The Chaos Theory

Sunset yawned as she walked the streets of Canterlot, more specifically, towards Donut Joe's. The young prince, in a similar state as Sunset, walked alongside her. Enjoying the sound of grinding rocks and gravel, taking in the sights and smells of Canterlot, waving at ponies as they bowed to him. Two expressionless guards silently trailed behind Sunset and the prince on their walk, two more trotted in front of them deterring those who would interfere with them.

“So, what's your favourite….drink?” Sunset said out loud, watching the city life flow by her. With summer just around the corner, Sunset could see ponies of all types galloping around, splashing in puddles of water kept cold by unicorns, or with an ice cream held within their grasp.

“Uh, chocolate milk, duh!” Entropy said with a ludicrous gaze, as if it was the obvious choice.

“Oooh, chocolate milk, I haven't had one of those in ages!” Sunset said with a dreamy look upon her face. Donut Joe's came into view, a blue, single-story, square building with a cartoonish donut sign nailed onto the roof. The donut was a rich chocolate color with pink icing and blue sprinkles. It was all wooden, so it wasn’t particularly good to eat.

She breathed in the smell of freshly baked dough. The air was filled with a sugary tint, the kind that you could taste at the back of your throat without causing discomfort at all. Her hooves tapped against the black-and-white checkered floor, the freshly cleaned tiles creating a reflection of Sunset and Entropy, his rubber shoes squeaking on the tiles, irking the other ponies in the establishment to no end. Donut Joe, stood behind a purple bar, with a clear glass case off to the side displaying various doughnuts of all colors. Behind the pony, racks upon racks of the freshly-baked doughnuts cooled to an edible state, permeating the room with their scent.

Her mouth watered as she strolled towards Joe, the guards taking up positions beside the doors, their stoic faces waiting and watching for any sign of trouble.

“Howdy Sunset!” Joe proclaimed as he ducked behind the bar, doing who-knows-what. “What can I get you and the young prince today?” He continued, calmly waving to Entropy with a smile. The calm facade didn't fool her though, she was sure he was freaking out on the inside.

“A baker's dozen of your strawberry and chocolate chip doughnuts, please-” Sunset said, looking up at him since she only reached near the halfway point of the bar.

“And a chocolate milkshake!” Entropy cut in. Unlike his friend, Entropy was now tall enough to look at the pony without straining his neck, his eyes rested above the horizon of the bar, thanks to an unusual growth spurt that not even the royal scientists could not figure out. He offered the working pony a sweet smile that only children could somehow pull off. With his wide smile, a missing front tooth could easily be seen, giving the child a very slight lisp.

“Yes and a chocolate milkshake, better make that two, please.” Sunset sighed and shook her head with a smile. The pony nodded, running a large beige hoof through his dark brown mane. As the bulky stallion went to work, Sunset thought on the past year learning from Celestia's school. She remembered helping to teach Entropy to speak and read, upon the princess’ request, and he has made astounding progress. He still had problems learning words and writing them down, but then again, who doesn't at that age?

She remembered how jealous Entropy was of her expertise of magic and wanted to use it himself. He would pick books at random, most of them being too advanced for him to understand himself, but the fire within him refused to stop burning when he became stuck, often coming to Sunset with a list of words he hastily wrote down with crayon. She felt sorry for him, for neither she nor Celestia could detect a ‘Magical Matrix’ in him, something that enabled each of the pony races to use some sort of magic. He would often stare at unicorn guards and servants that were using magic, writing down notes and questioning said ponies about the topic. She jumped out of her reprieve as a single box of doughnuts dropped onto the table, stamped with 'Donut Joe’s Doughnuts™’ in blue fancy writing. Alongside the box slid two glass cups with a brown iced liquid, red and white paper straws stabbed through the thick drink.

“Here you go, that'll be five bits, please.” Sunset levitated the golden coins onto the counter and the two walked to the nearest booth, which just so happened to have a large window facing the streets of Canterlot. Dropping the drinks and the box gently onto the maroon table, Sunset sat down by the window, bathing in the sunlight that streamed through the window. Entropy walked over and sat next to her, having momentarily forgotten what he was doing at the time.

