The Elements of Turmoil

By RadaVonVon

Chapter 15: Harmonising

Mornings.

“Aaand it’s time to get up! Come on, now! It’s a new day!”

The filly felt covers being torn off of her, and she groaned. “Five more minutes.” She hissed as the curtains were opened, allowing the bright sunlight to filter in from the smeared window, falling directly onto her eyes.

“Uh-uh! No can do, Candy Apple! Get ‘em up, move ‘em out, let ‘em ride! It’s a shiny new day! Back in Appleoosa-“ The stallion speaking reared up. “I used to get up at four ‘o clock, sharp! Come on, momma’s got breakfast a-cookin’ and the world sure as hay ain’t gonna wait for ya to get outta bed!”

Candy Apple looked up, groaning and sighing. “Okayyy.” She had had the strangest dream. Braeburn had died and Discord was her real father, and she had been rather wild-looking and neon. Her name had been Candied Chaos. She shook her head, the vividness of the dream beginning to fade already. She finally got to her hooves after yawning loudly and rubbing her bleary eyes, looking over at the stallion that had awoken her, Braeburn Apple.

He insisted on wearing his hat inside, for reasons Candy Apple couldn’t begin to fathom. The talkative apple pony jumped in front of her. “You up? You sure? Completely sure? You gotta be sure, ‘cuz sometimes, ya get up and you think you’re up but then an hour later you get tired, and all th-“

“Yeah. I’m up.”

“Okay! We’ll be downstairs! Remember to look nice, you don’t want to be the new weird kid at school, so you have to represent Appleoosa-“ He paused to rear up again. “Well! Okay, so we’ll just wait for you an-“

“Dad.”

“Yes?”

“I got it.” Candy Apple had, by this point, herded him so he stood just outside her door, which she promptly shut. The earth pony sighed in relief, walking over to her dresser. They had recently moved to Ponyville from Appleoosa, and it was positively nervewracking. She didn’t know anyone. She had seen no buffalo anywhere!

Evidently, her second cousins and a good portion of the Apple Family lived in the area. She had only met Auntie Applejack and Uncle MacIntosh once, but she had been much younger and neither of them had had foals yet.

For some reason, the memories of her dream still adhered, standing with vivid clarity. She shivered, trying to shake it again as she looked in the mirror. Definitely not half draconequus. She looked like a female version of her father. Her mane hung down loosely around her head, disheveled. She reached for a brush, clearing it slightly out of her eyes, a muted grey-blue.

She turned her head around, reaching for her tail on her hind legs. It was long enough that she could reach it with ease, and she ran the brush through a couple of times. Candy Apple sighed, tying a red bow into her mane and looking back into the mirror, uncomfortable.

“Come on.” She murmured to herself desperately. “Come on, I can do this.” She lowered her head, face sliding onto her dresser, and groaned. “I can’t do this…” She dragged her nose across the hard, wooden tabletop and groaned, finally sitting up. “I guess I have to.” She mumbled, getting to her hooves and walking over to the door, frowning deeply.

She opened the door. The smell of apple pancakes and frosting drifted through the house, and the filly inhaled. “Oookay.” Candy Apple sighed in an attempt to remedy her pounding heart and coursing blood. She shook her coat thoroughly and began to trot down the stairs, closing her eyes.

“GOOD MORNING!” Pinkie Pie cut in front of her, giggling madly. “Did you have good dreams? I bet you had good dreams! I always have good dreams. One time, I had a dream that you turned into a cat, but we had enough cereal so it was okay! But then, this big Ursa Minor crashed through the window! Except, it wasn’t an Ursa Minor, it was a PARASPRITE!”

“Yeah. I had this really weird, vivid one.” Candy Apple mumbled, shaking her head. “You married Discord, but Princess Celestia turned him to stone and ruined our memories, making you think Dad died.”

Braeburn spat out his coffee, splattering it across the table and wall. “Whaa-?” His bright green eyes turned to Candy Apple. “That was, uh, matter-of-fact!”

“Yeah. It was weird.” She muttered, eyes on the ground, walking over to him. He nuzzled her head gently.

“I’m not goin’ anywhere, Sugarcube!” He laughed, almost nervously. Candy Apple smiled.

