Discord's Game

by Scribblestick

Book 3: Canterlot - Part 2

Book 3: Canterlot
Part 2

The two spent the next three days searching the records for anything that might help them understand the draconequus and the orb they had found. At first, it was difficult to find any information, but Luna eventually stumbled on a more detailed account of the six magics or unicorns Scrollkeeper had read about. Once they had a solid time period to look at, Cleansweep located more records than they knew what to do with. “Slow down,” Celestia told him at one point. “You’re flying faster than we can read.”

“How are we going to get all of these back to Everfree?” Luna asked, looking at the mountain of scrolls Cleansweep had stacked across three tables.

“We’ll just have to find the best records,” Celestia said as she unfurled two scrolls at once. “Cleansweep, can you try to be a little more selective?”

Cleansweep did make an effort to only bring the most relevant scrolls, but Luna and Celestia still found themselves swamped. “Maybe we should give him a break,” Luna suggested.

“To do what?” Celestia asked.

“Visit his friends, perhaps?” Luna said.

“I don’t think he should leave the library without us,” Celestia said. “We promised Scrollkeeper we’d watch him.”

“I don’t think he’d mind,” Luna said. “He’d be among friends, after all.”

“They have enough to worry about without having to keep an eye on Cleansweep, too,” Celestia said.

“And we don’t?” Luna said, gesturing towards the tables.

Celestia sighed and put down the scroll she was reading. “I just don’t want something bad to happen to him,” she said.

“He knows these ponies,” Luna said. “He trusts them, and so does Scrollkeeper.”

“That’s what I thought when I went to Las Pegasus.”

“You’re still thinking about that?” Luna said. “Tia, just because you got tricked by a pony you didn’t know doesn’t mean everypony’s out to get us. Cleansweep knows them. They even brought us some fresh hay yesterday.”

“It never hurts to be careful,” Celestia said.

“You’re starting to sound like Galeforce,” Luna said.

“Excuse me.” The two turned to see Crystal Cut walking towards them. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“It’s fine,” Celestia said, glad for the distraction. “What can we do for you?”

“I just came to see how you were doing,” Crystal Cut said. “Did you like the hay I brought? Everypony agreed you should have some.”

“It was delicious,” Celestia said.

“Where would you like these?” Cleansweep asked as he brought another stack of scrolls from somewhere in the archives.

“Over here,” Luna said, pointing towards a table that was a little less cluttered than the rest.

“Looks like you’ve been working hard,” Crystal Cut said. “Find what you’re looking for?”

“Yes,” Celestia said. “Cleansweep here has been very helpful.”

“Glad to see you putting all that energy to good use,” Crystal Cut said with a laugh as Cleansweep landed on the floor. “Do you ever get tired?”

“My wings do,” Cleansweep said with a groan.

“It looks like you could use a break,” Luna said. “Why don’t you spend some time with Crystal Cut and Fireflash? You’ve brought us more than enough scrolls for now.”

“If it’s all right with you, Crystal Cut,” Celestia added quickly. “We don’t want to overburden you.”

“It’s fine with me,” Crystal Cut said. “Fireflash was wondering why you hadn’t stopped by.”

“We’ve been busy,” Celestia said. “It’s just easier to stay here.” And safer, she added silently. The library walls weren’t much, but they at least offered her a little peace of mind while she slept.

“Well, if you ever take a break, you know where to find us,” Crystal Cut said. “What about it, kid? Want to come visit us for a while?”

“Sure!” Cleansweep said, leaping to his hooves.

“Be careful,” Celestia told him as he ran past her. “Stay out of trouble!”

“I will!” Cleansweep said as he followed Crystal Cut away. “See you later!”

Celestia looked after him for a moment before returning to her scroll. “See?” Luna said. “Was it really that hard?”

Celestia didn’t answer, but inside she was fuming. How dare she bring that up with him when I just told her it wasn’t a good idea? She tried to focus on the scroll, but her mind wouldn’t let her. “I’m going to stretch my wings,” she announced. “Don’t wander off.”

Luna watched her sister fly out the broken window and rolled her eyes. “And you’re always telling me to relax,” she muttered.

---

Cleansweep was disappointed to find that he didn’t recognize many of the Canterlot ponies, and he only knew one or two apart from Crystal Cut and Fireflash. “Everypony, this is Cleansweep,” Crystal Cut said when they reached the camp. “He’s Scrollkeeper’s nephew.”

