“Come on, Chaotic, hurry up!”
A certain draconequus-alicorn hybrid’s ears perked up as he heard his younger sister call his name. Opening his eyes, Prince Chaotic could see his beloved sister, Harmony, running away from him. This would have been alarming, if not for the fact that the two siblings were in the middle of a game of tag. Before running any further, harmony skidded to a halt and turned to face Chaotic once again.
“What are you waiting for!?” she called, irritably. “The game doesn’t work if you don’t chase me!”
Chaotic never wanted to disappoint his little sister. In fact, he always put Harmony’s need is from of his own. Always. Now, he couldn’t let his sister down now. Especially not over such a trivial game, so he started to run. Chaotic ran faster and faster, coming closer and closer to catching Harmony. Realizing the chase was on, Harmony turned tail and began sprinting away.
The two ran throughout the royal gardens, dodging a series of statues and fountains. Slowly, but surely, Chaotic lessened the distance between him and Harmony. Eventually, he was only a foot behind her and could catch her with one strong leap. Chaotic was preparing for said leap when Harmony swiftly switched her direction and bolted to the left. Not being as agile as his sister, Chaotic tried to stop, but failed. Instead, he was sent flying into a nearby statue. He crashed into it with a loud thud, sending cracks throughout the old marble. Immediately, Harmony was at his side and holding his paw.
“Chaotic!” she screamed. “Chaotic, please be okay!”
Chaotic could barely hear his sisters cries, for his head was pounding and he had loud ringing within his ears. However, he could still make out the sound of Harmony’s worried pleas.
“H...harmony?” he groaned.
“Yes, Chaotic?” Harmony answered, tears streaming down her face.
“G..go get dad.”
“Good idea!”
Immediately, Harmony left her brother’s side and bolted into the castle. As she did, she frantically cried for her father to come. However, the marble statue had continued to crack even after Chaotic had slammed into it. The tall figure grew more and more unstable until it finally collapsed under it’s own weight. And right on top of Harmony. Noticing the marble falling on her, she screamed in fear, wanting the blow to happen quick.
Hearing his sister scream, Chaotic shot his head up and looked behind him. He instantly saw the large statue falling on top of Harmony. Without thinking of the pain he was feeling, Chaotic flared up his magic and caught the statue with it. Unfortunately, his magic was not quite strong enough to hold the massive marble slab and it continued to fall upon Harmony. Realizing this, Chaotic doubled his efforts and sent another burst of magic. This time, his eyes and horn grew a deep deep shade of crimson and his magical aura became blood red. The statue instantly stopped falling and started to shake. Much to Harmony’s surprise, the statue unexpectedly exploded, sending sending pieces of stone flying all over the garden.
“Harmony?” A voice asked. “What’s going on here?”
Looking up, Harmony could see his father approaching her with a worried look on his face. She then looked around her and almost gasped at what she saw. Her brother was on the ground and enwrapped in a dark red aura. His eyes were glowing an evil glow and his horn was giving off sparks that burnt the grass around him. The statue that he had crashed into was completely destroyed and only a puff of smoke was left in its place.
“Ch...chaotic?” she cried.
Before he could respond, Chaotic slumped to the ground. His body lost its magical aura and he was knocked unconscious. His father and sister rushed to his side, both of them feeling a deep sense of worry. Discord picked his son up in his arms and looked down upon his form. Chaotic had sustained a hard blow to the head and his bleeding nose indicated that. Carrying him inside the castle, he could not help but wonder about what type of magic his son had just used. It was red, a color used for evil magic, but he had used it to save his sister.
Before he could continue his train of thought, Discord burst into the castle’s personal hospital wing. Immediately, the eyes of multiple doctors and nurses fell upon him and Chaotic.
“Chaotic is hurt!” he instantly announced. “I don’t think it’s anything serious, but he hit his head pretty hard.”
