Controlled Chaos

Prism Shine was very excited.

Not a day in Ponyville and already she’d met a princess and the new spirit of chaos, and now that very same spirit of chaos was going to speak to her about himself! There wasn’t anything that was any more exciting than that!

Well, most would argue that chaos was evil; Discord’s first reappearance was proof of that. But this spirit of chaos was different and she knew it! For starters, his kind had never even been seen before in Equestria! Although Discord was the same in that regard, he had traits similar to several other creatures seen in Equestria. This new one, however, was very different.

It was like science, magic and sheer chance had all crossed paths and created something that just begged to be studied!

All these thoughts and millions more raced through her mind as she happily trotted away from the castle. Would he answer all the questions she had for him? Would he give a demonstration of his power for her to see? Would he be willing to go so far as to put the entire town in danger like Discord had?

Would her ‘friends’ finally see that she wasn’t just a chaos obsessed little freak after all this?

She and her thoughts were suddenly stopped in their tracks when the sky suddenly clouded over, making the whole area almost as dark as night. She looked up, but her attention was snapped onto a large, red curtain materialising in front of her. A drumroll started sounding as two large circles of light appeared on the curtain. As she looked around for the source of the noise, a booming voice suddenly echoed through the street.

“Ladies and… No, just lady!” the voice boomed. “You’re in for a real treat today!” The lights shifted around the curtain dramatically. “Hailing from another universe, brought here by another’s choosing, I give you…!” The lights joined in the centre of the curtain and it parted slowly. “The new spirit of chaos, who also happens to be your announcer!”

She gasped as the light illuminated him; he had both arms – she recognised the minotaurian appendage easily – raised above his head as he stood in a pose that made him look even more majestic than he already appeared. It was truly a marvellous sight.

“Woo! Yeah! Outstanding!” she cheered as she applauded him loudly.

Like usual, she could tell that there were other ponies staring at her. They always did when she expressed her opinions like the judgemental filth they were. The creature leapt forwards and past the curtain, making her heart skip a beat as he flew through the air towards her. He landed at a run and skidded to a halt right in front of her. She felt her knees go weak as he bowed deeply to her. Her!

“Delighted to make your acquaintance, milady,” he said, looking up at her with something akin to a sly twinkle in his eyes. “And what might you be called?”

“I’m…” she whimpered, already feeling faint at the idea that someone was treating her with this much respect. “My name is… Y-you are talking to me, r-right?”

“Who else could I be talking to, my dear?” he asked, waving his arms around at the surroundings. “The only other pony here is the one that definitely has somewhere else to be!” He made a motion with his hands at a pony off to one side, who hurried away shortly after. “No, there’s no one else here that I could be talking to, so you are indeed who I am talking to!”

Prism was giddy with joy. No other pony had treated her with this much respect since her mother had died, and even then that was only family being remotely nice to her!

“I’m… P-Prism Shine,” she said weakly, staring up at him in awe. “A-and… you are…?”

“Name’s James,” he replied, holding a hand out to her. “Oh, that rhymes. I hope that’s not a crime!”

She giggled quietly and reached up to his hand slowly. “I-it’s a… You don’t know how much of a pleasure it is to meet you, sir,” she said breathlessly, marvelling at the feel of his skin. “T-that is… I’m sure you could know… if you wanted to… B-but I just mean it’s… It’s a very big pleasure to meet you. I’ve never been so happy about something in all my life.”

“Well, I’m glad to have that effect on you,” he said. He pulled his arm away from her slowly, only his hand was still in her grip. “I’m, uh… I’m gonna need that hand back, Prism.”

“Oh, forgive me!” She let go of his hand and jumped backwards, as if being too close would offend him. His hand hovered for a moment before darting back to its rightful spot on his arm. “I didn’t mean to try taking your hand!” She remembered an old minotaur saying and went red. “T-that is… y-you’re a wonderful… um… spirit of chaos… b-but I d-don’t think I’d be ready for… m-marriage.”

