Friends in High Places

by Wheller

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Surprise and the two clouds of smoke arrived in Canterlot... or at least, what should have been Canterlot, things were... different. The streets were deserted, but it would be better to say that there were no streets at all; rather, they had been replaced with a thick sheet of ice that, despite the warm summer day, showed no signs of melting. Many buildings were rearranged in odd formations, many of them turned upside down and balancing on the roofs.

The grey and black smoke reformed into Zephyr and Maelstrom as they touched down on the ice streets, skidding several dozen metres before being able to stop.

“What am I looking at Maelstrom?” Zephyr asked.

“I tried to tell you... you needed to see it for yourself,” Maelstrom said pointing to a large throne that had been erected in the centre of town.

Sitting on it was a strange creature, looking incredibly bored with his surroundings, it was horribly mismatched, and each of its limbs belonged to something quite different.

“It is... was... father,” Maelstrom said simply.

The mismatched creature took notice of the two unicorns and the Pegasus before him and leaned in on his chair.

“Well, now!” he said simply. “The sons return! And do my eyes deceive me? They’re getting along!”

“We have set aside our feud to deal with... this,” Zephyr said simply.

“Humph, you still haven’t put aside your childish animosity towards each other, you both really should learn to let go, it’ll be the death of you.” Discord hummed cheerfully.

“You are one to talk, creating this mess rather than let go of mother?” Maelstrom snapped.

“Neither of you like my chaos? Not even you Prince Maelstrom? I thought you loved chaos!” the mismatched creature said.

“I create strife so that the strong will survive, and the weak fall by the wayside... this... this... this is just madness, there is no thought behind it! No driving force!” Maelstrom said.

“That’s the point! So says Discord!” Discord said simply. “So sit back! Relax! And wait for the sun to set!”

Several seconds later, the sun went out, only to reignite a few seconds later. Surprise watched around her as reality warped into new shapes every few seconds. She couldn’t handle it, she began to cower in fear, curling herself into a ball and rocking back and forth, covering her eyes from the horror around her. Images like these were not new to her; they had plagued the mare for many years before being allowed modern medication for it. Medication she had not taken since the burning of Dream Valley.

Discord dismounted from his throne, which turned into a chocolate fountain upon his exit. He flashed away in a brilliant light, reappearing next to Surprise.

“Aww what’s the matter? Don’t you like my world?” Discord asked her. Surprise said nothing, continuing to rock back and forth.

“ENOUGH!” Zephyr called out, magically amplifying his voice. “Where are Celestia and Luna?”

“I wouldn’t know; I’ve been too BUSY laying my queen to rest!” Discord snapped angrily at them. “Your sister has taken much from me. Now I’m going to take everything from her!”

“I care not for Celestia,” Zephyr said simply. “She has brought this fate upon herself. All I care about is returning things to a point of order!”

“Well that’s just too bad!” Discord said with bitterness in her voice. “Because I’m not putting it back!”

Zephyr looked into the creature that had been his father’s eyes and snorted loudly. “I think you will. There was always one thing you loved just as much... if not more than mother...”

“You wouldn’t dare!” Discord spat at him.

“Wouldn’t I? Would you really risk it? Father?” Zephyr asked simply.

Discord gave no response. Instead he snapped a talon on his eagle claw for and arm and Canterlot returned to normal.

“Good and you’ll keep it this way?” Zephyr asked.

“Yes...” Discord said reluctantly.

“Very good,” Zephyr turned and began to walk away from the horrific creature. “Come Surprise! We’re leaving! Celestia can clean up her own mess!”

Surprise snapped to attention, discovering that the world had become right again, she quickly took off after her master, skipping gleefully in admiration of how strong he was to have stood up to such a horrific creature.

Maelstrom took off after them. “Brother... you would not have... surely not...?”

“My advice, Maelstrom?” Zephyr said quickly interrupting him. “Don’t test my conviction.”

...

The long road winded along, it would not breaking off for nearly fifty more kilometres, leaving Zecora to be annoyed by an increasingly drunk Vinyl Scratch for what seemed like endless hours. Fortunately, by the time Vinyl Scratch had downed the third bottle of vodka, she was too drunk to stay conscious and Octavia loaded her into one of the equipment carts. Finally! Some peace!

“I am SO sorry!” Octavia said, apologising for her friend’s behaviour. “I wish I could say she isn’t ordinarily like this... but that’s just not true.” Octavia let out a loud sigh, her friend had been nothing but an embarrassment for her since she’d become a DJ.

“One must wonder. Why the two of you do not sunder?” Zecora asked.

Octavia sighed again. “She needs me, otherwise there would be no one to pick her up and take her home after she’s gotten too drunk to stand. No one to make sure she doesn’t choke on her own vomit. No one to make sure she didn’t overdose in the washroom; she’d die if it weren’t for me. I can’t have that on my conscious.”

Zecora listened to Octavia intently, noticing that the grey earth pony had tears forming in her eyes.

“It looks to me, that you need her as much as she,” Zecora said.

