Chapter Eighty Six: Temporal Tears
Sassi jerked awake, the mare blinking away the warm comfort a decent bed brought, even if it was just a medical cot.
And the RASP armor had been correct in its scans, with no poisons or any malicious intent with the food itself. Well, other than tasting so good as to have the Thestrals eat just a bit too much. Arcane had certainly gone all-out with the selection. Then again, the two Thestrals may be a bit biased having only eaten ration bars for ages.
sleepiness tickled at Sassi’s consciousness, but not her own. It was so odd, sensing something that wasn’t herself. And yet it was comforting, the simple fact of knowing Astral was sleeping peacefully.
What woke me then, I wonder?
That question was answered with a soft pulse. The air seemed to shiver, the RASP helmet chiming softly.
“What was that?”
The armor responded, projecting a graph into the air.
‘Magical disturbance nearby. Proceed with caution. Chaos magic levels rising.’
Her first reaction was to reach for the guns, but some movement made the mare pause.
Sitting calmly next to the open door, an ethereal fox looked at the mare curiously. The creature’s body was translucent, a light teal with bright green eyes.
“That’s not normal,” Sassi muttered, “can you scan them?”
‘Scan complete. Magical Familiars detected.’
Familiars?
Sassi had heard of the creatures but hadn’t assumed that’s what Arcane had meant by mentioning his fox friends. Familiars were an oddity, high-level mages either enticing or building a construct with magic. There were equal studies that proved that life was genuinely created, or that intelligence was out in some other realm and decided to inhabit the mage’s creation. Either way, the creatures could be passive, helpful, or outright aggressive. Their intelligence could vary from being programmed, to outright sapient.
Judging from how the fox was calmly watching her it wasn’t the aggressive type.
“Hi?” Sassi said softly.
The fox’s ears perked up, and the familiar let out a happy chirp. Four other heads poked around the corner; three of them much smaller kits. Sassi’s heart melted as they looked at her, clearly curious.
The lead fox familiar walked forward, then glanced back down the hall. It did this motion a few times.
“You want me to follow you?”
The fox nodded.
“You can understand me?” the mare asked, getting up and carefully walking towards it. Either this was Arcane controlling a golem of some sort, or this familiar was unlike anything she had seen before.
Then again, the unicorn matched that description too.
Another nod, the fox tossing its head with a frustrated sigh.
Sassi made sure to snag the RASP helmet, another spare helmet scanning Astral’s room just in case. A single minigun was slung on her side but the action made the fox roll its eyes as it waited, snorting in annoyance.
A sassy fox familiar indeed.
Following the familiar, Sassi watched as the other four hid farther down the hallway, clearly cautious. Her odd guide sped up, a soft huff leaving its mouth. They traversed the main hallway, taking a left, and then another right and through multiple security doors. The room appeared to have once been a lounge with various furniture and cooking equipment set off to the side.
The fox let out a worried cry, and Sassi immediately had many of her questions answered.
Arcane was collapsed near a door at the far end of the room, semi-visible magical waves making the metal floor ripple. The horn restrictor and armor were nowhere to be seen. But the puddle of molten metal on the floor gave the mare an idea of where the objects had gone. The stallion didn’t react to her calls, instead simply curling into a ball as his horn sparked with colors that made Sassi’s head hurt. They weren’t just colors, but had a weight to them, the air around each magical discharge seeming to bend. The ceiling began to now shift and twist as if being pulled by a cotton candy machine, the RASP armor highlighting the dangerous field in front of her.
It was magic that shouldn’t exist in this realm, Sassi’s mind unable to focus on a specific sight. Even a glance made her temples throb.
‘WARNING: Chaos magic field detected. User not advised to proceed past the yellow HUD markers. RASP anti-magic countermeasures insufficient.’
Confirming the readings, the fox blocked Sassi from going any further. It tossed its head toward two objects on the ground. The small, crescent-moon devices had deployable metal legs that let the objects stand up, and the two currently pulsed softly. The RASP helmet projected some sort of field emanating out from the devices, but the technical jargon went over Sassi’s head for what they actually did.
