//------------------------------// // 7. Peculiar Sorcery // Story: Dealing in Harmony // by Ckat_Myla //------------------------------// Though they knew that time was of the essence, neither pony, nor alicorn, nor draconequus was eager for Twilight to push herself too far too fast. Since Princess Celestia had insisted on sitting in to aid Discord in teaching her to control the chaos magic she already had before taking on any more, Twilight felt a tad more comfortable. She was the unicorn's teacher after all, and this was a particularly epic feat she would be attempting. Having her beloved teacher around made her feel almost like she was back in school again. If was much more of a comfort to Twilight as well that she be able to plot out a schedule for these lessons, and make a set limit for herself to test how much she could handle at a time. She planned to break it down into increments. That was if she could manage it. The memory of how that power had felt when she had used it on the gates of Tartarus... how it had nearly completely overpowered her and wracked her body, mind, and even her own magic over and over, trying to find a weak point in which to force her out. Of course, that had been an emergency situation, and Twilight had never so much as opened that mental block a crack before then. Now with Discord to guide her and Princess Celestia to support her, Twilight thought there might be a chance she could deal. She would have to have faith in her own strength, in any case. Out of all of the deserted areas of Equestria Discord called home, it was the desert area that was deemed the safest place to practice. It was far enough away from any pony who might be hurt if something went wrong, and it was barren enough to not cause any harmful changes to the surrounding area. They all met early in the morning, just after the princess returned from raising the sun. It was one of the coolest parts of the day for the desert, and one of the only times of the day Princess Celestia could carve out of her very busy schedule to meet with them. Discord had mentioned that they could meet any old time if 'her majesty' hadn't insisted on being there for their lessons, but this was something of great importance, and of which the princess would evidently make time. Twilight was a little bit touched that she was being so adamant, even if she knew it was only partially due to a sense of duty to her and mostly due to her continuing distrust of Discord. “So I was making up the schedule and contemplating a mock up for a lesson plan of sorts,” Twilight said as the three of them gathered just outside of his fun house desert abode. “'Lesson plan'?” Discord questioned, to which she nodded. “I'm sorry, I know that shouldn't really be my place, since I am the one learning what to do, but I did a quick run through on the magical forms and theories that I have practiced since starting at Princess Celestia's school, and I thought I might as well take this on in the same fashion as I have the others previously. I realize that this type of magic is something completely different, but... can't hurt to be prepared.” “Oh my, is this a glimpse at what young school filly Twilight was like?” Discord asked with a joking tone at her enthusiasm. “So prepared, so eager, and somehow even more excited at the prospect of learning than the Twilight of today. Maybe it is only because I have seen the 'teacher' side of you so often recently Ms. Sparky, but this is simply adorable,” his smirk and wink did not go unnoticed by the princess, although Twilight hoped that her small smile and warmer cheeks had. “Honestly though Twilight, I hadn't actually thought about something so structured,” he said in response to her excited ramblings. The princess rolled her eyes, or the one eye that wasn't covered by her eternally flowing hair in any case. “Of course you hadn't, that would be far too structured and easy to manage for you to conceive,” she said, to which he frowned and turned to her. “Remind me again Celestia, which of us has actually handled chaos magic before?” he asked her sarcastically. “Chaos doesn't have such structure by its very nature. She'll need to learn how to keep it all under control without it overtaking her consciousness like it nearly did, but for the most part there is no set rule to it.” “So, do you plan to just have her evoke that power with no set measure of control?” “I was thinking about it, just as a trial. See how much she can handle before it starts being too much at first.” “Because that does not sound dangerous at all,” Princess Celestia said with such sarcasm and lack of royal tone that Twilight was confused for a moment if the words had actually come from her teacher. “I thought we were on the same page about this.” “We agreed to do what was best for Twilight, how does that sound like the best strategy?” “Um, excuse me?” she interrupted the two taller beings argument to bring their attention back down to her. “Seeing as this was my decision and that I will be the one testing this out, don't you think I