//------------------------------//
// Chapter 13 - Chaos 
// Story: My Family and Other Equestrians 
// by Blade Star 
//------------------------------//

Since I’d fallen into the habit of getting up early on Sweet Apple Acres, it was no surprise that I found myself waking up not long after the dawn broke. Coming to, I blinked a few times to clear my vision. My head, while not in agony, definitely had a few twinges that weren’t there the night before. I chalked that up to the moonshine I’d enjoyed. It might have tasted like sake, but it kicked like whiskey.

I sat up in bed with a start as the memories of last night came flooding back. I’d gone and met with Princess Luna, who had taken me up to her tower for a spot of stargazing, along with moonshine and conversation. She’d helped me unlock the beginnings of my magic. A quick thought and I found the clock on the bedside table next to me floating in front of my face. It was certainly a nice surprise to find that it wasn’t all a dream.

And then there was the small matter of Luna herself. She’d called me a friend; something I knew her to be somewhat selective about. I still couldn’t quite believe that it had all happened as I remembered. It seemed too good to be true.

Getting out of bed, I did my best to make it up and save the castle’s staff a bit of trouble, before heading to the bathroom to brush my teeth. Like a hotel, there were a few basics provided for me. Using my magic, I picked up the toothbrush and set to work. It’s a little hard to describe. It wasn’t like having my hands back, but I had just as much control and feeling through my magic as I would if they were. I was a little clumsy at first, but soon began to pick up on finer motor control.

I repeated the practice on a mane brush as I smoothed out my mane. It was a little long at this point. I wondered what ponies did about that. Did they have barbers and hairdressers in Equestria? I knew Rarity styled hers no end. Yet another little thing to find out about.

Stepping out of the bathroom again, I felt distinctly more confident. I could use magic now, at least, enough for everyday activities not to be a chore. I did wonder though how powerful I was. Back home, I wasn’t especially strong. Did that carry over to my magic? Of course, I knew I was no Twilight Sparkle, but I was rather curious to know just where I stood on the scale between foal and alicorn princess.

My musings and brief delusions of grandeur were then interrupted by a knock at the door. Trotting over, I used my magic to grasp and turn the handle, still enjoying the relative novelty of the act.

I expected to meet another of the castle’s maid or butlers, or possibly one of the stone faced guards. To my surprise though, I found myself staring at someone noticeably further up the food chain.

While the pony that stood before me had a blue mane and a white hide, he was far from your common or garden Royal Guard; it was Shining Armor. I was quite surprised to see him if I’m honest. Sure we’d met briefly the day before, but I figured that he had better things to do. Actually, I was a little surprised that he wasn’t up north in the Crystal Empire with his wife.

Still, it seemed he was here now, so I did my upmost to be civil with him.

“Captain Shining Armor,” I greeted, offering a small nod of respect to the captain of the Royal Guard. “What brings you this way?” Shining’s expression was fairly neutral, just as it had been the day before.

“Princess Celestia wanted somepony to bring you to the dining room for breakfast,” he said. “I volunteered.” I was taken aback by that.

Still, I was ready to go. So I stepped out into the hallway and motioned for the captain to lead on. As I had initially done with Luna, I found myself naturally falling in behind and to his right, a couple steps behind. The two of us walked in silence for a time before I struck up a conversation.

“I’m surprised that the commanding officer of the Royal Guard came just to take me to have breakfast,” I said offhandedly. Shining glanced back.

“I was hoping to talk with you,” he said, in a somewhat more friendly tone. “I wanted to ask you some questions.” I decided to have a go at being clever.

“No,” I said. That caught Shining off guard. He turned back to me again with a whinny.

“What do you mean?” he demanded. I did my best to hold back a grin.

“Your first question, captain,” I replied. “We are not here because of some secret plot to take over Equestria, nor do we have any intention of harming its citizens.”

It seemed logical that that would be Shining’s first question. I’m actually a little surprised that the subject didn’t come up when we met with Princess Celestia. I could see where he was coming from. If an alien showed up on my doorstep, I’d probably assume it was the vanguard of an impending invasion.

As it turned out though, my deduction was faulty. I guess I’m no Sherlock Holmes.