Entropy poked at the condensation on the glass with a finger, seemingly enjoying the cold layer of water. A small sigh of content passed his lips as he drunk heavily on the milkshake, amusing Sunset greatly as she sucked on her own milkshake. The pair enjoyed their 'meal’ in silence, enjoying each others company. This was the first in a long time that the two of them could venture out and visit Canterlot freely. The both of them rarely had any spare time to spend together, mostly having to go to lessons or do chores, or sometimes both, depending on the day.

Sunset spared a glance towards Entropy, who was current relishing the chocolate shake.

“Whatcha thinkin bout, Sunshine?” Entropy asked, tilting his head slightly with a small smile;

“Nothing much.” She sighed, before she gave him a sly grin, “You smelly monkey.” The glare he gave her was pure satisfaction.

“Humph, you have to do better than that Sunny.” Stuffing a doughnut in his mouth, he turned to view the populous of Canterlot. Being in the middle ring of the city, Entropy could see all manner of ponies going to and fro. Shops ranging from designer clothes, to knick knacks and props. The ponies there were happy, regardless of how rich or poor they were, something that couldn't be said about the upper ring of Canterlot, where the ponies were mostly narcissists and snobby. That being said, you do, occasionally, get the same snobbiness here. However, the instances are rare.

Later on that day, both bellies filled, Sunset and Entropy found themselves in a study room. The earthy scent of books filled the room as dust drifted on the wind, glinting in the beams of warm sunlight. Entropy sat in a dark corner of the room, completely unnoticeable unless you knew he was there, old worn down books laid in a semi-circle around him that were filled to the brim with ancient magic and scrawlings made by great wizards of old. One particular book caught his attention, a book about basic teleportation. He couldn't read the title of the book as it had new words that he had never heard of before and he didn't want to disturb Sunset with it. Despite this, he continued to read the obviously advanced book for him, ‘basic be damned’, and took notes on his notebook, equations and mathematics that he could ask one of his teachers about later.

A thought came to his mind while he was reading, if he couldn't do the most basic of spells, then he had no hope of learning spells like teleportation. So, with a heavy heart, he set the book aside and picked up another, one with a much easier title to read. 'The Fundamentals of Levitation.’ After a brief read, he closed the book and set it on the ground before shutting his eyes and cleared his mind before focusing on the brown book in front of him. An image of the book materialised in his mind, with heavy breathing he lifted his arm up and out and visualised the book lifting from the ground.

He cracked an eye open to check. Nothing. The book lay lifeless on the ground, unmoving. Disgruntled, Entropy tried again, focusing harder on the lifting, and less on what it looked like. Droplets of sweat formed on his brow, dripping down as he grasped at too-small threads of what he thought was magic. He checked once more, the same result present in front of him, causing to gave up, for the moment.

“Horseapples.” He cursed, falling to the ground with a disheartened thud. He wanted to learn magic so bad it was killing him. But he knew that building up magic and using it was just like any other skill. He'd just have to keep on trying till he got it, and nopony could stop him. Still, he can't help but feel jealous of ponies like his mother and Sunset, ponies gifted in magic and among the strongest of their kind. It doesn't help when he might not even be able to use magic in the first place.

No matter what event through his mind, one thing was certain. He will not give up.

He can't.

A few days had passed since then, all of them spent practicing magic on a medium-sized red mug. Entropy's eyes were level with the desk, concentrating solely on the mug, blocking most everything else in his line of sight. Like before, he cleared his mind and pictured it levitating a few inches above the wooden surface. Entropy soon heard soft tapping emanating from the desk as the handle, hidden behind the mug, was wrapped in a grey-ish aura with light golden filaments dotted here and there. Slowly beginning to lift the mug millimetre by millimetre, the strain on the handle caused it to wobble slightly.

“Yes!” He shouted as he raised his hands in triumph, only to cause him to lose his grip and drop the mug back onto the desk. “Oooh, sugar honey ice tea.” He sighed in disappointment as he slammed his head down. 'Look at you, laughing at me with your...muggyness...nis.” He thought as he glared at the inanimate mug, mocking him at his failure to do basic magic. Just then, three knocks came from the door. “Come in!” The large grey stone door opened swiftly and quietly, no doubt due to various enchantments, revealing the pony behind it. “Hey, mom!” Entropy greeted the alicorn as he turned his head to see her.