“Ha!” he laughed loudly. He looked down at her and grinned amusedly. “I like you, Prism Shine. You’re quick to jump to the wrong conclusion in the right way.”

“T-thank you, almighty spirit,” she answered, bowing to him.

“Ooh, that’s new.” He leant down and pulled her up straight again gently. “You don’t need to bow to me, Prism. I’m not a princess or anything like that.”

He was so humble, as if he was putting himself on the same level as mere mortals!

“But anyway, you wanted to talk to me about something?” he said warmly. He snorted as he realised something. “Oh, hold on a moment.”

He snapped his fingers and the clouds above parted, letting light back in, and the stage behind him slowly started to turn into dust that was carried away by the wind. When the stage was gone completely, he turned back to Prism and smiled again.

“Go on,” he said, inviting her to speak.

“Oh, where to begin?” she squealed, bouncing on her hooves. “I want to know everything there is to know about you! T-that is…” Her excited demeanour faded slightly. “If… If you don’t mind.”

“Tell you what, you wait right here and I’ll be right back.” He ruffled her hair and smiled. “If we’re going to be talking about everything, we’ll have to get breakfast. I know just the place, but I’ll have to go… borrow some money off someone.”

He gave her a quick wave before vanishing with a colourful pop. Prism Shine stared at the spot he had just been standing in in awe. After a second or two, she grinned widely and started dancing happily on the spot.

He was going to talk to her about everything!

The spirit of chaos was going to talk to her, maybe even answer every single question she had to ask!

Now who was crazy, society?

-=-=-=-=-

Twilight appeared in the hospital reception, startling the receptionist.

“Hello, which room is Spike in?” she asked frantically, hurrying towards the counter.

“Oh, Princess Twilight!” the receptionist replied, flustering with the notes that she had thrown up in the air in her surprise. “Y-you’re... Are you hiding your wings for some reason?”

Twilight looked back at her missing wings and then back at the receptionist. “Y-yes, I am!” she stated. “That doesn’t matter though! Which room is Spike the dragon in?”

“Dragon?” The receptionist looked through her notes quickly. “That’s funny… I don’t remember him coming in...” Her eyes widened at a discovery. “Oh! East ward, room six!”

“Thank you!”

Twilight teleported out of the reception before the receptionist could even say ‘good day’. When she reappeared, she found herself surrounded by her friends and the Cutie Mark Crusaders. She glanced around anxiously as the shock of her sudden appearance faded until her eyes finally rested on Spike.

“Spike!” she yelled, rushing towards the bedside. “Are you okay? I came as soon as I heard! I would’ve come sooner, but I’ve only just woken up!”

“T-that’s okay, T-Twilight…” Spike muttered, shuffling away from her slowly. “I-I… think James said something… Y-yeah, he said something about chloroform.”

“He what?!” Twilight yelled. “Then… He’s the reason I haven’t come to see you until now!” She remembered what James had said earlier. “B-but… I suppose he did tell me that you were here when I woke up…” She shook her head and gave Spike a concerned look. “What happened? James said you fell down some stairs!”

“Uh… I… fell down some stairs,” Spike replied, touching two fingers together anxiously. “I… Uh…”

“He tripped up and fell down a lot of stairs, Twilight!” Pinkie supplied. “He came to Sugarcube Corner and Gummy accidentally got in the way at the top of the stairs! Spike couldn’t see him because he was carrying some stuff in front of him, and then that stuff landed on him when he fell down!”

Spike breathed a sigh of relief, something that piqued Twilight’s interest. She also spotted the others glancing between each other, as if to send some telepathic message between themselves. Whatever it meant, Twilight didn’t really care. What mattered right now was Spike.

“That sounds terrible!” she commented, putting a hoof on Spike’s shoulder. “Sorry, I don’t remember anything after the meteorite exploding yesterday. Was I there?”

“N-no… Y-you were…”

Spike didn’t know what to say to this. He glanced up at the others to look for some support. Luckily, Applejack caught on quickly.

