Unforeseen Consequences - Chapter 13


                                            >You know, I think this may be one of the best days in my entire life; seriously, between getting some weird magic powers and wrecking the company’s labs, I ain’t sure how today could get even better.

                                            >Sure, it was a bit lame that Discord chose to go straight to the actual laboratories instead of going with much more fun plan.

                                            >I mean, just imagine how awesome it would’ve been if we had burst the main door and chaos up the entire place piece by piece.

                                            >However, I ain’t gonna hold it against the old dude, ‘cause our actual entrance was something that put a smile on my face, and I mean, a really big one.

                                            >That awful monorail that the patrols used to transport me like cattle had collapsed after Discord and I made our “explosive” entrance.

                                            >The only things that remained were the burned remnants of the rail, and the flames that kinda illuminated the dark pit below us, and the damage didn’t end there.

                                            >What was left of that legit awesome suspension bridge of thick transparent glass were only a pair of contorted and burned steel beams with a few shattered pieces of glass attached to them.

                                            >As for the patrols that were supposed to guard this area, well, I guess they ain’t the brave and bold ponies that the company sells them as.


                                            >Nah, those lame idiots ran inside the laboratories like scaredy cats as soon as the fireworks started and locked the reinforced vault door behind them.

                                            >What a bunch of dimwits! Like that could even stop us! Well… maybe it’ll do the trick with me, I ain’t the best at this chaos magic business yet, but Discord?! Pfft! Yeah, nah!

                                            >I mean, the old coot transformed an entire dead valley into a living funhouse, there’s no way that vault door had a chance.

                                            >Yep! Everything was going just dandy, or almost everything… I just needed to fix one teensy-tiny detail before bringing the pain to those stupid company’s ponies:

                                            >“Warning. High energy detonation detected in Sector C. Warning. Unauthorized biological forms detected in Sector C. Any damage control team to Sector C immediately. Wa-“

                                            “Oh, shut up!”

                                            >*KABOOM* A series of explosions was all that I needed to get rid of that stupid voice… and to leave huge holes on the ceiling and most walls.

                                            >But who cares about that?! A job well done is a job well done! That’s why I cheerfully rubbed my paw and talons together with a huge smile of satisfaction on my face.

                                            “Ahhh! Much better! That stupid announcement system was starting to get on my nerves!”

                                            >Discord, who was floating near me, let out a tired sigh and shrugged, “Honestly, my dear, I thought that we had already move past of your explosion phase.”


                                            >I couldn’t help but to roll my eyes so hard that they almost popped out of my skull and bark at that old dude.

                                            “Oh, give me a break, dude! Don’t tell me you actually liked hearing the same boring trash over and over!”

                                            >With a slow, almost disappointed shake of his head, Discord replied with a preachy tone, “Oh, trust me, I’m not complaining about getting rid of that aggravating voice, all that I’m saying is that you could have tried, I don’t know, make the speakers one of those tortuous electronic songs that youngsters these days seem to like so much or something a little more creative.”

                                            “Know what? Whatever, dude! You can complain all you want, but those fireworks? They were awesome! And I’m gonna make a repeat on that vault door over there!”

                                            >“Hold on, my dear!” Discord quickly raised his paw to stop me on my tracks, and then, he went and started inspecting the vault door like if he was looking for a secret passage, “I want to confirm something before we make our next move.”

                                            “Ooooh! Now you got my curiosity!”

                                            >I quickly hovered to where Discord was, watching carefully and with lots of excitement about what the old dude had in store.

                                            >And boy lemme tell ya! Discord may be old, annoying and creepy, but he never failed to deliver cool stuff when he snapped those talons.

                                            >A couple of big, round eyes and a large mouth grotesquely formed on the vault door, who started blinking and carefully inspecting its surroundings.


                                            >After Discord called the vault door’s attention with a very obnoxious cough, the vault door shot him a glare filled with mistrust and opened its large mouth to say in a powerful voice, “What business do you have with me, outsider?”.

                                            >While I was in absolute awe by this awesome display of chaos magic, Discord took this like it was every day’s business, and offered it a playful bow, “Oh, there’s no need for such a cold reception, my friend! I’m just but a simple draconequus whose only desire is to know what lies beyond your immovable self.”