Reluctantly, Discord handed his son to an attending nurse, who quickly placed him in a wheelchair. Discord and Harmony watched silently as the nurse wheeled Chaotic away and down a corridor. They moved to follow them, but were quickly stopped by a doctor.
“I’m sorry, but we can’t have you see him until we’ve treated his injuries.”
“B...but that’s not fair!” Harmony cried. “Chaotic’s hurt and I need to be in there with him!”
“Look, Harmony,” Discord said, embracing his daughter. “The doctor’s right. It would be better for Chaotic if we just let the doctor fix him up first.”
“N..no. I have to be with him.” Harmony began to weep, burying her head into Discord’s shoulder.
“There, there,” Discord cooed, comforting Harmony. “I know you love him, but we need to let the doctors do their thing.” Harmony continued to cry, until she finally said what was bothering her so much.
“This is all my fault, daddy.”
“Harmony! How could you say that?”
“Because it’s true! It was my idea to play tag and I made him chase me into the garden. If I hadn’t been so carless, this wouldn’t have happened.”
“Shhh,” Discord shushed her, rubbing Harmony’s back. “You were playing a game and Chaotic hit his head. This is in no way you fault.”
“It isn’t?”
“Of course not.” Discord then pulled Harmony away from her and looked his daughter in the eyes. “Now, Harmony. I need you to do something very important, okay?”
“Okay,” she sniffed.
“I want you to go get mommy and tell her what happened. Do you think you can do that?”
“Yes, I think I can.”
“That’s my girl,” he said, ruffling her mane. “Now go and get mommy.”
As Harmony sprinted away, Discord’s thought turned back to what he had seen earlier in the garden.
“I haven’t seen that type of magical energy in years,” he thought. “The last time a unicorn’s magic was that red was when.....No. That can’t be right. Chaotic couldn’t have used that type of magic. It’s just not possible....or is it?”
Once again, Discord’s thoughts were interrupted. This time, by the sound of approaching hoof steps. He looked to his right to see Celestia and Harmony standing in the medical wing’s doorway, panting as if they had ran there from the other side of the castle.
“What...happened...to...Chaotic?” Celestia asked, between gasps for air.
“Wow, Celestia,” Discord joked. “You look like you just ran a mile.”
“This is not the time for jokes, Discord! What happened to our son!?”
Recognizing Celestia’s serious tone, Discord began to tell her the whole story.
“From what I know, Harmony and Chaotic were playing a game of tag when he tripped and fell. The only thing is he fell right into one of the garden’s statues. I heard Harmony calling for help, so I rushed outside. I found Chaotic on the ground and unconscious. He hit his head pretty bad, so I took him here. I don’t think it’s anything too serious.”
“Harmony?” Celestia asked, looking down at her daughter. “Is this true?”
“Y...yes, momma.” she responded, still crying. “It’s my fault just like dad said.”
“Sweetie,” Discord said. “This is not your fault, remember?”
“Oh yeah.”
“Anyways,” Discord continued. “Mommy and I have to talk about something important right outside. That means you need to stay here. If a doctor comes and tells you you can see Chaotic, I want you to visit him, okay?”
“Okay, daddy.”
“Good. Now, honey, can I see you outside for a moment?”
“Well, sure.”
“Great.”
Pushing Celestia outside of the hospital wing’s doors, Discord took one last glance in the direction Chaotic was wheeled off in. Once outside, Discord could feel Celesta’s gaze fall upon him.
“So, Discord? What is so important that we need to discuss when our child is in the hospital?”
“Look,” Discord said flatly. “In there, when I told you what happened, I may not have told you the whole story.”
“Okay? What did you forget to mention?”
“As you know, when I heard Harmony calling for help, I rushed out to the gardens. But what I didn’t ell you was what I saw when I did. The statue that Chaotic had crashed into had cracked and was toppling over. The way it was falling, it would have landed right on top of Harmony. The only thing is that Chaotic caught it with his magic before it did.”
“That’s impossible! Chaotic is way to young to use magic to lift something that heavy.”
