Prologue
Somewhere Beyond You
Prologue
Magic.
Parallel worlds.
Ponies?
To be honest, it was all a little hard to take in. It kind of… shook his entire understanding of the universe actually. Sure, that kind of stuff happened in sci-fi movies, but the thought of it actually being real? Of having seen proof? Well, he just wasn’t quite sure what to think. At first, he’d tried to deny it, pretend it hadn’t happened. But then he’d seen her.
Strolling around down town, still contemplating everything that had happened, and then there she was. Standing in a bookstore, completely indulged in some egghead story that he, honestly, had no interest in. But it’d been her, that pony princess, and, well, he’d actually made a rather large fool of himself. Rushing in, grabbing her, and sputtering on about how she got back and what she was doing there didn’t exactly give off the best impression.
Rather, she’d cast him the most suspicious look he’d ever gotten before pulling away and calling security to have him escorted out.
That was when he'd realized it, accepted it rather, that parallel universes did exist. Because that Twilight Sparkle, the one he’d met in the bookstore, hadn’t been the same one that had put Sunset Shimmer in her place. It’d been her parallel self, which had been just another fact to completely rock his world.
He felt rather like he was on a boat lately actually. At sea. In the middle of a hurricane.
Because meeting that Twilight in the bookstore wasn’t the only strange thing that had happened recently, aside from the whole magical crown episode.
It was strange, how everyone had reacted to finding out the truth. Like it was totally normal, everyone had accepted it, even him. That was, until Twilight Sparkle had gone back to her own world, taking her magic with her. Without the influence of her power, common sense had re-entered his universe, putting things back in their place.
Even going so far as to wipe clean everyone’s memories of what had happened.
Yeah, that’s right, he was the only one that remembered.
Even Sunset Shimmer had developed a case of amnesia, and she wasn’t even from the human world! It was as if without the influence of magic, nothing had happened at all. The memories had been sucked out into the portal with that crown.
But why was he the only one not affected?
Sometimes he wondered if perhaps it had all been a dream, that his subconscious had cast Sunset Shimmer as the antagonist because he absolutely loathed her for treating him so horribly when they’d been dating. But then he’d remember the total decimation of the front of the school, as well as the huge pit left before it, and reconsider. Mostly because no one, not even police officials, could figure out what had happened. And all the high schoolers had been there! At the dance! When it happened!
And only Flash knew the truth.
Or at least he hoped he did…
Maybe he was going insane, he couldn’t be sure. It was all just so… confounding…
It made his head hurt.
And it wasn’t as if he could talk to anyone about it. They’d all think he was crazy, talking about ponies and flying demons and the “friendship of magic.” They’d lock him up for sure for pure silliness. After all, the world from which Twilight came wasn’t exactly… realistic. In fact, it was pure ridiculousness.
Ponies… What the hell...?
Groaning, Flash flopped back onto his bed, his eyes closed tight against the migraine creeping up through his temples. He really needed to stop thinking about this. Just let it go, forget it, and move on with his life. It was his senior year, he needed to be thinking about his future, not magical ponies.
He had realistic problems, like that fact that he was broke and living with his deadbeat uncle, which meant he had no tuition money. And that after he turned eighteen, he was getting kicked out, so then he’d be homeless too.
What kind of homes did ponies live in?
No, no, no! Stop thinking about it!
Groaning, he turned to bury his face in his bed sheets, growing more and more frustrated.
Why couldn’t he be like everyone else and just forget…?
oOo
“I am worried,” Luna paced before the throne, her sister watching her with a concerned furrow above her eyes. “Time is running out. If legend holds true, then-”
“Be calm sister,” Celestia tried to encourage, though the concern in her own tone was far from hidden. “We have managed to find many of the High Elements. There are few that elude us. Time runs, true, but so do we in the right direction.” Luna wasn’t convinced, her hooves clopping against the marble floor as she went to the window. The sun was shining bright, only reminding her of the sleep she was missing being up and worried. It was becoming a regular occurrence however.
“What elements are we missing yet?” the darker of the two questioned, her tone flat as she watched the ponies prance on below.
“The old tablets are hard to decipher,” Celestia sighed. “We have managed to locate Harmony of course.”
