To Bring About Chaos
I Can’t Believe Some of His Titles For These Chapters
Um… this may be a little odd for me, but… hello there! Twilight Sparkle, Element of Magic, and Princess Celestia’s prized pupil! Oh, wait, no, that’s not he does these normally. Then again, it’s not like I started out today with a very painful wake-up call. Poor Med… reading back at some of these… ah! Right! Why I’m talking now instead, right. Well… Med just kind of… gave up. I don’t know why either. Anytime I ask him, he either just brushes me off like it’s nothing or claims that he doesn’t want to hear it. And I think he’s looking a little more… greyer, than usual.
But after I had found Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity, all of whom seemed to be acting just as weird and awful as well, and adding Fluttershy in later did not help matters. Rarity was very insistent that her giant slab of stone was a precious diamond and only let me touch it to carry it for her. Applejack kept on telling what seemed like lie after lie, making strange faces like she was trying to hide something. Pinkie Pie looked super down, snapping at me and the others for trying to even cheer her up with jokes. Fluttershy was being a lot more taunting as usual, causing more and more fights to break out between everyone. Normally, Med would’ve taken care of it, but he seemed disinterested or even at some points would egg on a fight or two, thus making me get everypony back on track. It was like a trip out of Tartarus.
We were briefly stopped when Applejack noticed something in the sky. “Rainbow Dash is flyin’ away! She’s abandonin’ us!”
“Well I know that’s a lie.” I mumbled, letting Tom, the boulder, drop to the ground as I looked up.
Sure enough, Rainbow Dash was flying off on her wings, leaving us in our time of need. I was shocked that this happened, since Rainbow Dash would never do such a thing.
“How can it be?” I cried out.
Everything around us was shaking. Clouds started to move in as the hedges crumbled into the ground around us, leaving us all in a crater where the garden hedges once were. Dust flew around us, obscuring our vision/
“Well, well, well.” We all quickly turned to the voice in the dust, who was revealed to be… Discord… who went on to continue speaking. “Somepony went and broke the “no wings, no magic” rule.”
He snapped his talon as Medley and Fluttershy got their wings back, while Rarity and I got our horns back. But this only meant that…
“Game over, my little ponies! You DIDN’T find your precious Elements. Looks like we might be due for a big ol’ storm of Chaos…” He held up an upside down umbrella, grinning down at us.
He then laughed for a small moment while I looked horrified. We didn’t even find ONE Element at all! Not only that, Rainbow Dash made us lose the game and let Discord win! There was also the fact that all my friends were still acting so bizzare, while my coltfriend was acting as standoffish as he could to me, not even trying to help me. Which, while never needed, was always appreciated.
“Oh… but I forgot one important representative for my new Capital!” Discord grinned as magic started to sparkle and fizz nearby him.
We all watched with various emotions on our faces as the magic started to take more and more of a form. It seemed to be forming… a pony? But, that wasn’t right at all! You couldn’t just create life out of nothing! It defied everything about the nature of magic! And nature itself! Yet here we were, seeing the impossible happen. Hooves started to settle on the ground, a tail whipped around before settling down, a mane grew out in a small poof as it rested on them. But as the pony started to finish being made, I could see that it was very much built like Medley was, being more tall and lanky. What finally ended the creation was a horn sprouting from it’s head, and the light faded to reveal completely red fur and a cutie mark with arrows fanned out in 8 directions, like two compasses overlapping each other in different angles. When his eyes opened though, instead of the handsome emerald I was used to seeing on such a face, it was a startling red, almost like rubies.
“Meet Disarray, my newest ambassador to Ponyville for when I take over all of Equus. Dis, say hi to the others.” Discord grinned as he hovered over us.
“Disarray” gave a nod before sending off some kind of spell. Whatever it was, it sent all 6 of us flying and crashing right back into Ponyville.
We were all groaning as Discord appeared over us in a flash, munching on popcorn. “Don’t you love him already? Now that’s one pony I can stand behind. But you girls-”
“I’m a guy, dumbass.” Medley brusquely interrupted Discord.
Discord waved a hand as he ignored Medley, continuing on. “-provide so much entertainment!”
“Stop all of this Discord!” I demanded as I got back up, facing him down. “You’re not playing fair in the slightest!”
“Playing fair?” Discord questioned. “Perhaps we haven’t met. I’m DISCORD, Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony. Hellooooo?”
“How are we supposed to find the Elements of Harmony since you both took down the labyrinth and shot us all the way back to Ponyville?” I sniped back.
Discord looked confused before he burst into a fit of laughter, Pinkie looking very annoyed at that. “You- You thought the Elements were in the labyrinth?”
He flashed me and him into what looked like a flashback, with him giving the not very helpful clues as to where we could find the Elements. We then reappeared back with the group, most of whom were fighting with one another, with Pinkie sitting dejectedly off to the side.
“I never said they were in the labyrinth.” Discord noted in a very smug tone.
“But… But…” I sputtered as I tried to think of something to counter against that.
