//------------------------------// // (7) Welcome to the Pack // Story: The Ballad of Echo the Diamond Dog // by Rust //------------------------------// CHAPTER THE SEVENTH WELCOME TO THE PACK "...Oh, really. That isn't necessary, you know. I gave up such formalities long ago. Although, it is rather flattering. I know I'm handsome, but please, no need to grovel." Disarray's somewhat annoyed voice broke through my train of thought from the position on the ground. In the wake of my realization, I had come to the conclusion that not only was I in the presence of the offspring of a being who could move the freaking sun, but also the one who could make chocolate milk explode. That kind of power, regardless of whoever is wielding it, should be respected. And so, unable to come up with an adequate response, I had simply done the first thing that had come to mind. I had fallen to one knee and respectfully bowed. "Come now, don't jump to conclusions." I felt his lobster claws grab me under my arms and lift me back to my feet. "I see that you recognize me for who I am, but you know not of how I came to be." Still wary of the pint-sized draconequus (or was he half alicorn?), I remained tense. He gave me an appraising look and scowled, which actually looked quite humorous on his dragon face. "Relax, silly dog. I'm not going to turn you into a pinata, and I'm not going to try and take over Equestria." I was stunned. "But you are Discord's-" "-son?" he interrupted. "Aye, I am. I am also Celestia's as well. Doesn't mean I'm like either of them. In fact, you are about in as much danger standing in front of me as you are being protected by an entire platoon of Royal Guards. I cannot possibly emphasize this." Apparently, the apple does fall far from the tree. Huh. But something was bothering me. "What will you do now that you are free? Will you go to Celestia? Discord?" He made a sound that was not quite laughter. "What, and have a lovely little old family reunion? Maybe I'll shed a single tear as we all embrace and the sun sets gloriously behind us. Hah! Please. My mother all but disowned me long ago, and my father never stuck around long enough for me to grow very attached." Daring Do, who had been in a shocked silence this whole time, spoke up, her eyes wide with something that was in-between extreme interest and pity. "What happened?" I frowned as I observed her condition. She was lying on her stomach, with her damaged wing extended out to the side. The gash it sported looked particularly deep, and despite my efforts, blood was still seeping out. "Exactly what you think would happen. Celestia, in all of her infinite wisdom, fell in love with the avatar of chaos. Order and chaos, balancing eachother out... and from that unique balance that only true love can bring: pop goes the weasel!" he said with a wink. "I'm the weasel, by the way. But, the very things that my mother fell for, Discord's unpredictability, his imagination, the dashing good looks that I've so obviously inherited, eventually caused them to fall apart. "You can't really blame him, I suppose. One day, he was just... gone. Poof! Arrevederci. It makes sense, if you think about it. He is chaos personified. Trying to tie him down is like trying to stop the tides." He gave a soft chuckle. "Yes, with enough magic, you can do it, but that upsets the natural order of things. Heh. Even in the wilds of nature, there is order. And in order, there is chaos. Can't have one without the other. "I never forgave him for doing that, though. And neither did she. She grew depressed, and whenever she looked at me, even more so. So eventually, I left. Just like the old man. But I had a reason, unlike him. I couldn't bear to see her like that. It was maddening. But we had quite the argument before I left. Words were said that probably should not have been, and in the wake of it, my title and crown were forfeited, tossed aside in my desperation to leave. This was for the best, I suppose. Regardless, it probably hurt her even more, but I didn't have a choice. But, in the meantime, Dad got it into his thick skull that he should be ruler of Equestria. While I no longer stood for order alongside my mother as a prince, I was not supportive of chaos either, and had no desire to see the world come to that." "And you confronted him." Damn, this kid had cajones. I knew all too well about what he was talking about, too. My own parents had split when I was young, although I'd never reconciled with my Pop about it. With bitter irony, I realized that now I'd never get the chance. "Aye. I tried to at least. He was shocked, you see, that I didn't want to follow in his footsteps and rule Equestria by his side. And so, after a struggle, he decided that I was no longer his son, and sealed me away. Ironically, this was the action that caused Celestia and Luna to finally take him down. However, once Discord was petrified by the Elements, I was left in my prison, all but forgotten. Discord had been the only one who knew where I'd gone. Celestia simply assumed that I'd run away, and despite her best efforts, never found me. "And so, here I stand before you. The castaway offspring of the embodiments of order and chaos, who forsook his crown and his family to try and find his own way. And thanks to you, dog, I finally get the chance to do that." I shrugged, still digesting the information. "Now what?" I pressed the issue. "A lot has changed in the time you've been gone. Were you aware of that?" Daring Do nodded sluggishly. Her eyes were half-lidded, although her ears were still pricked up in interest. She seemed to be taking all of this this surprisingly well, but then again, she was made of strong stuff. She put her life on