Rez: Eqstr[Tera]

by NiGHTcapD

10: Accompaniment

It's time to put my knowledge of this world to the ultimate test.

But first, a recap: I went downstairs to relax and have lunch. I thought that I was in the clear, that Discord had been successfully sealed. Boy was I in for a rude awakening.

In the middle of my sandwich, I recieved a call. From Celestia. Apparently, Discord had escaped his weakened seal. Not content with simply freedom, he had frozen the "Elements of Harmony" and several other ponies in place, and was in the process of Discording "everypony" else. No one currently there could do anything about it, and I was apparently their last hope to even do something about it.

I scarfed the sandwich and ran back to my computer, where I immediately logged back in and set "travelling" to you-know-where. It took five minutes of waiting at the layer for Celestia to let me through, after which point I wasted no time in darting off to locate these "Elements", because apparently they're the only things that could stop Discord.

Along the way, I saw the full extent of Discord's power. Not only was he now not constricted to a box and what he created within it, he was distorting any and all objects that were already there. I haven't seen it in action yet, but the effects lingered.

I also saw what it meant to be "Discorded". Every...pony...was either terrified, panicking, or yelling at anyone who came close-myself included. A handful of them even blamed me, saying that I either something created by Discord or Discord himself in disguise. I tried to explain that I was there to stop Discord, but they brushed me off, so I brushed them off. No point trying to make something understand something it can't comprehend.

"Rez?"

I recognized that voice. It was the first voice I heard in this world. "Twilight!? Where are you and what are you doing..." My avatar turned a corner, went through a gate, and was now presenting me with an image of six ponies, scattered in various places around a courtyard, all frozen in place like statues up to the neck. Speaking of the neck, five of them had some sort of necklace around it, each with a different shaped (and colored) crystal in front. Twilight was wearing some form of tiara instead, with its own gem in front. "...here...?"

"We came here to try and reseal Discord, but he broke out before we could fully charge the elements, and then he-"

"-escaped, yes yes I know already. I saw the carnage from a mile away. But I didn't expect you guys here!" I scanned the six of them, getting their names. Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Twilight Sparkle herself. I then located the offending code keeping them locked in place-and found that, just like Discord himself, his magic is in constant flux. "And apparently, I can't do jack shit about it..."

"Having fun yet?"

Which brings me to right now. I just turned around to find one angry..."draconequus" staring at my avatar, which meant that my screen had a faceful of face. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, no no." I clear my throat. "No, not exactly. Perhaps you have an alternative definition I'm not aware of?"

"I don't think so. Why are you always so keen on defining things?"

"Spend your whole life-or even just one year of it-programming, and tell me truthfully that you're not keen on defining things. It cuts down the time bugfixing-" Note to self: or anything, really "-when you know exactly what everything is supposed to do."

"Naw. It's so much better making things do what they're not supposed to do."

"To the point that WD-40 and duct tape aren't enough," I mutter under my breath.

"Did you say something?"

"Did you hear something?" He shakes his head. "Then no."

He growls at me. "I'm getting sick of your logic. Can't you take a bit of chaos?"

"Oh, I can take chaos. 'Chaos theory studies the behavior of dynamical systems that are highly sensitive to initial conditions—a response popularly referred to as the butterfly effect.'" In the middle of that explanation, I hear Twilight's ears perk up at that. Always a lover of knowledge, I suppose. I pan 180 degrees, and see that the cyan one...Rainbow Dash, I think...is rolling her eyes, and when I finish, she mutters "Egghead." I want to say something about eggheads being the ones to change the world, but I instead make a note of it and turn back to Discord. "It's randomness I'm worried about, but so far, I've mostly been seeing pseudorandom patterns. Not true randomness."

"Well I never...!"

"Which is disappointing, because you have no decipherable algorithm! You'd expect to see less order in the universe, but you even break entropy!" I'm milking this for all it's worth, because I don't think I'll ever get an opportunity like this. "You violate the fundamental laws of the universe, your code is messed up on the fundamental level-and yet you not only have patterns, preferences..." I look around at the six ponies, all watching, "...you have a fundamental weakness."