“Good to know, Blade Star,” Shining said with a smile. “But I was actually going to ask you about this ‘television show’. Twiley told me about it after the four of you were settled in. I was wondering where I fit into it.”

I felt my face heat up and was thankful for my now slate grey coat that hid the blush for the most part. That’s what I get for trying to be a smart arse I guess.

“Oh…erm…right,” I said, as my ears flattened themselves against my skull. “Well, you were introduced to the show just before your wedding. That’s also where we met Cadence, and Queen Chrysalis.”

I felt a small amount of bile bubble up in me at the mention of the changeling queen. I didn’t as a rule mind the other villains of the show. But Chrysalis really drew my ire and, laugh if you must, I’d always felt a slight desire for revenge against the fictional shapeshifting bug.

Sometimes I think I get too caught up in the fandom for my own good. I forget it’s just a show.

Well, it used to be.

I shook that particular thought from my mind and continued.

“We saw you next with your wife during the defence of the Crystal Empire, when you took that hit from King Sombra to save the others. And of course when you threw Princess Cadence to save Spike and secure the Crystal Heart.”

Shining smiled at the latter part of my statement. He’d certainly acquitted himself better then than during the changeling attack. Although to be fair, the bug queen had pretty much left him without his usual abilities.

“So I show up a few times then, do I?” he asked as we turned a corner.

“A few episodes, yes,” I replied. I half wondered if this itself was an episode. Hell’s teeth, what if I’d accidentally triggered a season finale episode or something?

The two of us continued to talk as we made our way to the dining room again. I got the guard captain to fill in a couple blanks in his own story. And by the time we reached the dining room, we were chatting quite amicably.

Opening the door with my magic, something Shining noticed instantly, I found the rest of my family and both princesses sitting at the table. The group all looked up from their meals and conversation at our entrance. Of particular note was Lizzie. I couldn’t help but notice that her eyes seemed to wander towards Shining Armor and linger a little longer than normal. Lizzie always used to poke fun at my love for MLP. Was she now taking a fancy towards Shining perhaps?

I laughed inwardly to myself. I doubted it.

Trotting inside, I found that the only vacant seat was next to Dad. He and Twilight were on one side, while Mum, Lizzie and Luna were on the other. Princess Celestia meanwhile, sat at the head of the table. With a brief nod to the princesses, Shining withdrew to return to his duties. 

I quickly jumped into my seat at the far end. There was quite a spread set out for us. And to my surprise, there was even some meat. In hindsight though, that made some sense. The princesses occasionally had visiting dignitaries, such as griffons, who included meat in their natural diet. As tempted as I might be, the very thought of eating meat now left a bitter taste in my mouth. It was a strange effect of taking in this form; one of my favourite foods, pork sausage, was now entirely unpalatable. Conversely, I did now have a taste for dandelion sandwiches.

I helped myself to some toast and orange juice, as well as some pancakes. Dad had grabbed a few of those for himself too.

“These are pretty good aren’t they, lad,” he said, with his mouth full. I caught Mum giving him a stern glare for his trouble.

“Well what do you expect from some of the best chefs in Equestria, Dad?” I replied. I knew for a fact that Celestia had damn near an army of cooks at her disposal, mainly due to her cake…shall we say habit rather than addiction.

“I’m sure they’d do a bang up job too,” he replied with a smile. “But it was actually Princess Celestia here who cooked them.”

I was a little taken aback at that. I knew there would be things about Equestria and its inhabitants that I didn’t know, but I wasn’t expecting to encounter a gap in my knowledge so soon. Celestia…a cook? Like I said before, I knew she loved her cakes, but I never thought her a cook.

“I always like to do a little bit of breakfast myself, Blade Star,” Celestia explained. “Just to show both my servants and my guests that I care. And that I’m not above rolling up my sleeves when the occasion calls for it.”

I took a bite of one of the pancakes on my plate. They were, I must confess, excellent, even if they were of the American style. Our little group continued to chat as we ate.

“You guys all have an okay night?” I asked my three family members.

“Well, we all at least managed to get to bed before two in the morning,” Mum said jokingly. “Princess Luna was just telling us about meeting you the other night.”