                                            >The vault door shot glare scanned Discord before loudly proclaiming, “I care not who you are, outsider, if you desire for me to move, then the secret password must be recited.”

                                            >“Of course, of course! Do you think my white beard is just for show?” Discord hurriedly replied as he waved his paw in a dismissive way, “I’m old enough to know how these proceedings work.”

                                            >The vault narrowed its eyes and menacingly whispered, “Here’s a warning, outsider: any mistake in reciting the secret password will be met with a dire punishment!”

                                            >“I wouldn’t expect anything less from such an imposing guardian like yourself.” Discord smirked as he tapped his talons and paw together, “As for my answer, I think it’s quite obvious: Open sesame!”

                                            >The vault door stood silent for a couple seconds, only to then make the entire place tremble by yelling, “WRONG ANSWER, OUTSIDER!”


                                            >A long and thick tongue quickly came out from the vault door’s mouth in direction to Discord, whose only response was a little and sorta pathetic, “What?!”

                                            >The icky tongue hit Discord right in the face, retreating back into the vault door’s mouth as fast as it came.

                                            >Ouch! That gotta hurt! I mean, not only that gross tongue hit Discord with the power of 1000 angry truck drivers, but it also left the guy with a black eye and a missing horn.

                                            >Of course, I took this in the most elegant way possible… by laughing so hard that my belly started to hurt!

                                            “Bwahahahaha! Oh, dude, I should’ve brought a camera! That was like, a championship knockout!”

                                            >Discord didn’t say anything, though, he just stood there, hovering and shaking like a wet puppy. So after calming myself, I playfully poked his shoulders and offered some help.

                                            “So, what do you say if I blow up that stupid door? Like, yeah, it won’t be something super crazy, but look it this way, you can get back at that fun-sucker and get a hella great fireworks show at the same time!”

                                            >Discord’s thick white eyebrows and beard literally exploded into flames, all while his face became twisted by a rage that I didn’t think possible.

                                            >While I was all for trashing the old guy’s smugness, I ain’t stupid enough to push his buttons that hard, so this time, the best move was to give Discord some space.

                                            >Luckily, Discord got back to his senses almost as fast as he lost them… which was a bit creepy if I have to be honest, but at this point, I had decided to roll with it.


                                            >Which is probably why I went back to him, and decided to ask with a clearly faked innocent voice.

                                            “So… we’re making that dude go kaboom?”

                                            >Discord pompously shook his talon and replied, “Charming proposition, my dear, but sadly I’ll have to decline it.”

                                            “Really, dude? Really?”

                                            >Discord nodded and patted my head a little too hard, “Yes, my dear, my position might seem insane, because it is, BUT…” A tie appeared on his neck just so he could adjust it in a dignified way before vanishing, “If that cheating vault door think it got the best of the lord of chaos, then its dead wrong!”

                                            >I really couldn’t caring about his safety after hearing such a dumb answer; I just shrugged and traced a circle with my paw to create some snacks for the show.

                                            >And who could’ve guessed, it actually worked! I now had a bunch of tasty-looking popcorn floating by my side!

                                            “A’ight, you do you, dude! I’ll just chill out over here and enjoy the show… just a bit of advice, try to raise your guard next time.”

                                            >I threw a bunch of popcorn inside my mouth… only immediately spat them out. Guess that I’ll have to practice how to make food that doesn’t taste like wet socks.

                                            >Discord’s eyes burned with determination when he went back for round 2, and once he was in front of the vault door, the old coot puffed out some steam out of his nostrils and raised one of his talons, “Well played, my sturdy friend, but what do you say if we try it again? The password that you are looking for is: Abracadabra!”


                                            >The vault door repeated the same process as the first time… only to give the same answer “WRONG AGAIN, OUTSIDER!”

                                            >Just like last time, Discord got hit right in the face with that icky, long tongue, leaving him out of working eyes and horns.

                                            >I slapped my face, and yelled at the old coot.

                                            “What did I tell you about your guard? Come on, dude! It ain’t even that hard! Just raise your flappy arms and cover your face! Or even better yet, just make that thing go away!”