“The two of us,” Luna murmured, more so to herself than her sister.
“And Friendship, the builder of harmony and peace,” Celestia sounded so tired. “And Love, which granted us the ability to restore the Crystal Empire.” Where Cadance and Shining Armor currently resided, guarding the border. “Then of course, there is Discord, the only negative element that has joined our cause.”
“We have found Loneliness as well,” Luna continued. “Though he is far from wanting to help. We have taken back his kingdom and trapped him in a dimensional prison. I doubt he will want anything to do with us.”
“We must try,” Celestia stated firmly. “The very fate of our world is at stake. Certainly even he must see the benefits of working together. For without our world, there is nothing. Even Discord was able to see that far. And we know it is possible to sway the Elements, you are proof enough of that.”
Luna closed her eyes, remembering her days as Nightmare Moon, when she’d abolished Harmony and gone against that which she was born to represent. When the nothingness had crept in and swayed her from her path. Back when they’d had few defenses and little knowledge of the magic beyond the More.
“That is true,” Luna agreed. “But during that time, I lost my ability to harness Harmony. Should we set those negative elements against their natural inclinations, then they too will no doubt lose their focus. Should we desire to bring them to our side, then we should not go about reformation as was done with Discord, but instead appeal to those traits that we so disapprove of.”
“I fear you may be correct sister,” Celestia nodded, her head sinking gravely. “Friendship is not the direct opposite of Discord, therefore using that to appeal to his sentimentality does not alter his desire to reek havoc. Only make him more considerate of doing so. But I do not believe that there is any way to reform Loneliness.”
“It is not something to be reformed,” Luna replied. “I know loneliness. I feel it always. The night is not the desired, but the necessary,” Celestia had glanced up at her sister sadly. “I have come to accept this and see the logic in the harmony between our differences. Perhaps if King Sombra can find this kind of harmony as well, he may be able to see the same rational that I have managed to come upon.”
“Perhaps,” Celestia nodded. “But you were not born of Loneliness Luna. You have always had me, even through the dark days. King Sombra I fear has never had such a luxury. It will be very difficult to do what you are proposing.”
“There must be a way,” Luna finally left the window to face her sister. “You found the way to alter Discord. It is now my turn to try. Leave this task to me sister. I will find a way.” Celestia tightened her lips, but nodded, knowing she could leave the duty to no other.
“But what of the last High Element?” Celestia questioned. “We haven’t any leads on where it is or even what it is.” It was proving to be the most elusive, neither of the sisters having even heard a whisper of it during their long lives.
“Since King Sombra appeared, we have been granted a vital piece of the puzzle,” Luna began to pace again. “We now have Harmony and Discord, Friendship and Loneliness. The last is Love. Could the final negative element be…” Luna paused, her hooves coming to a stop. “Hatred perhaps?”
Celestia contemplated this for a moment. “I do not think that is the correct assessment,” the elder finally decided, Luna glancing up at her curiously. “Love and Hate do not fall on opposite sides of the spectrum, but merely on two sides of the same line. Hate is part of Love, two sides of the same coin. Just as Destruction,” Celestia pointedly caught her sister’s eye, “is part of Harmony. And Silence is part of Discord. Greed and Loneliness are the same, and Friendship with Rejection. They are part of the same spectrums, but not opposite.”
“Then what is the opposite of Love?” Luna questioned thoughtfully.
“I think…” Celestia continued to contemplate. “That the opposite of Love would have to be… Indifference.”
“Apathy…” Luna muttered quietly.
“The inability to feel anything at all,” Celestia started, the ends coming together as the two continued their discussion. “Or perhaps not the inability to feel nothing, but the choice to not care. To be… unconcerned.” Celestia’s eyes head clouded over thoughtfully.
“Then we must find the one who cares for nothing and no one?” Luna shook her head. “If that is the last Element, then it could be very difficult to locate. Because those who care for nothing have no desire to be known to anyone. They stand up for nothing, represent nothing.”
“Then we must find it’s other half,” Celestia decided, trying to remain determined. “Find it’s Hate to Love. But what would be the other side of indifference?”
Luna’s eyes popped wide. “Obsession,” she declared, the realization striking her so fiercely that she could feel the magic in her responding to the idea. “To find one that cares for nothing but what is important to only them. Selfishness.”