“And it also explains were that bottle of the thirty six went,” Celestia added. “Luna, I was saving that for when the Saddle Arabian ambassador visits.” Luna tossed her head haughtily.

“You really shouldn’t hoard my moonshine so aggressively, dear sister,” she replied. “I am more than happy to produce more when required. So I see no harm in sharing a bottle or two between friends.”

“I think my son’s head might disagree with you there, princess,” Dad said. The somewhat increased volume of conversation was worsening my existing headache.

“You know what they say,” Mum said, jumping on the bandwagon. “If you can’t handle the hangover, do not over indulge.” I decided to get her back.

“Yeah, says the woman who giggles after half a glass of wine and falls asleep after a whole one.”

All of us burst out laughing at that. It felt good. For the first time since we got here, we were all together, all relaxed and enjoying ourselves. You’d never have guessed that we were stranded here and cut off from our home.

Eventually, the conversation turned to what we’d be doing today. Tomorrow, we’d all be heading back down to Ponyville, and we’d no longer have to worry about keeping away from prying eyes. That would be an interesting little experience. But for now, we had a brief reprieve. Dad already had plans.

“So you’re sure you don’t have any objections to me observing you in court, princess?” he asked. Celestia smiled maternally and shook her head.

“Not at all, Roger,” she replied. “It will be nice to have some company for a change, and it will give you a chance to see if it is something you would be interested in.” I reminded myself that Celestia had, sort of, offered Dad a job working for her if he wanted it.

“Fair enough,” he said with a nod, and dabbing his mouth with a napkin. “What about you, dear?” Mum looked up.

“I thought I might head down to Canterlot today,” she said. “Before we left, Rarity recommended a couple of places that might be able to help us out with our clothing situation. She’s been very kind helping us, but I don’t want to make the poor girl do the three of us an entire wardrobe each. I guess I can take a few…bits was it?” She looked over to me, and I nodded. “I can take a few bits down and get a few things set in motion.”

“How about you, Lizzie?” I asked. My little sister had been fairly quiet so far. I think she was missing Fluttershy a bit.

“I was going to hang out with Twilight today,” she said. “She’s going to spend some time with her brother, and I thought I’d tag along.” Ah, so perhaps there were some grounds for my suspicion. Well, I knew a couple female bronies who were sweet on the guard captain. And don’t even get me started on Big Mac.

“And what about you, Blade Star?” Celestia asked, turning to me. I paused for a moment and thought before an idea popped into my head.

“If you have no objection, your highness,” I said. “I wouldn’t mind taking a walk around the castle gardens.”

There had been a few benefits of my recent transformation. Two of these stood out in particular. Firstly, my vision; back home, I was long sighted and had required fairly strong glasses all my life. That, I could live with; I actually found it a little odd not to feel the frame sitting on my nose and ears, and that when I woke up I could instantly see clearly.

The other benefit though, and if I’m honest a far more important one, was the fact that in this body, I no longer had hay fever. True the allergy had gotten less and less as I grew up, but for three weeks in July and August, I was of no use to anyone. It was presently mid-June. By now I was normally getting some early symptoms. But despite walking around the pleasant countryside for a week with hardly any rain, I hadn’t sneezed once. I can’t say how brilliant that is.

Consequently, given that there was still a chance we may go home, I wanted to enjoy the situation while it lasted. I’d always enjoyed nature, but until now, my body hadn’t particularly cared for it. And the Royal Gardens, if Fluttershy was to be believed, was some of the most remarkable in all Equestria.

Princess Celestia smiled, seemingly pleased with my choice.

“Of course you may,” she said. “Spend as much time there as you like.” With that, the princess got up, prompting us all to do the same out of respect.

“Roger, if you’d like to follow me, we can make a start.”

Dad nodded and promptly followed her to the door. Twilight paired up with my sister to go and find Shining, while Luna took my mum to one side, offering to escort her into town before she went to bed. After all, while it was half eight in the morning for us, to her, it was getting late.

I meanwhile, found myself accompanied by a guard and was shown the way to the gardens; a simple enough route accessible by one of the castle’s main thoroughfares. After a short walk, I found myself outside, walking down stone steps and onto a gravel path. From there, the castle gardens were spread out before me. There had to be a least a couple acres or so behind the castle, and it all looked to have been turned into a mini reserve.

