//------------------------------// // A s-troll through Ponyville // Story: Aether, Heir of Chaos // by Arcane Anonymity //------------------------------// I don't forget things that easily any more. In fact, I think I have to flag a memory for deletion before forgetting. I remember every book I've read, and, curiously, some that I haven't. Or I forgot I read them? I don't know, since I remember parts I definitely haven't read... like the dedicatory pages. Eh... physics and math are the most important ones for the purpose of my... uh... purpose here in Equestria. Thanks to human college and the requisite literature, I am -and thus was back then, I just didn't know it- an expert on Astral Curvature Mathematics (has to do with advanced magic). Even if they are still a biiii-... a big pain. I can't describe the feeling of contentment I felt when I just up and solved a problem that had others stumped, since they tried measuring something the hard way. I just... took the chalk and... graphed the thing, then used Earth math to get a new equation. It was tedious, and long, but it was just so similar to one of my old teacher's problems! They gave me cake. And other honors, too, but the cake was much more personal. That feeling of having a lot of power and resources, just because of something that you wouldn't give a second thought in a normal situation, was exactly how it felt like when Dash asked me if I had any good ideas for pranks. Of course, she had fallen victim to one just before. "Hey-..." Like Applejack, she obviously felt the familiarity but was unable to put her hoof on it. I acted before she could do something. "Ah! mademoiselle Dash!" I said, with a convincing French intonation, as if I knew Equestrian from before, but had spent way too much time speaking French recently. "I have heard so many wondrous things about you!" "You have?" She shook her head. "I mean, of course you have! I'm the greatest flyer in all of Equestria!" Caught her off guard~! "Of course! Your distinctive figure, those bold colors... all synonym of speed and grace!" I said, inflating her ego with lightly exaggerated foreleg sweeping motions and a little force in my voice. "I have heard of you even in my extensive travels!" She was grinning and motioning with her hoof for me to continue. I think I should point out that my voice sounds different in pony form. My neck and the shape of my mouth vary the sound a smidge, and it seems to throw off others with disturbing ease even if I don't fake it further. Oh, and I've been told that my presence changes radically when I'm not human, regardless of if I have all three traits showing at once, or I'm pretending to be a regular unicorn/pegasus/earth pony. "The tales of your exploits know no bounds!" She looked very proud, flapping her wings to hover in front of me. "Your bravery is known to me just the same as any pony right here! Why, some of the accounts are so detailed, I felt like I saw them with my own eyes!" "But where are my manners?" I said. "I must greet you properly." I plucked her out of the sky with my hooves, and gave her the European greeting of kissing her cheeks, then deposited her on the ground carefully. (Yes, there is an equivalent here, it's why I decided to go for it). She blushed, and looked rather... bashful? Needless to say, I caught her off-guard again, and the other two as well. "Prince Aether, at your service." I spoke normally and bowed before her, nearly touching my horn to the ground. Dash kept quiet for a little while, before letting out a... I don't know what the hell kind of noise it was. It was born of frustration and her flustered blush, groaning and gurgling like a blocked piece of plumbing. Then she chuckled. Twilight explained the situation, and Dash was pretty understanding about it! AJ asked if I could truly speak 'fancy-like' and I said yes, although somewhat limited. The theory and exercise books I used were recalled, but they were still only enough to get by. Twilight, interested in my linguistic abilities, asked if I knew 'any languages besides my native one and that one'. "Yes." Silence. "Can you tell us about it?" They asked. "Yes." Fifteen seconds passed. "Would you please tell us?" Twilight said, rolling her eyes. "English, known to you as Equestrian." I said, and calmly waited for the horseshoe to drop. "So... Equestrian isn't your native language?" Dash asked, and I shook my head. "Could'a fooled me..." "Look, maybe we could discuss this later? We are going to have to go back in an hour and a half, and I'd like to see some more of Ponyville." I said. "We can catch up later, I promise." "Hmm... say, I bet we could pull some neat pranks..." Dash said, and I began to feel an itch