“…And so, may the ever loving grace of Chaos bless this poor unfortunate soul as she leaves behind this mortal coil and goes to meet her makers!! Today, this creature shall be sacrificed and the multiverse shall be spared the turmoils of destruction!!”
“SACRIFICE!!!!! SACRIFICE!!!!! SACRIFICE!!!!! SACRIFICE!!!!! SACRIFICE!!!!! SACRIFICE!!!”
“Today, we say goodbye to Autumn Blaze as my dear friend Monkey has a nice premature dinner! SAY GOODBYE, PUNK!!!!! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!”
“SACRIFICE!!!! SACRIFICE!!!! SACRIFICE!!!! SACRIFICE!!!!!!”
Yup. That’s me. I’m that sacrificial offering down in that large arena, waiting to be eaten by a giant green flying monkey. You’re probably wondering how I got into this situation, considering how everything was all fine and dandy last time. Well, before I tell you the story on how my life got ruined, I should introduce myself first. Hi! I’m Autumn Blaze. Let me give you a brief recap on what happened last time me and the gals got together so hopefully this makes more sense.
So…last year, this weird creature named Discord decided to reach across space and time and pluck me, Pinkie Pie, Gabby, Silverstream, Skystar, and this other pony named Izzy Moonbow from different periods in time and dump us all in his realm for a simple meeting. We were skeptical of Izzy at first as she didn’t even look like us (Seriously, what’s with the smaller eyes? Did ponies experience evolution in the future? And why does she only have a cutie mark on one side of her flank?), but as soon as she answered correctly the sacred billion dollar riddle, we all welcomed her into the family! That riddle is extremely difficult to answer and only those with a hyperactive brain like my friends and I can answer it instinctively and accurately with minimal effort.
We had so much fun, we played all sorts of games, and we talked for hours on end. We even ended up giving advice to each other! Silverstream was having some sort of identity crisis, so we all pitched in our thoughts in our own little ways. Eventually, time ran out and we all got sent home. But, me being me, I missed my friends so much that I just had to do it again! You see, being forced to silence via a magical stream for months will do that to you. I got lonely, so I got in contact with Applejack and Fluttershy, who brought me to the guy himself.
I thought he would say no, but he actually said yes! What a nice guy, right? Well…not exactly. He would allow a second meeting on one condition: one of us had to die in order to appease the Chaos Gods, who were threatening to destroy the multiverse as punishment for Discord’s actions!! What?!! None of us wanted to be sacrificed of course and I saved Gabby and Skystar a mental breakdown by offering to go myself. I thought it would be just a prank. You know those cool ritual games you play in the woods during Nightmare Night when you want to sound edgy and pretend to sacrifice your friends? Well…it wasn’t that.
It was real.
So, here I am. I guess maybe I brought this upon myself, but come on! I wasn’t given a contract or anything, so why couldn’t I opt out?!! This was so not fair.
“Alright!!” The chaotic draconequus himself floated down from his podium. “By humble request of Pinkie Pie and Silverstream, I have decided not to sacrifice Autumn Blaze tonight!!”
There was a huge groan from the audience. Seriously, why did these guys want me dead so badly?
Gabby and Skystar breathed massive sighs of relief. They were on the other side of the arena, staring at me with an expression of unfiltered joy now that I had been spared. Well, it had worked. I could not believe my own luck. I was being rescued!! Unfortunately, I couldn’t celebrate as my hooves were feeling numb from being bound together by duct tape and the flying monkey was still eying me like it was going to eat me anyway. I just wanted to go home.
“Oh my King Grover, it worked!” Gabby exclaimed. “Pinkie Pie is a genius!!”
“She and Silverstream know Discord personally, remember?” Skystar reminded her, “If any creatures can talk him down from sacrificing one of us, it’s them. Should I go untie her?”
“Discord will probably do that,” Gabby replied, “I wouldn’t want you to be eaten by that thing. It still looks hungry.”
Pinkie Pie and Silverstream came back over to them. They both also looked extremely relieved and elated to hear that their efforts had paid off.
“What did you tell them?” Skystar inquired her.
“Professor Pinkie told Discord that if he did this, then he would be having no more tea parties with Professor Fluttershy ever again!” Silverstream quipped. “That snapped him back to reality.”
“Not only that, he would be getting daily doses of the STARE!!!” Pinkie Pie added, “That sure made him rethink things all right! Now let’s get Autumn Blaze back!!”
“Not so fast!” Discord boomed overhead, “I said that I would not sacrifice her tonight!! I did not say she is off the hook!! There’s still the matter of appeasing the Chaos Gods, which I have come to a solution for!”
Oh great.
“If Izzy, our greatest champion, is able to answer the sacred Riddle of Chaos correctly within 24 hours, then everybody gets to go home!! However, if she answers the riddle wrong, then both she AND Autumn Blaze will be sacrificed to Monkey!! Doesn’t that sound wonderful, my old friend?”
