//------------------------------// // The nobles really know how to kill the mood... // Story: Aether, Heir of Chaos // by Arcane Anonymity //------------------------------// Twilight had something to ask of me, once I had retrieved my staff from the private meeting room and Luna greeted us (she said she found my gift amusing, while I pleaded so that she WOULD NOT tell me what it was). "Before you go... could you..." She tapped the floor with her hoof, demurely trying to ask for a favor. This got Luna's attention. "Is there a problem, Twilight Sparkle?" "Well, you said you were so high up..." "... That the air was so thin you could see the stars." I completed, and Luna gasped, impressed. "Geez, it matched some picture I've seen, so I can say I was easily upwards of eighty thousand feet, or above twenty four thousand, four hundred meters." Luna and Twilight were awed, and I heard a code-name that revealed to me that there are some 'coincidences' that will make this place very fun. (Oh boy, I had no idea what I was in for) I heard them say 'Blackbird Four-Twenty'. "What did it look like? The world, I mean... th-that is, being daytime-" "You can see the ground perfectly, and the stars the same." I nodded, once more completing her sentences, and telling where she was going with this. "Would you like to see? It's not a problem." She watched my raised eyebrow with that cute sparkly face a filly would make in front of her Hearts Warming presents. "I am guessing that is a 'yes'." Luna giggled softly. "Would you like to see as well?" I asked the Night princess, who perked up a little, and ultimately nodded. I handed them a pair of visors, then simply clapped my hands, and the world melted away. Only I was so high up, while they were simply projections. Luna saw how the stars glittered around the sun, which was dimmed by her glasses. The horizon was but a fuzzy blue line over a pastel-colored ball. It's a... humbling experience, seeing a tiny dot and know that that is the mountain where the palace one calls home is perched. Not quite on the level of blocking the entire planet with a thumb, but at this height one could nonetheless see the entire country with a glance. Each town, mountain or forest was smaller than what either mare had thought. A sort of perspective that no map could reproduce, unless it was less of a map and more of a picture at this height. With a telescope, it was easier to appreciate the details - Twilight could point out Sweet Apple Acres, and Luna was treated to a breathtaking view of the Desert of Glass Sand and the Island of Shifting Seasons - one a place of glittering sands and strange rock formations that move on their own, the other a spectacle of change where patches of browns turn to green and then white in the course of minutes. On a whim, I put on my glasses. Seeing things is easier with them, just like the way I saw Big Macintosh's magic system. I saw the ley lines of the world. The ones nearest to the surface, that is. Remember when I compared magic to large bodies of water? It's because of what I saw. Rivers, lakes... they looked a bit strange, and I figured they had something to do with the 'chaos deficit'. Still, enormous rivers of glowing fire-like energy making a spiderweb pattern dotted with extra-bright spots that gently shifted through a few calm colors was something amazing to behold. Changing mostly from yellows to blues, the lines and pools were really pretty, even if I thought they were a little off. I noticed that the Anomalies were not connected - not completely, at least. Briefly, a few streams would connect to the surrounding 'rivers', then vanish or move to another place. They are a mess of reds and violet, but there are also some red pools on the normal ley line grid, and I felt that there was something I could do with them. There are also currents in the sky, but those are a touch different. And there is a big gaping hole where the Crystal Empire is supposed to be. The ends are as if frozen in time, and a big circle is nothing more than the frozen wasteland it appears to be. I merely Displaced back to the ground, mindful of the temperature this time. Luna was pensive, and when Celestia chose that moment to arrive, she calmly approached her elder sister. "Dear sister, is something wrong?" Celestia said, her full attention on Luna's face... right before it broke into a smile and pulled the white pony into a full embrace, neck, forelegs, and wings. Celestia gave a start, but quickly returned it. She didn't know what brought it about, but she loves her sister very much and never shies away from family moments. "Everything is just fine, dear sister." Luna said, before tightening her hug for a moment and letting go. "Is the council ready?" "As ready as they could ever be." Celestia deadpanned and rolled her eyes... that room was one of the few where she allowed herself to make such an expression - nearly everywhere else, it's