//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Outside Everfree // Story: Creatures of Chaos // by ChillyKitty //------------------------------// I softly trotted over the ground, trying to not let my cloak drag in the mud. My pink hooves were already covered but they’d be easy to wash so I paid no attention to it. Soon I’d be alone, so walking through the mud was a worthy sacrifice. The Ponyville ponies would never come this far into the everfree forest, I lived far enough away from the few stragglers that seemed to lack all fear of the forest like the zebra that has regular visitors, asking for her to make them potions and magical medications. My house wasn’t in any paths that ponies would take as shortcuts to the other side and it was well hidden from above by the many trees so nopony would see it. All of the residents tried to not draw any attention, in fact all the residents- my ‘brothers and sisters,’ would take my tail if they knew what I was doing. The friendship princess’s school for creatures brought annoyingly curious and proud things, the dragons and griffins would dare each other to fly above and dive into the deep forest down below. The hippogryphs acted as though they’d never seen a forest before and wanted to know everything about them. The yaks were genuinely fearless most of the time. Good thing their weren’t too many, the school had only started its second semester and there was only a handful of these unusual creatures, most of them have already lost interest in the forest. But I could never shake the feeling that one of those colorful changelings could be the peaceful bird flying overhead, or one of the timber wolves, or another incredibly common sight that nopony would give a second thought to. I shook the thoughts away from my head when I finally reached the clearing, MY clearing. Untouched by ponies, or other pony like creatures. No dragons trying to steal phoenix eggs, no princesses trying to visit a magical tree, and no siblings ready to bombard me with irritating warnings. What if I got my cutiemark from this? I’ve been waited for far to long for it, anypony would admit that I’m way too old to be a blank flank anymore, let alone just being a late bloomer. I had to try. I’ve tried about everything else. Father assured me it would come, that I would definitely have a cutiemark and that I was definitely a 'normal' pony. I ripped off my cloak, and lifted the gray mane away from my face. I stretched out my wings, they would be flown hard today, and very quickly at that. I had to be back in bed before sunrise ends. I took to the skies, relaxing as the wind blew through my feathers. Being up here was calm and familiar. I began gaining height. My hope was that gravity would do most of the work, I’m nowhere near the best flyer in Equestria, above average maybe but no more. I’d been exercising my wings for a few months now, trying to get them to this point. I never particularly liked flying, but I’m sure I could grow to love it if I got my cutie mark in it. I heard that one of the Wonderbolts earned her cutie mark by doing a sonic rainboom when she was much younger than me, so I figured that I might as well try it. It was difficult to breathe this high up, the clouds covered most of the world below and I threatened to pop my head into a possible pegasus’ home if I flew much higher. So I took the deepest breath I could and put all of my strength into a dive. I then had to keep my hind legs straight behind me, my front hooves glued to my chest and my wings tucked to my sides. The later being easier said than done. I’d practiced this the most. I decided from my calculations that this would be the hardest part, and my calculations were right. I had discovered it easier to keep form by rapping my wings around my front legs like a sleeping bat, but that slowed me down, although not much it was enough to stop a rainboom effect. So I had to build up strength by practicing tucking my wings into my sides at lower altitudes. Most importantly, I couldn’t breathe. I was going to fast, I knew I wouldn’t be able to but I couldn’t imagine the feeling of the need to stop and glide just to take a breath. But I couldn’t glide. Not until I’d caused a sonic rainboom. The gliding would be tough, the sonic rainboom was caused by a pony putting enough force into one direction and then either suddenly stopping, changing directions or flying fast enough that it breaks the sound barrier. I obviously couldn’t stop, severe injuries kind of scare me. And I definitely can’t fly fast enough to break the sound barrier. So I’ll be changing directions and switching to an even glide moments before I hit the treetops. My speed constantly increased, my teeth grit together as my lips pulled back and my eyelids were forced open. The leaves were getting closer and closer until I shut my eyes tight and shot my wings out. Angling them to put me straight into a dive without twisting or spraining them. The noise was jarring. A big BOOM sounded above, I tilted my head just in time to see an orange, pink and grey circle spreading across the sky, not exactly a rainboom but I don’t have a rainbow tail and this is the closest I’ll get. “I did it!” I screeched aloud. I can do a lot of