The three were led through the arcade and into the auditorium.

“Why are we going here?” Sweetie asked.

“Why? To experience chaos theater,” Discord said.

“Weren’t we just talking about some kind of initiation or something?” Scootaloo asked.

“Yeah, but that comes later,” Discord said “For now enjoy,” Discord gestured to a stage where an elderly man with a little girl's voice was singing.

“Once I was two gazillion and ninety-three years old and my momma told me I should find more friends-” He sung a well-known human song, but with weird numbers.

“What’s he singing?” Scootaloo asked as they sat down.

“Some song he heard, still going strong Slmoop!” Discord clapped.

“His name is Slmoop?” AB giggled.

“Yeah, now enjoy,” Discord laid back.

An hour later

“Once I was forty quadrillion years old and my daddy told me-” Slmoop continued.

“....Uuuuugh, how long has he been singing?...” Scootaloo said bored out of her mind.

“How old is this guy?!” Sweetie demanded.

AB was asleep.

“C’mon don’t you find it funny?” Discord asked.

“I mean seriously? Is he ever going to hit his actual age?!” Scootaloo demanded.

“I dunno, he’s been singing for years,” Discord said.

“....What the hay is the point then!?” Scootaloo demanded.

“How is this chaotic?” Sweetie demanded.

“Chaos can take many forms, this way it's almost annoyingly funny,” Discord waggled his eyebrows.

“I’m done,” Scootaloo trotted out with Sweetie and woke AB who followed them.

“Is he done?” AB asked.

“No,” Sweetie said.

“Alright alright,” Discord said as he followed them out.

“So what do we do next?” Scootaloo asked.

“Next, the jacuzzi,” Discord said.

“Jacuzzi!?” The three happily said looking forward to a chance to unwind.

They stood there in shock at the fact that the jacuzzi was a literal lava pit.

“What the? How are we going to swim in that?!” Sweetie asked.

“I wanna relax, not melt!” Scootaloo exclaimed.

“Chaos beings like us are immune to lava, don’t worry,” Discord said.

“Ah still don’t wanna get in,” AB said.

“Suit yourself,” Discord said before something snuck up on them, took a deep breath and made a loud trumpet noise.

“DA!” The Elephant said at the end.

“AAAAAAAHHH!” The three jumped into the air and splashed down in the lava pool.

They came out flailing.

“HELP HELP! I’M MELTING!” Scootaloo screamed.

“I’m too young to die!” Sweetie cried.

“NOOOOO!” AB wailed.

“Girls girls girls! It is fine,” The Elephant said.

“Huh?...” The three paused their freakout and saw the lava was actually like a hot tub, not liquid death…

“##LOL” A robot with a phone head chortled.

“Mah words exactly,” AJ said.

“AJ?!” AB exclaimed.

“Nah, just look like her, ah take the form an mannerisms of loved ones of whoever's around me,” She said.

“Oh…” AB knew AJ wouldn’t be here anyways.

“Question mark, horse emoji?” The robot pointed at them while relaxing in the pool.

“Their newcomers,” Discord shrugged.

“LOLheart emoji,” He said.

“What is he saying?” Sweetie asked.

“Just his way of speaking,” an eldritch monster said.

“AAAH!” Sweetie jumped as he hadn’t been there before.

“Yep!” she turned again and saw an anglerfish with legs.

“AAAAAAH!” Sweetie jumped back.

“Yep yep yep,” He asked.

“Indeed, they’ll need a ceremony before they can be comfortable here,” Discord sat down in the pool.

“What is this ceremony?” Scootaloo asked.

“We’re not allowed to talk about it, but it’s hard,” The eldritch creature said.

“Yep yep,” The anglerfish said.

“Sad face,” The robot said.

“I’m a little worried, can’t we just leave?” Scootaloo asked.

“No, once more it’s mandatory, trust me afterward you three will find it enlightening,” Discord said.

“I hope it’s nothing grueling,” Scoots said as she laid back against the wall.

“Hey, little space here?” Bill's voice came from behind her.

“AGH! Stop doing that!” Scootaloo demanded.

“Ah keep your horn on, look I’ll tell you this much, it’s a test of whether you three have the mettle to be chaos beings,” Bill said “I remember when I took it before I destroyed my home dimension, that guy is almost impossible to-” Bill was shushed.

“Remember! He’s always listening,” Discord warned.

“Oh yeah,” Bill nervously glanced around.

“So… this Chief D guy… what makes him so powerful? What’s his story?” Sweetie asked.

“Good question, nobody knows,” Bill said as he poured a martini into his hat and then shook it up before pouring it into his mouth which appeared on his forehead.

“And this guy is some kind of leader?” AB asked.

“Da, he made this haven for chaos users to come and unwind after long hard days of committing chaos, be it for good, bad, or self-gain,” The Elephant said.

“Tricksters everywhere respect and revere as well as fear him,” The morphing lady who now resembles RD said.

“Wow… Even Discord?” Scootaloo asked.