mostly Smile Number One and its sub-variants ('I am glad to see you/to be here'). A funny thing that happened. After the invasion, the council of nobles tried to propose some... rather ruthless 'solutions' that Celestia kept shooting down, trying to get them to understand that it was just a faction of changelings and they couldn't condemn the whole race. Discussions kept escalating until, one day, when they yet again had called an assembly to get Celestia to hate the changelings so that she would justify their 'proposals', they opened the doors to find the council chambers covered in ice and a Windigo that promptly tried to get them. Celestia's Presence alone vaporized it, and 'coincidentally' Luna chose right then to appear and tell them that a Windigo had breached the wards due to an inordinate amount of hate gathered in a single place. The Windigo's nasty aura awakened their self-preservation instincts and a semblance of rationality with it, if only briefly, and they dropped the issue of the changelings to let the princesses decide at their discretion. In any case, Twilight wanted to wait in her chambers, since the princesses had already resolved the issue and this meeting was just to get the less reasonable ponies to give in. Sure, there are still many, many nice nobles in the council, but since those particular meetings are to let the windbags and such yell at one another, not all of them attend at once; the nobles whose opinions are actually thought out gather with a different crowd in a different chamber, and most have little patience for the posturing and self-aggrandizement of stallions and mares that can't see past their noses. Lucky for me, this was such a strange event that, despite some of them having already talked to both princesses, pretty much only Twilight and her parents decided to skip it. And Shining Armor and Cadence, but they had yet to return from their honeymoon. Hmm... next project: Find out a way to make text convey sarcastic tones of voice. It'll be gold. I gave Celestia the box of cupcakes Pinkie prepared, telling her that I had them made for her. Her favorite (she loooooves chocolate and hot sauce). She smiled and told me she would enjoy them later. "I must admit that, for such a simple prank, it was executed perfectly! Thumbs up!" Thank you, Discord. There is elegance in simplicity, and because of it, it's not magical, so it can't be detected that easily. The princesses went on ahead, while I (disguised as a prince without regalia again) waited about five minutes before following a pair of escorting guards. The doors to the chambers are of a beautiful magical mahogany variant, with various carvings of ponies facing each other as if in dignified, but friendly, debate. Pegasus, earth pony, unicorn, it mattered not; the pairs were mixed as often as not. The chamber itself has a raised stone dais in the dead center with a red circular carpet that bears the symbol of the princess of the time of day, currently a sun. Around it, the stands are of a polished wood a few shades darker than the door, with some small tapestries hanging from them; the wood itself was carved with simple rectangular shapes in an elegantly understated fashion... oh, and all five tiers were crammed with ponies. And found out that Twilight and her parents decided to attend anyways - I guess the curiosity was too much, and she did have something important to say. Again, opposite to the door and just as perfectly centered, a large stand like the ones in a courtroom held both princesses at the highest point, with a banner of Equestria hanging from it. Twilight was a little to the side, being Celestia's personal student and all. "Aether, Heir of Chaos, answering the summons of princess Celestia of Equestria, and princess Luna of Equestria, appearing before the Council!" A pony by the door announced for the record. Time to face the music, I guessed. I had most of the ponies on my side already, or rather, Celestia's side which she decided included mine. I needed to get ponies to... Or not. I caught a little glint in their eyes. The princesses wanted to have some fun, and who am I to deny them? I am but a lowly prince appointed by their graciou- (hehehe, I can't hold it!). Haha! In any case, I stood at the center of the dais and got to my knees. "Rise." Princess Celestia's voice was particularly melodious today. "Aether, Discord has decided to part with his powers, and grant them to you. You have already sworn fealty to us, yet this issue has been called into question; would you care to assuage doubts in the matter?" I knelt again, lowering my head, horn aligning with the floor and wings spread with deference. "Upon your summoning, I have come forth. I ask of you, are you my Master?" Another glint of amusement, and her posture straightened even more, if that was possible. "Yes." She stated, unmoving. Ponies shuffled and some even squirmed on their seats, being one of