World of Discord (RP)

[Chirp]

"And the tree of harmony? You said the elements are fruits of that tree? Can't it bear new fruits, or can't we use that somehow?" Koalemos questioned. "There must be a way to locate these elements. On their own they are useless, so they might very well be scattered across the world. They'll never know what to do with the power they have." He thought to himself, then looked around the underground complex they were in, before turning to the Guru with another question. "Are there any routes that lead to the land of Virgacorns? They must know more." He explained, his motive to go further south.

[The Wandering Magus]

The two mares nodded their thanks to Laserbolt, and Abigail smiled.  "It's perfect.  Thanks.  Really.  Thanks fer everythin' yer willin' ta do fer us.  That goes ta everyone 'ere, an' Ah mean it.  Riskin' our lives fer th' good o' others, an' fer th' world, even after so much.  Ah can't begin ta tell y'all how much it means, seein' that Harmony ain't dead."

Queb nodded gravely to Clockwork, the ghost of a smile on His face.  "A portion...?  Congratulations, My friend.  And Laserbolt... it is not a matter of a simple 'yes' or 'no', as the Nightmares should tell you.  I both am and am not, was and was not, will be and will not be, Shub-Niggurath.  Is your hoof 'you'?  Is your right foreleg your left foreleg?  Does your horn know what your tail is doing?  Yet all parts of your body are controlled by one single mind, a mind so complex that even after countless eons the body would never understand it.  Now imagine that analogy repeated infinite times, in infinite dimensions, in infinite ways.  Aisyt, Ala, Arinna, Asintmah, Atira, Beira, Bhumi, Cel, Coatlicue, Diti, Erecura, Etugen Eke, Gaia, Ila, Iusaaset, Jord, Khaltesh-Anki, Ki, Kishar, Libera, Liluri, itavis, Lurbira, Mara, Mat Zemlya, Mefitis, Nantosuelta, Nerthus, Ninhursag, Onuava, Ops, Pachamama, Papa, Papahanaumoku, Pele, Phra Mae Thorani, Prithvi, Rangi, Shala, Sif, Spenta Armaiti, Terra, Tlazolteotl, Toci, Tonantzin, Uras, Asase Ya, Yer Tanri, Zemes-mate, Zemyna," He listed the Names, His Names.

And every time He spoke, His form seemed different, yet the same.  One Mind, infinite shapes, infinite voices, infinite Beings that were One, Mother-Of-All, Father-Of-All, God-Who-Walks, Mother-Of-A-Thousand-Young, Black Goat, Cerrunos, Anwyn, Horned Lord, Mother Goddess, Keeper Of Life, She-Who-Lives.

He was a Maiden, a Mother, a Crone.

He was a Kind yellow pegasus-alicorn with three butterflies upon Her.

He was a beautiful deer whose every step brought forth living flowers.

He was a terrifying, undulating, infinite-dimensional creature of infinite size and infinite wisdom whose song was so beautiful it drove mares insane and whose gaze was so intense that it tore reality asunder.

He was a wondrous being of light and life, a Force that dwelt in all living and nonliving things, with a Dark Side and a Light Side.

He was an antlered entity of moss and vines, a guardian of Nature.

The Concept of Nature.

A God.

*****

The Diamond Dog nodded.  "[glow=blue,200]Yes, there are, but that is a long journey.  Avalon would be nearer, and Queen Cadance may have more intimate knowledge of the Elements than the sages of Virgacornia.  I do not know myself if the Tree of Harmony can ever grow new fruits.  Rumor was that it was strangled by choking black vines around 1 AD.  After Discord, as you know.  The Enemy certainly believes it, or cares no longer about the Tree.[/glow]"

[bauccgia0]

Laserbolt nodded to Applejack, as he set the crest into her armor. He dispersed the girls' finished sets to the three of them, silently.

When the flood of information went through his head, he still seemed... confused. But he shook it off, and turned to the god.