“Keep trying, Twilight Sparkle. Maybe the magic of friendship can help you. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some very important chaos to wreak.” Discord flashed off again, leaving behind some cotton candy pink clouds to rain chocolate milk on us.
My first order of business was to separate some of the group to prevent more fighting, letting me also think about what Discord had said. It was providing to be a useless endeavour, since bickering and fighting kept on popping up, some of it being caused by Medley himself. All I wanted to do at this time now was just head home and relax. Then, the answer finally hit me. Home! Back where all of this had began with my friends and my Welcome to Ponyville party! As I turned to say this to the group, we were all blinded by a very bright flash.
It took us a moment to become oriented once again. When we did, we looked out and saw Ponyville being turned into a truly Chaotic place. No doubt the work of Discord. But I was happy that the goal was in sight now.
“Come on everypony! I’m certain this is what Discord’s riddle truly meant!” I cheered as I led the not-very-enthusiastic group. “If we get back to the library, I have a book that might just give us a clue!”
I was then immediately trampled by the long-legged rabbits from Discord’s earlier bit of chaos, while Fluttershy called out, “Good boy Angel! Momma’s so proud.”
The sun then disappeared, making it nighttime as we all tried to look ahead. It was pretty difficult to do, seeing as the moon was a very thin crescent instead of the usual full moon.
“I know the way forward, so follow me.” Medley commanded us as he tried to move forward, but ended up slipping and crashing.
“Looks like you’re pretty graceful there.” Applejack snarked. “And it looks like I can see better than any of y’all!”
The answer to all the slipping and falling that we were all doing was pretty obvious once the sun came up. “Discord turned these dirt roads into soap!”
“Actually, I let Disarray handle that one. He seemed to want to make an opening statement for Ponyville, and I simply couldn’t resist.” Discord skated by with a smirk. “Look at how much Ponyville has improved though! And this is only the first few changes that were made as well.”
Medley was skating as well, glaring at me as he did so. “No judging now. I do what I want.”
Discord then appeared by me, lifting me up to see the Chaotic Ponyville. “Just picture it! The Chaos capital of the world, or at least the one run by Disarray. And with Canterlot as it’s second capital, headed by me!”
It quickly turned to night again as I tried to look out at the town. “I can’t picture anything. It’s too dark.”
Maybe the answer was a little too snarky, as I was sent back onto the ground in an undignified plop. Still, I was not feeling too charitable to one of the ones to cause so much trouble and to mess with everything I knew.
“Well, wait until it’s light again. Ta-ta!” He pirouetted over me, flashing off as he did so.
“Ponyville as one of the Chaos Capitols of the world…” I remarked in a stunned tone as I got up, looking out over what I could see of Ponyville. “Not if I have anything to say about it!”
“Don’t worry. You won’t.” Fluttershy taunted as she skated past me, cackling as she moved forward.
It took us a long time to get to my home, especially since Medley kept on making the group burst into fights and I’d have to settle them some more. Not to mention the many traps that was in our path and the ever-changing moon and sun cycle. But at last, my patience was awarded when we arrived at my home, and while it was bright no less.
“OK… Now that we’re here, can everyone please, please, please go inside…?” I tiredly asked my friends.
“I absolutely refuse!” Applejack announced as she walked in, looking even more greyed out than I thought.
“With pleasure.” Fluttershy responded as she stomped on my flowers before entering, repeating what had happened to Applejack.
“What’s the point? Discord won anyways.” Pinkie sighed as she dragged herself in, looking not very pink in the slightest.
Medley made a point of ignoring me, but going inside anyways, now looking a lot darker than his usual white self.
Meanwhile, Rarity was still trying to push her boulder inside. After some arguing, with also some increased paranoia about someone taking her, it ended with me having to haul in her “Tom”, making this whole thing even worse than I thought. Eventually, I just reached the door and I slug down the boulder, not even caring that I busted my entry.
“Careful Twilight! You nearly put a chip in beautiful, beautiful Tom.” Rarity tisked me as she rubbed up against it.
“Oh for the love of LaurFastia…” I grumbled as Spike quickly came over to me.
“Twilight!” Spike happily called out before looking very confused and worried, continuing on. “What’s going on? Why does everybody look so… grey?”
“Don’t ask.” I replied bluntly as I pushed Spike onto my back, walking back in. “I need your help in looking for something.”
“Hey Twilight! What’s soaking wet and clueless?” Fluttershy taunted me.
“Who the hell cares?” Was Medley ever-so-helpful rebuttal.
Fluttershy’s response was to throw the bucket full of water at him. “Shut up, stallion!” She then slammed the bucket on his head as she laughed cruelly at him.
“What’s happened to everypony?” Spike asked again, now even more worried.
“I guess you just bring out the worst in us.” Applejack told Spike.
“Look, there’s really no time to explain. I need you to help me find the Reference Guide to the Elements of Harmony. Before somepony makes me do something I’ll regret.” I snarled out as I looked at my friends, who were very discontent.
“Elements of Harmony…” Spike muzzled before it clicked. “I know exactly where that book is! One sec.”
