Chapter 2
“There’s a new Age coming; this one’s coming to an end”
“So how do we do this?” asked Spike. He was still nervous about the whole thing. “This isn’t going to wipe my mind or anything is it?”
Mael could only chuckle “Spike, if I were going to make you into a mindless drone I wouldn’t have spent all this effort convincing you to join me. Besides, second rule remember?” they responded.
“Right, of course...will it hurt?” Spike asked as Mael wrapped their four arms around him, pulling him into an embrace
“Not at all. Now, close your eyes” they said. Spike slowly shut his eyes. “Take a breath.” Spike inhaled. “Count to three” Mael instructed.
Spike nodded and began “One.”
“Here with me” Mael slowly sang.
“Two.”
“You will be.”
“Three”
“In a world of pure imagination.”
Spike opened his eyes slowly, he still felt like he always did. In front of him was an odd mirror, in it his reflection still looked the same.
“Take a look, and you’ll see into your imagination”
Maelstrom gestured to the mirror and Spike looked again. The person looking back was now dramatically different; with their main scales now black and the scales on their underbelly a pale purple. Their crest and back spikes now looks sharper and were a deep shade of royal purple, in fact all those scales looked sharper. The eyes, oh wow those eyes. They were solid purple and glowing, sparking with chaotic energy.
“We’ll begin with a spin” Mael said, spinning Spike around, his reflection doing the same. Spike looked down at his claws, they were covered with the same black scale. This thing in the mirror was him. It was a warped chaotic version of himself. This was now who he was.
Resting their hands on the shoulders of the newly transformed dragon, Mael continued singing “We will warp this world to our creation, what we’ll do will defy explanation.” Spike turned and looked at his new boss. Maelstrom smiled.
“If you want to view paradise, well then simply turn around and view it” Mael continued, pointing back to their reflection in the mirror. “Anything you want to, do it. Want to change the world? There’s nothing to it”
Spike looked down at his claws again, then turned and looked back at the mirror. He could feel the power coursing through him, filling him up. It was indescribable.
“There is no life I know to compare to pure imagination. Living here you’ll be free, if you truly wish to be” Maelstrom conclude.
Spike grinned a bit “Spike, agent of chaos…” he said softly
“Um, well, let’s change that name” Mael said.
Spike raised a brow “What? Why? I like my name!”
Maelstrom rolled their three eyes, or at least made the gesture for an eye roll, Spike couldn’t tell which.
“Besides the fact that ‘Spike’ is the most unoriginal cliche name given to a PET, I think it would be wiser to keep your new career choice secret from the others. At least at first. Besides, start of a new life so you get a new name to go along with it. I think I shall call you...Disarray” they said, smiling at the drake.
“Disarray…” Spike repeated slowly, looking back at his reflection, smiling to himself and nodding “I like it. I really like it.”
“Let’s test out your new powers hm?” suggested Mael, gesturing to the stack of paper folders Twilight had asked Spike, er Disarray, to categorize.
Disarray smiled and snapped his fingers, nothing happened.
“While I approve of the enthusiasm, let me explain your abilities first” laughing Maelstrom, the black dragon giving a sheepish smile in return. “I’ve increased your already impressive durability and strength. Your relatively small frame is packing the power of an elder dragon now. On top of that I gave you several enhancements on your senses and reflexes; more on that later. This is the important bit. Along with your normal flames, and messenger flames, you now have Chaos flames; pure chaos magic in a fire-like state” Mael explained. “You’ll be able to use this new chaos breath to warp reality, enchant things, unleash powerful magical blasts, and much more.”
Disarray nodded and looked over at the stack of folders, testing his new breath out by blowing a couple puffs of purple flame into the air. The flames turned into small black butterflies and fluttered away. Satisfied that he had a handle on it, Disarray took a deep breath and blew the purple flames over the folders. The fires engulfed the documents and then, in a flash of purple light, they were gone. “Crap I burned them up!” cried Disarray.
Shaking their head, Mael teleported the two to Twilights study, opening one of the file cabinets “All documents teleported to their rightful places, not a single scorch mark on them” they said, examining the contents of the cabinet; there was a lot of interesting documents in there.
“Ok, that’s a relief. I don’t want Twi mad at me...yet” said Disarray
Maelstrom nodded and smiled “I’ll create a time bubble so you can get some more practice in with your new abilities. After that, I’ll show you how to shift back into your old form” they said.
Disarray gave a huge grin and nodded his head, he was going to enjoy this.
As they trained, Maelstrom explained more to Disarray. They explained about how, should he accept the title of Master of Mayhem, he would become a lesser god. He would be immortal, nearly indestructible, with the potential for even greater power than what Maelstrom has already granted him. They explained that with enough practice, he would have no problem rivaling the power of several alicorns. Disarray couldn’t wipe the smile off his face.
Spike was walking down the street as his old purple self, Maelstrom casually walking next to him. Mael had decided to alter their form into that of a blue unicorn mare with mid length blonde hair and tail. She wore black cargo shorts with a dark grey t shirt and black trench coat. All in all she was rather cute in a dark mysterious way. Going by the name Moonspark now, the unicorn continued her conversation with Spike.
“So, here’s how this is going to go down, you’ll need to prove you can handle being on Team Chaos. I’ll give you a week, you gotta pull off some pranks. Doesn’t matter if it’s a bunch of small ones or a few big ones, just impress me” she exclaimed. Spike pondered this as they continued their leisurely stroll around ponyville.
