Summer Sun, Dawning Chaos

by CTVulpin

Act I, Scene 8: Resolutions and Forebodings

Once the Pie Pipers had started playing and the parasprites began making their way out of town in an orderly fashion, the atmosphere in the town square lightened considerably. Once they were sure that things were under control, ponies began emerging from their homes and stores and taking stock of the situation. Every flower pot, garden plot, and improperly covered cart had been relieved of their vegetative contents, but it seemed as if everything inside the buildings had been spared. Princess Luna, still maintaining her disguise as the unicorn Stella Moon, had been going non-stop lending her magic to the efforts of keeping parasprites away from windows and alleyways and now that the immediate crisis was resolving itself, she finally allowed herself to acknowledge how tired she was as she waded through the bouncing parasprite procession toward the pavilion. She found Ashen Blaze relaxing with his front legs crossed on the railing of the veranda, his head nodding slightly in time with the music that was fading away toward the distant Everfree Forest.

“Impressively handled Princess,” Ash said, smiling at her.

“Nix,” the disguised alicorn hissed at him, “call me Stella.” Ash gave her a slight frown and dropped down to all fours.

“Can we talk?” he asked, walking over to the steps and hopping down to the street, “We can go somewhere more private.”

“Do you intend to lecture me?” Luna asked, walking over to him just to be able to keep her voice low, “I do not need to explain myself to you, nor do I care your opinion on this matter.”

“What matter?” Ash asked pointedly, “Your fear of your own subjects?” He began to walk away, counting backward from five under his breath as Luna gaped at him. When he reached two, he was suddenly hefted off the ground by magic and spun around to face the angry glare of the disguised princess. Stunned to silence by his miscalculation, he could only stare blankly back at her. Luna’s horn flared brighter and the two teleported to the outskirts of Ponyville, where she let the ash-grey unicorn drop back to the ground.

“I do not fear my subjects Ashen Blaze,” Luna said sharply, “If anything, they still harbor fear of me. I have come a long way in gaining the trust and respect of all ponies in the year since I escaped my prison, but it has only been one year. It is hardly appropriate for me to take part openly in the very holiday I nearly ruined.”

“I recall hearing you took a much different approach on your first Nightmare Night,” Ash said flatly.

“Nightmare Night is different,” Luna retorted, “My intention was to separate myself from the absurdly fanciful version of Nightmare Moon that stands at that holiday’s core. I cannot separate myself from the reality that was the previous Summer Sun Celebration. Not yet.” Ash’s head tilted slightly as he regarded the Princess critically, and Luna returned the look in full. The sound of approaching hooves distracted Ash from formulating a new argument and the two ponies turned to look as the hoof-steps accelerated from a walk to a fast trot. A silvery-maned, azure unicorn wearing a purple cape was heading toward them, a look of pleased surprise on her face. Three other ponies – a mustard-yellow earth pony, a caramel-cream pegasus, and an anxious-looking young sea-green earth pony – were following her at a slower pace.

“Fancy meeting you here, ‘Stella Moon,’” Trixie said, coming to a stop and giving the disguised princess a conspiratorial wink.

“I could say the same for you,” Luna replied, “How are you faring Trixie?”

“Trixie is doing wonderfully,” the showmare declared grandly, and then finally noticed Ash. “Ah, Ashen Blaze, right?” she asked. Ash simply nodded and Trixie bowed her head thankfully to him, saying, “I don’t recall if I ever thanked you for the advice you gave me when we first met.”

“Life is always easier when one is true to oneself,” Ash responded, giving Luna another hard look.

“Stop being difficult Ashen Blaze,” the disguised princess snapped, “I was under the impression that you were supposed to be relaxing and enjoying yourself today.”

“I intended to,” Ash said coolly, “but then the parasprites happened and-”

“And that situation is now under control,” Luna cut him off, “Go back to your business and leave me to mine.” Ash glowered and started walking into town, muttering darkly under his breath. “My apologies Trixie,” Luna said to the showmare, “He has his good points, but sometimes…” She shook her head and then looked over at Trixie’s friends as they approached. “Won’t you introduce me to your friends?” she asked.

