Family of Chaos (2) (Patreon)

Travel across Equestria was nothing new for Hurricane. Being in the weather business meant she was rarely in the same place for more than a season, delivering whatever was needed and then moving on just as quickly.

She had watched so many years that few trails or highways lasted long enough to remember. But she knew the mountains, the rivers, the largest forests and the vast oceans. Seen from above, the network of pony settlements expanding and contracting across time were like a thin film, following fertile soil and retreating from battle or disaster.

Like the creatures who called them home, cities would usually fade in a few generations, or diffuse until they lost all character she remembered. Except for one.

Equestria's mighty castle waited for her near the peak of the tallest mountain in Equestria's interior. Few ponies even remembered why the city was built so high, or why its walls were built so thick.

Hurricane remembered. From her quiet seat near the back of the Canterlot Express, she watched as the city's vaulted bridges and ancient guard posts rushed up to meet her.

Flying the whole way would've been faster, of course—but then she'd miss out on the dining car. More importantly, she would miss out on everything the passengers would have to say.

She listened from her lonely seat, alert for any rumors of Discord's escape and recapture. Even the smallest details might unlock some critical memory and make everything clear.

Or not. She learned little that Frostline hadn't already told her. The ancient chaos-spirit Discord had escaped from his stony prison, thanks to some intervention by young fillies on a school trip? Absurd.

Whatever happened, it ended with his recapture by the new Elements of Harmony. At least she could believe that part, considering recent developments with Nightmare Moon.

But if the Elements could restore Princess Luna, why not Discord?

That thought caught in her mind like a cloudbur in her coat, driving a little deeper whenever she moved.

Nopony in any of the papers had written much on the subject, and none seemed concerned with the obvious gulf in treatment between Discord and the Equestrian princess. Did nopony care about Celestial nepotism?

Evidently not. The closest thing she found was an array of articles detailing each of the six ponies involved, interviews conducted after Ponyville was saved. Everything about how they'd relied on their friendship to save Equestria, and almost nothing about the enemy they overcame. Nopony cared.

She tossed the paper away into the bin and settled into a window seat to watch the final ascent. There was some joy to be had in appreciation for the incredible machine. Most of these already seemed ready to take it for granted. Why should it matter that their grandparents had to hike two weeks up the mountains to reach Canterlot?

Then the city finally came into view, and even Hurricane was momentarily stunned. She expected the ancient castle atop the mountain, its twofold towers for sun and moon. Homes and shops packed tight around the castle walls, stretching every limited inch of the peaks for construction.

Now it seemed a second city had appeared to join the first, and it was there that Hurricane's train finally came to rest. "Canterlot Lower District," said the announcer. "Thank you for riding the Canterlot Express. For passengers transferring to the Castle District, please follow signs for the Orange Line."

Half of lasting as long as Hurricane had was just a matter of knowing how to act like she was normal. When other ponies got up, she did too, shuffling out through two of the doors. They split into two groups, one much larger than the other. That one flowed out of the train station's wide gates, into a city that shouldn't be there.

For an instant, Hurricane saw this mountain as it once was. At the end of a meandering trail from the valleys below waited a huge inn and shipping warehouse, accepting offerings of the earth ponies and providing lodging before the grueling trip back to their homes.

The inn was gone now, replaced with dense tenement towers of white and pink brick. Shops blended freely with their bottom floors, with sidewalks so full of ponies they had to squeeze past each other to reach their destinations.

Lucky for Hurricane, her ticket went all the way to the Castle District. She hurried along with the smaller group, crossing a little bridge to a second, shorter train.

Only a few passenger cars this time, but the reason for that was obvious: there weren't many ponies headed this way. Nopony took any of the seats near her—most filed all the way to the back, settling in beside each other.

Hurricane knew their look too, though the fashions of Equestria were even more fickle than its highways. These were servants, all pressed white clothes and perfectly fitted skirts.

Few roles seemed quite so soul-crushing as theirs—to enforce the structure of a household, beholden to another's whims to maintain the perfect cleanliness of their floors, or perhaps cook the same foods day after day. They could turn her to stone before she would accept such a role.

At least she could enjoy her solitude for a few more minutes, and a perfect view of the upper city.

"Orange Line to the Canterlot Castle District will take approximately ten minutes. Thank you for riding with us." Doors closed, and they were moving. Someone offered her tea, and she accepted. She would need her energy for what waited for her in the castle.

She couldn't remember me, not after all these years. There's so many of us. Rational or not, it still left anxiety boiling in her stomach, and her tea remained untouched on the tray in front of her.

That left it in the perfect spot to violently explode a few seconds later.

Magic flashed through the air, bright enough to momentarily blind her. Ponies further back squealed in protest, gasping and pointing at the spot beside Hurricane.

Her reflexes responded quick enough to snap one wing up in front of her face. Hot tea splashed against her feathers, then tumbled past her onto the seat.

A unicorn fell beside the broken tray, scrambling awkwardly to get her hooves under her. Her horn hissed and sparked, frost condensing from the tip.

The strange pony righted herself quickly, lifting something into the air beside her—a large notebook and pen that had evidently teleported with her.

Somepony screamed behind them. But most panic was already settling back to an unhappy murmur.

"Wait... where am I?" The unicorn lowered her notebook again. She took one step away from Hurricane, then glanced back into the rest of the train. But whatever she was searching for, evidently it wasn't to be found.

