The Steadfast Sky

by Greytercakes

XII : Celestia

The Steadfast Sky : Chapter 12
The Grey Potter
http://cosmicponyfanfiction.blogspot.com/

~Celestia~

Day was a little past half over. We had forgone the stables of Rearing Town to return to the forest, and were waiting on a clearing near the edge of the fields, to the north, by my best guess. Many of our things had become damp in our last adventure, and needed to be aired out, lest they mildew. The sheet was draped over a branch carefully stripped of leaves. Tottering Trottingham forlornly hung beside it, and Luna sat beneath him, her entire focus directed at her marbles. With no even ground to play on, she had taken to stacking them in tiny pyramids, trying to get the towers as tall as possible before crumbling.

I tucked the rest of my saddlebag’s contents among the roots of the oak, beside the 'spoils' of our 'adventure.' As a reward, Barely Buck had given us a small purse of coinage, and the town had given us a bag’s worth of greenery, mostly consisting of carrots and apples.

I hovered my wet saddlebag to another branch, alongside Luna’s. Discord briefly looked over as the weight shifted his bough, but it failed to hold his attention for long. He held the transformed silver gemstone in his paw, shifting it as if trying to catch the light. I watched him for but a moment, then returned to the task at hand, our belongings. I brought the paper bag full of salt towards me and peered inside.

“At least the bag didn’t break…” I said, staring at the grainy clumps. “Honestly… we should just see what this would sell for. Why did I ever think a bag of salt would be useful?”

“You know!” Luna said, looking up from her game, “The hairbrush is the only thing that we’ve really used so far!”

“If you call keeping manes tidy a use…” Discord snickered from his branch. I frowned up at him. It’s not like he took cleanliness to be a good thing. If his mane wasn’t so short, it would probably be an absolute mess. He tried to smile some assurance. “I’m sure it will all come in handy in our adventures. We’ve only been out here, what, four… five days? Hasn’t even been a week yet!”

“I suppose…”

I set the salt aside and hovered the small money bag to myself, as well as the purse given to us by Barely Buck. Now that we were outside of town, it was no longer rude to count how much we had gained… I pulled at the strings. Mostly copper bits, understandably, so if I— is that a silver bit?! My breath caught in my throat and came out as a hiccup as I consolidated the coins and tucked them safely behind the thin handkerchief that held our food.

“What, surprised?” Discord chuckled.

“For what the town was going through economically, it certainly is a very generous reward.” I replied, slowly rotating the bottle of rubbing alcohol, checking for cracks. “Honestly… Don’t you think this entire situation was a little bit strange?”

“Well, yeah? Giant hippocampus decides to just up and take an entire river for himself…”

“No. What I’m saying is…Where does the shadow Stallion come in, in all of this?” I looked up at Discord as I set down the bottle. He was finally paying attention to what I had to say. “I mean, these are his subjects, and they had a major problem that would have affected him as well. And yet he made no attempt to try and solve the issue, not even in the most offhand and evil of fashions?”

To my insight, Discord merely shrugged. “He could have told them to just sort it out themselves. Clearly not a good solution, but…”

“Letting them sort it out themselves was precisely what wasn’t working about the entire situation!” I asserted, “That’s what a higher government power is for, to direct and manage situations that would be difficult to sort out fairly among equal parties.”

“That’s a rather specific definition.”

I ignored Discord’s comment. “And we didn’t see any of his soldiers! His banners were around, but they were almost meaningless for how little influence he has over the two villages. Discord… don’t just shrug this off! Think about it… we haven’t seen any sign of him for days… Does he have any control out here at all?”

My friend crossed his forelegs and rested his head on them, staring a little to my left, frowning.

“It doesn’t… make a whole lot of sense for him not to…” he admitted, still staring away from me. “The townsfolk haven’t taken down the banners, so they at least see a point in keeping them around.” Discord took a moment more, shifting his gaze up and tapping on the branch with a talon. I let him have his time. Better to have him take this seriously than to just ignore me. “Y’know…” he finally said, “How big is Equestria, anyway? Do you know?”

“No…” I admitted, “I knew it was bigger than Canterbury, but… Well, it’s not like we were ever going to go beyond the walls.”

“Well, what if it’s really, really huge? He is only one pony, after all, maybe there’s a lot of things he has to devote his attention to.” Discord returned my stare. “I know at least one thing that he spends a lot of time with. Controlling the griffin troops, and the weather-making.”

