003

Hear... Feel...Think...

I lounged on the couch in my new quarters. It had taken nearly two hours just to get a room clean enough to live in and remove all of the broken furniture. My little Summon let out a yawn and wiggled into a more comfortable position on my chest. I'd remained true to my word and resummoned her, but while my Carbuncle could relax I found it a bit more difficult. I couldn't stop thinking about the five mares that Celestia had sent to deal with Discord. It was clear they were my "replacements", but from what I'd seen not a single one had any training against mental intrusion and influence. They were more like lambs sent to the slaughter, to be honest.

Once again I questioned whether I was doing the right thing. Discord needed to be re-sealed eventually, but did I have to step back into the fray for it to be done? For the time being, no. I'd let Celestia's plan play out. If it failed, if the Princesses came and begged for my help, then I might help seal Discord again. I doubted that would happen though. Both Celestia and Luna seemed determined to keep me out of the picture, though I found it odd that they hadn't shared their views with the group they sent after Discord. It was just another oddity and inconsistency with the behaviors I expected from everyone I knew...

"It has been over a thousand years," I muttered to myself, since Emmy was now squeakily snoring. "They might as well be different people. It would be so much easier to deal with if they didn't look the same."

It was funny to think about it, but Discord was the only true constant. He was just as crazy as ever, twisting reality to his whim. I'd seen cotton candy clouds cover the sky before I teleported and what looked like an upside-down house floating off in the distance. The Castle of Unity had been left untouched, likely due to its already wild natural magic. Unlike nearly everywhere else in Equis, the Everfree forest actually followed a natural weather cycle. Most ponies were terrified of it, preferring their safe and controlled environments. For those who chose to settle in the Everfree, a dedicated branch of the Adventurer's Guild and United Armies were put on patrol to keep the towns and roads safe. The frequent monster attacks produced some of the best Pegasi Lancers and Griffon Archers I'd ever seen.

I shook my head, dispelling those images of the past. There would be plenty of time to mourn the lost guild later. Even with this room well out of the way, I still didn't feel safe in the Castle of Unity's ruins. I needed to get some proper defenses set up and some decent furniture. The couch was comfy, but it wasn't a long-term solution.

"Ugh, I'm just stalling," I groaned, hopping down off of the couch and checking for another Aetheryte closer to the Everfree's borders. I felt the burning need to check on Discord, to make sure he hadn't gone too far in his distribution of chaos. It was probably a bad idea to leave him to his own devices anyway.

When I didn't find any Aetheryte near Discord's large magic signature, I decided to do something a bit stupid.

I teleported without linking to an Aetheryte.

Don't get me wrong, teleporting spells were a tried and true branch of magic by this point. The downside was that without an Aetheryte Link, all of the magical cost of the trip was paid by the caster. All of the magic I had restored with my nap was taken from me and then some, but at least I didn't have to go through the Everfree without backup. I doubted the forest's population of monsters had gotten any less vicious over the years. I'd probably end up burning the same amount of magic as a teleport just in random monster battles.

When I reappeared near Discord, I was greeted with a landscape that might have been designed by a five year old child's weirdest dreams. What little remained of the original houses of this particular village were floating upside down, torn out of the ground by their foundations. The roads had been replaced with bars of soap and had buffalo dressed like ballerinas dancing across them. The rest of the ground had been replaced by a two-tone blue checkerboard made out of a material I couldn't even begin to identify. Those were only the easy changes I could spot, apart from the previously mentioned cotton candy cloud cover.

Looking around for Discord, I finally discovered him standing in plain view with a bullseye affixed to his chest and a pair of sunglasses on. The five ponies from before, now joined by a purple and green baby dragon, were standing in some sort of odd formation with the purple mare at their head. I had to give her credit, she was a bit more resilient than I initially expected. The rest of her friends had turned fully grayscale by now, showing a deep root to Discord's influence over their personalities. All six were sporting golden jewelry, each with set a gemstone in the shape of the wearer's talent mark (with the exception of the dragon, of course).