on the back of my head. I wasn't going to risk it. A small bottle, no larger than one of those energy shots, appeared before me. It was glass, and full of a bright rainbow liquid. "Down the hatch!" With a slurp, the contents were gone. The chaos stopped... bubbling, and I felt warm like when I gave Fluttershy a hug. "Was that...?" "Yes Twilight, it was." I replied, shaking my head and breathing in more of the air I was taking from the Everfree. From a lake, if the smell was any indication. Closing my eyes, I began feeling things... I had a vague mental picture of my surroundings and the air currents, while I felt all life that was connected to the earth, while swirls of colors danced through my 'vision' as well. I didn't have much time to keep pondering about that, and I was going to be practicing with Celestia and Luna at dusk, so I thought it could wait. Filed away under 'Sensory/perception tricks'. "I think some pranks would be nice." I said, opening my eyes but still seeing an unfocused fuzz somehow separate yet integral to everything. "I thought of harmless things, but wasn't going to risk getting the chaos influence my thinking." "So... what did you think of?" Dash asked. Well, for the evil things there is water that makes you thirsty, thus you'd keep drinking until it kills you. Hence, Harmony Shot. I certainly don't want to do it on accident! "I sent Pinkie a message for some special cupcakes for Celestia." Chocolate. The deepest, darkest chocolate physically and magically possible to ponydom. And hot sauce, because apparently our fair princess likes the combination. And something extra for the prank. "What?!" Twilight screeched, blushing furiously. "Don't you think giving her... THAT is enough for a lifetime!?" "She rejected it twice, so now you have one as well." I retorted, and her blush went from pink to red. "And those items are of a 'private' nature, so I would suggest keeping them private." I wasn't trying to sound all that serious, since I'm just messing with her, but Twilight clamped her hooves over her muzzle as if just now realizing her mistake, squeezing her eyes shut. Rainbow was about to speak up, but a piece of paper floated in front of her. It read: 'NO. Don't ask. It might push too far.' She rolled her eyes as I passed the paper to Applejack, then made it vanish. She opted for asking something else. "Say, can you turn a flower into a squirting flower?" "Dash, I could turn the entirety of Equestria into an upside-down madhouse straight out of the Other Side of the Mirror." "Oh, right..." Applejack winced as Dash chuckled nervously. "Point and it shall be done." I said, rolling my eyes. Carrot Top was to be the first victim. She was at Rose's flower stand when a daisy burst into water like a balloon. I physically took the water from the town's lake, by the way. Minor things, mostly. Moving the tool that some pony was using one meter to the left, making him put it back in place, then moving it again when he wasn't looking, again, and again, then he stared at the tool. For a full thirty seconds without blinking, he stared at it. Then he blinked and it was one meter to the left again. Invisible ink? Try the whole parchment. It's just a blink, only enough to confuse and get a small chuckle. I wasn't going to pour any large amount of power into something that could cause trouble. I moved to bigger things at Dash's insistence and Twilight's review anyways. They wanted to see how large, yet harmless, I could make my pranks. So I temporarily changed the color of every single piece of fruit, flower, or vegetable not on a market stand. Somepony even bought an orange and had it change to a checkers-and-flowers pattern right on his hooves. Though simpler things like pin-point aiming sneezing powder are pretty cool too, and was the incident that made me wonder if there was a probability-altering effect from my presence, Ponyville, or the entire cartoon-like world. See, the sneeze caused Caramel to fall on his rump, so close to Sparkler that it startled her into tossing her sandwich into Colgate's face, making her back up and hit the wall, which in turn made a flower pot fall, landing on a plank that launched a lunchbox high into the air, Rumble shot into the air to catch it, but his juice box fell when it opened for a second, smacking Raindrops in the face mid-flight, who shook it off quickly, then the box soared through the air and hit Berry Punch as she stretched on her balcony, only to fall on top of Bon-Bon, at which point the box decided it had taken enough abuse and burst! Bon Bon was then soaked in apple juice. I laughed softly at that, though Rainbow was much more easily pleased, and even Twilight admitted that it had