He climbed up the ladder, taking a moment to search. Meanwhile, Medley had removed the bucket from his head as chucked it at Fluttershy, who dodged and laughed at him miss. I was about ready to send a spell at them before Spike spoke up in the nick of time.
“Found it!” Spike called out before he was hit in the face with a blank scroll, making him drop the book and Fluttershy take it.
“Fluttershy…” I growled out. “You better give me that book!”
“Keep-away!” Fluttershy instead called out, tossing the book off towards Applejack.
It really was like a game of keep-away, except that it was my so-called friends doing it this time. It went around from Applejack, then to Medley, who deflected it off back to Fluttershy without even looking up from his book, not even trying to help me out. When Spike intercepted Fluttershy from receiving, I tried to quickly snatch up the book. But unfortunately, Rarity decided she wanted it more because I needed it. In the end, it turned into a full-out brawl between me, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack. Pinkie was sitting dejectedly on top of Tom and Medley looked like he was purposefully tuning it all out.
I eventually got the book and scurried over to a safer space. “Get back! All of you! This is MY book, and I’m gonna read it!”
Spike stood guard, fending off the other ponies as I sped-read through the book. It turned out, it was pretty easy to know where the Elements were hidden away. While I was extremely annoyed at Discord for ruining one of my precious books, it was worth it when I saw all 7 Elements of Harmony right before my eyes!
“The Elements!” I breathlessly spoke aloud. “They were here all along!”
“This is great!” Spike came running over, observing the Elements as well. “Now you ladies and Medley can beat Discord and bring Ponyville back to normal!”
“See everyone? We did it! We found the Elements of Harmony! Together!” Spike proudly held up the book as my friends… looked completely disinterested.
“You don’t even care, do you.” I asked, sounding pretty annoyed.
“No.” Seemed to be the group response, with Medley’s being the most vocal.
“I never thought it would happen… My friends… Have turned into complete JERKS!” I cried out, glaring at everyone.
I just decided to do things now and just dish out the Elements. “Necklace, necklace, necklace, necklace, necklace, and big shiny crown thingy. Let’s go!” I put the Elements on their respective pony, putting mine on last and starting to lead the group out.
“But Twilight! Aren’t you missing somepony?” Spike raced to question me.
“Nope.” I snarked as I looked out at my group again. “We got the liar, the crier, the hoarder, the uncaring, and the brute. That just about covers it.”
“But what about Rainbow Dash?” Spike persisted on.
It took me a moment before I came up with a brilliant idea. “Congratulations Spike. You’re the new Rainbow Dash, let’s go!” I clasped Rainbow Dash’s Element around Spikes neck as I started out the door again.
“W-W-Wait!” Spike trembled as he tried to catch up. “What if she finds out if I’ve been impersonating her? Oh… that wouldn’t end well.”
“Too bad. Rainbow Dash.” I reiterated. “Now let’s go defeat Discord so we don’t ever have to talk to each other again!”
That got everypony’s attention, as they all raced out with me, cheering and whooping. Rarity was the only one left behind, other than Spike. She was still trying to push Tom, which resulted in me throwing Tom out the door, making an even bigger hole in my entryway. At this point though, I was ready to do anything to just be rid of my jerkish friends. But as it turned out, Disarray was waiting outside for us, smirking.
“Well now. Isn’t this a perfect little scene of friendship!” He laughed as he looked at us, sounding so close to how Med did that it was a bit jarring. “And it looks like you even found the Elements of Harmony! Good on all of you! Discord would be so terrified. In fact, I’m shaking in my hooves right now.”
“Disarray! Where did Discord go?” I demanded as I went out to face him.
“Eh, who knows, probably off in Canterlot.” Disarray shrugged as he let some of his magic turn the shards of glass outside into little birds that flew over my house.
“Well, we figured out his lame riddle, and we’re ready to take care of him, than you!” I proudly announced.
“Well, far be it from me to distract you. In fact, since you’re all already here, you might as well take care of me.” Disarray nonchalantly waved a hoof, strapping himself into a target. “Fire when ready. Take your time though, no rush here.”
“Formation. Now!” I commanded my group, who reluctantly took up their spots. “Rainbow Dash, come out!”
“Rainbow Dash” quickly came out from behind Tom, getting into place as well now. “Alright. Let’s get this over with now.”
I started up the magic, my horn starting to glow a lightish purple. An invisible wind swept through as our power gathered. I then felt myself being lifted up, magic coursing through my veins as I levitated up, along with everyone else. We all started to glow for a moment, as I could feel it starting to work. But then… it fizzled out, and we all plummeted to the ground.
“What’s going on?” I was very confused by what had just happened.
“Mine’s workin. Yers must just be defective or somethin.” Applejack claimed.
“I knew this wouldn’t work…” Pinkie sighed unhappily.
“Hmph! Garbage.” Fluttershy sniffed as she threw hers off to the side.
“MINE!” Rarity quickly snatched up Fluttershy’s Element with a grin.
“Maybe I can sell this or something. I don’t care what this does, especially if it doesn’t do anything useful.” Medley shrugged.
“Sorry Twilight.” Spike laid his next to me. “I better get back upstairs and do the chores I was supposed to.
