Chapter the First
“Hey Spike, could you bring me that yellow-bound book up there to the left? I think it’s a companion to this one I just finished.”
“Sure thing, Twilight. Lemme get the ladder.”
Twilight Sparkle sat at a painted mahogany desk within the library of Canterlot Castle, finishing up on the tome that lay before her. She sighed happily and looked around at the rows of shelves and the many colorful books and decorations that littered the room.
“I still can’t believe that Princess Celestia is letting us spend the entire day here!” she exclaimed.
Spike nodded as he climbed up the tall ladder leading to the bookshelf where Twilight’s requested book sat. He picked it up and blew the dust off, remarking, “I know, especially since that time-travelling incident. I wouldn’t think that the Princess would let you stay here for too long anymore.”
Twilight rolled her eyes and pulled the yellow book from his claws. “Oh come on, Spike. Princess Celestia wasn’t mad or anything. I was just on one of my wild hairs at the time; she understands.”
Spike looked down at her and smirked. “Then why did she put the time-travelling spell books under a magic lock-and-key?”
Twilight glared at him briefly before she opened up the yellow book and began to read it.
Spike turned back to the bookcase and was starting to climb down, when a small glimmer caught his eye from the other side of the case. He cocked his head, puzzled, and moved the ladder over to where the sparkling book sat, high up on the shelf. The little dragon stretched out as far as he could, but the book was just out of reach. He stuck his tongue out in concentration and hunger when he saw that the binding of the book was encrusted with gems. After a few fruitless moments of reaching, he suddenly leaped for it and succeeded in taking hold of his quarry. However, not only did the gem-book come down, but the entire top shelf as well.
Twilight whirled around at the sound of dozens of books and shelves crashing down to the floor. “Spike?! What the hay are you doing?!”
The little dragon popped up from the pile of books, rubbing his head and moaning, “Ah, man... That’s the last time I jump without a safety harness...”
Twilight shook her head and trotted over to him, smiling slightly. She lifted him out of the pile telekinetically and began to organize the books upon the shelf once more. Spike looked down at the book he had taken hold of and grinned. “Oh boy, a cook book for gemstone recipes! I’m gonna read this all day!”
He hopped over to a chair and licked his lips as he opened the book. Twilight sighed chidingly and continued to place the books back up. “You’ve gotta be more careful, Spike. Some of these books might be really old and fragile and we don’t want to rip any-“
She suddenly paused and looked down at the ground in front of her, where lay a small stack of fallen books. On the top of the pile was a very worn, dark green book with just three words printed boldly on the cover:
“THE CHAOS DIARIES”
Twilight raised an eyebrow in curiosity and picked up the old book, brushing the dust away and blinking. The edges of the bind and pages crinkled and crackled with an aged aura, and the smooth green cover glistened dully in the lamplight. Twilight had never seen this book before, but she felt drawn toward it like a moth to a flame. Her main interest was in that one word of the title: Chaos.
That word would forever burn in her memory as both a terrifying nightmare and a glorious victory. She wondered just what this strange book would contain: Did it really have anything to do with Discord? Or was the name just a coincidence? Whatever the case, she felt compelled to find out.
She walked slowly back to the desk, holding the book out before her and staring at it as though hypnotized. Spike glanced up from his reading and blinked. “Whatcha got there, Twilght? It looks old.”
The unicorn nodded and placed the book on the table, replying in a low voice, “I... I think it’s very old, Spike. It’s called... ‘The Chaos Diaries’.”
Spike stifled a giggle. “Maybe it’s Discord’s secret diary! The whole reason he attacked is because Celestia read his diary! Bahahahahah!”
Twilight stared flatly at him until he ceased his laughter, then she looked back down at the book. “I wonder what’s inside it...”
Spike shrugged. “Only one way to find out.”
Twilight carefully opened the old green book and began to read...