                                            >Discord’s half-heartedly turned to me and sighed “I’m afraid that… I can’t… not until I fulfill the requirements of this spell…” He then waved his paw in defeat, “This is what happens… when you create something without an easy-to-cast fail-safe…”

                                            >Meanwhile, the vault door was laughing so hard that the entire place started to tremble, “Give it up, outsider! You’re looking for a concept that a lonely being like you could never understand! Something that only a beautiful purple princess could master”

                                            “A… what?”

                                            >“This has been fun, but I’m afraid that our little game has come to an end…” Discord grinned widely as his eyes and horns healed instantly in the grossest way possible, “Because the keyword to your defeat is: FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC!”

                                            “Seriously dude… what?”

                                            >The vault door was horrified by this, so much that its face started to contort horribly, “IMPOSSIBLE! HOW COULD THIS BE?!””


                                            >“Oh, I just happen to know someone who perfectly fits that very description…” Discord shrugged as he prepared to snap his talons again, “In fact, last week, she gave me a four hour lecture on this exact topic!”

                                            >The vault door let out one final, “NOOOOOOO!” before going back to being a simple inanimate object.

                                            >However, now there was a little addition to the vault door: A small red trapdoor installed right in the middle of the big one.

                                            >I flew by Discord, and after making sure that there were no other surprises, I raised an eyebrow at him.

                                            “So, tell me, dude; how did you know that was gonna be the right password? ‘Cause what you said was a little too specific to feel real.”

                                            >Discord let out a tired sigh as he adjusted one of his horns, “The answer is quite simple, my dear Eris: chaos magic can’t create life, it merely uses an aspect of your own self to produce little more than toys; impressive ones, sure, but toys nonetheless”.

                                            “A’ight, that’s… I honestly dunno how to call it, but tell me, how’s this purple princess, huh? Maybe a little girlfriend you have?”

                                            >Discord cringed hard at that, so much that one of his horns fell off, “Goodness, no! The mere thought of it makes me… blegh!”

                                            >I crossed my arms and gave Discord a teasing grin.

                                            “Sure! Whatever you say, dude”


                                            >Discord let out a sigh and opened the trapdoor, “Think whatever you want, my dear, that’s not important. What should concern both of us is to know what surprises await at the other side of this door”.

                                            >Not even second passed after Discord passed his ugly head through the trapdoor when a whole lotta blasters detonations were heard.

                                            >And they made a direct hit, of that I’m totally sure, I mean, why else would Discord’s body tense up like a cat walking on electric cables? That, and all the smoke coming from the trap door.

                                            “Uh, dude? Is everything ok there?”

                                            >Discord calmly closed the hatch, revealing a whole lot of small steel chunks that were firmly stuck on his face… that had to hurt.

                                            >Despite all of that, the old guy simply smiled and calmly raised a talon, “I saw around 35 armed ponies, not only that, but there’s a second vault door that we have to go through; so here is an idea, why don’t you let me take of these ponies while you handle the lesser resistance at the lobby?”

                                            “And how exactly am I gonna do that without ending up looking like a piece of cheese, huh?!”

                                            >Discord rolled his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, “With chaos magic, what else? The only real problem is how you will proceed… and please don’t say explosions, is not that I don’t like them, I just don’t want you to rely on the same solution every single time!”

                                            “I wasn’t even gonna say that! Sheesh! Just gimme a second to think about this…”


                                            >Okay, so what the heck could I actually do?! It ain’t like I had a whole lotta experience in chaos magic besides blowing stuff up and… my friend, Peter the giant croc.

                                            >Oh, dude! I totally had an idea! And those super small ventilation ducts were perfect thing for it!

                                            >Discord grinned as he excitedly started to rub his paw and talons together, “Ah! I can see the wonderful sparkle of chaos in your eyes! Don’t forget the basics of spell casting, though! Keep calm, focus and have fun.”

                                            “Yeah, and this could be ten thousand times easier if you just shut up and lemme do my thing!”

                                            >This time Discord didn’t reply, he just waved his paw and gave me a little bow.

                                            >I took a deep breath to get absolutely calm, and after focusing with all my guts into what I was supposed to cast, I traced a circle with my paw and saw my magic unfold.

                                            >It happened slowly, first, a weird purple gas appeared and covered me completely, until my body became part of it, which is to say, I was now the purple gas.