the line almost on a daily basis and made a living off it, for fuck's sake. "Celestia overthrew Discord, and turned him to stone. Well, he was turned to stone, but now he's back." Disarray gave a hearty laugh. "Mom always was the better fighter. She used to be called the Dragonslayer, you know, back when Equestria was still young and neither her or her sister were royalty. If she stopped him once, he'll be going right back in. And I don't think you have to worry about me adjusting to a new world. While I was physically trapped, my essence was free to roam. I've been watching the world go by, so to speak. The Elements of Harmony are back, and Nightmare Moon was struck down." He smirked. "It also seems that Auntie Luna and I have a lot in common now. I hope I get to meet her again soon. She was always so nice to me." The image of Celestia facing down a monstrous dragon and yelling "FUS RO DAH!" almost made me double over in laughter. There was a lot I didn't know about either of the sisters, apparently. But still... his accuracy was almost chilling. He might as well have been watching the show. Did that make him a brony? "Now, Echo, I believe I still owe you an explanation for my father's actions. And it seems your friend here needs some medical attention. Why don't we go somewhere a little more comfortable? Where is it that you two reside?" Daring lifted up a shaky hoof to the east. On the moonlit horizon, the tallest tree in the area loomed over the surrounding canopy, and I could barely make out the bulge of her treehouse, clinging to the giant like a barnacle on the skin of a great whale. "Excellent! Allons-y!" Before I could even register that he'd just quoted the Doctor, he clacked his lobster claws together twice. There was a flash of light, and we were suddenly in the treehouse gazebo. I staggered up against one of the support columns. I hadn't noticed this before, but teleportation seems to make you very nauseous. Daring looked a bit green in the wings as well, though that might have been more from the blood loss. I removed my pack and applied another dosage of that healing salve, and watched as the torn flesh on her wing began to bubble and knit itself together. The wound was far from healed, though, and blood still dripped onto her tan feathers. I applied some gauze as tight as I could. We were going to have to get that fixed, and soon. She rose unsteadily to her hooves and crossed the room to her hammock. "I'm going to just rest for a bit. You guys go and do... whatever it was you asked him about." The explorer collapsed into the hanging resting place and was unconscious before she was done falling. Disarray, on the other paw, was examining the small stove leaning against the tree that made up the room's central pillar. He looked up once he noticed I was watching him, and coughed, seemingly embarrassed. "Ahem. I may have watched technology progress, but it's still an entirely different thing to be able to use it." I rolled my eyes and gestured outside, to the balcony. "Shall we? My friend needs her sleep." He looked genuinely surprised at this. "Your friend? Hay, I thought you were screwing each other, the way you've been so nice." I gave him a double dosage of upraised middle fingers. Which, by the way, looks a hell of a lot more impressive when you've got glowing claws extending several inches from them. The claws themselves returned to their normal color when I sheathed them, only altering when I let them loose. But he had admittedly begun a train of thought in my mind that had been until this time stuck at the station. I knew very little about what was acceptable in Equestria in terms of relationships. Due to all of my time being spent in near isolation, I'd yet to find out whether or not such parings even existed. There was always that whole "Spike and Rarity" thing to use as an example of this, however, Spike was about the equivalent of a six year old, and I doubted that Rarity wanted to be labeled as a pedophile. Disarray laughed my reaction, and strolled amiably through the netting to the balcony. I soon joined him, and together we looked down over the jungle. The night sky pulsed with lights, radiant enough to coat the scene with a soft, silver light. The sheer beauty of it was breathtaking, yet extremely sobering. It was the sort of thing that gave you goosebumps from the simple majesty it's existence. I couldn't help but feel very, very small at that moment. "Auntie Luna is quite the artist, isn't she?" said Disarray, who seemed to be just as taken with the sight as I was. "Under her care, every night seems better than the last. I think Mom was always a little jealous of her for that, because while most ponies spent their time in the day, it was still ugly and harsh in comparison." "I've always liked the night more than the day. I wish my kind were nocturnal." "Which ones? The Diamond Dogs, or humans?" WHAT DID HE JUST SAY!? I turned to him, completely stunned. "You know?" He gave a small cough. "Have known. I'll explain as much as I can, and this should actually count as your first favor." I nodded, and turned back to the view as I listened. "Firstly, I should tell you of my race. We call ourselves draconeqi, and, in case you haven't noticed, are beings of chaos. Our world, or rather, dimension, is like the trash bin of the universe. Concepts, ideas, stories, thrown out pieces of rubbish - they all end up there. As such, its inhabitants are pieced together like a patchwork doll, made up of the many things that the universe dumps our way. We are a peaceful lot, content to sit back and watch as time rolls by, throwing it's interesting debris down on us for our amusement. Well, most of us were content to sit