Octavia broke down into a small chuckle, as the tears continued to roll down her face. “Oh who am I kidding? I love that stupid filly!” Octavia looked back at the two road crew ponies carrying the carts filled with Vinyl’s equipment, and now Vinyl herself. “Ever since that day we first met, that day in the library, she had every book in the music section piled up around her. I couldn’t help but notice her, and I thought to myself ‘Octavia, there’s a mare who knows what’s good in the world.’”

“She does not know, because you keep her going to and fro?” Zecora asked.

Octavia nodded. “I love Vinyl so much... and that’s why we can’t be together, she’s an awful friend, and she’d be a worse lover. My heart couldn’t take it. She doesn’t realise how much what she does hurts me.”

Octavia had broken down into full on sobbing now. Zecora too could not help but feel melancholy alongside the mare. Love, as she had learned was a complicated matter, but it was something that Octavia had already known for years.

“I’m... sorry,” Octavia managed between sniffles. “It... feels good to talk about this with someone. I don’t have any other friends except Vinyl, and I can’t exactly talk to her about it.”

“I imagine not, she seems too immature for such a trot,” Zecora mused.

Octavia couldn’t help but chuckle. “That’s got to at least make the finals at an understatement of the year contest.”

Octavia glanced back at the carts where Vinyl was sleeping. “I’m worried about her, one of these days, she’s going to do something that I can’t overlook, something that I won’t be able to forgive, and then what happens to her?”

“The future remains unseen. Its knowledge not meant for us to gleam,” Zecora said simply.

“You know, you could write one of those self-help books with that stuff,” Octavia said with a chuckle. “Thank you, Zecora.”

“You are welcome,” Zecora said with a smile.

...

They came to a fork in the road, the caravan would be veering to the right, and Zecora would be going left.

“Goodbye Zecora,” Octavia waved with a smile.

“Farewell,” Zecora said, and watched as the caravan drove onwards, she caught a glimpse of Vinyl Scratch sleeping soundly in the back. “Violent I maybe not, though should I see her again... she will be taught.”

Octavia chuckled. “She’ll probably deserve it too,” she bid her final goodbye to the zebra, and raced off to catch up with the caravan.

Zecora turned and trotted onwards, turning towards the northwest, and onwards towards the future.

“Life is but a dream, especially for the one you hold in such esteem,” Zecora mused about Octavia and Vinyl Scratch’s relationship, she couldn’t help but feel a pang in her own heart as thoughts about Cherries Jubilee came to the surface.

She missed her terribly, and it hurt her to know that soon Octavia too would be feeling such a loss. They could not help that the ones that they loved could never stay.

Comments

[Wheller]

18394

Spoilers.

[Wheller]

18394

Well, I will answer one thing, Pinkie Pie and Surprise are in no way related whatsoever. It's impossible, because the three mane races (see what I did there?) cannot interbreed with each other, because they're three different species. If unicorns and pegasi could interbreed for example, we'd see a lot more alicorns running around. Alicorns are impossible creatures, unnatural forms taken by those in authority to establish that they have authority.

My view on this isn't exactly the most popular one, but it is the one that scientifically makes the most sense.

[Starcat5]

18399
Well duh, Miss Riversong. I was speculating. Starting up a conversation with the other readers, as it were. And it looks like said speculation could go eather way right now. I'm really, REALLY rooting for the Samual Clemins (sp?) (Mark Twain) reunion between Octavia and Scratch. Touching, yet bittersweet. Especially if Octavia was still in love with Scratch, while Scratch is now in an exclusive relationship with a working mother.

...also, I REALLY hope Derpy and Ditty aren't around when Zecora DOES kick Scratch in the face. Becouse I realy, REALLY want to see Zecora kick Scratch in the face. Does that make me a bad person?

And once again, I have nothing to add on the Suprise side of this. Maybe next update.

[Starcat5]

18428
I ment the "Riversong" jab in jest, but upon rereading it, I seem to come off annoyed. Please take it with a grain of salt.

[Wheller]

18428

Vinyl Scratch and Zecora will be meeting again, and there will be kicking.

[Starcat5]

18408
I prefer to think of them as different breeds rather than different species, personally, but that is in relation with the show. Your story, your rules. Also, since Faust said the Princesses hold traits from all three breeds of Pony, my personal head canon makes a distinction between Alicorns and Winged Unicorns. One needs all three to use the term. I also like to think that Fluttershy has Earth Pony ancestery as well, if only as a nod to G1, and an explnation for her weak flying and choice of profetion.

[Apocalypse Pony]

18446

Oh lawdy lawdy

[DreadedCandiru2]

18408
That rule also comes into play when talking about a postal worker of the Pegasus race and her Unicorn foster child. That being said, I'm a lot more worried about what Zephyr was going to do to Aithir that put the fear of Faust in him than I am about who's related to whom.

[Kamineigh]

18408

Yo dawg, the Zedonk spits in your face.

And there's also that hybrids can happen on four levels.

Intra-specific: Between subspecies. Example given: Dingoes and Domesticated Dogs having pups.
Interspecific: Between species. Examples given: Mules, Hinnies, Zorses, Zedonks, Zonies, Liger, Tions, et cetera.
Intergeneric: Bedtween different genuses. Example given: Cama(Llama ana camel)
Interfamilial: Between different families. Exapmle given: Between guineafowls.

No known interordinal hybrids are known, at least in animals. I have no idea about plants, fungi, or the others.