“I do believe you are right Sister,” Celestia lifted her graceful form from the throne and descended to stand beside her counterpart. “We must find one of these forces, they will lead us to the final Element. But where to even start? Where do we look to find obsession in its purist form?”
“Oh come now, certainly one of you must know the answer to that one.” Heads snapping up, both sisters watched as that snaking form wound his way down the pillars until he’d slithered his way up to them. As if to accent their thoughts, he flicked a red, hissing tongue in Luna’s face, smiling the whole time before he rounded his way to Celestia, staring her straight in the face.
“You are able to provide an answer then?” the elder of the sisters questioned, not at all fazed by Discord’s sudden appearance. Unlike Luna, Celestia was oddly confortable around the mismatched menace. She had the utmost confidence in his abilities, though Luna couldn’t claim to know why.
“But of course,” Discord grinned. “What is the only force in the world that is strong enough to render any pony completely useless?” Discord flashed into nothing before reappearing atop Luna’s back. Clearly affronted, the second princess went to buck him off, but he was gone before she had the chance.
“You must know of course,” Discord continued to taunt, once again directly in front of Celestia. Much to Luna’s shock, he then ran one of those taloned fingers sensually along her sister’s jaw, yet was granted no response from the elder. “The only force that could convince even a delinquent such as myself to… turn over a new leaf.”
He pulled a leaf from Celestia’s ear and still there was no reaction.
“You mean love,” Celestia decided, Luna listening to the conversation with slight confusion, but supposing that so long as she was getting the general gist of it, that was all that mattered.
“Love!” Suddenly up in the air, Discord had shaped his body into the silhouette of a heart. “An element that can become an obsession until it’s all a pony can care about. Find the one with only love for his other and you’ll find your final Element.”
“You act as though you already know where it is?” Luna accused, momentarily ignoring her sister’s slight smile as she watched Discord flut around above their heads. “Do you know something we don’t? Tell us!”
“Calm down,” Discord poked Luna on the nose before appearing in the throne behind them, the two turning to look at him. “You ponies need to learn to broaden your horizons.” He snapped a crown onto his head and a scepter into his hands. “Equestria is so filled with all this mushy, disgusting sentiment that something as logical as Apathy has no place to ferment.” He crossed his legs, Luna restraining her irritation. “When the High Elements were previously destroyed, they were reborn in places where they could grow to maturity with as little effort as possible. Call it a… defensive action. But the idea of indifference is hardly able to be considered in a world where every pony cares about every pony no matter how horrible they happen to be.”
“Are you suggesting that the element of Apathy is in another universe?” Celestia questioned, eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
“Of course,” Discord popped up before the two of them, suddenly appearing in a form that was beyond the two watching him. A large head, long legs, an upright position. And the strangest spindly appendages where his front feet should have been. “There is only one creature I know of that’s cruelty is beyond anything any pony could know, and naturally so.” He sauntered across the floor. “It’s the only place that indifference could really grow, for in a world of total chaos, not caring is the only peace some of the inhabitants could possibly know.”
“It sounds like a perfect place for you,” Luna stated rather harshly, Celestia casting her a disapproving eye.
“Ah, but not quite,” Discord was once again in his normal form, shaking a condemning talon at the younger princess. “I cause chaos, but I am not cruel.” Luna wasn’t exactly sure what the difference was. “You see, I don’t go out of my way to harm others, as many of the inhabitants of this world choose to do. They get a kind of… self satisfaction out of it.”
“This world where the Element has been reborn,” Celestia took a step closer to Discord. “Is there a way to get to it?”
“There was,” Discord shrugged and sighed, “but it closed up only a few weeks ago and isn’t likely to open again for another thirty moons.” Realization struck both the princesses. “Your Star Student, a Princess Twilight Sparkle, was already there. You see, it just so happened that when the Elements were originally consumed, the portal was open, and so the spirit of one of them was able to escape Equestria.”
“Then we must wait another thirty moons before we can retrieve it,” Luna sighed. “I fear that will be too late.”
