//------------------------------// // 94.3 The Price of Harmony // Story: Twilight's Nightmare // by Nightsclaw //------------------------------// As with all things, Harmony watched. As will all things Harmony would remember. If Harmony was a different being, she might have asked for forgiveness for the necessary events that were about to unfold. Yet, although she could understand them, neither hesitation nor remorse was part of her nature. If they were, there was no way she would be sane enough to stay true to the plan. Hard data informed her as the merciless blade of cold logic severed all other paths to the future. For there to be any hope, this tragedy must happen. Everything had its price, even harmony. Sometimes, that price could be terrible indeed. Logical thinking and sanity were not things her partner in this scheme was particularly known for. Discord was almost transparent, yet that did not stop him from raising his talon to act. He trembled and collapsed against the Tree of Harmony. His attachment to Fluttershy had progressed beyond all expectations. It was a shame that even as maximised as possible, her survival odds were still relatively low. She could not feel remorse, but sympathy she could. She lifted one of her crystal roots and rested on his shoulder. He patted it with his taloned paw, the simple action so out of place compared to all the conflict of their shared youth. With the sound of ringing crystals, she spoke. "You have done everything permitted, Brother." He nodded, and with a click of his talon, twisted vines exploded from the ground and flowered. In a sickening warping of reality, each was transformed into a different viewing device. Form crystal ball to otherworldly holo table. With a mental sigh, Harmony petrified the dozen alien creatures that came along for the ride. There would be time to return them to their home realities after the upcoming ascension. "How many religions have you started this time, Brother?" "It's starting." He shushed her irritability and offered popcorn. Which she, of course, being a tree, politely refused. His form was now almost completely opaque thanks to the chaos the sudden abductions spread across other realities. His feigned irritation did nothing to hide his nervousness from her. For his sake, she pretended it did. Harmony spent a moment considering what the dozen might have been doing. "Just don't complain to me this time if a certain captain hits you again…" The slight twitch on his face was enough to know her attempt at lightening the mood was at least noticed, if perhaps not successful. Discord waved it off, so Harmony turned her own senses outwards. Her sensorium split and raced out through her roots, both physical and spiritual. Those who had accepted her most were the first to call to her from the constellation of Soul-light. As she focused on each, One by one, marks of destiny appeared like a list in her mind. Even creatures that did not display them as proudly as Ponykind had them nonetheless. For Discord's benefit, she mirrored the mental list on her trunk. She sorted it by three factors: affinity for Harmony, power and connections to the current bearer of magic. The first one that drew her attention was not one of her doomed Elements nor one of their closer companions. No, it was one that her calculations gave an extremely low probability of even being on this list. She had reasonable odds of even being deceased by this point. Subject: Queen of the Emerald Hive Name: Chrysalis Harmony Index: 47% Aspects: Emotion, Mental, Life, Change Location: Manehatten Intended Role: Unredemable Independent Hostile Faction Leader Current Role: Queen of the Emerald Hive, Titled Lady of Manehatten. The subject was in the process of solidifying both trust and respect for the Nightmare. That this subject was one that may try to interfere in Twilight's favour was an unanticipated variable. Harmony could only hope that this has not caused anything to negatively affect Fluttershy's chances of survival. The subject relaxed in a penthouse apartment, a content smile on her face, her soul full of hope. Instead of plotting the assassination of Twilight like she should have been, the Queen of the Changelings drank deep from a bottle of vintage wine and leafed through a thick legal tome. Alas, if it had not been for what was about to happen, it would have been a good thing. In that case, the subject would, within five years, become an invisible co-ruler of Equestria and aid in the removal of all the corrupt nobles. It could have been the best thing to happen to the nation since the unification of the tribes. Even with what was to come, it was still plausible she would stay Nightmare's ally. Despite some of her changelings being on site, it was clear that she herself would have no direct involvement in this before it was too late to avoid. Even if she assumed direct control of one of them, the hive link provided insufficient magical throughput for meaningful interference with anything other than words. Although, she would need to be watched carefully for how she acted in the aftermath. Harmony moved on. Subject: Sunset Shimmer Name: Sunset Shimmer Harmony Index: 57% Aspects: Astral, Solar, Fire, Dark, Pride, Emotions (Harmony), Life (Nightmare), Change (Nightmare) Location: Quarantine Reality #4, Human Residential Building Intended Role: Anti-Celestia Dissident. Current Role: Reformed Villain and Student of the Nightmare. The subject's location proved no challenge for Harmony. The subject dozed in her equine form, letting the sunlight warm her body as it streamed in from her bedroom window. She used her forelegs as her pillow. Unlike her companion, she looked comfortable, entirely at ease. With all the challenges and miss-steps she had taken. She was well and truly on the path to being the best pony she could be. Would she still be able to walk it after today? There were too many unknown unknowns for Harmony to hold any level of confidence in any of her predictions. Deep within the pony, a hidden seed of alicorn magic slowly grew as it cradled the secondary wellspring. Only time would tell how the Nightmare's machinations would turn out. Would the subject bloom into another asset for Harmony, a game piece for Celestia, or an evil to be consigned to history. None of that mattered for the moment. She was out of position to interrupt, so for now, that was enough. Yet, like Queen Chrysalis, she would need to be carefully watched. Again, there was a moment where Harmony knew she would feel guilt if she could. The subject, Sunset, was, in her own way, as much a sacrifice as those about to die today. With an ethereal root, Harmony softly touched the subject. With just a little touch of magic, a seed of inspiration to guide Sunset's human friends. A little push to act, a little guidance to find the words Sunset would need to hear. It was not much, but like with Discord, it was all she could do. That done, she turned her attention to the other occupant of the room. The subject's companion, the human, was a reflection of the Prime Twilight. She had fallen asleep, her head upon a small stack of notes. Despite only being a pale imitation, she was still touched by Harmony, it was far less efficient than the prime, but she still had a fifty-nine percent affinity with the element of magic, a full two percent higher than Sunset's fifty-seven. Human Twilight could be a valid replacement for the current Twilight fragment with the correct chain of events. It was probable that such a course of action would be unnecessary. Harmony moved on. Subject: Spanner in the works Name: Candice Harmony Index: NA Aspects: NA Location: Canderlot Archives Intended Role: Stillborn Foal Current Role: Oracle of Doom, Chosen of Luna, Chosen of the Nightmare, Nova's Gift, Captain of the Twilight Guard, Vexation of Nightmare. Harmony double-checked what the record said. If she could, she would have sighed. Discord had clearly edited it again without her noticing. Well, in times like this, it was a small enough issue to ignore. The subject woke up, her heart hammering. Images of a burning Twilight screaming chased her into the first few moments of awareness. It took a few calming breaths before she realised where she was, and all the scraps of paper were now floating lazily in the air from her panicked awakening. The vision still burning in her mind resonated with the utter certainty of truth. Loyalty, love and duty compelled her. Her heart screamed at her to save Twilight, and her swift mind answered. Candice acted, and Harmony moved on. Subject: Rainbow Dash Name: Rainbow Danger Dash Harmony Index: 120% Aspects: Air, Water, Lightning, Momentum, Loyalty (Harmony), Force (Twilight)   Location: Skies over Equestrian wilderness Intended Role: Bearer of the Element of Loyalty, Wonderbolt Current Role: Twilight's Knight, Element of Loyalty Fatigue washed through every part of the subject's body, and yet nopony would know simply by looking at her. She flew at a precisely maintained distance from Twilight, ladened with arcane and technological devices.      Proud, strong and dedicated to her role as Twilight's First Knight. The subject's heart beat with new love even though she did not truly realise what she was holding for her griffon friend. They would provide much-needed emotional support to each other after today. If the subject had been fresh, she might have noticed Twilight's heightened vigilance, the minor adjustment in her ears as she scanned the horizon with narrowed eyes.      The first thing the subject noticed was the fluctuation in Twilight's flight magic. A discordant tempest that suddenly vanished only a heartbeat after it manifested. Her head snapped to Twilight in time to see her fall. Loyalty to her friend, fealty to her Princess, and countless hours of training screamed through her soul. The subject acted before her conscious mind made the choice. She was freed of her load of magical dodads with a quick cut of her trusted blade. Her wings surged with power and catapulted her onto an intercept vector. The subject's peripheral vision caught Gilda starting her own dive before aborting to a spiralling climb as she prepared her bow to provide overwatch. With security taken care of, nothing else mattered to the subject than getting to her friend. To Harmony's perception, the subject blazed with light. In that moment, the subject was the incarnation of the Element of