The duo soon found themselves near a busy little shop. Moonspark gestured to the shop and asked “What’s this place, and why is it so crowded?” Indeed, the small shop had a line out the door stretching half a block down. It was rather impressive.
“Oh that’s Bon Bon’s Sweets, best homemade candy in all Equestria” Spike replied with a smile. He reached into his pocket and gave a disappointed sigh. If only he had a few bits. Moon saw the look on Spikes face and rolled her eyes. Reaching into one of the side pockets of her shorts she pulled out a niced sized pouch of bits, tossing them over to the dragon.
Spike caught them and pulled one out, staring at it “did you just make counterfeit money?” he asked incredulously.
“That would imply that I am making fake money. That money is perfectly real” Moon replied with a smirk “Just because I poofed it into existence doesn’t make it any less so”
“But…” Spike began, but was cut off
“But what? The Bit, this nation’s main form of currency, is a simple small disk of copper plated over with gold and stamped with both the seal of the sun and this nation’s money symbol. Creating both metals in such a shape is childsplay. Also, because they’re made of precious metals it’s not like the value goes down or anything.” said Moon. “But you’re still thinking it was wrong, aren’t you? You have to get out of that way of thinking, morality is subjective and besides, you’re a ‘villain’ now.”
Spike thought about it for a second, then just shrugged. Moon was right. Like she said, he was technically one of the bad guys now.
Moving to the back of the line, the dragon scoffed. It was a shame he couldn’t use his powers to just force everyone to let him cut. He was really looking forward to satisfying his sweet tooth and he didn’t know when Twilight would be home from her...spa day.
He still felt hurt from that, and decided to focus on the slow moving line in front of him. By just glancing at those in line he could tell that more than half of them weren’t even from ponyville based on how they were dressed. Fucking tourists. To be fair to Bon Bon, having the title of ‘best candy ever’ meant everypony would want to try some. Wait, the best candy ever…
Stepping out of the line and towards a nearby tree, Spike sat down and began to think. Moon sat next to him and looked over questioningly “I thought you wanted candy. Why you just didn’t materialize some yourself I’ll never know...” she said, though she recognized that look on Spike’s face. It was the look of a prankster working on a new prank. Gears moving in his head at top speeds, eyes staring off into the distance seeing something no one else can, a mischievous smirk on his face. Oh yea, Spike had thought of something good.
“Ok, out with it” said Moon with a chuckle, poking Spike’s arm. Spike turned to her, grinning mischievously
“A Candy. The most delicious candy in all the world and of all time. A candy so good that other candies and sweet can never compare with it” he said with a whisper.
Now it was Moonspark’s turn to grin “ooh now that has potential. I think we should head back to the castle while the idea is fresh in your mind, and you can work on it.” They both got up, took another glance as the long line into the candy shop, and walked back the way they came.
Walking was always a relaxing experience. Sure one could teleport, but physically traveling somewhere allowed one to collect their thoughts and take in everything around them, forming new ideas. As they walked back to the Castle of Friendship, Spike was busy muttering to himself. An idea for this, a change on that, what if he did this other thing. Moonspark couldn’t help but give a proud smile. It had been less than an hour and Spike, no, Disarray was taking to his new job like a fish to water. She knew she had made the right choice.
As they neared the castle Spike turned to his new boss “So I think I have this figured out, but I’m going to need more people to pull it off, if that’s ok with you.” He said, expecting the lord of chaos to throw a cosmic fit at the idea of having to get more people. After all, Discord was never the type of surround himself with a group.
Moonspark just shook her head, smiling “I was going to look for more people anyways. This is Team Chaos. Can’t be a team with only two people. Still, it’s good that you recognize you can’t do this alone. Going lone wolf is what gets bad guys beat. Getting the right people around you, and forming a tight knit group, will make you unstoppable” She said, patting Spike on the back “You find the right people, and I’ll whip up some contracts and get them on the payroll.”
Spike smiled, his boss was really understanding but a larger problem perplexed him “How are we going to find people who’d be willing and brave enough to get into massive trouble wrecking the world and causing general havoc?” He asked. Before Moonspark could respond they were both startled by a loud crash that seemed to have impacted the side of the castle.
“Murphy’s Law at work!” Moonspark called out gleefully.
“Who’s Murphy?!” Spike called back as they both ran to the castle.
The duo reached their destination, noticing a trench leading right up to a large pile of scrap smacked up against the castle’s side; the remains of a rather glorious wreck.
“What the hell?” Spike muttered out loud at the scene in front of him.
There was movement and large boards being flung aside as the Cutie Mark Crusaders groaned, removing themselves from the pile of metal and wood; the remains of their latest experiment: the collective scooter.
Dusting herself off, Applebloom looked over at the drake. “Sorry Spike” She said. “We wanted to get our Cutiemarks as extreme skaters, but it ended up like this...”
Yes, after all this time, despite being eighteen year olds themselves, they STILL didn’t have their cutiemarks.
“Next time we’ll make it better” Scootaloo chimed in “we just need more nails and maybe some glue and…”
“And what if we try something else? Maybe Spike has some ideas” Sweetie suggested, turning to Spike with a smile. Her smile faltered when she say the black clad mare next to him, the mare’s golden eyes surveying the scene of their latest failure. “Um, who is she Spike?” asked Sweetie Belle, with just a hint of jealousy in her voice.
