[AiE] Disharmony - Part 1

>Time of Day: Nobody really knows anymore.
>There hasn't exactly been a beautiful day in months.
>In fact, calling it a “day” at all might be a stretch.
>The power of the transition between day and night belonged to two specific beings, both of which are now gone… or at least, incapacitated with only one way of restoring them.
>Acquiring what's needed wouldn't be a simple task.
>There is an obstacle, and it happens to be the reason the world is now like this.
>In order to put a stop to it, and restore the peace and harmony the land had known for centuries, the world needs an unfathomable amount of help.
>That’s why she's there.
>Ponyville Library.
>A certain hooded mare looks upon what was once her home.
>The tree, like almost all other plant life in the surrounding landscape, was practically dead.
>Earth ponies, with the aid of Unicorn magic and rain in key areas brought from the Pegasi, are doing all they can to keep providing the occupied towns and villages with food, but the lack of sunshine impedes their efforts.
>Groups of powerful Unicorns are attempting to take on the task of raising the sun again, just like in old times before Celestia came to be.
>Unfortunately, history is surprisingly difficult to re-learn when its recorded knowledge is restricted information.
>HE restricted it for his own selfish desires.
>Well, he's been in power long enough. Times have become desperate.
>The hooded purple pony cautiously makes her way into the abandoned Library.
>Her horn emits a purple glow in the dark room, enabling her to read the titles on the books.
>Despite her fascination with so many of the books, and knowing where the majority of them would normally be shelved, the library was a mess.
>Finding a specific book among the shelves or in some of the piles on the floor in a hurry wouldn't be an easy task, and she's taking a big enough risk just coming back here to begin with.
>Luckily, she finds it on the floor, under a small pile of other books just below the shelf it was meant to be on.
>A blue hardcover with a slightly scratched-out title in a silver text.
>The Alicorn sighs while shaking her head slightly. She'd known of this book previously, but disregarded it because of how absurd it had sounded.
>With good reason, the pony that came up with the theorem within its pages wasn't exactly stable.
>In fact, after being ridiculed for it, he basically went insane, threatening to invent a combustible weapon out of lemons to burn down the homes of all who criticized him.
>If she had any other option, she'd drop this book of madness and be on her way.
>She puts the book in a small bag she'd slung over her back and proceeds to leave.
>"Please, Celestia, let this work..."


-Elsewhere…-
>Bright light manages to shine through the blinds on your windows, lining up perfectly with your eyelids.
>Always perfect alignment.
>Every goddamn morning.
>Why you don't consider moving your bed slightly to the left, or putting something else up over the window, you'll never know.
>It’s surprisingly more effective than an alarm clock though. You can manage to sleep through that.
>Far more annoying as well.
"Argh! Give it a rest, Sunbutt! I'm up!"
>Because why not shout at a godlike figure miles away while you're annoyed; it's not like she hears you.
>You are Anonymous. Human. The only one of your kind in this world.
>Kinda sucks, but at least the inhabitants have been treating you decently.
>Sure, they thought you were a mutated ape or something at first, but after seeing your intelligence and hearing your confusing and boring history, including the mysterious circumstances bringing you to this world, they warmed up to you pretty quickly.
>Some a little more than others.
*knock*knock*knock*
>...
>Well, speak of the devil.
>You're beginning to think she can hear your thoughts.
>It suddenly occurs to you that if a simple Pegasus like her can hear your thoughts, perhaps Celestia is laughing her arse off when you yell at her every morning.
>Half-awake and only wearing pants, you make your way downstairs to answer the door.
>Of course, there she is. The yellow and pink pony you've come to know very well... more than you wanted.
"You are way too early for this today."
>Fluttershy looks at you, blushing behind a brown mask.
>Apparently she likes how you answered the door half-naked, even if it isn't the half she'd have liked to see more.
>That mask looked like a rushed job, with quite a few pointy edges here and there.
>"Um, y-yes, I know. Twilight wants me at the library today for an experiment so I had to do this quick."