the rare moments Celestia spoke with such authority. It was just as if she had been asked if she had breakfast, or if the sky was blue. "Servant Caster; I await your orders." "Rise. You shall answer to my Sister and I, and consult on us upon the matter of Discord's claims." A pony raised a hoof, High Brow, as the aide announced. "What evidence do we have of these claims? About the world, that is." Twilight gestured to me; I obliged. "At approximately one in the afternoon, there was a wound-like phenomenon in the sky. I detected it as it tried to call upon chaotic energies upon itself in an attempt at stabilization, thus managing a pull on my own body and a draining effect on the surrounding energy detected by my senses. Estimates based on visuals place this event at roughly eighty thousand feet, or twenty four thousand, four hundred meters into the air." I said, sitting down on the decadently soft carpet and twisting more 'strings' to make some illusions of the images that Twilight and Luna saw. They came from the tip of my horn, as if it were a projector. Celestia, and many other ponies for that matter, looked at the images in wonder. Might be helped by the fact that the 'screen' was the size of Celestia's bedsheets. "This... World-wound was a signal of the thinning of the division between this world, a place Discord referred to as the 'Collective Unconscious', the Physical collective, and the Void." I continued, and Celestia narrowed her eyes. "It took some power on my part, however, to advert its opening and the incursion of whatever was on the other side." "What shape did this 'wound' have?" Celestia was all business. I projected my memory. The oddly colored thing was like a scabbed-over knife injury, long and narrow. it would be more accurate to say it's caved in, but one would have to visualize a place 'outside' of the world, making the metaphors and comparisons need several minutes to be explained. Mischievous glint in her eyes... You know? I got really good really quickly at telling her mood from her eyes alone, though I could have done without the first lesson on it. "So, this slit was closed before it was penetrated?" I don't know how, but I managed to avoid reacting externally. She wanted this? She got it. "Indeed. In spite of how thin the barrier was, the walls around it were still too firm and too tight, for lack of a better description." I saw many, many ponies squirm - Twilight even got a twitchy eye. I cut off the energy and unraveled the illusion. "I assume that at such an altitude this in-development event was isolated?" I nodded. "Neither mare nor stallion had laid hoof upon it." Bluey adjusted the collar of his suit. "This might not be the only one, however. I am not so presumptuous as to think that I prevented the very first one from having its barrier popped and bleed its contents and energies into the world." Luna's lip quivered once, telling me it was suppressing a smile. Twilight looked uncomfortable, though, and asked a question herself to change the topic. Celestia pretty much has to do this every now and then to remind ponies that it is a perfectly normal part of nature, and being too prudish is silly. "How can you tell where the... wound would open from?" "I did not. It could have been any of the three, in nearly any place within." I brought a hoof to my chin. "I observed the Collective for some time, and familiarized myself with the sensations it provoked, which are the same from the opposite side of the phenomenon. I did the same with the physical one, although that is less hospitable... I crossed wits with the Void as well." Every pony in attendance gasped, save for both princesses, who merely widened their eyes. It was... not bad, but it wasn't easy... well, I had the right way of thinking; I just had to hold it. 'Buck', in the 'impolite' sense, is more linked to physical violence than... bedroom acts. When a pony bucks, they strike with their hind legs. I say this because... BUCK! (ARGH!) Dealing with night terrors is awful! And there are only two residents in all of Equestria that can do it! Luna, and myself! Huff! Huff! Ack! That smarts... (No doctor, just remembering something unpleasant - hey, calm down.) Hngh... well, at least, a certain type of night terror related to the Void - one that doesn't come from the acts of Luna's old tormentors or Nightmare Moon's cronies. Nightmare creatures are actually pretty satisfying to beat up... what with me easily overpowering even Celestia and all that. And it didn't hurt that I had infused my staff with... a very peculiar enchantment my little study group developed - one of the principal ingredients was magic from the Elements of Harmony. The outcome is obvious. Oh! Right! Well, changelings have their way to deal with night terrors, but it cannot be used on non-changelings. "The Void? Truly?" Was the general reaction. "Yes. As long as one is careful with their mind, there is little to fear. 