Some sort of magical field emitter?
Satisfied she had seen the objects, the fox then beckoned Sassi to a small storage area.
The mare’s heart sank at seeing the contents. There were shelves stuffed to the brim with metal bracelets, horn-locks, and every sort of magical restrictor.
What kind of life have you lived, Arcane?!
The fox seemed interested in one box, and Sassi dug into the contents and located more of the odd field emitters. The familiar wasn’t satisfied until Sassi had grabbed five more of them. She carefully navigated the chaos field, placing them all on the floor facing Arcane in a circle.
“I have no idea what this does,” Sassi muttered, the RASP scan not showing anything new. “So, I tap this?”
The fox nodded. That was going to take some getting used to.
Sassi activated the first device, and the air let out a soft *wump*. She wasn’t entirely sure what the magical readings in the helmet meant in a real-time sense, but they had stopped going up. She immediately regretted not brushing up on her magical physics class.
Sassi activated the others, each emitter projecting a shimmering, translucent field toward the prone stallion. The RASP armor let out a happy chime, the previously-red field now a cheerful green. More numbers scrolled across the screen with a few explanations. Some sort of dampener and shield?
A warm sensation drifted across the mare’s forelimb; the fox nuzzling it thankfully.
“You’re welcome,” Sassi said softly, the familiar smiling at her as it walked over to lie down on a nearby couch. The rest of its apparent family joined it, curling up in a giant magical ball of fur. A sad cry went up from the bundle of familiars; their heads turning to look towards Arcane.
The unicorn had scooted to the edge of the projection field, his sides shaking with sobs.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered, “I’m sorry…”
The larger familiar hopped off the couch, trotting into the magical field without so much as a flinch, and gently began to prod the unicorn with its muzzle.
“No more.”
The darker memories of Sassi’s past began to beat at the doors. Was this what Astral had seen in her?
The room briefly wavered. The metal walls vanished, and cream, padded texture took over all sides. The outlines of two ponies stood near the curled-up stallion, unintelligible words being said.
A memory?
The stallion raised his head ever so slightly, his entire body shaking.
“Please, just let me go…” he whimpered, head falling back to the floor again.
“Increase the voltage.” A distorted voice stated with a huff. “That produced a…satisfactory response. But we need better. We know he can take it. So, increase it! And prepare another batch of inhibitors.”
Sassi’s heart twisted in her chest. What had this pony been through?
I have a vague idea. I know what the Company is capable of. I just hope I can reach him.
“Arcane?”
“Who are you?” the stallion snarled, eyes turning Sassi’s way. Their odd depths swirled with their usually-static colors, fangs protruding out of the pony’s mouth. The air pulsed with a physical ‘thump’, a malevolent shadow starting to snuff out the ambient light around the unicorn.
Not good.
“It’s Sassi. Remember? You were kind enough to let Astral and myself stay here for a bit.”
Her words seemed to reach the stallion. Arcane blinked, the magical pulse fading as his eyes stabilized, a hoof reaching up to wipe away a few stray tears. It took a few moments for the pony to seem present, his eyes scanning the room as his breathing returned to normal, along with the surroundings. The metal walls returned, and the fox let out a happy chirp. It returned to the couch to watch.
“Where…what?” Arcane muttered, eyes settling on the devices. “Right. Silo Three,” the pony said to himself, still staring at the odd devices. “The other field projectors. I wasn’t able to get to them in time,” he muttered. “Thank you, Sassi.”
“You’re welcome, but I’d appreciate a bit of an explanation about all of this,” she said cautiously. Sassi was careful not to aim the gun anywhere near Arcane, but her instincts screamed at her to do otherwise. This unicorn was obviously not normal, and that was beyond the modifications.
“You’ve certainly earned one. I didn’t do anything drastic did I?” Arcane asked. The stallion’s limbs abruptly buckled, the pony faceplanting onto the floor with a muffled “ow.”
“No, you didn’t. Other than turning a bit malevolent for a few moments. You, erm, alright there? Aside from the magic destabilization bit?” Sassi asked cautiously, the unicorn in front of her adjusting to glance her way with what appeared to be a fair bit of effort.