[glow=black,2,300]So. The elder gods are not entirely gone. This... is good news.[/glow]

[The Wandering Magus]

Queb smiled at the Nightmare's naivety.  "They are never truly 'gone', Laserbolt.  Just as even if this entire world were to fall, even if all of us were to perish, we, our true essences, our selves, would never truly 'die'.  In this Time and Space, perhaps, but not as a whole, a greater whole.  But in this Time and Space... one might say that there are greater Powers at work than many suppose, though not what many would claim.  Entropy and Havoc.  BDCZM and Fauna Luster.  The Alicorns of the Tarot.  The Draconequui.  Blind sages and elephant... all true, but none true.  Even Lovecraft knows not the whole.  And above even the Elders... the Shadows, the Shadows Who Play, the Shadow Who Makes, the Shadows Who Write.  And above them... in a never-ending upward spiral, going higher and higher into infinity, infinite branches of infinity.  THAT is Truth, an infinitesimally minute part of Truth."

[The Clockwork King]

Clockwork glanced over at his colleague, the God of Nature. He imagined a smile being received from his own visage if he could manage it.
It is not a certainty that the elder gods, our brothers and sisters of a time I would rather forget, where war was but a word away, are still around. Their presence is unfelt by me, but that does not mean they are gone. That can and cannot, will and will not, be and never been, their nature unprecedented, their forms unknown. But they are not real gods. Not in the sense of ponykind, where a deity must have purpose in order to exist... Clockwork throws wide his arms Does this look like the land of a creature of chaos, I ask thee? Where the elements can split and divide and fuse and change on a dime? Where lead is gold before it is silver? I have seen chaos, Laserbolt, because I have lived longer than I dare tell anyone about, and this... his claw screeches off the surface of the ground, sparks thrown up as the marble-like ground turned to dust ...isn't chaos. Discord has form and function, something that true chaos never has. He is an embodiment, WE are an embodiment, Celestia, Luna, Queb, Discord, Myself, of what ponies believe us to be. There are no gods that pony cannot describe, because they are not real in the first place. Gods only exist if they are believed in, and I certainly do not believe the grip Discord has over this world, same as I do not believe I will ever remember who I was before I became me. he rises, dusting himself off before THWACKING Laser's head with the shaft of the cane AND THAT WAS FOR FORCEFULLY REMOVING MY SOUL MATRIX, YOU DODO! I COULD HAVE LEVELLED THIS TOWN AND DESTABILISED THE SPACE TIME CONTINUUM IF YOU HAD DROPPED ME!

[bauccgia0]

Laserbolt rubbed his head, grinning. [glow=black,2,300]Glad to see you're back, Clockwork. I'm sorry for the... looting. I was gonna try and fuse you with Bertram, see if I could resurrect you. You never said that you could do it yourself. Speaking of...[/glow] He snatched Bertram back from Moonlight, and handed it to Clockwork. [glow=black,2,300]Can you do me a favor, and install the software of this into one of your robots? The plugs are on the back, under the panel.[/glow]

He looked around, and grinned again. [glow=black,2,300]Now then, if the Elder Gods are still floating around-and, I'd love to talk with you more about the Elder Gods, later, Clockwork, you've got some awesome ideas, really, you do, I could probably write a library on all the stuff you know- But if the Elder Gods are still here... Then...[/glow] He took a deep breath, and began to chant, quietly.

[glow=black,2,300]Ia...Ia... Ithaqua phtagn... Ia... Ithaqua orr'e...[/glow]

The area around Laserbolt got cold, and the shadows surrounding him seemed to freeze, as his coat began to turn a dirty white, its texture changing to shaggy and furry, like a bear. His eyes turned from yellow to blue, and his breath came out in puffs of steam.

[glow=black,2,300]Then I can do this again. Oh, joy.[/glow]

[The Wandering Magus]

Several things happened simultaneously a nanosecond after Laserbolt summoned the power of the Elder Gods.

"[glow=red,200]FREE WILL![/glow]" whispered Rainbow, and time seemed to stop entirely.

Queb was suddenly not Queb alone, but a thing of twisting vines stretching into incomprehensible infinity, covered and filled with eyes and mouths and organs that made the mind weep with mad joy and the ears sing with bitter tears.  He was everywhere, and nowhere, at once.

Abigail's eyes were more silver than silver itself, to a mirror what a mirror was to rough and sandy stone.  The world vanished around them, and they vanished from the world.

Twilight's horn and eyes glowed white, and from her mouth came words that no mortal should be able to say or hear or think or understand.

Apple Pie was halfway turning in curiosity towards them when the perfect illusion of her "aunt" pulled her close into a protective embrace, covering her eyes and ears.

