Equestria: A Flux Tale

by Star Sage

Aftermath and Recovery

The clearing is silent, as the snap echoes around it. The silence just hangs for a heartbeat, then another, and finally the third, before Discord, looking frustrated, snaps his claws again. Still nothing happens, and he does it a third time, then a fourth, and then he just keeps doing it, rapidly clicking the claws together, trying to force some reaction. Staring up at him from the ground, the sides of your mouth curl into a smile, trying to stand, only to fall back onto your bottom, laughing up at him.

“What’s so funny?!” demands the draconequus, his face a fury as he stops clicking his claws together, and stares down at you.

“You are, you fool,” you tell him, sighing out. You don’t bother trying to stand, just bringing your knees closer to your body, so you can look up easier.

“Fool? Fool?! I am Discord, Spirit of Disharmony and Chaos! I make fools of others, but no one makes a fool of me!” he declares, and you just keep smiling up at him as he tries to put on his best monster face.

“You’re a fool, make no mistake of that. Did you really think my attack, something that powerful, did nothing to you? No, it did something alright, something the Elements couldn’t have done on their own. It neutralized the Chaos Magic you wield. In short, you’re a powerless fool,” you tell him, and then watch as his face goes from anger, to befuddlement, to horror, and then dips straight into rage. His eyes light up, his teeth are bared, and you can almost feel the heat radiating from his body.

“You did what to me?!” he demanded.

“I made you mortal,” you say simply, and then watch as he goes full bore crazy, growling in a feral manner and then slashing at a nearby tree, gouging deep ruts into the bark with his claws. Of course, it would have been better had you been farther away from his rampage, as he glares down at you, and then raises his foot.

“Oh my, but this is gonna hurt,” you say to yourself, trying to rise to your feet and run. You actually succeed at the first goal, if somewhat shakily, but the second is far beyond you right now, you just standing there like an idiot as the hoof that’s coming closer.

Just before it hits, a large shape slams into him again. The Captain once more saves you from being a smear on the bottom of Discord’s foot. Unfortunately, he’s unable to get away before the rage filled monster grabs him by the neck, and then slams him hard into the dirt, holding him there as he struggles.

“I will fulfill my bargain if it’s the last thing I do!” he says, and with his dragon foot, he hefts a fairly large rock into the air, and then throws it in a perfect arc so that it’s falling towards you. For the second time in as many minutes you try to run, but all your tired, worn out body can do is move a single step, before you fall to one knee, and look up as the shadow of the stone covers you.

Once again, a pegasus saves you, as a bolt of magic strikes the stone, shattering it into pebbles that fly wide of the mark that Discord had aimed for. Before he can do anything else to strike at you, a glow covers the clearing. It was not, as you would have guessed, the light, soft glow of the Sun Goddess, but the chill glow of the shadows, covering the monster, and preventing him from moving, as Luna falls from the heavens.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t arrive sooner, Sister, but the injuries this one inflicted on my person required much tending before I could safely make this journey,” she apologized as she landed, Discord staring at her with raw venomous hate in her eyes. His mouth moves a bit, but can’t open, and so whatever he would say to the Moon Goddess was lost as mumbles.

“It’s quite alright, Sister. I’m just glad you’re okay,” says Celestia, as the Six help her back to her legs, and Twilight gives her a shot to her horn, that seems to revitalize her at least a little.

“I would not have been were it not for the human’s intervention at the palace. Discord had all but conquered the defenses mustered against him. Then the Little One arrived, and distracted him long enough for Deasly to help revive myself and a few others,” she explained, and you had a few smiling faces looking down at you.

“Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for what you’ve done this day. Ask for anything within my power and I shall grant it,” offers the Princess of the Sun, her smile lighting up the clearing which looked like a battle zone around you, dead grass, churned earth, and at least one tree standing lopsided. Really not the place one would expect to curry divine favor, but it was a nice sentiment.

“I actually do have one favor to ask,” you say weakly, standing up again and staring at the ponies.

“Ask it then,” she tells you in that motherly voice of hers.