I blinked up at the Draconequus. “The Shadow Stallion has Griffin troops?”

“Well… yeah!” He propped himself up and gave me a sideways look, incredulous. “Didn’t you see, when we were running? On top of the city walls? The cart?” He frowned. “You were staring at the sun the whole time, weren’t you Celestia?”

“Well it was particularly fascinating…” I scoffed. “Anyway, Discord, I see you lasted the day without your head bursting into flames.”

“What? Oh.” Discord looked down at the golden necklace, then gave me a wry smile. “Yeah. No creepy visions or no ill effects… And I can take it off pretty easily too. So it’s not obviously evil... Though why the hay the rock transformed into this, I have no idea.” He shrugged and returned to fiddling with the thing, staring at it.

“Stop doing that… It’s creeping me out.”

“Mm? Oh, sorry.” He dropped it and looked up at the clouds. Not one minute later he began futzing with it again, jingling it softly.

“Okay… that’s it.” I propped myself up against Discord’s tree and glared up at him. “Give it here. Don’t give me that look.” I waved over to the sheet. “We’re not going anywhere for a while, and I want to make sure the magic rock isn’t evil and corrupting your brain. So we’re going to experiment with it. Okay?”

Luna gasped, bouncing up and scattering her marbles once more. “Big sis! Are we gonna play mad unicorn scientists?!”

“Take out the mad part, and yes. We are going to play unicorn scientists.”

“Hooray!”

~¤~

“Test number one!” Luna declared to absolutely no one, “Vocal reactions!”

“Hey! Hey necklace! Hey! Heeeeeey!” Discord called, smirking as he held the ornament held it in his paw. I rolled my eyes and snatched it away, hovering the object in front of my eyes.

“I know something of diabolical intent is lurking inside you, necklace!” I barked, “Show yourself, or we will be forced to take desperate measures!” The necklace remained in front of me, unchanged. “Show yourself, you sneak!”

“When did this test become ‘does the rock have any feelings?’” Discord snickered.

“Ohh, that sounds like a great test!” Luna charged forward and batted the necklace out of my aura. She stood above where it fell, screwing her face up into the angriest glare she could muster. “YOU’RE THE WORST PONY, NECKLACE!”

“Luna! Shouting!”

Discord snickered as he let himself down from the tree, scooping up the necklace once more.

“Don’t listen to them, necky,” he said, “You’re actually the coolest…pony?” He laughed again, “I can’t lie to you, necklace. You’re not a pony. You’re adopted.”

Luna carefully peered over Discord’s shoulder.

“Anything?”

“Nothing.”

“Drat!”

~¤~

“How long it this anyway?” Discord began pulling at the golden part of the ornament, where it began to give a little.

“Discord, you’re supposed to say ‘Test number two!” Luna squealed.

“Okay, Test number two. How stretchy is this thing?” He pulled at the necklace, and it began to unwind, unfurling from the decorative seams. He managed to draw it almost the length of his leg before stopping. When he released it, it snapped down to a small size, more like a bracelet than a necklace.

“What was this test supposed to achieve anyway?” I asked, honestly curious. Discord looked up at me, face solid as a stone.

“I have no idea.”

~¤~

“Test number three! The taste test!”

“What?” I gasped, “You mean I have to put this in my mouth?”

Luna nodded vigorously. Discord and I immediately began to play invisible hot potato, with responsibility serving as the potato.

“Let’s just skip this one,” he finally said.

“I wholeheartedly agree.”

~¤~

“Test number one, part two! Some other vocal reactions!”

“Luna, this isn’t a vocal test!”

“Isn’t it, Celestia? Isn’t it?” Discord was up a tree once more, clinging to the high branches and smirking down at me. The necklace was clenched tightly in his claws, far out of my reach.

“I just want to test its resistance to damage!” I called up.

“And what if we break it? Then what would we have to test?”

“Just drop it from there! It’ll land on grass and probably be fine!”

“Why bother testing it if you know it’ll be fine?”

“Discord!” I snapped, “Is that you speaking… or the necklace?!”

I think the bold statement was allowed to stand for only a few seconds before Discord burst out laughing. He clung to the twigs around him for support, almost near falling himself. I grumbled. That statement was perhaps a bit too melodramatic. The heat of the science roleplay was starting to get to me. I leaned up against the tree, determined to take a different tact.

“You know I’m just worried about you, Discord…” I admitted, trying to get my intent across more clearly. “You’re my friend! You’re the last pony I want to see hurt.”

