The Survival Of The Species

by Borderline Valley

Chapter 12: Weaponizable Information

Rodin Everblaze

There is a brilliant flash of light. When it clears, our surroundings have changed dramatically. I can feel the heat of the sun shining down on me, and my eyes show me a gently rolling pasture of green fields.

It looks very peaceful.

“Alright; I’ll make this quick boys, I've got places to be after this.” I turn to see Discord, now a decidedly transparent blue, floating lazily to my left.

I also see the others, the exact same shade of see-through blue, hovering next to me. Looking down, my own body seems to have adopted this... ghost-like appearance.

Huh. Well this is interesting.

I decide it’s not worth freaking out about. He will likely change us back at some point.

Returning my attention to the god, I notice an oddly colored horse in front of me. It’s orange, and wearing a brown hat.

“This, is a pony. You’re going to be living among them soon, get used to the look.” I tilt my head, trying to get a better look at it, when it vanishes, replaced by two, much bigger, ponies, each bearing wings a horn. “These two ladies are responsible for the lovely things you know as day and night.” Discord sighs with feeling. “Please don’t screw with them too much, or it’ll make me look bad. Oh, and they might kill you or something.” He waves a claw dismissively.

I do my best to commit their appearances to memory. The taller one is a bright white, with a flowing mane of shifting color and magenta eyes. She has a small sun emblazoned upon her hindquarters. Her counterpart, appropriately, has a moon, is more of a dark blue, and has teal eyes with a shifting mane of stars.

“So these are the ponies' gods?” I ask, wanting to make sure.

Discord lets out a hesitant sound. “Eeeeeeehweeell, technically… Yes. But nobody really uses that word anymore. Most ponies won’t know what ‘god’ even means. They call themselves ‘the princesses’ or something nowadays. It’s really best to just roll with it.”

I can’t fathom the reasoning behind it, but if that’s what Discord asks of us, that’s what we will do. Even so, the thought of walking up to such powerful beings and addressing them as merely a ‘princess’ makes me chuckle. “If you think that’s best,” I say while hiding a grin.

“Alright, so, the princesses rule over all of Equestria, and they don’t like it when you kill sentient beings. I can find the humor in it, sometimes. But these ponies won’t ever understand. So when you see a pony, hide all the bodies. It offends their delicate sensibilities, ‘kay?” Discord sniffs as he mocks the ponies and I raise an eyebrow at him.

James speaks out for all of us. “We aren't murderers, Discord, we kill out of necessity, or not at all.”

“All too true, all too true.” Discord concedes the point, while managing to come off with an edge of condescension. Well, he is a god; I guess he has had a lot longer to ponder the ethics involved. “Even so.”

The pony goddesses vanish and are replaced with the pony from before. “This is an earth pony, they use their magic to grow all the food, if you kill any, the princesses will be angry at us.”

The pony vanishes and a blue one with a horn and a wizard hat appears in the other’s place. “This is a unicorn, they use their magic for mostly utility spells. If you kill any, the princesses will be furious with us.” That one vanishes before I get a good enough look at the hat, and is replaced by a gray pony with a pair of wings and crossed eyes. “This is a Pegasus, they use their magic to control all the weather. If you kill any, the princesses will give you cookies. The cookies will be poisoned.”

The pony vanishes and a new one appears, it has neither horn nor wings, but sparkles all over. “This is a crystal pony, they work with crystals, if you kill any, eh… you know, it’s just not a good idea.” Discord shrugs, hiding a grin.

The pony vanishes and a monster takes its place. A wickedly curved beak matches with the white feathers and sharp talons to give it an avian appearance, yet its hindquarters end in paws and a cat’s tail. The wings are large and powerful, adding to an already striking figure.

“This is a griffon. If you kill one, Equestria would go to war with the griffons. That would be bad.” I sigh at his words.

This is getting repetitive. I think we get it; killing things is counter-productive here.

The griffon is replaced with something distinctly canine, yet bipedal. And with a face only a mother could love, too. “This is a Diamond Dog. Feel free to smack them around. Make sure you kill them only in self-defense and all that though. The point is, they’re slavers, acceptable targets for the most part around here. It’s the same with these guys.”

A distinctly equine bug appears alongside the dogs. Its chitin is black and the eyes glow with their own light. “These are changelings, ponies don’t like them, and they don’t like ponies. Personally I think it’s all a big misunderstanding, but nobody listens to me. Feel free to kill them on sight if the guards don’t do that for you, but if you kill very many it will piss off their queen,” a much larger changeling appears before us, “and that would be bad. I don’t want her mad at me more than she already is, and now you guys represent me as much as I represent you.”

I frown. “So are you saying we should kill changelings or not?” Combat magic rarely leaves room for debate in that department. Either I’ll be trying to kill them or I won’t be. It dictates which runes I use at the very least.

“I would rather you didn't,” Discord says nonchalantly, as if he honestly doesn't care all that much. “But the ponies wouldn't hate you for it.” Suddenly he becomes much more animated. “On to new topics! Important ponies to know ahead of time!”

