Chapter Eighty One: A Dash of Chaos
This is your final reminder. MASSIVE Spoilers for Timeless, Sunspots, and Cure for a Toxin from this chapter onwards.
“This could be easier, you know,” Twilight sighed, the Draconequus at her side letting out a soft laugh as they sat in the shielded conference room.
“Oh, but not nearly as fun!” he crowed. “I loathe memos.” On seeing her glare, Discord let out a huff. “Speaking of which, you’re no fun. You know why I can’t help.”
“I’ve sensed a bit of ‘won’t’ as well,” Twilight said with a knowing look. “Don’t think I didn’t notice your expression earlier.”
Discord had the decency to at least pout a bit. He waved a claw, and a picture of the various Silos was brought onto a crystal screen. The display floated on jets of chocolate milk, but Twilight wasn’t about to get distracted by that.
“And that ‘won’t’ is why we’re here,” he muttered, remarkably serious. That made Twilight’s alarm bells start ringing. When Discord got serious, that usually meant only two things.
One, he was trying to do something heartfelt and genuine for Fluttershy and didn’t want to mess it up. Or two, there was something in the world that was wrong.
She had a feeling it was the latter.
“You asked me to meet, Discord. I appreciated you explaining eternal perspective and such to Flask, but there’s obviously more. What is it?” Twilight asked. She had learned to have patience with the chaotic being, but there was only so much she could indulge him.
“I can’t intervene, not with upsetting the balance of things. But there is indeed another reason,” he admitted softly. Twilight abruptly realized that the Draconequus had shrunk physically, one of Discord’s many ways to convey a message in a non-chaotic fashion. He almost looked worried. “There’s something in that third Silo. I thought it was random, but it’s intentional.”
“What, Discord?”
“Chaos magic,” he said with a frown. “Not like in past instances. This isn’t some bumbling fool trying to get power from my realm. Everything is secure on my end, so we don’t need to worry about some evil shadow creature or warlord.” His claws now began to drum the table…literally with drumsticks. “No, this is chaos magic simply having found an outlet through somecreature. It does that now and again. The shields have weakened enough now for me to feel it. That Silo is odd, and that’s saying something coming from me. There’s never been a stable chaos field in your reality before.”
Twilight blinked, looking at him in surprise.
“So, what exactly does that mean?”
He stroked his beard, clearly in thought.
“In this case? I have no idea.”
There was a soft *thud* as Twilight’s head met the table with a groan sparking a laugh from Discord.
“Oh, I had to have a bit of fun! I don’t know what it means, exactly, but I can guess!”
“I have other things I need to get taken care of, Discord. I can’t play a guessing game with you.”
“I was going to tell you.”
The serious tone had returned, Discord pointing at the Silo picture with a claw.
“The shields around the facility are both meant to keep probing eyes out, and other things in. They probably have some of that nasty changeling throne ground up into the dust and scattered about to throw off any prying scans. My magic interacts with it in very odd ways. That means they knew the magic was inside and were experimenting with it in…well, I’ve no idea how. The point is, there’s a creature in there who can use chaos magic.”
Twilight blinked as the Draconequus paused. That was an ominous statement if she ever had heard one. That simply didn’t happen. Her ears were perked as Discord continued.
“On what level I have no idea. Usually, the magic just fizzles out within a day or two due to incompatibility when this crossover happens. Y’know, mortals liking order and all that,” The Draconequus gagged before continuing. “That’s why it’s not ever noticed. In this case, it seems to have stuck. Most likely, they’re a unicorn. Having some existing magic would boost things. It’s likely only a small part of them…but still there. A small part can become ‘all’ depending on the magic’s mood. Chaos and all that.”
His demeanor shifted again, Discord’s gaze focusing on the table.
“This magic isn’t being suppressed. That means whoever this creature is, they’re so out of whack with life that chaos loves them. That sort of magic is like an animal more than anything, and it seems to have picked a favorite based on potential.” Two eyes then flicked up to Twilight’s. “That should make both of us nervous. Harmony is the norm in your world, I don’t have to like that, but I can understand the danger chaos magic can cause when harnessed by mortals.” His next words were barely a whisper. “I’ve seen the damage before.”
“Are they a threat?”
That made Discord pause, the Draconequus returning to his usually casual demeanor. In this case, it involved pulling off his head and tossing it between his two forelimbs in thought. Finally plopping it back on his neck, Discord shrugged.
