Harmonics

by ezra09

Consulting an Expert

So we’re just going to tell everypony how crazy we are?

“I’m not crazy,” Scootaloo said again, never slowing.

Of course not. That’s what all the crazies say.

“Thistleroot didn’t think I was crazy.”

Thistleroot’s an idiot.

Scootaloo ignored the comment, reaching the large house and rapping quickly on the door. A few seconds passed before a small purple dragon answered. “Hey Scootaloo. I thought you were at work.”

“I need to talk to Twilight. Is she around?”

“Uh yeah, in her study.”

Scootaloo nodded and pushed past Spike into the house. He watched her with a worried frown as she climbed the stairs and disappeared from view.

She knocked again when she reached the right door. “Not now Spike!”

“Uh, it’s me actually.”

“Scootaloo?” There was a flurry of scribbling and stacking sound for a few seconds before she said, “Come in.”

Twilight's study was, like most of her house, filled with books. An ornate desk sat across from the door, piled high with papers and form. Twilight herself looked more harassed than usual, but offered the mare a friendly smile. “What do you need?”

“I was wondering if I can ask you about a book?”

“Sure, which one?” Twilight studied her for a moment, friendly smile faltering. “Is everything alright?”

Scootaloo shook her head and started talking.

*****

Thistleroot trotted down Lincolt Avenue, groceries trailing through the air behind him. With a yawn, he produced the key to his apartment building and moved to put it into the lock.

“Hey!”

His smile brightened as he turned and said, “Hey. I thought you’d headed home.”

Scootaloo smiled sweetly up at him. “Of course not. Come on, I need to show you something.” Without another word, she turned down the street, smiling back at him a few steps later.

*****

“And to make things worse, I accidentally snapped at my friend,” Scootaloo said. “I mean, I’m sure he’ll understand when I explain it to him, but on top of everything else...” She trailed off with a sigh.

Twilight looked up from the stack of books she’d been gathering to give her a sympathetic smile. “Of course he will.”

“So, any ideas what might be causing it?”

Twilight nodded, rifling through the first book on the stack. “Well, it’s pretty obviously the mental blocks. I mean, there could be another cause, in theory, but the timing is just too perfect.”

Scootaloo breathed a sigh of relief. “So, any way to fix it?”

Twilight touched the corner of her mouth with her tongue, face deep with thought. “I don’t have any cures off the top of my head, but your friend was right. It should disappear on its own eventually. Your brain shouldn’t have been physically altered in any way, so as the magic fades, it’ll weaken, just like any spell without a source of upkeep.”

“Well, is there any way to keep it quieter until that happens?” Scootaloo’s ears went flat as her voice fell a bit, “It’s... not exactly friendly.”

“Well, some ponies theorize side effects such as schizophrenia and dissociative identity disorder are a result of cognitive dissonance. The conscious mind and subconscious mind each have a slightly different set of memories, and don’t know how to deal with the incongruity.”

“Uh, could you repeat that in Equestrian?”

Twilight smiled sheepishly. “Sorry. Basically, the you that does all the thinking is missing memories, and it’s throwing you off balance. Even less serious cases would mean feeling surprise, anger, dread, and guilt more easily than other ponies. These feelings can also aggravate the condition, meaning you’d hear this voice more often during times of stress.”

“That sounds about right. So if I avoid stuff like that, I won’t hear it that often?”

Twilight nodded. She hesitated for a moment before asking, “If you don’t think it’ll be hard to talk about, do you mind if I ask you a few questions? It’s really rare to find a real subject, with this kind of magic being illegal. It might also help me come up with more ways to help.”

Scootaloo shrugged, “I’ve already told you most everything, I guess a few questions aren’t gonna bother me any.”

Twilight smiled, levitating a notebook and quill in front of her. “So, I guess some basics first. What does the voice sound like? Yourself?”

“It did once, but usually it sounds like Discord.” Scootaloo was staring at the floor again, and jumped when something slapped the ground in front of her. She looked up to see the notebook had fallen from Twilights grip. Twilight was looking at her in a mixture of surprise and pity.

*****

“Everything’s fine with Discord,” Twilight told the princess. “Not a drop of power is leaking through.”

“Good,” Celestia said. “I’ll have some guards keep a closer watch on him for the next few weeks, just to be sure.”

Twilight nodded before sitting down. Celestia levitated a cup of tea to her, which she accepted gratefully. “Scootaloo’s asleep at my house right now. Spike sent a letter to Rainbow letting her and Apple Bloom know. I figured she could use a good night’s sleep, so I gave her a potion to help her relax.”