“That’s what I thought too. Not only that, the magic he was using was a deep red, kind of like...”
Before Discord could continue, Celestia quickly stuck a royal hoof in his mouth and cut him off.
“Discord. Think about what you are saying! Our son using the same type of magic as...as...” Celestia bit her lip, unable to say what she was thinking.
“I know, Tia. But I swear that’s what I saw.”
“Well,” she sighed. “It wouldn’t be too farfetched. He is part draconequus, after all.”
“Plus, the alicorn blood in him would enable to him to handle such power.”
“Oh, Discord. That’s exactly what I’m afraid of.”
4 Years Later
Chaotic had been thinking about that day a lot lately. For some reason, the day he hit his head on a statue replayed in his mind over and over again. However, that wasn’t saying much. Hitting his head had caused Chaotic to lose memory of most of what happened. He could only recall bits and pieces of the whole event. The doctor had told him he had a simple concussion and that he should play more carefully next time. He also remembered how his sister reacted to the whole thing. Harmony had been crying over him, telling herself that it was her fault that he had gotten hurt. Although it felt kind of nice to know that Harmony cared for him, Chaotic hated seeing his little sister cry.
“Chaotic!” screamed a voice, jarring him from his thoughts. Chaotic looked over and saw his mother standing over him with an annoyed expression. “How many times do I have to tell you? Pay attention in class!”
The class he was currently in was the private magic tutoring he had been getting from his mom. Ever since he started showing signs of magic potential, his parents insisted that Chaotic learn as much as he could. He just wished that his mother’s lessons were not so boring.
“As I was saying,” Celestia continued. “This spell is used for switching the personalities of two ponies. To cast the spell, you must first focus your magic one of the ponies, then the next one. If you do them both at once, the spell will fail. Next, you simply cast the spell while using your magic to focus on the space in between them. Any questions?”
“Uh, no.”
“Good.” Glancing at the clock, Celestia realized that her lesson time was nearly over. “Ok, Chaotic. It looks like you’re done for today. Why don’t you go join your sister down in the kitchen.”
“Sure thing!” he answered with a smile.
Chaotic hopped out of a seat and made his way out of his mother’s chambers. The kitchen was not too far of a walk from his mom’s room because she often had late night cravings for cake. It only took a few minutes until Chaotic reached the doors of the royal kitchen. He opened them and walked inside. Chaotic was instantly greeted by the sight of his younger sister.
“Hey, Chaotic!” she called. “Are you done with lessons for today?”
“You bet!” he replied. “So what are you doing?”
“I’m making a pizza!”
Looking over to what Harmony was working on, Chaotic could tell that his sister was right. A large slab of dough was laying on the counter, covered in tomato sauce and cheese. However, the pizza looked more like a crime scene than food.
“Really?” Chaotic asked. “I thought you were just making something uglier than you.”
“Oh, shut up.” Harmony said, rolling her eyes, “You wish you looked as good as me.”
“Okay, sure. So...aren’t you going to put it in the oven?”
“Well, I...”
“What is it, Harms? Can’t you put your...let’s call it a pizza, in the oven?”
“I...I can’t reach.”
Instantly, Chaotic was on the floor laughing while Harmony gave him a death glare from the kitchen counter.
“Come on, Chaotic! It’s not my fault it’s up so high!”
“I know. I know. I’m sorry. Anyways’ do you want some help?”
Instantly, Harmony perked up and smiled over at her brother. “That would be great.”
Chaotic picked the “pizza” up with his magic and levitated it towards the oven. He then opened the oven handle and popped it open. He took his time placing the pizza inside, making sure he didn’t accidentally drop it. Once it was inside the oven, Chaotic used his magic to close the oven once again.
“There you go, sis.”
“Thanks, Chaotic. You’re the best!”
“I know,” he said, puffing out his chest. “Of course I’m the best.”
“Oh, please.”
Just then, Discord appeared in the room with a giant puff of smoke. Harmony and Chaotic coughed and gagged as the smoke reached their faces.