                                            “Holy blazes! I did it! My chaos magic did what I want… kinda! I mean, I wanted the gas to be invisible, but… meh, who cares?! Check this out, dude! I think I’m actually good at chaos!”

                                            >Looking unamused, Discord rested his head on his paw, “Oh, my! These are absolute news to me! Is not like I’ve been telling you the exact same thing ever since we met; no sir! Not at all!”

                                            >As my mood started to drop a bit, Discord dropped the act and started spinning like crazy around me, “Oh, to Tartarus with the sarcasm! Hurry up, my dear! I’m simply dying to see what surprise you’ll come up with this time!”


                                            “Then get ready, dude, ‘cause this is gonna rock your smelly socks off! If I can pull it off… which probably I won’t… hey, maybe we should… ACK!”

                                            >Somehow Discord managed to slap me in the back of my head before actually scolding me, “Stop with that mediocre attitude! You’re much more than that, you hear?! Now go and show those awful ponies what the true meaning of chaos is!”

                                            “A’ight, dude… Let’s make this party crazy!”

                                            >I immediately moved into the ventilation ducts, and made my way through their metallic interiors until I found a small open hatch.

                                            >At the other side of it I saw the boring, circular-shaped lobby in a state of pure and amazing mayhem:  Most of the many screens in the lobby were shattered while a bunch of ponies dressed in funny military attires, yelled orders at the terrified armored patrols lined up and ready to shoot.

                                            >It was a bit weird that there were like, zero non-ponies here, though. Like, I thought the company used those poor guys as their slaves.

                                            >Oh, brother! And what about all of those foals? What if the company decided to…? Sheesh, dude! The company couldn’t be that evil… right?

                                            >All of these horrible ideas put some real fear inside of me, which in turn made my spell weaken to the point where practically half my body was already back to normal.

                                            “You gotta chill out, Eris! We can’t mess this up!”

                                            >I took a deep breath and did my best to regain my focus, and it sorta did its job. Like, I was back to being pure was but I was now of a nasty bright pink.


                                            >There was a new unintended addition too, a bunch of small chocolate milk drops were dripping off of me…

                                            >Whatever, chaos magic! I traced a circle with my paw with the intention on casting a spell that would leave those armored patrols without their equipment.

                                            >Only to fail at that and instead overcharge every light bulb, making them implode in a sparky glory and leaving the lobby pitch dark until the red emergency lights kicked in.

                                            >It sucked, but at least the patrols were more scared than ever. I could still work with that and improvise something.

                                            >I slowly came out of the ventilation duct, quickly filling the entire lobby with my pink gas and chocolate milk.

                                            >A’ight, time for the show! I cleared my throat, and started laughing in the spookiest way I could pull off.

                                            “Hah hah hah! Fools! Did you really think this lame defense could stop… me…? Hey, guys? Are you even listening?!”

                                            >I thought the patrols would get so scared that they would drop their weapons and start pleasing for their lives, but instead…

                                            >One of their commanders yelled “FIRE!” and soon enough, every patrol started shooting their blasters at every random direction.

                                            >Which sucked even more than the first spell, ‘cause now they weren’t paying attention to my spooky speech.

                                            >I was annoyed, but still, it wasn’t nothing that I couldn’t work with.

                                            “A’ight, that’s it! I’m taking away your stupid toys!”

                                            >I used my magic with the idea of swapping those noisy blasters for something cool, like a bunch of snakes, or spiders, or spiders ridding on snakes, but I ended up missing the mark by a mile… again.


                                            >“Sir! Why is it raining vanilla ice cream?”

                                            >“I’ve no idea, soldier, but keep shooting! Ice cream is for the weak!”

                                            >I was now incredibly annoyed, bordering on pure rage.

                                            “Know what? Fine! If you ain’t gonna listen to me, then we’ll do this the hard way!”

                                            >I casted a new spell, one that was supposed to play my voice super loud over their radios, and yeah, it worked, just not like I wanted to…

                                            >“Sir! Why is there electronic music playing over the comms?”

                                            >“I’ve no idea, soldier, but keep shooting! That noise will turn your brain into a mush!”

                                            >I felt my left eye twitching and my anger raising to untold levels. I gave up on casting anything else, and ended up just flailing my arms around and yelling like a madgirl.