Celestia nodded approvingly. “I was afraid she might experience some side effects, but I never imagined this.”

“I didn’t know she still felt this guilty,” Twilight said.

“It’s probably better if she takes some time off work. Could you talk to Mr. Shine for me?”

“Yes princess. I needed to bring him some papers tomorrow anyway.”

With the matter decided, the student and teacher fell into a comfortable silence.

*****

“I didn’t realize it would be this far,” Thistleroot complained as they neared the outer gates, his groceries still hanging in the air beside him.

“It’s just past the bridge,” Scootaloo promised, urging him forward.

Thistleroot sighed, resigned to go along with whatever she wanted to show him. At least she was smiling again. More than usual even. He felt a small shiver as they crossed the Canterlot city limits and left the city’s protective spells behind.

Somewhere in the part of his mind that never shut up, he remembered the spells had been laid down ten years earlier, after the changeling attack at Princess Cadence’s wedding. Among them was a dampening effect for changeling magic, making most of their skills useless, and constantly wearing down their shape shifting.

At the same time, Scootaloo turned to flash him another bright smile.

“Scootaloo, have your eyes always been green?”

Scootaloo tilted her head in confusion. “Of course.”

“Liar.”

Comments

[ezra09]

Looking at the length of these last two chapters, I really should have combined them into one -_-;

Oh well, it's still the same story, just in smaller bites. I promise, longer chapters are on the horizon.

[ShadowBro]

That's basically all.

[Muhanoid]

Scootaloo smiled, levitating a notebook and quill in front of her. “So, I guess some basics first. What does the voice sound like? Yourself?”

Oops?
Still reading.

1682040
Small chapters are good! 1k words is much more easier and faster to read than 5k.
And 5 1k word chapters somehow are usually fly faster than one 5k.
At least for me.

[ezra09]

1682087

Thanks for catching that.

[La Barata]

WOOOOOO UPDATE

[mbpony 512]

Just when you think Twilight and Celestia will help out Scootaloo, this little wrinkle comes to light....

Man, it seems that nothing going right for Scootaloo. I mean just by that cliffhanger shows that her brief time with the Changelings may have affected her more than anyone suspected.

[Chirpy Drone]

1682331 You do know that isn't Scootaloo? By the way it was being written, it seemed like it was happening at the same time as when Scootaloo was at Twi's house.

[Plotbuster]

I'm more a fan of the 20k chapters myself. Not that I'm complaining, I'll take anything I can get of this story. Keep up the great work!

I'm really enjoying Thistle BTW, great character.

[Neon Icy Wings]

Thistleroot is either in very bad danger or caught it early enough. And cliffhangers every where! Oh, the suspense is killing me!

[DarthMaul22]

Kill it! Kill it with fire and hugs and more fire!

[onomiyaki]

So someone hears Discords voice in their head and they actually tell someone about it? About fucking time!

[Twisted but true]

Okay, just to point out, it seems like the Twilight talking to Celestia is also a changeling because the conversation between her and Scootaloo ended so abruptly. I know (?) she's not but that's just how it seemed to me after the scoots changeling showed up like that.

[muffingirl349]

Oh my god ! No words, noooo woorrddss.

[Frankie]

I'm glad Scootaloo is finally getting help with her Discorded conscience. And it seems the changelings are going to use Thistleroot in order to get Scootaloo. And it seems Celestia really needs to improve their changeling security.
(Personally, I like shorter chapters. They seem to come out quicker and takes less time to read.)

[musicluvr1974]

Well, I liked Discordant because of the way you portrayed him there, so I guess I shouldn't have been too surprised to find out he's still the same old lying, manipulative, demonically-inspired trickster he was there. I wonder how they'll all get out of this one...

[Yasahiro]

Ahh! Cliffplodia!
It's not possible!
Noone's been ever able to escape him! Except for that one time!

[Azarune]

I'm still for getting Spike with Scootaloo. She needs someone who understands! Best wishes friend!

[Csquared08]

So the changelings are going for Thistleroot this time? Hoboy...

And how does the new CMC fit in? I'm sure they play a role in all this.

[the other sans]

Twilights study was, like most of her house

1. Twilight's.

[TheGreatEater]

Applebloom >> Apple Bloom
___________

Run Thistleroot Run!

*Throws suppressing fire in the form of pies.*