Whatever he said next was cut off by Fluttershy tripping him with a nasty smile. “Oops! Sorry, Rainbow Crash!”
Disarray was out of the target by this point, making some ghostly hands to clap. “Bravo, bravo! Harmony is now dead in Equestria, I got to see a stunning display of friendship, and Discord rules, Celestia drools.”
I snarled again as Disarray slid off into the sun, cackling happily as the surrounding environment kept on warping into soap for him to continue skating.
“Well, I think it’s clear that it was somepony’s fault that it didn’t work.” Medley voiced his thoughts unnecessarily.
“Who are you talking to?” I demanded of him.
“Any of you really. I don’t care if it was even me, I don’t care for being any of your friends. I’m outta here.” And like that, Medley flew off.
“I know that this would never work out… I’m gonna go home as well…” Pinkie slunk off as Rarity lugged her stone off back home.
“I better go too. I got better friends waitin for me at my barn!” Applejack announced as she walked off.
“Yeah! I’m sick of you losers anyways!” Fluttershy cried out as she soared off.
“Fine! Leave! See if I care! I don’t need any of you ponies either!” I called out to their retreating backs. “With friends like you, who needs… enemies…”
I hung my head as I felt so lost and listless without anyone to help me. All my friends did in the end was bring me trouble and strife. When I was advancing my studies and working on my experiments, I never had this problem. Maybe… maybe it was best if I went back to Canterlot, even if Discord ruled over it. He’d probably let me do my experiments and work on my science projects in peace most of the time. I shed a single tear for the lost friends before making my slow way back home.
A pink cotton candy cloud had formed over me, pouring chocolate milk as Discord appeared over me, putting on another appearance here it seemed. “Ohohohoh, my stomach! Twilight, you have to see what I just did!”
I didn’t even want to look up, but I heard the sound of someone sneezing, and of houses falling down. I didn't want to think of any kind of magic he used, I just wanted to be left alone. Yet he still kept talking.
“Hahahaha! Priceless!” He looked over at me before frowning unhappily appearing right in front of me and making me look up at him. “Come now, Twilight Sparkle. You’ve GOT to get in the spirit of things! After all, this is your new home!”
I looked around, seeing more of the Chaos that was at play. In the far off distance, I could see Disarray scaring the wits out of some hapless pony. Not to mention even more oddities of weather that I didn’t want to find out.
“Not anymore…” I spoke softly, thinking of my lab and library in Canterlot as I walked past him, the surrounding turning into night as I got into my home and looked down at Spike.
“Pack your things Spike. We’re leaving.” He seemed unresponsive, only giving a groan as I grabbed a suitcase. “We’re heading back to Canterlot so I can continue my scientific endeavours.”
I put my crown into the trash, since it’d be worthless to try and study anymore magic, and starting packing textbooks and notebooks of my previous findings.
“Can’t… move! The Princess… sending me… since I came back upstairs!” He got out before belching up another scroll into the admittedly impressive pile. “Make it stha-ha-haaaaap!”
I picked one up and began to read it, recognizing it almost instantly. “These are all letters I wrote to the Princess for my mission here in Ponyville. But why would she be sending these?”
I kept on reading as more and more of them were sent my way. With each letter I wrote, I thought less and less of analyzing and studying each letter for mistakes and corrections, but rather for the lessons that my friends and I had learned along the way, as a team. As I continued on my reading, I also had a burning desire to hold onto my friendships, and to prove that the magic of friendship was more powerful than anything science could do or explain!
“Spike, Spike! It’s all so clear to me now!” I exclaimed happily as I levitated him up to me. “Can’t you see? Discord’s trying to distract us from what’s important! He knows how powerful friendships are, and he’s trying to keep us from seeing it in the form of Disarray!”
Spike didn’t look so well, so I stopped as I continued on with my line of thinking, asking him a question now. “Do you remember what I said when I first arrived at Ponyville?”
“Urgh…” Spike tried to reply, but was too sick to really answer.
“I told you that the fate of Equestria didn’t rest on me making friends. But the opposite is true! The friendships I made here would save Equestria from Nightmare Moon! And now they need to save it from Discord and Disarray!” I smiled happily as I looked over at Spike. “You’re right, Spike. I’ve got to fight for my friendships. For them! For me! FOR EQUESTRIA!”
Spike gave a small groan, giving em a notice that maybe he was a lot more sick than I thought he was. It probably wasn’t that good of him to have belched so many scrolls at once. But it was really needed, so I’d make sure he’d get an extra-special treat for helping me find the right path again. It was the very least I could do for him.
“Oh… riiiight…” I smiled lightly as I nuzzled him a little, pulling his blanket over him as I walked out. “I think I’ll let you sleep this off. I’ll go and get my friends back in order myself.”
With that proclamation, I stepped out, feeling confident as I strode over to Apple Orchard. It really pained me to leave Medley alone for the moment, but I knew that Applejack would be the greatest amount of help in restoring our friends. Not only was she the strongest out of all of us, she was the Element of Honesty, which would help speed things up as she told them the absolute truth. Of course, it wouldn’t be easy by myself in getting Applejack down long enough for me to help clear her mind of the chaotic influence, as seen from the grey colors. But after Applejack, Medley would be very important as well, and I’d need someone to help me pin down Medley while I worked my magic. Er… no pun intended.