Wait. Wait. Were those the Elements of Harmony? The colors matched up, but no. It couldn't be. Why would Celestia and Luna put them in the hooves of ponies who hadn't even remotely been trained for it? Maybe Little Ms. Purple at the front there, but the others? I just couldn't see it. Still, I sat back and watched as they rose into the air, surrounded by a swelling white glow. Then, just as quickly as it came, the light faded and the five mares were dropped to the ground. I felt a bit bad for the little dragon, he hadn't even gotten that much mileage out of his red lightning bolt necklace.

Discord stepped forward to deliver his usual taunts and subtle mental manipulation while the rest of the ponies dispersed. Celestia's plan had a lot of holes if her chosen champions were failing this badly. The Lord of Chaos skated away on the soap road a moment later, but I continued watching. Purple was the only one left now, staring off into the distance with tears brimming in her eyes.

"Come on, kid. You're stronger than that," I whispered, seeing myself standing there in her place, watching as my comrades threw down their arms and walked away from the fight. She'd kept herself together this far. Celestia had put her trust in this mare. That meant she was special. Even if the necklaces weren't the Elements of Harmony, even if she stood alone, I had this feeling that Miss Purple would pull a miracle out of her arse before all was said and done. All I knew was that I needed to be there, needed to help her through it. I took a step forward.

"Don't," Discord whispered in my ear, wrapping me in a tight embrace from behind.

"But she's breaking," I nearly whimpered, seeing the gray seeping into Purple's color scheme from her hooves up.

"If little Twilight Sparkle really is your double in this era, she'll find a way. History has a habit of repeating itself, you know. It's so boring, ponies repeating the same patterns over and over without change for millennia until something comes along to force them into a new mindset." Discord said, all but forcing me to watch as the gray spread up to the mare's barrel. "Unfortunately, that's the way Celestia likes it. She doesn't want change. She doesn't want progress. She'd rather just have her little dollhouse with all of the ponies playing peacefully inside."

"Is that why she was so eager to turn on me?" I asked, feeling a part of my heart break when the purple pony turned fully gray and walked away with her head held low.

"That's something you'll have to find out on your own, little Summoner. I can't just give you all the answers. There's just no fun in that," Discord chuckled. He floated away with me still in his arms, until we came to a richly decorated throne fit for an evil overlord. Except, I was starting to see that Discord was more than the villain role he'd always been cast as. He was a primal force personified, change incarnate. His methods may be extreme, but he was only following his role with as little physical harm caused as possible. Maybe things could have been different if he could contain some of his reality manipulation or limit it to a very small area that was technically uninhabited.

That made me think a bit more. Had Celestia even tried diplomacy with Discord? The first I'd caught wind of him was when the Adventurer's Guild got flooded with requests to deal with him, with the addition of one signed by Celestia and Luna themselves. I'd taken a group of volunteers and quickly met with the Princesses to discuss our plan of action. The end result, as they say, was history. I led my team to fight Discord while Celestia and Luna went on their quest to find the Elements of Harmony. I'd treated Discord the same as any other high-powered threat. I'd blindly gone along with the idea that he was just another villain and monster, when there was really more to the story. When he had proven himself sapient, why hadn't I just tried talking? Why had I pushed the battle on and on until I was the only one left fighting?

"You're close to an answer," Discord murmured, his furry chest rumbling with every word. "It should be obvious to you by now, little Summoner. You know the reason behind our conflict, you just refuse to see it. You dismissed it as impossible because Equis isn't the same world your powers came from. The thing you forget is that nothing is truly impossible."

"I don't want it to be true," I mumbled, details and lines of potential starting to align in my brain. "You've been kinder to me than anyone else since I've woken up."