“Yep, he also single-handedly keeps the atrophy away,” Discord said.

“Atrophy?” AB asked.

“Chaos magic residue, so many chaos users in one place could destroy a dimension, but he keeps everything together,” Discord said.

“Wow… this guy sounds really strong,” Sweetie said.

“One of the strongest,” Bill said “Even the AXOLOTL looks up to him,” Bill said.

“One of? Is there anyone stronger?” Scootaloo asked.

“....” They all glanced at eachother unsurely “We’re not sure, but it’s a sore subject for him, and I like existing,” The morphing lady said now looking like Rarity said.

“Da, best to not poke dat bear,” The Elephant pointed over to a bear in another jacuzzi relaxing with the Kool-aid-man.

“Ooooh yeah,” Kool-aid-man said as he relaxed.

“Weird,” Scootaloo said.

Next Discord was leading them through a series of paradoxical stairways and slides along the walls and ceilings.

“How does anypony or thing find their way through all this?” Scootaloo said feeling turned around.

“Simple, we’re chaos beings, this stuff is like second nature to us,” Discord said as he stopped and then fell down and gravity suddenly reversed as the other three fell as well.

“WHOA!” They shouted as they landed in midair and then gravity changed again and they were flung into a tunnel.

“AAAAHHH!” The three cried.

“Oh do calm, this is fun!” Discord said.

“Yeah right!” Scootaloo said before they were deposited in a bouncy house with several other creatures.

A clown, a shark, a pogo stick and several Oompa Loompa’s.

“What are those?” Sweetie asked.

“Oompa Loompa’s, they come here for vacations,” Discord said.

“Are they chaos beings too?” AB asked.

“No but they have Willy Wonka’s permission, and trust me, that carries some weight here, he provides a hundred percent of the sweets,” Discord said.

“Wow…” Scootaloo said before Discord began bouncing.

“C’mon!” Discord laughed as he bounced into the air and the shark ate him.

“DISCORD!” Sweetie cried.

“Over here!” they turned and saw him on the pogostick.

“This place gives me a headache,” Scootaloo said before they started bouncing as well.

After a half an hour of bouncing they went down another tunnel.

“Can’t you teleport us?!” Sweetie cried.

“Sure! But it’s not as fun!” Discord laughed as they were plopped down in a candyland.

“Huh?” They all said and they saw a bunch of dolls having a tea party.

“Hi, Discord!” They waved.

“Hi, girls! Say, know when the Ceremony is? My watch is behind,” Discord said showing his watch.

“16:88” They said in unison.

“Ok thanks!” Discord waved.

“Can we leave? Those dolls give me the creeps,” AB said.

“Sure sure,” Discord said as they left.

“So… 16:88? What’s with the weird time?” Scootaloo asked.

“Chaos time is quite random,” Discord said.

“When is that in pony time?” Scootaloo asked.

“That’s half past… two minutes,” Discord said.

“...TWO MINUTES!?” They exclaimed having hoped they’d have more time to prep.

“Sorry, guess time got away from us,” Discord said as a clock flew by them along with BMO and a turret from Portal.

“HELP!” The turret cried as they rounded a corner.

“What do we do? How do we prep?” AB asked.

“No need we’re here,” Discord said as they arrived in a room filled with candles and a bunch of seated chaos beings.

“Ulp…” The three gulped.

“Alright, let the festivities begin,” Discord waved at them and then went to his seat and took a dollar from Bart.

“I’m betting a buck on the shadow pony with the bow,” Bart said.

Another dollar came forth, this one from Demongo “I’m betting on the one with the white outline, I’d bet her essence will-”

“Not giving you her essence,” Discord said

“Mmmhhhh…” Demongo sighed.

“Do you take crypto?” Bill asked.

“Little overplayed Bill,” Discord said as he watched the three standing on the altar.

“Uuhh… what do we do?” AB asked nervously.

COME…

“Huh?!” The three yelped hearing a powerful voice that came from everywhere and nowhere and inside their heads, they knew automatically who said it.

They turned to see amidst the candles, Chief D.

His glower left them feeling like the weight of the world was on their shoulders.

“Well girls?...” Scootaloo looked to her fellow chaos-touched ponies.

“Let’s do this,” AB said.

“I’m right behind you,” Sweetie said.

And the three approached him, and they stood before him looking quite nervous.

YOU THREE DARE TO ENTER WHERE THE GODS OF CHAOS TREAD?

“Y-yeah?...” The three shivered.

PROVE YOUR WORTH AS ACOLYTES OF CHAOS.

“I-I mean, we only came here because we were curious, we didn’t actually want to become-”

WHAT YOU WANT AND WILL GET ARE NOW SEPARATE ISSUES, ONE OF WHICH I DEEM, IGNORED.

“H-hey now we-” Scootaloo began but Sweetie shook her head and she quieted down.

PROVE YOUR WORTH!

“How?” AB asked.

MAKE ME LAUGH…

“.............What?” The three asked.

Author's Note