back and watch." I frowned. "Discord?" "Ding-ding-ding! We have a winner! You're a lot smarter than you look." He chuckled and clacked his lobster claws again, something I noticed that seemed to be a habit. "Anyway, dear old Dad was one of the most powerful of our kind, and decided it wasn't enough to simply observe and collect the chaos of the cosmos, and that he had to go out and make some. So, he did. But, Dad was quite interested in the junk we got from one world in particular. Your homeworld, Earth, as you call it. Drawn to this place, he was, like a moth to a candle. "And let me be the first to say that humans are by far the most entertaining creatures to watch. Discord barely had to do anything on Earth, in fact, as you all seemed hell-bent on creating your own special brand of chaos. He often spoke fondly of it, in fact. But eventually, he got bored with it. He wanted to create his own chaos, you see, not simply jump into a steaming pile of it and wallow around like a pig in the mud. And so, he came to the perfect world, unblemished by any form of chaos whatsoever. He used it as his canvas, a blank piece of paper free of doodles. That world was called Equestria. "And you know what happened then. He eventually he met Celestia, I was born, and then afterwards he was overthrown. But he often was unsatisfied with his work in Equestria, you see. Despite all his efforts, no matter how badly he messed things here, Earth was always just a little bit more crazy, just a little bit more random. And don't get me started on how he reacted once humans invented the Internet. Great galloping gods, man, that was probably the single most brilliant thing your kind has ever invented! Twisted, sadistic, and disgusting, yes, but brilliant nevertheless." I had to agree with him on that one. The Internet could be a very dark, scary place. Where else can you find flying pop-tart cats that whiz around through space and shit rainbows? And don't get me started on all the porn. "Discord then came up with his greatest scheme of chaos yet. Why not bring one of your kind here? You were obviously so much better at mucking things up than he was, and once a human was here, doing their thing, he could still lay claim to it being his work. He never got the chance to do so the last time he was up and about, although it seems that with his new-found freedom, he decided to initiate his plan. And so, to the best of my knowledge, that is why you are in Equestria." That was... disconcerting. So my arrival here hadn't been completely random. Discord had obviously premeditated this, to quite a high degree. Even so, there was a fatal flaw in his plan. "I hate to disappoint him, but I've got no intention of spreading chaos around. I just want to see the world, and learn what I can." Disarray grew very smug at this. "But you have been, Echo. Despite your noble goal, you've already begun shaking things up around here, for better or for worse. In fact, during your short stay, so far you've befriended one of Equestria's cultural icons, tossed her arch-nemesis into a black pit, and released the son of the Princess from a two thousand year imprisonment. Whether you like it or not, you are most certainly setting things into motion that will have lasting consequences for years to come." He was right, on all accounts, and I was somewhat peeved at him for that. It's not like I'd intended to do any of these things. Well, with the exception of tossing Ahuizotl down that hole. That was on purpose. The blue bastard had it coming. I felt a large paw on my shoulder, and I turned to see Disarray had put one of his bear arms on me. "As for your second request, no, I cannot send you back home, even if either of us wanted to. Only my father can do that, and he won't be around for much longer." Well, at least I'd tried. There was now no doubt that I'd be staying here for a very, very long time. "And for request number three, you asked me to help you on your journey. And so, I will. However, I am not some kind of ace in the hole. I will assist you only when you need my help, not when you want it. Although, I'm feeling rather generous tonight, so I'll give you a freebie. For my first bit of help, I highly recommend that you get your pegasus friend inside to the nearest medical center. Ta-ta for now!" And with that, he leaned over the edge of the balcony and rolled off. I lunged, attempting to catch him, but he twisted away mid-air and crossed his arms behind his head, assuming a reclining position as he fell. Just before he would have entered the canopy, there was a flash of light, and he was gone. Show off. I pushed back through the netting and observed Daring Do. She definitely did not look too good at this point. With a sigh, I went and got her map of the region from the small cabinet, and spread it out onto the kitchen table. The multitude of colored markings was confusing for a moment, but eventually I located the nearest settlement to the treehouse. Roughly eighty kilometers away to the northeast, there was a small settlement labeled on the map, called Wethoof Village. I figured this was where Daring picked up supplies every once and awhile. The explorer might be resourceful, but she had to get the materials for this treehouse from somewhere. I did a rough calculation in my head. On all fours, I could travel very fast, about thirty, thirty-five miles-an-hour, and hold that pace for quite a distance. If the village was that far away, it would take me about an hour and a half of running at full speed to reach it, but I strongly doubted that, because I'd be traveling through dense jungle, somehow carrying Daring Do with me. I glanced outside at the night. The light from the stars and