-*-*-

They were in a vast, white void again, all of them.  Abigail and Rainbow were visibly straining, even with their combined Elements of Chaos allowing them to virtually slow time to a standstill by speeding up thinking processes to an otherwise unthinkable level.

The Thing-That-Was-Queb frowned at Laserbolt as His vines held the pony in twenty different dimensions at once.

"Do you have any idea how dangerous it is to invoke Godly magic in a world run by an extreme-egocentric-narcissistic self-proclaimed God of Chaos?" demanded the God.  "It is like an ant under a giant's hoof calling out to another giant, except that the FIRST giant had EATEN His BROTHER and FATHER and ABSORBED Their powers so that He has essentially the powers of THREE Gods in one!  Don't you REALIZE that there's a REASON neither I nor Clockwork have been using Our powers much?!"

[bauccgia0]

Laserbolt looked at the god, all vines and fury, and never stopped smiling. He said nothing. He just waited.

[Omega_Khaos]

Chrysteel's element joined with Abigail's and Rainbow's drawing on their will to protect and the love they once held long ago.
"[glow=navy,2,300]Laserbolt, Please stop this display. If Discord feels even an ounce of power that can best him, he will try to end it before it can gather. We will not be able to gather the others because he and his daughter will come down upon this farm and make everything chaos.[/glow]"
Chrysteel's aura now shown in this place as a combined power of love and hope strong as any element but also limited by them. She was a fragment of harmony in itself. As her aura touched Laserbolt, He could feel a need to be calm and to rest.
((this is like a suggestion spell. not a godly power. Also Chrysteel is drawing on the emotions from the past of dash and A.J. to fuel her power.))

Spoiler:  Valor's Suggestion. • show

Req. = at least two other elements of harmony or chaos.
Target = one selected at time of use
duration = based on will of target (can last up to 1 day.)
effect = tries to calm the target and return them to their base state in one action. Fatigues caster unless two other elements of harmony or chaos are present.

[bauccgia0]

Laserbolt shrugged. At first he was gonna go on a diatribe to Queb about the elder gods, and how he and his allies were definitely not ants, but that didn't seem prudent anymore. His fur shrank back, until returning to its original length, and he felt his body temperature rise.

[glow=black,2,300]All right. But when we get to him, I'm definitely going to use it.[/glow]

He looked down, and realized his coat was still white. He looked in a piece of reflective sheet metal, and saw his eyes were still an icy blue. [glow=black,2,300]Interesting. Queb, will this give us away? Because I kind of like looking like this, and I'm not sure I can reverse it. Also, did you do that time stop thing? Or was that me?[/glow]

[The Wandering Magus]

Abigail gasped slightly, and the illusion world shattered to pieces as she and Rainbow withdrew their Elements in relief.  They collapsed against each other, and Twilight fell on her knees, rubbing her temples and horn and wincing.  "That... was... us.  Don't ever do that again, please, until it's actually the right time and we have a complete set of Elements of one kind or another.  The last thing I want..."

She shuddered at what Ma-... Di-... the Enemy could do with the snap of His fingers.

Abigail groaned, then touched her own head and Rainbows.  "It don't- ow- hurt at all.  Ain't tired.  Sweet baby Luna in a cradle, Laserbolt, you pull that one again an' Ah swear..."

Dash was already on top of him, slamming his head against the ground at approximately the speed of sound.  "ARE YOU CRAZY?!  YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF WE'D BEEN A NANOSECOND LATER?!  YOU DO NOT JUST FLAUNT YOUR POWERS IN THE MIDDLE OF MASTER'S CAPITOL LIKE THAT YOU IDIOT!"

"Dash, just stop.  The world didn't end this time.  Well, it did, but... you know what I mean."

The pegasus clenched her teeth hard enough to shatter them all, then let her regeneration make them grow back with a hissing sound as she got off the stallion with a huff.

"Thank you, Twilight.  Just... THINK before acting, please," sighed Queb, shaking His head.  "Oh, what FOOLS these mortals be."

[Shadechaser]

Shadechaser looked back at the farm she left from, and wondered... what that aura she felt. [glow=purple,2,300]I swear on oblivion, I thought I felt something for an instant. Must have been something that the almighty could do. Still, it may haunt my thoughts, imagining what it could have done...[/glow]

The forest appeared to grow darker to Shadechaser as she walked further away from the farm. It seemed to signal something, but what?