“Hello, my dear.” Celestia said as she strolled into his room, opening the window and the blinds covering it, letting rays of the afternoon sun bleed into room. Entropy hissed like a snake and covered his eyes with his arms. “Oh, hush. This room is way too stuffy, and you need the fresh air.” Entropy grumbled as he buried his face into the nook of his elbow of one arm and motioned a 'go-away’ signal with his other. “Any luck?” She said with a frown as she sat on her haunches next to him, rubbing his back with a hoof.

“Kinda-sorta.” He said with a shrug, sighing as he enjoyed the back rub. “ I managed to lift the mug for a few seconds, but that's it.” He sighed, resting his chin on his arm and stared at the mug, lost in his own thoughts. “You need me for something?” He asked, scooting his chair back away from his desk and standing to attention. She motions him to follow her, to which he complies as he walked beside her, her wing guiding him along.

“Yes, I do. While I am beyond happy to hear you are getting a grip of your magic situation, I have something important to tell you.” She started as she matched his slow pace. “My niece, princess Cadence, should be arriving in about a week, and she's been very excited to meet you as of late. So, when she does arrive, I want you on your best behaviour alright? None of your pranks, none whatsoever. Alright?”

“Yes mom.” Entropy replied, disappointed as he slid a small book titled 'Epic Pranks’ back into his pocket. “I’m guessing she was sent there for diplomatic reasons?”

"Kind of. It's more like a vacation of sorts, spending casual time with king Ironbeak, a good friend of mine. Do you know who he is?” She asked him, tilting her head in his direction.

“Yep, second son of the late king Asvarkin, head of the Valkyrie clan, second most powerful clan in Griffonstone.” Celestia's eyebrows rose in shock, before sighing with a shake of her head and a soft smile “What?”

“You've been spending to much time with Sunset. Not many know that sort of information offhoof, my son.”

“Yeah well, once you start reading, sometimes you just can't stop.” With a shrug, Entropy dove his hands into his pocket and looked at the city life below him as the two of them passed by the many windows of the castle. A silence had fallen between the two, not an awkward silence, like one that would usually follow after Entropy told a very bad pun; a content, blissful silence.

“So, how are your studies going?” Celestia asked after a while of walking, curious of her son's school life.

“Alright I guess, made a few friends here and there. I'm getting better at math and equish.” He counted off of his fingers as he spoke. “Magic…well you already know about that. And Sunset helps me with things I don't understand. “He shrugged, his hands sliding back into his pockets. “That's about it.”

"I see, well perhaps your magic is just different sweetie"

"Different how?"

"Magic can come in my different forms, I remember they told me you had no magic yet that has been proven false,it may simply be that you have a new form of magic we do not yet know how to detect"

"Yeah that is true, I'm gonna go wait for Sunset. See you later, mom.”

“I- w-wait!” Entropy waved a hand back, ignoring what she was about to say, and jammed his hands into his pockets, walking down a passage leading to the gates. “No goodbye kiss for your mom?" Celestia sighed as she began her journey back to her throne room.

Entropy sat on the steps of Celestia's school, waiting for classes to end. He watched the weather pegai push large fluffy clouds around the sky, losing himself I thought. 'Why was this school called 'Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns’ if mom barely teaches there? Did she fund it herself?’ He asked himself before shrugging it off. A golden glint caught his eye to the left of him, a royal guard that was instructed to follow the young prince, the light reflected off his armor.

Entropy grumbled as he noticed his unkempt hair and pulled a rather large brush somewhere out of his pocket and combed his hair. In the corner of his eye he could see a small group of three colts walking up to him with smirks on their faces. 'Oh, great. It's them. Wonderful, just what I need right now’. Yes it was in fact his bullies from school, however not all of them. Two are missing from their group. Neither of the three seemed to see the guard to the left of him, perfectly obscured by the staircase.

“Well, well, well, look what we have here. It's the freak.” The leader of the group says as he stops a few metres away from the staircase. The guard immediately flinches, an angry scowl on his face as he turns to scorn the bullies, only to be stopped by Entropy, raising a hand and shaking his head slightly. The guard stiffly nods back, obviously perturbed.