The monster roared in excitement and pranced around the arena in anticipation. It was clear that it wanted to eat us both too. I felt a twinge of regret for Izzy. She was going to come here thinking she would be having another awesome playdate with us and then we would tell her the news that her life was on the line if she did not answer some obscure riddle. None of us knew that one, so how would we ever expect Izzy to know?!
It was hopeless.
———————————————————————————————————————————————————
Normal POV
Autumn Blaze and her friends sat down together at the meeting table in Discord’s cottage. They were discussing a potential course of action in getting Izzy back. The draconequus had given them only 24 hours to prep for the Riddle of Chaos and they needed some way to reach out to the purple unicorn.
So far, looking through the entirety of the bookshelves had not amounted to anything. The books did not contain any information useful to their cause and they had spent four hours searching. Finally, they had no choice but to sit down and brainstorm together. This was the table where they had all first met each other a year ago, so it held an incredibly special meaning to all of them.
However, now it was just a symbol of stress and worry.
Silverstream threw her claws up in the air in frustration. “Ugh! This is like studying for a test, only if you don’t pass, you die! How do we reach out to Izzy when she’s hundreds of years into the future?! This is hopeless!”
“Aw, don’t give up, Silverstream!” Pinkie Pie encouraged her, “You know what I always say in class: When the going gets tough, the tough gets going! That’s the party pony motto, meaning there’s nothing we can’t do if we do it together!”
“I like the sound of that,” Autumn Blaze stated, “But this isn’t just any ordinary task. If we don’t get Izzy back here, we’re all toast. Come on, there’s gotta be something!”
“Okay okay,” Skystar piped up, “What if, we go to Discord, ask him reeeeeeeeeaaaaalllly nicely not to sacrifice Autumn Blaze, offer him some shells as compensation, and then boom! Problem solved! He can probably give those to his Chaos Buddies later.”
Gabby shook her head. “I’m all for the ‘ask nicely’ thing, but you heard Discord. The rules are the rules. We must do better than this. Think realistically!”
Silverstream gasped. “Gabby, what was that you said?”
“Uh, the rules are the rules?”
“No no! After that!”
“Think realistically. Why?”
“That’s it!!” Silverstream realized. “Professor Pinkie, you can rip a hole in the very fabric of existence! Can you hop over to Hasbro headquarters and ask them to send you to G5? You can contact Izzy that way!“
“That’s just ridicu-“ Autumn Blaze was cut off by the sound of a fabric tear. “Of course. Never question Pinkie Pie.”
Sure enough, Pinkie Pie had broken open the fourth wall, which manifested itself as a portal to a large grey building with the Hasbro logo on it. She beamed proudly. “Okie dokie lokie! See you guys in a second!”
She hopped through the portal and landed on the other side, where she saw that doors to the headquarters were open. She headed inside, ignoring the curious stares from people on the sidewalk, and traversed throughout the building until she reached the receptionist.
The receptionist was a fair-skinned woman with dark brown hair. She sported a blue shirt and jeans and was looking through files of animated show pitches that the company needed to send off to Netflix. She was humming the My Little Pony theme song as Pinkie approached the desk.
“Excuse me, madam!” Pinkie Pie greeted cheerfully, “I’m Pinkie Pie and I’m from one of your shows! Can you please show me to the boss?”
“Sure thing, Pinkie Pie…” No sooner did the words leave the receptionist’s mouth did she realize who she was talking to. Her head snapped up and she faced the pink pony with wide eyes. “PINKIE PIE?!!!”
“Yes sirreee!” Pinkie Pie answered. “You see, we have an emergency in Discord’s realm and I gotta hop to the future and-“
THUNK!!
The receptionist had fainted in her chair, which fell to the floor with all the files spreading out all over the place. Almost instantly, many employees rushed over in droves from the next room as fast as they could and checked her pulse.
A man looked up in horror and saw Pinkie Pie, who was still standing there with a big bright smile on her face.
“My name is Pinkie Pie,” Pinkie sang, “Hello! And I am here to say, ‘How ya doin?’ I’m gonna make you smile and I will brighten up your daaaaaay…It doesn’t matter-“
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!” The man screamed and ran back into the other room, yelling for the manager to come and see the cartoon character come to life.
To her credit, Pinkie really didn’t know what she had done wrong.
———————————————————————————————————————————————————
It was a beautiful day in Maretime Bay. The Sun was shining brightly, lighting up the streets and environment in its warm embrace, and all the clouds were clear. The birds chirped and sang on the branches of the trees and everypony was enjoying the beautiful morning.
The pegasi flew in pairs throughout the blue canvas they now called their domain, doing flips and somersaults. The Unicorns carried groceries with their magic and hummed along to special tunes. The Earth Ponies grew plants and flowers with their own magic and handed them out to anyone who would take them.
