My Little Pony : Friendship is Magic
Wish Weaver Chapter 13
The impossible made possible…Somehow
Bidding her final customer goodbye, Calypso picked up the sign that had been standing by the entrance to her tent and brought it inside with her. The day was over, she’d closed up shop, and the piles of bits sitting pretty on her little table spoke of how successful her first outing in Ponyville had gone. Any other pony would have cause to celebrate such a good turnout, but rather than cheer, the robed equine went about cleaning up her residence with a distinct sense of dread. Glancing at the small clock sitting above one of her chests, Calypso exhaled uneasily and swept her profits into a small purse. While officially she was no longer open for business, the pony still had one more customer due: an entity of a more unearthly and previously untrusted nature, a reformed criminal whom many would think her mad for agreeing to see. Pulling the purse strings taught and tying them in a bow, the equine seemed to ponder for a moment if she was, before a sound from deeper within the tent distracted her.
“Yes, yes we have done very well, just as we did before. Things are coming together with an e-efficiency far greater than even I could have….calculated.”
The hooded mare clutched her purse tightly as she stepped into the back area of the tent.
“To think that all this time, all these years I worried we would be found, forced to return…and prevented from completing our work…and yet still nothing. It is almost as if we’ve been forgotten about, or perhaps…I was wrong.”
The purse was set down inside another chest as the mare’s attitude grew more troubled.
“Wrong…could I have been? Would they have stopped me if I’d stayed? Did they deliberately not pursue us because….because they agreed with me? With what must be done?”
Another sound snapped the mare out of her thoughts again. This time it was voices, familiar ones indicating the moment she’d been dreading had come.
“Miss Calypso, we’re back! Are you here?” Rarity called out.
The mare quickly reached over and closed the chest containing her money.
“No matter. Now is not the time to dwell on such things. A greater challenge awaits.” She quietly whispered to herself. Adjusting her veil, Calypso stepped out into the main part of her tent, steeling her nerves at the sight of Rarity and Fluttershy carrying in the entity that many had every right to fear.
“Mr. Discord….” She said as the sickly dracoequine flopped down in front of her. “Or do you prefer just Discord?”
Casting the robed mare a whimpering look, the chaos god shrugged. “You can call me ‘Lancie’ so long as you can deliver on what these two promised. Actually you can call me that anyway now that I think about it. It’s quite catchy as names go.”
Dubiously, Calypso stared at Fluttershy, who gave an embarrassed grin and tried to nod that all was well.
“I understand you’re a pony of some repute, least I hope so for one who dubs themselves ‘The Wish Weaver.’” Discord continued with a soft chuckle. “Lovely title by the way. Very exotic.”
Maintaining a rigid but polite exterior, Calypso stoically nodded. “My skills may be incomprehensible to some, but they are no exaggeration.”
“Well so are mine….well, they would be if I were feeling more like my old self.” The chaos god moaned. “Which brings us to the matter at hoof. Fluttershy tells me you may be able to amend my condition.”
With evident trepidation, Calypso dared to step closer to the dracoequine. “I am willing to try, if I may be permitted to get a look at you first.”
With a great eye roll and a grand sigh, Discord spread his arms out and summoned a giant microscope slide underneath his body.
“If you must. I ask only that you be gentle, I have already been poked and prodded aplenty like the proverbial lab specimen.” He said. Trying to hide her disdain, Calypso stared deep into Discord’s eyes, checked his mouth, his tongue, then she lifted both his thinner, scaled hand and and his larger lion paw to check his pulse. She seemed unsurprised when the latter two produced completely different readings.
“Well, the good news is this doesn’t look like anything too complicated. Nothing I can’t fix at least.”
“Ha!” Discord laughed, causing Calypso to immediately back away. “If that were the case then why couldn’t Zecora, or any of Equestria’s doctors help me? What makes you better than the most accomplished medical experts in the land?”
Regaining her composure, the hooded mare humbly bowed her head. “Not that I wish to be detrimental, but they do not possess the same gift as I do. I am…a being of a very different type.”
Discord laughed again. “Well considering your taste in clothes and décor that goes without saying!”
"Discord..." Fluttershy scolded. Grinding her front hooves together, Calypso glared at the chaos god.
“Regardless, do you wish for me to make you better or not? Ordinarily I’d have turned down the prospect but Miss Fluttershy seemed so desperate to see you recover I found it hard to refuse.” She said, her patience visibly waning.That managed to pierce Discord’s armor a bit. Glancing to the now quietly pleading pegasus, his face sank and he sighed in resignation upon realizing how rudely he was behaving.
“Oh very well then. I shouldn’t be looking a gift horse in the mouth anyway.” He knelt before the hooded mare and bowed his head. “If you could please find it in you to relieve me of the maddening agony these constant shifts in the magical balance of Equestria are causing it’d be much appreciated.”
Daring another look at Fluttershy, as if asking for her permission, Calypso let her body relax a bit.
“Okay, please focus your attention on me. Look deep into my eyes.”
Discord did so, and Calypso’s eyes began to take on a blinding glow.
