Family of Chaos (Patreon)

Hurricane didn't take the train to Ponyville.

It was probably better to avoid anything that would put her in contact with other ponies. For all she knew, a contrived series of absurd coincidences might somehow end up with her train tailing an abandoned old track switch into a mine full of giant spiders.

Or worse, some pony aboard might recognize her, and blame her for what happened. She would deserve that blame—but if this strange curse brought one benefit, it was needing to stay away from others. 

Twilight Sparkle would still end up in her company. But if all that meant was making her drop whatever she was carrying, Hurricane Force could live with that.

It had been a very, very long time since Hurricane Force had to navigate by the stars. She still remembered how, knew which constellations to follow. No matter how chaotic her life became, Polaris was always exactly where she left it. Even when Equestria beneath her washed away under shadow and dark cloud, she had a path to follow.

Hurricane Force would need to sleep eventually, no matter how determined she was to stay awake. But she could always push it off a little longer, fly a little farther, and keep the nightmares silent.

It was nearly dawn by the time she grew so exhausted that she couldn't keep herself flying the right direction anymore. Hurricane Force found herself a large, stable cloud, flattened it into a makeshift bed, and anchored it to the canopy of a large tree to sleep.

Even outside Wingapore, the dreams followed her. Dreams of running, flying, racing away from an implacable enemy. She was too badly hurt to fight back, their power too great. She had to get away!

"This outcome was... inevitable," he said, as confident as he was pained. "Doesn't matter how they look; they always act this way. I just helped speed things along."

She couldn't remember her reply, but it didn't really matter. The damage was done, and no words would fix it now. The path she wanted was closed, leaving only violence. 

But despite his unshakable confidence, even that failed. Equestria's magic could bring order, as strong as iron and cold as death.

"You can run," he said. "But there's nowhere far enough for you. Nowhere deep or dark enough. An animal is most dangerous when it's afraid. These are terrified."

Hurricane woke to a chill wind, whipping ice through her mane and making her nose turn numb. She shuddered in the cloud, shaking her stiff limbs back to alertness.

Like all her kind, magic flowed through her wings, the magic of wind and snow and sunshine. If the cold could cause her any serious harm, then pegasi could never fly high enough to do their magic in the first place.

That didn't mean she liked it, of course. Her back ached from her long flight, made worse by the saddlebags wrapped around them. The smell was worse, a heady mix of unwashed mare and chemicals from the factory explosion.

Her cloud had drifted free during the night, driven down the mountain by pressure and altitude. She was lucky it hadn't dissolved in her sleep, waking her just in time for a painful fall.

Instead, she'd snagged in a large fruit tree, with bright red apples mere inches from her head. Hurricane glanced down, then around in all directions—no pony in sight. A little breakfast wouldn't be missed, would it?

She plucked one free, brushing the dirt from it against the cloud. She dug into it with a few eager bites, filling her mouth with the crisp, familiar flavor. Hurricane finished it quickly, before taking off again, lifting away from the orchard to search for familiar landmarks. She would not have very far to look—a town was nearby, just down the hill. She could make out the oversized oak tree even at a distance, its windows glowing with light against the early morning.

I flew the whole way in one night. Either that, or the wind had carried her the rest of the way. Almost like he wanted her to be here. Maybe she should turn around and try something else instead?

No—she sped up, flying straight for the center of town. She couldn't start second-guessing herself now, doubting everything she tried to do before she even got there. Discord would drive her to insanity that way or manipulate her away from the actions most likely to help her.

The princesses had refused to help. Maybe somepony else would.

She landed near the library, scattering dirt and gravel with the energy of her impact. A few ponies turned in her direction. One mare pulling a cart waved, while a small group of foals hurried past her on their way to school.

She eyed a newspaper stand, then broke into a trot, straight for the library doors. It swung open without resistance, into a cozy library of wooden shelves formed from the living wood of the tree itself. Most were packed with books, separated by subject in the usual way. Maybe one of these would tell her about chaos magic?

Probably not. She had tried to research the subject before, when Equestria wasn't suffering the renewed terror of Discord's recent escape. Some magical subjects were too obscure, even for the most ambitious unicorns.

Hurricane moved through the empty library, peering nervously through the small rooms. This time, there was nothing to worry about—there was nopony else here yet.

Except her. Twilight appeared around the corner, pushing a metal cart full of books in her magic. She stopped inches from Hurricane, only losing a single book from the top shelf. She caught it with a little more magic, surprise transforming to recognition on her face. "Hurricane Force? I didn't think I'd see you again so soon."

"Yeah, well..." She chuckled nervously, closing the distance in a few steps. Hurricane dropped her voice to a whisper. "Do you still think you could help me? I think I'm getting worse."

The unicorn's horn lit up again. But this time no books moved—instead, the door clicked, and the blinds went suddenly dark. "How bad? Not sleeping? Waking visions?"