The Crystal Brighthouse looked amazing at this time of day. The bright sunshine reflected off the crystal material, creating the illusion of multicolored light. The tall rainbow that continuously shot out of the Unity Crystals was particularly breathtaking to watch from afar.
Inside the Brighthouse, Sunny Starscout and her friends were eating breakfast in the kitchen and chatting with one another. They laughed and giggled at each other’s stories and jokes and each shared what they had been up to the previous day.
“Okay okay okay,” Izzy Moonbow stated, “You will not believe this. So today is the one year anniversary of the day me and my multiverse pals met!! I gotta do something to celebrate! This day needs the Izzy Moonbow touch!!”
Sunny laughed. “A year already? Wow, you’ve been keeping track! Well, I think I know what we’re gonna do today!”
“Shoppiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnng!!” Pipp Petals declared in a sing-song voice, earning herself a glare from her sister Zipp Storm. “What? I need to be the first one to buy the recent fashion trend! If I wear this, it’ll be a massive hit! 300k views in the first eight hours!”
“You do you, Pipp,” Zipp told her, “So, Hitch, any luck figuring out why Sprout’s been ditching his community service duties?”
“I’ve been giving him stern warnings left and right,” complained Hitch Trailblazer, “But he doesn’t take me seriously anymore! He thinks I’m going soft due to me taking care of Sparky! Well, I’ll show him soft!!”
“We need to help Izzy with her multiversary!” Sunny announced, “I’m sure we all know how incredibly special it is to her. So, I’m going to create some flyers!”
“You really think the whole town is going to show up to celebrate one pony’s special day?” Zipp asked skeptically, “They still think Izzy’s insane.”
“Not if I have anything to do with it!” Hitch stood up proudly, “Official sheriff’s decree: Today is now Izzyversary Day! Uh, that makes sense, right?”
The others were about to reply when they heard a knock on the doors. Hitch rushed towards them at top speed and opened them to reveal none other than an exhausted Pinkie Pie.
“Whoa!!” Hitch was shocked beyond belief. “Who are you, stranger? Haven’t seen you around in Maretime Bay before.”
Instantly, Pinkie burst back to life without warning and started talking so fast that poor Hitch could not keep up. “HellothereHitchTrailblazerI’mPinkiePieandIneedtotalktoIzzyrightaway!”
“Excuse me, what?”
As if on cue, Izzy sprinted towards the door and gasped when she saw Pinkie Pie. “Pinkie Pie?!! How did you get here?! Have you come to see me?!! This is so exciting!!”
Pinkie Pie nodded vigorously, practically bouncing up and down with a mix of impatience and excitement as she spoke,“YouneedtocomebackwithmeandanswerariddleforDiscordotherwisehewillsacrificeAutumnBlazetohispetmonkeytoappeasetheChaosGods!!”
“Autumn Blaze is going to be sacrificed?!!” Izzy looked horrified. “We cannot let that happen! Bye, guys! I’m going back with Pinkie Pie, see ya!!” she told them hastily.
Right as she said that, Pinkie Pie opened another portal back to Discord’s realm and both of them jumped through it before Hitch or the others could react.
Zipp scratched her head in confusion. “Did…you get anything Pinkie Pie said?”
Hitch shook his head. “Nope. All I know is…Izzy’s been kidnapped and I just stood here like a doofus. WHAT KIND OF SHERIFF AM I??????????!!!!!!!”
———————————————————————————————————————————————————
Back in Discord’s house, Pinkie Pie and Izzy both fell face first from the portal and landed on the wooden floor as it closed.
Izzy picked herself up from the ground. “Oh my…that was SO COOL!!!! Can we do it again?!!”
Right as she said that, the others rushed over and embraced her. She was caught off guard, but soon realized with joy that she was back in Discord’s realm with her buddies. She hugged them back tightly and let tears fall from her face as she let the moment linger.
This was already the best first multiversary ever in her opinion.
As soon as she let them go, Izzy took a shaky deep breath. “I’ve really…really missed you guys. All of you! You won’t believe how many times I told my friends about the fun we had together! I thought I would never see you all again!”
“We know, Izzy,” Autumn Blaze comforted her, “And it’s my fault. I missed you, all of you so much that I asked Discord to bring us back together again! Only now in exchange…if you don’t answer this riddle…we’re both on the chopping block.”
“Is it the billion dollar riddle?” Izzy smirked. “I got this one nailed! 27,001, everyone!!”
“Why did that unironically rhyme?” Skystar inquired, “Ooh let me try! Um, after this, we’re going to have tons of fun under the Sun!”
Gabby laughed. “Kinda flimsy. You’ll do better next time, Skystar. Now let’s get down to business. No, Izzy. This isn’t the billion dollar riddle. This one is even more sacred. For if one answers this riddle, they are therefore worthy and shall have the power of…DISCORD!!!!”