Spike had his eyes on the wreck. “She’s my new boss” he responded casually, deep in thought.
It was so obvious, of course he’d ask the Cutie Mark Crusaders. They were just as benched as him when it came to the Elements. They had a bit more presence than he had, but were even more condemned to be permanently trapped in their sisters’ shadows. Thinking about it, Spike suspected that their sisters’ treatment of them and the shadows they cast over them may play a large factor as to why ponies who would be considered young adults still didn’t have their cutiemark; something a pony normally gets when they’re between ages of eight and twelve.
It was so perfectly obvious. He grinned as Applebloom asked “Boss? Ya went and got a new job Spike?”
“Yea, something like that” the drake responded, taking a deep breath and blowing his chaos flames over the wreck. The wood and metal changed and warped. They wrapped around each other, twisting and binding. Soon, sitting there on it’s kickstand, was a perfectly crafted three person scooter. Spike then blew on it again, and in a puff of purple it disappeared “I’ll just save you for later” he chuckled to himself.
Applebloom and Scootaloo stared wide eyed. “What the hay was that?!” Scootaloo finally cried out, finding her voice after a few seconds.
Moonspark laughed, switching back to their original form, much to the shock of Sweetie who had been giving them a subtle glare the whole time “That was just a bit of chaos.” Mael said. The three mares just stared as Mael extended a hand to teach of them “Maelstrom, God of Chaos and Disharmony, it’s a pleasure to meet you” they said with a smile.
Spike coughed to get the girls attention and grinned “We have a proposition for you three, do you guys have a place we can talk?”
The Next Day:
It was a beautiful afternoon in Ponyville. Even though it wasn’t as beautiful as the previous day, everypony could agree it was still very nice. The local park was rather full, with school let out many young fillies and colts were running around and playing under the watchful eyes of their families. Older teens were also present, playing frisbee, or relaxing under a tree, with some even going swimming in the pond. Feather Weight and Rumble were such teens, zipping through the air as they raced each other from one end of the park to the other. The eighteen year old stallions had been friends since they were colts.
In truth, Feather Weight was the only real friend Rumble had left, the others having either moved on with their lives or decided not to associate with him anymore. Being a blank flank at his age really sucked, especially since there were foals half his age who already had their cutiemarks.
Everypony treats you weird, colts and fillies tease and adults treat you with pity thinking something was wrong with you. It was a rather touchy subject for him, made worse by the bullying from a certain snobbish duo. Feather Weight had been the only friend to really stick by him, regardless of his cutiemark or rather lack thereof. So the two continued their personal races, occasionally doing flips and tricks in the air to show off to no one in particular. They were in the middle of seeing which of them could do the tightest barrel roll when something suddenly caught their attention.
A black shadow whizzed past them at great speed. The blur kept going, before turning around and heading right back towards them. They could recognize that it was a pony, but couldn’t think of anypony who could fly that fast. Well, there was Rainbow Dash but this pony was black, not sky blue. Gripped with fear, the stallions turned and flew off as fast as they could but the shadow was faster and started to give chase.
“What do you want?!” cried Rumble as the shadowy pony began to overtake them, reaching out to grab his arm.
“Quick! Split up!” Feather Weight yelled out.
Immediately the two banked in opposite directions, flapping their wings for all they’re worth. All in all, it would have been a good idea had the dark pony not been so fast. The shadow zipped around, easy going after one and forcing him to change direction, then flying after the other to do the same. This went on for a few minutes until the two were corralled right up against each other, hovering and holding each other, eyes shut tight as the shadow zipped around them in a circle. There was no escape, the two realized; they were too far away from the park now so calling for help wasn’t an option.
The whirlwind around them died down, replaced only by lazy flapping. Rumble opened his eyes slowly, then nudged Feather to do the same. There, hovering in front of them, was a pegasus mare. Her fur was completely black and her mane and tail were magenta. Her eyes were solid magenta as well and glowed with an eerie energy. She was wearing, what Rumble could only describe as, the cross between the military jackets the wonderbolts wear and a pirate costume, with a weird star like symbol over the jacket’s left breast. Her black bat wings were as large as Celestia’s and slowly flapped behind her. All in all, Rumble thought she was kind of cute.
“Sorry for scaring you two, I know my appearance doesn’t exactly inspire bravery.” The mare said with a smirk. “But I didn’t come to hurt your guys, in fact…” The pegasus offered the two a piece of candy each. The candy was circular and light brown, with a dark brown swirl going around it. “I’m promoting this delicious new treat.” She continued. “Nightmare Night is in five days, if you like the candy you can get more from my team and I, you can look for us at Trick of Treat time!” She finished with a giggle.
Feather and Rumble felt slightly guilty. They had judged a pony based solely on her appearance and all she was doing was being a friendly promoter. Without another thought the two stallions popped the candy into their mouths.
As soon as the candy hit their tongues, the two exchanged a look with each other. They then turned back to the mare wide eyed at the candy dissolved in their mouths. To say it was heavenly would be a gross understatement. Words completely failed them at the moment, it was sweet, but not overly so. It was tangly and sharp, but velvety and smooth. The flavor was so complex it was almost indescribable. It was everything anypony could want in a candy all blended together into perfection. That’s it, that was the word they were looking for; perfection.