“With pleasure, Stella,” Trixie answered with a knowing smile. Just as she raised a hoof to point to Harlequin, however, a thunderous boom drew all attention to the direction of the Everfree Forest. Jaws dropped as a thick column made entirely of parasprites -- or at least parasprite-colored dots – shot up into the sky and began arcing toward the town, only to be overtaken by a rapidly expanding dome of rainbow magic a few seconds later. The rainbow washed through Ponyville like a tidal wave, and as it passed over Luna she recognized the familiar warmth of the Elements of Harmony powering it, and then realized it was threatening to dissolve her Stella Moon disguise. As soon as the wave had passed her completely by, she re-set the illusion and looked around to see if anypony had noticed – namely Trixie’s companions. They were all staring dumbstruck in the direction the Element blast had originated from, Trixie included.

“What was that?” a small, nervous voice asked. Luna glanced over at Trixie’s group and saw the sea-green mare freezing up under the attention that was suddenly being turned on her.

“That was the Elements of Harmony at work,” Luna said, trying to make her voice as gentle as possible.

“It took out the parasprites,” Ash called out from down the road. Luna looked up and saw that, sure enough, the swarm that had risen from beyond the town was nowhere to be seen. “You lot can do what you want,” the ash-grey unicorn said, “but I’m going to see how the strike team is faring.” He resumed taking his leave, galloping down the road.

“What’s he going on about?” Harlequin asked dubiously.

“Follow me and I’ll explain on the way good sir,” Luna said.

---

Ash, with “Stella Moon” and Trixie’s company not too far behind him, arrived at Fluttershy’s cottage to find a scene of happy exhaustion. The bearers of the Elements of Harmony were gathered around a table set up in the shade of a tree talking in low tones while Spike and Angel Bunny brought out a tea service. Soul Mage and the female Order-naries were lying on the ground on the other side of the tree, all three seemingly asleep until Soul looked up to see who was arriving. “Geez Soul,” Ash said as the golden-yellow unicorn stood up and walked over to him, “you guys look like you’ve all done a round or two of Uther-tier training.”

“I wouldn’t compare it to that,” Soul said, “but it certainly wasn’t fun. Hey there Stella, Trixie, other ponies I don’t recognize. I suspect you all want to hear our tale.”

“Yes,” Trixie said, “How is it that we did not encounter a single one of those… bugs on our way over here?”

“And why was there a parasprite mushroom cloud just before the Elements went off?” Ash asked.

“Discord was definitely responsible for that fountain of grapes existing,” Twilight said in answer, “all the parasprites that were produced from eating the grapes had traces of his power in them, and they tried to physically block us from reaching their source.”

“They couldn’t stop us for long though,” Rainbow Dash said, “between my awesome flying and Heart and Soul using their weird powers, we cut a path straight through to the fountain.”

“Heh,” Applejack said, giving the smug pegasus a sidelong look, “Way I saw it, you were spending more time keeping those ‘sprites from using you like a playground than anythin’ else.”

“I was distracting them,” Rainbow replied smoothly before pouring herself some tea.

“The parasprites weren’t too keen on coming into contact with our spirit power,” Soul said, picking up the tale, “So Heart and I figured if we cut the fountain with an Element Wheel it would at least slow down the grape production and buy the girls some breathing room to charge the Elements.”

“Bad idea?” Ash asked, quirking an eyebrow.

“You have no idea,” Soul said flatly, “Actually, you saw what happened. They probably saw what happened all the way out beyond Canterlot. The fountain stopped making grapes as soon as the Element Wheel sliced through it and exploded with chaos-charged parasprites instead.”

“It was simply terrifying,” Rarity said with a shudder, “We were fortunate enough that Twilight kept her head long enough to start focusing the Elements, and of course once that started everything was under control.”

“Universal reset buttons. Gotta love them,” Soul said wryly, “Anyway, I’m tired, Heart’s out like a light, Gale’s worn out from hunting after you all day on top of wandering through the woods, one of Pinkie’s sisters is returning the instruments while the other one’s inside fixing snacks, Zecora’s gone to check on her home, and I think we’re just going to crash here until the parties start up in a few hours.”

“How’s Ponyville?” Pinkie asked as Soul walked back to his napping spot.

“Intact,” Ash said simply.

“Sugar Cube Corner?” the party pony pressed grimly.

“Its defenses held and its edible contents remain un-gobbled,” Stella said. Pinkie brightened up considerably and downed her tea in a single gulp before dashing away.

“I better go see what the damage is at the farm,” Applejack said, stepping away from the table, “I’m trusting that the orchard survived, but we’re probably gonna be a mite short with our food offerings this evening.”