“Applejack!” I had called out when I had arrived in record time. “I’m here to fight for our friendship!”
While I was interrupted from my train of thought due to Big Mac Dog, Applejack was shooting back at me verbally. “Oh, now you wanna fight? Where were you when I was battlin Discord?”
I quickly took my chance and pinned her down in surprise. “Snap out of it! This isn’t you! You’re not a liar!”
Before she could make some tall tale or witty retort, I had gathered my magic and touched her forehead, letting the memories of our friendship surface to remind her of what she really was. She wasn’t someone who could tell a lie to save her life, but would always be there to give an honest opinion. She really was the Element of Honesty.
I stepped off of her as I saw the grey turn into smoke and rise up into the air, leaving her back to her normal, and very confused self. “Uuurgh… Wha-Wha happened?”
It took me a bit to recover from that little bit of magic, as it was my first time using a spell like that and it was especially hard to do on a very unwilling and squirming pony. But when I looked back, Applejack was back in business for good. No liar self and no crazy self either.
“Twilight!” Applejack shouted happily before looking disheartened. “I saw a vision of us feudin and fightin. I couldn’t face the truth… and just started tellin lies. Can you ever forgive me?”
“I already have.” I confidently spoke as I raced off towards Medley’s place. “C’mon!”
Applejack was right behind me, giving a small frown as she spoke up. “How come ya ain’t got Med wit ya?”
“I really need your help with everypony! I know he’d understand, especially since we need him as well to help everypony clear their heads!” I responded, still feeling pretty bad that I had to put my friends first before my coltfriend.
“I reckon yer right, Twilight.” Applejack nodded as we busted down the doors to Medley’s home.
The sight we entered on was Medley growling, trying to fight off his instruments and destroy them because they were bothering him. Meanwhile, Disarray was lounging up on the ceiling, calmly sipping his drink, which looked to be like a liquid rainbow. I shivered as I remembered what went into making it in the first place.
“Disarray, ya darn varmit! Git!” Applejack roared as she dove at Disarray, who yelped and quickly teleported down onto the ground.
I grinned as I shot off a quick spell at him, repeating the same effect when he used it on us. Needless to say, while it may have not been that far out, I made sure to add a lot of height to the spell, knowing he’d find some way to make his landing smoother. But it put him out of the way as I raced around, getting my friends back in order. Speaking of which…
After wrangling Medley into a tight spot, I hurriedly pressed my horn against his head, reminding him of the friendships he had made and of what he was himself. He wasn’t an uncaring pony who ignored what was going on around him. He always made sure to listen to others and to try and know where they were coming from. Even if he couldn’t fully be there for him, he’d at least provide comfort when needed and help ease anyone’s troubles. He lived up to his Element of Understanding.
Applejack snickered quietly as Medley quickly rose his head, accidentally putting us into a very intimate kiss. Not that I was complaining, feeling his fur brushing up against mine… his wings curling around me… his hooves wrapped around my neck lightly… his surprisingly supple body against mine…
……...ah! Daydream! Sorry! But, um, needless to say, he was quickly back to normal as he looked at me with a very cute little blush on his face. “S-Sorry about that Twily. I, um…”
“No explanation needed.” I squeaked before clearing my throat and shaking my head. “Now, let’s go save our friends!”
Applejack and Medi… hehe, such an adorable name, I need to start using that for him now… both nodded and headed out the door with me.
And so it was practically a repeat with Fluttershy and Rarity. Fluttershy looked like she was a little roughed up, but ready to take out Discord and Disarray, while Rarity just simply asked that we never speak of what she did while under Chaos’s influence. Both times wisps of grey floated out of them, similar to what had happened with Applejack and Medi. Pinkie seemed to be back to her normal self when we arrived to get her, which only left one pony left: Rainbow Dash. Medi had left after we had saved him, saying something about a way to keep the town up and moving. I trusted him to let him do his thing while us ladies handed Rainbow Dash.
"Without Rainbow Dash, we can’t use the Elements.” I reminded everypony as we unsuccessfully tried looking for her, with Fluttershy checking out her home.
“She could be anywhere by now! Oh, we’re never gonna find her!” Applejack fretted.
“Yeah we will!” Pinkie exclaimed as she pointed a hoof up. “She’s right there!”
We all looked at where she was pointing, and sure enough, it was Rainbow Dash, relaxing on a cloud.
“Hey, Rainbow Dash!” I called out from below.
“Hey guys. Sup?” Rainbow Dash just waved a hoof, not even turning to face us.
“We’ve been looking everywhere for you!” I chided Rainbow Dash lightly.
“That’s nice!” Rainbow Dash still didn’t want to look back at us.
“Discord and Disarray are still on the loose! We need you to help us defeat them with your Element: Loyalty!” I reminded her.