Thanking the pegasus guard for bringing me here, I trotted down the path and walked up to the medium sized fountain that sat in the centre of the gardens. I decided that, to start with, I’d look around some of the more enclosed areas. I knew from Season 2 that there was also a hedge maze to get lost in for a while. After that, maybe I’d just find somewhere to sit and watch the world go by. It was just a shame I didn’t have a good book on hoof.





I spent the rest of the morning and a bit of the early afternoon too, walking around the gardens. It was strange to be in such a place and not be struggling to breathe, see, or stop sneezing. Seriously, those three weeks of the year used to be the worst of my life, even on prescription meds. For the first time in over twenty years, I could roll in the grass, smell the flowers, and just enjoy the beauty and harmony of it all.

And let’s not forget all the animals that lived in the gardens. Every now and then I’d spot a squirrel or songbird, although I knew there were plenty of more exotic animals in here too. But this was no petting zoo, and I wasn’t about to make the same mistake Fluttershy made at the gala and end up having a nervous breakdown. Though I must confess it was rather nice to see all the animals up close; another little advantage of no longer being a predatory species.

Eventually though, I decided to go a little further afield. Walking over to a large wrought iron gate, I opened it and let myself back into the main garden, with Canterlot castle sitting behind me in the background.

I recognised this area in particular. This was where the various statues of Equestria’s heroes were. The vast majority of these, I didn’t recognise. Although names like Starswirl the Bearded stood out. I took it all as an opportunity to expand on my own canon knowledge. Among the names I didn’t recognise, there was Flash Magnus, a pegasus, Rockhoof, a towering earth pony with a touch of Viking to him, and Mistmane, an ancient looking unicorn that sill somehow managed to seem beautiful.

I was fascinated by all these ponies, and did my best to learn what I could from the small plaques on the base of each statue. As I walked though, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was being watched. As far as I could tell however, I was alone, apart from a couple of gardeners and guards.

At length, I found that I’d come to the far end of this part of the gardens. And there was one statue that I recognised instantly. It was no pony, but a mishmash of all sorts of creatures, woven together to create a serpentine form. Its expression was one of shock and fright, with both its arms, a talon and lion paw respectively, held out in front as if to stop something. Any brony worth his salt knew this fruitcake, it was Discord.

Hang on a minute…

I’d previously asked myself when I was in the show’s timeline. In fact it had been one of my first questions when I’d first realised that we were in Equestria. Upon coming to the old castle in the Everfree Forest, I’d gone down and found the Tree of Harmony, with all the Elements in its branches. And Twilight was now an alicorn, so I knew I was in the present.

So what in the wide, wide realm of Equestria was Discord doing still encased in stone? He ought to have escaped, been defeated, then released and reformed by now. And yet here he was still encased in stone. Had I made a mistake? Was this world’s version of Equestria slightly different to my own? I was perplexed.

“You shouldn’t be here,” I said, half to the statue and half to myself. “There shouldn’t be anything here. This doesn’t make any sense.”

And with that, I got the shock of my life.

“Make sense?” a voice asked. “Oh what fun is there in making sense?”

I damn near leapt out of my skin. The ‘statue’ had seemingly come to life and was now leering down at me from its pedestal. With a snap of his talons, Discord disappeared for a moment, before reappearing right next to me, startling me again.

I’m not going to lie, I was frightened. And with good reason too. Discord was supposed to be reformed, sure, but that didn’t make him any less terrifying. He stood about six and a half feet tall; taller than the princess or my dad, and far taller than me. However, after he appeared beside me, he coiled himself down to be nearer my height and partially encircling me.

“My, my, what do we have here?” he asked, regarding me curiously with mismatched red and yellow eyes. I quickly backed away.

“Stay the hell away from me, Discord!” I snapped, my fear actually pushing me toward anger. The draconequus was unfazed.

“Ah, so you know me then?” he asked. “Well, that’s certainly surprising.”

“I also know you’re reformed,” I went on. “And Princess Celestia will have your head if you hurt me!” Discord held up his paw and claw.

“Simmer down, dear boy. I’m merely curious.”