Hurricane shook her head sharply. "Worse than that. I think there's chaos magic following me. Not just weird things happening anymore. Still are—little stuff. But bigger things too."

"I've been working on a detector," Twilight said, and another door clicked open nearby. This one led down into the dark, with a single light glowing faintly overhead. "I'll show you."

Hurricane followed eagerly, first through the door, then down sharp steps illuminated by a few pale bulbs on Twilight's ceiling. The space beyond was obviously her workshop, packed with various bits of magical machinery. All was outside Hurricane's area of expertise—she knew very little about how those gears and crystals and wires were meant to work together. Nothing she'd use in a weather factory, that was for sure.

Twilight led her to a smaller room sectioned off from the central space. A cloudy viewing window looked in on a single chair, with bits of wire and crystal attached to straps and putty.

"First thing we have to do is take some baseline measurements. There are ways to measure chaos magic. If Discord put some kind of spell on you before we trapped him again, we should be able to see from in here."

She nodded along, fighting tears. "Twilight Sparkle, you... you have no idea how much this means to me. Until now, nopony listened. I tried to convince Princess Luna, and she sent me away. I don't want anypony else to get hurt!"

Twilight patted her shoulder, guiding her into the seat. "I'll make sure that doesn't happen. Just set your saddlebags down next to the chair. Perfect, now help me get these on you. They're not sharp, don't worry. We aren't taking blood samples." It took her a few more seconds to get the others attached, wrapping wire and metal contacts so they pressed into Hurricane's skin at various points.

Then the mare took a step back. "Chaos magic can't be detected directly. Even if we could, it probably wouldn't do the same things twice. But in at least one way it's predictable—it can't help but disrupt the flow of energy. This harness sends a mild magical charge through your body, so weak that most ponies wouldn't even feel it. Providing a steady, predictable flow of magic should disrupt the spell enough for my camera to capture it." 

She pointed up at the ceiling, where a single lens poked through the wall. Its polished glass aimed directly at Hurricane's seat. "You had all of this ready for me? Ready to... drop everything and help?"

Twilight looked away. "Well... kinda. I can't take that much credit. I've got a friend who sometimes shows signs of chaos magic too. I got a little obsessed with figuring out what was happening with her. Only took a few adjustments, and now we're here!"

"Sure." Hurricane shifted. Nowhere felt exactly right, forcing her to remain perched uncomfortably above the cushions. Small price to pay for answers. If anything, the sheer volume of wires, circuits, and machines made her trust the process more. Nopony would set up all this stuff if they didn't know what they were doing! "How long will it take?"

"Not long!" she said, backing through the door. "I have to get far enough away that my magic doesn't disrupt the measurements. Try not to move." She shut the door carefully, sealing it with a layer of heavy cloth.

Hurricane watched her move around outside the cloudy glass as little more than a lavender blur. The unicorn was right, there was barely enough magic in the harness to feel anything at all. Like the sensors in her factory, able to detect the faintest variations in humidity or ambient charge.

Twilight's basement lab was the last place she should ever feel tired. Bright lights blared down from the roof of the little observation room, with air that quickly turned foul from her own scent. If that wasn't bad enough, Twilight's harness pressed into her wings, chest, and forehead, just hard enough to cause discomfort.

Even so, Hurricane felt herself suddenly overcome with a wave of irresistible tiredness. It was as though a blanket had been thrown over her, muffling her senses. A little pressure against her coat didn't matter, a little heat didn't matter—maybe nothing did. 

She didn't need some magical cure for her curse, Hurricane Force just needed a place to lie down. She settled onto the pillows, stretched both her wings—and she was out.

For the first time in recent memory, she didn't dream of running. Instead, she saw... something else.

If ponies pressed her to explain it after, she couldn't possibly put it into words—Hurricane saw vast spaces, stars burning brilliantly in the abyss before swelling to spectacular size, then dying as violently as they were born. Before her was a horizon without beginning or end. An infinity of shapes appeared before her—horrifying, beautiful creatures of every possible configuration.

Life and death and life again through a thousand eyes and more, acting out the motions of incomprehensible lives. Flavor and form and color all blended together and melted apart again, uncountable lifetimes on worlds so very unlike this one.

It was too much, too fast! Hurricane Force pulled away with the same energy she might use to catch herself during a dive, ripping her thoughts away from the maelstrom before it could swallow her completely. One pony was far too small for all that—if she tried anyway, Hurricane Force would never survive the experience.

Then it was over. Lights blasted down on her from overhead, and Hurricane dropped to the ground like a sack of produce. Had she been flying? 

A few wires tore free, or else they pressed sharply into her coat, making her muscles twitch and spasm with energy. She pulled the cloth off her head, shrugging both her wings loose.

The door clicked, and Twilight stepped inside. "You alright in here, Hurricane? That was... exciting!"

She nodded weakly, though of course it wasn't true. "Yeah. Exciting."