should get a say in how we proceed?” The princess straightened up from her increasingly intimidating crouch, and Discord made the net full of water balloons that was hovering over Celestia's head disappear before the princess had noticed. “Alright,” she said with a determined sigh, taking a stance to evenly distribute her weight upon each hoof. “Maybe it would be a good idea to time me, I'd like to see how long it takes me first to start, and then how long I last.” “Of course,” Discord made a small pocket watch appear out of the air, and Twilight hoped that he would be able to get both times... and she hoped she would be able to present some good results. “Bear in mind Twilight, this is only your first real attempt,” the princess said. “Do not be discouraged if things don't happen as you wish them to. And Discord will be at the ready to help if it appears you are in danger,” she added pointedly with a look to the draconequus. He huffed. “I was going to say that, and she knows already,” he muttered towards Princess Celestia. Then to Twilight, “You know I'll be right here, don't you?” The unicorn couldn't help but laugh softly and nod. This was their concern showing – both of theirs – in the ways they knew how to express them. She was lucky they were being so tolerant of one another just for her. Turning back her head to look straight forward, Twilight closed her eyes in an attempt to focus. She tried to remember how she had done it that day in the tunnel. How she had tried to gently ease that block she had sealed the chaos magic away inside. A small twinge of fear sparked a bit of unease at the thought of all that power coursing through her again. But she renewed her resolve, and mentally envisioned the door to that vault unlatching, the many dead bolts unhooking and unlocking, and very, very, very slowly, she allowed the door to open the width of a pony's hair. The sensation was almost instantaneous, it was only familiar in that she recognized It from that one time before, although she couldn't even be certain it was the same feeling. The pressure on her head was less so than it had been, but her mind was quickly fogging with a strange buzzing sensation, and her heart began to beat more rhythmically, almost trying to match pace with the growing speed of that buzzing. Twilight took slow, measured breaths as she took in these feelings. So far so good, she thought. “I feel... like I have access to it now,” she said with precision to Discord, hoping that he would stop the time for her and tell her how she did. She was also beginning to struggle against the new sensation emanating from her stomach, joining her heart and her head in filling up her focus. “Ten minutes,” Discord said as if it were about time. Ten minutes, really? Twilight was sure it hadn't been more than three, at most. She must have lost track of the time in her efforts to focus and gain a sense of control over this sliver of what she knew was a much larger amount of chaos. Her nostrils flared as Twilight replanted her hooves, taking another deep breath and looking back to Discord. She tried to give him a smile to show she was doing alright, but the sight of him – or maybe it was just opening her eyes in general – caused her mental grip to slip for a millisecond. The radiating force pulling at her midsection was beginning to radiate outward again in all directions, something she remembered happening before, and her breaths became a bit faster as she tried to regain the control, her heart still growing in speed along with the foggy buzzing. “I'm going to see how long I can hold it now, I'll open it a bit wider, so hang on and start the time again, please,” she managed to say through her shortening breaths. For the mental door had eased opened a bit more, just a fraction – maybe now the size of a button – and already it was becoming a bit too much for Twilight. She was unable to compare this experience with the one from before now – she was hardly able to keep a conscious sense of her surroundings even – for the amount of chaos magic that flowed forth and began to emanate through her was much more intense than she had been expecting. Twilight's stance began to wobble as her legs started trembling, her entire body beginning to squirm without her telling it to, as if it knew that something foreign was trying to take over her, and she had to fight both to keep the power in check, and to keep her body from trying to rid itself of the intruder. Keeping hold of this chaos magic was almost like trying to breathe at a high altitude while at the same time galloping at full speed and keep from exploding all at the same time. Her heart had only hammered this violently when Twilight had been in danger, and perhaps she was. Her thoughts grew foggier in a way she only barely registered a recognition, and the only thought through the haze was that it was connected to Discord, but as she took another shallow breath she knew that made sense. This was his power, after all. She was able to just barely allow herself to open her eyes for a second