“I know that!” She huffed, rolling her eyes as she did so. “Anyway,” She pulled her head back and sat down, gathering herself a plate of food. “It was just a dream.” She mumbled. The details were finally beginning to fail, but the stubborn ones persisted. She sat down across the table from Braeburn and cut into the pancakes, doused with pink frosting. The filly rolled her eyes. The usual.

Candy took the fork into her mouth. The frosting was buttercream. Butter, milk, and powdered sugar, respectively, very thin. More of an icing, really, or a glaze. The pancakes themselves were thick and fluffy, hunks of cooked apples lingering throughout. She swallowed, and her stomach growled, alerting her of how hungry she really was.

Immediately, the filly began eating much faster, slicing up the pancakes in a grid-like fashion and devouring them similarly, mechanically. She became aware of Braeburn staring at her intently across the table. Candy Apple glanced up, mouth full. “Whas wong?” She muffled through the pancakes before swallowing loudly. Ick. Too much too fast, it was now slowly traveling down her system. She winced.

“Nothing. You’re just growing up.” Braeburn smiled.

“NOOOOOO! GROWING UP IS OPTIONALLLLLLLLLLLL!” Pinkie Pie cried from the corner. “It’s getting old that’s mandatory! Don’t you know that, Burny?” She asked, grinning and cuddling Braeburn. Braeburn smiled.

“S’pose I do.”

Burny. For some reason, that had struck a nerve with her. It sounded, so… familiar. A nickname, of some sort. The second portion of a name… Where had she heard it?

Cordy.

The earth pony groaned internally. Not the dream again. She almost never remembered her dreams. Cordy, that was the nickname Pinkie Pie had given Discord. She shuddered at the thought of having the chimera for a father. Was a hybrid like that even possible?

She shrugged. No matter. Discord was stone, and he had been for quite some time now. He would be for the rest of eternity.

The filly noticed she had been eating absentmindedly all the while, and her fork had been scraping against her plate, the screeching noise hanging deadly in the air.

“Oh, hay!” Braeburn swore, glancing at the clock. “Candy Apple, you’re gonna be late!” He announced, nudging her out the door.

“Have a fantabulous day!” Pinkie called from the kitchen as Braeburn kissed Candy Apple on the forehead.

“Do good, ‘kay?”

“Gotcha. I’ll be back this afternoon!” The filly called, her head still turned toward Sugarcube Corner as Braeburn nodded and headed back inside. Turning her eyes in front of her, she smiled, continuing on with her normal, average life.

Solar Flare’s hooves landed on the gleaming, well-waxed tile. The Pegasus looked up, examining the high, arched ceiling above her, constructed of glass and allowing the night sky to filter delicately through. Lit chandeliers hung daintily from the golden support beams high above her head. The tile beneath her feet was an almost reflective gold. She recognized this place as a ballroom in the palace, but with multiple changes.

Glancing into the tile, she saw that she was dressed to the nines. A flowing gold skirt covered her blank flanks, tying with a large bow at her waist, and a silver tiara with several amethysts was placed on her head, her mane, now shimmering with every small movement, curled loosely to the side. Her coat twinkled strikingly in the light from the chandeliers. She expanded her wings and flapped them gently. Not a hint of dullness. Her coat was brightly-coloured and prettier than she had certainly ever seen it.

Nopony else was in the room. She continued staring at herself in the reflection of the gold tile, smiling. She had never looked so beautiful. She widened her grin, finding two rows of perfectly straight, unperturbed, bleach-white teeth. The Pegasus batted her eyelashes dramatically. Full and long, she felt as though she needed to be on a mascara commercial of some sort, despite the fact that she didn’t appear to be wearing make-up.

Her body was still well-muscled, but leaner. More feminine and curvaceous. Her tail, generally cut short, was longer, from what she could tell, also curled, though not in the large, obnoxious barrel curls she recalled Miss Rarity having. She raised a hoof to her mane. She had never felt anything so soft. The only thing that compared was perhaps the down feathers of a young Pegasus foal or bird. She shivered. She was perfect.

She was slightly taller, and her hooves were perfectly manicured. She was beautiful. It was odd to think of herself that way. She looked beautiful. She hadn’t, by any means, cared about her appearance when she was younger, having been, more or less, a tomboy.

But… This! Her coat was an outlandishly bright hue of blue. She shivered, allowing it to ripple and shimmer. She stepped forward, walking in circles, and began to laugh. There was no one else in the room that she could see.