been amusing. Lyra, too, laughed her head off. Most others were either distracted, or less vocal about their enjoyment. I did a couple of things of my own initiative. Though I did it on the other side of town, using an equivalent to clairvoyance spells, because the girls wouldn't even get the reference. Bullies or no, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon are just fillies, so I 'merely' covered them head to hoof in glitter. That perfectly matched the color of the hair beneath. They actually looked pretty, and they liked it, admiring the sudden change... but I wasn't done. After taking a couple of pictures for the 'd'awwlbum', I changed my voice into that of a mare, projected it to an alley in the street, and yelled. "Vampires!" The whole street was covered in garlic! I wish I could claim responsibility for that one, but no! Each stallion, mare, and foal outside had a ring of garlic cloves and bulbs around their necks in seconds, while a couple of ponies inside houses had, in addition to their own garlic necklace, bottles of some shiny golden liquid. Distilled sunshine. Ponyville is so used to emergency situations, that they have contingency plans for a vampire attack. Oh, and Zecora was there, having readied some... talisman that... geez, the memory gives me the creeps. I felt the hum of power from it. That zebra doesn't mess around, she has things that can hurt me through my chaos field (normally, it de-stabilizes things that try to hurt me like an inverse shield - it weakens things that strike instead of strengthening things that are struck). But the two brats took the cake. They huddled together, trembling and sharing a ring of garlic that one of the adults tossed them, getting the glitter all over one another and making a mess of themselves. I, of course, took pictures. Back with the girls, they asked me what was so funny. Dash learned quickly that I am much more sedate with my humor and don't break out laughing so easy, so seeing me laughing out loud intrigued her. "I'll show you the recording later, Dash, since I doubt you'd get it." I was about to say more, but something caught my attention. I looked upwards,and there was... something in the sky. The girls can't see that sort of stuff; the way they asked me was proof enough. "Wait a second, be right back." I said, and then I was next to that line in the sky. I must have been... pretty friggin' high. The sky was blue... below me, while I could see the stars around me even though it was the middle of the day. I was floating there, unaffected by the coldness of the air, looking at an orange gap that had to be at least a mile long. I felt mildly disgusted, like it shouldn't be there, but at the same time rather excited, since if it opened something weird would pop out! Celestia had been investigating the 'seams', and then I understood that it's not as literal as it sounds. For context: Pathways form naturally, and there are times when ripples and even rifts form, and something is pulled from somewhere else - be it a world, the Collective, the physical Collective, or even the Void (luckily less potentially hazardous than traveling through it unprotected). I am on the lookout for things like that, actually; they make great centerpieces. This thing I was looking at? It was a wound. On the other side... it was indeterminate - I could feel it shift quickly behind the scab-like projection I was seeing. It could have been anything, had I let it break open. It could suck in anything, as well. And I mean it as in 'into the world from outside of it', by the way. This was the world attempting to violently re-balance itself by tearing itself apart momentarily to absorb... well, anything chaotic, even if it's just energy. I could even feel it pulling energy from the Everfree, through the bubble of air I was wearing, in a feeble attempt to get chaotic energy on this side so that it didn't have to do the equivalent of cutting itself open to absorb randomness. I felt the beginnings of a storm forming in the Everfree, which was the closest anomaly to the wound. The ponies themselves can be chaotic, though even if there were more Pinkie Pies it simply would not be enough to prevent the formation of these... world-injuries. Yeah... thankfully, my endearment with the ponies is much stronger than the desire to have an eldritch object or random artifact or character flung at Equestria. Oh, not that I don't enjoy it, but those coming from a Pathway or a Rift are unlikely to twist the laws of reality merely by existing. That thing, however, could let in potentially anything that would otherwise be filtered out. I knew, because that thing did not have any rules to follow, and I could feel that. I