“More or less. Magic is-it’s difficult to explain. But you’ve earned an explanation. Both of you have.” He paused. “Malevolent is a good descriptor of me in that state. I apologize for not keeping that under control.”
His words were stilted and seemed off as if recited from a script.
I’d certainly feel better with Astral here. The mare mused. A soft hum in the back of Sassi’s mind made her blink. A curious, dull wakefulness poked at her consciousness.
Is that him?
“I can see if Astral could be here for that explanation,” Sassi mused. “Come to think of it, while we’ve appreciated the help, we really have no idea who you are...in many ways. And vice versa.”
The ghost of a smile slid onto Arcane’s face. It didn’t reach his eyes, but it was certainly an improvement.
“That’s a fair point. Well, I can’t move, and so this may be as good a time as any for introductions.”
“Astral, you’re up, right?” Sassi asked into the radio, a yawn being the immediate reply.
“More or less.”
“Can you walk?”
A few annoyed grunts later, and a defeated grumble came over the radio.
“Not exactly. But can’t the armor move me? What’s up?”
“Arcane had a magical burnout of sorts. We barely know the guy, and we’re staying in his shelter. So only fair to have a late introduction.”
“Ah. Well, let’s see if the armor can help with this.”
A few choice commands to the RASP system, and Astral eventually walked into the room, promptly plopping his hindquarters down on an empty cushion that was on the floor.
“Ooook. That’s enough walking for today. You, uh, alright there, Arcane?” Astral asked with a wince, the unicorn looking over at the Thestral with a huff.
“Relatively speaking,” he sighed. “I…” his words were cut off as a blue flame ignited around his body. “Oh. That took long enough.”
“Arcane, what is that, all of it? You’re clearly not just a modified unicorn,” Sassi stated rather bluntly but maintained at least a respectful tone. “Normal magic users don’t do all of this, let alone dabble in chaos magic. The RASP armor tipped me off to that.” Sassi didn’t feel it was her place to mention the previously projected memory. Astral had only done so when prompted in her case, after all.
Arcane’s shoulders slumped, messy blue mane drifting in front of his eyes. Sassi’s sharp eyes picked up a subtle shift in his demeanor. A quivering of his limbs, and a shaky intake of breath.
“Of course, the armor picked it up. And you’re right. Normal magical users most certainly don’t have any of this. Perhaps I should have mentioned it first. First off, the flame around me is harmless unless I want it to be otherwise.”
“It being?
“Excess magic,” Arcane explained. “There’re only four other recorded cases in the history of this disability. Concerning the flames at least. I lack the usual buffer unicorns have between casting a spell and their mana pool, therefore constantly venting the excess in the form of this flame. Literally burning off the surplus.”
“But unicorns have a limited pool of magic. If they run out, they get a migraine if they try to cast anything. So that doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Astral chimed in, Sassi appreciating having another individual at her side, especially this certain Thestral.
The stallion in front of them had shown them nothing but kindness, but there was a lot they didn’t know. And that was a just cause for caution.
A sad smile flickered onto Arcane’s face at Astral’s words.
“You’re right. That’s where this comes in,” he said, gesturing to his cutie mark. “I have the reverse of a pool.”
“Reverse?”
“The chaos magic.”
That made both Thestral’s eyes narrow as the pieces started to fit together a bit better. Sassi knew the Company had tried to tap into the limitless power source, but it simply couldn’t be contained. There was only one creature who could completely control such magic, and he didn’t even live in this dimension.
“Discord is the only one who can use that stuff. I heard of experiments where they tried to splice it into existing mages; is that what they did to you?” Sassi asked.
“I wish it was that recent,” Arcane chuckled darkly. It was not a pleasant or happy sound. “I’ve been like this since I was born. The flames. Unable to control casting power and constantly burning off the excess magic my link to the chaos realm provides. I managed to control my chaos-infused magic for low-level spells throughout my life with inhibitors. When I was adopted by the company, I posed far less of a risk to everyone.”