to see that her horn was indeed glowing the vibrant blue it had done the last time, but she shut them quickly again as another wave of the power's radiation hit her. It was becoming increasingly difficult to keep in check. The fogginess had all but consumed her mind, and the buzzing was now deafening. Twilight's heart was frantic, nearly as much as her breaths as each fresh wave crashed over her from the inside, spilling over every fiber of her with erratic intensity. It seemed the more the unicorn tried to hold the waves back, the stronger the force slamming against her conscious self became. It would be easy to simply give in, to let the sensation completely engulf her, to drown her in this torrent of power... but she had to stay strong. It was too much, too much for her to take. If she let it have any more leeway – if she lost any more of her sense – it would be too much for her. Twilight tried to hold her ground, but the rhythmic nature of the power's waves was now swallowing her up, she gasped as she felt it begin to rush into her mind, fearful for one second that she had failed... Then with a jolt she felt a paw grip her firmly by the shoulder. Twilight literally convulsed at the touch, jumping and twitching, then falling to the desert sand. All the while the softness of the paw contrasted with the tightness of the grip. Slowly she was able to anchor herself to that hold, and find her mind again. Through the fog she tried to stand, but Discord held her down. She knew it had to be him now, and through the dissipating fogginess of her mind and the slowly ebbing waves she had the presence of mind to mentally berate herself. She hadn't been able to handle even that miniscule portion on her own, Discord had to come to her rescue. He must have known what she was thinking, because his look of concern morphed into slight amusement at her own frustration with herself. “Well, you held out longer than I thought you would on the first go. Eight minutes. Don't beat yourself up, Ms. Sparky. Remember that is longer than you held out against that full bout of chaos power.” That was true, she thought. Eight minutes. Had that really been eight? Twilight felt it was the opposite of how it had felt trying to warm up to the magic. It had felt far, far longer. Twilight's breathing slowed and she was relieved to feel her heart slowing as well. She still felt fairly disappointed in herself, but at least she had done better than she had initially assumed. She was also glad for Discord being there. Somehow she felt less of a failure when he was the one telling her how she'd done. He made it sound more impressive somehow. “I did at least keep from blacking out,” she said breathlessly, still winded as she lay on the sandy ground. “Always a thing to avoid,” he agreed. She had only begun to notice that his paw was now cupping her face, and she had been absent-mindedly leaning her head more towards it, brushing her overly warm cheek against the fur. It was softer than hers, and distractedly she wondered for a moment how that could be, until she finally moved her gaze from Discord's face to notice Princess Celestia watching them. Ah... she had all but forgotten her teacher was there, and her face grew redder still. “Do you want to stop, Twilight? We can take a break if you need,” Princess Celestia asked, but Twilight shook her head. “No, I don't need a break, let's go again,” she answered, still brushing sand off of herself as Discord backed away to give her space. That was when she really noticed the place on which she had lain. The sand in the surrounding area had shifted into colorful swirls around them. Each new color emanating out from where Twilight had stood as if some strong wind had merged with a rainbow, staining the ground below with the spiraled aftermath of their union. “This happened just by my tapping into it?” “Chaos with nothing else behind it can manifest in different ways, but it has to come out somehow,” Discord said. Twilight supposed that made sense. If she was going to work on easing it out, it would be better to figure out a way from keeping it from doing something she didn't intend, something dangerous. When at the gates she had had a clear goal, something through which she could channel the power and force it to do her bidding. Without an end goal, it was more difficult to manage. “Maybe if I had something to focus it on, it might be easier to get the hang of.” With a snap of his claw, Discord manifested a cactus directly in front of her. “Perhaps you can see what you can transform this cactus into. It can be anything you like.” Twilight nodded, another wave of determination and resolve fueling her as she made another attempt. The same intense sensations engulfed her, but this time she tried to focus them on this one point, on this one bit of magic among the sea of possibilities. She missed. The colorful shifting sand expanded exponentially, and now a meadow of purple and yellow tumbleweeds surrounded the three beings as well, but the cactus Twilight had tried to focus on was still