“Dude, this candy!!” exclaimed Rumble
“I know!” said Feather back.
“It’s just...and so…”
“I KNOW!”
Rumble turned back to the mare who was just grinning “What do you call this?!” he asked.
“We call it The Candy of All Candies. It’s the greatest candy in the whole world!” she answered.
Feather nodded “I believe her!” He said as the mare took off like a bolt, disappearing into the clouds.
The two friends looked at each other “How could we have thought bad of her?” asked Feather.
“I know dude, she was just doing her job. That candy though…” Rumble replied
“I kknooowwwww!” exclaimed Feather as the two flew back to the park.
As they landed they were greeted by Thunderlane, Rumble’s big brother. “Heya Rumble, get carried away showing Feather those flying tricks I taught you?” he said with a chuckle.
Rumble smirked “Something like that.” He replied.
Thunder playfully punched his little bro in the arm “well, mom sent me out to find you, it’s almost time for dinner. Feather, you can come too if you’d like.”
Both Rumble and Feather nodded and the three took off towards Thunderlane and Rumble’s home. On the way, Thunder took some candy out his pocket, popping a piece in his mouth and handing one to the young stallions with him. “I went to Bon Bon’s and got some sweets. You don’t tell mom, I’ll share them with you” he said with a smile.
The two of course accepted, but as they popped them into their mouths they glanced at each other and grimaced. It was delicious of course, just like Bon Bon’s sweets normally are, but it tasted off, really off. After having the Candy of All Candies this one seems so inferior and...pathetic. The two were thinking the same thing; from that point forward they won’t eat any other sweets again, since they were all far from the absolute perfection that was the confectionary miracle that dark pegasus gave them.
Thunder offered them another piece and they politely declined, giving the excuse that they didn’t want to spoil their appetite. Thunder just shrugged and popped another piece into his mouth, the teens looking on and sighing.
Rumble and Feather Weight weren’t the only ones. Children and teens all across Ponyville were trying the Candy of All Candies, thanks to the mysterious black furred promoters; the Pegasus, an earth pony with glowing red eyes, and a unicorn with glowing green eyes. All around Ponyville they appeared, giving out their free samples to every kid they could find.
“It’d better be good, no, excellent! I have the most exquisite of tastes and the most refined pallet” said Diamond Tiara rudely to the shadowy unicorn.
Normally somepony with such high status as Diamond wouldn’t associate with weirdo strange ponies, but this one had an air of sophistication about her. She was also cladd in a beautiful smokey emerald green dress. And then there was that strange silver multi-pointed star necklace she wore. Weird black fur or glowing eyes aside, she was obvious a pony of class and status, so worth Diamond’s time.
“Daddy only buys me the very best of the best you know” she added with a small ‘hmph!’
The unicorn just smiled and handed Diamond and Silverspoon a piece each saying “Trust me, it’s the best candy in the world, ever!” before teleporting away.
The two bratty mares hesitantly tried it, but were hooked immediately. Diamond was beside herself. This didn’t make any sense. Daddy always claimed to bring her the very best from all around the world. Yet here she was tasting something so perfect it defied description. Why had daddy never given her this amazing candy before?
Silverspoon was silent, in her own little world as the amazing taste washed over her.
Diamond looked back at the spot the unicorn has been. There had been something familiar about the strange pony, but she just couldn’t quite place it. Also, what was the deal with offering something so precious and then disappearing without a trace? Questions like that would have to wait though, Diamond Tiara had to say some choice words to her father about his keeping this candy from her.
As the days went on, the effects were devastating. Everypony in Ponyville under the age of eighteen stopped eating candy, or cake, or any kind of sweets all together. At first this rose alarm to Bon Bon, the Cakes, and all the other proprietors of confectionary treats in the town. Fortunately all ponies like sugar, so the businesses could still stay afloat with the grownups coming in to get their sugar fix; but none could count on patronage the kids anymore.
The kids around Ponyville waited and waited for Nightmare Night. They were anxious, counting the hours until they could taste perfection again. And then the night came! The youth of Ponyville flocked to the streets and town square as per usual, ready to have fun during this special night. As tradition (albeit a new one), Luna herself came to visit.
“Pipsqueek!” she called out happily to her best friend, the fifteen year old colt happily bounding over. “Wow, you’re a swamp monster this year! Finally grew bored of the old pirate look?” the princess asked with a giggle, causing Pipsqueek to blush slightly. He still loved pirates, but wanted to try something fresh this year “It’s a really good costume” complimented Luna “Very scary. It also seems you’ve gathered quite the amount of candy, you had better watch out or your teeth will pay the consequences” she said.
The colt just smiled to Luna. “Hi Princess, thank you for the advice. Um, you want the candy? You can consider it a tribute to Nightmare Moon” he said, holding out his sack. Luna could only blink in surprise.
“You’re giving my all your candy? Are you feeling well Pip?” she asked, concerned.
“Oh, I’m doing just fine Princess, but since I tried the Candy of All Candies these just don’t taste as good as they used to.” He replied, setting the sack of candy at her hooves “I can’t eat them anymore, they’re inferior treats. Anyways, I’m going to go play some games, see ya around Princess!” said Pip happily, running off to join some group of teens.