Several ponies welcomed him halfheartedly to the camp, but he was soon forgotten as they returned to their duties with bowed heads. Most of them were organizing the food a scavenging party had brought back earlier that day, exchanging barely a word. “Why’s everypony so quiet?” Cleansweep asked.

“They’re just tired,” Crystal Cut said.

“Do they ever stop being tired?” Cleansweep asked, remembering the few ponies he’d seen when he arrived.

“We lead a hard life here,” Crystal Cut said, leading Cleansweep away from the sorters. They passed one makeshift shelter after another, and Cleansweep wondered how they hadn’t noticed the camp before. “We take good care to keep it hidden,” Crystal Cut explained when he asked. “Griffons have moved back into the mountains, and they like to raid us sometimes.”

“Have you ever fought a griffon?” Cleansweep asked.

Crystal Cut shook his head. “A few ponies tried once. They barely survived. We leave them enough food to satisfy them and keep the rest and ourselves hidden.”

The two reached the remains of Crystal Cut’s old home, where he and Fireflash had set up a shelter. Somehow, their furnace had survived the destruction, and Fireflash was using it to boil water. “Hey!” Cleansweep said. “What’re you doing?”

“Oh, hello,” Fireflash said. “I’m purifying this water. It’s not safe to drink straight from the river anymore. What are you doing here?”

“I came to see you and Crystal Cut,” Cleansweep said. “Celestia and Luna gave me some time off ‘cause I’ve been doing a really good job finding scrolls for them.”

“Well, I appreciate the thought, but I’m a little busy at the moment,” Fireflash said, using her magic to replace the kettle on the furnace with another. “Look out,” she said as she placed the hot kettle next to two others and covered it with a piece of cloth. “Crystal, would you tell Dream Catcher his water is cooling?”

Crystal Cut nodded and walked away. “Anything I can do to help?” Cleansweep asked.

“Not unless you can carry one of these to the river and bring it back full,” Fireflash said as she lifted an empty kettle with her magic. “You’ve grown, but I don’t think you’ve grown that much. I’ll be back in a few minutes. Wait here. If a yellow colt comes by, tell him those three kettles are for him.”

Cleansweep sighed and kicked a pebble with his hoof. She used to be a lot more fun, he thought with a sigh. She’d always be talking about history with Uncle Scrollkeeper. He knew most colts his age thought history was boring, but Fireflash and his uncle always found a way to make it exciting. Smiling as he remembered one of his uncle’s favorite stories, he grabbed a stick and held it aloft, shouting, “I am the great Commander Hurricane! You will not defeat us, foul centaur!”

“What are you doing?” Cleansweep turned and saw a yellow colt with a spikey black mane standing just inside the shelter.

“Oh, um, nothing,” Cleansweep said, tossing the stick aside. “Who’re you?”

“Lemon Swirl,” the colt said. “My father sent me to get some water.”

“Oh! It’s right over there,” Cleansweep said, pointing at the three kettles in the corner. The colt’s horn glowed white, and one of the kettles rose into the air. “Are you sure you can carry that?”

“I’ve been doing it since I was old enough to use magic,” Lemon Swirl replied as he walked away.

“Hey, wait!” Cleansweep ran after the colt, forgetting Fireflash’s instruction that he stay in the shelter. “My name’s Cleansweep. I’m visiting from Everfree.”

“I heard,” Lemon Swirl said. “Thanks for the apples. I haven’t had any of those in a long time.”

“No problem! We have lots,” Cleansweep said. “So, what do you do for fun around here?”

“Fun?”

“Yeah! You know, when you’re hanging out with your friends.”

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m the only colt here,” Lemon Swirl said.

“Oh. Well, I’m here!” Cleansweep said. “What do you like to do?”

“Look, maybe you have time for games in Everfree, but around here, we work,” Lemon Swirl said.

“There has to be something you do for fun,” Cleansweep said. “Tag? Exploring?”

“Carrying kettles full of water,” Lemon Swirl said. “Which, by the way, isn’t as easy as it looks.”

“Here, let me help,” Cleansweep said. Despite Lemon Swirl’s protests, Cleansweep grabbed the kettle’s handles with his hooves and strained his wings against the kettle’s weight. “Is that better?” he asked.

“You look silly,” Lemon Swirl said.

“Yeah, but does it help?”

Lemon Swirl tilted his head to the side and stared at him. “You’re a little weird.”

“Just answer the question!”

Lemon Swirl looked at Cleansweep’s strained expression and couldn’t help but laugh. “Stop doing that before you hurt yourself!”

Cleansweep let go of the kettle, panting heavily. “You’re right,” he said. “That is harder than it looks.”