“Somebody catch me,” you sigh out, and then start to fall backwards, your eyes already closed before you feel the softness of a mane around you, and you somehow know that Celestia has you, as your body, worn out from everything that had happened, falls into a deep sleep.

OoOoO

The Void isn’t empty. Not now. It’s supposed to be, but something has entered it. The nothingness shivers and quakes at its presence, and you find yourself staring at something that simply could not be, something that shifted, moved, and then shifted again, in a maddening swirl of bits. Always though, it has a pair of eyes that stare at you, even when the face shifts, the mouth and nose vanish, those eyes just keep boring into you.

“FAiLDieENdyOu,” it says, many voices speaking to you, none of them sounding pleasant in the slightest, every syllable dripping with hatred.

“What are you?” you ask. You’re not sure why, but you’re not afraid of this thing. As much as you can feel its loathing, you know, somewhere deep inside yourself, that it can’t hurt you, not here in the Void.

“NoThIngEVeRyThiNg,” it says again, and you feel one of its…’hands’ reach out towards you. Then it pulls back like it had been burned, cracks appearing where in its being as it moves away.

“ThEyLLDiEBecAuSofYOU!!!” it shouts into the Void, and instantly you see your friends, all of them, arrayed before you, their faces set with grim determination. They look like they’re about to go into battle, but rather than facing an enemy, they all turn on each other, and you’re forced to watch as they tear each other apart, horns and hooves ripping into flesh, wings plucked, magic fired, and when it’s all over, a pile of bodies just lying there, until it all bursts into flames, and is reduced to ash.

Your body refuses to move through all this, the Void won’t let you go, won’t allow you out of its protection as you’re force to watch. When it’s over, you can feel the sting of tears in your eyes, and turn to the thing that did this, only to find its body cracking, its form shattering into pieces, and then those pieces falling away into dust. Within a heartbeat, all that’s left of the thing is a pile of dust, that then blows away on some unfelt breeze, and the Void takes you again, no longer moving, just stillness.

OoOoO

The Void is slow to release you, either because of your drained body, or because of that…dream, you don’t know. Still, when it is gone, you open your eyes and try to rise, only to feel the gentle touch of magic on your skin, so familiar, but, for some reason, so distant now.

“How do you feel?” asks the soft voice of the Night Goddess as she holds you up with her power, rather than trying to lay you back down. In answer, all you do is groan, as you try to work sore muscles that scream in protest to being moved at all. You don’t stop, however, until you can at least sit on the side of your bed and face her.

“I feel like I got shoved through a keyhole, again,” you state, remembering one of the experiments from your second month, and Luna giggles a bit, probably remembering it herself, seeing as she’d been there, and had been one of the only ones to help when you got stuck.

“Better than you should feel then. Why don’t you try to stand up so I can get a better look at you?” she asks, and you, after one false start where you fall back onto the bed, finally do rise to your feet. Doing so reveals two things. The first is that you’re naked, which was something that made you feel rather uncomfortable as Princess Luna eyed you up and down. The second was that you weren’t in your apartment over Celestia’s room.

“Hmm, the muscles in your legs look a little weak, but Tailfire said getting you up and around would fix that. Blushing should help with the pale skin too,” she chided, a chuckle entering her voice as she continued to look you up and down.

“Overall, considering what happened, you’re in remarkably good health,” she says, and you nod, remembering how it had felt after the fight was over.

“Why don’t you have a bite to eat, and we’ll go see the others. Octavia’s been waiting for you to wake up since she heard about you being here,” Luna told you, floating a tray over to you that held a bowl of the broth made with Sage Blossom, as well as an apple and a loaf of soft bread. You greedily start tearing into the meal, feeling like you hadn’t eaten in days, and then quickly realize, looking out a nearby window to see that there was a sun in the air, that it might have been.

“How long was I –gulp- out?” you ask around a bite of bread.

“It’s been a day and a half since your battle with Discord, which has become the talk of all of Equestria and beyond. There were many rulers, my sister and I included, who trembled at the thought of him, know that at any time, he could break free of the seals that we had placed on him, and wreak havoc once more,” she said, getting a bit of a distant look on her face as she offered up her thoughts on what had happened.

