Controlled Chaos

It was a day much like this one.

Not exactly like this one, but close to it.

It was half past six in the evening, and my wife had only just left to pick up our daughter from her friend’s house. I was alone in the house and there was not another soul nearby.

The only room in the house that was lit up was the living room, where I was unenthusiastically watching the drivel they put on television. There was nothing better for me to be doing; it was a Saturday and the house had been cleaned prior to my wife leaving, given that the main cause of mess had gone out for the day.

It was a few minutes before I noticed that something was wrong. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and the TV started to run static. I stood up and headed over to the TV to check that none of the cables had fallen out. Finding no problem, I turned around to leave the room to check for a malfunction elsewhere, and that’s when the world flipped upside down.

Quite literally.

I dropped down to the ceiling, landing flat on my back with a loud thump. I groaned and looked up at the floor. Nothing else seemed to be affected at all by this change in gravity, much to my astonishment.

With the panic already setting in, I grabbed hold of the lampshade beside me to stop myself from falling again.

“What the hell is this?!” I screamed, glancing around at anything to accuse for my predicament.

Which is when I heard the front door open and someone come in.

“No, stay out of here!” I yelled, believing them to be my wife and daughter. I didn’t want to scare them with what was happening to me if it was real. “Just… wait in the car for a few more minutes!”

“You shouldn’t be pushing away the only one that can help you, friend,” said someone not my wife or daughter.

The door was closed and I could hear footsteps coming closer to the door of the living room.

“Who are you?!” I shouted, panic only growing. “What are you doing in my house?!”

“You mean, what are YOU doing on the ceiling?” asked a creature I had never seen before as they turned the corner into the living room.

It was your friend, Discord the draconequus. Of course at that point, I didn’t know who or what he was, so my fear was higher than it had ever been before.

I was about to let my fears through, but he reached up and put a hushing finger to my mouth.

“All will be explained,” he said, holding his other hand up to me, “but first, let’s get you down from there, shall we?”

My fear of him was great, but he was offering assistance and my fear for what was happening was even greater. I took his hand and he pulled me down from the ceiling. There was a floating sensation and I found that I could manoeuvre myself around in the air.

I spun in the air so that my feet were at the floor and the world suddenly span right side up. I dropped to my feet, and then turned to stare at him in wonder and terror.

“What are you?” I asked quietly, shaking his hand off of my arm.

“I, my friend, am Discord the draconequus,” he answered, giving a little bow. “You may never have heard of me, but I need your help.”

“My help specifically, or just help from anyone?” I asked, fear subsiding slightly.

“Well…” he said solemnly, looking down at the floor. “I have no choice now. There’s a time limit to how long I can stay here. When it runs out, your whole world will be in danger.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked, fear being replaced by anger at how little he’d explained himself.

“Actually, I shouldn’t have said that…” he muttered, backing away from me slowly. “You won’t believe me and then you’ll take too long anyway…”

“Then talk fast!” I spat at him. “Why are you here and what do you want from me?”

He let out a long and incomprehensible string of words at me, speaking so quickly that I couldn’t understand him. Once he’d finished, he stopped and waited for me to say something.

“What was that?!” I shouted loudly.

“You told me to talk fast,” he chuckled back innocently. “Was that a little too fast for you?”

“It was too fast for anyone!” I yelled. “Say it again, slower this time!”

“Alright, suit yourself,” he said darkly, frowning and crossing his arms dejectedly. “Why I’m here… that can wait, I suppose… but what I want from you is to be my replacement.”

“What?” I said foolishly, still not able to comprehend what he was saying, but on my part this time.

“I need a replacement,” he repeated, enunciating every syllable. “You’re just someone picked at random though, so don’t let it go to your head.”

“What do you need a replacement for?” I asked him.

“Because I’m dying, friend,” he answered sombrely.

-=-=-=-=-

“Wait, Discord was dying?” Rainbow Dash asked loudly, jumping up into the air. “How come he never told us?!”

“Calm down, feisty,” the human replied calmly, waving at her to sit back down. “I’m getting to that part.”

“No, she’s got a point!” Twilight piped up, standing up and facing him. “How did he know he was dying? If he knew that he was dying, why didn’t he say anything to his friends?”

