Psychadelic

by Masterweaver

Of Crusaders And Righteous Images Naturally Atypical

"...and that is how the cosmos decided on my mark," Tree Hugger finished with a lazy smile. "It was, like, a manifestation of destiny forever guiding my way through the song of life, ya'know?"

The three fillies stared up at her, their auras cloudy white with confusion. She noted the splotchy reds forming in the... pegasus, yes, and the unicorn's own purple energies were being consumed by the smog. Unusually, a note of yellow was actually spiraling through the third one's aura--most earth ponies, herself included, would have shimmered with orange, but she did suspect that yellow energy could actually be more efficient in clearing auras--

"Yeeeeeah, alright." The red splotches of the pegasus fed into the cloudiness. "That was... nice I guess, but that doesn't help us at all. Come on, girls."

Tree Hugger frowned as their individual clouds suddenly shimmered into a splotchy blue, all but crushing the other colors into nothingness before returning to the usual mix of shades foals had. One of the caretakers--ah, orange striped with violet, a stable sort--turned to her with an apologetic tone. "Mighty sorry 'bout that miss Tree Hugger. Ah swear, for a lot who desperately want their own marks, they don't even listen to half o' what we tell 'em..."

"They're too in synch," Tree Hugger replied. "When one steps forward, another steps back, and round the circle they go."

"That's... an interesting way to put it. Ah can see what you mean." The other mare looked away, a touch of green marring her appearance as she looked after the foals. "Still, the three of them are the best o' friends..."

Tree Hugger nodded. "Best to keep them in their circle. Split them up, they'll spin who knows where." She shrugged. "One of them will break the cycle eventually, and the circle will become a spiral."

"....what?"

Tree Hugger looked at the faint clouds forming on the orange mare. "A spiral. You know. Spinning and spinning but still going somewhere? Like... stairs, mare." She spun her hoof upward through the air to demonstrate. "Whoosh. Could go up or down, except they're good friends, like you said, so I'm thinking more ascension, yeah?"

The faint clouds brushed around the orange mare, but at the very least they didn't grow. "Ah... see. Are ya sayin' when one of them earns their cutie mark, they'll all start to figure themselves out?"

"They're very lucky to have you," Tree Hugger confirmed with a nod. "You're very orange."

"....riiiiiiight. Well, Ah'm... gonna go get some punch, maybe hobnob. Good talk, miss Hugger." The pony... something Jack she remembered, meandered off into the crowd.

It was always interesting to see how different ponies interacted, how their auras would compliment each other. Even here, with cold tile beneath her hooves, she could sense the faint throb of the universe whispering and flowing through the air, concentrating into little series of knots wherever someone stood. There was a lot of green in this crowd, true, but there was so much variety in the shading and the patterns... they all sang their own variant of a tune of pride, sometimes trying to drown out others, many simply growing pale as they followed the loudest. She had to hide a chuckle at their predictability; the image was beautiful, even if their actions were so... closed.

Of course, not everyone here was closed. Celestia shone, golden as she'd always thought, and with spirals of indigo and violet sometimes interrupted by surprisingly intense bursts of orange and yellow. And there was Fluttershy, of course, the splotches in her green shrinking as she happily lectured some poor pony whose orange was growing duller; she'd have to see if she could find him a good match afterwards, the pegasus was so oblivious. The Smooze happily danced with a twirling bundle of yellow and pink and blue and orange, his own colors a dull but unspoiled rainbow.

And speaking of rainbows...

Tree Hugger let her eyes drift over to the most oddly shaped aura, a twisty line with tangled jolts extending at random intervals in a crowd of minnows swimming on pointed legs. Nopony else seemed to notice the way that the living lightning bolt would sprout an entire network of convoluted limbs, until they all at once pried on the flow of reality and suddenly there was something new, sharing the spectral pattern that danced throughout its creator for the briefest of moments.

It was truly incredible, that pattern. So loose, so free.

"Oh, I'm sorry Tree Hugger." Fluttershy walked up to the earth pony, her green just slightly pale. "I got rather caught up in telling that nice stallion all about my animal friends."

"No worries, Shyfly. I saw how much your vibe was resonating." Tree Hugger briefly considered letting her friend know about the stallion's provocative aura, but decided against it; she'd seen how the poor pony reacted to even brief attention, when it wasn't something she was prepared for.

Fluttershy giggled. "Thanks. I do love it when somepony takes an interest in my own talent."

"It's usually a good thing," Tree Hugger agreed, her eyes drifting back to the spectral show on the dance floor.

"...Discord is a great dancer, don't you think?"

"Hmm?"

"Discord." Fluttershy waved out to the dance floor, where the auras were spinning like madtops. "You're looking right at him."

Tree Hugger tilted her head. "That's... all one thing?"

"...yes. I mean, I know he looks like a mish-mash, but that's the one and only Discord."

"Oh. Was he, like, the same Discord we met in Ponyville?"

Fluttershy's aura was growing yellow splotches. "...Yes, Tree Hugger. He was."

Tree Hugger's eyes widened. That was one creature. One aura. "...Righteous."

"I'm glad you think so. I mean, I really am sorry about how he acted earlier tonight, with the whole portal to another dimension thing--"

"Hey, it's all cool." Tree Hugger turned to Fluttershy with a gentle smile. "Dude felt I was harshing his mellow, cause he didn't know he could harsh his own. He's radically lucky to have a great teachfriend like you." She reached out a hoof to pat her friend.

"Aww... thank you Treezie."