“Whoops. Sorry, guys.”
“It’s okay, dad.” Chaotic answered. “Any reason you filled the entire kitchen with smoke.”
“I assumed that since Harmony was cooking, the smoke alarms were going to go off anyways.”
“Hey!”
Discord laughed before continuing his explanation. “I’m just kidding, pumpkin. The real reason I’m here is because I want to show Chaotic something.”
“Really? What is it?”
“You’ll see, my son.” Discord then help out his hands and a large book appeared in them. The being of chaos blew on the book and it flew out of his hand and towards Chaotic. It landed right in front of him and Chaotic leaned in to read the title.
“The Aura Spectrum,” he read. “Volume Two: Red.”
“That’s the one!” Discord said. “I want you to read this when you get the chance.
“But it’s so long.” Chaotic moaned, flipping through the pages.
“I though you might say that,” Discord grinned. He immediately snapped his fingers and the book disappeared. In its place were only a couple of slightly torn pages. “These are the pages I want you to read. You don’t have to do it right now, but I want to talk to you about it tomorrow, understand?”
“Sure.”
“Good! Now, I don’t know about you guys, but I’m ready for some pizza!”
Author's Note
If it does't already, the name of this chapter will make sense in the future.
If one were to walk into the room of the son of Celestia and Discord, they would be very surprised. The first thing they would see would be a large lump under the covers of Chaotic’s bed. Under the lump in the covers shined a very faint light coming from a unicorn horn. Chaotic’s horn was alight with magic, allowing him to read the book pages in front of him. Normally, he wouldn’t be in this position. Unlike his Aunt Twilight, Chaotic did not have an overwhelming desire to read. The only reason he was even looking at the literature is because he was being forced to. At least, that’s how it started.
As Chaotic kept reading, he acquired a genuine interest in what he was seeing. The pages, which had come out of a book given to him by his father, had hiss full attention. They described that if a creature, when using magic, had reddish or crimson aura, the magic they were using was normally wicked. Although he found the material interesting, Chaotic could not help but wonder why his father had given this to him for him to read.
“Is dad worried that I’m using evil magic?” Chaotic thought. “Sure, I’m pretty good at magic, but my aura is blue, isn’t it?”
Wanting to find out what color his magic was, Chaotic focused intently on the pages before him. He used his magic to levitate them and sighed in relief when he saw they were surrounded by a light blue aura.
“Well that’s a relief,” he thought, closing his eyes. Chaotic then opened them again and was shocked to see the pages were now caught in a blood red aura. Chaotic panicked and flailed about, causing himself to tumble off the bed. As he did this, Chaotic’s magic flared and the book pages instantly caught fire and turned into ashes.
“What was that!?” Chaotic screamed in his head. “That’s never happened before. Is dad right? Am I really using evil magic without even knowing it?”
Before he could ask himself anymore of these questions, the door to his room burst open, revealing his sister looking at him with a confused expression.
“Uh, Chaotic?” she asked.
“Yes, sis?”
“Why are you on the floor?”
“Oh, I was reading those pages dad told me to read and I guess I just fell off my bed.”
“Oh, okay. Speaking of that, dad told me to come and get you. He wants to talk to you about what you just read.”
“All right, I’ll go talk to him right now.”
Chaotic untangled himself from his covers and got up off the floor. He passed his sister in the doorway and then made his way towards......Chaotic stopped when he realized he had no idea where his father was. Backtracking to his room, Chaotic spoke to his sister once again.
“Uh, Harmony?”
“Yes?”
“Where’s dad?”
“Oh, right! I forgot to mention that. He’s on the balcony.”
“Thanks!”
Chaotic left his room once again, this time with a destination in mind. He traveled the corridors of the castle, briefly taking in all of the beautiful decor. Eventually, Chaotic made it to the balcony that overlooked the entire city of Canterlot. Looking ahead, he could see his father waiting for him. Nervously, he walked outside to join Discord, who finally noticed his son’s presence.