“I just said I’m getting to that,” the human reiterated. “Would you like to hear it or would you like to just keep interrupting me?”

“I think we’d all prefer that you just told us the important parts!” she yelled at him angrily, eyes welling up slightly.

“Well I’d prefer to tell the story,” he replied with a dark sense of humour, “and seeing as I’m the only one who knows all the information you want to know, I don’t think you’re really in a position to negotiate.”

Twilight opened her mouth to say something, but shut it quickly and slowly sat back down. She sent a look of concern at Fluttershy, who was silently crying to the grim news of her friend’s end. The human noticed her tears and snapped his fingers at the ground in front of her. A box of tissues erupted from the ground for her to use, but she remained still.

He gave her a worried look for a moment before continuing his story.

“So anyway…” he said, lifting the book he was reading from back up and turning to a new page.

-=-=-=-=-

“What’s so important about you getting a replacement if you’re dying?” I asked him indifferently, crossing my arms as I waited for his answer.

“Because both of our worlds are in danger,” he said seriously, looking me right in the eye as he said it.

It was a moment before I could respond to that. There was so much truth in what he’d said, but it just didn’t sound possible.

“What do you mean by that?” I asked at last, breaking the uncomfortable silence. “How do you know they’re in danger?”

“It’s very hard to explain, friend,” he stated, not breaking eye contact with me once. “You’d better come with me before it’s too late.”

Then the lights started flickering on and off. He looked up at them and sighed.

“Oh dear, looks like I’ve stayed too long to ask you nicely now,” he said sadly, looking back down at me.

He grabbed my arm again and a pair of handcuffs appeared on our wrists, locking me to him. I pulled against them uselessly as he turned and started dragging me along behind him. I think you’d be surprised at how much strength he had in his skinny body.

“Get these off!” I shouted, grabbing his shoulder and spinning him back to face me. “I’m not going anywhere with you!”

“I’m afraid you don’t have a choice anymore,” he said morosely, turning back around to drag me towards the front door. “I’m very sorry about this, but you’ll be back with your family in no time at all.”

It wasn’t technically a lie, but if I’d known what he actually meant, I would’ve fought harder against him.

But, as it was, I believed him and let my guard down slightly.

He led me to the front door of the house and opened it slowly. When it was opened fully, I gasped at what waited for us on the other side.

Before us was a still image of what I could only assume was the end of the world. Humans and ponies like yourselves were frozen in place as they ran from something in the distance, a scream on every face in sight.

He pulled me through the door and into this unknown realm before I could protest. The door slammed behind us and vanished with a pop as I turned around to look back to my own world.

“Where are we?” I asked, turning back to face him.

“This, my friend, is the end of both our worlds put together,” he answered darkly, marching on through the terrified statues.

I followed him slowly.

“What is this, the future?” I asked him as I examined a terrified pony that I passed. “And what are these things?”

“They’re ponies; citizens of my world,” he explained, not stopping for even a second, “and a place you’ll have to spend the rest of your time.”

“What?!” I shouted, running to catch him. “You said I’d get to see my family again!”

“No, I said ‘in no time at all’,” he said with a crestfallen smile, “which, in my mind, means no amount of time can be used to show it.”

“You lied to me!” I spat at him, grabbing him by the shoulders and pushing him against a wall aggressively.

“You aren’t my replacement yet, friend,” he said sadly, vanishing in a puff of smoke. I punched at the wall and spun around as he reappeared behind me. “As for your first question; no. This is just what I imagine the future to be, but it’ll become reality unless we stop it.”

“’We’?! I shot back, lunging at him. He was replaced suddenly by a bubbly figure of himself which dissipated as I came into contact with it. I spun round to search for him. “What do you mean, we?!”

“Well, ‘you’ is more specific,” he said from directly above me. “Remember I said I needed a replacement? Well I’m a spirit of chaos. THE spirit of chaos, mind you. Meaning the only one.”

“What’s that even mean?!” I shouted, stepping away from where he hovered.

“It means, my friend, that when I die, the chaos I control will run free throughout the land,” he answered, dropping down to my level. “Or rather, lands. Plural. Yours and mine.”