“Ah, but not to worry,” Discord had grabbed Luna’s cheek, pulling on it childishly before zapping himself back to Celestia’s side. “You see, as the harbinger of Discord, I have powers that neither one of you could have ever fathomed.” He was smiling, Celestia glancing up at him curiously.
“You can get to this world?” she asked, almost excitedly, and Luna frowned.
“But of course,” he affirmed. “It will take a considerable amount of energy,” he was suddenly dropping, exhausted, in a chair that hadn’t been there a second before. “But since I’ve been reformed, I suppose it’s my duty to do my share.”
“You would encourage him to do this?” Luna whipped her gaze to her sister. “What if he doesn’t come back and instead submerges this other world into chaos? We will have no way to stop him.”
“Oh please,” Discord stuck out his tongue, waving Luna off nonchalantly. “There is no chaos I could bring to that world that isn’t already there. Besides,” he was grinning down at Celestia again, “I have a certain… affinity… for ponies.”
Luna scowled.
“Then it’s settled,” Celestia nodded. “Discord, you will fetch us the Element of Apathy, and you, Sister,” she looked to Luna. “You will deal with Loneliness?”
“Yes,” Luna was still staring at Discord distrustfully, but knowing that the decision was now out of her hands. Neither she nor her sister had much choice in the matter however, Discord was going to do as he liked. If he wanted to go to this other world, then neither of them were ones to stop him. Unless by force, but that would require Twilight Sparkle and her friends.
“And I’ll stay here,” Celestia decided. “It is time that Twilight Sparkle and her friends learned the truth. The time is nearing, so let us all make haste.”
The three all glanced between each other then, finalizing their actions.
And beyond, the pendulum swung.
oOo
“Aw, c’mon Twilight,” Spike begged as he followed her across the library. “Just one more time? What if there’s a difference? Please! Please!”
Twilight sighed, the book she had hovering before her clapping closed before she turned on all four hooves to face the dragon staring up at her. Though she did note, with some unease, that he was having to stare up at her less and less.
“We just measured you yesterday,” she replied in a somewhat scolding tone. “Do you honestly think you’ve grown any since then?” Spike nodded vigorously, a smile on his face, and Twilight tightened her lips in displeasure. Ruffling her wings, she finally sighed, giving in, and brought a pencil forward, her horn glowing pink as she did.
Spike ran over to the corner of the wall where they’d been keeping track of how much he’d increased in height. Standing up tall, Twilight marked right above his head as she casually waltzed over. And as she did, Spike whipped around to see the difference, both of them surprised to see that he’d grown a full centimeter since the day before.
Though one was less enthused with the change than the other.
“I told you!” Spike stated excitedly as he turned to face Twilight. “Aw man, this is so great! Don’t you think?” It wasn’t that hard for Spike to notice the discomfort on his surrogate sister’s face, causing his own mood to drop.
“I don’t know Spike,” Twilight shook her head. “You’re growing at an exceptional rate. You’ve seen how big dragons can get,” Spike’s mouth had fallen open as he listened. “What if you get huge like them? Where will you go, and fit?” She shook her head, turning away. “I need to do some more research into this.”
“Well, how are you going to do that?” Spike asked as he trailed after her, his body seeming longer and ganglier than ever before. “We already know there aren’t any books on dragons in the library. Maybe we should ask Princess Celestia. She might know something. Cuz I’m not growing like I did before.” A reference to the cataclysmic event of him becoming a full-grown dragon and practically destroying Ponyville.
“No, you’re not,” Twilight stated as she took a deep breath, pausing in the middle of the library to glance around, as if looking for answers, but finding none. “I haven’t seen you acting greedy at all, and this growth is more steady, though perhaps still fast.” She frowned, Spike staring up at her expectantly. “I wonder if maybe it has something to do with us visiting that other world. It all started after that…”
“You think?” Spike seemed genuinely worried now. “You don’t think I caught some kind of weird disease or something, do you? Some kind of dog disease?” He was beginning to panic now. “Oh man, oh man. Oh Twilight, what are we gonna do?” He hadn’t even considered the concept before; he’d just thought he was beginning to grow up, finally. But what if there really was something wrong with him?
“I don’t know Spike,” Twilight wasn’t very reassuring. “We’ll just have to-”
A rapping on the library door interrupted the conversation.