things, so maybe this shouldn’t have been this impressive for me, but I’ve been working on this for months and I actually did it!! “WOOOOO!” I flew just above the ground. My wings begging me to stop and walk from the aching pain of near overexertion but I’d already washed my hooves and couldn’t step in more mud. Of course, now I had to carry my dark cloak instead of wearing it which made me a bright pink target to anypony looking for me. I was luckily able to fly up to the third story of my house, I grasped onto the window pane so I dangled there flightless and unlocked the window, glittering sounds quietly surrounded my head. I climbed in and into bed, I didn’t let myself get the extra few hours of sleep I missed, for if I fell asleep now, no pony would be able to get me up, not even father. I didn’t have to wait long because within a few moments the door swung open and my bubbly purple sister jumped in, “Anyone want a breakfast cupcake?!?!” I heard the familiar morning sound of glass on wood, “You mean muffins?” my tired sister - roommate mumbled, until she apparently opened her eyes- “Oh. No thanks.” Crystalcloud said politely. “Awe Chrissy! Won’t you even try them?” “I’m not very hungry.” she said until the clanking picked up again when she trotted out. I should get up I thought, although it felt great to just lay in bed. Just as I gained the motivation to open my eyes, two swirled orbs jumped at me, “ALLY!” those orbs were my sister’s eyes, I was surprised for a split second but was mostly unfazed. “Good morning Screwy.” I moaned, crawling out of bed. I could see Abcde was getting up around the same time. “Wanna breakfast cupcake?!?!” She held a regular looking cupcake to my face, it smelt fowl. “No thanks Screwy.” my voice borderline monotone. “Awe, why nooot?” She tilted her head in confusion, a little farther than a natural pony. “You got your cutie mark in pranking, why would I?” I asked nonchalantly. She thought for but a moment, “That makes sense,” she concluded, “I have to wake the others~” she abruptly turned and left the room laughing maniacally, likely because she knew some colts in the next room over would definitely fall for her schemes. I stepped downstairs, I needed coffee. I walked cautiously through the living room which continued onto a lower level in the middle, where you had the choice of either a swirly slide or the stairs. I took the normal option. I avoided going through the middle of the room for the twins, Distiana and Zanycord, were having a full out battle, despite only being awake for fifteen minutes. I caught up to Abcde, she’s a silent orange pegasus, a bit smaller than an average filly her age. Her cutie mark is a text emoji “^-^” representing that she makes people happy. She had just made it to the kitchen and was now passing out normal fruit muffins, likely made by some of the many fruit creatures. “Oh, I’ll take blueberry.” I said as I lifted the muffin delicately, not wanting to drop crumbs all over. Abcde placed her tray on a table, having to ask for help from a nearby colt, Highmoon, for Abcde couldn’t talk and her was a spell on the table that kept anypony from touching breakfast without saying the word “Please.” The spell was made in attempts to keep anypony, including the twins, from ruining everyone else's breakfast with their roughhousing. Speaking of the twins, they were somehow tactically having an all out war by using the full grace of their “Mother” and the unexpectedness of Father. Both ponies, if you could even call them ponies, got their cutie marks from playing chess with father, so although very good at strategy, it’s clear the rules were likely stretched. I trotted into the kitchen, Kiwi, Strawberry, and Blueberry all sat on the counter, each baking something different, the berries were making pancakes it seemed and kiwi had moved onto sandwiches for lunch. The brown pony seemed to barely even notice the world around him, his green eyes locked with a panini maker, none of the foals had gotten their cutie marks yet but it was clear that it was going to have something to do with baking. Spirklight was putting all her effort into casting a spell, most likely the one that kept ponies from touching it without saying the magic word. “Oh, Ally!” she raised her head, her voice brimming with anxiety, the horns that wrapped around her head still glowing pink for the spell, “Mind helping me?” She squeaked a question as she finished, she wiped the sweat of her magenta brow and adjusted her glasses. “Coffee.” I stated, turning to grab a cup, I took one rather large sip of completely black coffee, sighing as the awakeness slowly but surely reached my mind, “Now I’ll help.” “Okay well, I need to cast another protection spell on the snacks in the foyer and I’m on wake up duty for level two in the basement and the invisibility lake’s spell has to be reinforced and-- oh! I gotta take these out of the oven!” She turned quickly and took two apple pies out of the oven with her magic. I stood there, finishing my muffin and sipping more coffee, watching her chaos. I clicked my tongue, “And where are all the other unicorns?” I asked, turning to preen a wing feather that felt like it stuck out the wrong way. “The respectable