Luna stared down at the sack, and then turned to Twilight who had just walked up. “Twilight, what is this I hear of a Candy of All Candies?” She asked.
The purple alicorn, who was dressed in her Starswirl costume, shook her head before replying. “We don’t know Luna. I’ve personally tried to look into it and can’t find a thing. All we know is that all the children have been talking about it all week, but they can’t or won’t give us any more information. They only talk about how perfect the treat is.”
Looking out at the children as they chased each other and played the various carnival games they seemed normal; however a closer look would reveal they weren’t eating a single piece of any of the candy they won or collected. Many a kid and teen alike could be seen toting a bag or sack filled with candy, but none were nibbling away at any of it. Luna noticed that instead of trading candy with each other they were instead trying to give it all away. She even noticed one teen throw some of it in the trash when he thought no one was looking. If she didn’t know better she’d think kids just didn’t like sugar anymore.
Applejack walked up to the pair, she was dressed as a scarecrow, her head shaking sadly. “Ah just don’t understand it” she sighed, “Ah spent all day making apple fritters with some extra sweet apples we had just bucked, and the kids don’t want ‘em. I mean, they’ll accept ‘em, but they just aren’t eatin any of ‘em”
“None of them let me try that candy of all candiiieess!” whined Pinkie Pie as she bounded up the the small group, dressed in a brown top hat and purple suit. “I NEED to taste the candy that beats MINE!”
“But if you had some maybe you wouldn’t want candy anymore like the children…” said Fluttershy softly as she too walked up, dressed in a cute white bunny costume that may have been sized more for teens than adult, it hugged her curves rather tightly. Fluttershy didn’t seem aware of this though.
Rainbow Dash, wearing her wonderbolts uniform, was devouring fritter after fritter from Applejack’s stand nearby. “I can’t be too upset about this!” she said as she shoved another in her mouth, “kids are eating healthier since they won’t eat sweets anymore.”
While Twilight did like the fact that kids were now eating healthier she couldn’t shake the idea that something fishy was going on
Spike, who are this point had just remained silent at Twilight’s side, glanced towards the large clock tower near the center of town. It was almost time. His week was almost up. Instead of pulling off a bunch of smaller pranks he had spent the whole time planning and setting up for a single massive one. It was risky, he was putting all his eggs in one basket as it were, but he knew he could trust his team. Spike took a deep breath, it was time to get started.
“Hey Twi, I’m gonna go play some games. See you girls later. Have a wonderful night Princess Luna” he said before turning and walking away with a wave.
Luna smiled and waved back as Pinkie Pie yelled wishing him good luck. Twilight just nodded in his direction, to preoccupied with her thoughts on the current situation.
Walking away as casually as he could, Spike made his way over to an alley. Moving into the shadows he quickly looked around and teleported away in a burst of purple flame. Arriving at the secret meetup spot, he look around at the CMC. The all nodded to each other, it was now or never.
“Thanks again for helping out girls” said the drake “I think you three are the only ones who can understand how much this means to me”
“It ain’t no problem Spike” replied Apple Bloom “Even if we don’t get our Cutiemarks from this, it’s gonna be really fun!” she said with a smile, her eyes turning bright red. What appeared to be a shadow moved over her fur, turning it black. It started around her eyes and moved out, first over her face and then down her body. Her clothing changed as well, turning into black jeans, red plaid shirt, and black duster all topped off with a wide brimmed black Bolero. On her silver belt buckle was the star of chaos.
Spike nodded and smiled “Well, good luck Apple Bloom, you too Sweetie and Scoots” wished Spike.
“Thanks Disarray” the farm pony responded, grinning darkly in her shadow form “But lookin like this? Call me by the name Maelstrom gave us. I’m Bad Seed”
Sweetie transformed and gave a small giggle that sounded like three different people giggling at once “I’m Hymnphonic, or just Hymn for short”
Scootaloo transformed and spread her batlike wings giving a menacing grin “And I’m Shadow Blitz, the coolest sounding name”
At being called Disarray, Spike smiled and transformed as well, his clothing changing into a new outfit. He wore a jet black pants and shirt, the type of black that seems to eat the light around it, just like his scales. A thick belt hung loosely around his waist. On his chest, in white, was the Star of Chaos. Over his shoulders, he had a high collar cloak. The outside was a dark grey, the inside was the same purple as his eyes.
Grinning wide, he looked at his teammates “Let’s make mischief”
The night was beautiful. Luna’s moon hung bright and full in the sky. Even if the children had no desire for sweets, they were still enjoying themselves. With the surplus of sweets around, the adults couldn’t resist and were indulging themselves as well. Everypony was having a good time, everything was peaceful, that is until a shadow passed over the skies. As the shadow swooped overhead the kids cheered excitedly; they recognized the strange black clad promoter. The shadowy mare circled around in the night sky, before turning and heading towards the town square, the children running after her, cheering once again as it landed in between the other two strange shadow promoters who were waiting there.
“Kids of Ponyville, WE’RE BACK!” yelled Shadow, as the kids cheered, more of them running to catch up with the others, adults in close behind. “Just like we promised, we have for you...THE CANDY OF ALL CANDIES!”
The kids roared and cheered in excitement while the adults where in the back trying to catch their breath and muttered amongst themselves. They wondered if this was some kind of marketing strategy. They could all agree, so far it seemed like a good one. Twilight and her friends could just watch with bated breath, they had a feeling something bad was about to happen.