Loyalty. Despite the initial separation, Twilight only fell for a few seconds before the subject's trajectory intercepted with her. "Got you," the subject said, as muscle memory and conditioned responses took over. The descent was arrested, and Twilight was rapidly assessed for injury. Twilight did not even respond. The limp body and glazed eyes turned confusion to worry in the subject's heart. "Twilight?" Twilight's mane exploded into magenta flames. The subject almost dropped her, but her sense of duty stopped her. The subject grit her teeth, bracing for the expected pain, pain that did not come. It was fortuitous that as destructive as that power was, it was not uncontrolled, and the subject was not what it sought to burn. “FLUTTERSHY!” Twilight screamed and, in that instant, imploded into a ball of magenta light that popped out of existence with a titanic boom. The subject tumbled, forced back by the backblast of Twilight's spell. Even before she had a chance to right herself, the subject's mind raced. There were very few reasons Twilight would teleport out without even saying anything. Fear and terror clawed at the subject's heart, but five strands of loyalty compelled action. With a quick spin, she oriented herself and turned on to the needed vector. A quick wave of her wings was all it took to inform Gilda of the plan. "I'm coming, Fluttershy."   Harmony moved on. Subject: Griffon DC/zh-26981 Name: Gilda Harmony Index: 82% Aspects: Griffon, Air, Water (Twilight), Lightning (Twilight), Momentum (Twilight) Location: Equestrian Airspace Intended Role: Future Ruler of Grifinstone Current Role: Twilight's Knight The subject was truly fascinating, like the Changling Queen, this subject had overcome the odds and found Harmony in her own way, in this case through loyalty and friendship with Rainbow Dash. The subject was now far closer tied to Harmony than Discord, which was uncommon for his creations. It was Twilight's unplanned descent that had alerted the subject. Like Rainbow Dash, she reacted immediately. The only reason Rainbow Dash took so long to get to the Princess was not wanting to risk the shock wave of a sonic rainboom hitting her. Seeing Dash would get there first and in plenty of time, the subject turned her keen eyes outwards. It did not take a brilliant mind to know a Princess does not simply fall out of the air. She reasoned that even with the subject's sharp senses, she had not seen or felt any projectile, so she would conclude it was likely a spell of some kind. As the subject expected from a Wonderbolt, the catch was textbook perfect, even if a little too flashy. The subject's heart registered relief even as her battle instincts vibrated unsatisfied. She knew there had to be a cause, and her eyes hungrily hunted for prey. “FLUTTERSHY!” The Princess screamed before she vanished in a flash of light and a Boom so loud it was surprising the sky was not falling. The center of the subject's vision was still a blurry mess, so she used her peripheral vision. With this method, the subject's eyes found Rainbow Dash. The mare, still tumbling in the air, signalled with her wings to follow, righted herself, and shot off in a direction. This was not the race she wanted with Dash, but if Dash needed her help, there would be no way she would forgive herself if she was not there. That the subject produced her own sonic rainboom was yet another unexpected complication. It was impossible that either she or Dash would get there in time to stop what needed to happen, but the two lines leading straight there could alter how the rest of the world perceived the event. The ramifications of this would need to be carefully watched. Probabilities shifted, and the balance of fate changed yet again. At least soon, there will be the chance to act. Harmony moved on.      Subject: Nightmare Moon Name: Night Harmony Index: 50% Aspects: Nightmares, Fear, Pain, Umbral, Blood, Dark, Air, Water, Lightning, Momentum, Earth, Life, Death, Reflection Location: Currently between corporeal locations Intended Role: protector of the dream realm, leader of Luna's companion fragments Current Role: Fragment of Twilight, Little Star's Mother. The subject's rage slammed into Harmony. The impact was like she had always imagined a hoof to the muzzle might feel like sans the pain. Less than a mortal's heartbeat later, Harmony reconnected. For the subject, rage-driven battle instincts stretched the fraction of an instant of Twilight's teleport to a near eternity. Somepony had dared to try and take her pet. Somepony had dared to hurt Fluttershy. Even to the subject's hardened and wounded heart, Fluttershy was a tender soul that deserved to be protected. That only something truly vile would choose to inflict any sort of suffering upon her. The subject knew this could only be one pony's doing. The questions that burned in her mind were how and how to claim her retribution. Harmony could only hope the subject's love for her daughter and the presence of Candice would be enough to prevent yet another party from seeking to end the world. Harmony moved on. Subject: Crystal Charm Name: Crystal Charm Harmony Index: 60% Aspects: Crystal, Hope, Charm Location: Refugee settlement Intended