Tree Hugger frowned, patting at Fluttershy again.

"Um... Treezie? What's wrong?"

"Fluttershy... did you know you have, like, feathers on your dress?" Tree Hugger patted at the material again. "There's like a whole wing here, or something."

"Um... that's, um, that's my wing, actually."

The earth pony blinked, patting one more time. "...Wait. You're a pegasus?"

"Um.... yes?"

"...whoa."

"Didn't..." Fluttershy's aura was gaining more yellow splotches by the second. "Didn't you, um, see me flying earlier, when Discord was doing the thing with the portal?"

"Yeah, I thought..." Tree Hugger trailed off. Come to think of it, the grip that Discord's aura had had on Fluttershy's was actually somewhat slack. "I... wasn't thinking," she said slowly. "Because, you know, the portal."

"Oh." Fluttershy's yellow receded with a slow nod. "I... guess that makes sense."

A line of rainbow suddenly spiraled between them, and in less then a second the spectral shifting sensation that was, apparently, Discord had concentrated itself next to the two mares. "My dear Fluttershy, what fun is there in making sense?"

Even his voice was reverberating with color.

"I'd like to make sense of you," Tree Hugger murmured.

"What was that?"

"I said I'd like to talk to you," the earth pony quickly blurted. "I just thought, you know, now that our mellows have been chilled, we could really talk."

Discord... well, she couldn't really get a good read on him, but at the least he sounded surprised. "You did? I mean... Not that I wouldn't like to, but I did threaten to send you to another reality. Granted, a very hospitable one, but--"

"What you did is done," Tree Hugger interrupted. "And nobody can undo what was, not even the princesses... well, I think. But what is is a shifting ocean of possibility, forever taking paths that we never see to what will be."

"That's a delightfully chaotic view to have." Discord bent in half, the waveforms of his face near her. "And here I thought you'd be all about harmony with nature."

Tree Hugger smiled. "Chaos and Order are the twin sides of Harmony."

"What?" The aura twisted, parts of it shifting into other forms. "That doesn't make sense to me."

"Oh, but Discord..." The earth pony's expression grew sly. "What fun is there in making sense?"

At that, Discord actually belted out laughing, curling into the air in a spiral. "Ohohohohohoho! That's something I wasn't expecting at all!" He stilled halfway above the tiles, glancing at the dull rainbow bobbing out on the dance floor. "Unfortunately I... feel that I do owe it to poor Smoozie to make up for my deplorable treatment earlier tonight. Perhaps we can talk at a later date."

"Thursday's good," Tree Hugger replied. "I'd love to show you my pedal garden. It's a thing of cosmic beauty."

"Um, Tree Hugger?" Fluttershy coughed. "I thought you had a petal garden."

"Yeah, I've got one of those too. I think Discord would prefer my pedal garden though." She glanced back at Discord. "So, thursday? Like, round afternoonish?"

"Round afternoonish? How vague." Discord's aura burst brightly. "I'll be there, miss Hugger."

The earth pony watched him fly out to the dance floor, a smile tugging at her lips.

"...Righteous."

Author's Note:

They

Comments

[Alex Warlorn]

Yeah, you really did a good job of showing how Tree Hugger simply sees reality different from most ponies. She's so disconnected from reality because she sees AURAS rather than ponies.

Her view of the different ponies was interesting. In particular the CMC. You really made Tree Hugger's acid trip like vision clearly have defined rules.

I wonder how a cheat between her and Pinkie Pie would go. Since Pinkie Pie sees reality in a rather surprising way too. Johanthan had a VERY interesting view of Pinkie Pie's sixth's sense.

[Ms_Fruit_Bat]

"I'd like to make sense of you," Tree Hugger murmured.

Me too, Treezie. Me too.

[Craine]

I wait patiently for the update, the conflict, and Tree Hugger's imminent obsession.

...Righteous.

Craine...

[FanOfMostEverything]

I continue to adore your take on Tree Hugger. It all makes sense to her.

[Indieman]

I adore this already, was wondering about what something involving these two characters in such a fashion would be like, glad to see it come to fruition. Keep up the good work!

[ColdGoldLazarus]

I continue to adore your version of Tree Hugger (and feel somewhat shamed for going with the lowest common denominator in my story) and I look forward to seeing how she and Discord develop. Excellent work!

[Conred]

Haha
Tree Hugger is like a wise sage similar to Zecora but with way more funnier character traits. Instead rhyming she is constantly high and whie she can read the most hidden secrets and intentions, she can't see the obvious things like Fluttershy being a pegasus XD

[Draco Dei]

6111553
Who is this "Johanthan" I did a user search and couldn't find them. They sound like they are worth a read...

[Alex Warlorn]

Just one question, how does she see Maud Pie?

[Alex Warlorn]

6238107

Meant Jordan, sorry old friend. HOW ARE you? We haven't spoken in forever. https://www.fimfiction.net/user/Jordan179

[Alex Warlorn]

"One of them will break the cycle eventually, and the circle will become a spiral."

What did she think when they got their cutie marks?

[Alex Warlorn]

How goes she feel when I wonder when she learns the CMC got their cutie marks by helping THEIR WORST ENEMY!

[Grungar3x7]

Nice title, dat author's note doe!

OCARINA: They.

[Azure5555]

So... are the CMC literally the drill to pierce the heavens?

[Ice Star]

This is so fucking neat. Discord and Tree Hugger - especially your take on her - are pretty much a rare pair that shouldn't be that rare, all things considering.