“But that’s not going to happen now?” you ask, pausing in your face stuffing as you look towards her, and you see her smile and shake her head.

“No, no it’s not. Never again. Tia and I have been to see him many times, and though he continues to rant and rave, showing an unnatural stamina, his power, the Chaos Magic he threatened us with, is gone completely,” she said, a note of relief in her voice as she sighed, and you quickly dabbed your bread into the broth and then took a bite, watching as she turns to you.

“Because of you. I had always wondered why Tia took such an interest in you so quickly. Now I think I know. She must have seen something of thing future for you, an ability she sometimes possesses that I do not,” says the night Princess, climbing onto the bed beside you.

“Like Pinkie Sense?” you offer, crunching into the apple next.

“Heh, indeed, though quite a bit more controlled. It might interest you to know, that several kingdoms have offered you a place in their leadership now. I hear there’s even a tribe of buffalo that want you to come bless their children for them, like you were one of the great spirits,” she told you idly, placing a hoof on your thigh, and making you nearly choke on the broth.

“That –cough- sounds kind of neat. I’ve never been asked to bless anything before. I was never even asked to blow on dice for luck,” you say, remembering your old RP group you used to play with.

“I would honestly advise against going. I would actually advise against leaving the city for now, at least until you’ve fully recovered,” she tells you, and then floats the tray away from you, placing it on a table along the wall.

“I suppose that’s good advice. Can’t have a three inch tall human getting underhoof in places he shouldn’t be,” you say, and Luna looks at you, before giggling behind her hoof at you.

“Um, is there some joke I’m missing?” you ask after a moment, letting Luna calm herself down.

“Indeed there is. What room do you think you’re in?” she asks, and you look around, noticing a few details here and there. Drapes come down from the ceiling, but rather than feeling oppressive it almost feels mothering, the way they shelter you.

“This is…your room,” you tell her, and she nods, as you look around some more, and then stand up from the bed, the bed that’s sized for you. Looking around, you notice every detail, remembering being in here before, and then quickly rush towards the door, opening it, and looking outside the palace. Below, you see a few ponies going about their tasks, and hear something like a roar in the distance. Of course, the instant you remember you’re naked, thanks to a breeze, you go back inside and slam the door shut.

“Heh, feeling a little drafty?” asks the Princess, a knowing smirk on her face. She’d known you long enough to remember that you, unlike the ponies, preferred to be clothed at all times, even making a few jokes at your expense during some of the Professor’s tests.

“I’m feeling big!” you tell her happily, walking over to Luna and giving her a hug, that seems to surprise her for a moment, before she returns it whole heartedly. Said hug probably lasts a bit longer than it should, given your current state, but you just couldn’t help it, as you feel so excited to go out there and see the world of Equestria from an angle that wasn’t somewhere between mouse’s eye and bug’s eye view.

“I think that’s enough of that,” comes a new voice, and you look over to find that you’d missed the opening of the inside door in your elation, and several new ponies had entered, among them, the Six, Spitfire and Soarin, and Vinyl and Octavia. It’s the last one that makes you go eep as you quickly grab the sheets off Luna’s bed, your body feeling almost as hot as when you’d gotten hit with the Elements as you blush.

“Um, what are you all doing here?” you ask, and Rarity, the one who’d spoken earlier, steps away from the group, levitating a bundle with her as she comes closer.

“We were waiting outside for the Princess to say it was okay to enter, and since it seems you’re recovered enough to give out hugs like that, I figure you’re well enough to accept gifts,” she told you, and the bundle unwraps to reveal clothing, glorious clothing, that she then floats towards you.

“Now, I had to guess at some of the seams, since I wasn’t allowed to take new measurements, so please tell me how it fits along the sides,” she tells you, and then a flash of light happens. You’re suddenly wearing the main part of the outfit, a body suit of sorts made of shimmering silver fabric that covered everything but your hands, feet, and head. It was a bit tight around your hips, but otherwise breathed easily, a fact you communicated to Rarity as she walked around you.