"Why wouldn't I be? Just because we're destined to fight from time to time doesn't mean we have to be enemies," Discord snorted, "Even if the ponies think otherwise, what do they know? Besides, their opinions shouldn't rule your life. Your life and your choices are yours, nobody else's."

The evidence slowly worked itself out in my brain. He'd mentioned Eorzea, implying that he had some connection to it or operated similarly to something from there. Discord mentioned impossibilities and things I'd dismissed as such. The only thing I could think of recently was the completion of my Summoner Soul Crystal, which would require me to defeat and bind the essence of a Primal to my will. If there were any Primals in existence and tied to the races of Equestria, I would have found out long ago. Still, Discord had appeared out of nowhere and his habit of mental manipulation was on par with a Primal. The problem was that Discord didn't have any sort of followers from what I knew. Nobody to summon him and no proper catalyst for that summoning. Even the ponies he Inverted didn't attempt to spread that inversion to others, they just went about spreading chaos through their friends and loved ones. On the other hand, Discord's reality manipulation was easily on par with a Primal.

I felt my heart begin to race as I tried to form the question, to get a definite yes or no for my suspicion.

"Easy, easy," Discord whispered, gently nuzzling the top of my head. "I didn't think you'd get so worked up over something you already knew on some level."

"But-" I couldn't find the words. Everything just felt wrong, like my whole world was crashing down around my ears.

"As much as I hate to leave in the middle of your crisis, I do have some tasks to handle that I've been putting off," Discord sighed, gently lifting me off his lap and setting me down on his throne. The Draconequus snapped his fingers and a large plush version of him appeared, softly floating down into my arms. With that, Discord poofed out of existence, leaving me to look on the twisted landscape and sigh.

It was nearly an hour before Discord returned, calmly retaking his seat and setting me down at the foot of his throne.

"It's almost showtime," He said, giving me a small smirk, "We'll see once and for all if Celestia's plan works or not."

"Those necklaces were the Elements of Harmony, weren't they?" I asked, resigned to the possibility that I may be losing my friend sooner than expected.

"They were indeed. It seems Celestia and Luna lost control of them some time while we were locked away in stone. I'd tell you the full story, but it's hardly relevant right now and we just don't have the time."

"You're going to be sealed again, aren't you?"

"Oh you just sound so sad," Discord chuckled, "It's still up in the air, really. If Twilight managed to somehow restore her friends' personalities, then I'm likely to be a statue by the end of the day. If not, well, I highly doubt they have any tricks that would keep me away for long."

"It's funny. I actually remember Celestia introducing Twilight to me, back when I was a statue," I said, picturing just how curious the little filly had been. She'd asked so many questions about me, eager to soak up every scrap of knowledge. Celestia had calmly shut her down, which made a lot more sense now that her destruction of my legacy had been revealed.

"Of course. She is Celestia's most recent personal student. The poor filly worships the ground Celestia walks on. It's sad, really. Twilight could go so much farther if she had a different teacher. Maybe one who could introduce her to all new branches of magic never before seen by the modern pony?" Discord gave me a pointed look at that, but I just shook my head.

"No. Celestia seems to have enough reason to be out for my head. I'd rather not provoke her into a headhunt. Twilight will just have to be another case of wasted potential in this world. On that note, I wonder what happened to Sunset Shimmer. Now there's a mare I wouldn't mind teaching a few things. Poor girl was desperate for some real guidance, but Celestia just kept holding her back."

"Discord! We're here to put an end to your reign of chaos!" Twilight's voice cut in.

"Do you mind?" I groaned, "We were having a nice conversation here, and then you have to cut in and ruin it."

"Whoa, isn't that-" A blue pegasus with a rainbow-striped mane wondered, only to be cut short by Twilight again.

"Yes, It's Kikiru Kiru. Why she's siding with Discord, I don't know, but just ignore her for now."

Ignore me? Oh, that was the wrong thing for her to say. I was content to be a bit passive and let Discord handle them himself, but that changed things. If there was one thing I hated, it was being underestimated.