“I don’t think anypony will mind so long as there is food,” Twilight said, smiling, “See you at the library?”

“Eyup,” AJ said, winking over her shoulder as she walked away, “just make sure yer the last one ta show up Twi.”

“What does she mean by that?” Trixie asked, “You live in the library Twilight; why would others be gathering there without you around?”

“I’ve been in Ponyville for exactly one year now Trixie,” Twilight explained, “And since I kinda skipped out on the surprise ‘Welcome to Town’ party, Pinkie’s recreating it this year, including springing the ‘surprise’ on me when I go home. You and your friends can show up if you want to Trixie. You too, uh…” She gave the disguised princess a questioning look.

“Stella Moon,” the tall pony said, “and I think I would enjoy that.”

“Wonderful,” Twilight said, clapping happily, “I’ll show up to kick things off around sunset. Now I just need to keep myself busy until then…”

---

Luna was amazed at how well Ponyville cleaned itself up. It had been only an hour or so since the Parasprites had been removed and as the disguised princess wandered around the town square she could see no signs that the ravenous fur-balls had ever been there. Heart and Soul, and Gale as well, were still napping at Fluttershy’s house, so Luna was more or less on her own for the moment. Ashen Blaze had tried to follow and confront her about her disguise again, but after she temporarily turned his mouth into a zipper he took the hint and left her alone. She had considered attaching herself to Trixie’s group, but the way young Cabbage Patch fearfully avoided her gaze reminded Luna too strongly of the weeks just after she’d been freed of the Nightmare. Thus Luna, disguised as a dark lavender unicorn in order to blend in with the normal ponies, was wandering the town with only her thoughts for company.

With a sigh, she looked up at the late-afternoon sun, calculating the time until sunset and wondering what Celestia was doing at the moment. Depending on her mood and how the Fillydelphia ponies carried themselves, Luna suspected her sister would either be having some subtle fun with the city leaders or simply making herself scarce until the dawn. I wouldn’t put it past her to be stealing my idea of hiding as a normal pony, to be honest, she thought, she loves being able to connect with our subjects. Must come naturally for being the ruler of the day… She shook her head firmly, dismissing that train of thought. It was innocent enough, but it had been thoughts such as that which had led Luna to embrace the Nightmare Moon persona.

“Excuse me.” Luna gave a start at the voice that had come from her right and she looked down to see a purplish-grey earth pony with a light grey mane and tail and a lapis lazuli cutie mark. “Forgive me if I’m interrupting anything Princess,” she said, “but you have the look of a pony in need of company.”

“I’m afraid you must be confused,” Luna said, “I am just an average unicorn.”

“Your disguise is exceptional,” the earth pony said conversationally, “It would fool most ponies, I‘m sure, but you can’t hide your true aura. Not from my sight anyway.”

Luna regarded the pony appraisingly for a moment before responding. “You are one of Pinkie Pie’s sisters,” she said, “Shoo Fly I believe she called you?”

“Susan Fidelity Pie at your service,” Susan said, bowing, “My real talent is for the many applications of rock farming, but my reputation for sensing auras seems to be overtaking it lately. Might I ask why you are hiding yourself? Especially with tomorrow being what it is…”

“That is precisely why Susan Pie,” Luna answered, “Tomorrow is a celebration of Celestia’s gift of sunlight to Equestria, and I wish to experience it as it was intended, without my presence causing any disruption or concern.”

“I see,” Susan said, nodding, “Well, you won’t be getting the experience you want standing around here by yourself. Have you seen the decorations in the pavilion yet?”

“I don’t believe so,” the disguised princess said.

“Neither have I,” Susan said, nodding toward the tall round building, “Let’s do so now, before it becomes crowded with ponies.”

“You don’t need to speak so formally you know,” Luna said as they walked, “So far as the average pony knows, I’m just another visitor. Call me Stella, please.”

