To Bring About Chaos
The Fundamentals Of My World
It was quite the week after Discord’s defeat. As promised, the ceremony for defeating Discord was done three days later. With it came a new stained glass window, showing the exact moment Discord was turned to stone by us 7. By mutual agreement, Disarray was to be left out of the portrait, and any mention of him was to be kept out of any record. They still hadn’t found him by the time of the ceremony, and he didn’t crash it to try and release Discord either. It was both relieving and saddening to know we couldn’t find him.
To be honest, I don’t really know why I claimed him as my brother. I knew he’d try and just literally take over Equestria alongside Discord. And even when everyone was back to normal, it took him being blasted by a rainbow to knock him out, and even then it only lasted for so long. But… something inside me literally just felt like he was a part of me. I have no idea why or how, as I explained numerous times to everypony, but it was as if a part of me got stuck inside Disarray. I dunno, I’m not exactly a magic expert.
However, after the ceremony had ended and guests had left for the night, Sparkella decided to ask Princess Celestia directly what was going on, and how this was even possible. Everypony else kinda just tagged along, as we were also curious, even if we knew some of the phrases and magical terms used might go over our heads. Nevertheless, it was 7 ponies that went up to ask now both Princesses what had gone down, while Spike held down the fort back in Ponyville.
“Princess Celestia…” Sparkella began. “I don’t understand. How did Disarray escape? Why wasn’t he turned to stone like Discord was? Is it something related to the Elements of Harmony?”
Princess Celestia smiled as she waved a hoof to calm Sparkella down. “I will answer all of your questions in a small moment, my little pony. But first… you must understand something about how this world works.”
At our confused expressions, Princess Luna explained further. “For you see, our little ponies, when we were younger foals, and the Starswirl the Bearded helped us learn the ways of this world, he broke it down into its most basic components. Those would be Order, Harmony, and Chaos.”
“Wait, so yer sayin’ CHAOS was a parta tha world? That don’t make a lick of sense!” AJ called out.
“Please, let us explain, Applejack.” Celestia smiled as she continued on. “Yes, indeed. Chaos is a part of our world. It may not be a very well liked part, but necessary all the same. However, the way Discord went about, he was trying to destroy Harmony and eventually Order.”
“For you see, everypony, a balance must always be maintained. Chaos must be kept back at bay, and Order must not be allowed to take root for too long. An equilibrium between the two creates Harmony, which is what helps separate Chaos and Order from a battle that has existed since they were first created.” Luna went on.
“Hold on one moment… who has what then? I know we ponies are beings of Harmony, but who else is there for this Order and Chaos?” Rarity questioned.
“An excellent question, Rarity.” Celestia smiled as she took over explaining. “You see, most races here in Equestria are ones of Harmony, like ponies. However… there are also those that utilize Order and those that utilize Chaos.”
“A brief explanation as to how each magic works as well should be explained, dear sister.” Luna reminded Celestia.
“Oh, right.” Celestia looked a little embarrassed before moving on. “Each... faction, if you will, works on the world in different way. Order reshapes the physical world, more often by pure strength and brawn than by any other means. Chaos, meanwhile, works on the mind, giving us all unique thoughts and how to shape our reality. Harmony is a blend of the two, as you work with the more spiritual side of the world. Think of it as Order as the physical body, Chaos as the mind, and Harmony as the soul for a pony body.”
“I’m… not following.” I spoke up. “If that’s the case, then why do ponies count as beings of Harmony, rather than Order or Chaos? Or any other being for that matter?”
“That is because ponies have found balance between using magic and using physical force.” Luna summarized. “Zebras and horses are also considered beings of harmony, though zebras can be counted as a little more chaotic and horses as more orderly.”
“Then, um, what would… would count as, um, other species for other… other factions?” Shy… shyly asked.