"Hold my plushie," I told Discord, passing him the stuffed incarnation as I stood. The Draconequus took it with a raised brow, but I turned to look at the six mares with more focus, examining their team composition. First and foremost was Twilight herself. She was easily a combat mage, but likely hadn't had too much formal training in battle magic due to Celestia's instruction. If I closed the distance and went melee, she'd be down and out in a good hit or two. Next was the other unicorn, white with a purple mane. Her talent mark was a trio of blue diamonds, which could have a bunch of meanings. From her appearance, I wouldn't peg her as combat-trained, but the little display back in Canterlot showed that she had some knowledge. Similar strategy to Twilight, but a little more wary. Next up was the unicorn's former opponent, an orange Earth Pony with a blonde mane. From her muscles, I could see that she was likely used to physical labor. I'd have to keep far out of range with her.

"Are you going to stand there staring, or actually do something?" The Rainbow-maned pegasus taunted, "Come on, you don't look that tough! I could take you with both hooves tied behind my back!"

Oh. That was the last straw. I wasn't normally one for dramatic displays, but I wanted this pegasus to know just how utterly screwed she was. I focused inward, latching onto the spiritual form of the Soul Crystal I wanted. I pushed my power into that Crystal, causing a corona of power to erupt around my body, colored the same deep blue as the crystal I'd chosen. Twilight's eyes were wide by this point, likely able to sense just how much energy I was channeling. With a little more power, the other Unicorn gasped in shock. The crystal appeared over my my left palm, held out as though beckoning. Its physical form was cut to look like a flame, with a stylized dragon head standing out in white on its surface.

"Oh my, you never broke that one out for me," Discord chuckled, aiding in my intimidation tactic.

I closed my fist on the crystal and the lightshow swelled to new levels, accompanied by the sound of shattering glass. The light blinded me to what was actually going on during the Job Change, but I could still feel the weight of my new armor as it formed on my body. Reaching behind my back, I gripped the haft of an ornate spear and whipped it forward into a mighty thrust that caused the aura to explode outward. I couldn't help but feel awesome when I saw the expressions of the ponies in front of me. From the looks of it, a yellow pegasus had outright fainted in terror.

The Dragoon's armor was rather terrifying, colored such a dark purple that it might look black in the right light. The helmet was designed to look like a dragon's head in mid-bite, with four horns sweeping backwards and a curved visor that covered the upper half of my face. The gauntlets and boots featured bladed projections on the elbows and calves, useful if you have to go hand to hand for whatever reason. There were some obvious flaws though, like the stomach being left bare and a gap between the gauntlets and pauldrons. Unfortunately, I wasn't in control of the armor the Soul Crystal manifested, or I'd have changed it the second I first found the flaws. It's why I'd been so hesitant to use Dragoon before now.

"So, still feeling confident?" I asked, grinning viciously at my challenger.

"Girls, Formation!" Twilight commanded, her horn glowing magenta and levitating the fallen pegasus back to her hooves. After witnessing their failed attempt to seal Discord earlier, I knew exactly how to deal with that. Replacing the dark spear, Gae Bolg, on my back, I tapped into the Dragoon's unique abilities. Fortunately they could be used without a spear in hand, since I was determined to go non-lethal in this fight.

I leapt upward with great force, going at least ten meters high by rough estimate. As the mares slowly lifted off the ground, I selected my target and adjusted my aproach vector before coming down like a meteor.

A split second later, my foot impacted Twilight's face with crushing force, knocking her into the ground and sending the Element of Harmony she wore flying. I pushed off the mare and landed lightly on my feet where I'd originally been standing, just in time to watch the other five fall on their collective rears.

"Twilight!" They cried out as one, rushing to the side of their fallen friend. I felt like pressing the attack, exploiting the opening they were giving me, but I stopped. There was no point in trying to teach a lesson that wouldn't be heeded. Still, with the leader knocked out in one hit, the rest of the mares couldn't use the Elements of Harmony.