Shadow continued “We have plenty of candy waiting for you all at the schoolhouse!”
The crowd cheered again as Seed helded up her hand “HOWEVER!” she yelled out, instantly silencing the crowd of kids. “We wanna make things interesting. So, whoever gets there first...will receive a lifetime supply of the best candy ever!”
The crowd cheered again, but quieted down as Disarray appeared in a burst of purple flame, his cloak flowing in a nonexistent wind. “And to make this all so much sweeter...” he said in a gruff voice before inhaling deeply and letting loose a blast of purple flame that engulfed the entire group of children.
Adults screamed and some were too shocked to properly react. A black dragon just showed up and incinerated all the children of Ponyville! However, instead of being burned to a crisp, the flames seem to soak into the childrens costumes, transforming each kid into whatever they had decided to dress up as. The fires died down, and the braver adults dared to look. Their fears were partially right, there wasn’t a single kid there anymore. Instead, there stood a crowd of monsters, superheroes, princesses, animals, and the like.
Disarray cleared his throat loudly, getting everypony’s attention “Now, this will go away as soon as we run out of candy, so you all better hurry”
Before any of the adults could really process what had just occurred, they were overtaken by a stampede of creatures. Swamp Monster Pipsqueak was lashing out with vine-like tentacles at Batmare who threw down smoke pellets and escaped with the help of a grappling hook. The Mane-iac Silver Spoon was trying her best to get away from several ghosts who were chasing her, using her hair to pick up anything and everything around her that wasn’t bolted down (and a few things that had been) and chucking it as hard as she could at her pursuers. Celestia Diamond Tiara was firing solar beams at various monsters around her and missing horribly, blowing holes in nearby buildings. Monsters battled heroes. Animals ran amok. Ninjas were fighting pirates. All around them ponyville was being wrecked. It was chaos, pure chaos.
“This is what I was afraid of” groaned Twilight “Come on, let’s go find Rarity and put an end to this before it gets even more out of hand!” she said before teleporting her friends and herself away in a bright flash.
The Princess of the night thought about lending a helping hand, but Twilight and her friends seemed to have things under control and they didn’t ask her for her help. She thought it might be best to just head back home. After all, she came to spend time with her best friend and enjoy the festivities. However, since Pip wasn’t currently Pip at the moment and all the game stands had been wrecked she really didn’t have any reason to stick around. Though, she WAS curious how this was going to play out, and really she didn’t have anything better to do. She nodded to herself and decided to just wait around and see what happens.
Rarity had been at her shop all night waiting for Trick or Treaters, but none came. She had two bowls of candy at the ready and had spend an hour getting her costume perfect; a beautifully sexy succubus. She was about to turn in for the night when there was a flash as Twilight and the others arrived.
“Perfect timing darling, there seems to be an issue.” Rarity spoke “I haven’t gotten a single Trick or Treater all night!”
“That’s because they all got turned into monsters by some creepy black dragon!” Pinkie Pie said, waving her arms about
“Pinkie Pie, I’m being serious here.” responded Rarity with a smirk and a small head shake towards her pink friend.
Twilight shook her head and spoke up “I’m afraid she’s not joking, It’s chaos out there! We have to use the power of harmony!” Twilight concentrated as her eyes began to glow white with energy. The others nodded and did the same. They held hands as a rainbow wave washed over them and out into ponyville. Nodding triumphantly, Twilight smiled “And that is that” she said as she opened the door to Rarity’s shop, just in time for a flaming wheel to roll inside. There was no change. Their wave of harmony didn’t affect the chaos at all.
“Ah’m supposing we’re gonna have to face those responsible for this first” muttered Applejack.
Twilight just nodded and teleported all her friends directly to the schoolhouse. They arrived and saw the shadow ponies waiting for them.
“Good Evenin’” said Bad Seed “The goodie goodies have finally got here”
“Who are you calling goodie goodies?!” yelled Rainbow Dash, preparing to rush at Seed before being enveloped in a familiar pink aura. “Let me at em Twilight!”
Ignoring Dash, Twilight turned to the shadow ponies “Who are you and why are you doing this?” she asked as calm as she could
Hymnphonic smiles “We work for the god of disharmony and chaos” she spoke in her odd triple voice.
“As for why we’re doing this. Well, it’s fun!” Shadow Blitz said, moving beside her friend.
“Discord?” Fluttershy said incredulously. She just couldn’t believe it. She wouldn’t believe it.
“Let’s be honest here, it does have his signature. Though it is strange for him to be working with others” said Applejack
“Well, we did teach him the power of friendship…” Twilight said, wondering who would willingly join Discord in being evil, and if evil could even have friendships.
Having had been released from Twilight’s magical grip, Rainbow took a fighting stance alongside Applejack “Enough talk! Let’s fight!”
The shadowy girls just shrugged and went back to what they were previously doing; setting up tables, covering them with black tablecloths, and filling up large bowls with candy.
“You don't want to fight us?” ask Pinkie Pie, tilting her head to the side in confusion.
“It’s some kinda trick, don’t take yer guard down!” warned Applejack
Bad Seed just turned around and shook her head with a smirk “Don’t have to. Look” she said, gesturing behind them.
The mane six turned and looked down the road. At first all they could see was a dust cloud. Surprisingly, Rainbow Dash was the first to realize what it was.