“Loyalty, Shmoyalty!” Rainbow Dash snapped back as now she turned to face us. “Have any of you seen Ponyville? It’s a disaster! I’m stayin here in Cloudsdale where everything is AWESOME!~”
“How in Equestria does she consider that tiny patch of cloud Cloudsdale?” Rarity questioned while I heard Applejack give a small snicker.
“Tha same way he got ya ta think that big rock was a bonafide diamond?” Applejack retorted, making Rarity wince and glare back at Applejack.
“Time for Plan B.” I broke in before another argument could ensue. Last thing I wanted was fighting between newly restored friends.
They looked pretty curious about the plan, so I gave a small overview and strategy we would use to keep Rainbow Dash from bolting away from us. Fluttershy would lure Rainbow Dash closer to the hot air balloon so that Applejack could lasso up Rainbow Dash, thus letting me cast the memory spell on Rainbow Dash and restore her to normal.
But of course, everything started to go immediately wrong when Rainbow Dash caught on almost instantly and tried to make a break for it. That caused us to have Fluttershy pull the air balloon after Rainbow Dash. Then after Rainbow Dash tried to pull off a stunt to show off just how faster she was, Applejack at least got her tied up. That was when Rarity and Pinkie both got caught and were swinging from under Dash, as Pinkie accidentally forgot to tie down the rope. This caused Rainbow Dash to plummet from her cloud because of the weight on her, but she still kept on staying airborne.
What happened next was unbelievable. After I gave an inspiring message, a.k.a. DISCORD WOULD WIN IF SHE DIDN’T MOVE FASTER, she started to quickly catch up to Rainbow Dash. Applejack took another chance at tying down Rainbow Dash, and it seemed this one was tied down to the hot air balloon, as Rainbow Dash stopped due to the stilled air balloon and the combined gravity of two ponies on her. Everyone took a corner and kept her restrained as I performed the spell on her, now making all 7 of us freed from the influences of Chaos.
“What happened…?” Rainbow Dash spoke as she wore off the effects of the Chaos. “Wait a sec! Help Ponyville! Where are the Elements?? Did we stop Discord and Disarray?”
We couldn’t help but gather around her and smile. It was great to have our trusted and loyal friend back. Much like how it was wonderful to have our kind and shy friend along with our generous and, dare I say, fabulous, friend as well. Now all we needed was Medi to truly stop Discord. As if to remind us, dancing buffalo ballerinas were dancing on through.
“Maaaaybe it’s a little too early for group hugs.” I commented as everyone seemed to be in mutual agreement.
As we made our way back to Ponyville, I couldn’t help but worry over what had happened to Medi. Did he get kidnapped and turned by Discord again? Was he in danger of all of the hidden traps in the now Chaotic Ponyville? Did Disarray send him off to Zebrica to make this an even longer delay? My mind was racing with the possibilities. It was then that we all started to hear a very loud sound. It sounded a lot like music, which only meant…
“Medi’s in Ponyville!” I yelled out happily, running towards the sound of the noise.
“Hang on Twilight!” Applejack called out from behind as everypony tried to catch up.
Soon enough, there was Medi, riding through Ponyville on some weird, moving electronic speaker system, as the other mare was grinning and nodding along to the beats. I was rather confused as to why Medi was doing this… until I heard him actually sing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDMGv3hNMes
As the song kept on playing, Medi flew over to us with a grin. In the background, ponies started to take up the song now, stirring them from their hiding spots and into action. While I would normally applaud him for getting Ponyville to act, I was worried that they’d get harmed.
“Don’t worry Twily. It’s not directed completely at Discord.” He smirked charmingly as he nodded up, to where we could see the music blasting back Disarray into the town square, looking heavily annoyed as his shots of magic kept missing.
I grinned as all 7 of us made our way to the Town Square as well, where Discord was lounging on his throne. He had made a glass appear in his hand, filling it up with chocolate milk as he smirked. It sounded like he was enjoying the song, laughing loudly.
“Chaos, is a wonderful, wonderful thing!” Discord exclaimed as he was about to take a sip.
“Not as wonderful as Friendship!” I shot back, surprising Discord as we all stood proud and tall against him.
“Oh, this again?” Discord smugly sipped his glass up before throwing the chocolate milk behind him, causing a small explosion.
“That’s right! You couldn’t break apart our friendship fer long!” Applejack claimed as she stepped forward.
Another explosion could be heard as Disarray landed right on top of the throne looking a little woozy. “Ow… hate music…”
“Get your lazy rump up now, Disarray. We have very important guests who want to have a word with us. Isn’t that right, Applejack?” Discord intoned as he dragged Applejack in front of him. “Oh Applejack, you liar. I’m the one that made you a liar after all.”
I was stunned at Discord then dragging my friends over back to him, grinning madly in front of the 6 ponies hovering before him. What made me move was his last comment as he spoke to them
“Will you ever learn?” Discord cooed at my struggling friends.
I gritted my teeth as I tried to teleport right into the middle of my friends. Thankfully, it seemed to work, as I formed a protective bubble around them. I slowly then went down and back a bit onto the ground. Strangely enough, when the bubble popped, the ground beneath us was regular grass.