“A wish that is great. A wish that is true. A wish to make you, good as new!” Narrowing her illuminated gaze, the hooded mare projected two beams of ice blue light into the dracoequine’s, grabbing his head to keep him still as he reacted to the sudden white out. Fluttershy and Rarity watched with tensely held breath as their friend squirmed in the hooded mare’s surprisingly strong grip.
“Not that this isn’t lovely…erf…but I was kind of hoping you’d give me some pills…or something standard…” Discord wearily commented as his mind was slowly cooked from the inside out.
“Shhhh! Concentrate!” Calypso ordered. Her searing gaze burned within the tent like the brightest star, sending trickles of light coursing through the dracoequine’s skin…till finally she closed her eyes and stepped away, allowing him to stumble backwards and cradle his head.
“Okay…that...that is the best I can do.” She panted. Rubbing his temples, Discord winced as if pained, but then slowly his features brightened as he realized something had been changed within him, something he’d never imagined possible.
“Well, as unorthodox and intrusive as that was, it seems it was enough. The pain is actually gone!” He cried. Leaping into the air he transformed himself into an anatomical chart and checked his innards, then he turned into an x-ray machine and studied what appeared on his display. “Yep, everything looks to be in perfect disorder again. How you did that I can’t imagine, but I’m not going to complain about it either!”
Fluttershy gave a relieved smile as her friend bounced and danced around the tent, evidently now back to his usual self. Rarity did her best to share the sentiment.
“Oh Discord, I’m so happy! I knew there had to be a way to cure you!” The yellow pegasus cheered. Discord ceased his exuberant display and meekly looked back at her.
“And yet I still doubted you for trying. I must make amends for that….though later. Right now there’s a town out there that needs to be painted red! And blue! And cadmium! And primrose! And oh, there was that one house we passed on the way here that was just screaming for a coat of deep mauve!”
Discord summoned a paint pallet and rushed out of the tent while squeezing an entire spectrum of colors onto it. The ponies watched his departure with a mirthful blend of cheer and subtle annoyance.
“I don’t suppose you could do anything to maybe take his energy level down a notch could you, Calypso? I’ll pay extra.” The white unicorn intoned.
“Rarity! Please!” Fluttershy demanded before turning to the hooded mare. “Thank you, Miss Calypso. If there’s anything we can do in return, please let us know!”
Calypso merely shook her head. “I did what you asked, and my efforts did not bring about total destruction. That’s enough for me.”
Huffing at such humbleness, Rarity slapped a business card on the mare’s table. “Well still, my offer stands. Drop by the Carousel Boutique whenever you have a spare moment and we’ll see if I can whip you up an ensemble stylish enough to match the one you’re wearing!”
Calypso eyed the card with a strange sense of caution, but nevertheless she picked it up and tucked it into the folds of her robe.
“I will…see..see what can be done, Miss Rarity.” She said.
Nodding in satisfaction, Rarity gestured for her and Fluttershy to take their leave.
“Come on, we better make sure Discord doesn’t actually make good on his jokes. Otherwise Ponyville is going to look like a pastel nightmare come the dawn!”
The two mares ran out, leaving Calypso to stare at their wake in quiet unease.
“It is done. The cay-chaos god will noooot be a problem going forward….yet…” She pulled out Rarity’s business card and studied its eloquent penmanship. “They seemed so….friendly….they requested my company…n-not for their own benefit but just for socialization.”
The hooded mare’s hooves trembled as she stepped back into the private part of her tent.
“We cannot be sidetracked now. The preparations are ahhhlmost complete….but…w-w-we have been alone for so long…would a few hours away from our work be so bad?”
While the rest of the town slept peacefully, its newest member sat up and pondered about many things, wrestling with some unseen conscience as to how much did she need, nay, crave some new company vs. remaining resolute to the pursuit of her work….
Elsewhere another pony was facing a similar dilemma as she watched the red stallion fiddle with the dials on his telescope while peering intently through the eyepiece.
“Well, Augeron-B has moved about two inches to the left over the course of the last few months, but I don’t think that’s in any way related to what’s been happening around here.” Star Gazer commented as he stepped down off the viewing platform and slipped his glasses back on. “I don’t know, Miss Equinox. There’s not a lot to suggest there’s been any stellar influence on Equestria as of late…well…except for you…in a sense.”
He chuckled nervously while the robot alicorn quietly contemplated his information.
-But it is still possible that the stars could affect magical levels.- She said after a few minutes.
“Well yes, of course. A lot of things affect magic. Atmospheric pressure, solar radiation, gravitational pull of the moon, it all plays some part.” Star Gazer rushed into his lab and began pulling out files filled with documents. “But the main advantage of Equinox, that is the state of being, not you…though you have many advantages and….um…..”
The metal pony peered in confusion at the stammering stallion. He grinned awkwardly and began frantically flipping through his files to try and cover for his flub.
“Anyway what it does is keep everything more or less consistent across the board. Balances the whole world out so nothing upsets anything else.” Star Gazer turned over several charts, trying to search for…well…something. Equinox perked her ears as she listened.
-Then if something were to upset the balance, there would be an obvious sign.- She concluded.
