Those Forty Years

by Spell Writer

Eternal 5: Harmony and Discord

A little groan escapes Celestia's mouth as her vision clears. Being forcibly banished away always made her feel sick to her stomach. With a little grunt, Celestia stands up in the clearing she and her sister landed in. Her sister isn't in sight, but there is a small indent in the ground next to her, perfectly shaped for the size of her sister.

Luna trots back into the clearing with the orb in hoof as if on cue. "Celestia! You're alright." Luna runs over quickly, putting the sphere in her bag before her little trot. "I figured out where we're at. We're all the way at the peaks of peril." She rubs her head a bit, still disoriented by the sudden teleportation they received.

Celestia stands up with a struggle, her head having a splitting headache. Looking around at the desolate landscape with nothing but dust and dead trees around them. They were lucky enough to land on one of the few patches of grass situated this far from the area's primary water source. "Luna, we need to get back quickly. Mom is going to try and… 'fix' everything by force, she just. Wants things to end." Celestia shakes her head, trying to clear out the cobwebs still.

Luna sighs a little. "I know. Mom hasn't been the same since her friend died. She's just not used to things, even now." Luna shakes her head a little bit, grumbling lightly. "But what do you expect?! You made her princess of friendship! You knew this would happen eventually! She was gonna outlive her original friends, too!" She says with a huff. Luna knows how hard it can be to lose people you care about. She did almost lose her sister after all.

Celestia is taken a little aback by that outburst. "I haven't even done that yet!" She says with a glare at her sister. "Heck, I don't even know what I will be thinking in the future. Mom only tells us stories from her perspective. It's not like she can read minds. Er. Can she?" Celestia grumbles a bit, feeling called out by her sister for something she hasn't even done yet. Although, Luna still shrugs at the question.

Luna calms herself down, "Not like it matters. Let's just get home quickly before Mom does something she'll regret." She says with a nod. Celestia nodded back at her sister. The pair then try to spark up their horns.

And nothing happens.

Celestia is the first to say something. "Luna. Please tell me your magic isn't disabled." Celestia says with a worried crack in her voice. This isn't the first time the pair have been without magic, but this is the first time it's been out of their control.

Luna grunts a little as a tiny spark of magic flies out of her horn. "I-. Ngh. Come onnnn!" but her horn barely produces any light. "Gnf. Nothing. I can feel the magic, but there's something stopping it!" Luna lets out a grunt before she pants. The younger sister feels like she just ran a marathon from just sparking her horn that tiny bit.

Celestia and Luna continue trying to get any little bit of magic out. Even just trying to fly but with no luck. Ten minutes pass, and the pair are utterly exhausted from their attempts. No amount of magic escaped their horns. In fact, it felt worse, thanks to their attempts! All their magic started feeling balled up and compressed inside their chests, resulting in Luna feeling horribly sick while Celestia staggers and sways on her hooves.

As Celestia sways and staggers, she feels intense delirium and nausea set in. "Oh, I'm gonna be sick," Celestia says with a green face, grunting and heavily sweating. A groan escapes her as she swallows her nausea, trying to stop herself from doing something unbefitting of a princess. Luna, unfortunately, didn't have such discipline, as the younger sister ran into a nearby bush to hurl. A loud groan escapes Luna's mouth as the pair stagger towards the mountain to find someplace to camp. The entire area is wreathed in darkness, preventing them from seeing very well.

Luna grunts a little bit. "My night vision isn't working either." She says with a stagger. "We need to get somewhere bright to ughn. Rest and stuff."

Celestia nods quietly. Her head feels light and airy. A quiet realization sets in that she hasn't slept at all tonight. The pair trot quietly to the peaks, the older sister getting more delirious as time passes.

As the pair arrive at the peaks, Celestia suddenly grabs Luna and silently hides behind a tree, something having set her on high alert, even through her delirium. "Blue." She whispers gently to Luna. With a peek around the corner, the pair look towards the walkway that leads to the center of the mountain peaks. Their eyes scan over the area before they finally find the source of the pale blue light.

Standing at the base of the peaks is a familiar Unicorn. Pale blue and gently glowing. She is no longer fully translucent like she used to be but is still instantly recognizable. But why is she here?! Celestia sweats a little bit. If Unity finds them and notices the orb, she'll know they sifted through her room! So she keeps Luna silent, the pair watching the glowing pony trot towards a nearby cave, almost like she's looking for something.