the moon was bright enough to see by, and my new eyes seemed to be quite capable to adjusting to darkness. Visibility would be no problem. I began gathering supplies for the trip. I packed light, and I packed only the essentials for what I'd need. Several gems from Daring's store would serve as food. They were surprisingly chock full of nutrients, and I could usually just eat one a day and feel at the top of my game. I emptied out some of the organic food from my backpack, as well as the metal stakes we'd thought we'd need for our trip to the temple. I stuffed the medical kit in there, and with the added room, it barely fit. My psychology binder was coming with me, no exceptions. That contained all my notes on the Equestrian language, as well as Equestria itself. I checked my clothing. The sleeveless sweatshirt was battered and torn, but it would suffice. The belt, made of strips of denim and t-shirt, seemed to be holding out well enough, but I'd need to replace both soon. Finally, I rolled up Daring's map and grabbed her compass from her saddlebags. Now that I had what I needed, I had to address the problem of moving the explorer herself. She was dead to the world, and a few light prods with my finger revealed that she was unlikely to awaken soon, unless she got some help. I redid the wrapping on her wing, as tight as I could. Hopefully that should keep the blood flow to a minimum until we got to Wethoof. But how was I going to carry her? Ah! Idea! The hammock she was lying in soon found itself converted into a cocoon, snugly wrapped across my chest. I cut a hole in it for Daring's face to hang out, so that she wouldn't suffocate. The hammock was tied over one shoulder and under the other, and the knot was covered by my pack. The pegasus was surprisingly light, and I barely felt her weight. Perhaps she had a hollow bone structure, like birds? I pushed out of the netting and did a final check. The compass dangled from around my neck by the shoelace, and the map was tightly folded into my belt. My pack was full to bursting with only the essentials; water, food, rope, and a medical kit. I double checked the knot keeping Daring snug across my chest. It was tight. Good. She wasn't going anywhere. I suddenly realized that despite my efforts, there was something I hadn't taken into account. How was I going to get down? I sat down, hard. My pack made a faint rattling noise, and I felt something brush up against my side. I craned my neck to see that the rope was poking out from one of the pockets. The rope! I quickly pulled it out and tested its strength. It was rather sturdy, despite the fact that it wasn't nylon. I quickly rushed back into the treehouse and tied it tightly around the tree, before spooling out the rest of it's length by my feet on the balcony. I gave the treehouse one last look. This may be the last time I'll ever see it. It had been good to me, and I couldn't help but feeling as though I was betraying it by leaving. I wrapped the rope several times around my left arm and gripped it tightly, holding onto it closer to the tree than the free end, and allowing that bit to dangle. This had better work. I took a deep breath and vaulted as far over the edge as I could. The jungle immediately spread out before me and began to rush closer. The sickening sensation of falling came up into my stomach as I plummeted towards the ground. The rope abruptly tightened around my arm and I felt myself rudely screech to a halt, and silently snarled in pain as my arm nearly popped out of its socket. I was suddenly swinging towards the huge tree, instead of traveling outwards. I twisted my body towards the trunk and slammed into it, hard. My legs and free arm took the brunt of the impact, working like powerful, furry shock absorbers. With my free paw, I whipped out my claws and sank them deep into the bark. Good. I was as now attached to the tree. I craned my neck up and chomped through the rope, quickly flashing out my other paw and clawing onto the bark to pick up the slack. I was now clinging to the monstrous softwood, several hundred feet above the ground. I slowly began to slide downwards, the sharpness of my claws cutting through the wood like a hot knife through butter. I used my rear legs as brakes, controlling my descent so that I wasn't going too fast, but fast enough for my arms to be shaking with the effort of keeping them locked. I spared a glance downwards and saw the canopy speeding towards me. I winced and ducked my head down as I passed through the foliage, the branches and vines whipping at me as I sped through them. WHUMPH! Ah, the ground. My good friend. How I've missed you so. I dazedly rolled off my back, giving a silent apology to the bush I'd just flattened. My descent had carved eight deep lines in the tree, and I couldn't help but whistle as I noticed my claws, still extended, were smoking a little bit. In all honesty, I'd had no idea that would work. A quick glance at my compass pointed me in the right direction. With a grunt, I began loping through the undergrowth as fast as I could, Daring Do tucked safely against me for the moment. It seemed my journey through Equestria had begun. For better or for worse, I was now heading off to Wethoof, the first stop in what could be an odyssey of epic proportions. Hopefully the ponies there could fix Daring Do up before I left. I wanted to say goodbye and thank her before I set out. We both had known this day was coming, ever since I told her of my desire to travel. But I wouldn't be going it alone. I now had a very interesting traveling companion, whom I strongly suspected was watching me even now. Discord had been right. I was definitely shaking things up. Clever bastard.