With a wave of his hand the creatures vanish, and six mares appear. Each looks rather different than the last and three of the four sub-races are represented among them, with one of them sporting the same wings and horn as the goddesses. What, no crystal ponies?

“These six are the princesses’ personal pets, also known as the elements of harmony. You've got magic, loyalty, honesty, generosity, laughter, and Fluttershy.” Discord points to each in turn. When it comes to Fluttershy he separates her image out from the group for a moment. “Fair warning, if you hurt any of those five you’ll destroy any chance of peaceful negotiations, and barring that, the princesses will seal the lot of you as statues for thousands of years. But if anyone so much as gestures at Fluttershy with the wrong end of a weapon…” his eyes narrow dangerously as he turns to stare at us. “Then that person would answer to a very angry me. Also, the universe itself would likely decide you aren't worthy of existing and retroactively erase your whole family.”

That threat- no, that statement hangs in the air for several seconds. I use the time to memorize Fluttershy’s appearance with fervor. Pink hair, yellow coat, blue eyes, three butterflies, wings… Got it. Hopefully now I can help avoid a tragedy.

“Moving on.” He gestures and a fourth pony with both wings and a horn appears. “This one’s the princess of the crystal ponies. She’s also a young one… It’s best if we don’t bother her too much in these formative years. Don’t kill too many crystal ponies and there shouldn't be a problem.” That grin he wears betrays his serious tone.

Weathers finally speaks up. “Is this whole ‘extraordinarily violent reputation’ thing going to be a recurring theme with the ponies? We can be quite peaceful when we want to be, you know.”

“Oh I know, but teasing you about it’s too much fun to resist. Think about it though. You've met exactly two intelligent beings since you got here, and half of those you killed with forbidden magic that even I never touched.”

I shift a little nervously, having been the one to do that. Wait, even him? “What’s that supposed to mean, ‘even you never touched it?’”

“Oh I got bored and took over Equestria several thousand years ago. It was quite the ride for a while, but I recently gave that up in favor of other pursuits. More specifically, I’m all about bending the rules and reaching for the juicy forbidden stuff, but there are some lines you just don’t cross. I almost thought what you did was impressively hilarious, and then I found out you did it out of ignorance and desperation. Such a letdown!”

Well that’s not very nice… Besides, what choice did I have?

“I’m sure he had his reasons,” the Governor speaks up, coming to my defense. I’m glad he has my back, but there is no arguing with gods.

“Even so, he’s lucky he wasn't erased from existence the instant he tried it.” Discord sighed, looking at me with… Jealousy? The hell? “Anyway, I think that’s everything for the moment.” Discord’s ghostly image snaps its fingers and the world is consumed with bright light again.

When the light clears, I find myself back where we had started, seated around the table with Discord on his throne.

“Well that’s that.” He sounds rather pleased with himself. “You have enough information to last you the next little bit and I've got my work laid out for me.” He stands from his throne, stretching and cracking his back. “One thing’s for sure, you’re all going to need magic, so start thinking about what kind you want. Oh, and do everyone a favor and don’t go beyond the Everfree until I get back.”

As he speaks the god is grabbing objects about the room and tossing them into a small bag. The throne, the pink lining of the tent, the objects that had been bobbing in time to the music I can suddenly hear again, soon all that remained was the tent itself and the table.

In another time I might have been impressed by the powers this god displayed, but no longer. I have seen the sky rent and repaired endlessly by the warring forces of creation and destruction, a display like this is beyond my own abilities or comprehension, yes, but it was nothing amazing for a god.

“When can we expect you?” I ask.

“Oh, I’ll be back in a few hours. Or days,” he shrugs and snaps his claws.

Another flash of light burns at our eyes, when it clears, I find myself standing outside Alexander’s home with the others.

I can see the crowd milling around, noticing our sudden appearance with a mixture of shock and concern. The pavilion we were just in is nowhere to be seen.

Presumably, Discord is gone.

“Well that was interesting.” I offer.

---

James Mender

I had made my escape from the crowd with Rodin, and had led him to my medical building, leaving the Governor and the Captain to explain things and spread the word.

As we enter I note that my apprentices are hard at work, doing their jobs in spite of the commotion, just as I have trained them. Good. I do not stop here, however, and lead Rodin downstairs by the cells that lie unused below my hospital.

Here we can speak privately and candidly.

He looks highly amused at the whole situation, but I do not see the humor.

I decide against any sort of banter, “Do you think we can trust Discord?”

He loses a bit of his good mood as he considers it.

“I don’t think we have much of a choice. We have no idea what kind of world we’re walking into, it looks like some races are protected by gods and others aren't. We could have easily caused an incident by accident, without his information.”

He has a point, but there’s a larger issue at hand. “I see no reason why he should take such an interest in us, nor have I seen proof that he has our best interests at heart. We could be nothing more than a pawn to him. He seems like the trickster type.”