“I’ll tell you what we learned, you two.” I started off, summoning all of my righteous indignation and determination against the two chaotic beings. “We’ve learned that friendship isn’t always easy. But there’s no doubt that it’s worth fighting for!”
Disarray made a gagging noise alongside Discord, looking at us in disgust. “Oh please, not another “The Power Of Friendship compels you” speech!”
“You know what, let’s see if they can even use their little friendship beam. Hopefully they’ll be quick about it too, since we’re missing some excellent chaos around here.” Discord recommended as Disarray nodded, standing next to the throne with a bored expression.
“Alright ladies! Let’s show him what friendship can do!” I spoke out, as everyone got into formation… except Pinkie.
“Wait wait wait!” Pinkie blurted out, drinking up as much chocolate rain as she could before jumping into place.
I started up the magic once again, my horn starting to glow a lightish purple. Our Elements created a glowing outline echo, before actual small representations of our Elements flew out at Discord and Disarray. They looked pretty surprised, and how I wished I could capture their stunned faces. However, the power was starting to gather up, as we all began to blow, making me rapidly focus on channeling Harmony again. This time I could feel it working better than before, as we all started to levitate and formed up to create our Rainbow of Friendship. It went soaring up high before crashing down hard on Discord and Disarray.
Discord’s reaction was very much of fear and horror as he tried to escape from it. However, his body slowly started to turn into stone once again. It ended with him having a face like he had just seen a terrible ghost. Disarray’s reaction, meanwhile, was to yell in what seemed like pain.His body had started to steam from the Rainbow hitting him, all while he was glaring at us. Then, without uttering another word, he collapsed like a pile of bricks.
From the impact of the Rainbow, Harmony burst out brightly, cleansing any Chaos left in both Ponyville and Canterlot, along with anywhere else he inflicted it with. Then, just before the light had faded, I thought I saw a bit of red pop out of Medley and fly right into Disarray. Soon enough though, Equestria was restored back to the way it was before Discord messed with it, and all 7 of us landed back on the ground softly.
Discord’s statue collapsed to the ground, right on top of an unconscious Disarray, who seemed to register pain still, as he gave a small groan as it landed. This confused us, as we thought Disarray was something Discord had entirely made up, and would disappear with the huge amount of Harmony we unleashed. While he was unconscious, we had to quickly discuss what to do with the chaotic pony.
“I say we kick him outta Equestria! He’d deserve it!” Rainbow Dash immediately put forth.
“I’d hafta agree with Rainbow Dash here. Don’t see him changin anytime soon.” Applejack backed her up with a nod.
“Hey! Just because he made one mistake like this doesn’t mean we should be meanies and make him leave!” Pinkie argued.
“I believe Pinkie Pie has a point, darlings. After all, he’s a pony, just like us. I’m quite sure he’s capable of being a part of normal society.” Rarity added onto Pinkie Pie’s story.
“B-But… he’s been… he’s been so mean and… and scary…” Fluttershy timidly countered.
“So was Discord, yet he’s in stone. Besides, I feel like… I feel like I’m connected to him somehow.” Medi disagreed, looking at Disarray oddly.
It went on for a while, with one side consisting of Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Applejack wanting to get rid of Disarray for good, while Pinkie Pie, Medi, and Rarity wanted to try and reform him. In the end, it was a stalemate, and the decision was up to me. I thought about it for a while, weighing everything out. While it was true that he was a pony, my thoughts flashed back to the mare that was at Medi’s trial, and how she was a pony as well, and seemed beyond help. That, and he actively tried helping Discord keep Equestria in Chaos instead of rebelling and helping us.
“While I know there’s still good in him… for the better of Equestria, he has to leave.” I eventually chose a side, my words weighing heavy on me.
Half of my friends cheered in victory while the other half… didn’t look happy about it, but at least understood what had to be done. Medi had one final thing to say though.
“In the end, it’s up to the princesses to decide what to do with him. But if she asks for what we want, we’ll tell her the decision that came from our group. And… I will claim him as a brother.” Medi spoke with a finality to it.
And thus, with the newly created Disarray Royalwind bound in magical chains and gagged along with the statue of Discord, we made our way to Canterlot. While we headed up, I took Medi off to the side to make sure everything was alright.
“Medi… are you sure you want to do this?” I politely questioned.
“Twily… I just… I just have this, feeling, you know? Like he’s a part of me.” Medi responded, looking pretty determined.
“I don’t know. That’s why I’m asking.” I deadpanned.
He sighed heavily before looking down and mumbling. “It’s like he’s the brother I never had… and the only piece of family I still have too…”
Thinking back, they did look remarkably similar to one another. They could easily be passed off as nearly identical twins. But I still couldn’t understand why Medi would want to claim him as his family, especially after all the things he done, not only to Equestria, but to us as well. I even pointed it out to him how much trouble he caused.