“Get to the point!” I yelled, grabbing him by the neck and picking him up. I dropped him suddenly as I realised my strength that I didn’t have before. “What…?”

“Am I saying?” he finished, chuckling lightly. “I don’t know myself half the time. This time isn’t one of those times, though.” He frowned lightly and looked down at the ground. “What I’m saying right now is that when I die, chaos will spread through both our worlds like wildfire.”

“I got that part,” I muttered, looking down at my hand in awe. “How am I supposed to stop it?”

“Of course I picked someone who doesn’t listen…” he said to himself, shaking his head disappointedly. He looked back up at me. “By becoming my replacement! If you value the lives of every single person in existence, that is.”

“But…” I said quietly, head spinning. “This doesn’t make any sense…”

“Then I’ll explain it all again,” he said exhaustedly, like he’d already gone through it ten times. “I’m dying because I am a spirit of chaos and I’ve been in harmony for too long. When I die, the chaos that I control will run free because there will be nothing keeping it in check. I need you to take over for me, because there’s no stopping it now.”

“No…” I said, mind only on one thing even now. “Why can’t I see my family again?”

“Your world has seen too much chaos already,” he replied in a grim tone. “It almost killed me twice over just to hold the chaos from breaking free there as long as I did and I’m more experienced with chaos than you’ll ever be. If you go back there, you’ll not only be killing them, but everyone you know, everyone I know, and everyone else. Chaos is a deadly thing, after all.”

I felt my eyes start to water as I thought of the last time I would ever see my family.

I remembered the first time I met my wife. The greatest thing I’d ever seen my daughter do. All the fun we’d had together as a family.

It would never happen again. Not unless I intended to see them suffer.

It was just a question of whether I wanted to let them live but not live with them or be with them and kill them.

I knew which one I’d pick, no question.

“What… what do I need to do?” I asked, letting the tears streak down my face. “I’ll do anything for them, just tell me what I need to do.”

“I really am sorry for all this,” he said gravely, putting his hand on my shoulder.

“I don’t need your sympathy!” I screamed, shaking his hand off and glaring up at him. “You’ve already told me; you’re dying! I don’t need a dying man’s pity!”

“I’m just trying to help,” he said slowly. “I guess that’s not going to be helpful in this situation…” He shook himself into a better mood. “Anyway! We’re in part of my own mind, somewhere in Equestria. When you leave, you’ll wake up somewhere in my world. Understood?”

“How does… how does that work?” I asked, feeling my knees buckle. I looked up at him. “How can I be in your world, but not mine?”

“My world is ridden with harmony,” he explained. “There’s so much harmony, it needed element bearers at one point. Your world doesn’t and, therefore, cannot support the existence of a spirit of chaos.”

I nodded bleakly, understanding what he was getting at.

“Now, there’s one thing I want you to remember,” he said, lifting me back up to standing. “When you get there, you need to create chaos, but you also need to make friends. That’s the most important thing I can say.”

“Right…” I agreed weakly, head dipping to the floor. “Make chaos… make friends… got it…”

“And another thing,” he continued. “Stop being so down about it all! Your family and your friends and everyone is living on thanks to you! Be happy that you’re making this sacrifice! I could have met someone bent on the destruction of the universe!”

He slapped me across the face a few times, snapping me out of the trance I was falling into.

“Yes…” I muttered, grabbing his arm and pushing him away. “Yes. Yes, it’s good. It’s… very good. I need to… create chaos. Make friends. Who are the best candidates?”

“You’ll know everything I know when you leave here,” he said sadly. “You’ll know who to talk to.”

He pointed at something behind me. When I turned around to see it, it turned out to be a door floating in the air. I assumed it was going to be the way out of here.

“Head through that,” he explained. “Once you do, it’ll take you out of my mind and into Equestria. There you’ll have to find your own way. But, with my knowledge and memories, you should be fine.”

“What else happens when I go through?” I asked, turning to face the door fully. “That can’t be it.”

“No, it’s not,” he replied sadly. “I’ll become one with you, as I am the spirit of chaos right now and you are to become the next spirit of chaos. I will still be in your mind, but not for very long. I’ll be gone soon, but expect another presence in your mind until that happens.”