“Very well,” Susan said. She let Luna take the lead as they entered the pavilion. Except for the mayor, who was paying unusually close attention to the buffet tables, there were no ponies in the main room to distract from the decorations. Luna tried to keep a smile on her face as she looked at the banners emblazoned with Celestia’s solar cutie mark that hung from the rafters and the general… sunniness of the decorations, but deep inside she couldn’t help but feel some twinges of sadness and envy. Then her eyes fell upon a table set up against the wall underneath one of the balconies on right side of the building and she gasped in surprise and went to get a closer look. Somepony had put a black tablecloth dotted with white and yellow stars over the table and tied bunches of dark blue balloons, each bearing a crescent silver moon, to the legs. Shiny metal stars dangled from the bottom of the balcony, and on the table itself stood a wooden cut-out of what Luna recognized as the Nightmare Night emblem, only painted to resemble her face with a kind expression peering from behind a silver moon. Luna was so enraptured and confused at the sight that she didn’t realize that Susan had come up beside her until the earth pony spoke. “Personally,” she said softly, “I don’t see the Summer Sun Celebration as simply about Princess Celestia raising the sun. She does that every day. It’s a commemoration of the triumph of Harmony over darkness and-” She stopped suddenly and bit her lip, realizing her faux pas a second too late.

“Darkness, anger, and jealousy,” Luna murmured, her eyes fixed on the table in front of her, “And not just once, but twice over… Can I have a moment please? I need to think.”

“Of course,” Susan said, bowing her head briefly and walking away quietly.

---

The sun was just starting to touch the horizon when Twilight Sparkle went home. She stole a glance through the window and smiled when she saw a blur of color duck out of sight. She waited a couple seconds before opening the door with her magic and walking inside. “Oh dear,” she said in obviously fake innocence as she closed the door, “It looks like all my lights went out while I was gone. Let’s see, where’s the lantern?”

She walked four paces toward the center of the room and failed to fight down a smile when the lights flared on and all the ponies gathered around the edge of the room yelled out “Surprise!”

“Oh my,” Twilight said, faking surprise as best she could, “A surprise party? For me? I’m- Ok, I’m sorry, I can’t keep that up,” she finished with a laugh.

“Good enough,” Pinkie Pie said, popping out of the crowd and landing in front of Twilight, “So, what do you really think?”

Twilight looked around, taking in the scene properly for the first time. Unlike the original welcome party where Pinkie had pulled in most of Ponyville, the guest list was composed mostly of those ponies Twilight knew particularly well. There were the five mares who made up the core of her social circle of course, along with Big Macintosh and Apple Bloom, Cheerilee, Lyra, Bon Bon, and Ditzy Doo to name a few. The four Order-naries stood in their own little group near the refreshments, and Trixie with her three companions were in another part of the room, Barnacle keeping a wing around Cabbage Patch while trying to talk her into looking up from the floor. A modest, for Pinkie, amount of streamers and balloons decorated the library, and from the gramophone and stack of records sitting on a table by the stairs Twilight knew there would plenty of dancing involved. “It’s great Pinkie,” she said, “but I have one question: is that hot sauce there by the cupcakes?”

“Yep,” the party pony said, “just like last time.”

“Why…” Twilight began, but then shook her head and said, “Never mind, let’s just get this started.”

“All right!” Pinkie shouted, bouncing over to the gramophone, “You heard her everypony, let’s boogie!” She gave the gramophone a light kick to start it up, but it only spun slowly for a second before stopping again. “Huh,” Pinkie said, giving it close scrutiny, “Give me a sec; I think I forgot to wind it.”

While Pinkie went to work on getting the music going, the party guests started to mingle. As they did so, Twilight took another look around and frowned, realizing that she didn’t see a face she’d been expecting to see. She went over to the refreshment table, where it appeared that Gale was starting to tease Ashen Blaze about something, and got Soul Mage’s attention. “Do you know where Princess Luna is?” the lavender unicorn asked in a whisper.

“I haven’t seen her for a while,” Soul whispered back, “It’s sunset though, so she’s probably getting the moon-raising done with before she comes here.” Twilight nodded and took a cookie from the table before turning away to talk to somepony else. She decided to take another shot at helping Cabbage Patch feel comfortable and went to ask Fluttershy for help. Just as she reached the yellow pegasus, the sun sank completely below the horizon and the lights in the library suddenly dropped, staying just bright enough to see by. Everypony looked around in confusion until one of the guests gasped and pointed out a glowing blue mist sparkling with starlight flying around near the ceiling. It made a few circuits of the room, and the hesitated for a second before flying to the top of the stairs and billowing up. Everypony watched the mist with trepidation, except for the Order-naries, Trixie, and Twilight, who had a fair notion that they knew what was up. With a flare of night-blue wings, the mist dispersed to reveal Princess Luna in all her regal, ethereal-flowing-maned splendor.

