Prism wasn’t quite sure what was going on anymore.

First the spirit of chaos hadn’t punished that stupid pony for harming her, and now he was running from a perfect opportunity for chaos!

Maybe he was just trying to make chaos by making ponies think he would make chaos and then not make chaos… But that didn’t even make any sense!

Wait, what was she thinking? Chaos wasn’t supposed to make sense!

She was dropped to the ground in front of the spirit of chaos when they reappeared, somewhere on the edge of the Everfree Forest. Before she even looked at him, she was aware of the harsh and disappointed glare she was receiving. She turned to look up at him slowly and worriedly, wondering what she had done to upset the spirit of chaos.

“What the hell were you thinking, Prism?” he snapped at her. “I get that you wanted to help me, but why were you breaking the law and damaging other ponies’ property to do so?”

“I-I… I just thought… she needed to be punished f-for… for upsetting the spirit of chaos…” Prism whimpered, ears flattening back against her head. “I-isn’t that… what I was supposed to do?”

“No, it was not,” he growled. “I appreciate you willing to do that, but actually doing it is completely unnecessary. Let alone stupid.” He looked back towards the town. “I’m probably going to get hated even more now. I can’t even begin to imagine how Mrs Cake is feeling about you too.””

“S-sorry…” Prism whispered, fully understanding what he was saying. “I just… I thought I was helping…”

He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “You don’t need to be sorry, Prism. Not to me anyway.” He looked up at her again and frowned. “I know what you were thinking. You wanted to impress the spirit of chaos by doing your part in making chaos and by punishing those that had wronged the spirit of chaos. Am I wrong in thinking that?”

“N-not… really…”

“Alright…” he muttered, shaking his head lightly. “I can understand your devotion, or… whatever, but you can’t just be doing things like that, even if you do think it’s the right thing to do.”

“A-as you wish… almighty spirit…”

This wasn’t good. She was showing how weak she was to the spirit of chaos! What would he think of her now? Would he think of her the same way everyone else had thought of her? With distaste and hatred?

“And, for the love of god, do not call me almighty spirit,” he ordered. “I’m not any more almighty than you are. Well, I’m more powerful than the average so-and-so, but I’m not, in any way, shape or form, almighty. I’m not a god, Prism.”

“B-but…” she stammered, glancing up at him. “You’re… the spirit of chaos. There’s no one else as powerful as you. S-surely you could… be classed as a god… c-couldn’t you?”

“While I’m sure my power would technically put me on the level of a god, I refuse to be known as one. I’m sorry if you want to think of me as one, but I really can’t allow you to do that.”

“B-but… c-can’t I at least… help make chaos?”

“It’s a very dark path, chaos. Normal ponies can’t cause chaos without suffering in some way themselves. If you want to help make chaos, you’re only putting yourself in danger of other ponies and the law. You’ve got too much to lose, so please do not help me.”

Prism was quiet as she thought about what he had just said. After a few seconds, she felt tears coming to her eyes. Maybe he wasn’t as powerful as she had originally thought, because if he was, he would have known about her past already. This had never been brought up before, so she could never be ready for something like this; how much she had to lose.

“N-no… I don’t…” she sobbed, turning away from him. “I’ve… got n-nothing to lose…”

“What do you mean?” he asked, teleporting in front of her and leaning down to look her in the eye. “I’m sure you’ve got somethi—“

“I’ve got nothing!” she yelled, pushing him away. “My mother is g-gone! My own father disowned m-me because of who I am! I’ve n-never had any real f-friends! I barely had enough m-money to even get here! I’ve got n-nothing to lose! If m-my whole life is chaos, why can’t I c-cause chaos too?!”

James’s jaw dropped slightly and he said nothing. Prism Shine sniffled and dropped onto her haunches, thoughts on one thing; the only one that would potentially accept her for who she was was about to reject her.

“I’m really sorry, Prism,” he said sombrely, putting his hand on her shoulder. “I shouldn’t have said that. I didn’t know.”

“W-why can’t I help make c-chaos then?” she whimpered, wiping her teary eyes. “I’ve g-got nothing to l-lose. I won’t b-be in that much danger...”

“You know what, Prism Shine?” he said quietly, offering her a tissue. “I think you’ve made more chaos for me than you realise.”

What?

“Come on now. Dry those tears.” She wiped her eyes with the tissue and looked up at him wonderingly. “Do you know what you’ve done for me already?”

“W-what?” she asked, tilting her head bewilderedly. “What could I have done?”

“Supplied a whole lifetime of chaos for me, Prism.” He smiled at her. “How many other ponies do you know who’ve been through what you’ve been through?”

“I… None…?”

What was going on?

“You’re different, Prism. You’re not like normal ponies, and that’s not a bad thing. The chaos you’ve made just by getting through everything you’ve gone through is phenomenal. Everyone else would’ve expected you to just give up and die, but you didn’t. Know what that means?”

“N-no… What?”

“You’ve made more chaos than I ever could. I would’ve just given up. You didn’t. You’re here now.” He stood up straight and put his hands on his hips. “Do you know the real definition of chaos, Prism Shine?”

“Uh… disorder and confusion?”

“Spot on. Do you think other ponies would’ve thought you’d get through it all?” She shook her head weakly. “Exactly. Therefore, you have created confusion. Shattered their expectations. Created chaos.”

“S-so… what you’re saying is I… helped you? How?”

“By being the most chaotic little pony you could ever be.” He ruffled her hair lightly. “You’ve made enough chaos to last you a lifetime. You don’t need to make any more.”

“B-but… I want to make more. Chaos is all I have now.”

