just a feeling of niceness, y’know?’’ ‘’Strange,’’ Applebloom spoke up, ‘’Ah was about ta say the same thing ‘bout the night.’’ ‘’Really?’’ Sweetie asked Applebloom. ‘’Really,’’ Applebloom affirmed. Luna and Celestia shot each other a look. ‘’Well, I don’t care,’’ Scootaloo said, ‘’I like ‘em both equally.’’ ‘’Thank you for your honest answers,’’ Celestia said. ‘’Next question: what do you want your cutie mark to be?’’ This time, the silence lasted much longer, stretching across several minutes. But again, it was Sweetie Belle who had her answer first. ‘’I want it to be something with singing.’’ ‘’I want something cool, just like Rainbow Dash!’’ was Scootaloo’s answer. ‘’Ah’m thinkin’ of somethin’ with potions, like Zecora,’’ Applebloom answered. ‘’Zecora?’’ Luna questioned. ‘’She’s a zebra that lives in the Everfree Forest,’’ Sweetie explained. ‘’We all used to think she was a evil witch, but then Twilight went and proved that she was just a nice lady.’’ Mentally, Celestia made a note to congratulate her student on this, even as she nodded. ‘’I see. Those are all very good talents to aspire for.’’ ‘’Our third and final question,’’ Luna continued, ‘’is not a question at all, but rather a request. There is a spell we would like to cast on you, that might help explain how the three of you affected Discord’s escape. May we?’’ The fillies’ shared looks with each other, before nodding their assent. ‘’Thank you.’’ Luna smiled even as her horn began to glow, just like her sister’s. ‘’This’ll be just a moment.’’ The two alicorns released their spell, and the world turned white. -x-X-x- ‘’What do you think?’’ Luna asked Celestia. ‘’I think that they might be it,’’ Celestia replied. ‘’Just like us three back in the old days, the three of them share a connection that goes deeper than any of them realise.’’ ‘’That might be so,’’ Luna agreed, ‘’but can we really force others to take our burden?’’ Celestia frowned. ‘’Luna, we are not forcing them to do anything. We’ll give them the offer, and if they refuse, so be it.’’ ‘’Do you really think they’ll refuse?’’ Luna asked sarcastically. ‘’They just might,’’ Celestia retorted. ‘’They’re smart for their age. They might not understand the full consequences, but if we explain it to them, they’ll understand enough to make an informed decision.’’ ‘’And then what?’’ Luna asked. ‘’We’ll both take one of them,’’ Celestia said. ‘’As for the third…’’ ‘’Do you think he would behave?’’ Luna wondered aloud. ‘’He might, if we play it right,’’ Celestia mused, before shaking herself. ‘’But first, we need to talk to these three.’’ -x-X-x- ‘’Wow!’’ Applebloom said. ‘’What happened?’’ Scootaloo asked, tilting her head. The two alicorns opened their eyes and smiled at the fillies. ‘’It seems we were right,’’ Luna said. ‘’Right about what?’’ Applebloom asked. ‘’Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo,’’ Celestia began, ‘’the three of you share a bond. A very unique bond: there has only been one before in all of history.’’ ‘’The bond my sister means existed between Celestia, Discord, and myself,’’ Luna continued. ‘’You see, Celestia is not my sibling by birth. But we knew each other from a young age, and over time we grew as close as sisters. The same goes for Discord, before he turned evil.’’ ‘’Even now, we still don’t know very much about the bond,’’ Celestia admitted, ‘’but we do know this. The reason Discord was able to break free of his prison is related to Scootaloo. More specifically, her magic.’’ ‘’What?’’ Scootaloo squeaked. ‘’You have inside the same magic as Discord: Chaos magic,’’ Luna explained. ‘’Sweetie Belle, you have the same magic as Celestia, that of the Sun. And Applebloom, you have the same magic as me, the Moon and Stars.’’ ‘’This is a powerful gift,’’ Celestia went on, ‘’one that needs to be taught control of, lest you risk harm to those around you. Therefore, we offer for you three to come to Canterlot, and study under the three of us.’’ All three fillies stared at the princesses. Finally, Sweetie raised her hoof. ‘’Ask,’’ Luna commanded with a smile. ‘’What do you mean, three?’’ Celestia coughed. ‘’Neither Luna nor myself can teach Scootaloo to wield her Chaos magic. Only Discord can.’’ ‘’You’re gonna release him again!?’’ Applebloom cried. ‘’He will behave himself,’’ Luna promised. ‘’For Scootaloo and for our bond, if nothing else.’’ Speaking of, Scootaloo hadn’t spoken at all, merely staring at the alicorns. Sweetie kicked her side softly. ‘’Scoots?’’ ‘’So that’s why I can’t fly,’’ Scootaloo muttered. Luna’s ears caught Scootaloo’s words, and she nodded regally. ‘’We believe so, yes. Chaos magic rejects the nature of things: like pegasi using their wings to fly.’’ ‘’We can’t solve it,’’ Celestia added. ‘’Not even the Elements of Harmony can. Only control of your Chaos magic will be able to.’’ Scootaloo nodded once, and took a deep breath. ‘’Okay,’’ she said, ‘’when are we leaving?’’ Celestia blinked. ‘’You should talk with your parents about this.’’ All three fillies looked at her. ‘’We’re all orphans,’’ Applebloom said after half a minute of uncomfortable silence. Celestia wilted back, as if struck. ‘’My sincerest apologies, I didn’t know.’’ Scootaloo waved her hoof dismissively. ‘’No problem, your highness.’’ A moment later, she added in a softer voice, ‘’Will we be living in Canterlot?’’ ‘’In the castle, yes,’’ Luna said. ‘’It would require you to move away from your caretakers though.’’ ‘’You can still visit them, of course,’’ Celestia clarified, ‘’but you would be spending the majority of your time in Canterlot Castle.’’ ‘’Awesome!’’ Scootaloo exclaimed. -x-X-x-