"Weaknesses don't matter when no one can use them!" He makes a table and slams it, before flipping it off to the side. "I've had enough of you. Consider yourself Discorded."

I smirk. "I'd like to see you try."

He then dons a huge grin, which honestly creeps me out. "You're blind, and you hide your disability behind musical ability, which you wouldn't have had if you weren't blind."

"Don't listen to him!"

"Quiet, hillfilly. As I was saying...you hide behind your computer-and your logic-because you can't make sense of the real world. You do bad things to others with computers, just because you can, and justify it by saying it's your 'occupation'."

"Bullcrap."

"You hacked into Eden to fix her while she was long past broken of mind. You beat her back into shape when she wanted to stop. You were told the past and future, and you're angry that you can't change it. And to top it all off..." ...the six friends are staring at us in fear and awe... "...your so-called enlightenment was a fluke!"

I am absolutely horrified he could even go there. "...take it back."

He sneers. "No."

"Then I'll make you take it back, because it's my turn."

Suddenly, he's up in my face. "No, it isn't. Enough of your logic, it doesn't work on me and you know it. I have no more use for you-" He then holds up a finger to my avatar's forehead "-but I may be able to make use of your proxy."

I try to move away, as my silver avatar loses its sheen, becoming a dull gray and succumbing to gravity (and ragdoll physics). But I can't do anything to stop it. Even access to the source code is-"Locked out? What the hell?!" The gray man is lying motionless on the stone walkway as the ponies look on, pulsating as usual while Discord examines-

Wait, pulsating? But it's not moving, not even a bit! But I'm definitely hearing beats...

"The only thing I'm not locked out of is camera control, and it's in third person..." I proceed to pan the camera until the pulsations sound the loudest.

I'm looking right at the six ponies wearing jewelry. And the crystals are flashing, subtly, at a familiar tempo. "They picked up the beat. How did they..." And then I hear a soft set of tones.

"Are you saying something?"

"What?"

"I'm pretty sure I heard you talking."

"Come again, please."

"I said, I'm pretty sure I-"

"Shh! I'm not talking to you!"

Discord is taken aback. "But there's no one else here!"

I'm not fully confused, but I don't completely know what's happening. "Can't you hear it?"

He puts a paw to an ear. "No sounds, anywhere. Except for panic, which isn't here just yet. Would you like me to-"

"Can anypony else hear it?"

"What are you talking about?" asks Twilight. "Discord's right, there's no pony here but us, and none of us are-"

"Shh!" She stops talking. "They're speaking to me..."

A full minute of silence, as the seven of them try to wrap their heads around my words. Sixty long seconds.

Which is more than long enough for a power that knows what it's doing to not only teach me, but tell me everything I have to do.

"Enough of this game. I've got things to do, and I'd like to see how your virtual you holds up to-" I mute outgoing communication and tune him out. I open the source code and enable vocal commands.

I recall a song.

"Professional evil fell in love with me, on the day my pure heart died," I murmur. "It fell apart in the blink of an eye when I refused to satisfy."

If harmony can weaken Discord, it can loosen his magic.

"I've seen tons of horses angry and remorseless, but we do not think the same; and yet it's due to my problems that we're all in this deep-so I need to fight the stain!"

Control immediately unlocks, and I waste no time. In 10 seconds, my avatar is floating again, silver again, pulsating again-and my thought process has never felt so complete. Correction: make that once before. I set my optics to display first person, before staring a shocked Discord down.

"You know, I've always hated those that don't understand. Not just those who can't: those who won't. If someone makes a point, I'll give it a fair chance, and only dismiss it if it's completely wrong. When I try to get a point across, I expect the listener to make an honest effort to comprehend it." All in the area are just staring at me, in either awe or nervousness, as I speak with a calm, collected demeanor-one that they haven't seen from me before. "But when someone won't listen, won't give anyone else's ideas a fair chance-I can't feel sorry for them."

"What are you talking ab-"

"Evolution. I understand evolution better than almost anyone else on this planet-take your pick, it probably doesn't matter."

A scoff. "What about evolution?"

