//------------------------------// // Chapter 14 // Story: Mane Six In the World of Music // by Snakes0 //------------------------------// in Equestria not all is well Portals are opening randomly and a stream of uncanny carnival music flows out. Discord was the first to become aware of the disruption of the balance as a being of chaos himself. He snaps his fingers to teleport near one such portal. He expands his ear comically large to further hear every note and capture the vibration. He literally captures the vibration and melody causing the portal to close. "Alright now, that kind of music is quite inviting~ Hold on... It seems... Familiar..." Discord says talking to himself and he strokes his beard with his clawed hand. Discord snaps teleporting to another portal and again he hears that melody. He doesn't capture it but focuses on it. He tries to enter the portal to take a peek only to be flung out the moment he went in banishing him back to Equestria. "It can't be THAT world. It always has a bunch of melodies and harmonies going on at the same time in the background. Oh well! Restrictions and consequences be damned. I'm the LORD of Chaos!" Discord slams his pawed arm into the portal as his fist hits the barrier that kept him out. It stung his hand and didn't break. Discord winces. "Ok! Fine! Do you think you can keep ME out?! I'll show you barrier! Get ready for Discord's Chaos Jade Dragon Lion Heavenly Demonic punch!" Discord psyching himself up pours his chaos magic into his fists and he starts doing a barrage of punches when suddenly a scythe flies out of the portal cutting Discord in half. Discord being Immortal and used to dismembering parts of his own body as well as altering his form had no problem pulling himself back together. The portal closes. "How rude. You haven't even broken through yet." says a Discord clone that suddenly appears. "Hold on... That scythe... That was... Something I left behind. Who threw that?! Now I'm mad!" says the original Discord. "Umm... Equestria to Discord. There is a note on the scythe." says a second Discord clone and the first Discord clone stretches his neck 10 feet sideways to see the note. "Let's see what the note has to say! It better be something funny and amusing." says the original discord. Discord snaps his fingers and the note gains a mouth with it used to read. "There is only enough room for one clown around town~ Enjoy your banishment while I'll pick up the game you left behind~ The world revolves in my favor Tee hee hee!" Discord snaps his fingers and all the clones of himself disappear. He is in deep thought. He starts to sweat orange juice as he realized he might have unintentionally created another spirit of chaos through a lesser one in the world of music. His sweat starts turning into grapefruit when he realizes that the portals are appearing around Equestria because the balance of the world is on the verge of breaking down and the line between worlds is growing unstable. His heart stops for a moment when he realizes that Fluttershy and her friends would have to deal with a lesser spirit of chaos on their own who probably doesn't share his morals. "Oh... That might be a slight problem... Ugh! If only I could break through! Only Mel Ody or perhaps his brother Clef Melody can lift the barrier! By the time the barrier gets warped and weakened enough to go through..." Discord starts talking to himself worried. "For once... I think we ought to do the right and responsible thing and report this to Celestia and Lula instead of delaying." says a Discord clone that appeared. "I loathe the idea of doing things the intended way, but you are right me! We do not have time to waste! Fluttershy might be in danger!" Discord says. "And the rest of the Mane 6 right?" "Yeah yeah. Them too. I'll rescue them all like the damsels in distress they tend to be. I swear though they better not still think that I'm some sort of fix-everything button." Discord says as he snaps making his clone disappear before snapping again to talk to Celestia and Luna. Meanwhile in the world of music Mel meets with his brother. "Clef! You were hard to find! You don't even send letters anymore. A visit now and again would be nice." Mel says as Clef opened his door. Clef chuckles, "Surely you didn't come all this way for a family reunion brother. You don't have to tell me. The Reaper Jester is free." "Well? Why aren't you doing anything? You have your team and even without them you are more than capable." "You forget that he is nothing like Discord except for his madness and his chaotic powers. I can't do anything until everyone is evaluated. We both nearly lost against Discord when we were holding back to not harm the citizens." Mel's eyes widen, he knew exactly what he was planning, "Are you sure we need that level of power to handle the situation? Brother... You don't mean you plan to go full siren dragon mode, do you?! That could level the city! Against Discord we had no choice, but this is a lesser spirit of chaos! Are you certain there is no way to face it with normal means?" "I'm your older brother Mel. I know what I am doing. You haven't fought it. I have. Plus I can at least repair the city with my creation music unlike you." "I see... but still... If you can beat the spirit without going all out please do that." "You know that if you were to go and fight it yourself then you get to fight it the way you want to. We are both nearby." "Clef... You know why... I have to find that Necromancer and I don't want to have to choose between stopping the puppet master and the lives of the people of this world. And because I can trust in your strength I know I don't have to make that choice which would have been a lose-lose situation." "I don't suppose you want to switch places with me?" "Brother. It was my mistake that led to him being set free. I had no idea he was pulling the strings from within his prison. I had