“Chaotic?” he began. “I trust you read those pages like I told you to.”
“Of course, dad. And I have to say, they were quite interesting.”
“Were they, now? Why do you think that is?”
“I...um...” Chaotic wanted to tell his father about what had happened to the pages, but was afraid of what he might say. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“Nope.”
“In that case,” Discord began, pacing around his son. “Maybe I should tell you why I made you read those pages.”
“That would be nice.”
Instead of talking, Discord only stared straight at his son. Their eyes met and they had a sort of awkward staring contest. Chaotic was surprised, never having seen his father so serious before. The two stared at each other intently, before Chaotic finally turned away.
“Chaotic, what happened?”
“I...it was the magic! I was levitating those pages you gave me when my aura became red. I freaked out and my magic went crazy. It burnt the pages and turned them into ash!”
Chaotic began sobbing as his father looked upon him. Eventually, Discord embraced his son and held him close.
“Chaotic, let me tell you something,” Discord whispered. “You are many things. You’re brave, smart, and a heck of a cook, but you’re not evil.”
“B...but my magic! It’s red just like the book said. You know what that means, don’t you!?”
“What?”
“I’m a monster.”
Instead of agreeing with him. like Chaotic expected his father to do, Discord just laughed to himself.
“What’s so funny?”
“Chaotic, you’re not a monster.”
“But the magic!”
“Forget about the magic. It’s what you do with that magic that counts.”
“Really?”
“Of course. Just think about this. I’m the god of chaos, but I use my powers for good. And what about your Uncle Spike? He’s a fire-breathing dragon, but he wouldn’t hurt a fly. Actually, he’s kind of a softy if you ask me.”
Chaotic laughed at his father’s joke, taking in what he was just told.
“I guess you’re right, but why would I even have red aura.”
“Chaotic, what are you?”
“I’m a....a.....I’m not really sure, actually.”
“Exactly! There are so many species inside of you that there is no way your magic’s color wouldn’t be affected. The red magic probably just comes from the bat wings and dragon tail.”
“I never thought of that.”
“Of course you didn’t. Anyway, want to know something else.”
“Sure.”
“I know you read that red magic is typically evil, but you know what else it is?”
“What?”
“Powerful. Your magic makes you a strong soul. Don’t you ever forget that, okay?”
“Okay, dad.”
“Good. Now how about we go get some breakfast. I’m starving!”
“Yeah, sure.”
As the two made their way to the kitchen, Chaotic could not help but think about the conversation they had just shared.
“So dad did know about my magic,” he thought. “At least I’m not turning evil.”
Soon enough, Chaotic and Discord arrived at the kitchen. Sniffing the air, Chaotic could smell a powerful and tantalizing smell in the air.
“Mmm. Smells good in there,” Chaotic smirked. “I wonder what’s cooking.”
“Why don’t you go find out.” Turning their heads, Chaotic and Discord saw Princess Celestia approaching them. “I know how hard you’ve been working, so I had the cooks make you something extra special.”
“Really!? Thanks, mom!” Rushing inside, Chaotic left his parents outside to go investigate the wonderful smell.
“So, Discord?” Celestia asked. “Did you talk to him?”
“Yes, Celestia, I did.”
“Is it what we expected?”
“I’m afraid so. He said he used it only this morning.”
“Really? In that case, we have to find a solution sooner than we thought.”
“For once, I agree with you.”
That night, Chaotic was lying in bed, wide awake. It turned out that his mother had order the cooks to make him his favorite dish: ice cream. When Chaotic had entered the kitchen, he was greeted by the sight of multiple bowls of ice cream spread throughout the room. The royal cooks had prepared ice cream of all flavors, ranging from peppermint to chocolate. The rest of the day had included sampling the seemingly endless bowls of frozen deliciousness.
Now, with his belly full and mind clear, Chaotic was much happier than he was that morning. However, he still could not fall asleep. For some reason, slumber would not grace him with its presence. After an hour of laying in the dark, it was clear to Chaotic that he would not be falling asleep anytime soon. He slowly climbed out of bed and made his way to the bedroom door. Chaotic opened it slowly, making sure to make as little noise as possible.