Rodin smiles ruefully at me. “How is that any different than back home? We've always been pawns of the gods. That doesn't mean they don’t look out for us. In this case, we have little choice but to trust him. Our survival this long has been mostly luck; luck that we've had the tools to deal with the obstacles we've faced, luck that the gods here didn't decide just to wipe us out and sweep us under the rug, luck that I survived that inferno… We can’t keep relying on luck, one ill-timed misfortune and humanity is now extinct.”

I sigh. As if I needed the reminder. I think bitterly to myself. Being responsible for the health and well-being of the village is so much more stressful when one must literally re-invent every medicine from strange ingredients.

“I don’t like not knowing his plans for us. Trusting him might only expedite our extinction.”

“Try not to worry about it,” Rodin advises, “think about all the things he’s promised to do! The whole village is going to get magic for goodness sake! Imagine what we might do with it!” Rodin trails off, following his own advice and letting his mind wander.

He has a point about the magic… I can only hope it will temper our ambitions rather than the alternative. But wait, he said to think about what kind we wanted, does that mean we get a choice?

“Rodin.” He snaps out of his reverie. “How many kinds of magic have you heard about?”

“Well there’s a tall order.” He chuckles, running a hand through his greasy hair. “Ok, there’s yours, mine, Ritual Study, the four Druidic Circles technically are separate mediums, then there’s the Mana Burners, the Necromancers, the Arcanists, the Blessed Ones and the hundreds of clerical orders, lets count them as one, and finally the Elementalists. And those are just the ones I've studied. I’m sure there are more.”

“Right, a lot,” I state, not needing the details, “Of all that, what do you think Discord will be giving our people?”

Rodin takes a breath and hesitates. “I… Now that I think about it, I can’t say. He didn't just say he would teach us a new kind of magic, he said we were going to need magic. I… can’t fathom why.”

I can, and it doesn't bode well. The gods have always needed errand boys, to go do what they can’t or won’t do themselves. It stands to reason that we would need magic to defend ourselves on those kinds of tasks. By giving us magic, Discord is just making us more useful to him.

“The real question is what he meant by telling us to ‘think about what kind we want.’ Does he expect us to design our own magic?” Rodin muses.

That is a good question. We sure as hell don’t understand how magic works, how could we forge our own? Then again, what if we aren't supposed to do that so much as pick what we want it to be able to do?

“Rodin, describe to me how your magic works to the best of your ability.”

He looks at me askance, then at the door to the stairwell. His eyes glow as he cast’s a spell on it, I presume it’s some sort of soundproofing, before answering me.

“We've shared minds and memories, so I’m not sure how much more you think I can tell you, but I’ll humor you. The gods blessed the blood of my line and others to bear magic; I can call upon this magic through runes of power. These runes were written by the gods ages ago and have been handed down through the generations. These runes form the basic building blocks for the various magical effects. To get a specific or complex effect one needs to combine several runes into a sort of sentence. Since the magic comes from my blood, overuse can result in exhaustion or even death in extreme cases. Similarly, a long period of disuse can result in an overcharge of power, often leaking out in dangerous ways…” Rodin continues on in lecture fashion for some time, having been caught up in a speaking style I suspect as being reminiscent of his old days in his guild hall.

At length he wraps it up, and I pose him a simple question. “You couldn't recreate your magic if you tried for a hundred years, yet you can easily describe it. Why can we not simply describe a kind of magic to Discord?”

It brings me some amusement to see his mouth open and close repeatedly without managing to form words.

“I… suppose we could do that.”

---

Comments

[Siphon117]

Nice chapter. I like the whole fiasco going on, definitely be looking forward to more.

[nighters]

i hope this story will show the light and playful side of humanity other then the cold and serious type humanity all the time were complex after all and designing magic wonder fun~! how many will there be from dark scary magic to healing perhaps or tricky fun from shape changer or power of the mind o that be fun so many kinds!

[tomla134]

Just to toss in my opinion, is like to see a necromancer. Story-wise, I really like it, and the multiple viewpoints helps. Though maybe put a viewpoint in for Discord? Still a great story!

[The Serpent Mage]

You've got magic, loyalty, honesty, generosity, laughter, and Fluttershy.

Well then, seems Discord here is a teensy weensey little biased. Not that I'm saying anything, nope, not at allohgodpleasedon'thurtme

[The Serpent Mage]

2998405 Oh HELL no, Necromancy wouldn't fly. Grogar anyone?

[7h3pon3]

And then everyone gets random powers, that they receive when they discover their true calling.

[tomla134]

2998526 pardon? Grogar? Maybe I'm a little confused. *googles grogar* oh. I see what you mean.

[Cadmium]

They should just go for intention based magic, ala snap your finger and if you have enough power stuff happens.
Just like Discord only less all powerful.

[Stainless Steel Fox]

"But if anyone so much as gestures at Fluttershy with the wrong end of a weapon…” his eyes narrow dangerously as he turns to stare at us. “Then that person would answer to a very angry me. Also, the universe itself would likely decide you aren't worthy of existing and retroactively erase your whole family.”

Is it wrong that I ended up cackling like a goon for five minutes when I read that?

Brilliant work. All of it, though I'd like to see them interact directly with regular ponies more.