Izzy gasped in shock. “The Riddle of Chaos?! I’ve heard of that! I read about that last time we were here! It says no one but the Chaos Gods know it!”
“Wait, you found it in a BOOK?!” Pinkie demanded, “All this time?! We haven’t looked hard enough then, I knew it!!”
“Where did you find it?” asked Autumn Blaze. “We’ve been checking the bookshelves for hours!”
“Well, I might’ve taken it home on accident,” Izzy pulled a thick brown book out of her mane, “‘The Unauthorized History of Chaos!’ It had a reference in there to the last chapter where the riddle is stated, but I never got to it. I’ve always been so busy that I haven’t finished it. So close! Only one page away! Unfortunately, I don’t remember what that page is.”
“Well, we don’t have much time now,” Silverstream said, “We need to read that book!”
“It’s time for a montage!” Pinkie Pie declared, “This calls for a READING PARTY!!!” With the flick of her hoof, a radio appeared out of thin air and planted itself on the table.
Izzy put on her glasses. “Let’s do this!”
“Oh yes! YES!!!” Skystar cheered, taking out Melvy and Melvin from out of nowhere to use as extra reading companions.
Optional Song Choice for Reading Montage: https://youtu.be/bRLML36HnzU
The five friends sat on the floor, reading the book together. Each of them took turns reading a specific chapter, always trying to imitate Discord’s voice while doing so. They joked about some of the ridiculous vocabulary the Lord of Chaos used to describe himself and his fellow Chaos Gods.
About five minutes in, Gabby accidentally turned a page too hard and ended up ripping it off. While the others panicked, she checked it front and back to see if the riddle was on it.
Nothing.
“Aw man!” Silverstream said with exasperation, taking the paper from Gabby and throwing it aside. “We must try harder!”
“And try harder we will!” Pinkie Pie agreed, “See? Now you’re getting in the spirit!! Now…TO THE NEXT CHAPTER, LADIES!!!!!”
“Yes, ma’am!!” the others chimed in unison and turned the page simultaneously, ripping it off in the process.
Skystar shrugged. “He’s probably got hundreds of copies.”
Thirty minutes passed and still no sign of the riddle. They continued to search through it, examining every single solitary word in excruciating detail. They read through Chapter 20, then 25, then 30, then 40, and still nothing.
Around the hour mark, Izzy raided the refrigerator and got out a cup of orange juice, which she sipped through periodically as she read Chapter 50, which detailed the history of the draconequus species and how they were all slaughtered by the Pillars of Equestria thousands of years ago with four of them being the only survivors. Those four draconequui, Discord included, went on to become the guardians of the multiverse and formed the Council of Chaos.
Finally after two hours, they reached the final chapter of the book where the heading stated in bold font:
CHAPTER ONE BILLION
THE RIDDLE OF CHAOS
“This is it, guys,” Izzy said worriedly, “If we can’t figure out the answer to the riddle from this, then we are in deep doodoo!”
“Hey,” Autumn Blaze reassured her, “Even if we die from this, it was fun having this reading party with all of you. I’m so glad I got to spend my final moments of life with my besties.”
Izzy nodded with a brave smile. “You’re right. No matter what happens, we’ll face it together! Sunny was right when she kept saying that.”
“What do you think will happen when we turn the next page?” Silverstream asked.
“I don’t know,” Skystar admitted, “All that the book said was that we will be able to understand the multiverse in its purest form, see things we weren’t able to see before, as for a fleeting moment, we will have the powers of gods!”
“Freaky…” remarked Gabby.
Everyone nodded in approval.
With a shaky hoof, Izzy turned towards the next page, bracing herself as the entirety of existence was coming at her at full force and………
It was blank.
“What?!” Autumn Blaze demanded. “No! No! No no no! There’s gotta be some sort of mistake! Uh, Izzy, rip the page out!”
Izzy did so, checking the page front and back to see if there was something, anything they had missed.
It was still blank.
Izzy stared in concern around her as the faces of her friends fell in disappointment and disbelief. They all had expressions of shock, sadness, horror, anger…all of them mixed into one.
“Okay,” Silverstream closed the book bitterly, “So this whole time, Discord was just a massive troll. Of course you can’t figure out the Riddle of Chaos, it doesn’t exist! He knew we wanted to save Autumn Blaze, so he prayed on that!”
“No,” Gabby countered, “Discord is wiser than us all.”
“Oh come on!” Silverstream yelled, “Open your eyes, Gabby! Are you seeing something I’m not seeing?!”
“There’s gotta be some form of explanation,” Gabby said, “Why would Discord do this? Why would he devote an entire book to Chaos history if it was just to troll us? This doesn’t make sense. Nothing makes sense!!”
“Because it doesn’t-“
“QUIET, SILVERSTREAM!!!” Gabby snapped, “Autumn Blaze’s life is on the line here, the least you can do is not be such a quitter!!”