I don't change my tone. "Ages ago, life was born in the primitive sea. Young life forms constantly evolved in order to survive. Some prospered, some did not, all sorts of life ebbed and flowed like the tide." Breathe. "In the quiet rhythm of the mother sea, life grew, always seeking to survive and flourish. Soon life began the advance towards land, opening new habitats." Breathe. "A great prosperity came, as life conquered even the highest mountains. Mass extinctions came wave after wave, but empty niches always quickly refilled, to once again prosper, grow, and reproduce."

"We get it, we get it! But what's this have to do with me?"

I ignore him. "Survival and reproduction have always been easier when animals work in groups. On my planet, the most intelligent species has always been homo sapien-humanity-ever since it first evolved. During which, we invented tools...clothes...language. Allowing us to communicate, to understand each other in a perfect way." Discord tries to escape the lecture, but I force him into the ground with a velocity-altering laser, marking my first public use of "magic". Without missing a beat, I continue. "This made working in groups easier. This made reproduction easier. This...made friendship possible."

I move towards the downed dracon, who just pushed his face back off the stone. "Which brings us back to you. Your brain isn't hardwired by nature, as you act on more than basic instincts. And it's obvious that you don't need any nurture, which is all but required for those that have evolved to sufficient intelligence. Oh, but you didn't evolve, did you? You just...appeared. But without a proper understanding of yourself and others, you never learned principles that are basic and essential to all other organisms of any comparison. And you never bothered to try."

"And I've never needed to!"

"Until you were beaten, beaten by something you could not hope to comprehend, because you never tried. When randomness slows down, becomes more orderly, patterns develop-and yours just happens to be stone."

Discord reels back. "What are you-?"

"I know how this works. And I understand why it works. The elements evolved with the species, singular and plural, capable of utilizing them-the species intelligent enough, along with those responsible for their creation in the first place. On the small scale, things like order, love, and friendship seem so simple-they work because our brains work that way. They make the moral 'Together, we can do things nothing could accomplish alone'. The traits the elements are based on pull from this view."

I let the six that actually get it catch up before I continue. "I see things differently. I understand these traits as being essential to teamwork, which derives directly from the most basic principle in evolution-the one that defines evolution in the first place-the will to survive!"

"You've lost me..."

"Of course I have. Remember? You didn't evolve for learning! Even if I tried, I couldn't make you understand. You're hardwired not to be able to understand!" Beat. "Which is where I come in."

Everyone exchanges glances. The ponies are confused, and Discord is beginning to look scared as to where I might take it.

"Let me break it down for you, on my level. Element, defined mathematically, is one of an amount of objects that make up a set. Harmony, defined musically, is a set of simultaneous notes or chords that sound pleasing to the ear. Strictly speaking, a note is an element of a harmony." At least a few of them get it. "And then there's harmony as in peace. As in getting along. An element of that would be a positive trait, positive for the user and those about it. You know what I'm referring to." I have the avatar gesture to the six frozen horses. "Speaking of which..." as I proceed to successfully decode the freeze that had been causing me trouble not fifteen minutes before! Discord's face suddenly morphs into one of terror as he observes the hack, which continues as I continue the lecture. "But if composed in the right way, a beautiful piece of music can always have room for one more instrument."

"Impossible. There's only six elements of harmony! Plus, you're not even physically here!" He attempts to attack, but I shut him down before he can even start, noting that his code fluctuations are beginning to lose tempo.

"Do you know what I do for a living? I hack things. I change settings. I share heavily guarded information for the good of those I care about. All of which takes not only intelligence, but understanding. And I think I've proven to you that I understand more than just computers. I'm hardwired to learn, to understand, to apply that knowledge. Hardwired for a positive trait, and my affinity for music makes me fit that much better here. And I'm even capable of a higher mindset-understanding the world around me to a higher degree than you can imagine: enlightenment. First time, it was bestowed by Eden, who helped me so that I could save her from herself."

"Ugh, and what does this have to do with the elements?"

"Guess where my second enlightenment came from."

Silence.

None of them make a sound, and neither do I.