                                            “STOP BEING SO STUPID, YOU USELESS TIN HORSES! YOU’RE RUINING MY GROOVE!”

                                            >Much to my surprise, it actually worked! All of those failed spells went away and those stupid ponies finally shut up.

                                            >Awesome! Or that’s what I thought…

                                            “W-Why are you all looking at me that way? Oh, no! Don’t tell me I changed colors again!”

                                            >Turns out that my little temper tantrum dispelled ALL of my magic, so while all those screw ups went away, the same happened with my gaseous form.

                                            “Heh, heh, heh! You know, maybe we started with the wrong hoof, what do you see if we all take it easy and have a nice cup of…”

                                            >Without any kind of hesitations, the patrols pointed their blasters at me; heck, some of them were even pointing those stupid radios like they were weapons.

                                            “Oh… right”

                                            >Stupid patrols aside, the only thing I could do now was to cover my face and hope that I went down fast.


                                            >Why was I so strangely calm? Well, the answer is kinda easy: Discord had already came to the rescue.

                                            >The old guy was dressed like in a flamboyant circus presenter, heck, he brought a couple of spotlights on him, and even added a couple of glittery explosions to increase the dramatic effects.

                                            >“Hello there, my quadruped friends! Did you enjoy the opening of our show? Quite the spectacle if I must say so, but if you’re hungry for more, then I hope you are ready for what’s about to come!”

                                            >The reaction from the patrols didn’t wait: every single one of them fired everything they had at Discord, and of course, it didn’t do anything to him since every single round was kept suspended in mid-air before it made an impact.

                                            >It wasn’t really a surprise to me that the patrols didn’t realize this until it was too late; once they ran outta ammo, Discord grinned widely and aimed every round back at the ponies.

                                            >I hated those guys with a passion, but this was just way too much to me; I quickly flew to Discord and grabbed his arm.

                                            “Dude, come on! I know they are class-A jerks, but this ain’t right!”

                                            >With a wicked smile, Discord chuckled and snapped his talons, “Our contraire, my dear! Giving this ponies a “crazy party” is the best thing we can possibly do!”

                                            >I let out a silent gasp when the rounds flew back at the ponies, I wanted a revenge, but never like this… oh, heavens, how could I even see Resonance to the eye now?

                                            >My heart came to a stop when the rounds impacted every patrol with a scary pin-point accuracy… only to then start beating again with the power of a thousand granny’s clocks.


                                            >The rounds hit the patrols, alright, but thankfully they didn’t… you know, die. Nope! They got plastered all over the patrol’s armors like if it was clay.

                                            >This clay then quickly started expanding over the patrols’ armors, and changed them to… actually very nice and very expensive looking mariachi costumes.

                                            >I turned to Discord who was now wearing a similar outfit, complete with an old and busted violin that he started playing, “And now for the real fiesta! Let’s dance, mis amigos!”

                                            >I’ve no idea how the heck I didn’t see this one coming, but it was actually quite fun to see Discord playing a one-dude mariachi band.

                                            >And hey! The patrols were having a blast too! Most of them were dancing to their heart’s content, while a few others were drinking this weird yellowish and semi translucent liquid.

                                            >I even decided to kinda join the party and have a taste of that drink; it smelled funny, but like, it can’t be worse than the waters from the old cannel.

                                            >However, Discord quickly slapped the funny shapped glass outta my paw and said, “Ah, ah, ah! You’re way too young to be drinking this, and besides, we have other things to take care of.”

                                            >He then pulled me away from the lobby and into one of the hallways that lead to the real laboratories, “Now, get ready, my dear, this is the final stretch of our visit and we both know that what we’re about to see is… not pretty to say the least”

                                            >I let out a tired sigh and vehemently shook my head.

                                            “Gimme a break, dude! Didn’t you see how much I screwed it up back there?! I’m just gonna slow you down…”

                                            >Discord rolled his eyes and calmly placed his paw over my shoulder, “My dear, the only reason why I came up with this little mechanic was so I could test your fundamentals on spell casting, and while we have to work on your focus problems, you’re fast at casting and quite optimal with the amount of magic per spell”


                                            “Yeah, but…”

                                            >Discord quickly interrupted me, his tone was calm yet stern, “But what? I wasn’t looking for finesse nor perfection, and more importantly: you saw what happened with the vault door, right? mistakes aren’t uncommon in this business. So learn from these experiences and cheer up before I make you!”