“STAMPEDE!!!” she cried out too late as the group of monsters, heroes, pirates, princesses, and such arrived, swarming the area.
Before the girls could react, Shadow called out “They’re trying to stop us from giving you any candy!” while pointing at the Elements. “They want to keep it all for themselves!!”
“...fuck…” grumbled Twilight.
The area devolved into complete madness as chaos erupted from all sides by kids wanting to eat more of the best candy in the world. The kids fought valiantly against the tyrannical adults they believed were trying to stop them. As for the main six, knowing that their attackers were children meant they couldn’t even try to fight back. They could only allow themselves to be overtaken by the swarm of transformed youth.
Bad Seed picked up one of the candies and looked at it “And that there is why ah never tried one of these! A life without sweets just sounds horrible!”
“True, very true” agreed Hymnphonic. She glanced over and saw that Rarity had managed to wiggle partially free from the mass. They locked eyes and the shadow pony could see both embarrassment and rage on her sister’s face. Rarity seemed to open her mouth to say something but was cut off as a large slimy tentacle wrapped around her head and pulled her back into the brawl. Hymn gulped “Let’s get out of here before they actually kill us.”
The other two nodded their heads in agreement and all three disappeared into the crowd.
After a couple hours it was finally over. The children had returned to normal and slowly they realized they had run out of candy. With no one to declare the winner, they returned to their homes a little disappointed but would still admit it was the best Nightmare Night ever.
Slowly the schoolhouse cleared. Soon it was nearly empty. All that remained was a beaten and humiliated elements of harmony. They sat on the ground sulking amongst piles of candy wrappers, puddles of juice, and scraps of their own torn and wrecked costumes. They were tired, bruised, and a general mess. Whomever was responsible for this, they were going to pay. Oh, they were going to PAY! It didn’t matter if it wasn’t tonight, or the next month, or a decade from now; somepony was going to pay for all this!
Slowly they helped each other up, dusted themselves off, fixed their clothing the best they could, and made the slow sore trek back to the Castle of Friendship. Twilight was simply too tired and angry to teleport them. On the way they met up with a bored Luna who was going to ask them how things went, but one look on their faces caused her think better of it.
At the castle waiting for them was the last entity they wanted to see at the moment. Said entity was currently laughing so hard that all his different parts were cycling through various colors and patterns.
“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA NO MATTER HO-HAHAHA-HOW MANY TIMES I SEE-HEHEHE IT! IT’S ALWAYS JUST AS-AHAHAHAHAHAHA AS FUNNY!!” laughed Discord, rolling around in the air.
Before he could react he found himself caught in the pink glow of Twilight’s magic as he was yanked from the air and forced right up the the faces of the mane six. To say they were furious would be a gross understatement.
“You...” Twilight growled through clenched teeth “Do you have any idea HOW HUMILIATING TONIGHT WAS?!”
Discord, still laughing, just gave a bored shrug. Fluttershy stepped forward and hit him with her intense stare.
“Discord, I thought you were changed! I thought you were reformed!” she said in a quiet angry voice. “So how? How could you have done this to us?!”
Forced to calm down due to the power of the stare, Discord just sighed held up his mismatched hands. He’s had to do this quite a few times already and it was never pleasant. Maybe for the other Equis’ he’ll just give his replacement powers and a book or something explaining everything and then just leave.
“Calm down, all of you. You just had a bad night, that’s all. Nothing some tea and a snack can’t fix. Besides, I didn’t do any of this haha!”
“Just a bad night? JUST A BAD NIGHT?!” screamed Rainbow Dash, rushing at Discord only to be held back by Applejack “Let go! Let me at him!!”
Applejack was doing her best to stay cool headed, though she was very tempted to let go of Rainbow Dash “Now what do ya mean it weren’t you? Then who was it? You’re the god of chaos, who else would it be?”
Discord shook his head “No, no I’m not, not anymore at least. It was fun while it lasted my friends, but I’ve retired.”
“WAIT WHAT?!” shouted all the girls; Luna included.
There was suddenly clapping and a chuckle and the girls turned to see a strange blue four armed creature sitting in a floating arm chair. One pair of arms was slowly clapping and the other was holding a saucer and cup of tea. “Wonderful, simply brilliant! I didn’t doubt them for a minute. Oh Discord you, he is everything you said he’d be and more. Simply amazing!”
“You…” said Luna in stunned disbelief, a very slight smirk in the corner of her mouth.
“Me…” said Mael with a grin.
“Who are you?” asked Twilight slowly, the gaze of the creatures three golden eyes filled her with dread and unease.
“I am Maelstrom; This worlds new God of Chaos!” Mael responded, sipping their tea.
The room fell silent as the girls just stared slack jawed, turning to Discord for an explanation. Seeing his que, he began to explain.
“You see, as per the rules, to retire I have to name a replacement. Maelstrom here is that replacement. It’s time this old age of discord to end.”
The girls were still stunned silent. This was real, this was actually happening. They couldn’t believe it. Fluttershy moved forward and hugged her friend.
“So...so you’re leaving?” she asked teary eyed, her prior anger long forgotten.
Discord nodded sadly, this part was always the hardest. Seeing that look on Fluttershy’s face over and over again, it’ll always get to him. He really needed to start just to start just plopping his replacements in and leaving. “That's how things have to be I’m afraid. Old god moves out, new god moves in. Don’t worry though, I’ll come visit when I can. It’s just that now, spreading chaos isn’t my job anymore. Goodbye my friends.” he said before waving and teleporting away. They all just stood there in silence.