“Good evening, Box Cutter.” Entropy sighed out as he watched the group snicker behind the leader. Box Cutter was a light grey bulky unicorn with a darker grey mane and tail with large brown eyes that had a few freckles underneath each of them. He had no cutiemark, unlike his 'friends’. To his left was Sugar, a light green pegasus with a lighter shade of yellow for his mane and tail with bright green eyes.He has a golden blueberry muffin as a cutiemark. And finally on his right was Rosary Pea, a lanky earth pony mare with a crimson coat and black mane and tail and frosty blue eyes. Her cutiemark was three red and black peas connected to a beautiful white flower by a few vines that wrapped around each pea. Entropy honestly felt sorry for the mare, being the younger sister of Box Cutter, she was often forced to go along with her brother's antics. The shy mare mouthed sorry at Entropy when their eyes met.

“So who left a turd like you on the steps of the most famous school in all of Equestria?” He asked mockingly, looking smug as he usually does.

“No idea, but it somehow rolled onto the ground and started to talk to me.” Nonchalantly, Entropy leaned back, propping himself up with his elbows.

“Tch.” His smile narrowed and quietly trotted towards Entropy, leaning towards him in a threatening manner. “So, somepony is acting tough all of a sudden.” He snarled, glaring at the prince. “What, are you stupid or something?.”

“Not as stupid as you, apparently.” Entropy pointed to the guard beside him, the cold glare he was giving Box Cutter made him blanch as the colour drained from his face. “Did you really think I wouldn't have a guard by me at all times? By Celestia, you're really dumb. Now I think you and your friends should leave, don't you? Don't want to be put on the record at your age, huh?"

“You're gonna regret this.” Box growled before galloping away.

“Toodles!” Entropy waved at them as they ran, giving Rosary a genuine smile. He gave a nod of gratitude towards his guard before watching the sky again. 'Kinda wish I brought a book with me’.

Sharp continuous ringing awoke Entropy from his daydreaming, jumping as the unexpected sound scared him. A large group of ponies galloped down the steps, oblivious to him and leaving cloud of dust in their wake. Gaining control of his heart and senses, he painfully turned to face the entrance of the school, as a lone amber unicorn that he had become familiar with walked out of the school, their eyes immediately catching each other's gaze.

“Heya, Sunny!” He shouted, waving a hand back and forth, catching passing glances from nearby ponies. Blushing in embarrassment, Sunset swiftly jammed a hoof in his mouth.

“Shut up, dung head!” She glared at him, an embarrassed blush spread ear to ear, to which he smiled innocently. Carefully, she removed her hoof before huffing and trotted down the steps.

“Hey, wait up!” Entropy pounces from the steps and landed next to the mare, matching her pace.

“So, what are you doing here anyway. Shouldn't you be studying or something?” She asked, an eyebrow raised.

“Eh, I've already gone above my quota for today. Besides I wanted to hang out with mah best bud.” He shrugged, wrapping an arm around her.

“Ooh, a new word. Where'd you pick that up, a dictionary?”

“Why yes I did, thank you.” He beamed, giving her a noogie.

“Ow! Hey, I'm older than you, I'm supposed to do that to you!” Pulling him into a headlock, and grinding her hoof against his head violently.

“Ow ow ow! Hey, quit it! Guard she's attacking me, do your job!” The amused guard snickered behind his hoof.

“I'm sorry, my lord. You brought this on yourself.” He said, his laughter barely holding.

“Gah! You're the worst guard on the planet!” Entropy shouted as he pointed towards him, shattering the guard's steel will and causing him to breakout out in laughter. Finally, after a full minute of torture, Sunset relented her attack, leaving a small pillar of grey smoke billowing from atop of Entropy's head. Mumbling, he rubbed his sore head and glared at the bane of his existence. “My hate for you is beyond words.”

“And yet, you still hang around with me.” She smirked as she started to walk again.

“So, where we headin?” He asked, at a much safer distance from his tormentor, staring daggers at her head.

“Well, I still have to study for an oncoming test, so I can't really do anything with you, unfortunately.”

“Aww man.” Entropy's shoulders sagged, disappointed.

“Buuuut, I suppose since you're here, you can walk me home. But, you have to carry my bags!” She added after the look Entropy gave her.