“I don’t know. Chaos isn’t good or bad. But it can be directed to support either cause, as you well know. In this case…it’s just chaos. I don’t even know if this creature knows what they’re capable of. I’ve not detected anything significant until now, so it either was suppressed or isn’t that big a part of them. Then again, I was hardly looking for the stuff. In all likelihood, they could live a normal life if given the chance. Or if they even want to. Honestly, I have no idea how my magic would interact with them, or with the shields if I forced my way through.” He paused, letting out a huff. “Which I could, by the way.”
“I don’t doubt it,” Twilight said, satiating Discord’s ego. “But can we do anything to help Sassi and Astral?”
Discord shook his head.
“Not until they’re out here. If this creature poses a threat, I’ll handle it. I’m the only licensed purveyor of chaos magic, after all!” the Draconequus said with a crow, pulling out a large wallet and matching certificate to back up his words. “Until then, I just wanted to let you know to be careful, and I’ll keep an eye on whoever this newcomer is.”
Twilight let out a tired breath, but a smile was on her face.
“Thank you, Discord. I could use all the help we can get.” The alicorn paused, a slight smirk now on her face. “You’ve come quite a long way, you know.”
The Draconequus rolled his eyes at that, despite letting out a rather proud huff.
“I obviously can care about others,” he muttered, “it just took a while for me to realize it feels good. And chaotic.”
“Regardless, thank you. Let me know if anything changes with this discovery.”
He saluted, vanishing with a soft *pop*, back to his home with Fluttershy no doubt. Twilight’s next meeting was rather short but applicable to Discord’s warning.
She made sure her mane was less frazzled, the mare taking another few deep breaths. In….and out. Occasionally recognizing how far Discord had come was always an amusing train of thought. Where he once only cared about a certain yellow Pegasus, Twilight was fairly certain he now had given himself a title akin to ‘protector of this realm.’
That’s what she understood from the O&O games Spike occasionally mentioned.
From a chaotic God to a protector. Amazing that being cared for, even as a friend, can change so much for someone. Even immortal beings can continue to grow and learn.
Some might find such a statement counterintuitive, but it was easy to become stuck in ways that worked, rather than trying something new.
A brief toss of her head and Twilight refocused. She could follow that train of thought later. The now-milkless conference room screen lit up. Two green eyes met hers, the blue unicorn nodding in greeting.
“Princess.”
“Director. I appreciate the status updates, and simply wanted to thank you for your offer,” Twilight said respectfully. She had always been a bit unnerved by the power the offshore peacekeeping organization held. But over the years, they had proved to be nothing but reliable and fair in keeping the peace.
But the fact a private multi-island country had a military that rivaled and outright exceeded that of almost all other nations was still a bit unsettling and were rumors that certain ageless magics had been developed and utilized. And yet they welcomed scrutiny from both Equestria and others with regular tours, checks, and agreements.
There was always something underneath the surface, however, when speaking with Toxic Shield. The unicorn was on friendly terms with Celestia, but it had taken years to re-establish a relationship to that level. Twilight always saw a guarded look in the unicorn’s eyes when speaking with her, even if he was perfectly amicable and diplomatic.
Uneasy feelings or not, the Last Light Organization had proven its value thousands of times over. The organization’s charitable program had the world’s largest nations as sponsors, and dozens of smaller provinces and rulers had joined as well. It had allowed diplomacy to succeed when in other times, it would have led to further conflict. It wasn’t an exaggeration that the organization had prevented dozens of large-scale wars. Their counsel encompassed multiple species, and while it handled the day-to-day affairs, their Director occasionally stepped in.
Ultimately, Twilight had begrudgingly acknowledged that both she and many naysayers, had been proven wrong over the two-plus centuries. She still didn’t think it was as formal a kingdom as Equestria, helpful or not. It was an organization that happened to own a bunch of islands, not a formally-ruled nation. Reliable or not, they simply didn’t have the history that other nations held, nor the same status…not that Twilight would openly voice such an opinion. Their nation status was less than two hundred years old, which, compared to the millenniums of Equestria, appeared rather childish, even with their noble intentions.