The two reached Lemon Swirl’s house and deposited the kettle inside. “What now?” Cleansweep asked.

“Go back for the next one,” Lemon Swirl said. “Are you coming?”

“Of course!” Cleansweep followed the unicorn back to Fireflash’s shelter. “So you really don’t do anything for fun?”

“Not really,” Lemon Swirl said. “What about you? Do you play with sticks a lot?”

“Huh? Oh, that,” Cleansweep said. “I was pretending to be Commander Hurricane.”

“Who?”

“You don’t know who Commander Hurricane is?” Cleansweep said.

Lemon Swirl frowned. “Should I?”

“He’s just the most awesome pegasus ever!” Cleansweep said. “He led Equestria against the evil centaur and saved everypony from eternal night!”

Cleansweep spent the next several minutes recounting the story with animated gestures and dives. Lemon Swirl seemed only mildly interested at first, but by the time they’d retrieved the third kettle, he was paying more attention to Cleansweep’s theatrics than where he was going.

“Whoa! Careful!” Cleansweep said when the kettle bumped into a pony walking the other direction.

“Whoops! Sorry,” Lemon Swirl said, steadying the kettle with his magic. The pony barely acknowledged him and continued on her way. “You’re a really good storyteller,” the yellow colt said.

“Thanks! I get it from my uncle,” Cleansweep said.

“Cleansweep!” The two turned to see Fireflash running towards them. “There you are! I thought I told you to stay in the shelter.”

“I was just helping Lemon Swirl move the kettles,” Cleansweep said.

“Yeah! He was telling me all about Commander Hurricane and how he fought against the centaurs and how the unicorns used their magic –”

“Yes, I know the story,” Fireflash said. “Next time, tell somepony when you wander off. I thought I’d have to go looking for you.”

“Sorry,” Cleansweep said, slowly drifting to the ground.

“Do you know any other stories?” Lemon Swirl asked.

“Yeah, but that one’s my favorite,” Cleansweep said. “Hey, Fireflash, why don’t you tell us a story?”

“Me? Oh, I don’t think so,” Fireflash said. “You’re a much better storyteller than I am, Cleansweep.”

“Aw, come on,” Cleansweep said. “You’re a great storyteller! You could tell one of the stories from your windows!”

Fireflash’s jaw stiffened. “I haven’t thought about those in years,” she said. “I hardly remember them anymore.”

“There has to be one,” Cleansweep said. “What about the story of how Equestria was founded? Crystal Cut said you love that story.”

“I’m too busy,” Fireflash said. “I have a lot of water to boil.”

“What about tonight?” Lemon Swirl said. “I’m sure everypony would love to hear a good story after a hard day’s work.”

“That sounds like a great idea,” said a dark blue pony with a wild green mane. “My son here hasn’t been this excited in months. A good story would help everypony feel better.”

“I…” Fireflash’s eyes darted from pony to pony to the ground. “I don’t know.”

“Please?” Cleansweep said. “I miss hearing your stories.”

Fireflash sighed. “I’ll make you a deal,” she said. “You tell the story you told Lemon Swirl, and I’ll tell the story of how Equestria was founded. Deal?”

“Deal!” Cleansweep said. “Come on, Lemon Swirl. I want to make some props!”

---

“With this many scrolls, one would think we’d have found something by now,” Celestia muttered as she set aside yet another unhelpful record. “Why do they need so many archives that say the same thing?”

“I think it’s fascinating,” Luna said. Celestia was surprised at how quickly her younger sister had taken to reading old archives. “Every pony has a different perspective on the same events.”

“But none of them are any help,” Celestia said. “I’m tired of reading journal entries about how this draconequus ruined every farm in Equestria. We need historical facts.”

“Isn’t that what journals are?” Luna asked, but Celestia ignored her. “Tia, I think we should take a break.”

“We don’t have time for breaks,” Celestia said, opening another scroll.

“We’ve been at this for three days now,” Luna said. “We could both use some fresh air.”

“Fine,” Celestia said, setting the scroll aside. She followed Luna out the window and into the cool night sky. “Where do you want to go?”

“We could go visit the survivors,” Luna suggested. “I’d like to get to know them better.”

“Good idea,” Celestia said. “We can make sure Cleansweep’s all right while we’re there.” She still couldn’t believe Luna had brought that up with Crystal Cut. The logical part of her mind knew she was being overprotective, but for some reason she couldn’t quite let it go.