ones?” she asked, pouring boiling water into the heat retaining dispenser that was placed right next to a pyramid of different teas, only a small selection of all that we had, “They’re doing their jobs, having breakfast or haven’t been woken up yet.” she stated, “The rest have decided to hold some type of contest of level one of the basement.” she scoffed. I sighed, somehow I was always stuck with helping the eldests, they wake up earliest to get a head start in setting up the house but they still have to run around frantically the entire day taking care of their duties along with their, what- hundred younger siblings? “I’ll take care of your wake up duty and cast the spell in the foyer, but I’m not strong enough to help with the invisibility spell.” my voice sounded rude but I really didn’t mind too much. “Oh would you please?” she said rhetorically and distractedly, knowing that I would do it, “And hurry, I’m fairly certain the twin’s battle is going to move to the foyer soon.” she warned. “Some alicorn you are, you can’t even cast an invisibility spell.” another voice joked, Akumaclaw and her brother, Dekuclaw, had stepped into the kitchen. Akuma laughed her own joke, Deku just yawned and grabbed an unprotected cupcake. Spirklight looked up a second to late, “No wait don’t-” Both Akuma and I already knew what was about to happen, for this was an almost weekly event, crunch - a raw egg hidden inside, a common approach, but it works. Akuma could barely hold in her laughter, she suddenly bursted, “HA~! Hahaha ha! hah, woo okay” she breathed after losing all her breath to the laughing fit. Meanwhile, Dakuclaw had run to the sink and was now rinsing his mouth out with water. I let out a little giggle, not even trying to hide it.   “You okay, Bro?” Akuma asked, wiping a tear from her eye. “Oh I’m fine- I just lost all my dignity.” “Again” I quietly added, causing Akuma to burst into laughter once more. Daku rubbed his temple and let out a small chuckle. After a moment of letting ourselves breath, Akuma turned to me “So are you just a compulsive liar or..?” “Oh the magic thing?” I asked, “Yeah I could do it but I’d like to use my horn again today.” I started, sarcasm rising in my voice. “You could’ve just told Spirky that.” Akuma reasoned. I shrugged, “This is quicker, I don’t wanna get into her worrying about today again, besides it not like she’s really paying attention. Spirklight!” I called. “Huh, what?” The ram pony shot up from her schedule book and adjusted her glasses. “I’m gonna cast that spell now.” I chugged the last bit of coffee in my cup. “Oh okay.” Spirklight returned to her schedule. I turned, Akuma following. The foyer was grand and big but It felt dreadfully small due to the amount of ponies filling it. Akuma suddenly outstretched a leathery wing. “I don’t care if they’re egg filled or not! Don’t through the cupcakes!” she called and went seemingly unheard. “Foals.” she scoffed. “Thanks for the cupcake protection.” I stated, tapping my horn on a table. I mumbled a couple of incoherent things, not even understandable to me. Soon the area around it glowed in a pink aura. … “So today, when we go to town, what are you gonna be?” Akuma asked as we made our way to basement level two for Spirklight’s wake up duty. “Unicorn.” I said coldly, “Wings are easier to hide than a horn.” “Oh?” she joked, “I thought it was because you made your wings unusable.” I suddenly became self conscious, my wings were dropping out of their normal state. I stopped in my tracks, forcing all my energy into the wings just to fold them again. “So I heard a boom this morning.” Akuma continued. She must've noticed the immediate sweat beads forming on my face, “Chillax, I only heard because I was out on a walk away from the house, I prefer going outside before sunrise ya know.” She glanced towards her wings, bat ponies didn’t burn in the sun like the myths claim they do, but they are nocturnal. Akuma and Deku were only awake because we’re scheduled to go into town today. “A successful sonic rainboom,” Akuma was amused, “You know, the only other pony who can do that is in ponyville and they probably don’t have the racket of twenty chaotic ponies waking up in one house to cover the noise.” “You think they heard?” I worried. “Ally.” she sighed, “I bet they saw, or at least anypony awake at the time did.” “I shouldn’t have done it today.” I admitted as we came upon the first door, pausing at it. “Do you think somepony will realize I have wings?” I asked quietly. She thought for a moment and sighed, “No,” she spoke, “Those ponies aren’t bright enough to think a non-princess can have both a horn and wings. Trust me, I’ve been to Ponyville before; tourists and backgrounds will probably assume it was just Rainbow Dash and only the elements will worry.” she circled a hoof in the air, she had a tendency to talk with her hooves, “Well, you should only be worried if Fluttershy tells dad.” I froze. Crap. I forgot, when was the last time father went to one of her tea parties? When was the next? “He’s also been hanging out with that dragon and stallion.” she continued, my worries skyrocketed, I was one to commonly appear as though I didn’t care about what others think but I did not want to get into