Celestia had tried to soften her view on the matter, but the facts spoke for themselves. Twilight still felt a stab of guilt at the thought, as her mentor had clearly been a bit disappointed at her refusal to budge on such a view over the past two centuries. The Director wasn’t on the same level of friendship as he was with Celestia, but Twilight did admit she hadn’t put as much effort into establishing such a relationship outside a business one. But they were on friendly terms.
Is that what Celestia meant? She said to not treat Toxic like just another pony, but it’s barely a formal kingdom. Does she want me to see him on an even playing field?
Maybe I should try harder at that.
To that end, she’d still keep the information regarding a new chaos magic user to herself for now, however.
Then again, that yak scientist of theirs probably already has sensors up and running that could detect it. I really need to meet with him again. Nobody else can hold their own on dark-matter arcane theory with me.
“I know you’ve always been hesitant to include us in any operations, Princess,” the Director said with a knowing smile as if echoing Twilight’s thoughts. “I just wanted to reassure you that we’re here to help if you need it. We won’t intrude unless asked as per our agreements.”
“I appreciate that. And you can’t blame me for being a tad cautious.”
“No, I certainly can’t, and won’t. Let us know if there’s anything you need from us. We have humanitarian supplies loaded for an emergency response if needed, along with containment measures.”
“I’ll certainly do so. Take care, Director.”
“You as well, Princess.”
There must have been a delayed shut-off for the feed on the other end, for Twilight heard the start of what must be an amusing exchange as someone entered the room.
“Toxic! Really? You ate the last muffins again?!”
“I left one or two!”
“There’s a third right next to you. Don’t. You. Dare.”
“I’m going to take a biiiite.”
“TOXIC!”
“Try and stop meeeee!”
The amused, loving tones between the two made Twilight shake her head in amusement. True, the Princess had suspicious views about the organization. But Twilight had far fewer qualms about their intentions, specifically the two never-aging creatures that led the ruling council. They had proven their noble intentions time and time again, and had the trust of both Celestia, and Luna, along with dozens of other rulers.
Twilight trusted them…to a point. But that was a start at least. She trusted their intentions and that they meant well; that much was without question.
I have to say they’re quite a pair. A unicorn and gryphoness…who would have thought?
The thought of a certain gryphon emperor brought a flush to Twilight’s cheeks, the mare shaking her head with a huff.
Some things just couldn’t be explained by science. And she had learned long ago that wasn’t necessarily bad.
It was often a rather good thing indeed.
Only after another half-hour of double-checking their supplies and barricades did Sassi feel comfortable sitting down. Astral had been snoring away on his medical bed, passing out soon after they arrived.
The brief sleep Sassi had gotten had been full of nightmares, the mare waking up with an uncomfortable grumble. As she tottered over to Astral, she blinked. The stallion was already awake, looking at her with a surprising amount of tenderness.
“Sad?” he asked softly.
“I...just bad dreams,” Sassi managed to say, Astral yawning.
“Thought so. Felt icky.”
She could only stare, finally reaching up to gently rest a hoof on Astral’s cheek, the Thestral quickly smiling.
“Happy?” he asked. Two familiar clouded, green eyes started to drift close.
“Happier than before,” Sassi said with a genuine, slight smile, her heart thudding in her ears.
He let out a soft hum of approval, and Astral was out again.
How did he know I was sad? That’s not the first time.
The mare yawned, deciding to chew both on that thought as well as a ration bar as she stretched. Exhaustion was staved off for a moment, and Sassi wanted to double-check to see what was next to this medical center.
Speaking of which, having two medical centers be so close was rather odd. True, Silo designs sometimes didn’t make sense due to repurposing rooms, but having two different medical facilities this close wasn’t logical, even if separated by heavy blast doors.
She carefully unbarricaded the doors, taking comfort in the fact these were far thicker than the previous medical center. On closer inspection, the doors looked to be carefully-cut slabs of heat-treated metal, a circular window taken out of each. They were about half as thick as Sassi’s hoof was wide.
That also begged the question as to why they were so reinforced.
Carefully monitoring the motion tracker, Sassi stepped out and looked around. The hallway to the right led back to the offices, glass walls lining a portion with cubicles visible beyond it. Now that she wasn’t so focused on getting to the medical center, the Thestral noticed a few strange rings of metal that spread from the floor to the ceiling, as if the hallway had a giant bracelet on.
Strange.