“Just like what I was about to explain. You see, Fluttershy, due to many different sentient beings on Equus, some are more orderly and some are more chaotic than others, with ponies being the middle ground. A draconequus like Discord, a pure force of Chaos, would be one end of the spectrum. However, for those like the… Caribou…” Here Celestia shivered in what looked like disgust before continuing on, “They would rather take matters into their hands physically, not even bothering with magic in the slightest.”
“Wait a sec? The Caribou?” Dash sounded incredulous. “Who the heck are they?”
Both Princess took a while to respond, before eventually Celestia spoke up again, sounding bitter and disgusted. “They are a race that lives as far north of Equestria as possible. They are the epitome of male aggression and perversion, and they had made frequent threats of invading Equestria for more… “breeders”, as they call us.”
Everyone looked vaguely disgusted and horrified at the thought of that. I know I was feeling both nauseous and angry at the same time. Something about them just ticked me off in the wrong way, and not just for the reasons of, oh, I don’t know basic pony decency, but other than that, it felt like I knew others like that. Not ponies though… maybe griffons? In any case, Luna quickly moved on from that, not wanting to let us dwell on those disgusting creatures.
“In any case, we ponies would then be the best representatives of Harmony out there, finding the perfect balance between the two and enriching the lives of others.” Luna spoke.
It took us a moment to respond after the last bombshell, but my Sparkella was the one that broke the silence. “Then why hasn’t Harmony spread throughout Equus and make everything better for everypony?”
“That is because equilibrium is needed between all three, as said earlier. Harmony cannot live without Chaos or Order to harmonize it, just as Order cannot exist without Chaos and the reverse.” Luna further explained.
“Wait a minute! If we ponies are Harmony… then what does that make Dis? A plothole?” Pinkie piped up, making all of us a bit confused at both the question and lack of an answer.
“Another excellent question.” Celestia smiled as she asked us something. “Now tell us, how did Disarray come about?”
“When Discord created him.” Applejack supplied before a lightbulb went off in her head. “Wait a tic… he was created, not born a pony! Is that it?”
Luna nodded as she laid it out. “Since he was created to serve merely as an instrument of Discord’s magic first, he is a part of Chaos. It was thanks to the Elements that he remained a pony, but as he was created, not born, he is an exception to ponies being more harmonic beings, and rather is a lone example of a purely chaotic pony.”
“While that is true… it doesn’t explain how it feels like he’s really connected to me. Why he even acted a little like I did a few days back.” I put forth.
“This left everyone stumped for a while, making me think about it really hard to. It was like we were connected on the spiritual level, or the equivalent of. Like if he was a twin of me. The more I thought about it, the more a crazy idea kept on coming to me.
“Wait… I think I have an answer to my own question.” I announced, making everypony turned to me as I explained. “What if… and this is a really crazy idea… but what if a literal part of me was sucked into Disarray sometime during Discord’s freedom?”
“Medi… sweetie… how would that even work?” Sparkella asked, dumbfounded. “Last I checked, it’s magically impossible to lose a part of yourself to someone else. The closest would be possession, and he certainly didn’t possess you.”
“You are indeed correct, my shining pupil.” Celestia rose her voice. “However, you forgot to factor in one missing detail when it comes to this. And that was assuming Discord, or even Disarray, would obey normal rules of magic.”
“What?! But even with chaos magic, that’s impossible! It’s not like chaos magic can do everything!” Sparkella shouted before wincing a little, hastily adding a, “Princess Celestia, ma’am.”
“While it is true that chaos magic cannot do everything…” Luna began. “It can do many a great feat itself. While it cannot heal or resurrect the dead like our magic, it can change many things around on a whim. Changing souls around would be no different, though slightly harder. It is all too possible that a part of Medley now resides in Disarray.”
“Like I said, it’s crazy. But it’s the best I have to explain why Disarray acted a little bit like me.” I nodded my head.
“But that’s extremely dangerous to just leave you unbalanced like that!” Sparkella cried out.