“Hence the bigger restrictors?”
“Precisely. They let me at least exercise a bit more control, but the devices dull everything to an extent. The various training I was enrolled in also helped me direct it, focus it. Some days, I can pass off as any other unicorn. Others…”
“You melt a hole in the floor and ceiling?”
Arcane raised an eyebrow, glancing up at the now-charred tiles above him at Astral’s remark.
“In a word, yes. Exerting myself with that blast earlier threw me off more than anticipated. Now I pay the price. To think I thought for so long that the Company had my best interests in mind, that keeping my magic under control was for my benefit…”
He let out a soft, pained hiss. The unicorn’s horn sparked, a bolt of magic lashing out towards the family of fox familiars. The creatures seemed entirely nonplussed, the bolt simply turning their bed into a large pink cupcake.
“I still don’t know why chaos occasionally focuses on food,” Arcane muttered, wobbling on his hooves before sitting back down.
“What of your fox friends? One of them led me here.”
The unicorn stared at her, his eyes then drifting over to the foxes, the larger of which smiled back. It let out a chirp, the sound seeming to put Arcane at ease.
“Did they now?” he asked. “Familiars are picky, not very trusting creatures. Chaos ones even more so.”
“Wait, what?”
Arcane let out a wince at Sassi’s raised voice.
“Too loud.”
“Sorry.”
“They’re my best friends. My magic can’t hurt them, never has. They serve as a conduit at times, keeping me grounded. They just took an interest in me. Nothing in this realm can hurt them, but they just appeared one day in my cell wanting to help. After…I….” the unicorn abruptly collapsed, his sides shaking. “Never mind.”
“Do you want us to leave?” Astral asked after a few moments. “We can give you a few-”
“NO!”
The unicorn’s abrupt cry made the two Thestrals jerk in surprise, the pony taking deep breaths.
“Sorry. I-please. Don’t.”
Arcane’s eyes looked up briefly, and all Sassi saw within them was raw fear. Despite wielding a power that could turn the RASP armor, or this entire Silo to molten slag…
He’s terrified.
She wished that there was a way to send the message to Astral. The shift in the unicorn’s demeanor now made complete sense.
It was all a front. Acting normal, trying to be normal.
I know how that feels.
“I’m good staying. I can go first if you want?” Astral asked, his gaze drifting over to Sassi. There was a brief, understanding nod.
Wait. Did he have the same thought?!
“First?” Arcane asked, not looking up. His shoulders were slumped as if the request to have the two Thestrals stay had cowed him.
“Get to know you stuff. You told us a bit about you, so fair’s fair.”
Raising his head, the unicorn looked over to Astral curiously, nodding once.
“I grew up in Fillydelphia. My family is in the Night Guard, and so I followed that path. I tried to help someone, and it cost me a lot more than I thought,” Astral said. “The attackers had powerful friends, so I agreed to drop out of the program, and the company scooped me up. I thought it was a pretty great gig until the facility AI tried to suffocate me. I made my way through and eventually met Sassi. That’s the past few months in a nutshell.”
Arcane’s gaze had lifted, the unicorn watching Astral with genuine curiosity.
“You were punished for helping? I wish I was surprised,” the unicorn muttered.
“Such is the way with creatures who have power and money,” Astral said with a shrug. “Two stallions and a mare in distress. Put two and two together, and I beat them into a bloody pulp. And that was before I got modified. I’d still do it over again though. Can’t resist it.”
“Huh?”
“Helping others,” Astral continued. “It’s why I was ok being in the guard. It’s not what I want to do forever; I love astronomy. But I’ve always wanted to help creatures. Maybe runs in the family being guards and all. But when I got stuck down here. I found someone else who needed some help too. One thing led to another, and here we are.”
Sassi trotted over, gently reaching down to hold Astral’s hoof briefly. It didn’t have the same impact, him being in the armor and all. But the look in his eyes let her know the meaning was what mattered.
Sitting down, Sassi turned back to Arcane. In the brief moment before he looked her way, Arcane’s eyes and demeanor had cracked, something else breaking through the fear and uncertainty.