“Not be such a quitter?!! I can’t make up things out of thin air!” Silverstream argued. “I can’t save Autumn Blaze’s life now anymore than you can!! Admit it!! We’re toast!!”
Skystar looked down in shame. “I could’ve helped somehow…I feel responsible.”
“No Skystar,” Autumn Blaze assured her solemnly, “You’re not to blame on this. It’s my fault. Got too excited and got me and Izzy sentenced to death. I really should’ve stayed silent.”
“So…what do we do now?” Izzy asked her, trembling with fear as she faced the prospect of her death.
“We face our death like adults,” Autumn Blaze told her, “I’ll be right by your side the whole time. I am very happy to have met all of you. Please…forgive me for dragging you all into this.”
The others looked down in sadness and didn’t look at her. They didn’t speak. The only pony giving her any kind of attention was Izzy, who was now stepping back as the reality of the situation hit her at full force.
She was a promising and bright young mare who dreamed she could help bring peace. Sooner or later though, you always have to wake up.
Tears cascaded from Izzy’s eyes as she collapsed to the floor, sobbing relentlessly as Autumn Blaze stroked her gently. She had never felt so useless in her whole life. She always loved to help her friends back at home and she knew what to say to make them feel better. Now though, there was nothing she could say. She was going to be killed, mauled in cold blood as some sort of sadistic sacrifice to the gods for no reason at all.
Skystar, Pinkie Pie, and Gabby were also consoling one another. Not a single face was dry. They had failed.
And now…it was too late.
———————————————————————————————————————————————————
The arena was cheering loudly as Autumn Blaze and Izzy Moonbow were walked to their deaths.
A couple chimera-like creatures led them to the podium where Izzy was going to be asked a riddle that didn’t exist and then be sentenced to death right afterwards when she couldn’t answer. She looked glumly down at her hooves as she thought of the many adventures she had in her lifetime.
She had been a great friend, hadn’t she? She helped save the world and bring back magic to a population that desperately needed it. She and her friends were the closest of friends there ever had been.
She had accomplished great things in her life. She was worth something. She made others smile and laugh. They all felt like their best selves when they were around her. That was worth a lot.
A whole lot.
Gabby, Skystar, Silverstream, and Pinkie Pie were separated in a different portion ot the arena and held back by guards so that they couldn’t intervene in what was about to happen.
As the two of them reached Discord’s hovering podium, the draconequus floated down to see them. “Ah, how wonderful it is to see you two! THE CHAMPION HAS ARRIVED!!!!!!!!!!!!”
The crowd erupted, chanting Discord’s name over and over. They were all championing the demise of the poor creatures who had never asked for any of this.
Izzy faced the Lord of Chaos, her eyes filled with rage. In that moment, she didn’t fear her death anymore. If she was destined to go down, she was going to go down swinging.
“I’m ready.” she stated firmly.
Discord grinned maniacally. “The Champion Izzy Moonbow has accepted the challenge!! Now, you will hear the riddle and answer it correctly! Or you. Will. DIE!!!!!!!!!”
Again, the crowd erupted in applause.
“Discord!! Discord!! Discord!! Discord!! Discord!! Discord!! Discord!! Discord!! Discord!! Discord!! Discord!! Discord!! Discord!! Discord!!”
“Izzy…” Autumn Blaze warned. “We don’t know the riddle…”
“I don’t care,” Izzy answered, “I’m going to try anyway. This is what friends do for each other. Best friends.”
The roar of the crowd intensified as Discord opened his mouth and delivered the riddle, which was an incoherent mess of words said in reverse. It was there where Izzy realized that she didn’t understand a thing. She didn’t understand the riddle!
That horrible feeling of hopelessness crept back to her and she felt like screaming and begging the Lord of Chaos for mercy, pleading with him to spare her life.
But right as she was about to finally give up hope, she heard a familiar voice behind her, a voice that she recognized instantaneously.
“Use your brain, Izzy! You can do it!”
“Sunny?!” Izzy whipped around and sure enough, Sunny, Hitch, Zipp, and Pipp were all standing far into the distance next to Pinkie Pie. They were all calling out to her, encouraging her, just as she always did for them.
“Trust us, Izzy! Think hard!!” Zipp called out.
“Yeah!! You can answer one stinky ‘ol riddle!!” Hitch yelled.
“We’re here for you, Izzy!! GO FOR IT!!” exclaimed Sunny.
“Show that creature!!” Zipp shouted.
“WE ARE WITH YOU, IZZY!!!” Pipp screamed.
“YOU GOT THIS, IZZY!!!!” shrieked Pinkie Pie loudly, “YOU CAN DO IIIIIIIIIIT!!!!!!”
Izzy racked her brain, thinking back to the furthest recesses of her subconscious when she first heard those words. All of those words in reverse…she had heard them before! They were the words she always used to make up when she was a filly! Many years ago, when she was playing with her unicorn friends in Bridlewood, she would mark up words for the fun of it. All these words were hers!