***
Entry Number Eleventy-Onetenth
I live in a world where chaos reigns; where the sun and moon are no longer in orderly succession; where creatures all around morph and change their behavior even minute; where the landscape is a barren wasteland for one mile, and the next is a lush forest of candy and cake and upside-down trees; where the minds of ponies are played with at a whim; where your best and closest friend can become a savage and monstrous enemy at the snap of a finger.
This is my world.
It wasn’t always this way, no. I recall the days when the sun and moon were reliable, and where friends were even more so; the days when you could calmly watch the birds and the squirrels and the rabbits without worrying if they would transform into a monster and eat you within seconds.
Swishtail and the other young fillies don’t believe me when I tell them that once upon a time the streams flowed with water instead of blood and chocolate. They say that water comes from rocks and the antlers of deer, not streams and rainclouds. But this is all they have known.
My name is GoldenSilver, and this is my diary. I have not written in it since he came and the reign of chaos began, but now I have decided to take quill in mane (my mane is prehensile right now; it has been for about a week) and record what my life is like here under the rule of no rules. I hope that someday somepony will remember us and save us from this horrible life of inconsistency and paranoia, and that these words will survive for years to come to remind those living in the future just how frightening life is without peace, order, and trustworthiness.
Oh wait, the pillowcase is boiling on the stove; I’d better go turn it off before it turns into a cockatrice like last s’winter. That wouldn’t be good.
Signing out for today (or night),
GoldenSilver
GoldenSilver placed the quill back in the soda can where it was stored and sighed, closing her little green diary and turning to go downstairs. Her silvery mane writhed to and fro like a nest of snakes, wrapping around shelves and lamps as she passed by them. The golden-coated earth pony frowned as she tugged each strand of her mane free of their holds, trying as best she could to straighten them out and control them. She smirked at the thought. As if anything could be controlled in this world of chaos.
After pulling her mane back together she started down the stairs, carefully stepping over the explosive golfballs that littered the floor and stairs. She hurried over to the stove where the pillowcase was boiling and turned the fire up to cool it down. She pulled the pillowcase out from the pot and sniffed it bemusedly before pausing to think. What the hay was she doing this for? What had gotten into her to do something as silly as boiling a pillowcase? Discord, that’s what.
GoldenSilver dropped the steaming pillowcase and groaned in frustration. Her mind had slowly been growing more and more random as the days and nights went by; just one of the symptoms of living in a reality of insanity.
The pony turned and trotted out to the front door, hoping that an evening stroll would help her relax. But when she opened the door, she found that it was no longer evening as it had been for what she assumed was the past forty-eight hours. The sky was a pale pink again and the dark, swirling clouds had changed back to the normal bright pink cotton candy clouds. Those clouds were the only thing that seemed constant now. Discord seemed to have a strange affection for them, and they had always existed in his reality for as long as GoldenSilver could remember. The only difference was that while they had initially rained chocolate milk, which most everypony enjoyed, now they rained down just about anything, the main substance being blood.
That was the way that Discord seemed to work. At first his changes were rather enjoyable, what with the flavorful precipitation and such, but gradually his rules (or lack thereof) grew more twisted and macabre. While before some ponies would only dance and float around crazily, they now seemed to transform into wild beasts and attack each other mindlessly, all while that cursed tyrant Discord sat back on his throne and laughed.
GoldenSilver hated that laugh.
As she walked along the road through Ponyville, she tried to ignore the sounds of screaming, laughing, and fighting that echoed around the valley. Suddenly she remembered the real reason why she had ventured outside: to meet up with her friends.
GoldenSilver didn’t know why she hadn’t remembered something so important, but that was the way things were in the land of pure anarchy. She slapped a hoof against her face in frustration. Stop mentally repeating yourself, Silver. You’re not telling a story or anything.
A flowerpot went sailing over her head before exploding into a glob of vanilla frosting when it hit a wall. GoldenSilver glared back at whoever had thrown it and raced along the road to the outskirts of Ponyville. There, on the edge of the Everfree forest, was a ramshackle old barn that was, for some strange reason, relatively unaffected by the chaotic reign. She had no idea why this was, but only knew that it was a peaceful place where she could safely meet her with her two best friends, Falconwing the pegasus and Glossamer the unicorn.