She felt one of her forehooves skid. Oh no. She began to fly forward as she tripped, but, to her bewilderment, she fell immediately back upright, as though someone had pulled her up from her tumble. She blinked, but shrugged it off and slid her hooves on the tile again. It was recently waxed, and an even more brilliant shimmering gold than her dress, which flowed like a liquid from her waist, pouring over her flanks and legs, rustling gently with every step.

She felt herself beginning to tumble again. She gasped, flying forward again, until she was pulled back again, as though were wearing some sort of seatbelt. Solar Flare cocked her head. Maybe she couldn’t trip. She was always so clumsy, though. A thought occurred to her, and she immediately spread her wings, bit her lip, and got to a running start, flapping them.

With almost no effort at all, she rocketed from the ground, several meters into the air. In the midst of shock and glee, found herself laughing. What in the world? She was zipping around the room with no effort at all. Really, she had to do little more than think to propel herself forward. It was just like she had always dreamed! She whizzed to the very top of the arched ceiling, grinning. This was so much fun! She continued her circles around the room.

This wasn’t nearly enough. She needed to be outdoors. As soon as she landed, still grinning like a massive fool, a soft melody began to reverberate through the ballroom. It sounded almost… sad. She shook it off, feeling an urge to dance. She’d never really danced before, not like this. She paused, getting up on her back legs and beginning to twirl, taking small, delicate steps, sure she would fall.

She didn’t. She pranced and spun and twirled elegantly, traveling across the room in time with the tempo as the music swelled, filling her ears. She leaped quietly, her dress expanding out beneath her as she played her body in time. Where the music was coming from was of no concern to Solar Flare.

She stepped in time with it, playing by ear. She knew that everything she was doing had some kind of fancy French name, but she had no clue what they were in particular. She continued dancing until she noticed somepony standing in the doorway. His coat was brown, his mane was purple, and his eyes were large, deep and blue. “You look really pretty.” He said.

“Thanks.” Solar Flare mumbled, feeling herself go red. Here she had been, dancing in front of him like an idiot.

He slowly walked to the middle of the floor, where she was standing alone, and he rested his chin on top of her head. She blinked. “Hey,” He murmured softly. She could feel his warm breath going through her mane. “I’m sorry. For what I said earlier. I was just confused.”

“What do you mean?” Flare asked, finding herself surprisingly calm as she shut her eyes and the music continued to play from an unknown source. It seemed to come from all directions in the room.

“I mean that I like you, too. I just didn’t know it.”

Her mouth fell open. She slowly looked up at him with large eyes. “R-really?”

“Really.” She looked back at him as he looked down, meeting her eyes as he brought his lips to meet hers.  A jovial shudder ran from her core to the rest of her body.

She’d done it.

She hadn’t failed.

He was sitting on the couch in the Ponyville Library. He was alone. The unicorn made an attempt to scan the room again for any presence.

Clockwork frowned. How odd. His mother was usually home. He got to his hooves and turned around, finding himself face-to-face with Discord. He shot back. “What are you doing here?” He snarled, narrowing his eyes.

Discord laughed, patting the colt’s head. “I do believe a better question, my friend, is, what are YOU doing here?”

“I live here!”

“No, you don’t.”

Clockwork groaned. He was tired of Discord’s nonsense, but he inhaled deeply. “Okay. Where are we, then?”

Discord grinned. “Oh, I am so glad you asked!” He exclaimed jubilantly, hopping into the air and hovering there for a moment, snapping his fingers. Clockwork’s surroundings melted instantly, leaving nothing but inky blackness on all sides, but somehow Discord and him were still illuminated. “We’re in your mind!”

Clockwork, though thrown off by Discord’s previous parlour trick, kept his defencive stance, allowing his eyebrows to settle over his eyes. “What are you babbling on about?”

“Do I have to hold your hoof through this entire thing?” The draconequus rolled his eyes, floating in circles around the young stallion, producing, from nowhere, a pair of gaudy red sunglasses and a floppy blue hat. “Listen, kiddo. I don’t have a lot of patience for you. Too much like your mother. But, I have a feeling you’ll be… accommodating, if I can convince you of the truth of the matter.”

“You expect me to listen to you?” Clockwork glared at the chimera.