“Done deal!” He exclaimed happily, taking off her saddlebags and throwing them over his shoulders, jogging in front of her. “Come on slowpoke!”

“Wah-? Hey!” Sunset stammered before galloping after him. “Slow down, ya idiot!”

Early in the morning, around one o'clock, Entropy laid on his bed concentrating hard on a small ball of yarn floating in his aura, a beaming smile scrawled across his face. Its golden filaments illuminated the room like a disco ball. With light gestures from his hands the ball rolled in mid air, slowly separating the strands from each other and becoming a long, single strand of thread. The singular strand circled the room multiple times before reforming into a ball again. With a yank of his arm, the ball came rocketing towards him and almost pelted his face, him catching it with only centimeters to spare.

“Well, that was close.” He muttered to himself as he chucked the ball into his bedside table. Barely holding in his excitement, he concentrated on a book on the other side of the room, extending his arm. Exactly like the ball of yarn, the book was surrounded in his magical aura, levitating it off of the ground and gently floated towards him. Opening the book to a random chapter, he placed the book into his waiting hands.

“Ha ha! Yes! I finally did it!” Shutting the book and laying it on the ground, Entropy took a deep breath. “I can't wait to try other spells.” He whispered to himself before groaning in pain, the pressure caused by the spell putting an agonizing level of pain in his head, as if something was hitting him with a mallet. “Ouch, maybe I should focus on mastering levitation first before trying other spells.” Harrumphing, Entropy curled into a ball, hugging his duvet tightly as he buried his face into the pillow.

Entropy groaned as sunlight passed through his curtains, hitting him square in the eyes, a monstrous headache spreading deep within his head. Groggily, he got out of bed and landed on his face, his headache worsening. 'Ugh, why does it have to be a school day?’ He asked himself as he got off of the floor, rubbing the sleep from his eyes while he was making his way towards the bathroom to get ready for the day. Freshly showered and a clean set of pearly white teeth, he donned a suit of smart clothes. A buttoned, black shirt with a light maroon tie, its shell hidden behind the tough collar of the shirt. A pair of dark gray trousers hung slightly loose on his frame for better movement, tightening around the ankle. Blue socks were hidden by a pair of smart black shoes. Most of these articles of clothing where experimental for his tailor, apart from the socks and tie.

With a stretch, he took one last look around his room. It wasn't special, no nicknacks or other things to give his room any personality, apart from a few books littered around here and there. With light breath, he opened the door to be greeted by a royal guard.

“Good morning, my lord!” The cheery face of the guard bolstered Entropy's mood greatly, partially forgetting his headache.

"Morning!” Entropy waved at her with a contagious beaming smile. The guard trailed behind him as they walked in the direction of the castle entrance. Entropy rarely noticed any difference between the guards due to their armor enchantments, even if they were different races. They either had white coat with blue manes and tails or a dark grey coat with white manes and tails. They even had the same cutiemark! This guard, however, was different. She was a pegasus and had a light blue coat with a yellow mane and tail, with a strange shade of yellow for her eyes that Entropy just couldn't figure out. Her cutiemark depicted a yellow lighting bolt. Lightly-plated indigo armour rattled with each step she took, a streamlined helmet rasping against her side.

“I don't want to be rude or anything, but why don't you look like the others?” He questioned as he strolled along side the guard.

“Huh? Oh! Well I'm a lieutenant of the third branch, thus I am allowed to switch the enchantment on or off when I wish.” She smiled sheepishly as she rubbed the back of her head. “By the way, my lord, my name is Yellow Flash.”

“Nice to meet you, Lieutenant Yellow Flash!” Entropy gleefully said as he stuck a hand, to which Yellow reciprocate with her hoof. Which was kind of awkward due to the differences. The kind-hearted guard stiffened as, what Entropy could only assume was, her superior rounded the corner.

“Captain!” She saluted with a hard voice.

“At ease, lieutenant.” He replied with a wave of his hoof, acknowledging both of them with a simple nod. “My lord.” Entropy nodded to him, creeping him out with his dead dull-blue eye. Entropy shivered once the captain left from sight, leaving the two of them in a respectable silence.