She took a left, carefully making her down the oddly-blank hall. A large security door greeted Sassi to both her left and right, the hall continuing down for a time until splitting.
The override code retracted the reinforced door (after a look at the motion tracker, of course.) The mare took a few steps inside to look around.
Sassi froze.
Her heartbeat thudded in her ears, eyes narrowing to pinpricks as she began to borderline hyperventilate. Four plexiglass rooms stood in front of her, each identical in nature. A metal operating table was placed in the center of each, and robotic arms were suspended above them with various operating equipment on the ends.
The restraints on the table, along with the walls were splattered with dried blood.
Scrabbling backward, the mare tried to keep her composure as the security door slid shut, but it was far too late. She had seen those rooms before or at least ones like them. The only difference was that she had been on the table looking up.
Walls closing in around her, Sassi forced her shaking hooves to move. The mare barely made it through the medical center doors. It was all she could do to barricade them, finally slumping down onto the ground. Wiggling out of the armor, Sassi tried to control the sobs that made her sides shake, tears running out of wide, horrified eyes.
She didn’t see anything other than memories. The room spun and faded into a constricting pressure on the mare’s temples. Sights and sensations that had been long since buried surged to the fore.
The time blurred together. Sassi managed to drag a few cushions from the medical beds onto the ground, but they were too soft. She wanted to feel the cold tile against her fur. It helped break through the shivering, horrific sense of being helpless. First the experimentation, the modifications.
And now the command spell.
The tears were a soft, steady trickle. Would she ever be truly free?
Sassi at one point forced herself onto the medical bed neighboring Astral’s. Even if she couldn’t stand his touch, simply knowing he was there made everything hurt just a bit less.
But it still hurt.
Look who's back! 
And some interesting developments from our Lord of Chaos...
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*nibbles spoilers*
11366354
I've tried to warn everyone as best I can.
Plausible chaos candidate: Eris from Nightmare Knights (comics), the ex-girlfriend Cosmos (comics), some creature with aptitude with chaos, chaos made the vessel.
11366521
I find myself regretful to announce I must catch up with your other stories, but I'll be back!
11367565
Have fun on the journey!
As being a new RadBunny reader, and this story being my first to read from said author, I therefore have a unique take on the spoilers for those other stories (which I will add to my list to read).
I have an outside perspective.
So!
If you would be so kind as to hear my thoughts from the outside, I would be glad to tell you.
A new chaotic magic user, hmm? While it is within the realm of possibility that another living being can be chosen to wield chaos magic full time, I am actually drawn to another possibility.
We have already seen much of what this "Company" is capable of; advanced weapon platforms, magic tool production, advanced cybernetics, portal control to different dimensions, reverse engineering changeling magic, and even... genetic manipulation and creation.
So, looking at this from my viewpoint, what if instead of finding another person who can use chaos magic, the 'Company' made their own Draconequus, a genetic clone of Discord. Considering how powerful chaos magic can be, such a possibility had to have been considered by the board at one point.
-------
As for my next thought...
"But the fact a private multi-island country had a military that rivaled and outright exceeded that of almost all other nations was still a bit unsettling and were rumors that certain ageless magics had been developed and utilized. And yet they welcomed scrutiny from both Equestria and others with regular tours, checks, and agreements."
So... you are saying that there is a Private Military Country, out in the middle of the ocean, with a large and well armed force, that is also developing and researching something powerful and dangerous, which they allow other parties to make regular checks under scrutiny...
Is that you, Boss?
If that is what I think it is, I am definitely going to read that later.
And so ends my thoughts. Thank you for taking the time to read all this, I hope you found it entertaining at least.
I am looking forward to the next chapter, as always.
11367820
First off, I hope you've enjoyed the ride thus far!
I think that's an interesting idea for sure. Ultimately, the Company was exploring some odd things indeed. I don't want to spoil anything, but I look forward to people's reactions. I try to keep the stories within the same 'realm' if that makes sense. I can't say too much without spoiling the other books
And...
The Last Light Organization has quickly evolved to say the least. Like above, I can't say too much, but the philosophy of intervening if necessary is an interesting moral conundrum
I love hearing feedback and thoughts, so thank you!
Ah, I'm beginning to get the timeline for this story now.
11370654
Can you imagine if we see experiment #1?
I'd die immediately knowing that f**ker still exists..
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