He then gave me one of the most firm looks, almost Applejack levels of stubborn as well. “Everypony deserves a second chance. And before you say it, the mare that nearly killed me had a chance to do the right thing and confess her crime. Instead, she wasted it…”
I looked down now, as he beat me right to what I was about to say. I know it made sense, but… something about Disarray wasn’t quite right. He was a pony, yes. But Discord had created him, which meant he was so chaotic. Heck, even his Cutie Mark showed that his talent was causing chaos! However, I let it slide, since it made Medi a little happier to have someone to call family. Even if said family member would most likely not be around.
“Now… when did you start calling me Medi?” Medi tried for a smirk, but ended up just looking so cute and flustured.
I gave a light giggle as I nuzzled him. “Just now. I thought it was perfect for you.”
He nuzzled me back with a warm smile. “Well now, that is quite perfect. I thought of one for you as well, just now. Hopefully you don’t hate me calling you Sparkella?”
I had to laugh at that. “I don’t care what you call me, as long as it isn’t dumb.”
We talked for a while longer before rejoining the group. Conversations seemed to dwindle, but lucky for us, we arrived at Canterlot. The trip was spent in eerie silence, as it seems Canterlot was busy doing repairs for what Discord had inflicted on them. I thought of Ponyville and all that would have to be done. But with my friends by my side, I knew we could take care of it in record time.
We soon bowed before Princess Celestia and Luna, who were quite surprised to see a pony alongside the statue of Discord. While the statue was hurried off to the garden, this time in a more hidden and secret location, Princess Celestia asked who was with us as well. We had already chosen on the train ride that Medi would be the one to explain what had happened, or at least to our best guess.
“Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. During the conflict with Discord, he had created a minion of his own called Disarray. While it is true that Disarray here helped Discord in creating Chaos across Equestria, after the Elements of Harmony worked their magic, it had a different effect on Disarray than on Discord. While Discord, as you say, turned to stone… Disarray was… in pain. The Elements seemed to have knocked him unconscious, and after Harmony had restored the land, Disarray remained. Nothing else remained of Discord’s Chaos that we know of either.”
“That is indeed quite the tale. However, since he has worked with Discord, we find it disheartening, but necessary, to banish Disarray for his crimes against Equestria.” Princess Celestia announced gravelly.
“We will hold a ceremony next week for you all to attend, for dealing with Discord.” Princess Luna added on before we heard growling near us.
It was pretty muffled, but we could hear Disarray loud and clear, voicing his discontent with the ruling.
“I believe we should let him have his final words before he leaves, dear sister.” Luna commented.
“Very well then. But be warned, Disarray. You are outnumbered and you are underpowered to take us on.” And with that, Princess Celestia took out the gag, letting Disarray speak.
“So kind and charitable, Ms. Sunlight.” Disarray snarked as he looked up at her with a small snarl. “So, this is justice in a nutshell, isn’t it? Let the few who have power make the decisions while I have no say in it. You didn’t even think about trying to spare and help redeem me for a single moment, did you?”
“You had allied with Discord and sought to cause Chaos within our Realm!” Luna shouted back.
“Oh, yeah, like I really had a choice there.” Disarray rolled his eyes. “Look, I was made with one purpose in mind: fuck shit up. It’s only thanks to the A-Team over there that I had anything else in mind, and I still don’t know how the hell that happened. Plus, would you really banish Medley’s only brother?”
“More Lies you spout from your lips!” Luna roared.
“Actually, Princess… that’s what I was about to say earlier before being interrupted.” Medi approached cautiously. “I have the strangest feeling Disarray and I are connected in more ways than by chance. It’s like a part of me… became him. In a sense.”
Princess Celestia and Luna both looked skeptical, but held back any comments while Disarray laughed. Goddess what a horrid laugh it was too! It was combining Discord and Medi’s laugh into one, and that was just a little too much.
“See, Princesses? And since he’s one of these Elements, it’d be quite the story to hear that-” He was cut off from anything else with a forceful shove of the gag by Luna.
“Sister!” Princess Celestia thundered angrily. “Calm yourself, please!”
Luna only gave a look to Princess Celestia before storming off.
Celestia took a deep breath as she continued on. “Do not worry, Medley. We will make sure Disarray is-”
Confused as to what cut her off, I looked where Disarray was, only to find that he had somehow slipped out of his magical bindings and had disappeared to LaurFastia knows where! No pony could just break out of those bindings, it was impossible!
“Guards! Double the watch duties and send out searching parties for a rogue, male, monochromatic red unicorn!” Princess Celestia immediately ordered as the guards nodded and rushed to carry out orders.
“I suggest you spend the night here. We will hold the ceremony for Discord’s defeat sooner than planned in case Disarray decides to try and break Discord out early.” Princess Celestia suggested.
We all agreed and found our way to our temporary rooms. I think here’s a good point to leave off. Though I have to wonder what really made Medley claim Disarray as a sibling, and what happened to Disarray himself. I hoped that I would never have to see him again. If I was lucky enough, he wouldn’t want to be involved in anything that would be happening in the future, but I seemed pretty pessimistic about that. Still… I had hopes. Hopefully Disarray will be caught soon, and Equestria can sleep easier knowing that Chaos has once again been completely banished.
End of Chapter 2