Growth

by Mister E

Chapter-1 I'll wait in this place, where the sun never shines...

It's coming to me, I can feel it. I can almost make the connection. Discord gave me the clue himself on his last visit. Rock, lava, gas. Ice, water, steam. He said that the different states of matter was the analogy that I needed to use to understand how to control the nature of his powers.

An analogy…

“Twilight, you’re just not getting it!” Discord says in exasperation. “I thought you were supposed to be the SMART one.”

“I AM smart!” I fire back. “But smart doesn’t work on CRAZY, and that’s what your explanation is!”

“No, no, no.” Discord replies, somewhat more calmly. “It only SEEMS crazy because it doesn’t fit into your tiny pony worldview. Your expanded perceptions should be indication enough for you to realize that there is more to the universe than you are currently able to comprehend. I’m trying to make this as simple as possible for you. Now let’s try again.”

"Simple? There is nothing simple about ANY of this. You have no idea how many times I’ve wished that I had NEVER asked to understand your powers! I’m tired of this! Tired of living in this room! Tired of my friends looking like monsters! I just… I just want this all to be over with!”

“Twilight,” Discord says gently, coming over to stand before her. “I’m truly sorry that you have to suffer like this. But the only way that you’ll ever be able to be your ‘normal’ self again, is if you master the powers of the Rot, and fix yourself. I’m been trying my best to put abstract concepts into tiny little digestible bites for you, but maybe that was a mistake. Maybe we should just dive right into the deep end.”

“W-what do you mean?” I say, wiping the beginnings of tears from the corners of my eyes.

"I’m going to leave you alone for a bit to think about something. I want you to consider the relationship between order and chaos. Take your time and consider the following: How are order and chaos, like the different states of matter?”

“That’s it?” I ask, bewildered.

“That’s it.” Discord replies, and then snapping his claw, he vanishes.

“Order and chaos… and the states of matter.

Matter becomes energy. It rots. It releases energy as it decays. It breaks down, or is consumed.

Energy becomes matter. Photons collide at high speed becoming electrons and positrons.

Order imposes structure upon the universe, but is it's own contradiction, because perfect order is stillness, void, and emptiness. Chaos is pure randomness, but is it's own contradiction because without chaos there would be no life, and life contains the structure of order.
Life brings forth both chaos and order to the universe. But all living things die… and rot.

So life… life combines both chaos and order. Both matter and energy. But matter and energy are the same thing, just in two different states. Like ice and gas. One becomes the other, becomes the other, becomes the other. And water would represent what? The transition in between?

I'm missing something.

I'm so close I can feel it. What is it? One little thing… but what? Water, ice, gas, water, ice, gas, Liquid, solid, gas. If ice represents pure order, and gas represents pure chaos, is water supposed to represent the transition between the two?

It seems simple enough, but why does seem… incomplete? I’m missing something. Something important, but what? Solid, liquid, gas. Solid, liquid, gas.

Wait! Wait, wait, wait! Solid, liquid, gas. That’s only three states of matter. There is a fourth state. Plasma! And plasma is a powerful conductor of energy!

Discord said that he used the analogy of the various states of matter, as the key to understanding the use of the Rot. Is the fourth state in his example the REAL clue?

If so, that must mean… that must mean...”

{KRAKKKATHOOOM!!!}

Comments

[CommanderBigMac]

Well...something happened

[Vaguely Demented]

Usually epiphanies only feel like lightning.

[platogkrone]

There are way more than just four states of matter. Here's one.

Discord would know this.

[Dont Forget Me]

9916735
But that's not necessarily a natural state of matter they would have knowledge of, man made, even if they did it's completely impractical in this situation.

[Fire_Bolteli]

What about the triple point? (don't take me seriously )

[Venerable Ro]

If so, that must mean… that must mean...”

{KRAKKKATHOOOM!!!}

And there's the other reason you're out here in this little pocket-dimension, your breakthrough won't detonate anything important.

[ponepony]

Did the equivalent of this just happened?
derpicdn.net/img/view/2017/8/28/1521781.png

[Largefish8]

9920354
wait.,..I was keeping my world domination ar...I mean important items there...dammit

[Gear_change]

9953610

Anything important

[Shami]

I just thought of this, hypothetically assuming this is canon, for the sake of this thought
how did cozy glow really deal with it when she absorbed discords power? how would tirek react to it?

[Herald of Opera]

10248206
That's just the thing, they couldn't control it because they lacked the perception range to comprehend what it is or does.

[DarkRedemption]

So to my understanding he's either trying to explain something about "fading" or "cycles". Though as I read on I wasn't so sure...interesting analogy with the states of matter and the secret not being water but plasma. It's not what happens to turn Order (ice) into Chaos (Gas) but the step after that. Such a novel concept..."Post Chaos"? I'm really fascinated to hear this epiphany explained in what I would hope is any modicum of detail!