Boredom, it was a novel experience for the living floor covering as he lay upon the crystal that comprised the entirety of Princess Twilight’s castle. He had seen and heard much in the short time he had been in existence, in part because most of the ponies that interacted around him forgot that he was there on a day to day basis. One could be surprised by the number of secrets a being could overhear when the subject in question thought they were speaking in confidence.

Had he done anything with this knowledge, no. He had no real reason to do so, mostly because he had no interest in the personal matters of those around him. Had there been reason to believe legitimate harm would befall one of his charges, then that would have been an entirely different story. And yet, as he mused about the various happenings that had been going on as of late, Carpet Sense found that there was not much he could do given the current circumstances.

The strange human and her companions were off fighting a war, leaving the rest of the ponies in the little town keyed up and on edge. Even Princess Twilight, who had not joined the force fighting against the necromancers, was nearly sick with worry for her lover as she paced back and forth in one of the castle’s many libraries. Carpet Sense had checked in on her several times in the last eight hours, and the only change was the increasing pile of unsorted books that seemed to manifest of their own free will the longer the purple alicorn paced. Even though he enjoyed the feel of hooves going over his body, the particular part of him that was under the princess’s path was starting to get worn out from the constant back and forth, and that was even taking into account his near indestructability.

And yet, with no information concerning the status of her companions, there was nothing he could say that wouldn’t have the potential to backfire in the alicorn’s fragile mental state. So, he turned his attention to the parts of himself that were residing in the capital, popping his consciousness from room to room in Canterlot until he found who he was looking for.

Princess Celestia and Luna were currently in what Sense had discovered was an old war room, one that hadn’t been used since the end of the Shadow Wars so long ago. There were no other ponies present save for the two sisters, although their focus was entirely on the large table that took up the majority of the room. Lifting his body up to better see what was going on, Sense spotted little figures spread about on the surface of the map, indicating troop movements and the like as scrolls popped into existence every minute or two. Already there was a large pile sitting off to Celestia’s right, and from the frowns that adorned the royal sisters’ faces, the news they were getting wasn’t good.

“Things are not going as well as we had hoped, sister.” Luna stated as she shifted yet another pony troop marker off the table, “If this keeps up, we won’t be able to protect the rest of the country. Our loses will have been too great to muster a secondary force in time before they march on Canterlot.”

“I know, Luna,” Celestia replied, “but until we receive word concerning Sarah and her task force, we won’t know how many of the coven members have been taken care of.”

No sooner had the words left her lips, then another scroll appeared before them, the deep black ribbon wrapped around the parchment making both alicorns’ eyes widen in fear.

“No,” Celestia whispered as he grabbed the scroll in her magic and quickly unrolled it, “please tell me she isn’t.”

Luna read the scroll over her sister’s shoulder, while Sense followed along from the floor. He barely made it to the end before the paper fluttered to the floor, Celestia’s magic having given out from shock. Luna was equally shaken, if her wide eyes and shaking legs were anything to go from. Sense barely had the time to lower his body back to the ground before both mares bolted from the room, his other selves picking up their hurried hoofsteps before they disappeared in a dual flash of teleportation.

Carpet Sense sighed as he picked up the scroll and neatly placed it with the others, knowing full-well that its ominous news would rapidly spread to others. Given his bodies in Twilight’s castle allowed him to pick up the arrival of the sisters in the main foyer, he was well aware of where they had gone before they snapped into the library where Twilight was still pacing back and forth.

Listening with his other ears, Carpet Sense was able to hear every word as the mares passed on their grim news, watched as Twilight’s eyes filled with first horror and then tears as she found out what had happened to not only Sarah, but both of the other mares in her herd that she had presumed to be safe and sound. He turned his attention away as the royal sisters moved in to hold and attempt to comfort the sobbing mare, allowing her to have her breakdown in relative peace.

Expanding his attention to the short list of selves that had appeared in other buildings, Carpet Sense singled out the one body he had currently in the waiting room of the Canterlot Hospital. There, he was just in time to witness a group teleport as over a dozen ponies and a single gryphon appeared with a trio of gurneys held between them. The nurses took one look at the bloodied human and the two deathly pale mares and immediately called for a doctor, the unicorn soldiers who had performed the teleport barely having time to move out of the way as the medical staff rushed in and rushed back out with their patients in tow.

Shifting his attention back to Twilight’s castle, he watched as Luna and Celestia slowly pulled away from the still sniffling Twilight, their expressions worried and uncertain as the smaller mare wiped her eyes with a fetlock.