The two soared across the city until they found the survivor’s camp. If not for the fire they had built, they never would have seen it in all the rubble. “Looks like they’re having a gathering,” Luna said.

Celestia looked around and was surprised to see Galeforce resting on a patch of cloud. “Good evening,” she said as she landed beside him.

“Well, look who’s left the library,” Galeforce said, moving to the side to make room for the alicorns. “I trust your studies are going well?”

“They were until this afternoon,” Celestia said. “We’ve found a lot of records, but none of them tell us anything new.”

“We have learned a lot, though,” Luna said. “It seems the number six was important to whatever magic the unicorns used to defeat the draconequus.”

“Curious,” Galeforce said. “I don’t know much about magic, but aren’t most spells cast alone?”

“They probably used a combination of spells,” Celestia said. “We don’t think they were very difficult. Not all of the unicorns involved were very proficient in magic.”

“We’ve been trying to figure out which spells they used, but so far, we’ve found nothing,” Luna said.

“I see. And what of this orb you found in Las Pegasus?”

“We’re not really sure,” Celestia said. “The records haven’t mentioned them either, aside from the occasional ‘powers of truth and happiness’.”

“More sentimental nonsense,” Galeforce said. “Scrollkeeper’s a good pony, but his theories are a little crazy sometimes.”

Celestia looked down at the camp and gasped. “Is that Cleansweep?” she asked.

“You just noticed?” Galeforce said with a chuckle. “He’s been entertaining them for almost a half hour.”

“Doing what?” Luna asked.

“Telling them a story,” Galeforce said. “He’s bound to know a lot of them. Scrollkeeper is his uncle, after all.”

Celestia watched as the energetic gold colt leaped and pranced around the fire, waving a stick around like it was a sword. The ponies gasped, cheered, and laughed along with him. “What story is he telling them?” Celestia asked.

“It’s a famous legend from the dawn of Equestria,” Galeforce said. “A centaur from the East tried to enslave all ponykind using his powerful magic. The pegasi were the first to notice and fought valiantly against him, but they were no match for him alone. They called on the unicorns and earth ponies for help, and together they defeated the centaur and sealed his powers in a powerful artifact known as the Scroll of Eternal Night.”

“Sounds like a good story,” Celestia said. “Cleansweep certainly enjoys it.”

“What happened to the Scroll?” Luna asked.

“I can’t say,” Galeforce said. “It’s hard to tell which parts of the legend are history and which were added later.”

The energetic colt below finished his story and took a bow while the other ponies stomped their hooves. “Thank you, Cleansweep,” said Crystal Cut. “We will now hear from my sister, Fireflash, who will tell us the story of the founding of Equestria.”

The ponies stomped their hooves again as Fireflash took Cleansweep’s place. “Thank you,” she said. “My story begins in a distant land, before unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies had learned to get along. It was a dark time for our kind. Food was scarce, and the three tribes fought over who would get the little they were able to grow. Just when they thought things couldn’t get any worse, a terrible storm arose. The pegasi were unable to contain it, and the unicorn’s magic was powerless to stop it. The storm raged for weeks, those weeks turned into months, and it seemed ponykind was doomed to obliteration.”

Celestia watched as the ponies below crept closer to the fire, their wide eyes locked on Fireflash. Cleansweep’s story had been entertaining and adventurous, but Fireflash’s struck a deeper chord. A mysterious, unstoppable, destructive force, Celestia thought. If I didn’t know better, I’d think Discord was behind it.

“Rather than work together, the desperate tribes abandoned their home and went in search of another,” Fireflash said. “They traveled for many days, each tribe thinking they had left the other two behind. They each found a beautiful land full of rich farmland and jewels, and each claimed it as their own. What they did not realize was that somehow, they had all come to the same land.

“It was only a matter of time before the quarreling began once again, and soon the mysterious storm reappeared, driving the few survivors into a cave. The storm intensified with their hatred, and soon it seemed their new home would be destroyed as well. One by one, the survivors succumbed to the freezing cold until only one unicorn, pegasus, and earth pony remained.

“The three huddled together in the cave as the storm raged on, each believing that it was only a matter of time until they, too, were frozen. With nothing left to lose, the three began to talk, and to their surprise, they found they weren’t as different as they thought. Each expressed her regret that mistrust had kept their tribes apart for so long, and as the cold began to envelope their bodies, they realized that they could, in fact, be friends.”