“Twilight Sparkle,” she said in a decidedly royal but ear-friendly voice, “We are disappointed your home lacks a proper interior balcony for our dramatic entrance.”

“Um, sorry?” Twilight said, caught between amusement and worry.

“Worry not,” the princess said diplomatically, “it is my own fault not studying the stage before making my plans.” Keeping her wings open, she walked halfway down the stairs as he gaze swept over the party guests, most of whom were shifting uncomfortably as they tried to guess her intentions. Spotting an orange pegasus filly with a purple mane, Luna pointed at her and said, “You there. Tell us, what is thy favorite part of the Summer Sun Celebration?”

“Uh…” Scootaloo said, trying to look as confident as possible, “Oh, that’s easy. Trying to stay up all night so I can watch the sunrise.”

“Is it the sunrise or the staying up that pleases you more?” Luna asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Both?” Scootaloo said after a moment of head-scratching.

Luna chuckled and folded her wings to her sides, shifting to a less intimidating stance. “Fair enough,” she said with mirth, “As the Princess of the Night, I declare this party shall last until sunrise!”

“Woo hoo!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, giving the gramophone a solid kick. The music started up and Luna allowed the lights to rise back up.

“What was the point of all that?” Ash asked, making his way over to Luna.

“It is tradition for a Princess to make a big impression when she enters a room,” Luna said, “especially if she is late and needs to reassure the hostess that she means no disrespect.”

“So you’re dropping the Stella Moon act I take it?” Ash asked.

“Just for now,” Luna said, “The night is my realm, and I should feel no need to hide while the moon travels the sky. Stella will return with the dawn; there’s still plenty of fun I want to have without any royal considerations.”

“Guess I’ll take my victories where I can,” Ash said, rolling his eyes as he walked away. Luna shook her head slightly as she watched him take up a position by the food.

“Come on Princess,” Twilight said, walking up to give her a nudge, “don’t let him get you down. Pinkie will have him smiling as soon as she sees him being a grump.”

“Will it be a true smile though?” Luna mused, but then smiled down at the lavender unicorn. The two climbed down the stairs and joined the party, which did indeed last until the time came to gather for the sunrise.

---

---

Ashen Blaze allowed himself a real smile as he entered the modified storage room located near the center of Canterlot Castle’s first subterranean level. The fuzziness leading up to the Parasprite attack aside, he had to admit that it had been nice to get away from his normal routine and spend time in Ponyville, but the ash-grey unicorn was best satisfied by what most would consider work. Ideally, he’d want to be out searching for and stopping evil and chaos, but Equestria didn’t normally have problems on a scale that warranted his attention. Besides that, his own powers were easily eclipsed by the Elements of Harmony. As a warrior mage living in a relatively peaceful world, Ash had changed his goals to unlocking the secret that limited his ability to use magic, and Princess Celestia had provided him with a workroom in the castle in which to conduct his research. The room he had just entered was not that workroom; rather, it was more of a jail cell for a very dangerous prisoner: Discord.

Although the Dragonequus had been sealed back into stone by the Elements of Harmony and was likely to remain so for a long time, the Princesses had not wanted to take any chances. The petrified spirit had been brought to this room to isolate Discord from the presence of any disharmonious activity, and Ash’s unique perspective and experience with magic had been called upon to examine the seal and gauge its strength. An imperfection had been discovered and exploited once by an unknown agent, and after applying a patch to the imperfection it had become Ash’s duty to take a shift in guarding the statue against the return of the mysterious entity. Outwardly, it was a long, uneventful job, but Ash enjoyed it. Seeing the Spirit of Disharmony trapped in a perpetual pose of shock and disbelief gave the unicorn much pleasure and hope for the cause of Order and Peace.

How ironic it is that he’s being guarded by the same pony who let him have one last game.

“Indeed,” Ash said, and then shot upright from his reclining position against the wall. That thought had not been his own, but he recognized the pitch and rhythm of it. Standing up on all fours, he took a few steps toward the statue and glared up at its face. “How are you speaking again?” he asked, “my patch on the seal was practically perfect.”

You give yourself too much credit Meis Thamule, came the mental reply.

“Do not call me that,” Ash snapped, “You shouldn’t even know that accursed title. Unless… oh, but of course you delved deeper into my thoughts than I would have allowed. Tricky Chaos demons…” He approached the statue and began to walk around it slowly.