Role: Manehatten fashion model Current Role: Survivor To the subject's mind, this must have been a nightmare. Anything else was inconceivable. Magic so potent it made her bones vibrate and her teeth ache, ripped through her, shocking her awake. She had surged out of bed so fast she almost knocked herself out. She slowly pushed herself to her hooves, staring at her luminous body. As with any encounter with extremely hostile magic, the subject's exterior had hardened protectively. "What?" The subject said so before she looked towards her roommate's bed. "Hey, RC, Do you…" She almost did not recognise the ruined remains as a pony. Unfortunately for her sanity, it was only almost. The jewelled hoof band and the ribbons in their mane and tail told the subject exactly who it was. The subject's hind legs buckled. "Regal…" The name emerged in a disbelieving whimper. The subject's index dropped three points as horror and disgust twisted her heart. Even though Harmony already knew what had happened, she still allowed herself to see the scene from the subject's eyes. If one ignored everything else and only noted the position of the body, it still seemed like it was peacefully sleeping. The limbs of the unicorn, formally known as Regal Canter, were completely intact. Even her tail was still in perfect condition. Regal Canter's horn was gone, replaced by a smouldering blackened crater where its root should have been. From that site of devastation, magic had carved jagged paths that radiated out, destroyed her face and left only ruined melted flesh on its way down the neck to her barrel. From this perspective, Harmony felt the tears running down the subject's cheeks and the keening ache in her chest. Knowing that the unicorn had their wellspring dragged out of them via their horn was one thing. Seeing it through the filter of a mortal was very different. Harmony pulled back and returned to merely being an outside observer.   “Run” Harmony wispered and the subject bolted. It was not much of a mercy, but she now had at least a sixty-two percent chance of surviving what was about to happen. One fleeing pony became multiple, and a stampede of cattle joined them. Would the subject be able to live with herself after this? "I thought you did not care about individuals?" Discord's voice grated as it vibrated against Harmony's roots. "Enough have perished today. It would be needless to add any more than we have to." "Having second thoughts?" "No." With that one word, Harmony moved on. Harmony's view shifted outside. The new settlement that had been lovingly maintained and had so recently been the site of multiple celebrations was now littered with empty husks. The simplest way to identify the tribes was to look at what was missing. Unicorns lacked their horns, pegasi their wings and earth ponies the lower half of each leg.   Of all the ponies that had been under Twilight's dome, almost all of them were dead. Only those of the less common tribes were completely unaffected, and most of them had been caught up in Crystal Charm's flight. You could still count the time since Moonlit Scroll's plan had come to fruition in seconds and not have an awkwardly large number.   Spurred on by their Queen, disguised changelings searched through the bodies, seeking survivors with desperate haste. A ring of worried animals surrounded those who had once been the brightest souls. Here, now, they existed to be the flame to draw the moths. Subject: Discord's don't mess with. Name: Fluttershy Harmony Index: 100% Aspects: Blood, Fear, Animal, Kindness (Harmony), Luck (Discord), Fury (Twilight), Umbral (Twilight), Air (Twilight) Location: Refugee settlement Intended Role: Element of Kindness, Warden of the Everfree Current Role: Element of Kindness, Beloved of Discord The subject… Use her name. Discord growled. It was a small enough request, so Harmony complied and changed how she thought about the subject. 'Fluttershy' rested her head against Harry. Her breath was laboured but getting better moment by moment. The need to help burned in her heart, and her kindness ignited into iron-clad determination. Nothing would stop her from helping her friends if only she could think what to do. Kindness saw yet more things she was never meant to see. The note of relief that neither Rainbow Dash nor Twilight were here would have been a dagger straight to Harmony's heart if she had one. One look at Rarity's flame-devoured eyes from Fluttershy's perspective was all Harmony could take. Each of the three mares had little bits of them flaking off and dissolving in wisps of coloured magic. Each of them had had their wellsprings ripped open. If it was not for their bonds with their elements fortifying and pinning what was left of their magic to their core essence, they would already be dead. A quick death, to merely feel faint for a moment and then it all to be over, would have been a kindness, a kindness Harmony could not grant. Harmony made herself look, to spend a moment to feel what each of the wounded bearers felt. A hornless, blind Rarity whimpered as she was held down to stop her thrashing and hurting herself even more. Pain, so much pain, anguish, terror. Trapped in a dark, silent void, held