He stopped laughing long enough to smirk, then eventually fell into a warm smile.

For a moment, the necklace glittered. Discord’s foreleg shot forward, and held the bauble at arm’s length, gaze frozen upon it, stunned to silence. All three of us were.

His paw popped open. The necklace dropped, bounced off a few branches, and landed beside me with a quiet clink.

“Test four, did it survive the fall?” he asked, peering over his branch.

I took a step towards the necklace and nudged it solemnly with my hoof.

“Yeah, it did.”

“Well, then I guess we keep testing.”

~¤~

“Ooh! Ooh! I got an idea for a test give the evil necklace to me! Give it to me!”

Hesitant, I gently floated the necklace over to my sister. She bit into the clasp and charged off into the trees.
“Follow me!” Luna shouted from the corner of her mouth.

We ran a sizeable distance until we came to the refilled riverbank, a section of it some distance from Rearing Town. Luna dropped by the edge and, with great purpose and dignity, dunked the necklace into the water. We sat for several moments as Luna held the artifact under the current. It bobbed gently in the stream.

“Is that it?” I asked.

“Yeah!”

“Did it do anything?”

“No!”

“Is that a good thing?”

“Yes!”

“So, what does that prove?”

She pulled back the necklace and let it drop on the shore. Dramatically, she hung her head in disgrace. “I’m a terrible unicorn scientist.”

Discord strode forward to grant her a complimentary pat on the back, face echoing the seriousness of the situation.

~¤~

“Test number six! Let’s see if this thing reacts to magic!”

Discord tapped the necklace with his claw, sat quietly for a moment, then tapped it again. “Well that’s different. Its surface properties aren’t changing…” To demonstrate the science of his endeavor, he dropped it. It landed like a necklace would, with a clink. It was back in his paws a moment later. “Maybe if I…” He began to glare, nearly pressing the thing into his eye.

“What are you doing?” I chuckled.

“Concentrating. It’s not doing anything though.” He waved it around, and it jingled quietly. “But I wonder…” He wrapped his forefeet around the gem, closed his eyes, and grimaced.

Light began glowing out from between his toes.

“Oh!” Luna squeaked, “What’re you doing now?”

“I’m just—“ With a crack like lightning, the light exploded, blinding us all.

~¤~

“I said I was fine, Celestia!” Discord complained. “It didn’t do anything permanent!”

I crouched low, snout shifting grass and leaves with every breath. The necklace was at a distance. Still. Innocuous. I eased my magic over it, hovering it with all the delicate care I could muster.

“Test number…” Luna began.

“No, this is not a test number,” I snapped, “This is serious now.”

“Okay, then what are you doing?”

I sunk deeper into the leaves, narrowing my eyes. “I’m going to try and replicate the effects at a safe distance.”

“So… it’s just test number six again.”

“Fine, call it that. Now what exactly did you do, Discord?”

“Like I said, I tried to push my magic through it.”

“But how did you do that?”

“Well um… you’re hovering it now, right? Your magic is surrounding it?” He paused, probably waiting for my answer. I did not give him one. “Keep trying to lift it… but from the inside. Focus your magic within it.”

I gently set the necklace down, banishing my hover spell. I tried what Discord suggested, pushing my magic within the gem. Bubbles of my power surrounded the necklace in an unformed aura, but none seemed to actually go through it. I focused harder. No reaction. No movement.

But was this failure a simple inability to grasp what he meant? I tried the same spell with a nearby rock, trying to hover a small section inside of it. It rose upwards, without any hint of an aura, but it wobbled extremely. I let it drop.

“I can’t get through.” I admitted. “Though I’m not sure if I’m doing it right or wrong here…”

“I can try again,” Discord offered. He began walking toward the necklace, but I stopped him with an outreached hoof.

“Let’s try not to get near it…” I said.

He smirked, “Should I stick low to the ground like you too?”

“Yes.” His smirk vanished. Discord dropped into the leaves with me, staring over at the small strip of gold. Luna plopped down on my other side, face tight in false sincerity. Discord snickered softly, then closed his eyes.

“I’m going to try and not force it this time…” he said.

The necklace began to glow again, a soft white light. I unconsciously scooted back, kicking up more than a few leaves. But this time, the necklace didn’t explode. As its radiation grew, it began making a low and continuous tone, like the sound of a bell. The sound and the light began to pulsate, like the beating of a heart, letting off soft rings of energy that vanished quickly in their vertical ascension.