willed it close, and saw, with a lot of satisfaction, how the flow of power from me to it made the world stop trying to re-balance itself by tearing itself apart. Not that it would have been permanent (I guess) but as I said, I'd rather help the ponies myself than risk having something that could hurt them popping up from Nowhere. I felt the strain a little, but just the same as anyone would from a repetitive motion for a while and having stopped before it burns (that is comparatively, though; in less subjective terms the power expenditure was enormous). "I have to close those as soon as they appear." I said, bemused. That was the first and last time I saw one with my eyes. I inadvertently meant that as magic, and now, whenever one of those opens, I reflexively close it before the feeling reaches my conscious mind. Not that it matters, since these things are way outside the range of anyone else's range of perception even if they do burst - they are too high! And whatever they suck in could appear potentially anywhere - the forest, Ponyville, Canterlot, anywhere. Sure, Celestia or Luna could detect them before they snap... if they actively looked for them. Well, they get a feel of where whatever it is that appeared landed, but not where the 'true' entry point was. No-one ever looks up, and the way the world curves... well, it's only due to my connection to the other side that I'm even able to tell something's going on. I was back to where I left from... with a small blast of chilled air. It was mildly amusing to see Dash rub her hooves and shiver like it was wint-... actually, even in winter it would be hard for her to get cold, since the average pegasus already is pretty resistant to cold. Those with similar reserves as me more than others. Dash has one of the greatest reserves among pegasi and ponies in general, easily surpassing mine like Applejack and Macintosh do with Earth pony magic reserves or Lyra does unicorn magic. (Twilight utterly destroys the comparison) Still, I was so distracted that I forgot to even feel that the air should be cold. Yeah, anyone else and I'd ask 'are you for real?' However, seeing Dash reminded me that I didn't want to feel it, so I didn't! Ha! I explained the situation, telling them that I had now confirmed even more solidly what Discord had said. I don't know how many of these things have appeared in the past, but I'm willing to bet that Windigos and their ilk came from one. I promised to clarify, but I had to speak with Celestia first and I was not going to return early! Twilight and Dash offered me a vanilla lemon drop, and I graciously accepted, even though I knew. "In it goes." And I couldn't avoid making a face. I snorted a little steam, but managed to swallow. "Next time, find something that goes better with the flavor." I said, and smacked my lips trying to get the taste out of my tongue. "Buh- but how!?" Dash was incredulous, and Twilight was similarly surprised. "Girls, please." I said, like the answer should have been obvious. "Where I'm from, we like spicy things so much..." Applejack raised her eyebrows. "So much..." Twilight had her 'research face' on. "So much..." Rainbow Dash listened with rapt attention. "That we make candy out of them." I said, stomping my hoof. The girls were trying to wrap their heads around that one. An offer to lunch was made, and I accepted, letting ponies see the girls and making them see me as a unicorn. Shoulda gone with an actual transformation... I could levitate things with chaos magic, but I still wanted to see if I could use unicorn magic. As a human, the staff acts as a stabilizer for my chaos magic, and makes it stay quiet as a pony. I made my horn glow (it's white with multi-colored flecks, due to the chaos mark on my right flank) and, instead of quickly surrounding an object (pebble on the ground) with the magic field, I pictured a hand; the glow manifested in mid-air, but shapeless, even if I could feel the hand. I knew things could get... weird, so instead of just moving it at random, I set a hard limit. A metre into the air. It zoomed there, and I just tried to move it back slower. Still too fast. Again. I would put someone's lights out with it. I tried three more times before getting a feel of the use of regular energy, and was able to close the hand around the pebble. Just barely! I didn't want to see if power surged like speed did. I gingerly moved the hand, letting the pebble move with it rather than grabbing it. I have pretty good fine motor control, tested through some of those cheap plastic dexterity puzzles with the ball bearings inside, and that translated pretty well to magic control. (Unfortunately for some, it doesn't work backwards, given