Taking any and all opportunities to practice her flying, Twilight jumped up and soared over to the door. Landing with little grace, she ignited her horn and pulled open the entrance.
She gaped at the visitor standing there.
“Don’t you know it’s rude to stare Twilight,” Discord scolded. “Oh, rather, I mean, Princess Twilight.” With a bright flash of white light, he zapped into the room, Spike jumping back in surprise. He was sitting in an invisible chair above the ground, arms crossed over his chest. He glanced only once at Spike, eyebrows rising skeptically, before he looked again to Twilight.
Composing her nerves, Twilight took a deep breath before shutting the library door and turning to face who she now considered to be an intruder. Eyes narrowing threateningly, she was glad she’d gotten into the habit of wearing her crown (at Rarity’s prompting) during all parts of the day. She may need the power boost.
“Now, now Twilight, no need to look that way,” was the reprimanding she received, one she wasn’t all that obliged to take to heart. “I’m reformed, remember, thanks to Dear Fluttershy. I should go see her.” He glanced up thoughtfully.
“What are you doing here Discord?” Twilight asked fiercely, surprised at how unafraid she was of the chaos creator before her. Perhaps becoming a princess had given her confidence after all, or she was simply selling herself short.
“I’m here to deliver a message,” he replied flippantly. “From Celestia no less.” Slithering through the air, he made a pointed effort to flick Twilight on the forehead with his fuzzy, lion hand before retreating back, this time hanging in the air upside-down.
Scrunching up her nose, Twilight shook off the stinging pain before squaring her legs and glaring up at Discord once again.
“Why would she send you to deliver a message instead of simply going through Spike?" The safe, foolproof way she’d been receiving messages this whole time.
“Haven’t you noticed?” Discord asked with a roll of his yellow and red eyes. “You haven’t received a single message since you came back from the Human World.” Human? Twilight didn’t recognize the term. “And Celestia’s been sending them you know,” he continued while rounding back into the standing position and snapping his fingers. Spike was then surrounded by glowing magic before being whisked to Discord’s side. “But poor whittle Spikey-Wikey hasn’t been getting them.” He was petting the dragon on the head, much to Spike’s wide-eyed surprise.
“Wh-what do you mean?” Twilight sputtered, obviously taken aback as all her suspicion evaporated to be replaced by shock. “The messages haven’t been going through?” She glanced to Spike then, eyes wide. And as Discord dropped the growing dragon to the ground, Spike reached up and gripped at his own throat, just as flabbergasted by what they’d learned as Twilight.
“He can’t get those little messages anymore,” Discord verified before blowing a slight breath from between his lips and sending three stacks of books tumbling to the ground. “He’s been touched by chaos, which means that little messenger spell Celestia cast is as good as gone.”
“I don’t understand,” Twilight shook her head. “Touched by chaos? How? Explain yourself!” She stomped her hoof, Discord raising an eyebrow at her demanding attitude, but deciding not to comment.
“Let me ask you something Twilight Sparkle,” he started, abruptly serious. “Do you know how dragon magic works?” A furrow appeared above Twilight’s eyes, displaying the fact that she knew nothing. “Dragons are some of the most powerful creatures in the world. They have their own civilization apart from ponies, as you very well know.
“But do you know what keeps that power contained?” he smiled, a devious glint sparking off his fangs. “Greed. They become so obsessed with hoarding as much as they can that all their power goes towards protecting everything they think is most valuable. There is a reason, little princess, that the dragon home country has remained a mystery from ponies all these generations.”
“I know that,” Twilight replied. “Spike almost lost control when he fell to greed once before. But that isn’t what’s happening now.” And she could tell that Discord knew more, so she was going to get him to spit it out.
“Of course not,” Discord was once again sitting in his invisible chair. “Like I said, Spike is changing because he’s experienced chaos, much like I did once upon some thousand or so years ago.” Confusion dropped across both Spike’s and Twilight’s faces, the young dragon skirting across the room to stand beside his sister.
“I was a dragon once you know,” Discord admitted, Twilight gaping as she listened. “What a long time ago it was. But I was much like little Spike here, I preferred to be in the company of ponies. But, back in those days, some weren’t so accepting of the idea, so I was banished from entering pony civilization.