“No, I don’t. This is a last resort, and considering you’re lying in a catatonic state at the bottom of a sinkhole next to your little girlfriend, you don’t have anything much better to do, now do you?”

“What are you talking about? I was just in the library!”

“How did you get to the library?”

Clockwork paused, at a loss for words. How had he gotten there?

“I told you.” Discord muttered. “You’ve been journeying through Discordia for the past week.” The chimera explained matter-of-factly, fiddling with his sunglasses.

Clockwork stared blankly black, before he mentally hit a brick wall. His mouth hung open. “That’s right! We were falling, and then…”

“And then you were all knocked unconscious by the impact, and a certain alicorn is trying to harmonise you to get you onto her side.” Discord muttered, gesturing to his left side. “Tell me,” He smirked. “Don’t you find it odd that you aren’t—“ The chimera pressed his face up against Clockwork’s. “Scared?”

He expected to shiver, or wince, or something. But, nothing. He blinked. “Hunh.” He murmured thoughtfully. “Why’s that, then? I thought I was the Element of Fear or whatever.” He pondered, staring at his hooves and sitting back on his haunches. The blackness extended under his hooves, as though they were standing on some invisible platform. It had no identifiable texture. It wasn’t smooth, wasn’t rough. Almost like a magnetic field…

“You are.” Discord confirmed, a teapot with a green and pink floral design appearing in his hand. “Celestia is giving you all these visions and holding you here. You’re essentially in a coma. Celestia’s trying to change you all to work into her little plan.”

“Why are you here, then?” Clockwork asked, more curious than anything else, though touches of anger still floating along on his voice.

“Well, I’m specifically with you, because I only have enough power left to come into your mind. You don’t have anything too disturbing in here, do you?” Discord leaned in, angling his brow as he poured a white, grainy substance, (Presumably sugar.) out of his teapot. He then proceeded to conjure a sugar bowl and spoon, then spooned tea from the bowl and spoon into the cup. “In short,” The chimera bit the inside of his cheek. “I’m here because you need me as much as I need you. Wait. No, you need me far more than I need you. I mean, if Celestia wins, I’m going to die, but that’s nothing in comparison t-“

“Okay, okay, hold on.” Clockwork cut in. “Aren’t you and Princess Celestia and Princess Luna immortal?”

“Good question! We may be immortal as far as age goes, but when it comes to flesh wounds, we can kick the bucket just as fast!” Discord enlightened the unicorn, patting him on the head. Clockwork recoiled and hissed. “Eaugh,” The lion paw drew back. “You wound me, Clockwork!” A frown grew on his face. “What cruelty! Though, I suppose the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree…”

“Don’t talk about my mother!” The Element of Fear growled.

“Ohohoho!” Discord grinned wickedly. “A momma’s boy, are we?”

“No! Augh, can we- can we just get back to what we were talking about so you can explain it?”

“Oh, now, now. I thought you hated me.”

“I do, I really, really, really do. With every fibre of my being, to be precise.”

“You’re being rather nice about it.” Discord pointed out, daintily sipping his tea.

“Can we just get back to the topic at hand?” Clockwork growled, preparing to tear his mane out.

“Ah, yes, yes. Now,” Discord grinned maliciously. “Essentially, dear Celestia is making an attempt to reverse each of the additions I made to you, what gives you your faults. What makes you the Elements of Turmoil. You know, that. Suddenly,” He flashed a devilish, malicious grin. “You’re no longer afraid. Solar Flare isn’t failing. Gem isn’t angry. Candied Chaos is normal. Sir Prize is an underachiever, and Apple Core is obedient. She’s giving you each these… dreams. Simulations, of life as it were, if you didn’t have your respective element, or what you wish you had.”

Clockwork raised a befuddled eyebrow. “So why are you here? Or is this part of the projection?”

“Definitely not a part of the projection.” Discord smirked, snapping the fingers on his griffon hand. The library materialized around them. Clockwork could feel the hardwood beneath his hooves. “For some reason, I could get in, though. I think Celestia let me, because she knew it’d be no good. Or something of the sort. Teasing me, and all that.”

Clockwork blinked, glancing around him. “So, I’m not going to listen to you anyway, but I’ll humour you. What is it you came to tell me to do?”