Explosions went off in Izzy’s mind as reality seemed to rewrite itself entirely. Suddenly, she could see the world through completely different eyes. The pain and the hopelessness she had felt before evaporated as her wildest imaginations imploded. All the words she remembered from her fillyhood came together to form the riddle, sentences intertwined with one another when they shouldn’t be, words that shouldn’t’ve existed, but now did thanks to her, all those childish things her old friends always used to tell her were nonsense.
They weren’t nonsense. She knew the riddle. She knew it the whole time. She knew the answer her whole life. The Riddle was made up of every word she had ever made up in her life.
Opening her eyes, Izzy’s realization was interrupted by the booming sound of Discord’s voice, echoing throughout the arena and the roar of the crowd. Discord was taking absolute joy in seeing her panic that he didn’t notice the immediate change in her demeanor, nor the presence of her friends cheering her on.
“THE CHAMPION IZZY MOONBOW DOES NOT KNOW THE RIDDLE!!!!” Discord boasted, laughing maniacally. “SHE HAS FORFEITED HER CHANCES OF SAVING HER PRECIOUS AUTUMN BLAZE!! NOBODY BUT WE BEINGS OF CHAOS KNOW THE SACRED RIDDLE!!!!!!! AND NOW, THEY WILL DIE!!!!!!!”
“DISCORD!!! DISCORD!!!! DISCORD!!! DISCORD!!!!” The crowd chanted in unison, their voices mixing together in one thunderous call for the victory of the Lord of Chaos. The crowd wanted Izzy and Autumn Blaze dead. Discord was doing nothing to quell the fiery flames.
“I’m sorry,” Izzy stepped forward bravely, “What did you say?!! But did you just say I do not know the Riddle?!!”
“Izzy, what are you doing?!” Autumn Blaze demanded, “We don’t know it!”
Izzy knew it was now or never. Autumn Blaze and all of her friends were counting on her. She would not let them down. Not this time. The memories of her fillyhood and all the words she had made up swirled through her mind. Suddenly, the universe was different to her now, no longer inhibited by the rigid shackles of reality. She was now free, unbound by any law. She felt stronger than she ever had before and there was no way, no way in the entire fabric of reality, that she was going to let Discord and a bunch of mean Chaos Gods stand against the friendships she had cultivated.
“Now,” Izzy declared, “Listen up, Discord!!!! Allow me to remind you, the page in your book was blank because the Riddle was forbidden to be transcribed in any form!! A normal pony or creature would have their brains fried for just trying to decode it, BUT a pony who’s entire existence is devoted to the art of pure imagination and limitless creativity knows the art of chaos better than anypony! The answer to the Riddle is SCHOA which is Chaos mixed up!! My favorite of the made-up words.”
The crowd erupted into applause as a large bell sounded on the ceiling, indicating that she had gotten the answer correct. Izzy had done it.
She had solved the riddle.
Discord gasped audibly. “This is…this is impossible!!!! Y-YOU C-CAN’T KNOW THE ANSWER, YOU’D HAVE TO BE A-“
“A Chaos God…” Autumn Blaze realized.
Izzy was now encased in a bright bubble of magic. Golden sparks of energy swirled around her entire being. On her back was now a set of ethereal wings, one of them was the wing of a pegasus, the other of a dragon. Just like Discord. Her eyes opened and a blast of magic exploded from her, blinding everycreature present in a holy light.
In that moment, it was said that the entirety of the cosmos could feel Izzy’s presence and the sheer raw power that had been awakened in her. Creatures from all across the multiverse bowed down in respect and awe when they saw the shining ball of light in the sky.
Back in the Realm of Chaos, Discord fell to the arena grounds, shielding his eyes like a vampire from the light. It couldn’t be true. It just couldn’t be true!! How could this seemingly insignificant little unicorn who had fallen into his trap know everything that he did?!! Nothing made sense!!!!
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!” Discord screamed, “YOU WILL NOT TAKE THIS AWAY FROM ME!!!!!!!”
Lifting her head up from the ground, Izzy faced Discord, the treacherous creature who had allowed her to meet her new friends, and the very same creature who was now trying to take them away.
“LET AUTUMN BLAZE GO!!!!!!” Izzy bellowed. She almost didn’t recognize her own voice for a moment. It was still hers, but it reverberated across the space she was in and echoed back from all areas just like Discord’s was.
Discord growled. “Ugh! FINE!!! JUST CALL YOUR LIGHTSHOW OFF!!!!!!!”
“What’s the matter, Discord?” Autumn Blaze smirked. “I thought you liked your lightshows.”
The chaos energy faded and Izzy was back to normal, collapsing against Autumn Blaze as answering the Riddle had taken a lot out of her. Opening her eyes again, she stared into the eyes of the Kirin she had just saved from death.