“Right,” I said. “Thank you.”

“I should be thanking you, friend,” he chuckled with a tip of an imaginary hat. “Best of luck to you. Oh yes, and tell Fluttershy and her friends I wish her all the best.”

I turned to see a tear fall from his eye, but I didn’t say anything. Instead, I opened the door leading out of his mind and into Equestria. With a foreboding sense of grim anticipation, I stepped through and into a new world.

-=-=-=-=-

“Which is when I stepped out here,” the human finished, waving at his surroundings. “And so a new story begins.” He slammed the book shut. “The end! Wasn’t that fun?”

“Wait…” Twilight breathed, think what the human had said over. “But… there’s so much that you didn’t explain! Surely Discord would’ve given you more of an explanation than just ‘you’ll become one with him’!”

“That wasn’t the question I asked, princess,” he replied darkly, snapping his fingers at her head, where a dunce hat appeared. “Honestly, if I were a teacher, you’d get an F.”

“I thought it was fun!” Pinkie put in helpfully, giving a strained smile. “I really liked the part where… um… where it…”

“You don’t have to like any of it, Pinkie,” the human explained sadly. “You lost your friend and I lost my family. If you liked any of that, there’s something wrong with you.”

“Is… Discord still in your head?” Twilight asked, standing up and staring at the human as tears streaked down her face.

The human nodded slowly.

“Then… could we talk to him, please?” she asked as politely as she could.

“I knew there was something I left out…” he muttered to himself. “I’m afraid I can’t. He told me that if he lets me let him back out, he won’t be in my mind anymore. If that’s the case there’ll be nothing holding the chaos back for when he… passes on.”

“You didn’t say that in the story!” Rainbow Dash yelled, flying up to the human’s face. “Now we just gotta ask if that whole story was true or not!”

“Oh, it was as true as I could make it, feisty,” he told her, smirking lightly. “I just forgot to add that one little truth in. It’s very hard to think up a whole story like that on the spot.”

“That still doesn’t explain why you needed to bring us all the way out here, though!” Applejack yelled angrily, standing up to stomp towards the human. “You coulda told us back in town for everyone to hear so you won’t make ponies panic that much next time they see you!”

“Oh, I’m just making plot holes left and right…” the human whispered, chuckling quietly to some unheard joke. “I also forgot to mention that he would be most present at the point he left Equestria at, where I would find myself here. If I showed you my reflection far away enough from this point, it would just be my reflection you’d see.”

“There’s a lot more than just that you missed out!” Twilight shouted, approaching him aggressively. “I don’t think the only rule was ‘make chaos and make friends’! There’s got to be more to it than that!”

“Oh, there is, princess,” the human replied with cruel enjoyment. “I just don’t want to tell you.”

He pulled his hands in above his head, and the foliage above them grew across the clearing and left them all in the dark. There was a sudden pop, and the human had left them.

“He’s gone!” Rainbow stated, flailing about in the air to feel for him. “That stupid…!”

“Girls, I’ve got some light here!” Twilight yelled, horn igniting as she cast a light spell.

Her friends huddled around her to stay in the light. After doing a quick tally of who was with her, Twilight realised that one of them was missing.

“Fluttershy?” Twilight called out, sending a beam of light out to scan the clearing. “Where are you?”

“Here…” Fluttershy whispered from where she had been sitting while the human told his story.

“Are you alright?” Pinkie Pie asked, moving over to help her friend up.

“I’m… fine…” Fluttershy whimpered, clearly the contrary.

“Let’s get back to Ponyville,” Applejack suggested, heading off in the direction of the town. “Ah’ll bet we find that human making chaos there for everypony.”

“It’s like Discord’s return all over again…” Rarity muttered. She quickly clarified. “You know, back before he was good.”

“With any luck, he won’t create too much chaos,” Twilight commented, following Applejack as she led the way home.

They headed on in silence, emotions mixed about the human’s story. Whether it was true or not, none of them could say, but there were definitely some things that the human had not put into that story.

It wasn’t until the outskirts of Ponyville that they heard a scream from somewhere in the town.

A glance was shared between them all before they rushed off to the source of the scream.