“Me? Ohohoho! YOU think I think there’s a difference to be made at this point?” Discord grinned. “While we’ve been sitting here, chatting for no more than ten minutes, it’s been a week out in the real world. You’re still lying in a hole, entirely unconscious.” He laughed. “No, there’s no hope for Equestria any longer.” He mused.

“What? No, we’re saving Equestria!” Clockwork protested, stamping a hoof angrily.

Discord glanced back at Clockwork, a look of pity flashing over his face. “No, not anymore.”

“I don’t believe you, anyway! You’re tricking me!”

“I wish I could tell you that’s the truth.” Discord rolled his eyes, patting the unicorn colt on the head. Clockwork glared at him all the while.

“It is! You lie about anything and everything! It’s who you are, right? Blending reality and fallacy?”

Discord smirked. “Yes. You could say that.”

“Okay, fine, then. So you’re trying to convince me that Celestia trapped us in a comatose state, we’re just having dreams that we’re normal, and she’s trying to make us normal, and meanwhile, she’s destroying all of Equestria?” Clockwork snorted, rolling his blue eyes and trotting away to the steps of the library. “Nice shot, buddy. I’m not buying it. I know this is another one of your stupid nightmares. Well, guess what, Mister Creepy? I’m not afraid of you!” The brown and purple unicorn brought his face inches from Discord’s, and gathered a wad of saliva in his mouth.

He spat at the chimera’s feet. Discord stood there blankly for a moment, seeming in genuine shock, giving Clockwork a second of momentary pride. Then, he burst out laughing, holding his clenching stomach muscles as he hovered half a metre off the library’s floor. His chortles echoing unnaturally through the wooden room, filling Clockwork’s ears from all directions and sides. “H-ha-haha! Y-you actually think-“ Discord paused to let out another loud snigger. “You ponies are so silly!” He wiped a tear from his eye. “Do you think, quite honestly, that that would harm or damage me or something?” He rolled his red and yellow eyes.

Clockwork was just beginning to feel the hair on the back of his neck stand back in irritation and anger, when Discord put a single finger to the unicorn’s lips. “Now, now. No need to get so riled up. You may not be terrified and hiding from me in the corner, but that doesn’t make you any more menacing than you were to begin with. You weren’t very menacing at all, by the way.” Clockwork struggled as the draconequus easily picked him up, placing the unicorn under his underarm. He hissed.

“Put me down!” Clockwork protested, desperately trying to land a hoof in Discord’s side.

“Eaugh, fine, fine. You’re even worse than your mother, wow.” The chimera placed him back on the ground, huffing to himself. “Well,” Discord paused. “I supposed I should take my leave. I want to save some of my energy for the end of Equestria as we know it, now, don’t I?” He winked at Clockwork, who furrowed his brow.

“Why are you so calm about this?”

“Sometimes, there’s really nothing you can do about a situation. It lies in the hands of fate.” Discord stated matter-of-factly, patting the unicorn’s head for the umpteenth time. Clockwork contorted his face in irritation, sliding his head up and attempting to snap down on Discord’s finger. Discord snapped it back immediately.

“Well, well, well. You are definitely Twilight Sparkle’s son.” A smile graced his lips for the briefest of moments before dissolving immediately. “Well, kiddo. I think Celestia’ll wake you up before she decides to either kill you or turn you into a mindless zombie. Whatever the case, it was a pleasure knowing you. I think. I still haven’t quite made my decision yet.”

“Yeah, okay.” Clockwork huffed. “I’m gonna go try to save Equestria, now. You, leave. Stop telling me lies.”

“How hurtful. I assure you, I am a draconequus of my word.”

“Right.” Clockwork replied dryly, leaving Discord to the door. “Leave, and hopefully I’ll wake up from this dream state you stuck me in.”

“Alright, I’ll go. I’ll warn you, though. I daresay you’re in for quite the surprise when, if you return home.”

Clockwork cocked an eyebrow. “Uh, alright. Listen, just go.”

“Very well.” Discord turned to the door, moseying through before turning around one last time and poking his head in through the doorway. “Ah, Clockwork?”

“Yes?!” Clockwork snapped.

“Seeing isn’t necessarily believing.”

He slammed the door in the chimera’s face

~XXX~

New temporary story art while I await the commission with Aneera! Hooray. Happy New Year, everyone.

--RadaVonVon

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