“Did we…did we win?” she asked, panting from exhaustion.
Autumn Blaze nodded, her eyes wide in shock. “Yeah. Izzy, you didn’t just save my life there, you totally owned him! You’re…a Chaos God too!”
“I’m what?!” Izzy sprung up instantly. “But that’s impossible, I’m just-“
“INDEED SHE IS!!!!!!” She was interrupted by a loud booming voice. She looked up, but the voice wasn’t Discord’s. It was deeper and sounded more ancient. The sound reverberated across the arena like an earthquake.
The ground shook beneath them as suddenly, a large portal opened right in the middle of the arena and three draconequui came flying out of it. They looked just like Discord, only they were much bigger in size and had a commanding presence to them. The leader carried a golden trident, signifying that he was their King.
Discord’s mouth dropped open. “The Gods! They’re here!”
As the crowd cheered once again, Sunny and the remaining Mane 5 stared in awe as the Gods touched down beside Izzy and Autumn Blaze.
“What kind of filter is that?!” asked a baffled Pipp.
“That’s…not a filter…” Zipp realized.
Autumn and Izzy bowed before the three draconequui guardians as a sign of respect. The female draconequus in the front laughed.
“Don’t bow before us, Izzy Moonbow,” she stated kindly, “You are one of us.”
“She’s whaaaaat?!” Hitch asked in bewilderment, earning him a quick glare from Sunny.
“Wait wait wait,” Izzy shook her head. “One of you? I don’t understand.”
“That’s alright,” the leader spoke, “We do not blame you for your lack of understanding. I am King Ares of the Kingdom of Chaos. That over there is my wife Eris and behind me is Hades. We are the last draconequui.”
“You solved a riddle that is impossible for a normal pony to translate,” Hades added, “Before we settled as gods, our kingdom was rich and prosperous. But everything changed when Equestria attacked. They destroyed our people and only four of us escaped. Our beloved princess Rhea, the most creative, chaotic, and imaginative of us all, was lost to that wizard’s sorcery.”
“Eris and I took Rhea’s soul and split it, hiding the personality fragments within four creatures,” King Ares continued, “Those creatures would inherit Rhea’s memories and personality traits. For generations, upon the death of each of the bearers, we would pass the fragments down to the next generation. This continued until one day, a miracle happened and the fragments consolidated into a new, single being. You. The reason you knew that riddle and the words to answer is because you carry Rhea’s soul in your subconscious. All those words you made up in your childhood were hers.”
Izzy couldn’t believe what she was hearing. It all made so much sense! This was why she was always so different from the other unicorns in Bridlewood. She was never meant to conform to their status quo. She was always destined to be their savior.
“So…you’re saying,” Autumn Blaze said, “That all of us: Izzy, Gabby, Silverstream, Skystar, Pinkie Pie, and me…we all possess a piece of Rhea’s soul. That’s why we’re the way we are, that’s what brings us together, that’s the source of our bond!”
Eris nodded. “Indeed it is. Long ago, we sensed that our daughter was still alive somewhere out there in the infinity of space. Now we finally understand. She lives in you. All of you, but especially you, Izzy. You are the reincarnation of our dear child.”
“For only a true child of ours can hear the untranslatable words of the Riddle of Chaos and accurately determine the answer,” King Ares told her, resting his lion paw on Izzy’s mane, “Now at last, my beloved daughter, you can come home.”
A second portal opened right behind them, revealing a beautiful floating kingdom with cotton candy clouds, flying pies, and checkered floors. Many mythical creatures roamed about, singing merrily as they danced across the skies. The Sun was a rainbow color and shined beautifully on the land while chocolate rain fell gracefully onto the ground, creating puddles every which way.
Izzy felt tears come to her eyes. It was all so beautiful. She could do whatever she wanted there and no one would judge her. She would be loved. She would have a family, loving parents, and a prosperous wonderland that she would never get tired of playing in. She would be a princess.
As she was about to make her decision though, she saw out of the corner of her eyes that Sunny and the others were leaving back through the fourth wall portal.
She ran up to them as fast as she could. “Hey hey, Sunny! Where are you guys going?”
Sunny looked at her and smiled sadly. “Home. You found your family, Izzy. Go live a happy life with them. You’ll be one hay of a Chaos Princess.”
“I agree there,” Hitch agreed. “Go, Izzy. The world’s waiting for you.”
She was right there. She could’ve stepped through the portal to the Kingdom of Chaos right then and there and everything would be fine.
Only…it wasn’t.
Izzy sighed as she approached her true parents, “Mom, Dad…wow, it feels so weird saying that. I’m really honored by this. But…my life is with my friends back in Maretime Bay. I’d like to stay there with them. I finally know where I belong.”
King Ares and Eris glanced at each other in surprise. Then they smiled and nodded.