Although it had been over thirty years since the alliance of the three Equestrian races, they still did not live alongside the others, especially now that Discord ruled. And while they didn’t actually hate each other (everypony had heard stories of the dreaded Windigoes), they tended to avoid dwelling side-by-side with the other races, and when Discord had arrived he made things only more divisive and complicated.
But GoldenSilver had defied this separation when she had befriended Falconwing, a young pegasus who was, by sheer chance, travelling through the very same patch of forest that GolderSilver was exploring. For some reason, even though a good deal of her memories were twisted and clouded, she could recall that moment perfectly, as well as the few that followed...
Entry Number Twenty-Seven,
Today I met the most amazing pony I have ever seen. His name is Falconwing, which seems like an odd name for a pony, until you realize that he is a pegasus pony! I still can’t believe that I actually met and befriended a pegasus pony!
I was wandering through the edge of Everfree forest to get away with my thoughts for a bit, when I ran into (and I mean literally ran into) a red pony that dropped down from the sky! He seemed to have been racing through the trees like an obstacle course, dodging to and fro with amazing speed, until he bumped into me. We both went sprawling and landed in a patch of ferns, I wondering what in Equestria could have hit me. When I saw that he was a pony, I was shocked, and he seemed to be equally shocked to see me. He apologized quickly and politely, and was quite embarrassed to see that he had knocked over a girl. We spent the next few moments staring at each other awkwardly, and I got a good look at his features. He had a dark crimson coat, similar to the color of a ripe raspberry, and a greyish-blue mane and tail, both of which were short and streamlined. On his flank was a cutie mark that resembled a soaring hawk. His eyes were a similar color to his mane, and they had a glimmer to them that conveyed both compassion and mischief. If I were of the romantic sort, I would acknowledge him to be rather cute, but I cared little for such things, even back then.
Finally one of us spoke, and Falconwing asked me where I came from and if I was alright. I replied truthfully and asked him of the same. I had seen a pegasus or two before when I was a filly, but had never actually met one. I was somewhat surprised to find that apart from his having a pair of wings, he was not much different from any normal earth pony.
We introduced ourselves and struck up conversation. I learned that his talent was centered around birds, specifically birds of prey, as well as his ability to fly at tremendous speeds. He had been travelling away from his home in that far-off city of Cloudsdale to follow the flight patterns of migrating birds, and had just so happened to be going for a relaxing fly-through over the Everfree Forest when he found me.
I then told him of myself and where I came from and such. Not much to tell, really, as I’m a rather ordinary pony, but he seemed interested enough. We agreed to meet again at the same spot in a week. Personally, I can’t wait to talk with him again.
And no, I DO NOT have a crush on him, so please get that out of your mind, whoever is reading this.
Signing out for tonight,
GoldenSilver
GoldenSilver smiled to herself as she tramped along the road out of Ponyville, which had suddenly and unbeknownst to her turned into sticks of bubble gum. The memories of long ago were one of the only things that kept her sane in this world. The other thing was the fact that the friends from those memories were still around and still sane as well.
Or so she hoped.
Soon enough GoldenSilver was out of the mess that had once been Ponyville. But even walking away from it she had to dodge a small flock of strange hedgehog-flamingo creatures that flew in circles around her, throwing tarts in all directions.
Even though that monster Discord was evil and manipulative, he seemed to have his own sense of humor.
The old barn soon came into sight, and GoldenSilver’s heart leaped at the sight of it. Not waiting to get pelted with tarts again, she took off galloping across the patch of land that separated Ponyville from the large field were the old barn sat, leaping over the orange and purple chickens that darted about and the piles of dictionaries and other books that lay strewn on the road. But all of this normality was ignored as she raced across the plain, longing to see her two best friends again.
Little did she know that this particular meeting would be more fateful and life-changing than she could have ever dreamed.