Quietly tiptoeing down the hall, he stopped as he passed Harmony’s room.
“Harmony,” he thought. “What if I accidentally hurt you? I know dad said my magic isn’t evil, but I can’t shake the feeling that its dangerous. If I hurt you I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself.” Chaotic looked down to the floor and sighed. “I guess it’s not a problem right now, but still...I can’t be too careful when it comes to your safety.”
Continuing down the hall, Chaotic noticed the light to his parents’ room was on. H e slowly crept toward their door, careful to not be noticed. Once there, he realized that their door was open a crack. He curiously stuck his head in, looking for his mother and father. He saw they were on their bed, talking about something important.
“Are you sure about this?” he heard his mother say. “Don’t you think it would be a little to severe.”
“Is it, though?” Discord responded. “I think it’s a small cost if you look at the bigger picture, here.”
Celestia sighed and laid her head down on a pillow. “I guess you’re right, but how do you think he’ll take it?”
“He would agree it’s the right thing to do. Chaotic just needs to realize that he’s a danger to every pony, including Harmony.”
Chaotic almost let out a sharp gasp as he heard this. “A danger to Harmony!?” he thought. “I thought dad said my magic wasn’t a problem.”
“Plus,” Discord said, continuing his conversation with Celestia. “It’s not like were dealing with dark magic. That would be a lot simpler.”
“True,” Celestia agreed. “Wrath magic is much harder to deal with.”
“Wrath magic?” Chaotic wondered. “Is that what it’s called?”
Suddenly. Chaotic heard footsteps approaching the doorway. Realizing that his mother was leaving the room, Chaotic bolted down the hall, not wanting to be discovered. He kept on running until he reached his bedroom, where he quickly opened the door and jumped into bed. Soon after, the door to his room creaked open once again. Celestia entered her son’s room and trotted over to his bed. She gently reached a hoof out and stroked Chaotic’s wings.
“Oh, son,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry this has to happen. It’s just that we can’t have another pony like....him....in Equestria ever again.”
With that, Celestia walked out of the room, leaving her son to ponder what she had just said.
“Come to what?” Chaotic thought. “And who are you talking about!?”
As rays of light penetrated Chaotic’s eyes, his ears flickered and his nose scrunched up. Not wanting to greet the morning, Chaotic rolled over and promptly place a pillow over his head. The protection from the awaiting day did not last long. His pillow shield was wrapped in a golden aura and dragged away from his head. Looking over by his bedroom door, Chaotic could see his mother with the pillow caught in her magic.
“Rise and shine!” she greeted. “We’ve got a big day ahead of us, Chaotic.”
“Wow,” thought Chaotic. “That’s a pretty peppy tone for some pony who wants to something awful to their own son.”
When her son did not respond to her awakening, Celestia decided to make her way over to his bed. Using her magic, she levitated Chaotic’s bed into the air. This caused him to let out a startled yelp, but he did not move none the less. Then. Celestia quickly flipped the bed over. Chaotic came tumbling to the ground, along with his pillows and bed sheets.
“Hey!” he hissed. “That was uncalled for!”
“Well, if you don’t get up on time, that’s what’s going to happen,” Celestia smirked. “Now, like I said, we have a big day today.”
“And why’s that?”
“We’re going someplace special.”
“Someplace like where?”
“Sorry, my son, but you’ll just have to find out where we’re going when we get there,” Celestia sang, trotting out of the room.
“Huh,” Chaotic thought “I wonder where she’s taking me.” Chaotic began to walk out of the room, pausing a moment to return his bed to an unflipped position. He was about to finally leave his room, when all of the night prior’s events popped into his head. “Mom and Dad said something about doing something to me last night,” he remembered. “And now Mom is taking someplace mysterious without telling me where it is...........Oh, crap.”