hoped to put my faith in outsiders... No. I will find the Necromancer and you will silence that Jester. Killing a minor spirit of chaos and disharmony will certainly be a big blow to the Necromancer's plan of causing the harmony of the world to fall apart." Mel says grimly. "I see. Rest assured that this spirit of chaos won't be so lucky as Discord and escape into another world. But talking about the Necromancer do you have any leads yet?" "... I do not. He is hiding and biding his time. No doubt he is still recovering. Necromancers don't heal from magical healing. I put out a notice. But he couldn't have gotten far. He could have gotten to the next city by now, but certainly not further." "Why don't you go dragon mode and quarantine all surrounding cities and slowly shrink the barrier until he is forced out?" "Dragon mode is only in emergencies. You know that brother. And I rather not resort to that tactic. It will prevent anyone from entering or leaving and force everyone else out. Not only does that take away the people's freedom, but he'll be surrounded by many people in that case and that puts many lives at risk. Otherwise good idea." "..." "..." "It appears I'm out of things to talk about. I guess I should be going now. Thank you Clef for being on top of things. I do hope you don't have to go all out." Mel leaves. He does notice how empty this city has become. The last few people are packing up and leaving. He thinks of the Mane 6 and he wonders if they could handle this crisis. They handled Discord with the Elements of Harmony but could they take on a lesser version of the spirit of chaos with only their friendship and the magic of music they had only recently started to learn? Back to the Mane 6 "Oooh! A circus! I wonder if there will be a funny clown! GASP! Cotton Candy! And Popcorn!" Pinkie Pie says excitedly as the group approaches the city from the distance. It looks like the whole city is surrounded by a dark bubble of chaos in the shape of a circus tent. Applejack interjects, "Hold ya self Pinkie. Didn't ya hear that lady? This is dangerous. I have a real bad feelin' about this..." "I'm not one for clowns myself. But even I'm nervous. Not that I will back down. I'm going to kick that reaper's butt! We beat Discord so who cares if he is related to him!" Rainbow Dash says though she too has a bad feeling and tries to hide her worry under the guise of awesomeness. "Well girls, I don't think we have to walk all the way there. I have been practicing a little in private and I think I might be able to teleport us there. It is within sight so there is no chance of a teleporting mishap. Everypony. Let's be honest. Raise a hoof if you have a bad feeling about this." Twilight says as she raises her own hoof. As she suspected everypony raised their hoof. "The last time Pinkie Pie was scared or worried we could have lost our lives. Before we go into what will be the heart of madness or chaos I need to make sure everypony is sure they want to continue. It's all or nothing. No pony left behind." "Thank you Twilight... I know you are mostly referring to me... But... A true...true friend... helps a friend in need... I am scared... I'm not strong... But if I run away instead of helping... Then I don't deserve to be called the element of kindness." said Fluttershy as she started off trembling but stands her ground as she thinks back to all the adventures and friends she made along the way and won't let them down. "Well said darling, as intimidating as it is, we can't give up now. Besides it is an eyesore to look at. Twilight darling, I'm sure that if even Fluttershy is motivated and determined there is no doubt that we all are." Twilight nods. She focuses her magic and sings from her heart as she thinks about their friendship. A purple light envelops the group and they are all teleported right outside the chaos bubble shaped like a circus tent. Twilight pants as it was quite the distance. Twilight reaches out with a hoof and cautiously touches it. Her hoof passes through and so she enters. The rest of the mane six does as well. They hear a slow and looped carnival music coming from everywhere. They see buildings and houses and even some stands, but there is no one here. "Where is everyone? I hear fun music, but there is no one here! There HAS to be someone here or this is the worst carnival ever!" shouts Pinkie Pie using her humor and energetic personality to distract the group and herself from the dread. "Pinkie, if I had ta listen to this nonstop then I'd go mad," Applejack said already forgetting about how wrong the situation is. Suddenly they see a familiar draconic mask-looking face. It was Mel. "Funny that I see everypony here. I distinctly recall sending you all back home. No need to explain. Coming back here means you have all accepted the dangers. I still want you all gone. There is no more time. Already the stability of the harmony that maintains this reality is being rewritten. I thought I had more time and I was being proactive and handling the situation as soon as I noticed. Twilight. You don't know your-" Mel starts before jerking back a little. His draconic mask-looking face shows visible shock. "How?! How did you learn the song in your soul?! It would either take a Master Composer or a talented Note for you to have learned it that fast!" "We are sorry we failed last time. We were so caught up with our own victory that we took risks that put your world in even more danger. We don't want to abandon this world. If not to save the world then let us at least fix our mistakes." Twilight says looking determined. She hopes he doesn't force them back. "I ask again. HOW? You couldn't possibly learn it all by yourself that quickly. You might know yourself well but you have only basic music theory and a good singing voice." "We learned it from somepony called Octavia Melody. We figured we might need Twilight to learn her soul's