“Tell you what, you wait right here just one more time and I’ll give you something more than just chaos,” he said, tapping her nose lightly. “And it won’t just be that talk you’ve wanted to have all this time. I promise, this’ll be the last time I go and do something else. Okay?”

“I-I don’t mind,” she replied, kicking at the ground anxiously. “You can… take as long as you like.”

“I won’t be that long, I promise.”

He snapped his fingers and vanished, leaving her alone once more. She wondered what he was going to do now; something she’d done every time he’d left her alone. The other times, she could understand; he needed to speak with his friends for something. But this time was different. What could he be doing now?

She was suddenly aware of a presence behind her, but when she turned around to see who it was, there was no one there. She tilted her head in thought, wondering who it could have been. No sooner had she thought it did she spot a shadowy figure somewhere in the Everfree forest. It didn’t look like a pony, more like a creature with mismatched body parts.

Something was telling her that she should investigate this strange figure, despite everything else in her mind screaming at her that she needed to wait for James to come back. With an anxious glance over her shoulder, she decided that she wouldn’t be gone too long; not long enough for James to get back before her, anyway.

She had never been into the Everfree forest before, and her first steps into it were met with a foreboding sense of anxiety. It was like she knew something bad was going to happen. That idea was only gaining more evidence as the shadowy figure continued to move further away, forcing her to venture further into the forest, despite all the thoughts telling her to just turn back. Why had she not already done that anyway?

After a few minutes of her following this mysterious entity, she came across a very large clearing in the forest. She could see it through the trees, and she could also see someone else in that clearing.

James, the spirit of chaos.

He looked like he was waiting for someone, but why would he be waiting here? No one was stupid enough to come this far into the Everfree forest on their…

Oh no.

Panic set in quickly, freezing her on the spot. She had the idea to run to him, but something stopped her before she could actually do so.

“Keep quiet, little pony,” someone whispered to her, but there was no one close enough to do that. “Don’t want him to know you’re here, do you?”

She heard a whooshing sound, which was then repeated in the clearing. She quickly looked over to spot another being stood beside James. It looked like that strange creature she’d seen leading her this far in. It also looked like…

No way.

“Hope I didn’t keep you waiting long, James,” said the other self-assuredly.

“I’ve been doing that to someone all day,” James replied casually. “I kind of deserved a little bit of that for myself.”

“Yes, that pony…” the other mused. “She’s going to be a problem, James.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean she’s just going to keep wanting to make chaos, make enemies, and just generally be a problem for you.”

“Problem for us. And I can deal with that anyway.”

“Yes, I suppose so.” He chuckled maliciously. “But, I’m just saying, I think it would be better to wipe her whole memory.”

“Why? That would just destroy her whole life. She’ll have no memory of anything at all.”

“Yes, that’s what wiping her whole memory means.”

“I’m not doing it. You might think you’ll be able to do it, but I’m not going to let you do this at all. You might be more experienced with chaos than I am, but I’ll stop at nothing to keep her safe.”

“Yes, I suppose you will, won’t you?” the other said darkly, crossing his arms disappointedly. “Well, you know that I’m right anyway, so it would sure be a shame if you had no choice but to do wipe her memory yourself.”

The undergrowth concealing Prism began to noisily creep apart, leaving her out in the open for James to see her. When James did spot her, he gasped. The other laughed cruelly and slapped a claw onto James’s back.

“Well well well!” he said loudly, pushing James towards her. “Looks like she knows about me! Now you don’t have a choice!”

“Please! I didn’t see anything!” Prism yelled frantically, backing away in fright. She felt tears come to her eyes again. “I won’t tell anyone! I promise!”

“Aww, she’s begging,” the other commented condescendingly, smiling at her evilly. He looked over at James again. “Now then, James. Are you going to be the one to erase her life completely, or am I?”

“When did you become so evil?” James breathed, shaking his head lightly.

“You use that word as if I’m not a part of you anymore,” the other said, smirking grimly. “’You’. Don’t you remember that we were of one mind at one point?”

“If this is what you are, then we were never of one mind,” James spat, turning to glare at the other. “You’re nothing but a monster. I don’t sink that low.”

“Not yet, anyway, but you will. Chaos can be very addicting and you’ll probably suffer withdrawal symptoms at one point too.” The other pointed over at the sobbing Prism casually. “Now who gets to take care of her?”

James was quiet for a moment, glaring at the other hard. “I’ll do it,” he hissed, turning to face Prism gravely. “If she’s going to have her memory wiped, the least I can do is make it so that it’s wiped by someone who actually cares.”

He marched towards Prism slowly. Prism turned and glanced around for anything that could help her, but nothing was there. She turned to run away, but a wall of purple bricks materialised in front of her, blocking her escape.

“Don’t run, Prism Shine,” James said sadly. “I’ll only catch you and then feel even worse.”

She backed up against the wall and made herself as small as possible as he came right up to her. He leant down as she whimpered like a foal to put a hand on her head. Without any warning, she felt something sharp jab into her neck. Why was this happening?

But James must have already been wiping her memories because, before long, she started to slowly slip into unconsciousness.

This couldn’t be how it ended, could it?

“Good man, James,” said the other with a devious chuckle. “I’d suggest bringing her somewhere else. We don’t want her first new memory to be of me, do we?”

“No, we don’t,” James said darkly.

Before Prism could slip away completely, she felt herself being scooped up and cradled like a baby, and then she felt like she had just teleported again.

Then there was just empty blackness.

Author's Note

Iiiiiii've got a plaaaaaaaan!