Admiration.
Somehow, Sassi felt rather proud that someone was seeing Astral that way. A slice of how she felt about him.
“Mine’s a bit shorter of a tale,” she said. “I grew up in the Silo, was made here. I worked for the Company, doing whatever they needed me for. Mostly security work. Handling prisoners and rogue experiments. It wasn’t really a happy childhood. My dad tried to help me, but there was only so much he could do.”
“Dad?”
“Dad, creator, family, same thing. He raised me, so my dad,” Sassi shrugged. “He kept me sane and tried to raise me to have a somewhat normal life after sabotaging the original program. Without him, I’d have been a mindless creature at the whims of the Company. I did my security job until everything went up in flames months ago. Ran into Astral, and we’re still here.”
The reactor on Astral’s back decided to glow a rather bright pink at that, the color matching Sassi’s cheeks. Arcane’s eyes narrowed slightly, the colors in their depths glowing for a few moments. His gaze seemed to be looking through the two of them for a short time before refocusing.
“You made it through two Silos,” he muttered to himself, “it still seems impossible.”
“Couldn’t have done it alone,” Sassi said firmly. “And we’ll get through this one all the same.”
A warm hum in the back of her mind made Sassi’s chest glow, the mare seeing Astral glance her way affectionately out of the corner of her eye.
“Friends down here are rare. Anything more than that is nearly unheard of. You’re lucky to have each other,” Arcane said softly, levering himself up into a sitting position. “My turn.”
He raised a hoof as Sassi opened her mouth to object. There was an odd pleading in his eyes, so she stayed silent.
“I was born in Baltimare. I moved around a lot with the foster programs, hopping from family to family” Arcane began. “But there was a gryphoness who raised me for the vast majority of it. I thought of her as my mom and certainly wanted her to be. But the Company got their adoption paperwork approved before her somehow. They then poisoned my view of her with lies. By the time I learned the truth, I was stuck underground with no escape. So, I trained in security and general magic craft. Then the RASP program…” his voice drifted off with a shake of the unicorn’s head.
“What do you like to do?” Astral asked, the question making the unicorn refocus.
“Do?” Arcane muttered, “I hadn’t thought about it much until the security fields fell.” There was a short pause. “I do like to cook.”
“And you’re good at it,” Sassi added, the two Thestral’s rewarded by seeing the first bit of positive emotion flicker across Arcane’s face, a bashful flush of his cheeks.
“Thank you. I’d suppose I’d like to give it a shot. That, and sailing.”
“That’s an interesting one to accompany cooking,” Astral mused.
“My magic, it can be maddening,” Arcane explained. “When I have control of the chaos, rare as that may be, I can create things on a whim. Craft spells that are advanced beyond all measure in the blink of an eye. A single thought is manifest in an instance without learning the usual magic theories. It may sound like a perfect tradeoff, but it’s overwhelming. Painful. Trying to sort through possibilities and control the magic to get the exact outcome. Seeing everything and nothing at the same time,” he said, shrinking down slightly. “I know that might not make sense. But it’s the best I can do. As far as I can tell, normal minds aren’t meant to wield chaos magic. But the few times I’ve been close enough to the ocean, I realize I can’t sense anything.”
The unicorn’s expression became wistful. He almost looked happy, and peaceful. The flames around the stallion’s body subsided to a light flickering, like a campfire.
“Chaos is part of my magic set. But it hates order. Weather and waves are orderly, they obey rules. So, even if I try, I can’t sense what the weather or waves will be like. A storm could roll in, and I’m at its mercy. No ulterior motives, nothing except nature and myself. My magic wouldn’t have a use. And I’d like that…” his voice drifted off, another bashful expression poking through. “Sorry. Don’t mean to bore you. Nobody has asked me that. Not for a long time.”
“Boring isn’t a word I’d use to describe you, Arcane. Not in the time since we’ve met,” Astral chuckled. “And you’re not the only one adjusting. I’ve had to learn how to trust. I guess if you’re in these Silos, there’s always a learning curve.”