Fireflash paused and looked at her audience. Celestia realized she was leaning forward a little too far and moved back to avoid losing her balance. “In that moment, something miraculous happened,” Fireflash said. “The ponies’ budding friendship sparked a magic no pony had ever known before. This magic held back the storm and kept the three ponies warm through the night. They spent their time sharing stories and singing songs, and as their friendship grew, so did the power of the spell. In time, more ponies began to join them. The spell grew stronger and the storm grew weaker until, at last, it blew out altogether.

“The three tribes vowed that day to stand by one another and work together. To commemorate their new alliance, they planted a new flag by the Cave of the Three Ponies and named this land Equestria. They held a fest every year to remember how the power of friendship had saved them from the storm. We celebrate this feast as well to remind us that mistrust and disharmony will never prevail, and that unity will always see us through.”

The ponies sat in silence, even after Fireflash had finished her story. As Celestia looked at them, she noticed a gleam in their eyes that she hadn’t seen before. “Fireflash?” a yellow colt asked, drawing the crowd’s attention. “How did the three ponies keep going, even though everypony else was gone?”

Nopony else spoke, but Celestia could tell they wanted more than anything to hear the answer. “That’s a good question, Lemon Swirl,” Fireflash said. “The unicorn, Clover, kept a record of the experience. She wrote that no matter how desperate the situation became, she never gave up hope. She said she refused to dwell on what she had lost and instead focused on the things she still had, even if it was just a pegasus and an earth pony to keep her company.”

The ponies pondered this for several minutes while Celestia, Luna, and Galeforce watched. “I don’t know about the rest of you,” a blue stallion said at last, “but when I saw Cleansweep and Lemon Swirl playing, it reminded me of the way things used to be. It almost made me believe they could be that way again.”

“Maybe they can,” Crystal Cut said. “The alicorns believe they can help us.”

“Getting rid of Discord won’t bring back my wife,” the blue stallion said. “Nor will it rebuild this city.”

“Maybe that’s our part,” Cleansweep said. “It’s like the story said. Ordinary magic can only get you so far. Maybe sometimes it just comes down to ponies doing what they have to do, even when it’s hard.”

“Ponies working together and relying on each other, no matter how desperate the situation,” Crystal Cut said. “There are some things we can’t change, but perhaps the best thing to do is move forward with what we still have and hope for the best.”

Most of the ponies nodded in agreement, even Celestia. I have been too worried about what happened in Las Pegasus, she realized. She glanced at Luna, who appeared to be deep in thought. “I’m sorry about earlier,” she said.

“Huh?” Luna blinked and looked questioningly at her sister.

“You were right,” Celestia said. “I shouldn’t have worried so much.”

“Oh, it’s all right,” Luna said. “You were just stressed, that’s all.”

“Thank you all for listening,” Fireflash said, drawing the alicorns’ attention to the camp once again. “To be honest, I wasn’t looking forward to sharing this story with you, but after seeing how excited the colts were, I couldn’t refuse.” The ponies stomped their hooves again for Cleansweep, who rose into the air and took another bow. “Thank you, Cleansweep," Fireflash said with a smile on her face. "Thank you for bringing laughter back to our city.”

A flash of light over Cleansweep’s head made everypony jump and sent Galeforce leaping into the air in case there was trouble. Celestia was on her hooves in an instant, ready to dive to Cleansweep’s rescue. “Tia, what was that?” Luna asked as she spread her wings.

It took Celestia’s eyes a moment to recover from the sudden burst of light, but what she saw surprised her more than the flash. “It’s a stone orb,” she said. “Just like the one we found in Las Pegasus.” Cleansweep stumbled back several steps and stared at the stone with his mouth open as it slowly descended to rest on the ground. Some of the ponies crept towards it, curious but afraid at the same time.

“Tia, what happened when the first one appeared?” Luna asked.

“Scrollkeeper told me he’d just exposed the mayor as a liar,” Celestia said. “Why?”

“Truth,” Luna said. “And now, happiness.”

“‘Powers of truth and happiness,’” Celestia repeated. “Could it really be?”

“I’m not sure,” Luna said, “but I have an idea.” She pushed off the cloud and began flapping her way towards the library. Celestia was right behind her.

Comments

[Starscape]

Yes! Another chapter! Good work!

[Scribblestick]

1204508 Thanks!

[ThatPoemGuy]

Onward! Further up and further in! Awesome story.

This is Australia...

[Winona]

I haven't read it yet, but with the mention of Celestia and Luna I already love it! Thanks for the help on my story, by the way!

[Scribblestick]

1233063 Any time!

[La Vallett1]

At first, when they arrived in Canterlot, I thought it'll be generosity.