“As sad as this might be, all that means is that it’s YOU who’s going to have to pay!” a still angry Rarity finally spoke up, pointing at Mael who just sipped their tea.
“As comedic as it would be to kick your flanks left and right after such a hilariously enjoyable night, I’m afraid I cannot claim responsibility for yonder past events; I am merely an observer here. No no if you would like the real culprit…” they said, gesturing to a nearby door.
The girls turned and stared at the door, their faces a mixture of anger and anxiety as it slowly opened. Stepping through the door and politely closing it behind himself was the black dragon from before. However, without the cover of night to help hide his features the girls could get a good detailed look at him. This caused Twilight to come to a stark and rather unbelievable realization.
Twilight couldn’t believe who was standing in front of her. It wasn’t possible! The other girls slowly caught on as well, gasping at they recognized the strange dragon.
“Why do you look like that?! What happened to you?!” asked Twilight, her tone full of worry and concern, yet the angry remained. Where it was directed now though was anyone’s guess.
The black dragon just chuckled “Oh nothing Twi, just a little change in looks” he said.
“Yes” agreed Mael “his old look just wasn’t a fitting style for Team Chaos”
Again, all the girls shouted; “WHAT?!”
Spike grinned “That’s right, I work for Chaos now. But don’t worry my friends; I’ll go easy on you”
“But….but…”Twilight stammered, trying to find the words.
Applejack took the opportunity to speak up, her voice sounding hurt “So ya went and gone evil now huh?”
“Not evil, Chaos isn’t evil.” the dragon said. “Just like Harmony isn’t good. It all just...is. Both sides need to exist. Since you lot are Team Harmony, I felt it was only right to join Team Chaos.”
Finally Twilight managed to collect her thoughts enough to ask one question “But why?”
The dragon turned to Twilight, glaring at her with those solid purple eyes “Because you all ARE Team Harmony and you’ve made it very clear that there isn’t any room on that team for me.” he said. “So I’ll work for Chaos now. I’ll use every last ounce of my power and knowledge to prove I’m more than just somepony’s servant, some trained pet to be left behind to write down your daring escapades as you’re off adventuring across Equestria. I’m not some weak pathetic hatchling that needs your protection and I’ll prove I’m just as good if not better than you Twi. You didn’t want me by your side on your adventures, fine. I’ll just be the cause of them!”
The black dragon looked at each of the girls, their faces a mixture of emotions. “So, I hope you all are ready. Tonight was just a taste, the main course is coming soon. It’s a whole new age of chaos!”
Mael nodded their head, clapping and wiping their eyes “Beautiful speech, simply beautiful! Now, if you’ll excuse me lovelies, I have some more business to do before the night is over” they said before poofing away.
Luna, who had up to this point been standing there quietly in mild shock, cleared her throat and said “I must be going as well, Tia will need to be updated on these...current events.” In her mind, however, she was thinking about how interesting things are going to become around here. She politely excused herself and teleported back to Canterlot.
Twilight looked at the intimidating dragon that she called her brother. Her mind was still reeling, trying to make any sense of everything that had happened. It was a flurry of emotions and thoughts. “Spike…” she said softly, hoping this was all just some elaborate joke. That had to be it. Discord retiring and some strange new enemy turning her little brother over to the side of evil? This all had to be some crazy joke that Discord put him up to. None of this was real, it couldn’t be.
“Spike? No, that’s not my name anymore. I am Disarray” the black and purple dragon responded with a dark laugh “Viva la Chaos.”
That was it, Twilight’s brain refused to try to process any more, it decided it was time to call it a night. Twilight fainted.
On the other side of town behind an old clubhouse the CMC were looking at each other with excitement after coming out of a short meeting with a certain being. To be more specific, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle were looking at each other’s right shoulder while Scootaloo had pulled down her pants to check out her hips. On Bloom’s right shoulder was the mark of a black apple with a red outline, on Sweetie’s was a black quarter note with a emerald outline, and on Scoot’s hips where two black bat wings with a magenta outline.
“Ya know, ya could just look at yer shoulder too. No need to drop yer pants” said Applebloom with a smirk.
“But it’s bigger on my hips, I wanna see all the details!” Scootaloo responded excitedly.
“You know what this all means right?” asked Sweetie
“That we FINALLY have our cutiemarks!” responded Scootaloo.
“That we officially ain’t Cutie Mark Crusaders any more” said Applebloom
"Well, yes and yes...but I was talking about all of this. This whole situation. We aren’t even who we used to be anymore. No more Sweetie Belle, no more Applebloom, and no more Scootaloo. They no longer exist. We’re...something different now” said Sweetie.
Applebloom nodded “Something new…”
Scootaloo pulled up her pants “Something dark…”
“So what do you say Shadow Blitz? Bad Seed? Ready to raise come chaos?” asked Hymnphonic. Her eyes flashing emerald green as she held out her hand.
Bad Seed eye’s flashed red as she smiled and placed hers on top “Let’s show those goodie goodies what we’re made of”
Shadow Blitz’s eyes flashed magenta as she grinned and slapped her hand on top of the other two “This is going to be fun! Long live chaos!”