Demon? Discord asked, That’s a rather harsh title, don’t you think? I do not kill, nor do I engage in any true malice.

“Oh, that’s seriously debatable,” Ash said, and then shook his head firmly. “Shut up,” he said, “I should not be humoring you with this conversation.”

Just like you shouldn’t have made use of my power, oh, how long ago was it? Time is so hard to keep track of in here. I must say, attempting to increase my prison’s strength after I helped you acquire the ingredients you needed… One would think you were just using me, and for such a petty-

“Yes,” Ash said, beginning a second circuit of the statue, “It would be petty if synthesizing stinim had been my true goal with that ‘arrangement’ of ours. Nope, I just needed to get your energy focused on something besides me and this room so I could patch the seal. Even if you did overstep your bounds and display more power than I thought you could, the game still ended in complete victory for the side of Harmony.” He reared up and placed a hoof on Discord’s tail to get a better look at the upper half of the dragonequus.

And nopony suspected a thing, Discord said in an approving tone, not even Celestia. You are still the perfect little soldier of order in their eyes, one who has done no wrong.

Ash snorted in laughter. “You don’t know me after all Discord,” he said, “The day my fellow Order-naries don’t suspect me of doing something sneaky is the day I suspect mind-control is in effect. What they wouldn’t suspect, however, is that I would ever work alongside the likes of you.”

And should they discover the truth?

“I won’t deny it,” Ash said simply, dropping to the ground and rubbing his chin, “I’m under no obligation to confess to anything I’m not suspected of, but I never lie when questioned directly. Whether the Princesses or the Element Bearers will forgive me is irrelevant.” He transferred his hoof from his chin to the side of his head and gave himself a couple of light smacks. “Skvetchte… Stop talking!” he snapped, whether to himself or Discord, it didn’t matter much. He propped himself up on the statue’s tail again and squinted, sniffing lightly as if trying to catch a scent. Where is it? he thought, I Wove the darn patch, so I ought to be able to sense its location. Why can’t I see- All of a sudden his vision was filled with a tangled web of multi-colored lines and a wave of scents and aromas hit him like a feather pillow to the face. Off guard and overwhelmed by the sensations, Ash stumbled away from Discord on his hind legs and slumped against the back wall of the room. As his mind struggled to adjust, old instincts awakened and fingers that he no longer possessed began to itch to grasp the ephemeral strands and weave them together. Stifling his alarm, the grey unicorn screwed his eyes shut and rubbed at them. It had been far too long since he had been able to sense the flows of magical energy in the world around him and he had given up hope of every being able to do so again, so he had neglected his mental training to screen all but the most important information.

Is there a problem? Discord asked, false concern coloring his thoughts, didn’t you want this?

“Shut up,” Ash hissed, trying to clear his mind. He kept his eyes closed until the sensation of being surrounded by a multitude of random powerful scents faded to a mere background curiosity. There were no actual scents in the room; the sensations were simply one way Ash’s brain interpreted the magical energy near him. The lines of light, which had mostly disappeared when the unicorn finally opened his eyes, were another way, but one that worked at a far shorter range than the scents. Ash shook his head once and looked up at the petrified dragonequus. The magic lines he could still see were focused on the statue, most of them leading to a woven patch of light resting between Discord’s wings, but a few were attached to other points and two linked Ash and Discord. Ash lifted a hoof and passed it through the linking threads, frowning when they didn’t react. “Fully occupied,” he muttered, opening his mind a little to bring more threads into view. They stretched across the room seemingly at random, and those nearest to Ash gave ever-so-slightly when he touched them. “Occupied, but not locally,” he mused, his curiosity rising until he remembered where he was. “What is this?” he asked, glaring at Discord, “This is your doing, but how?”

Have we met? Discord asked sarcastically, I’m-

“Discord, spirit of chaos and disharmony,” Ash deadpanned, “and powerful reality warper. One, however, who is presently locked in stone and supposedly powerless! Stay out of my head.” He reached toward a nearby magic thread, intending to call it to him, but it barely twitched before returning to its resting position. “Skvetch,” Ash swore, “Smart, giving me only the sight and not the means to control the energy. I won’t be playing your game anymore anyway Discord.” He stood up and walked toward the door, plotting out a spell to send a warning flare to one of the Princesses to inform them of a problem with the dragonequus.

Hold on, Discord said when Ash was halfway to the door, What if I told you why your magic doesn’t work right?