>Nervously looking at you while spinning to show off her full costume, she attempts to do a few poses.
>The wind also seems to have picked up all of a sudden, which blows the cape she has across her back… revealing hoofwear that looks to be some kind of furry feet with little claws on the end. Her tail is also sticking upwards and looks like it's been fluffed out.
>"Uhh... H-How do you feel about Super Heroes, Anon?"
>Ah. That explains the poses.
>Now that you look at them, they do seem to be the standard heroic poses… sort of.
>The look of pure fear on her face doesn't really do them justice, though.
>It's the kind of look that says 'Please, for the love of everything everywhere, don't ask me to demonstrate any heroics.'.
"I'm finding it ironic that you seem to be a little shyer than usual when asking that dressed as a 'Super Hero', considering they're supposed to be much more confident with the costume on."
>She looks at her costume for a few seconds before standing straighter and sticking her chest out more.
>"Is it appealing?"
"No. I do enjoy Super Heroes, but not so much that I'd consider them a fetish."
>The look of dejection, right on cue: the teary eyes, the lowering of the head, the sniffling.
>Sometimes it works and you at least toss her a hint that she'd be getting closer or not.
>You’re not sure if she considers all these guesses and the effort she puts into them fun or not, but there’s no sense in being a dick and spoiling it for her.
"Who are you even supposed to be, anyway? You look like a cross between a pony that's been electrocuted and a large guinea pig."
>Well done, jerk. That comment made her tear up more.
>"Umm... ‘S-Squirrelmare'."
>Original.
>Guess you were right on the rush job, 'cause that doesn't look like any squirrel you've ever seen.
>Judging from the larger-than-usual amount of sadness, you'd guess she must've worked hard in a short amount of time on it.
>Not even 10 minutes out of bed and you've already made someone feel bad.
>You’d better fix this. She's annoying at times, but you still consider her a friend. Everybody has that one really annoying friend, right?
>The kind that you occasionally want to strangle, but you know they'd never treat you that badly intentionally, and have always come through for you in times of need?
>That's her. And right now, you’ve upset her.
>Time to change the subject.
"So what's Twilight doing that needs your attendance?"
>That made her stop tearing up, at least.
>"Oh. She said she wants to attempt something that involved the Elements of Harmony. I don't know what..."
>Elements of Harmony? Oooooh, you're up for that.
>You've never seen them in action, but judging by the description of what they do (given to you by Rainbow Dash), they sounded like magical rainbow laser beams conjured from each individual element that are concentrated into pure 'Friendship', which are then fired at a specific target… usually an evil force to be purified, vanquished or turned to stone.
>That conclusion somehow came to you through her terrible use of adjectives for her descriptions.
>She may as well have just yelled 'TASTE THE RAINBOW, MOTHERFUCKER!'.
>Care Bears, eat your fucking hearts out.
>You wonder if Twilight will let you watch, ‘cause that sounds like something worth seeing.
>You're about to ask Fluttershy, but she still looks like she's sobbing thanks to the comment on her costume.
>In your defense, you'd think she'd be able to produce a more convincing squirrel costume. She does live with a few dozen.
>Hell, she could even use some other costume that represents a Super Hero. Like that one she said she wore when Rainbow Dash was stroking her ego a little too much that one time.
"Don't you have that old Mare Do Well costume lying around somewhere? Surely that was considered a Super Hero at one point. Why didn't you just use that?"
>She immediately looks up at you with a serious face.
>"Wouldyoulikethat?!"
>Jesus!
>Okay... Ending this now.
"I dunno. Maybe I need to see you fighting crime in it to know."
>Aaaaaand that did it.
>With a squeak, she falls over, sporting a look of terror on her face.
>She’s probably battling herself internally to decide whether to leave it at that for the day, or pursue this possible fetish and likely get stabbed in the process.
>You take that as your queue to close the door.
>Now to get on with the day. Starting with the triple S routine, and maybe some toast for breakfast.
>Hopefully Twilight won't mind an audience today.