                                            >I let out a little sigh as a smile appeared on my face.

                                            “A’ight, whatever! I’ll hang with you… but I’m doing it just ‘cause I want to, understand?”

                                            >“Of course, of course, my dear! Now, are you ready for what’s next?”

                                            “Not really, but it ain’t like I want to turn back now.”

                                            >Discord nodded and snapped his talons, making the hallway and its security doors to slide open like if they were curtains of silk rather than pure metal and concrete.

                                            >What they revealed, besides a bunch of scared scientist ponies, was the cruel reminder of what this company was truly capable of.

                                            >Illuminated by the yellow alarms, non-ponies were chained and experimented on inside big cubicles of glass.

                                            >Most, if not all of them had an empty, dead look on their eyes, and walked around their cages in a sad, mindless way.

                                            >I was disgusted and deeply angered, and these feelings only increased once we got deeper and deeper inside this nightmarish maze that the company called laboratories.

                                            >Despite not saying a word, I think Discord felt the same as me; he had completely changed his usual silly self for a more stoic and serious attitude… it was kinda scary.

                                            >What I didn’t expect was for Discord to fixate his attention into one particular cubicle that stood out from the rest like a sore thumb.


                                            >The cage was made out of pure metal, with some holes drilled into each side. Red sheets with hazard symbols and yellow tapes that read “CAUTION. CLASS-S INDIVIDUAL. DO NOT HANDLE WITHOUT A SECURITY TEAM”.

                                            >Neither I nor Discord said a word when we approached the metallic container, the only sounds that I could hear were the alarms, the frantic beating of my own heart, and a creepy zombie-like moaning that came from inside that cage.

                                            >Discord slapped his talons, making one side of the metal cage to transform into the same thick glass that conformed the rest of the cages in the laboratory.

                                            >I let out a gasp in shock but couldn’t stop looking at the non-pony at the other side of the glass.

                                            “Who the heck is that? No, wait… what the heck I am looking at?!”

                                            >This non-pony had the shape of a mare, but much taller, more than me but less than Discord. Unlike any other pony, this… gal, had a weird large and twisted horn, but also a couple of bug-like wings with holes that came from a green shell in the upper part of her thorax.

                                            >She didn’t have a coat, but rather a sturdy-looking jet black carapace that covered her entire body except for that shell and a small section in the middle of her belly.

                                            >Oh, yeah, I did say her wings had holes in them, right? Well, she also had some in the lower parts of her hooves. Same went for the tip of her green tail and mane.

                                            >Just like most of the non-ponies here, this dudette’s green eyes were dead and empty. Kinda sad, considering she was still wearing that little black crown.

                                            >What was this gal? I legit had never seen or heard about anything like this before, not even from Resonance and his dorky books.


                                            >But Discord seemed to know, because he quickly flew to her translucent cage, and with an awry smile, he placed his talons against the glass, “My dear Eris, please don’t tell me that you know who this is”

                                            “Uh… I dunno, dude, I think my reaction was pretty telling.”

                                            >Discord let out a sigh as he looked at the creature with pity, “This here is… or was the ruler of a race of shape shifters known as the changelings, her name is Chrysalis, and she was the most cunning and astute schemer that I’ve ever seen. Among all the creatures of this realm, she was the one I didn’t expect to see here.”

                                            >I turned my gaze to this Chrysalis again, it was kind of hard to picture the mighty dudette that Discord portrayed when now she was nothing more but a zombie, barely able to scratch the glass that made up her cage.

                                            >“My dear, I realize how uncomfortable these facilities make you, but I’m afraid that we’ll have to take a small detour. I’m just… curious as to what other prisoners this company has here.”

                                            “Not gonna lie, dude, I’m starting to get the creeps, but if we gotta do it, then let’s get this over with quickly.”

                                            >A third voice, one that sent a cold chill down my long spine, answered me “Why the hurry? There’s still so much to see here, Eris.”

                                            >I turned around and saw that guy, the old pony who ran this whole place, and who almost managed to put me in shackles: Golden Freedom.