“It’s the hooves,” Ash said, “That’s a big part of it anyway. No manual dexterity means slow casting or simplistic weaves. And that’s fine.”

I don’t believe you, the chaos spirit said, and I don’t think you believe you either. I could turn you into something with fingers. You could be a griffon, or maybe a small dragon, or how about… a human?

Despite himself, Ash came to a stop and looked back at the statue. “Impossible,” he said curtly.

Reality warper here, Discord said, must we go over this again?

“It seems we must,” Ash replied, “You. Are. STONE. Sealed, with only enough power to speak to my mind. You’d love it if I had the kind of power you’re offering; I’d cause enough trouble to crack that seal through and through. And there’s only one being in this universe who would want that.” He turned away and began walking to the door again.

What if I told you how to return to your world?

“Nicht goh vet’ciu,” Ash said flatly, “Impossibility absolute. Curious, you know my shameful former name, but in your perusal of my memories, you didn’t learn that world I called home was destroyed by a demon of chaos, Tau’rin? Know the whole story before you start begging for a deal.”

You’ve encountered Tau’rin and survived? Discord asked, sounding genuinely amazed.

“You speak as if you knew him,” Ash said suspiciously.

But of course, Discord said, Chaos is older than most forms of dirt, so for a while all there was was a bunch of spirits of chaos having fun. But then boring old orderliness had to come in and try to interrupt everything. I can’t say I ever liked Tau’rin though, going around with those Gems punching big black craters into planets and trying to be some sort of imperial overlord or something.

“Ok, you’re full of it,” Ash said, rolling his eyes and turning once again toward the door. He paused for a second as he found himself further from it than he remembered being, and then shook his head and said, “Ultimate Chaos destroyed entire universes. My team and I, we felt the fabric of reality tear apart around us every time we got dragged into the next world. Thirteen worlds were lost before we came here to Equestria and finished Tau’rin off.”

So that’s how you got here, Discord mused, and then exclaimed, you killed Tau’rin?

“Luna struck the blow that broke one of the Gems,” Ash said, “but it was thanks to me and the Order-naries that the reaction was kept contained. Scarred the throne room floor, but nothing besides the demon was actually destroyed.”

And this happened… when?

“Before your brief escape,” Ash said simply.

Of course, Discord said, I would have sensed his presence otherwise… Yes, I owe you a favor; if you hadn’t stopped him then, there wouldn’t be any mountain here, no castle, no gardens, and especially no ME! Name-

“There would have been no anything,” Ash said with certainty.

Have you ever seen Ultimate Chaos from the outside Ash? The dragonequus asked.

“I think the answer is obvious.”

Take it from someone who knows, Discord said, Just because reality gets shifted or torn where you are doesn’t mean it’s happening everywhere. Tau’rin’s loss of control over the Gems left a scar that can be seen from space while it shunted him to another universe, but not much more.

The implications were immediately obvious to Ashen Blaze. In a corner of his mind, a voice of reason continued to raise warnings, but it was quickly being drowned out by curiosity and thoughts that had not crossed the mage’s mind in years. “Taryn, the Shadowstar…” Finding himself at the feet of the statue, he looked up at the fear-filled eyes of the petrified spirit. “How can I know you speak truth?” he asked.

I may mince words and speak in riddles, Discord’s thought filled Ash’s mind, but within every phrase is a kernel of truth. Outright lies only weaken you.

“Truth,” Ash said with a nod.

Have you ever taken a close look at where you entered Equestria? Discord asked, While I was free, I noticed a couple of places where reality’s fabric had been torn open. One was above a cottage just outside Ponyville, and the other was deep in the Everfree Forest. I intended to investigate them after I’d settled with the Elements of Harmony, but… Ash smirked. If anything can prove to you that your old home still exists, it will be finding a way to peer through one of those rips.

“If Taryn still stands…” Ash said dreamily, and then sobered and turned away from Discord. “The prospect is inspiring, but don’t start thinking you’ve convinced me. If I pursue this, it will be on my terms.”

Of course, Discord replied as Ash exited the room and closed the door behind him. The threads of power linking the dragonequus to the unicorn disconnected and snapped into a resting position coiling loosely around the statue. Alone in every sense of the word, Discord allowed himself a deep, wicked laugh as the weave of magic between his wings loosened almost imperceptibly.

End of Act I

Comments

[Low-quality memes]

I am reciving an interperetation that shit is about to hit the fan