that magic control can develop separately - Twilight is better with magic than her hooves; tested, again, with toys). It wasn't that hard and took only a minute or two, what with me being an adult, used to the flow of chaos energy from my earlier experiments, and having the whole thing explained to me. I undid the hand and just surrounded the pebble like any other unicorn. It feels... odd. I can feel the entire surface of the rock, should I want to, and thanks to being used to having hands I have a better 'grip' on objects and higher dexterity than most others care to develop. I tried asserting my control on the rock and promptly crushed it to dust. I gave a start, and Twilight comforted me. I... I love it. No, I am not, and have never been, in a relationship with Twilight - I am just talking about how... touchy-feely the ponies are. I like keeping to myself, yes, my interests didn't always coincide with those of others, yes... and, while I wasn't alone by any stretch of the word... I felt like I was missing something. And ponies just go and hug and nuzzle and pat me on the shoulder. It's bliss. We reached a restaurant, the one where Twilight told the Crusaders her story. Since I didn't have any money, and in celebration of my status, Applejack decided to help with the tab. I cannot stress this enough, I cannot repeat it enough, I cannot stop remembering this; I feel at peace. Twilight talked about magic, how to better control myself, and Dash made a couple of small contributions too. Applejack spoke of the fine, delicate art of striking trees with her legs with strength enough to dislodge apples, but not hard enough to knock the whole thing over. I don't really like talking about myself, not for long anyways; Applejack can read the mood of the situation, and carefully kept nudging the conversation away from me after a couple of sentences. I did talk about other things, like a couple of recipes I knew and would go well with them. The sandwich was... kinda neat! there is this sweetness to the flowers, and they use some sort of dressing to bring in the flavor together. I had the best cup of chamomile tea I've ever had (AJ and Dash took a simple soda). There is just this... soothing magic-y sensation that took my mind away from whatever trials I would face. Not that they would be dangerous, merely annoying, but I knew Celestia had a few tricks under her crown. And Cadence has a few aces herself - learned from the best, after all. Well, court isn't dangerous... ow, my aching everything. Then Rarity showed up. I didn't suspect anything, even though she was wearing a plumed hat and a stunning red and white dress not too dissimilar to the one she wore in "Green isn't your color". She greeted us with a soft smile and a shy covering of her face. My confounded 'Prince mode' gave her a 'Lady Rarity, pleased to meet you'. Then, as Twilight and I took a sip of tea, she dropped her bomb. She spoke about having seen us from her boutique, being intrigued about my appearance, and I don't care what she actually said or how many fancy words she used, I still heard the subtext loud and clear: "You are handsome. Are you single? We should date." Twilight began to choke and Dash patted her back to help the offending liquid pass, while I forced the drink out of my mouth and into the ground. The stain looked alarmingly similar to Edvard Munch's 'The Scream'. Raising my hoof high into the air, I brought it down hard and a bubble enclosed us. "Rarity! What the hell?! I'm Aether!" I shrieked. Yes, shrieked. I like Rarity and all but she's definitely not my type! Then, Rarity's eyes rolled to the back of her head, and she fainted. Again. Rainbow laughed until her sides ached. I know because she was quite vocal about it. Well, I floated Rarity over with magic, preventing her from hitting the ground like the sack of potatoes she was imitating. Imported, fancy potatoes in a Silkweed sack, but inert potatoes nonetheless. I used chaos magic, because, unlike unicorn magic, I am too powerful to lose control. At least in the sense of intent. I fanned her with a wing - I felt the magic and did a little experiment. I used Earth pony magic to strengthen the muscle and provide the additional stamina, while the pegasus magic was devoted solely to manipulating the air. The barest twitch moves a lot of air. She woke up and stood up, alarmed at such an undignified display, but then I dropped my bubble and revealed that I at least spared her that. I apologized for not quite being her prince charming, even if I became prince. Twilight explained, again, and took the extra time to say that my title was more like Blueblood's than anything else. "Oh..." Rarity's voice became a low growl. "That