Bearers at Ease

by leonidas701

Secret Depths Part 2

-----Are you okay, N?-----

Yeah, I think so.

-----Are You Sure?-----

Yeah. Long as she doesn’t look right at it, I should be fine. Put me back in, Aoc.

-----Okay-----

-----Back Into Twilight’s Memories-----

“This is the Sea of Chaos,” Card said, still in his emotionless monotone. “This is the reason I came here.”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“...What?” Trixie asked, even as her eyes slid back to the boiling chaos. Card tugged on her hair again. “Ow! Stop that!” She smacked at his hoof, to no avail.

“Come on,” Card said as he started backing away, still gripping both mares’ manes. Twilight and Trixie alternated saying “Ow!” for the time that he drug them back across the walkway and into the small room. He briefly let them go as he slid the heavy door closed. The second the door connected with the other side of the wall, Twilight noticed two sudden changes. The constant push she had been feeling towards the Sea had dissipated, replaced with the feeling she had had earlier of forgetting that there was something that needed her urgent attention far, far, away, and Card’s robotic demeanor had immediately vanished and was replaced with the same, broad, undeniably genuine, and yet still incredibly disquieting grin that he had had as they went through the building. Card put his hoof back onto her, along with Trixie, and the feeling of urgency left.

There was a long stretch of time that followed, whole seconds, where the room was crushingly silent, outside of the heavy breathing of the mares as they recalled the intense feeling of power that overwhelmed them as they gazed upon the roiling Sea, bringing with it a great pleasure that felt just barely out of reach. Finally the silence was broken by Card clapping his hooves.

“Right! Questions! I think you both have a lot, you’re very clever fillies, so feel free to ask them!” Card noticed that in order to clap his hooves he had to let go of the mares, and so they were turning towards the door leaving the room. “Uhh, perhaps not here though.” He put a hoof on both of them again and they exited the room, appearing in a cozy room where everything was designed like a citrus of some kind. Card broke his contact with the two mares and sat down on the blood orange love seat, where he looked at them expectantly as he drummed his hoof against his cheek. “Well?”

“...” Twilight was speechless.

“...What… was that?” Trixie asked.

“The Sea of Chaos!” Card said with a grin.

“I got that, but what is it?”

“The reason I’m here!”

Trixie slammed her hoof down. “Damnit, Card!” she yelled. “Stop messing with us! Be serious!”

“Well, this is hardly the right place for it,” he said as he looked at the orange coffee table. “Perhaps we should leave the house.”

They went back through the corridors and exited. When they were out of the manor, Card lost his over-massive grin and sat down, looking as awkward as his friends did for the first time that night. It was there, on the steps of the manor, looking to the ground as his friends towered over him on the grasslands that Card began speaking.

“The Sea of Chaos is… Well it’s…” Card sighed. “How do I phrase this?” he mumbled. “The Sea is the largest concentration of entropy in the world. It is a collection of Chaos, and the source of your magic.”

Twilight started to speak, but Card cut her off with a raised hoof.

“I don’t know exactly how, but it has something to do with your horns converting the pure amorphia into a usable form. You’re starting up sessions with Tron soon, he knows more about it then me. The most important thing is that it. Is. Dangerous. You both remember Luna’s birthday, right? What happened with the moon.”

The two mares nodded.

“Well, that was me.” Card reached into his jacket and pulled out a small pinkish stone. “Using this much pure amorphia I was able to completely destroy the moon. Not break it, not disintegrate it, I made each individual atom into pure energy and then destroyed the energy. And I almost lost it. That’s the reason I’m here, the closer I am to the Sea the easier it is for me to control it, to keep it from escaping its confines. But it’s not that simple.” Card stood up and took off his jacket.

Twilight gasped and flinched her gaze away. His forelegs were the worst, covered with bite marks that all looked like he had put them there himself, some fresh and only just scabbed over, some almost faded, and some that were so deep as to have formed permanent scar tissue. His chest was a little better, some long scratches, and a few bruises, but these looked like they were inflicted by some other pony.

“You both felt it didn’t you?” Card asked.

“Y- yeah.”

“Uh-huh.”

“I feel that all the time. The power, the push, and I have to resist it, because if I give in, the chaos will escape and the world will dissolve.”

“Why are you telling us this?” Trixie asked.

Card sighed. “Because you two are the best friends I’ve ever had. You both deserve to know what it is you’re dealing with.”

“I-- This is a lot to take in.”

“I know. If you feel the need to leave, then I understand. I don’t expect you to have an answer for me right now. Please, tell me when you know for sure.”

“Card…” Twilight tried to think of someway to comfort her friend, but she couldn’t. Her mind was still filled with the Sea, and what it meant. Eventually, she just had to give up. “Good night.”

Trixie echoed her sentiment, and with that the mares exited the forest, leaving Card slumped on the steps cradling his head in his hooves. They parted ways almost immediately after to take some time to think about it.

-----Back to Twilight-----

So, Princess, I don’t know what to do. He’s my friend, and he’s just told me all of his secrets. But, with how dangerous it is, should I tell everypony? They deserve to know that they’re living in on top of… That. I guess if it was so dangerous you would have evacuated long ago, but did you even know? You must’ve, right? I-- I don’t want to leave Ponyville, or Card, or Trixie.

What do I do?

From,

Twilight Sparkle

Twilight rolled up the letter and stuck it in the green flame that Spike had lit for her, sending it directly to Celestia. With that task done, she dragged herself away from her desk and plopped down onto her bed. She was asleep before she hit the sheets, going into a fitful slumber.

Aoc?

-----Yeah?-----

Take me to him.

-----Okay?-----

-----Outside the Manor of Mayhem-----

…

“...”

You pussy.

Card groaned and slumped over even harder. “I know.”

Author's Note:

A/n: To apologize for the half chapter, here’s the rest of it.

Next time: Card’s friends vacations are over and they get ready to get back to work.

The more reviews and comments I get, the faster I make these chapters. I can’t work without encouragement.

Comments

[SageBrony07]

Good job with this chapter. I enjoyed it. I can't wait for Tron to help explain to Twilgiht how magic works. Also I can't wait to see how Rainbow is going to challenge Shade again to a race again.