“Pretty!” Luna giggled.

~¤~

“Test number, um, eight! Temperature!”

Discord folded the necklace gently and tucked it under his feathered wing. Silence followed as we observed the subject observing his wing.

“Y’know, before this rock changed, it felt so alive,” he admitted, “Now, it’s kind’ve warm, but not… squirming weirdly.”

“No, no, no… Silly stallion!” Luna walked up to my friend and patted him on the head, shaking hers in the meantime. “We’re seeing if the necklace reacts to temperature! Not how warm it feels!”

“I see!” He nodded. “Well, it’s not reacting at all, I’d say.” He retrieved the item and sat down. “So, are we going to see if it reacts to cold too?”

“Yep!” Luna nodded.

“So… where’s a cold spot around here?”

“Hmm…”

A grin smacked into Discord’s face, overtaking it in under half a second. He leaned forward and whispered something hastily to Luna.

“Okay!” She nodded. Necklace in mouth, she trotted over to me. “Test number eight, part two! How does the evil demon necklace of doom react to cold?” Luna pressed the gemstone against the base of my neck, holding it in place with the tip of her nose.

“Okay. What are you doing?”

“Discord said that the coldest thing in this meadow was your heart!” Luna said dramatically.

“Any reaction?!” Discord laughed.

“Har dee har har.” I said as the pair of them broke into giggles. “Real funny guys.”

~¤~

“Test number… hey, wait, Celestia! What are you doing?! No! STOP!”

I held a rock, smooth from the river, poised to smash the golden bauble into the ground. Discord leapt forward and snatched it out from under me, dragging part of the ground with him.

“Aha!” I exclaimed, tossing the rock aside.

“Aha what?! We haven’t finished testing yet and you were seriously trying to destroy it!”

“Yes, and you tried to protect it!” I jabbed a hoof into his chest. “Now tell me, what the reaction yours? Or was it… the necklace?”

He snorted, “This again?”

“Test number… one part three section two?” Luna said hesitantly.

“All day,” I continued, “You have been protecting the necklace from harm…”

“Have not!”

“Have to, good sir!”

“Well, What about when Luna dunked it in the water? She could have dropped and lost it then. Wouldn’t I have panicked then?”

“Hm…”

“Celestia.” Discord said firmly, pushing my accusing hoof aside. “We just did a test that shows how much magic potential this thing has. What if you smashed it and it really did hurt us?”

“Also,” Luna chipped in, “Is ‘good sir’ something a unicorn scientist would say?”

I coughed up a laugh, and backed away, smiling sheepishly.

“Sorry,” I admitted, “I suppose I make a rather melodramatic scientist, don’t I?”

“Well I forgive you, mad unicorn Scientist Celestia.” Discord laughed and pulled me into a hug.

Between us, the necklace glittered again. We both withdrew to stare at it.

“Ooh! Test number, um, twelve! Friendship!” Luna bounced forward and pounced on the two of us, yanking the group back into a hug. “You’re both the best friends a pony could ask for!”

“Yeah, you too Luna!” Discord joked, “You’re both the best ponies to ever be friends with!”

“There! There! It glittered again! What does it mean?!”

The necklace died down as we quietly thought of the answer. Discord shrugged.

“Beats me.”

“Yeah, I’ve got nothing.”

Comments

[waxlemon]

I was skeptical. Discord, Luna, and Celestia as friends? Seems like you'd have to do some serious twisting of canon for that.

And it seems like you've created a totally believable little fantasy world with tons of potential. I can only hope that the discovery of the other elements will be handled well. But this is epic on the scale and level of Fallout: Equestria so far.

[AnnLies]

Wow, Discord just called the necklace an orphan, is that a Portal 2 reference? I could t help but squeal a little with all of this SCIENCE being thrown around! I just loved reading this part, here they are with NO CLUE of the true value of the object they have somehow gotten ahold of. Genius. Anyways, really loving your interpretations of Luna, Celestia, and Discord in particular. Very believable On the whole, very well written.

Just remember that especially when concerning things of a scientific nature
Ann lies.

[Zweiterversuch]

676510

I totally second this guy.
This little fantastic world is great. It should totally be cannon!

[statoose]

–Discord and I immediately began to play invisible hot potato, with responsibility serving as the potato.
This line made me laugh.

This is probably one of my favorite chapters yet. Made me smile so much.

[EverfreeSparkle]

I love this chapter. Discord is amazing in this!

[FancyFan]

Well that was amazing