no-good, idiotic ponce! How dare he confuse me for some... some... gold-digging floozie!" Through this, she was soooo mad, her voice barely rose above a whisper. He apologized, that's why he was able to stand anywhere near her vicinity during Fancy Pants's newest airship's christening without being reduced to giblets from sheer concentrated hate, but it's more of a 'Don't step out of line again or I will End you' sort of deal. He's not that bad! (Unless he thinks you are just after his bits!) He is a bit of a lazy bum, and is smug and an unmitigated flankhole, but he just needs... well, tell you later. Also, I felt my Shadow being pulled. Holy acrimony, Batman! Blueblood managed to piss her off so much, Rarity was straddling the line before proper dark magic can be activated. We got a small history lesson, where I made Twilight's hair into a bun, gave her glasses, and a stereotypical librarian outfit (only in soft blues and with a hole for her tail on the skirt, Rarity thought it suited her after she made me replace the tie like four times). Blue Bell, his ancestor, was a unicorn wayfarer that drew maps. And a total bad-flank. She successfully defended a small city beyond a mountain's pass from an invasion with small illusions, a bow she stole, traps, and knowledge of how things work in a forest during winter. Alone. In blizzards. For weeks. There was a war further south, and she decided to help out in any way she could, even if the place was far from defenseless. Using her blanket for camouflage, she distracted the invaders and picked them off from cliffsides, dense thickets, or whatever crazy hiding place she decided. She set fire to their camps, wrecked their supplies, buried them with avalanches, dropped huge rocks, and made the freezing soldiers' lives miserable with illusions that merely tricked them into believing things were misplaced or swapped. Ever see someone try to put out a fire, only to find out that he's pouring alcohol on it? Three weeks later, her reinforcements arrived and the invaders were forced to stop trying. Celestia and Luna leading, of course. The war would have gotten complicated if the pass had fallen, even with the small (for an army) numbers the enemy kept trying to send through it, so the princesses granted her a title for preventing so many incursions. Oh, and ensuring that they had a route to flank the enemy. Then a diamond dog tried to eat her three days later. She killed her assailant, but not before getting severely injured herself. Being so indebted to her, the princesses saved her with a special magic spell and a drop of their blood. She was healed and her coat turned white-ish with a small hint of its previous color, while her eyes became teal. She referred to the event as having been born again, and due to her dedication during the remainder of the war and the spell the princesses called her something along the lines of sister-in-arms. They also adopted her (future) foals, but no, the coat color didn't pass; Blueblood's family only has white coats in it due to normal parental inheritance. "Are you related to them?" I asked Twilight, getting rid of the outfit but keeping the bun. I prepared for the answer with another privacy field (though the food was already paid for). The revelation that they are cousins (second cousins) took a rather embarrassing second place to the fact that Twilight was born a noble. My precautionary measure proved useful when that horseshoe dropped! She was rubbing her forelegs together in shame though. "Why didn't you tell us?" Rarity asked. "For the same reason Blueblood puts on the facade of a jerk." I said, and their protests stopped. "B-being princes Celestia's personal protégé was bad enough, but on top of that, being a Marquise-" "Chevaleresse as well, don't forget you girls got knighted at the end of Discord's little romp through the country." I said. "But who's keeping track? It's not like it matters between friends." The others made a couple of noises of agreement. Rarity just nodded. "Does Pinkie know?" I asked. "I... think?" Twilight scratched her head. "Sometimes, she seems to know things I haven't told her about, but I've never brought up the topic of nobility." "Addendum to current theory: Pinkie's talent isn't just parties and making others smile - it's also surprises. She can do anything as long as it's surprising enough." "Don't worry Rarity." I noticed how gloomy she was. "You shall find the prince you deserve; one who cares for you deeply." She looked me up and down. "How good is your etiquette? I bet I could fix you up." We froze for a few seconds, before Rarity began to giggle. Applejack and Rainbow began laughing, and even Twilight made fun of me. Bah!