“Captain Cross always gives me the creeps. I mean, he isn't a bad pony, but that eye of his? Uuugh,” Entropy shivered again, “I know it isn't his fault, but still.”

“I know exactly how you feel, his cold uncaring gaze terrifies the rookies. But eventually you get used to it. Now, come on, we don't want to be late now do we?”

“Ugh, when school is involved, I don't care if I'm late. Especially if Cutter is there.” He grumbled, sliding his hands in to his pockets.

“He still giving you trouble?”

“Yeah, but nothing I can't handle. I mean, he's the one stupid enough to make fun of a prince.” The pair came across a set of stairs, leading to the entrance of the castle.

“Hey, wait. Aren't you supposed to have a bag with you?” Yellow asked, blocking the sun's rays with a hoof as they crossed the threshold.

“Yeah, but I left at school by mistake. I'm just glad we had no homework to do.” After a brief moment of thinking his face paled. “I hope.”

"Ok class, I want all of you to hand in your math homework, please.” A rather chubby pink mare said over the chorus of ponies speaking to their friends, walking down the rows of desks.

“Ponyfeathers.” Entropy cursed under his breath, having forgot his homework. Rummaging around his modified saddlebag, he faked looking for his homework, despite knowing his fate.

“Entropy, your homework?” He froze, fearing the face of his teacher. Biting the arrow, he looked up from his bag with a nervous laugh. He found it hard to focus on anything other than her eyes, while they weren't angry or disappointed, he didn't want to know how they would react to what he was about to say next.

“I, uhhh. I seem to have-”

“Entropy, please don't tell me you've forgotten your homework?” The teacher looked at him with concern as she brushed a lock of her snow white mane out if her face. “I-.”

“Here it is! He dropped it on the ground.” A filly said next to him as a sheet of paper dropped onto his desk, surprising him. The usually shy Rosary Pea raised her voice to draw the teachers attention, as well as the whole class, taking her sudden puff of bravery. His eyes flicked to the sheet of paper, noticing the recently erased name of the filly behind his own hastily written down name. Picking up the paper up with a hoof, she scanned over the numbers written in the boxes next to the questions with an intense stare.

“Very good, Entropy. Full marks.” She said, handing the sheet to him, all answers ticked.

“T-thank you miss Pinkheart.” His head snapped to Rosary with enough force to crack his neck as the teacher left, making the young filly to wince. “Why did you do that!” He whispered harshly. “Now you're gonna get in trouble. I'm grateful yes, but why?”

“I don't know. I just...did.” Shrugged, not looking him in the eyes as if she were being scolded by a parent.

Entropy didn't know what to say, so he didn't say anything, feeling guilty that she did what she did for him. She was held back after class, as he knew it would happen, which made him feel worse as he left the class for break, watching the filly as he did.

After around ten minutes, he counted, Rosary was let out to join the rest of the children, only to be pulled aside by her brother, rather violently from the looks of it. From his spot in the playground, Entropy stood up and began to walk towards the three of them, catching a glimpse of Sugar's tail. From what he could see and guess, Box was trying to force his sister to climb the tree, for some stupid reason, making her distraught and panicky which made Entropy speed up considerably. But, he was too late as she reluctantly started to climb, managing to reach a good three quarters up.

“Rosary, what are you doing!?” The young prince shouted, drawing the attention of everypony and nearly scaring her off of the branch that she so happens to be perched on, clinging for dear life. “What in the name of Tartarus below have you made her do, Box!?”

“What?” He half asked, half laughed, as if it was the most funniest thing ever created. “She needs to get over her shyness, it's honestly such a pain to even be related to a filly like her.”

“Are you mad!? What if she falls!?”

“Who cares, prince, she's an earth pony, as disgusting as it is, she'll live a small fall. Besides why do you care, you're Royalty earth ponies are below you.”

'Ooooh, you're soooooooooooooo gonna get a punch in a second, Box.’ A snap brought Entropy out of his thoughts as Rosary yelped. Without warning the branch snapped, causing her to fall, fast. Upon instinct, Entropy raised his hand and tried to levitate her, only to rapidly slow her descent. Knowing that it was without a doubt possible for his spell to fail, he quickly walked under her, ready to catch.

And fail it did.