"A little more violent than my methods," Discord admitted, "But it seems to have worked for the time being."

"She's going to have one heck of a headache when she wakes up," I agreed, crossing my arms as I continued to observe. "I'd switch to White Mage and heal her, but then we'd just be back to square one."

"Celestia won't be happy that you hurt her precious student," Discord warned, "Are you prepared for the consequences?"

I snorted at that, shaking my head. Celestia already hated me. By this point, anything I did would just continue to fuel her hatred. I'd already shed all my tears for that lost friendship.

"Considering Luna pretty much declared war by trying to kill me, Celestia should know that I was being merciful," I replied. "It's weird that she didn't warn them about me. She must have known that there was a possibility we'd cross paths."

"Maybe she was holding out hope that you'd prove her beliefs wrong?" Discord offered. That was actually a fairly good point, but it was far too late to entertain it now.

"So, when do you think they'll notice we're still here?" I wondered, watching as the mares continued to fuss over their fallen leader and try to wake her up.

"Even I don't have the answer to that," Discord admitted, rolling his eyes. "This is bordering on pathetic now. I think I'm just going to find some other town to start on."

"You know, if you clean up your work here, you could probably make them think you just vanished and it'd possibly take weeks for them to come after you again," I offered. Discord gasped at this and clutched at his chest.

"Kikiru, that's downright evil. I love it!"

Discord snapped his fingers, reverting his chaotic wonderland into a fairly normal village with thatched-roof houses. When I looked at him again, Discord was wearing a fedora and trenchcoat, carrying a suitcase in one hand and an umbrella in the other.

"Well, I'm off! Ta-ta!"

He stepped off into nothingness, leaving only the plush version of him to fall into my arms. I stayed there for a moment, wondering what I'd just unleashed upon the world, then I Job Changed back to Summoner without much fanfare and channeled a teleport back to the Castle of Unity. It amazed me how blind ponies could be to their surroundings. All of that and not a single one of the six mares had so much as glanced in our direction. The teleport finished its countdown and the world faded into the multicolored energy of the Aether.

Author's Notes:

Okay. This was not how I originally planned for this chapter to go. At all. I'm not sure what happened during the writing process, but this was the result. I would like to make a clear note that there is no Romance tag. Letting the characters roll their own way or not, I'm going to do my damnedest to avoid pairings. In other news, there was actually another section being tacked onto the end of this chapter, but I decided to cut it and put it in the next chapter. Unfortunately the transfer screwed up and I now have to rewrite that entire section. Thank you Microsoft Clipboard.

Useful Terms
Primal: While their true nature is still technically unknown, Primals are the "gods" of Eorzea's Beast Tribes given physical form. They often represent or manipulate a specific elemental aspect of Aether, such as Ifrit's Fire affinity or Leviathan's Water affinity. It is currently believed that Primals cannot be summoned or exist on Equestria, but this is not a known fact.
Dragoon: Dragoons are a Damage Job that are known as the ultimate dragon hunters. Armed with spears or lances, Dragoons are capable of incredible acrobatic feats, which they most famously use in their "Jump" skill. Their Relic Weapon is a lance known as Gae Bolg.
Lancer: Lancers are a spear-weilding class of the Adventurer's Guild. Taught to be fearless in battle, Lancers were often deployed in the Everfree both during and after their training, where the dangerous creatures would constantly test their skills and courage. Many of the more famous Lancers of the Equestrian Adventurer's Guild were Pegasi, who took advantage of their flight to allow for additional vectors of attack.
Archer: Armed with a bow, Archers played a more supporting role in the Adventurer's Guild. Equestrian Archers were taught precision marksmanship to best "pin down" enemies and allow for Lancers to close in. Archers are also often instructed in the use of various poisons to help turn the tide against stronger foes. Griffons, with their opposable thumbs, were found to make some of the best Archers.