---

Twilight had sent a message not too long ago notifying Unity about what happened. The pale blue Unicorn smiles to herself, giggling a little bit. It had taken a while, but Twilight finally saw things her way. With the alicorn's assistance, she should be able to finally bring the world to perfect order.

Of course, that means a few kinks in the plan need to be ironed out. Unity's brother appearing is the least of her problems. The daughters are the biggest issue.

They know something is up, and that is not good for business. Unity may have a life here now, but that doesn't mean she will stop her ambitions. That means taking care of the garbage as quickly as possible so she can focus on the more dangerous roadblocks. That's why she snuck out of her vacation a little early. Her daughter and husband would understand if they woke up early. Probably. The Unicorn quickly heads towards a nearby cave, an oddly shaped hole out in front showing that someone landed here ungracefully. A smile creeps on her face, Unity giggling as she trots towards the cave, hearing the ranting coming from inside as she gets closer, a small wave of nostalgia hitting her.

"I cannot believe that the Lord of all Chaos was not only defeated by a pony, but now we're stuck hiding in some cave in the middle of nowhere! This is hilarious! No wonder I came back to watch." Says a familiar voice before another responds.

"You know, you went through this too. You could at least help!" Discord says to himself, the second Discord smirking and watching from a little multicolored lawn chair floating and spinning around the cave. "Sorry, you know the rules, no breaking time as it's supposed to flow, too much paperwork." Says the other Discord, floating papers with the word 'Work' appearing and flying around the cave. However, the lively conversation is stopped as they hear a crack come from the mouth of the cave.

The pair stop as they see who decided to grace them with their presence, as Unity walks into the cave with a smug smile. "Discord~. Future Discord." She says with a giggle, "I heard down the grapevine that you got utterly defeated by Twilight." She giggles a little bit as the pair just glare at her, moving around the cave, never breaking their gaze on her.

"Sister." The pair of draconequus says as they glare at her. Discord waving off his future self, who snaps his fingers and disappears with a puff of smoke. "You know you don't belong here. This world is mine to keep the balance in. Your presence is throwing everything off!" He says with an angry face. His close proximity to Unity prevents them from using much of their powers. After all, there are rules for spirits like them. Meaning for once. Discord didn't have any tricks. He wasn't playing coy. No, he was just angry.

Unity sighs and shakes her head. "Come now, brother. This world is too GOOD for balance. The ponies are basically helpless without heroes or their leaders. Every other nation acts like they're tough, but in reality, they're all just for show. This world is nothing more than a storybook for children to read. A show for them to enjoy. At least this way, the ponies can become whatever they want, pulled away from the goddess's design!" She smiles, "I know you'd love that too." She says as she tries to slink around her brother. However, Discord never lets Unity get too close to him, constantly keeping an eye on her. "You were written to be a villain, after all. Ponies don't understand chaos. They don't WANT it. Your existence is a blight to them! Even with all the great roles under your belt, a godlike being in space, a templar ascendent under a great deity. Even with all this power and experience, there is no end for you here. You'll be stuck here trying to bring balance forever. Meanwhile, regardless if I fail, I'll move on. I'll continue to other worlds, helping their heroes achieve a happy, purely harmonic ending. True harmony! Chaos forever trapped because he decided to follow cosmic RULES!" she says with a smile.

"But of course, you can join me on Discord if you want. Stop working with those old spirits of balance and let loose! You're the spirit of chaos! Why should you ever have to pay attention to anyone else?" She says with a smile as she reaches out her hoof. "Come brother, let's do this together! You're the spirit of chaos!"

Discord thinks about her words, his eyes shifting down and up towards her before standing up straight. "You're right, sister." He says with a little sigh.

"You're right that ponies will never accept me. You're right that they'll always view me as a danger to their livelihood. I'm the spirit of chaos, and they're beings of harmony." He says with an almost defeated tone. "But. You have shown me something today, sister." Discord continues, starting to reach for Uni's outstretched hoof, to the horror of their audience.

Then he stops. "You're still completely bucking insane! I may be the spirit of chaos, but at least I care enough to do my JOB! Worlds like this need a little chaos. If I have to play the villain again, so be it!" He then transitions his hand into a snapping motion, launching Unity out of the cave with a sudden burst of loud music! Specifically, a random cord played on an untuned piano linked to a giant speaker. Discord follows the launched Unity out of the cave, ignoring the two bushes that rustle nearby.