"Orange Line to Castle District," Hurricane said. She lifted a little tea-towel from the tray, dabbing at her damp wing. "Couldn't you teleport directly to your destination? Unless you wanted my tea that bad."

The unicorn looked down at the crushed tray, and the broken fragments of teacup. She jerked back, squealing in overwhelmed surprise. "Sorry, sorry! I didn't mean to... this wasn't supposed to happen."

Her horn got a little brighter, and the mess of shards all flew back up into the air. Already an impressive accomplishment for a unicorn—but even more so was what happened next, when they zipped back together. With one final flash of light, she set the cup back down in front of her. "There. Can't do that with the tea... you wouldn't want it if I could."

She took another step back, then lifted up the notebook, and started muttering to herself. "Second attempt at detecting chaos magic proves as successful as the first. Consider revisions to the sensitivity." She continued like that for a few more seconds, scribbling furiously on the page.

It took about that long for Hurricane to get her wing dry, and to realize that nopony aboard the train was questioning this mare.

For such rigid creatures, they were strangely tolerant of a dramatic interruption. Then she saw the mare's cutie mark.

"I was reading about you," she said. Her enthusiasm grew with every second. "You're Twilight Sparkle! You saved Equestria from Discord."

"I helped," she said, lowering the notebook far enough to make eye contact. "That's actually what this is about. I've been following some reports of lingering chaos magic across Equestria, and... my detection spell malfunctioned."

While she spoke, her horn glowed again, lifting the tray back into place. She settled into the seat opposite Hurricane, without even stopping for more than a second. "Have you seen anything chaotic lately? Maybe there's some residual energy clinging to your pattern."

Hurricane hesitated. Just because she'd read about this mare in the paper didn't mean she could trust her. If time had taught her one lesson, it was that ponies were better off to know as little as possible.

But why else had she even come to Canterlot, if not to find answers?

"I had some nightmares. Started... right about the time that Discord escaped. Do those count?"

The mare visibly deflated at her words. "You wouldn't be the first. Lots of ponies are scared. I'm talking more like... probability not acting the way it should. Things appearing that shouldn't, or vanishing when you aren't looking. Places don't fit your memory."

Canterlot looks nothing like I remember. Yet something told her that wasn't what Twilight was asking. Centuries could change even the oldest cities.

"I guess maybe... maybe a little. Feels like I've been really unlucky lately. Much clumsier than usual. Perfectly sorted a stack of reports by dropping them. I don't usually drop things."

She shook her wing for emphasis, dislodging a few last drops of tea. "But the nightmares are really why I came here. I've never seen anything like them—not during Nightmare Moon, or any of the other awful things Equestria has been through over the years. But something happens half the country away, and every night is restless."

"Interesting." The mare made a few more notations in her book, though of course Hurricane couldn't see what. And just like that, the short ride was already coming to an end. Their car slowed, brakes squealing as they approached a much smaller station.

"Nightmares serious enough to meet with Princess Luna in person, you said?"

She nodded once. "I've talked to a counselor and tried a few sleeping potions. Neither helped—the dream always came back, the same every single night."

"That's... highly improbable." Twilight scratched that too. "This happened as soon as you heard about Discord's escape? I assume he's destroying Equestria in some unpleasant way, and you're helpless to stop him?"

"Welcome to the Castle District. Please disembark to your left. Only approved guests may continue to Castle Station."

Hurricane moved to stand, but Twilight caught her with a hoof. "You can ride on with me. I'll get you in."

"Really?" She settled nervously back into her seat. "My story isn't that interesting."

The mare shrugged. "Maybe not. But it's the closest thing to a lead I've had in the last week. You're not the only one losing sleep." She turned to one side to demonstrate, showing bloodshot, baggy eyes.

"Well... I only learned about the escape yesterday. I live in Wingapore, and we're far away from most ponies. News travels slow." Not quite true—Frostline knew about the escape, and most of her workers probably did too. But Twilight didn't need to know that, just like she didn't need to know the nature of her nightmares.

A conductor approached their seat—saw Twilight and spun right back around the way he'd come. Seconds later, the car had emptied of all but a few, and they started moving again. Much slower this time, weaving between dense streets towards an open gate into Canterlot Castle.

"Wish I could get all the details from you," Twilight said, finally tucking the pen behind her ear. "But Night Court usually wraps up around ten. You've got... maybe half an hour before Princess Luna is gone, and you're stuck paying for a hotel in Canterlot."

She flicked past a few pages, then scribbled something, levitating it towards her. "Take this to the guards on the first floor. They should send you straight in. You could be waiting in lines for days otherwise."

Hurricane took the note, turning it over against a wing. It contained little, just Twilight's signature and a single line of text. "This mare was probably exposed to chaos magic. The princess needs to see her right away."

"You sure about this? I'd never expect so much from a stranger."

Twilight grinned ruefully. "Least I could do for... this." She gestured at the puddle still staining the floor between them. "And besides—what happened to you might be critical to understand how Discord is still spreading chaos magic from inside his prison."

The train looped slowly around a narrow courtyard, then came to rest facing the other direction. "Canterlot Castle. Departing for Castle District Station in ten minutes." Doors opened again.

"You said I'm running out of time?"

Twilight nodded. "If I see you again, you'll have to let me know how it goes!"

Hurricane tucked the note away into her satchel, then hurried from the train. Lines didn't scare her, or hotel fees—but her nightmares did. The sooner she could get somepony's help, the better.