“I don’t mean to interrupt,” Sense added from his position under the three mares, “but I just witnessed the three mares in question being teleported into Canterlot Hospital. If you want, you might be able to –”

He wasn’t even able to finish before Twilight vanished in a flash of purple light. Celestia and Luna nodded to him silently before disappearing in their own teleports, his body in the hospital picking up their arrival as the smallest of the princesses raced through the double doors after her lovers. Celestia and Luna gave off a pair of sighs as they settled in on the available seats, the gryphon hen, Rosie he remembered her being called, walking up and joining them a second later.

Feeling like his intervention was not needed, Carpet Sense allowed his consciousness to wander for a bit between bodies, zeroing in on the one that never seemed to be in the same place or time at any given moment. It always hurt his non-existent brain trying to comprehend his opposite’s home, but then again, he was a construct of order going into a realm of chaos. Confusion would be the least of his problems had he been a mortal.

His mind was barely able to latch onto the body at his destination when his ears picked up the voice of his pseudo-father, “Ah, so you’ve finally decided to show up after all of the fun has come to an end.”

Carpet Sense looked down from his position on the ceiling of Discord’s home as he addressed the mismatched chimera, “You know well enough that I do not come here unless there is a good reason, Discord. And I do not revel in the misfortune of others as you do when there is so much more that I could accomplish.”

“But where is the fun in doing things the right way?” Discord countered as he reclined in his chair, the back of the plaid leather furniture folding forward until the chaos bringer’s head was between his mismatched feet, “And you know that I don’t ever let any of my fun cause serious harm or permanent damage. Broken toys are no fun to play with, even if the stuff beforehand was entertaining.”

“So, you knew that Sarah and her friends would face off against her lovers in the battle against the necromancers?” Carpet Sense accused, “You deliberately set them up for huge psychological trauma and failure?”

For the first time since Carpet Sense had seen, Discord’s face lost its smile. He snapped his fingers and popped into the air directly in front of Carpet Sense’s nose, “No, I did not set them up, as you so blatantly put it. I had no idea that her little lovers had been captured when all of the other chaos around the country is messing with my ability to see things.” As if to illustrate his point, his eyes popped out of his head and exploded in small mushroom clouds on the ceiling before reappearing in his head, “I’m having enough trouble telling where everypony is on a general basis, let alone things that are happening outside my immediate influence.”

Carpet Sense felt yet another novel sensation as he curled his lips into a smug grin, “So it’s true, you aren’t the all-seeing and all-knowing being that everypony thinks you are. Even your senses can become clouded if there is too much chaos going on at one time.”

Discord huffed in annoyance as he popped into existence in his chair once more, unfolding a newspaper upside down as he replied, “Then what do you want with me? Did you come here to gloat about how terrible I am and how great you are?”

Sense’s face returned to a more neutral expression as he shook his head, “No, I came to let you know that your little hero and her friends are alive, at least for now, and that they are currently in Canterlot Hospital. I figured that you would want to make sure that your extra-dimensional rescue wasn’t taken out of the fight too early, so I stopped by to let you know.”

Genuine surprise seemed to fill Discord’s gaze before a small smile graced his lips, “Not bad, for an old rug. I know exactly what you’re doing.”

Sense’s fur bristled for a moment, “It’s carpet you moron. You know how much those abominations irritate me. And what, pray tell, am I doing?”

Discord chuckled, “Oh, you’ll find out eventually. I just thought you might get a kick knowing that as a being of order, you’ve been causing quite a bit of chaos yourself. You might put me out of the job if you keep going as you are.”

Sense shifted his attention away from the body in Discord’s home, allowing his awareness to return to the real world before shifting once again to the floor of Canterlot Hospital’s waiting room. Had he stuck around a moment longer, he might have heard Discord’s final words and saw the prideful smile that had graced the chimera’s lips.

“He’ll do just fine. He just needs a bit of help finding the right path.” Discord’s smile held even as a single tear ran down his cheek, his hands folding behind his back as he came to rest on the floor of his home, “I hope it proves to be enough when the time comes. These little ponies are going to need all the help they can get. Good luck, my son.”

Author's Notes:

It's AAAALLLIIIIVVVEEE!!! I have no excuse for the huge amount of time that has passed between chapters other than life is busy and school has been keeping me on my hooves to the point I can barely see straight. Other than that, I hope you all are enjoying the book and I hope to have more for you in the near future without leaving you on a massive cliffhanger for months on end.

Also, say hello to my wonderful Patrons, WuBzY and Earthpatriot117, who have been supporting my work for almost a year now. Thanks so much guys, it really means a lot!!

Anyways, now that we have that out of the way, I hope to hear from you all in the comments section below and make sure to leave a like if you are enjoying the story.

See you all next chapter,
Shadow Quill, Messenger of the Moon.