“That is also true, Twilight Sparkle.” Celestia nodded as she looked at me. “Unfortunately, we cannot do much as it is to remove the part of Order that remains inside Medley. We must wait for another to try and replicate what Discord had done.”
“But… but that could be weeks or months from now!” Dash shouted angrily.
“We do not have a choice, Loyalty!” Luna yelled back before trying to calm herself. “If we could, we would try to find a way to remove it from Medley so that he could be more balanced. However, even with Starswirl the Bearded’s knowledge of spells, the best we could do is remove all of Medley from Medley. And we will not do such a thing.”
“But if Chaos is really such a bad thing, why is it worrisome that most of it is removed from him, other than for imbalance?” Rarity queried.
“Chaos in large amounts like Disarray or Discord are indeed bad. However, for small amounts, like seen in ponies, it helps drive creativity and spontaneity in life. It allows one to try out new things, go explore, and many other things ponies take for granted. Without it, one would fall into routines and be very hard-pressed to do anything outside it. At first, it may not seem bad. But with only Order, one eventually starts to repeat themselves, even at their job. And for someone like Medley who relies on thinking of new songs to do and make, it can be harmful if left unchecked.” Celestia spoke solemnly.
Now that chilled me a little. Being unable to try anything really new, doing the same thing day in and day out? That sounded like torture to my ears. Especially since it’d mean I’d be stuck playing the same old songs as before with no variation, like what Celestia had said.
“Then take the part out of Disarray and put it back in Medley! Like we really need him around!” Dash called out.
Now the room left like it was getting warmer and warmer, as Celestia looked down at Dash. “You wish to cause the death of another pony? Because that’s what it will require to return Medley to normal. And considering that he is, as Medley said moments before, connected to Medley, you would be killing a member of Medley’s family.”
She backed down immediately from the looks she was receiving from all of us, and possibly from how it sounded when it was said in such a way. I knew she was aggressive, but this was to another level. I knew I had to speak up on behalf of Disarray, who wasn’t even here to defend himself.
“My friends… and Princesses… I know Disarray has caused lots of trouble recently. I know that he worked with Discord, and I know he escaped certain conviction. However… he is a part of me. And he is still a pony. He may not have been born into Harmony, but he can very well learn how to work with fellow ponies.” I stood my ground defiantly.
After a moment of silence, Dash sighed a little as she nodded. “Yeah… I gotcha, Med. But that doesn’t stop e from pranking his butt off with Pinkie to help me out!”
Pinkie giggled and cheered, as the atmosphere became less tense. “Of course I’d help! Somepony who doesn’t know any of my tricks? That’s super rare!”
I gave a small smile and chuckle. “Well, I’m definitely not stopping you both from doing that. Just no trying to make it potentially lethal and/or deadly.”
As they made their Pinkie Promise, Sparkella spoke up once more. “But how did Disarray escape in the first place?”
At this, Celestia sighed. “Discord often would travel to other dimensions and universes when he wasn’t trying to take over this one. Perhaps Disarray picked up on this same ability, since he alone can wield chaos magic, as Discord being trapped in stone would cut him off from his power.”
“So… we can’t get him to come back ‘les Discord’s freed?” Applejack groaned.
“It would seem to be the case, yes. Or Disarray would have to come back of his own volition. And since he knows he would be put under immediate arrest for coming back to Equestria…” Luna started.
“We really have to wait until Discord’s free again.” Dash grumbled. “At least we don’t have to then worry about him coming back anytime soon. After all, s’not like Discord’s gonna be free anytime soon.”
At this, everyone agreed, and soon enough, we were escorted back to our bedrooms while Luna attended to her night duties. While many questions were answered, some of which we didn’t even know we had until this evening, some were still flying about in my mind. What would become of me due to all the chaos that left me? Would Disarray actually come back of his own free will? And why did it feel like I should know something when it doesn’t appear in my mind? I eventually went into a fitful sleep, hoping that one day, Disarray would come back, and I would have a second chance at a family with a new brother.