It was then that you realize that compared to the ponies, you’re rather tall. Well, you’d always been tall back home, over six foot by the time you’d gotten to your junior year, and growing a bit after that. Still, even then, you’d known people taller than you. Now though? Rarity and the others didn’t even come up to your waist when they were on all fours, and Luna just barely made it to chest height, though the little ponies would be about as tall as you standing on their hind legs, and Luna would probably be much taller, not to mention she could shape shift.

“Hmm, a bit plain, but this was the only color I had to work with,” she said, running her hoof along the side of the fabric, and then levitating some other things out of her bundle, namely some white, metal looking shoes, as well as a breast plate and some Wonder Woman bracelet thingies…vambraces you think is what they’re called, all made of the same material.

“Here, these I had to have a craftspony make, but I think she did very well,” said the fashionista, as she hovered the bits over you, and you sat back down on the bed to slip them on. The shoes were actually quite comfortable, padded on the inside to provide arch support, as well as to prevent the metal from pinching you.

The vambraces were next, opening up, and like the shoes, padded on the inside, as you slipped them onto your forearms, the things covering everything from your wrist to your elbow, and then snapping closed. They felt much lighter than you had expected, and you flexed with them a little, before bringing them into a cross position on your chest, laughing at that, but not bothering to explain it as the last piece was offered.

Like the vambraces, the breastplate had a latch on it that opened it up, allowing it to fight over your head, and then snapping shut again. The plate itself was, like the vambraces, light and airy, feeling almost like you weren’t wearing it, with arm holes that allowed a full range of motion. On the front though, was a symbol that you went to a mirror to check out.

“What’s this?” you ask, pointing to it as you stared at it.

“It’s something I thought would look nice on you. The sword in the middle is that blade you used, with the symbols of the Elements all around it,” she said, pointing as she did so, and you finally saw the similarities between the Atma Weapon, and the design. The Element symbols, the Cutie Marks of the Six, were even shining some beams towards it, the design of the sword seeming to shiny with a rainbow of colors as you look at it.

“Normally armor is adorned with one’s cutie mark, so that you can be identified at a glance. Seeing as you…lack such an identifying mark, I believed this would suffice,” she explained, and you nod.

“It’s lovely Rarity, thank you. What’s all this made of anyway?” you ask next, tapping at the breastplate with a finger, and getting a ting sound, rather than a clang.

“The finest Prism Stone of the Northern Kingdoms. It cost my sister and I a number of bits, but we believed it would be worth it,” Luna answered you, standing beside you and looking at your image in the mirror.

“You didn’t have to do that,” you tell her, though you enjoy the gift, knowing it cost enough to make a royal say it cost a lot was actually rather intimidating.

“I believe it was. We did not wish to leave you defenseless, as your own powers are as drained as Discord’s,” she said simply.

Comments

[bocaj518]

[Star Sage]

1334310

Thanks, I hope you enjoy the wind down from the fight.

[Star Sage]

1334495

All I need is love...well that and money. Yea,h money is almost as good as love.

[Star Sage]

1335651

[Mike32oz]

So did i win the bet?

Anyway.... the was awesome! fight star.

[Star Sage]

1336691

I'm not sure. Technically, he lost his fight with Discord. After all, he failed to beat him with his power alone, and had to get saved by the ponies, three or four times depending on if you count that last time twice or just once since it happened in rapid succession.

However, without him, Discord would still be a threat, even if the Elements had worked, he'd have been sealed in stone, ready to break out again sometime. This way Discord is now completely powerless.

[Tadpole]

New chapter x2!

[CPT]

Awesome!

[Star Sage]

1337868

Heh, I figured you guys would want to see the end of the fight quickly.

[Star Sage]

1338326

Thanks

[Yuki Harima]

DUN DUN DUN! Way to end a chapter off like that. Both discord and You lost their powers, what will happen next. I expect romance to happen and some fighting.

[Spirit Shift]

For the entire chapter i had hoped and preyed for only one thing: he retained his powers

At the last line i practically screamed
FRICK!!!!!!!!!!!