there. Still there and still frustratingly unaltered. And so she tried again. And again. And again, until the sun was dangerously close to needing to be set, but Princess Celestia had not moved from where she stood, still analyzing her pupil as Twilight continued her experiment. “I think that is enough attempts for today, Twilight,” she said, in a tone that suggested she could stand it no longer. “But Princess, I haven't done it yet,” Twilight said, trying to keep the frustration out of her voice and failing. The tumbleweeds had been joined by singing flowers and odd puddles of dark tar-like substance. The cactus remained unchanged. “This was a commendable first try, but you should know when to call it a day,” Discord said. “We can pick this up again tomorrow.” “Or later, if you need, Twilight,” Princess Celestia added. “Weren't you the one stressing that this was something important to be done as quickly as possible?” Discord asked the princess. Princess Celestia frowned as her gaze strayed from Twilight to him. “Would overexertion be a part of your 'chaos training'? You'll wear her out before she has a chance to learn anything.” Discord looked about to retort, but his eyes caught Twilight's expression, and he evidently thought better of it. Twilight gave him a smile, that must have been tough. “Didn't you mention that you were attending a party tonight?” Discord asked her, and Twilight's ears perked up at the reminder. “Oh, that's right. But it is at sunset, and since the sun hasn't actually set yet... maybe I can get in just one more try.” “I do believe that the princess here is about to leave to set the sun, and so we should probably cease until tomorrow. Wouldn't want you to be late for the party, of course.” Twilight sighed. She understood, that was 'Discord' for 'I agree with Celestia but I don't want to say it.' If they were actually in agreement on something, perhaps she should pay heed to it. Reluctantly, Twilight agreed as well. She then took a few moments to help Discord clear away the results of her tries before departing. In a flash, Twilight was back in her library. The trip had taken far less magical force than she was used to using when traveling so far, almost none at all, and with no residual feelings of magical drain. Making a mental note to monitor her natural magical output, she noticed the main room was empty of all ponies save Pinkie Pie, Spike had evidently already closed up for the party. Pinkie was busily hanging streamers across the railing, and Spike had been putting out the snacks when she flashed in. “Twilight!” Spike stopped pouring out chips into a bowl and rushed over to greet her. “How did it go? Are you tired, did it hurt?” “Did you learn how to make it rain chocolate milk yet?” Pinkie added to Spike's questions as she hopped down from her spot atop the railing to slide down the banister and meet her as well. “It's a bit more complicated than that, Pinkie,” Twilight answered the pink pony's question first before turning to Spike. “And I feel... fine, actually.” Strangely enough, it was true. Compared to how the chaos magic had felt when it was coursing through her, she felt absolutely dandy. Maybe even better than she had before attempting to unlock the power. Perhaps she was simply less anxious about it, now that she knew what it felt like. “Are you sure?” Spike asked. “I mean, your horn looks okay. Not like it did last time. Were you able to control it?” “Not as much as I'd like to have done,” Twilight replied, still slightly regretful about her abysmal pace. “But both Princess Celestia and Discord assured me that it was a good first try.” “Ooh, we can celebrate your first day of learning chaos magic, too!” Pinkie chirped excitedly. “This party can be a combo 'welcome back every pony', 'the gang's all here', and 'congrats to Twilight on a great first try' party.” She then ribbed Twilight conspiratorially, giving her a wink. “And maybe a 'congrats on the new relationship' party, too.” Twilight flushed, her gaze pulling away from her friend and down to the floor. “I--- don't know about that.” “Why not?” Pinkie asked. “I mean, you're gonna tell every pony eventually, right? Why not tonight?” The unicorn tilted her head and looked away again, uncertain. Pinkie was right, apart from the ponies who had been at the meeting in Canterlot, she and Spike were the only ones who knew not only about taking on the chaos magic, but about her current relationship with Discord. She supposed there was nothing stopping her from telling the rest of her friends at the party, but there were still things to consider, or rather five opinions she had not considered. All throughout these dealings with Discord, with every major decision that had to be made by her, Twilight had always considered the group's opinion invaluable. She had always tried to convey her own personal feelings, while still accepting her friends' input in the decision making process. This was the first time that Twilight had not done that before acting. She had made the public choice to trust him with her