The look on Arcane’s face, however brief, finally clued Sassi into where she’d seen it before. On younger colts watching their older brother. Despite being their age, Arcane clearly saw something in Astral he admired.
It was rather sweet.
“I also want to help others. I always have,” Arcane added, the peaceful flames vanishing to return to their rapid flare once again. “My mom was part of an organization that helped creatures, even if it was unpopular to some. I appreciated that. They didn’t care what others thought of them, only wanted to help.” The unicorn’s eyes abruptly glared, fangs poking out from his mouth. “They would have helped me. Equestria certainly didn’t. So much for laws and protections for a citizen. Useless creatures leaving me to rot in-” he took a few deep breaths, eyes looking to the floor in clear shame.
“Sorry,” the stallion whispered.
“Don’t be. You’re talking to the two creatures who can come closest to understanding if I had to wager a guess,” Astral said. “The justice system failed me. I became a pariah over a crime I didn’t commit. Sassi, well, self-explanatory. I’m not saying I now totally support vigilante justice, but in some cases, it’s the only way. I certainly didn’t let Split Tie make it to a trial.”
The widening of Astral’s eyes at the end of his sentence clued Sassi in, especially as the stallion fell silent in thought.
It’s the first pony he’s ever killed.
Arcane was in the good company of ponies with baggage.
“Well said,” Arcane mused, his demeanor relaxing a bit more. “Back then, it was hard with my magic being so random. But it’s why I enrolled in the training program here. I still want to help. As a colt, I always liked the idea of those warriors with a code. Honor. So much for all of that,” he said with a frown. “I thought such a thing could exist here. In my naïveté, I trusted the company with it.”
“Evil likes taking advantage of those who want to help,” Sassi added with a sad sigh. “But that doesn’t mean it always has to win. It never does, not forever.”
There was another pause; not uncomfortable, but Arcane was unsure how to proceed. With Astral still clearly in thought, the mare took the initiative. The unicorn in front of them was in thought, his eyes staring at the floor.
“Do you need any more help? Getting to a couch or something?” Sassi asked, the odd feeling of seeing a version of herself, in a way, returning as Arcane shook his head.
The stallion shook his head, magic reaching out and tugging a couch cushion over to him. Arcane refused to look at her, but Sassi saw his multicolored eyes dampen at the simple question.
“Help? No. But…thank you. Both of you,” Arcane said, the words seeming to be thought over very carefully before speaking as if the simple sentence was utterly alien to the stallion.
“You’re welcome,” Sassi said calmly. “It’s nice to meet you officially.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Arcane. Formally,” Astral said, nodding before carefully walking away after a nod from Sassi.
As she turned away, the mare paused. Something pushed her to say something.
I know what it’s like to want some form of comfort. Even if it’s words.
“For what it’s worth, Arcane, I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I know what it’s like to be controlled, used. All while you’re helpless and trapped. Just know that now it can get better. It does get better. It just takes time, I promise.”
Confusion swam in Arcane’s eyes, realization then taking hold as his gaze pooled with unshed, and confused tears of thanks.
The doors closed behind her, Sassi walking back to the medical center.
Seeing Astral on his bed, she hopped up and flopped down next to him, leaning on an armored shoulder. It wasn’t as nice as his fur, but it was something.
“Poor guy,” Astral sighed.
“No kidding. He’s been through the wringer. But what about you? I noticed you got a bit pensive at the end there.”
Astral was quiet for a few moments before speaking.
“I realized that it was the first time I’d talked about the Case in such a casual manner. I realized that maybe I’m starting to work through it all,” he said deliberately. “Still coming to terms with the whole ‘killed a pony’ thing through.”
“I wouldn’t call the Director a pony in any way other than genetics,” Sassi huffed, earning a genuine smile from her special-somepony.
“That’s a fair point. But you know what I mean.”
“I do. But I think you’ve done amazingly well for being thrown into this mess,” the mare added, scooting up to rest her head against his. “It feels weird though. I see Arcane, and I see parts of myself. Is that how I was at first? When we met?”
“In more subtle ways, yes,” Astral said. “Not as open. But guarded, dealing with stuff, yeah.”