trouble with father. “Alright,”  I breathed in, knowing I was now playing with luck, “You won’t tell anypony, yes?” I asked. “I won’t.” she confirmed. I said an unneededly stern sounding word, “Thanks.” and let out the breath I was holding in, I turned my hoof to hers. We sealed the promise with a hoof bump just before I continued Spirklight’s job and opened the bedroom door. … “Are you sure you can do this? You can’t let anypony know.” Screwy said, “If anypony finds out I will personally see to their demise.. And then yours.” her voice was somehow both cheerful and commanding, she was completely serious, no doubt about it. “It’ll be fine, I’ll have my cape on the entire time.” I responded. We trotted out of the front door, Akuma and Deku followed closely. Akuma sped up when she saw one of the ponies we were meeting out here, “Cursewing! Hi~” She grinned, before pausing, “Are they coming to?” she laughed. Three little colts appeared from just behind Cursewing, all of them fluffy with round ears and sharp teeth. A brown one, a black one, and a cream and black one. They were huddled onto the pink mare’s feet. She let out a small giggle, “Now now, you three have to stay here.” The sweet little foals looked at her with pleading eyes, she sighed at the sight of it, “I know my sweets but you’ll be able to go with me one day, I promise.” Two of the three admitted defeat and started their trot back towards the house, but one stayed and clung onto one of the pegasus’ hooves. “Sweetheart, I’m sorry but you have to stay.” her voice was so calm and soft, but the bear pony only nuzzled into her leg. “Sweetie.” her voice became strained, until she finally gave up, “GRIZZLY!” She shouted, her one visible green eye glowing red and a white skull appeared over her face as well as other bones appearing on the rest of her body. The little colt gasped and ran back to his brothers and into the house. Cursewing let out a big sigh and fixed her main, I stepped towards Akuma, “I’m fairly certain all of the foals fawn all over her.” I stated, “I know I did before I grew out of it, I mean you probably did to.” Of course I’d have no way of knowing, Akuma was older than me. She barely seemed to acknowledge my presence, until she spoke, “I never grew out of it.” Her eyes never left the pink mare as she closed the rest of the distance between them, “Hey Cursewing.” She said. “Hi Akuma!” she smiled sweetly, adjusting her mane to make sure that the black and white hair covered her other eye. Deku joined us, along with Screwy. We met with Spirklight and Buckhoof who were waiting along with Cursewing. Buckhoof was the coat and antlers of a deer on the body of a unicorn stallion, only without the horn, he stepped closer to me, “Allydis.” “Buckhoof.” I responded by sounding like I was mocking him, he opened his mouth to speak, “‘Be careful and don’t get caught,’ I know.” I predicted. He smiled and raised a hoof to pat my head, “And have fun.” The two unicorns then casted spells on the bat ponies, causing feathers to sprout from their wings and making their slit eyes round. Screwball stared at Spirklight, her ‘sister,’ jealousy. I sat next to Cursewing, “So.. two pink ponies arrive in town on the same day.” I was hiding my slight nervousness, trying to force my voice to sound like it’s normal, mean self, “You think anypony will notice?” Cursewing shrugged, “You could be my little sister.” she suggested, “But don’t worry too much, no one will get suspicious, even if Screwy tries to convince us otherwise. The princess gets so many tourists now, either there to look at the school or the castle, we’ll blend right in.” I nodded, I wasn’t actually scared of getting caught, Screwy didn’t scare me, but I had never been with ponies that weren’t made by Father, I haven’t even ever left the Everfree forest. I wasn’t quite sure how to act. “Are you sure you’ll be careful? We can’t let anyone see your wings.” Screwy said, “Maybe Spirky should go with you.” she said the mare’s name like it was slime which granted her an eye roll from Buckhoof. Yet, Spirklight barely seemed to notice. “I would go but I have a lot of work to do here,” she adjusted her spectacles, “And I’ll have to make some more coffee cause that spell wasn’t easy and I about to pass out and..” she went on and on, I noticed she did look exhausted, the spell must’ve taken a lot out of both of the unicorns. “No..” Buckhoof cut in, “You’re going to be coffee addicted if you keep going like that- you’re napping.” He commanded. “Yes that’s a wonderful ide-” “And I’m joining you.” Buckheart didn’t even seem to notice Screwy speaking before he cut her off. “Ahhookay” Spirklight’s yawn formed a word eventually. Screwball looked extremely huffy about that, I mean who could blame her; losing her crush to her sister.. Albeit her crush was her brother… Okay, it’s not really that. A few of us are related, like Blueberry and Strawberry or the three bear colts or Deku and Akuma but the rest of us just call each other ‘siblings’ like we’re in some sort of cult. So it’s more like having a crush on a housemate. Speaking of crushes, “Hey Cursewing.” The now pegasus Akuma smiled. “We’re ready to go.” not even looking at me. “Wow, ignoring me? You’re best friend?” I