down, pined by a beast about to devour her. She screamed, but nopony came to help her. Applejack fought for each breath. Even now, with her limbs ruined up to the knees and elbows, she endured. Her eyes silently asked for her friends to be seen first. Confusion diluted itself with calm acceptance. She knew she was dead and that all that was left was waiting for her body to finally get around to noticing. Even if she was not dying without her hooves, the fertile ground just felt like a lifeless desert below her. What was the point of living? Ah hope the farm will be alright. I'm sorry, Granny, Big Mac… Applebloom, Ah think Ah might be a little late getting home. Pinkie Pie was as still as the rocks her family farmed. The eyes that looked out past her straight mane showed only apathy. She did not even seem to notice her hooves were blackened stumps, and her limbs had deflated to be nothing more than coat-covered bones. Inside her mind, a page turned. With each bit she read she felt that little bit colder, none of the words had anything to do with what was going on now. Another page and the same thing. How am I going to be on Twilight's Council now? What about all the parties I'm going to miss? Too many things were happening at once, but Fluttershy managed to shift to rest a comforting hoof on Pinkie Pie's back. It was enough to cause Pinkie Pie to move her eyes to meet Fluttershy's own. "This isn't how it's meant to go." It was so quiet that if it was not for the fact Fluttershy was now, in essence, a thestral, she would not have heard anything. Twilight's sudden arrival rocked the very foundations of the world. Magenta magic exploded out from Fluttershy. For miles around, everything larger than a blade of glass was ensnared by Twilight's Aura. Harmony did not even need to try to read Twilight's intent. Her magic screamed it so loudly mages on the other side of the world heard it. The raging inferno that passed for Twilight's emotions paralysed the changelings. Some even stopped breathing. Like a cannonball, Luna burst from the shadows shielding Candice from the sudden stop via collisions with a building in the way with her own body. The blazing trail that was Celestia in full flight arched in towards the ever-growing gathering. Despite all the commotion, Twilight only had eyes for Fluttershy and the rest of her friends. Without even her horn lighting, dozens, then hundreds of spells burst into existence around the three dying mares. Most of the spells were a meaningless tangled mass of magic to Harmony, but she did not need to understand her spellcraft to know when Twilight realised.   Magic shuddered. Not the pony, not the element. No, what shook was the core facet of reality. Every living thing felt it, the coldness, the dawning revelation that everything they knew, everything they cared about would die. “No.” Twilight's one word, a quiet word but backed by a strength that could create or destroy worlds. "Twilight." Celestia's quiet voice carried its own grief. Countless years, everypony lost, everypony sacrificed, all added their own nuances. Her white wing wrapped around the smaller Alicorn, and Twilight did not pull away or resist. Instead, she leaned into it, if only a little. Twilight, like she had many times before, looked up to Celestia, eyes pleading. "Can you save them?"   "I'm sorry this is so soon, but all that can be done is to say goodbye and end their suffering." Twilight stiffened. She trembled, eyes shimmering with both tears and power. "No, No, there must be a way. There has to be a way." She pushed away from Celestia and desperately looked around. Luna's gaze was solemn. She was willing but unable to save her saviours. Fluttershy pleaded for Twilight to free them from their pain. Despite her visible concern, Candice stood ready as her eyes and ears flicked about impossibly fast, analysing everything. Her eyes lingered on Candice for two whole seconds before she snapped her attention back to her dying friends. Celestia raised a hoof, almost reaching for her former student. “Twilight… you will only…” The glare Twilight aimed at Celestia would have literally stopped even the bravest mortal's heart. "Either help me or get out of my way." She growled. Celestia's hoof fell, and Twilight turned away, tail flicking with dismissal. She took a calming breath and gracefully settled down next to her friends, a tender smile on her face. Harmony felt the mental message strike the three dying mares with enough force to push their pain away. To each of them in that moment, Twilight was the only other being in the world. I can save you. Do you trust me? "Yes," Rarity screamed as she tried to lunge at Twilight. Applejack just nodded while Pinkie Pie sobbed. Be careful, Twilight. "Close your eyes." All three obeyed. From Twilight's open mouth a thing of nightmares emerged. Three tendrils of abyssal darkness slithered their way out. Each had a complex array of glowing magenta runes inside them. For a moment, they swayed like drunken snakes, and then they lunged.      High in the sky, the sun dimmed. Harmony took that as her cue to move on, and for the first time in over a thousand years, the surface of the world felt the full fury of the sun.