Then they all realize what I just said. "WHAT?"

"You heard me. Shall I spell it out for you all, one last time?"

"Sure," says Twilight, giving me a look that says I just got a handle on everything you've been saying, and I like it. "Let's hear it once more."

"I am Rez, and I am a hacker. I am able to understand information and points of view and can aid others in understanding. I have been informed about the necessary history and knowledge of this world by the Elements of Harmony, using audio cues that are second nature to me, given my background. My capacity for understanding was-correction: is-temporarily increased by the very same. I am no element myself, but I am a suitable...accompaniment, to use music terminology once again. And I know that when sufficiently intelligent beings understand each other, and apply that knowledge...that's when the magic happens."

The six "element bearers" have moved, and are now in a pentagonal pyramid around me (Rainbow Dash is the only one of them not on the ground), all of us facing Discord, who is beginning to panic. "I am Enlightened Rez, representation of understanding, optional seventh Element of Harmony. And as it stands, you go against everything we stand for. You can't understand harmony. You refuse to try friendship. And because of that, I can't feel sorry for what's about to happen to you."

As soon as I finished speaking, the six ponies began to float up. I remained silent as five beams as Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Loyalty, and Generosity shot around my avatar into Twilight's tiara. From it, a beam of pure magic then arced backwards into the pulsating silver man that represented me.

"But...you're not their friend! You haven't met them all before!"

"I can be friendly to strangers. After that, the effort necessary until they're not strangers anymore?"

Overdrive Uploaded

Updating Schematics

In that instant, my heart skips a beat, my brain pulls a soft reset, and my instincts have never been clearer. The instant those words show up in my feed, I ensure the reticle is firmly on Discord, then hit the key. "It's negligible."

Discord is immediately assaulted with lasers. Auto-locking property-changing homing lasers. One after the other, at a constant rate of 32 per second. Each one is imbued with the magic of harmony, slowing his internal chaos until he begins to petrify. All to the sound of a familiar "rising groan".

When it runs out, the six of them are all on the ground. Discord is back as a statue, the way he belongs. And although I didn't physically do anything, I still feel drained.

"Did...did we do it?"

I don't even need to look to know that Pinkie was the one who said it.

"Yeah. He's...he's stone again." Twilight.

"That...was awesome." Rainbow.

"Are we done yet?" Me. "Seriously, I need to go and do something mindless. I need..." They all stare at me, waiting for me to finish my thought. "I need to play a freaking game. Sorry I'm not staying here and celebrating with you guys, but I've spent literally the whole day up to now dealing with that devil. I've had enough dissonance for one life...lemme check the time, yeah it's about that time...and I need, a freaking, break." I hyperventilate for a few seconds, before slowly bringing my breathing to a normal level. "Sorry guys. I'll see you tomorrow if I can, but right now I need to pretend this whole shenanigan never occurred."

The shenanigan that I inadvertently caused by not logging off to take a call. I'll have to learn from that mistake, but it will be hard to forget that this incident is technically on my head.

This was definitely an experience, and I (and they) learned a lot about a lot, including a new possible method of enlightenment (which is a high I am down from at this point, by the way). But I'd rather not have that experience again. Plus the fact that I'm probably going to have my voicemail spammed by Celestia, who may be demanding explanations, or trying to get a hold of me for a proper thank you. I'm looking forward to neither.

My thoughts turn to a television that I haven't used in a while. I begin to wonder what's on channel 5.

I log out.

Author's Note:

Chaos theory quote courtesy of Wikipedia.
Mercy, by TV on the Radio.
I admit that I may have gone a bit overboard with the rant, but my own mindset forces me to explain things in great detail (or have them explained to me) until I'm absolutely sure that both parties understand completely. So yeah, I kind of got lost in the writing. I also admit that the quality of writing (but not of information) may have dropped off near the end...but I was more interested in the massive info dump. I apologize for this. If you think you can help make it a bit cleaner, drop me a line.
First doorstopper chapter complete. Until next time, good lives to you all.

Comments

[acmincorporated]

this fic is awesome keep up the good work.

[NiGHTcapD]

5085898 Gladly!