friends' acceptance and approval. She had made the choice to help Discord with his hooves-on lesson of empathy and rallied her friends to aid her as well. There was no way she would not at least bring the ponies she held most dear to her up to speed on her current new... power accumulation. She only hoped they would not be hurt or offended that she had not consulted them first this time. Within the hour the party was in full swing, and Twilight's closest friends filled the library with the tales of their travels. It was strange to hear, though, that even though each of the four who had left had gone to different places, that each story carried a similar theme. It would be strange that is, if Twilight didn't already know the cause for the similarities. "Twilight, darling, it was the oddest thing. You must have seen it as well, when I was in Canterlot, I could have sworn I'd seen some of the stars falling. It wasn't like any normal meteor shower either, it was as if the very stars themselves were falling.” Rarity, who had been busy with fashion week reported. "I saw some very strange birds as I was flying over the swamp lands. They were glowing and making sounds I've never heard any birds make. They almost frightened my poor starlings off their flight path," Fluttershy told her. "Me and Big Mac were off gettin' parts for the farm machinery, and just past Appleoosa there was a whole mess of those balloon cacti. They weren't nowhere near where Discord usually calls home, though." Twilight simply listened to her friends' recountings, a sense of guilt beginning to eat through her silence. Guilt that she hadn't come forward to her friends at the start of the evening. The longer she waited , the more awkward it would be in her mind. But she couldn't yet, not everyone was there. Rainbow Dash hadn't arrived. When Rainbow did show up (amazingly more fashionably late than Rarity) Twilight had been a bit too nervously preoccupied with serving herself some punch that she didn't notice. That was until the pegasus glomped her with a stealth hug. “Hey Twilight! You won't believe the time I have had at the Wonderbolt Academy!” she practically squealed as she hopped off her friend. Twilight had been able to catch her cup with her magic to keep it from flying off to spill on her books, or onto Rarity's fancy dress she just had to wear to a casual get together. A sudden shiver ran through her but she was still able to keep her composure. “Oh really, what?” she asked as she saw that Rainbow was barely able to control her excitement to share the news. “Not only did they make me a lead pony, but since I am a second tier recruit now, I get to be a junior captain of my own fleet of newbies,” she smiled so broadly Twilight figured it must hurt her face to do so, but then Rainbow seemed to realize how extremely excited and - therefore not as cool - she was being and set her face back to normal, taking on a casual expression and waving her hoof to show her cool indifference. “But ya know, it is no big deal. They just have to listen to whatever I say. And I don't mean to brag or anything, but my recruits are doing the best out of their class.” “That is amazing Rainbow. Congratulations,” Twilight said, she retained her smile even if it wasn't as 'cool' as acting like it didn't matter. She knew better than to think Rainbow Dash wasn't completely ecstatic about this, even if she had not given herself away. “Thanks,” Rainbow said. “I'll be back there in another week to see how they did, and then I get an evaluation on how I trained them. Preeetty sure I'll be passing that with flying colors to. Oh yeah, did I mention I named my group the Flying Colors? So, what's new with you? Or have you been pretty much here all this time,” Dash made a cursory and slightly ribbing glance about the room, obviously assuming that the unicorn had indeed spent her time in the library with her books. Well... that was partially true... Twilight honestly still wasn't certain how to approach the question. She had planned on getting every pony's attention at once to tell them all at the same time, so they could all know and react together. Now however, Twilight was finding that choosing the right way in which to tell them was not entirely coming to her. “Hey Twi, is there a reason you're holding all that stuff with your magic?” Rainbow asked, and at that very moment Twilight noticed it, too. All throughout their conversation, Twilight had thought she had seen things whipping past out of the corner of her eye, but she had been so preoccupied with trying to converse with Rainbow Dash as if everything were normal that she hadn't fully taken notice. Not only was she still holding her drink in her magic, but now several books, the entire punch bowl, and Pinkie's pet alligator Gummy were now in orbit around her. They soared up and dipped down, swirling around her in a strange but held pattern. Twilight also noticed that her other friends had not failed to notice the objects' odd behavior as well. They had all stopped their own individual conversations