“You said you were telling off James for what he was doin’,” she said. She looked down as more thoughts came to her. “Uh… You told the rest of us to… let you do all the talkin’, so we left you and the other princesses to… give ‘em a piece of your mind.”

Then Twilight remembered what that pony had said earlier. “Oh, yes! What’s this about a battle I had with James?” she asked. “A pony I’ve never seen in Ponyville before said something about that this morning before I came here! What was that about?”

There was silence. Twilight noticed the girls anxiously glancing at each other, as if they were trying to come up with something collectively. She wondered what that was about. Maybe it meant something…

“Oh, that crazy pony?” Applebloom said at last. “Ah remember them! They were sneakin’ around the castle while us three were watching you give James a piece of your mind!” Her ears flapped back against her head. “Uh, sorry about that. We just wanted to see you show ‘em who’s boss!”

“Uh, yeah!” Scootaloo added. “That crazy pony must’ve been a reporter or something! They had a notepad and quill and they were writing stuff down and…”

“We told them to go away and leave you alone!” Sweetie Belle put in. “They thought you were fighting James! Well, fighting him much more seriously than just using words.”

“What was their name…?” Applebloom pondered, tapping her chin.

“Prism Shine, she said,” Twilight stated. “I wondered why she was so interested in James...”

“Now why didn’t you tell me about that, Applebloom?” Applejack asked sternly, frowning at her sister.

“You too, Sweetie Belle!” Rarity added. “You shouldn’t just talk to strangers like that! They could be dangerous!”

“Nice job, Scootaloo,” Rainbow whispered, leaning over to bump her hoof against Scootaloo’s.

“Oh, good!” said James, appearing beside the bed. “You’re all still here! Excellent!”

“Hi, James!” said Spike, Pinkie Pie and Applebloom at the same time.

“Oh, James,” Applejack said, looking up at the human. “Ah… Ah need to speak to you.” She glanced around at the others. “It’s about… uh, somethin’ important.”

“I’m sure it can wait until later, apples,” he replied, patting Spike on the head lightly. “I’ve just invited someone to breakfast and they’re waiting for me right now. I came back to ask if anyone’s got any money I could borrow.”

“Where are you going? Sugarcube Corner?” Pinkie asked. “Hold on a sec! I can make that on the house!” She reached into her mane and pulled out a pen and paper, which she hastily scribbled something down on. When she was done, she held it out for James to take. “Here you go!”

“Before you go, ah really think ah should speak with you for a second, James,” Applejack said firmly.

James looked up at her and frowned. “Is it about…?” he asked quietly.

“Ah believe it is.”

James cursed under his breath. “Alright,” he said slowly. “Meet me at Sugarcube Corner. I did promise someone I’d speak with them, so I’ve really got to go. See you there, apples.”

“Who, that crazy reporter?” Twilight asked irritably. “The one who wanted to make a story out of us chatting too loudly to each other?”

“I’ve gotta go,” James said calmly. “Get well soon, Spike.”

He vanished with a fiery crackle. Once he had left, Applejack stood up and headed over to the door.

“Sorry to be leavin’ you, Spike,” she said as she pulled the door open. “But ah really gotta speak to James about… that thing.”

“I-it’s okay, Applejack,” Spike answered. “Hope it… Hope it goes well.”

She tipped her hat and left the room. When the door swung shut, Twilight turned back to her friends.

“What was that about?” she asked, tilting her head bewilderedly.

“Applejack wouldn’t want us to say,” Rarity said carefully. “It was something very personal that happened.”

“Oh, never mind then,” Twilight replied. She looked down at Spike and smiled weakly. “Sorry, Spike. You’ve not been the centre of attention this whole time! How are we going to make that up to our brave little dragon?”

“Uh…” Spike thought for a moment. “You… could try getting me some gems as a get better present.”

The girls all laughed and began chatting happily with him, but there was still an air of apprehension in the room. Twilight didn’t dwell on it though.

It probably wasn’t important at all.