music so we got our-" Rainbow Dash says before choking on her words as Mel Ody's face goes from neutral to rage. "I don't want her name coming out of your mouths. I'm SURE there are no pony equivalents of beings in this world. This isn't like the human equestrian girls' world. DON'T LIE TO ME. Applejack. You tell me. I want to hear it from you." Mel says getting tense. "Hold ya horses, Mel! We ain't looking for a fight. Rainbow ain't lying. We met an earth pony named Octavia Melody who has a cutie mark of a violet treble clef. I don't know about any of this "pony equivalent" babble, but she is a pony through and through. Ya probably confusing her for someone else with that name. We would know if there were a bipedal....Note? in Equestria." says Applejack sternly though she takes a few steps back when Mel looms over her. "... No. You wouldn't be able to tell. But now that I think about it... She can't be the same Octavia Melody that I know... I apologize to you all. She was my daughter. I lost her to Discord when he pulled her into his dimension of Chaos. A disharmonic death..." Mel says now bowing as he apologizes. Fluttershy steps up defensively, "Discord would never do that!" "Discord invaded our world. He was unwelcomed. He is the SPIRIT of Chaos and Disharmony which in this world of music means disaster. Me and my brother pushed him back and he was fleeing. Then he grabbed my daughter and dragged her through one of his portals. A portal to his Chaos dimension. EVERYTHING in this universe was created by the song of creation including life itself. Being taken away from this world and into a dimension of chaos? What do you think happens? the unraveling of our souls. No creature is ever meant to remain in that realm other than chaos itself." "Discord would NOT kill! He is a trickster, but he is not a killer!" "Fluttershy, I rather not argue with you. You might have 'reformed' him. But you can't reform chaos. Right now my brother is planning on going all out just to take care of the Lesser Spirit of Chaos and the whole town will likely be wiped away. I'm not going to ask you to save this city so that he won't have to do that. Run away. This world might be doomed anyway, but while I still draw breath I won't abandon it. In other words. I don't need you all." Mel says hoping to sway them and make them leave. "You are going to let your brother burn down an entire city just to kick a clown's butt?! I bet not everyone got evaluated yet! That's not Loyalty to your people or your world!" Rainbow Dash shouts which startle the group. Mel clears his throat, "I prefer to be civil. I like to be kind. But my patience is not infinite. If there were other options I would be doing those. However, relying on somepony else and hoping they succeed is not guaranteed success. I thought about this exact situation ahead of time. This is not heroic. This is suicide. I am close to finding the puppet master behind all of this. The Necromancer you freed. I must focus on finding him. If I deal with him then perhaps the world can be saved which is why I must leave this job to my brother Clef who will guarantee victory. This is how I reduce the number of casualties." "T-There are still people in the city?!" Twilight says shocked. "Twilight despite how happy-go-lucky Equestria is or how good always seems to win in the end it is not perfect. You will one day face a problem where the lives of ponies are in your hands and the best you can do will be to help as many as you can. During war, you will have to send ponies to kill for you in your name and some of them will die in your name. I'm not lacking in Empathy. I'm using my logic and common sense to do the best I can do and try and reduce the casualties as much as possible." Mel says explaining his observations on Equestria and his own personal experience. "That ain't going to happen! We'll save them all! Ya say ya use logic and have empathy, but ya lack one thing our world has a lot of." retorts Applejack before Twilight could get a word in. "And that would be?" "Hope. Hope for a good future. Hope to carry ya through the hard times. Sure ya got to make hard choices, but that's called life. Ya are so caught up in ya 'guarantees'. There ain't no such thing in life other than death and taxes." "Hope... I lost that the day I lost Octavia. But... Perhaps you are right. I won't stop you from trying. But I must do my part and find the Necromancer. I won't be able to help you. Show me this hope. Show me a new path. All I see is doom." Mel says as he walks away and disappears into thin air in a burst of musical notes. Twilight knows that not everyone can be saved. Sometimes sacrifices must be made. It hurt her to hear that but she knew it was true deep down. She wouldn't let that stop her from doing what needs to be done. The Mane 6 continues toward the center of the city. They reach a secondary bubble of chaos. The group goes in and their cutie marks disappear and change. "W-what?! What's going on?! Mah cutie mark!" cries Applejack as she fully enters and finds herself wearing a lion costume just like the one she wore that time in Nightmare Night. Applejack's cutie mark is replaced with a lion jumping through a hoop. Rarity has her cutie mark changed to a ticket booth, No change with Pinkie Pie, drama masks replace the three butterflies from Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash's cutie mark is now of a blacked-out pony walking across a tightrope, and Twilight finds her cutie mark also unchanged. Rarity looks down at a uniform that appeared around her the moment she walked through. "I MUST be having a HORRID nightmare! This has no class! It's.... Mundane! And my cutie mark is gooooone!" Rarity says as she breaks down into tears. The Mane 6 is so confused and in a state of panic they don't notice that the music coming from this bubble of chaos is much faster and energetic than the one they were just in.