'Nothingness' is, of course, non-existent; as such, any feelings or voices are merely product of your own mind, and thus can be controlled absolutely once you acknowledge them as part of you. In the case of any denizens, one simply needs to remember that in the 'Nothing', the only thing preventing wishes from coming true is 'Nothing', so that 'Everything' is permitted." Thank goodness for all that fiction I read. Did I already mention that it was only five minutes to their perspective? Because I recall doing so. In any case, I was regarded with a bit of reverence, murmurs about me circulated through the room. I caught one about having the full power of Discord on their side. "Not full." I said, with a little edge to my sudden statement. "Discord is not stupid; there is a method to his madness that allows him to devise cunning plans. Do any of you truly believe he would give me the entirety of his powers when his intention was retiring?" Hushed whispers and a little bit of fear coursed through the room. "H-how much?" Some noble gathered the courage to ask. "Make no mistake." Luna said, firm and regal. "Of the residents of Canterlot, Caster Aether is the single most powerful. Trying to tap blindly into the full powers he received is dangerous to his mind and spirit, however." Smart, letting them know I'm not to be messed with while implying that the both of them keep me in line, thus destroying the many plans that exist to drive a wedge between both sisters so that one will approve of their schemes if the other refuses; she exposed one of my weaknesses as reassurance that I won't go into a chaotic spree as well. "That, and I have yet to make the powers react instinctively to my personality alone instead of their previous owner's." Letting them know that Discord had a bit of an influence over me just drove the point home; they no longer try to get the princesses to disagree between them just to get them to agree with them. "W-what happened to the rest?" A mare gulped as she asked. "The answer should be obvious." He took it with him. It was quite a bit, but that was 'just' normal magic... oh, don't think he's weak! He might have had the ability to do anything he wished on sheer brute force, but he nonetheless became a very skilled spell caster. True, sometimes, quantity is a quality all on its own, however, he has something I call 'magical pressure' that is so high that he can cast spells with frightening efficiency; example, a magic bolt used by a normal pony can leave a scorch mark on a rock... if you compress the energy enough, you can blow it up without much more energy expenditure. Of course, I was misleading them. The answer is obvious, but given the information, there are other, perfectly reasonable alternatives, namely... "The human!" An old pegasus exclaimed-slash-whispered his guess. Silver Wing, though I know of a different pony by the same name. His family has a long, proud military history and it was said his ancestor started it when the unlucky (yet brave) recruit turned the tables on an incident with a human (got the misfortune of being separated, running into the human, and unwillingly becoming bait - even if it helped out in the end). "He does have quite the variety of magical objects." I mock-pondered. "S-s-still, you are stronger, right?" The speaker lost his posh accent from fright... I didn't really like scaring them like that, but it was mildly entertaining and kept them from making rushed decisions. It also ensured they would try to get my good graces instead of just trying to trip me up. "Being Discord's chosen, the powers he has are subservient to mine. Out of his staff, he cannot use anything I do not allow." I figured I should calm them down a little bit. "What kind of objects?" "They are too numerous to count, and too varied to describe them all." I began to think about what kind of stuff should I let them know I could do. "There are weapons, of course, like magical swords and bows... I think he said something about enchanted wings? Armors and outfits as well, one of them has the ability to allow breath underwater. Ah! And can't forget about glasses that see magic, heat signatures, and in low light..." I made a dismissive gesture. "Among other things I can't recall." I could see some of the nobles starting to break into a sweat. "He is somewhat temperamental." I said with a mild scowl, as if displeased (which I am, with myself). "But he does have a good heart. I think he is willing to see some ponies before going on a few errands for me." "What kind of... errands?" "The kind of errands I would ask of a human." I love being vague. I had an idea - for my human influence in Equestria, that is. Besides technology, there is another thing humans are known for. Celestia let her first impressions color her perception, and her further scrying attempts were subconsciously 'hijacked' and showed mostly bad things... but there is a use