“And now I get to play a role as you did for me. We both do. A chance to help somepony.”
“It’s a nice feeling to help someone,” the stallion confirmed with a yawn. “But too much thinking.”
Sassi agreed. Between the revelations with Arcane, and realizing that she was, in a way, given the opportunity to be a mentor for a past version of herself was utterly overwhelming.
So, she settled on only thinking about one thing. In this case, the smell of Astral’s fur as she snuggled close, his sides rising and falling against hers. A soft whisper of “love you” made the mare’s heart melt. The fact Sassi could reply in kind and mean every ounce of it made any other worry inconsequential. It was just her, and Astral.
It was easy to focus on that.
Stats
Page generated in 0.028 seconds
Total duration
1,049 users online
1,642,147 hits today, 1,960,719 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
So we have a thestral who's a living weapon, a thestral who's mildly changeling, and a pony who takes after Discord whether he wants to or not.
Interesting!
11401378
Interesting is a good word for them!
The potential escape ticket out of there has appeared. Could he melt the ceiling all the way to the surface?
But I wonder, what is really stopping him from letting his anger flare before and possibly uprooting the company from the ground?
11401407
Chaos magic, though unstable, does not do what it does for absolutely no reason. And oddly enough, calling the ocean "orderly" is rather strange. That far out, and the ripples and waves and patterns' origins are so buried in the present that it's impossible to track it all. A kind of orderly chaos. That, and the storms of the ocean.
It's a special kind of chaos, one based on mathematics run rampant rather than a random uncertainty devoid of all reason. However, I think it's fairer to say our new... friend... is more subject to spontaneity than randomness. SQUIRREL syndrome, with a pinch of great hurt.
The chaos might not be controllable, but it could likely be directed, given the right mindset and focus. Unfortunately in my experience, that sort of ability, while fantastically powerful in reality, is a fickle thing to make work.
It requires so many prerequisite conditions be met that the odds of disruption are not an if, but a when. And when they are disrupted, some would ask how it works at all, or why such a person is kept around if they're so... volatile, and fragile.
What I'm thinking may not be true, but I, perhaps, feel seen by this new friend. I may not have suffered such pains from origin, but I know the struggle of fitting into order when your nature is its opposite. When you're running Linux and everyone else is on Windows.
11401650
A very apt comparison.
Ultimately, yes, an ocean is chaos (perhaps why he'd feel peaceful there,) but everything is based in patterns. Ripples, waves, the ocean spray, all of it can be ultimately traced back to a mathematical certainty.
The Windows and Linux analogy is an extremely good one. Discord, we know can completely control his magic. This poor fellow, on the other hand...not so much.
Discord would be the only one who knows the 'why and how' of Chaos magic.
Wonder if they store any grain in them silos?
Bad joke, I know, but I'm tired and I'm running out of witty things to say.
11401893
In this case, the Silos only store death...
I wonder if Arcane will also get the psychic link that Sassi and Astral have
Arcane’s mother wouldn’t happen to be a certain bird from one of your other stories, would she?
11404227
We'll see...
I can safely say that Arcane and any relations are 100% new.
11403855
11403855
11404254
Israfel Special, anyone?
This is one story where such a thing would not be so objectionable or contrived.
The three already feel closer than I would have expected after only two chapters.
11401893
Grains of pony remains
Like brains
...No more rhyming, I'll abstain
Part of me wanted to come to the conclusion that the gryphoness that nearly adopted Arcane was Gelliana. However, she both can't have foals and doesn't desire them, as I recall. Minds can always change, of course, but I still doubt it. There's also the fact that a stallion was never mentioned, and it's clearly shown that Gelliana and Toxic Shield are still very much together.
What I AM no longer in doubt of, though, is that Arcane is a new friend and ally for Astral and Sassi. With the three of them working together, I'd say their odds of finally escaping are fairly good. We'll see what Silo 3 throws at them before that happens though.
11686138
I can confirm Gelliana isn't the one who adopted him.
And...as for friend or foe...Arcane is an interesting one indeed.