Degenerate

by Locked Out

End of an Era

From a distance it appeared a grey earth pony stood by Discord. Celestia and Luna prepared to confront Discord, but a creature they met earlier stood between them and his throne. It showed itself to be above outside influence when Luna failed to make mental contact, and Discord's corruption was shrugged off. Which made its aiding Discord of its own accord bewildering.

Discord turned to meet his guests, "This is so much fun! How about a game of pin the tail on the pony?" He showed off Celestia's tail.

They ignored the other as they had important things to do. "Playtime is over for you, Discord."

"Oh, I doubt that." He offered them some of his snacks, to which they ignored. "Suit yourselves." He continued eating while Celestia removed something from her saddlebags. "Oh, what have you got there?"

Celestia declared with finality, "The Elements of Harmony," Luna finished, "with them we shall defeat you!" The elements swirled around them generating a sphere of magical energy; the nearly transparent energy engulfed them while the elements orbited them rapidly.

While Discord did not take it as a threat, the third party did and rushed to stop them while Discord laughed, "You should see yourselves right now, the expressions on your faces. So intense, so sure of yourselves."

The creature exclaimed something in its melodic foreign tongue as it made to body check Luna as she was the smaller of the two, but was repelled by the magic.

They charged their horns and fired as Discord continued to laugh, "Hilarious!" and he continued laughing right up to the point of being petrified. The magic of Discord was lifted, leaving one last thing to finally put this event behind them and move forward. The creature was face down and struggling to rise, slowly leaking the magic it had absorbed when the elements dispelled it.

In this state mental connection was possible so Luna tried once more such that it might explain itself. The magic was charged and upon casting it was clear, the creature's natural barrier to foreign magic had been shattered by the elements. It would likely recover given time, but for now they were able to talk. "Why did you attempt to assist in the spread of Discord's chaos? Your punishment for your heinous actions depends on your response."

It finally rose, pointing at Discord and speaking with barely contained anger, "Nat is reciprocal elyntu of Shannon."

Celestia whispered to Luna, "Are you sure the spell is working properly?"

Luna, believing in her handiwork, pressed, "And what is that supposed to mean?"

He laughed off their ignorance and talked as if to a foal, "The two of you are short sighted. Throw a party, dance on the grave of Chaos. It's not like you will live long enough to see the consequences." He made to limp away. Sadly they clearly outclassed him in combat given how Discord is now stone.

Celestia motioned for Luna to let him go. "If it is willing to let the conflict end with Discord, then so be it."

He did not come across as mad like Discord. He had spoken with conviction from knowledge. She could not help but worry, “When do you suppose we will see the consequences it believes are to follow?”

---

With night courts being as barren as they were, Luna got into a bit of a habit checking in on the odd one. It started as just a glance to see if contact was still possible while it slept. The creature remained odd, with its sleep out of synch with the world around it. It would go to sleep at the same time as ponies, then as days go by, it would slowly but surely shift later and later to the point of sleeping through the day. The fact that its cycle had it awake for the full moons was a pleasant coincidence.

When it started to look like the wound it suffered might be permanent, she convinced herself to confront it. Tonight there was a waning crescent moon. It would sleep so close to morning that she could watch its entire dream should she choose. It dreamt it was soaring amongst the stars enjoying itself when the dream shifted to Discord’s defeat. Everything began to split apart in all directions. Small things went first falling to the ground until that too shattered. This continued until there was not a single star left and all was nothing.

Luna stood in what was supposed to be empty, a body was formed and faced Luna. “You can enter dreams, then? I shouldn’t be surprised.”

That had not come across as imagination running rampant in a nightmare, “Was that the consequence you spoke of?”

It was eerily upbeat given the subject matter, “Indeed. The big rip awaits, but don’t concern yourself over it. A perk of the end of the very heavens — us mere mortals won’t live to see the day.”

They both could agree that the outcome the creature saw was not desired. It certainly seemed capable of seeing patterns and applying logic, but its conclusion non sequitur. “By disrupting the natural order, chaos prevents the chaotic end... an odd stance to take. Chaos is not in the habit of keeping things like you desire.”

The disdain towards the topic was apparent, “You sound like one of those heat death folk. Accusing chaos of spreading the warmth of your ordered system until it's lost amongst the sea of the void. The systems may have order, but it is chaos that allows them to be systems. All complexity lies in chaos. Pure chaos may not be useful for us living, but pure order would have everything spread evenly in a void that cannot be filled.”

It acts well versed in the nature of chaos, “You referred to Discord as Nat. Do you know from where he hails?”

“No," it clearly yearned otherwise, "Nat is short for natural unit of chaos in the expression of relation to Shannon. Nat is reciprocal elyntu of Shannon.”

He had been cordial since they met and yet she couldn’t help but think of him as, creature and it. Considering that from his perspective, she had ensured the end of the heavens, Shannon had been surprisingly patient with her, “My name is Luna, Shannon. Hearing your perspective on all this has let me put my mind at ease.”

Staying a notch below openly hostile, “No need for names, I don’t ever plan on seeing you again.”

Fair enough, she could only ask for so much, “It is hard to tell through this method, are you healing back to your normal state?”

The consequence of his actions were clearly being pinned on Luna and Celestia, “Can’t heal what can’t be injured. The change is permanent.”

Shannon might not ever forgive her, but given how he carried himself, he might move on with his life one day, “Most unfortunate. The connection it allowed then gave you opportunity, as it does now, and surely it will continue to do so. As co-ruler of Equestria let it be known that as long as you don’t do anything to threaten your fellow mortals, the future can be whatever you make it to be, even without Discord and his chaos. The moon must be set. Enjoy your sleep.”

Oh he was going to do just that. Alone and still lucid it took the opportunity to inflict various punishments upon the ponies for the curse upon his form and the death of the only known savior of all that is and shall be.