to watch the strange parade of items fly past and over their heads, and even if the magical aura that surrounded the objects was not her usual color, it could not be more evident that she was the cause. Once Twilight had spotted all of her friends turning to stare at her, the objects all slowed their pace and then suddenly dropped to the floor. She saw Pinkie catch Gummy in her hooves and transfer him to her back as Twilight glanced nervously to each of her friends' increasingly confused faces. “What in the hay was that, Twilight?” Applejack asked for the group, for it was true that each of them was starting to look more concerned than surprised. “Is everything alright?” Fluttershy asked. “Your eyes---” she paused in her sentence, pointing to Twilight's face with her hoof. What about her eyes? Twilight quickly looked around for a mirror but soon was met with a small hoofheld one provided by Rarity's magical aura. It wasn't long before she found what was wrong, and it appeared that her magic hadn't been the only thing to change color. Her eyes – normally violet -were now a bright shade of blue. The very same shade as the chaos magic. Twilight blinked several times, shaking her head vigorously, and a few seconds later her eye color was back to normal, but the question remained floating almost tangibly above the group. A question that the unicorn knew she could answer - that she should answer - and it appeared that the chaos magic had decided that now was the right time. “I... suppose I do have some news of my own...” And it all came spilling out of her. The strange occurrences, the magical anomalies, Discord's part in all of it, and the decision that she had made to help him. “I'm not entirely certain about what just happened, but it probably is just some excess energy from my first practice today. It most likely won't happen again if I learn to control it. There's really no need to be alarmed.” “No need? I should say that was an alarming display, what just happened,” Rarity said. “I don't think you could blame us for being concerned.” “So you're filling yourself up with magic that you're not even sure you can control, and you want us to be cool with that?” Rainbow asked skeptically. “If this is Discord's fault, how is he okay with this plan?” “This wasn't Discord's fault either - and he's as skeptical as you are about how I'll manage it - but I chose to help him, and I choose to take whatever comes from that decision,” Twilight answered. “What I think we're all wonderin' about Twi, is why if you aren't sure what this'll do to you, why you're willing to do somethin' so risky to help him out.” “We're only worried about you, Twilight.” Fluttershy added. Twilight knew that. She also knew the time had come for the confession that Pinkie had been hinting at, the confession that she hoped her friends would understand and be accepting towards. “Because he deserves to be here just as much as any pony does, and it would be unfair for him to be essentially banished for something that is out of his control. And well--- because he--- that is to say, I---” “He's become very special to you,” Rarity translated her babbling, for which Twilight was grateful even if her friend had a knowing grin across her face. Indeed, she noticed most of her friends' faces begin to brighten with realizations. So she didn't have to expressly state it here, at least. Her friends could just tell even without Twilight having the right words. She saw a look pass between them. Rainbow to Applejack, Rarity to Fluttershy, and with slightly varying degrees of acceptance in their smiles, AJ spoke for the group. “I reckon we haven't always been so accommodatin' to Discord. We didn't always make it easy on him or you when you and the princesses were trying to show him things. But I don't think I'm the only one here who wants to say that I'll support you all the way. If this is what your heart is tellin' ya to do, I'll be here for ya, Twi.” “Yeah, me too,” Rainbow echoed Applejack's sentiments. “If there's anything I can do, I'd like to help, Twilight.” Fluttershy chimed in. “And I as well,” said Rarity. “You already know I'm on board!” Pinkie cheered. Twilight audibly sighed with relief. She should have known that they wouldn't have any sort of hurt feelings or misgivings over her not telling them before she acted. She had been over-thinking things, as she tended to do. “Thanks, everyone. I know I can count on you.” “This feels like the right time for a group hug!” Pinkie said, and before anyone could protest, she had pulled all five of the others in for a gigantic group hug. With her fears dispelled, Twilight could at last fully enjoy her friends' company. The questions concerning the excess chaos energy she had exuded left for the following day, Twilight found Rarity after the group hug and cornered her as she had been heading towards the door. “That reminds me,” Twilight raised a hoof to halt her fellow unicorn before she could escape. “Could I speak with you about a certain letter you wrote to my sister-in-law about me?”