“Very well, Izzy,” stated King Ares proudly, “We accept your decision. You’ve grown up to be a smart, independent, and capable young mare. As parents, we couldn’t be more proud. If there’s anything we can do before we must depart, let us know.”
“There is one thing,” Izzy answered, “And…it’s kind of a personal request. Will you let me hang out with my new friends every multiversary? I know you’re angry at Discord for doing this and you wanted Autumn Blaze sacrificed, but…I care for all of them. And I just…don’t want to say goodbye forever. Can you guys do that?”
King Ares and Eris laughed heartily, doubling over. They laughed so hard that their eyeballs came out and they had to put them back in.
“Oh Izzy,” Eris said soothingly, “We were never mad at Discord for doing this. If anything, we’re proud of him as it helped us find you.”
“Yeah,” agreed King Ares, “And what do you think this is? The era of Grogar? We don’t need sacrificial offerings to be happy. Of course you can hang out with your friends whenever you’d like. Just give us a call using one of your secret words and we’ll be sure to arrange it.”
That was when Pinkie Pie, Gabby, Skystar, and Silverstream walked over to them.
“Wait a minute,” Silverstream shook her head in disbelief, “So if you guys were never angry and didn’t want to destroy the multiverse this whole time, then why did Discord say otherwise?”
All eyes were now on the Lord of Chaos, who was smiling sheepishly in embarrassment at being exposed.
“Well, I um…um…it was a friendship test!” Discord blurted out, “A really well-intentioned one at that! You didn’t think I was reeeeeaaaallly going to sacrifice Autumn Blaze-“
“DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSSSSCCCCOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRD!!!!!!!!!!” King Ares demanded. “What is the meaning of this?!”
“You’re in big trouble, young man!” Eris shouted, “You’re grounded for the rest of the year!!!”
“We should probably charge him for attempted murder too.” Hades pointed out.
Upon hearing this, Discord shrank down to a smaller size in terror.“Mommy…”
No sooner had he said this did the three other draconequui pounce on him, hauling him up and dragging him into the air kicking and screaming like a two-year old back through the portal to the Kingdom of Chaos.
The portal closed behind them, the dying screams of Discord the final thing Izzy and her two groups of friends ever heard before there was total silence.
This time, the crowd didn’t cheer as their leader had been defeated. Izzy had won and saved Autumn Blaze’s life.
With the danger finally over, all 11 friends embraced each other in one massive group hug. All of them had finally met for the first time.
It was here that Izzy finally understood her true place among the ponies of Equestria and what her true purpose was.
They were her family.
———————————————————————————————————————————————————
Autumn Blaze and the others returned to their individual time periods once again. Only Sunny, Izzy, and the remaining Mane 5 were going home together.
The time of great sorrow was ending. The Princess of Chaos was no longer needed.
Back at the Crystal Brighthouse, Izzy was having a field day telling her friends all about the events that had transpired beforehand at the breakfast table.
“…and then, Skystar gave me two other shells to remember them by until the next multiversary!” Izzy explained, pulling two blue clamshells out of her mane. “Their names are Bluey and Blueberry!”
“How do you tell the difference?” Sunny inquired.
“That’s easy,” Izzy replied, “Skystar showed me that Bluey here has a pink line running through him and Blueberry has a light blue line running through him! You gotta reeeeeaaaally look as she told me. I’ll treasure them forever!”
“And,” declared Pipp, grabbing out her phone, “We won’t be forgetting about this any time soon as I got the whole thing all on tape!” She went to her Photos and played the video recording. However, instead of playing the confrontation, a Rickroll was playing instead with the caption:
Stole this from the humans. I’m sure they won’t mind. Gotcha!
Love,
Mommy
“What? How? But?” Pipp was flabbergasted. “Whyyyyyyyyyy?”
“You really think some all-powerful multiverse Gods were going to let you keep video proof of their existence?” Zipp asked her, “Most likely, Eris hacked your phone when you weren’t looking.”
Pipp slumped, disappointed. “I guess, but now we have no proof! What if we forget everything that happened that night?”
Sunny shook her head. “No, we won’t forget.”
“How do you know?” asked Hitch.
“Because,” Sunny reached out with her hooves across the table. “Whenever we’re on the brink of forgetting, we’ll have Izzy here to remind us of the experience. Every day. Izzy never forgets.”
“You guys know me too well.” Izzy winked at them.
All of them laughed over this as the Sun slowly set behind the horizon and nighttime fell Maretime Bay. All was quiet and at peace.
Or so it would seem. I mean who can really tell exactly what constitutes happily ever after, hm? Certainly I can’t. Isn’t that right?
Author?!
Author's Note
Who me? You talking to me, Discord? I got nothing to do with this! I’m just the writer! Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed. This one’s definitely a bit more mature than the last one, but the zaniness is still the same and as intact as ever.
Stay tuned for the inevitable follow up and I gotta go see what Discord wants with me. I swear if he wants me to answer the riddle too, I am gonna-