"What you want is no better than entropy! The very force you and I fought against together!" He says with a glare. "You're just throwing that all away for what? A little bit of an ego boost? Your ego is already bigger than the sun itself! You're NO hero! You're supposed to be a supporting character at best!" Discord says with a furious voice, although anyone can see that he's nervous with his fidgeting and wiggling tail. He has sparred with his sister in the past. Sure, He won a handful, but his sister reigned supreme between them in sparring matches. He did, however, have one advantage.

Unity would stand up and sigh. "Awwww, brother, how unfair. You know my magic has rules." She says with a sad face, Unity giving him wide eyes before suddenly launching a punch at Discord, hitting the draconequus right back into the cave. Stretching her right hoof a bit. With that, the battle begins in earnest.

Discord grunts as he picks himself up from the rubble he was launched into. "You seem just fine in a fight, even if you can't use your magic to hurt other spirits." He says with a grunt as he snaps his fingers yet again. A small squirrel suddenly being infused with chaos magic. Growing to giant size with red eyes and sharp teeth. Slamming its paw down towards Unity, who ducks out of the way quickly.

Unity giggles. "True, true. I can't use magic against you. But that doesn't matter when I'm miles stronger than you." She says with a grin, letting out a burst of magic from her horn. The squirrel suddenly shrinks back down. All dizzy and cute before it scampers away at Unity's behest. Unity smiles as she stands back up, having knelt down to pat the squirrel. "But you are right. Without magic, at best, all I can do in a real fight is go for a draw. So can we not, bro~?" The pale blue Unicorn says before suddenly appearing in front of Discord, her eyes having a red light behind them.

The Lord of Chaos blocks her sudden punch with a growth of bright yellow vines, each one sprouting flowers that blast her with hot, flaming marshmallows! A sudden 'SHWING' cuts the vines down, making them land with a thud on the ground. "Ooh toasty." She says with a giggle as she eats a marshmallow. Unity was utterly unscathed from the attack. She even puts out any loose fire with some magic. "You can't win, brother." She says with a smile, even ensuring no damage is spread.

Discord glares before saying, "Neither can you. Even if we simply fight for all eternity, at least you'd no longer be doing any damage to this world!" He says, huffing. "You'll run out of energy eventually anyway. Moving like that must cost you some endurance!"

Unity stops and puts her hoof to her chin, pondering something before saying. "Mmm… Well, that's true. Fine, this was getting boring anyway." She then reaches into her bag. Six small stones floated out and swelled around her rapidly before suddenly merging with her. "I suppose. I should end this." She smiles softly. "Sorry, brother, but if you're my enemy, I must put you into TIME OUT." She then glows her horn.

Discord scoffs. "Now I know you're desperate. Your magic can't hurt me." He says with a grin. The council made sure of that.

Unity giggles. "True. But how about someone else's?" She says before firing a massive wave of gem-shaped barriers right at Discord, enclosing him between four of them, her horn glowing a bright sky blue. She then rears up, her forehooves glowing orange and pink as she slams them down. A shockwave of rainbow-colored energy rolls out, knocking Discord off his feet and onto the ground as the gems enclose him inside a solid prison. Her horn then begins to glow a familiar pink as she smiles. "Now."

"Goodbye, brother." is the last thing Discord hears before a massive rainbow-colored beam fires at him. Leaving nothing behind but a statue of the draconequus and some scorched marks on the ground. Unity giggles to herself, quite proud of what she did. "Mmm, I believe that makes us one hundred wins in my favor, seventy-one in yours. Only this win is a bit more impactful. I think it counts as at least ten." She snickers, "Now, while you're trapped in there, I want you to think LONG and hard about what you've done. I mean, you scarred a poor, cute squirrel." She tsk tsks, shaking her head confidently.

"I'm sure you're wondering what just happened. 'She's not supposed to be able to use magic against spirits! The council took that away from her the last time she rebelled!' Well, you forget, I'm much smarter than I look. And I already look pretty smart. Just a little bit of research into some tools from the future, and boom! Access to six of the most powerful and varied magical toolkits across Equestria. Not to mention, it enhances my power enough to ignore that stupid rule you all put on me." She grins as she opens her mouth to continue to gloat.

But the sun begins to peek over the horizon. "Hmph. I gotta get back to my family. But before I go." She says as she holds up a glowing hoof. "You can take this back." Forcing it on the frozen Discord, a terrible green magical circle appears beneath the pair. Unity's body and mane begin to flow violently in the wind. Her body starting to solidify more. After one more moment, she's a solid, beautiful mare. Her mane is a bright assortment of colors, her eyes a beautiful green as wings unfold from her back. "Perfection~. Thanks for my powers back, Discord~." She says with a smirk as she waves a hoof. The wings disappeared shortly afterward. "I dare you to try and stop me~." She giggles heavily as Unity finally disappears in a bright flash of light.