“Indeed. One example I got to witness recently was the rather wonky sunrise that occurred during Lord Tirek’s rampage. The problem is, so far, that was the last real sign of upset.”
The stallion laid down a map of stars with several lines and notes scribbled across it.
“Since then I’ve seen a few fluctuations in the orbit of distant bodies but nothing really out of the ordinary. I’m sorry but I think I’m going to be a dead end for you.” He chewed on his lower lip as Equinox slowly nodded. “I…uh…hope you’re not disappointed.”
-Not at all, Astronomer Star Gazer. If I can conclude that this avenue of investigation is not worth pursuing then it was wise to seek your counsel.- Equinox replied. The stallion tentatively smiled.
“Yeah…uh…I’m quite surprised you wanted to see me again actually, after what happened at the festival.” He meekly began storing away his charts and documents. “Though I’m glad that you did….heh.”
Equinox emitted a gentle whirr as she turned to stare up at the stars through the lab’s skylight.
-That was no fault of yours. To the contrary, I hope I did not disappoint you with my malfunctioning and endangering of your life.-
Star Gazer gave her a bewildered look. “What? No! Why would you think that?”
A harsher, grinding sound issued from the metal pony, as if she was contemplating something that made her uncomfortable.
-You have demonstrated a vested interest in me, as have several significant figures in your society. You believe me to be an entity capable of accomplishing exceptional feats due to my unique stature…it is a reputation I find myself doubting as to whether I can live up to it.-
Even more bewildered, Star Gazer walked over to stand next to the alicorn. “What do you mean?”
Tossing her mane about, Equinox whirred again.
-I have been charged with an important mission, with the promise that I may yet be aided in recovering my memory if I succeed….however, with the damage done to my systems, my inability to use my higher functions except when under duress, and what will be demanded of me in order to accomplish my objectives….there is substantial information indicating I will not be successful.-
“What? How can you think like that?” The stallion asked while furrowing his brow. Equinox looked at him in puzzlement.
-I have no data on my true identity, no means of working around my inoperable circuits. To summarize: I am too broken to serve the function that has been requested of me.-
Star Gazer looked doubtful of this, and a little put off by how matter-of-factly the robot mare had stated it. Shaking his head he pointed to the skylight.
“Look up there again, Equinox. I’ve spent most of my life studying those stars. By my estimates there’s billions, upon billions, upon billions, upon billions of them, each with as much likelihood to harbor life as Equestria. Everyone talks about this world like it’s the single greatest phenomenon to ever exist, and in many ways it is. But at the same time it’s also just one microscopic stage amidst many others. Out there are mysteries that yearn to be explored, mysteries I’ve pondered for years yet resigned myself to never being able to investigate. Then out of the blue I decided to try something: I made a wish to know the answer to at least one of them, and lo and behold, I actually got it!”
He smiled at Equinox who could only cock her head.
-While that is an eloquent and deeply insightful statement, I do not understand how it relates to me.- She said.
“You’re a mystery, just like the mystery that you said you’ve been asked to solve, and if Celestia saw fit to let me finally have one of my life long queries answered, then I believe anyone can have the same happen to them. Just don’t give up on it and you’ll find what you seek to know, somehow.”
Hoping he wasn’t about to commit an act of sacrilege, Star Gazer gave the cyber-mare a reassuring pat on her shoulder. Equinox watched the action with the faintest hint of amazement.
-I have no answers of what lies beyond your world, I can offer you no further insight than you already have, yet you still speak in support of me?-
Star Gazer nodded. “You are the proof that Equestria is but one part of a vast group, which we must become more cognizant of with each day. To me that makes you as important and significant as anyone of those stars, and just as capable of wowing everyone!”
A slow, almost embarrassed chirp issued from the robot. If Star Gazer didn’t know better he’d swear that meant Equinox was blushing.
-A star….Creator Zecora said the same of me….as did Entertainer Pinkie Pie….no matter whom I encounter, they believe I am better than my own diagnostics indicate.- Equinox dared to look to the sky again, to the twinkling gems that stretched for eternity in every direction. –To deny solid data, in favor of baseless optimism seems…illogical…yet the affection I have been shown by all cannot be ignored.-
The metal mare jostled her head about as a series of clicks and whirrs echoed through the lab.
-With your permission, Astronomer Star Gazer, I will return to Princess Twilight’s castle and contemplate your words, as I have those before you.-
Glancing at the clock on the wall, Star Gazer chuckled. “I don’t blame you, it’s probably long past your bed time.”
Equinox shook her head. – I do not require sleep, at least at present. I am, however, needed to guard Princess Twilight and her friends while they allow their bodies to rest.- She headed for the door to the lab and tugged it open. –If you are available later though, I would appreciate conversing again.-
Star Gazer nodded and chuckled. “Just drop by any time after dark. I’m as much of a night owl as you.”
With a wave goodbye, Equinox took to the skies, paying the stallion a lasting look as she flew back to her friends. Even if this first attempt at solving the mystery of the magical fluctuations had gone nowhere, she still felt as tough something had been accomplished, something she would need to revisit later for further enhancement.
Things were going to get very interesting for everyone.
Very interesting….