“But there was one pony who wasn’t afraid of me,” he continued as he zapped himself to the banister, staring down at them with his head in his claw. “And you know what? We came up with a plan. With her powerful magic, she turned me into a pony.” He dropped back to the floor. “But the spell wasn’t strong enough to stand up to my dragon magic and I was transformed back.
“But that little spark of power, a strange power coursing through my body, changing my shape, started in me a different kind of growth. The growth of chaos.” He’d zapped himself into a pony, a brown, bearded fellow wearing a suit jacket. “You see dragons aren’t supposed to be ponies, or dogs,” he looked pointedly at Spike, “and with that barrier dissolved, your body is able to release that pent up power and start the growing cycle. Only now you have mental control over your magic, much unlike our greedy counterparts.” He examined his hoof nonchalantly.
“Wait, so you’re a dragon?” Twilight shook her head in disbelief.
“Was a dragon,” he corrected as he snapped back into his original form. “You could say that, with my newfound power, I became a little obsessed with becoming anything but a dragon, which is why I now look the way I do.” He smiled. “The perfect and most stunning mixture of everything.”
“So, wait,” Spike was shaking his head. “When I’m fully grown, I’m going to look like you?” The thought was obviously terrifying to him. “Am I going to act like you? Will I cause chaos everywhere I go? Oh no, this is awful!”
“Oh please,” Discord rolled his eyes. “I said you were affected by chaos, not that you were chaos. Listen, please.” A pair of very large donkey ears erupted from Spike’s head, causing him to panic even more. Twilight then glared hard at Discord, who quickly discarded the new appendages.
“I am the reborn spirit of chaos,” he continued to explain. “You’re just a dragon that happened to trip into some powerful magic, that’s all.” He shrugged. “In any case, that is why you’re not receiving your messages. Spike’s power has… 'spiked,' and Celestia’s spell couldn’t stand up to it.”
“So, what will happen to me then?” Spike questioned, still stuck on the previous subject.
“Well I suppose that’s all up to you,” Discord replied, taking little interest in actually answering. “In any case, now that I’ve wasted so much time with that huge explanation, I should probably relay the message Celestia asked me to give you on my way through.”
Right, the message. Twilight had practically forgotten about it what with learning so much about Spike and… Discord. She still wasn’t sure what to think, or whether she’d absorbed it yet or not. Too much information at one time.
“She wanted me to tell you,” he started, sounding rather bored. “That she wants you and your friends to come to Canterlot at once, and to bring your Elements of Harmony. It’s important or something.” He waved in an uncaring fashion, Twilight’s eyes bugging as she took in his words.
“Important?!” she gawked, body going stiff as she considered the options. The only time she and her friends were called to Canterlot with their elements was when it was an emergency and something horrible was happening. There was no time to waste!
“Yes, you’d better hurry,” Discord was losing interest by the second. “Always panicking over the idea of terror, you ponies.”
“Wait,” Twilight paused in her panicking. “Where are you going?” She narrowed her eyes threateningly, as if he would actually tell her were he up to no good.
“None of your business,” he replied immaturely while pulling up his nose at her. Twilight snorted angrily, but before she could rebuke, Discord was laughing and had vanished in a white flash.
He was gone.
“Ugh!” Twilight closed her eyes for a moment to calm her nerves before deciding on the best course of action. She couldn’t afford to worry herself over Discord, not when she’d gotten a summons from the Princess. Priorities.
Turning, she headed back towards the door, whipping it open with a twitch of her horn before bursting out into the bright daylight. And as she did, she found a feeling of helplessness drop down upon her shoulders. Peering up at the somewhat cloudy sky, she realized just how much of a challenge she had to face.
Rainbow Dash wasn’t up in the sky, busting clouds. Pinkie Pie’s laughter wasn’t echoing from house to house. The boutique down the way was closed for business. Sweet Apple Acres was strung out without enough help. And all the animals were having to momentarily look after themselves, or suffer the misguided attentions of Derpy.
All her friends were gone…
Behind her, Spike reached out, his mouth open in a gape. But before he could get two words to his tongue, she’d shut the library door.
His shoulders dropped in despair. “What about me…?” he asked quietly, images of Discord flitting in and out of his head.