Snapping his talons, he produced a magnifying glass and proceeded to examine me closely, while I remained rooted to the spot. I wasn’t too comfortable with such an examination. But could I expect anything less from Equestria’s version of Q, and its newest and least trustworthy ally?

“Curious about what?” I asked, my initial fear giving way to annoyance.

“Why you, my little pony,” he replied tapping me on the nose with a paw. “Though I think we both know that isn’t true. You’re no more a pony than I am.”

“True,” I replied warily. “And I’m not from around here either.” Discord got up and folded his arms.

“Hey! I’m supposed to be the cryptic one!” he snapped back. “Well, let’s see what we can find out about you. Hmm, well, you certainly aren’t usually a unicorn, and you aren’t used to having magic. You definitely aren’t from around here. And yet you recognised me right away.”

“You’re…somewhat famous where I come from,” I replied. “I don’t mind the odd bit of chaos in small doses. Your exploding chocolate milk was inspired.” Discord smiled and offered a deep bow.

“Oh, I try, I suppose, I try,” he said with false modesty.

At the moment, a thought occurred to me. The princesses had no idea how we’d gotten here, but Discord might know. He had magic that was just as powerful, if not more so than an alicorn. Our arrival here could be all his doing. I decided to try and find out.

“So as the undisputed master of chaos,” I said. “You wouldn’t happen to know anything about how me and my family got here, would you?” Discord now looked slightly offended.

“Goodness, no,” he replied, sounding serious for once. “There are some things even I don’t dabble in unless really necessary.” I eyed him suspiciously.

“Besides,” he went on, now with a mischievous smirk on his face. “If I did, don’t you think I’d have picked somepony just a little bit more interesting?” I growled irritably at that, letting him get under my skin, although it did suggest that he genuinely had no part in bringing us here. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not.

I was about to shoot back a scathing retort at the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony, when, with a snap of his talons, he disappeared in a flash of light, just like old Q. I let out a sigh of relief. I don’t think I’d been so scared and annoyed at the same time in my whole life. Discord might be amusing on the screen, but not so much when you’re exposed to the effects of his chaos magic yourself. I took a breath, copying the technique Cadence had taught Twilight, in an effort to calm down. It probably would have worked too, had Discord not reappeared a moment later. This time, he was dressed in a crumpled raincoat over a suit and tie.

“Oh, there’s just one more thing,” he said in an appalling impression of Columbo before switching back to his normal voice. “Did you say something about a family?” My eyes bulged. It was enough getting them used to the idea of talking ponies.

“You stay the hay away from them, Discord!” I warned, pointing a hoof at him.

With a smug smile, the draconequus disappeared a second time. I snorted irritably. All I could do was hope that each of my family members were with somepony when that trickster showed up. I may have told them all a fair bit about Equestria, but I hadn’t mentioned Discord.

In any case, I was now no longer in a mood to relax in a beautiful garden. Making my way back up the steps, I decided to go and find Princess Celestia to let her know what happened, or at the very least Twilight. Discord may still be Discord, but I knew that he could ultimately be brought to heel. If all else fails, we could get Fluttershy up here to give him a stern talking to.

Heading inside the castle, I made my way first towards our three suites, to see if any of my family members were there. If not, then I could try the throne room, or ask some of the guards if they’d seen Twilight.

As I passed by my own door though, I couldn’t help but hear a faint sound coming from within. It only lasted for a moment, but I still picked it up with my equine hearing. My ears twitched at the sound, trying to pinpoint it. It sounded like a table or cupboard being moved across the floor, but only for a second or so. Curious, I opened the door to take a look.

The room was empty; at least, it appeared that way at first. And by empty, I mean entirely empty. All the furniture was gone; the bed, the desk, even the large wardrobe. A moment later though, I realised what had happened. The floor looked a little off, the tiles seemed to be different. It took me a second to realise that the ‘floor’ was actually the ceiling. Looking up, I found all the furniture hanging from the ceiling. Somehow, Discord had used his magic to turn the entire room upside down.

At that point, no amount of calming techniques would save me, I just lost my temper.

“Discord!” I bellowed angrily.

And wouldn’t you know it, somewhere, I could hear that insane god of chaos laughing at me.