[bauccgia0]

Laserbolt rubbed his head. [glow=black,2,300]I wonder how much blunt force trauma you ponies think I can take.[/glow] He got up, and turned to the rest of them. [glow=black,2,300]In all seriousness, though. If Discord does send things here because of me... I can probably fight them off, if you all want to leave. I'll stay behind for a bit, to see what'll happen.[/glow]

[Bane Emural]

Still watching from a distance, but close enough to be heard, Bane gets up and walks towards the group. "That was reckless, and one such as yourself should know that, Laserbolt. Next time, do think before acting or else you will get us all in trouble. And I wish not to perish before setting the balance back to where it was. Are you guys alright?"

[Omega_Khaos]

Chrysteel sighed in relief when he returned to normal. "[glow=navy,2,300]Thanks Bane I am fine for the moment. Drawing on emotions can lessen my fatigued state but not the amount of power I had to use in that one spell. when I am with other elements of chaos or harmony, I can almost use my full power. It seems the more elements near me the more power I have as well. but for now i am going to keep the majority of it hidden so as to not be detected, even though in chaos love remains. In a way you can say that i am an element of chaos and harmony rapped all in one element. it works.[/glow]"
she looks to Laserbolt then to the others who spoke and says, "[glow=navy,2,300]Please Bolt, don't scare us like that again. However, I think we can use that to our advantage. Does anypony know how to direct a power like that? Make it so only certain beings can sense it? I think we can use it to draw the remaining six out of the castle of chaos one at a time.
Also Asterian, I have a feeling that some would be drawn by their original element as well. In a way Rarity still is a generous mare even as Greedity.
When I hit any of the Chaos six with my spells, I try to draw out that feeling. That harmonic emotion that makes them who they were.
For you dash, I tried to show you the loyalty that you once were. The mare I grew to admire and even, in a way, I became like the filly Scootaloo. The way she always wanted to be near you, but I had that for all six of you.
I started to understand a form of love when I meet you six. Y'all taught me what friendship really meant and how to earn it. I just wanted to return the favor. If it wasn't for my mission i would never have learned about how you six became what you are today. I am love and love will always flow from me to others no mater who they are. Asterian When the others have rested i will send a message to Greedity about the tree to make her come to us.
With that knowledge, we have a big advantage over Discord and the rest of the six. Harmony counters chaos very well and at the tree harmony is allot stronger. Even our elements will have a power boost at the tree and she will not know what hit her. What do y'all think? We utilize a location of power that only harmony can approach without loosing any of its power.[/glow]"

[bauccgia0]

Laserbolt, completely ignoring Bane, responded to Chrysteel. [glow=black,2,300]You know, Chryssy. I think it's already happened.[/glow] The air around him was still cold, but his magical signature was such a low frequency, that if the ponies in the room weren't looking at him, he might as well have not existed at all.[glow=black,2,300] I'm not sure if I can use it to call Discord's Lackeys, but it seems like I've been given just enough power to use in an emergency. I'm sure it'll be useful.[/glow] Unfortunately, at the same time he talked, the Nightmares in his head seemed to be at odds with this new power, with him stuck in the middle. He didn't let it show, but it was more than a little excruciating.

[Bane Emural]

"Lets try it. But be careful when handling this power, especially when the presence of Chaos is very strong. Harmony may be strong, but Chaos has grown stronger these past thousand years. We don't know what might happen now."

[bauccgia0]

[glow=black,2,300]Good idea. I agree completely. Now, what's next?[/glow]

[The Clockwork King]

This.
Once more did the cane shaft crack across the back of Laserbolt's head, before Time itself adjusted his jacket.
Rather good swing, sir.
Clockwork eyed the gifted animatronic device, he could get used to that. In fact, despite the idiotic decision Laser nearly made he could see 'Bertram' being of much use to him. Stroking his fingers through the grassy foliage of Queb's coat in comfort, he turns to Bane.
I have not seen you before. A new member of our group in my absence? Clockwork, by the way, Lord of Time, how do you do? he offers a curt bow before turning to Chrysteel My dear, I was wondering if we could spare time for a...private talk, hm?

[Bane Emural]

Bane faces Clockwork and bows. "Ah, one of the Lords of Time. I am Bane Emural, one of the last survivors of my kind and the former Emperor of the Ancient Empire."