With that, the area settles. Two presences approaching the statue. Who they are? He doesn't know.

Author's Note:

I hope you enjoyed~!

This chapter was a blast to write, as I expected. Unity and Discord play off each other so well in practice.

Enjoy~!

Comments

[new55]

That was a good chapter goodluck with the next one.

[Blood Rarity]

[Spell Writer]

11688697
Thanks!~

[GreatDragonLord]

So Unity showed her true nature. Well, let's see if our little Twilight will return, or if the task of settling down the Eternal Queen (like Discord called her that) will fall on her daughters.

[Spell Writer]

11689464
Unity never really hid her true nature. If you look back, she's never actually lied much about herself. Her only focus is bringing harmony to the world, as she's always said. Her wording is what made her tricky to pin down, even for the two sisters. After all, Twilight comes from the era of harmony that she and her friends fight for, and she raised Celestia and Luna with those ideals in mind. That let Unity brazenly follow her goals unchecked under the guise of wanting to bring harmony to the world.

And now that Uni has all her powers unlocked, she's only gotten more scary.

[GreatDragonLord]

11689780
I meant that Unity used to show herself as a calculating and balanced worker. maybe a little carried away with her ideas, but overall she looked fine.
However, as soon as there was an opportunity to regain her strength, she began to look like a fanatic obsessed with the idea of achieving the impossible.
By the way, maybe it's not Unity. And someone whom Discord casually mentioned and whom he hates.

[Spell Writer]

11689796
True. Unity was always fairly reasonable to the naked eye.

Can't really say more than that though. There's a good reason why her powers were taken in the first place though. Unlike her brother, she's much more of a direct person.

[hmaf43]

I followed from the previous story but found out this wasn't my cup of tea.

Hope for it to do well nonetheless.

[Spell Writer]

11692735
All good! Thanks for the comment either way. ^-^

I’d love to know what your thoughts were though! I do understand that it is quite different though.

[hmaf43]

11693724
It's a combination of many things.

-How everyone seem to take edgy stuff "I am more than mortal!" Seriously without at least a guy to ackownledge that this is ridiculous(imagine anime 'overlord' and 'eminence of shadow' but without main characters' inner monolouge.)

-magic system didn't feel like a part of natural world it can do this one specific thing but not the other. It feel like litrpg but without visible status.

-it wasn't what I expected. With how grounded its predecessor was, with alicorn dyng of poison and all. I expected proper kindom building with family time with Celestia and Luna. Dealing with political problems that didn't have a correct answer. Trying to change mindsets of ancient ponies to be more accepting of other races.

[Spell Writer]

11693756
Ahhhh fair enough.

The more grounded stuff will eventually be a small slice of life side story I plan to make. But this story is meant to cover the major events surrounding Twilight. Basically, things she wanted to remember and the things she and her daughters learned. It's certainly not grounded in any logic, thanks to how powerful Twilight has gotten. (A side effect of my poor writing back when I was younger, honestly). However, I should have defined the magic system back when I first was writing the story. I do agree. There is a reason why time flows the way it does and why even Twilight's almost unbound magic can't break it. Similar to why even though Discord can't directly affect her, he can still make her magic disappear once it's fired from her body. There are rules, but I really do need to find a good time to establish them finally, hopefully, without just doing exposition. (Exposition is boring.)

As for the everyman: Massive spoilers ahead that I don't mind sharing. I am planning on having Princess Twilight be a much more prominent actor once this arc completes. She's just been suppressed really hard by well... you know who at this point. Her personality is gonna change pretty hard after this arc since said person is finally not going to be constantly around her anymore.

I do really appreciate the criticism, though! It did give me some really good ideas for how I want to frame some stuff in the future!

[hmaf43]

11693790
I will wait for side story then. This main story is just too much.

And being absurdly powerful didn't mean it had to be ridiculous. There are many ways to make it less ridiculous.

For example, using technobrable.
Time magic was just a bundle of different spells from many field of study. Stop time is just synchronizely moving every particle of caster's body back in time the same rate as time move forward.

Or just made magic-using scence more vague and less descriptive.

[Spell Writer]

11693905
Yep! No problem. I’m writing the story I want to write so it’s gonna be silly and not for everyone. Still. Thanks for the constructive criticism.

[MatTheBook]

11689780

But what she is doing ISN'T HARMONY!!