for that. In 'prince' form, I had a surprising degree of freedoms (being at Bluey's level instead of Cadence's), and I could do quite a few things 'for the benefit of the land'. In human form, I was the prince's aide, and I could do a whole lot of things... including being pretty much a weapon of terror and scare enemies witless - only if I was 'provoked', though. It helps that some of the stories make it seem that bad actions attract or even summon nearby humans, so criminals and the like walk on eggshells for me. Dance, puppets, DANCE~! I once caught a purse snatcher in Manehattan as a human... he wet himself. Still, my comment had a disappointing, yet not entirely unexpected reaction. A bit of fear... and remember herd mentality? Even the reasonable ones were being dragged down by the panicky ones. Both princesses looked at me, and I got the impression that this one was going to be my act. "Enough!" I fully extended my wings at the time I took a little bit of pegasus magic and 'dumped' it into a large pool of chaos and dark magic; my wings displaced a huge amount of air, forcing ponies to hold on to their hats and making the tapestries flap like a tornado just passed by. And every one of them swallowed loudly and looked at me. I'm told it felt ominous, like a storm was seconds away from breaking out. And my eyes glow blue, which, in the suddenly darkened room, framed by the black haze coming from each one of my feathers, made every one in attendance flinch as I swept my gaze over the room. I was standing, but other than my eyes I kept my movements minimal, barely turning my neck. "Think. Think. Very carefully what you are going to say next." My tone is calm but firm. "Who are you to judge someone you don't know? What gives you that right? Old stories?" I simply snort, then turn to the princesses. "I take it that the story of Equestria's founding was more complicated than in the play? I find it unlikely that mere disagreements attracted the Windigoes, or that the extent of their influence was simply making discussions worse." "Indeed." Luna nodded. "Unicorns and pegasi raided earth pony settlements, they retaliated in turn; ponies fought one another, they stole and killed... the exploration parties repeated this violence, and with only a fraction of the parties willing to see reason, Clover the Clever's understanding and sheer magical power was the only thing that saved them from turning the land of Equestria into an eternal glacier." I sat back down, folding my wings and relaxing. As such, the feeling of being trapped inside a stormy cloud about to release lightning faded away, but every pony kept quiet so that I won't do that again. I tried to make a subtle gesture towards the princesses with my brow, but pony eyes are huge and made it look like a twitch, although it seemed that she understood. "Hmph. Should I imprison or banish all here for being ponies? I think not - you are not them, and even so, they made amends... If I have to bring this to balance, I might as well do it on my own." I turned away. "Injustice like that just makes me sick." "Stop." Celestia ordered as soon as I lifted a foreleg. "I am sure they were simply being overly cautious..." She managed to notice that my mood had been soured a little, at the end of the act, and her tone went from businesslike to motherly. "We would like to speak to you privately some time later; for now, I would like to see the human, again, in private." I grumbled slightly... those whispered comments I caught earlier really killed the fun. "He should still be in your study, I shall go tell him." "Perhaps it would be best to use a more relaxed environment?" Luna pondered. "I shall personally take you and him to a prepared room in the castle." I nodded before I vanished from there, reappearing inside the study I spent the last night sleeping in, as a human. Luna teleported in five minutes afterwards, giving me a brief nuzzle... she, too, heard some rather extreme whispers that upset her - even if both her and her sister initially reacted with a severe lack of trust, and even with the misunderstanding, they were not about to toss aside everything they worked for and... grr, preemptively strike me down. That thing with the Elements was just a mistake, and an understandable one at that; it didn't even involve me being a human, but rather, something that was a very real danger. She gave me an apologetic smile, and told me she had a surprise prepared for me in my new room. She said it was in return for what happened at dawn, and also in thanks for letting her see Equestria like that outside of her nightmares. For a time, she was scared to find herself back in the moon, her freedom from that monster nothing more than a dream... As we walked through the ample hallways of the castle, I somehow slung my staff on my back, placed my arm around her neck in a friendly embrace, and produced a paper plane of a rich, deep purple.