joked but my voice came out as insulted per usual, I bursted into laughter right afterwards, Akuma’s dark blue coat was suddenly pinker around her face, which only caused me to laugh again, I calmed down and stepped closer to her, “Ask her out already.” I said as I passed my blushing friend. Akuma stared silently for a moment then suddenly shook her head like a dog, getting rid of all the red. “Let’s go.” she said, not daring to look at Cursewing who seemed to have not heard our talk or at least wasn’t paying attention. I stifled a giggle and nodded, “Okay.” Cursewing took the lead, she was our designated leader after all. We flew close to the trees, just high enough to not have to dodge branches but low enough for not many ponies to see if they were wandering around the woods for some reason. The wind felt great in my feathers but my wings ached so badly, there was no way I could fly back to the house tonight. Cursewing dropped back so she was right next to me, “Just call yourself Ally, okay? If, and that's a big if, a pony were to get suspicious they’ll wonder what ‘dis’ is short for.” I nodded, that made sense. We soon landed on the ground, trotting the rest of way there. We didn’t want to seem too unusual so we couldn’t travel straight to ponyville from the forest, we had to take a detour to make it appear that we entered the town like any other pony. And when we entered, I had to fight my jaw from dropping but there was no avoiding the widening of my eyes. The place was buzzing with life, from where we stood I could see a cluster of different houses and buildings. I slowly stepped forward, not bothering to look at the others, “Alright well, see ya.” I heard. “Huh wah?” I turned to Akuma. “Deku and I are gonna talk to some of the pegasi, here,” she reached for something under her wing, “It’s one of the tourist’s maps they hand out.” she handed me the folded map, I took it in hoof and opened it immediately, “Thanks.” I said coldly as she and her brother walked away. “Here’s some bits, buy whatever you want with them.” Cursewing handed me a small yet heavy bag of bits and smiled, “I’ll be wandering around, I have a few friends to visit, ‘sis’” she winked. “Bye.” I sounded harsh but smiled, my eyes returning to the map immediately. I started my journey straight, there were plenty of cottages and small stands holding different items. I got close to a white and pink building ‘Carousel Boutique.’ I was marked in the map that the ‘Element of Generosity’ ran the place. I peered into the window, the dresses were quite extravagant, one sat in the window on a white mannequin, it was a light purple with a big, poofy skirt that would drag a short distance behind anypony wearing it, darker purple accents with diamonds and amethysts stitched in. It was beautiful, admittedly annoying though, I felt like I’d trip at any second while wearing it. Yet, it was just pretty enough to be worth it, given that the event was rich enough for the gown. “Hello there,” an elegant voice spoke to me, I turned. I was greeted by friendly blue eyes on a white coat, gentle purple curls starting just behind her horn. “Do you like it?” she asked, nodding to the gown. Had she noticed the sheer wonder in my eyes? Was it unusual to stare at a dress like that? Ugh, I didn’t know, “Oh um, yes.” I responded, “It’s pretty.” I forced my voice to not be cynical, which apparently worked. “Well I would sell it to you but I’d have to redo the entire thing to fit your size.” She laughed daintily, “Which of course wouldn’t be worth it when I could easily just give you a custom order at that point.” “Um! Uh, no, I guess uh, dresses aren’t really my ‘thing’” I explained shyly, suddenly realizing who I was talking to. I guess she’s a celebrity? “Oh so what is your ‘thing’” she smiled, “Mysterious cloaks?” she grabbed the corner of my cheap cloak, testing the fabric, I smiled and awkwardly turned my body so she wouldn’t be able to easily lift it up. “Sure.” I grinned, fighting beads of sweat. These ponies may not get suspicious easily but they might be just touchy enough to see my wings. “Well~” The unicorn turned, inviting me into her shop, “I might have a few cloaks if you’re interested.” I stood for a moment, I would like to go into the shop, but was it a good use of my time? Wait- what if my cutie mark is in fashion? Well, I had tried doing a fashion show before in attempts to find my cutie mark, but this is different, this mare is a professional. I smiled politely and slipped inside. I was met with more and more dresses and hats and bags and occasional random but beautiful pieces of fabric thrown around the room. “So a cloak.” the mare said to herself, stepping towards a closet and looking through it. “What’s your name, dear?” she said, making small talk. “Ally,” I said, I held up the map, “And I take it you’re..” I searched for her name in Carousel Boutique’s description, “Rarity?” She let out a giggle, “That is what I’m called.” she said. I waited in silence for a bit, observing the different outfits she had set up. I would hear mumbling every once and a while, “Oh what if I? Oh yes, this would match her eyes.” she quickly picked up the small talk again, “I haven’t seen you before, I presume you’re a tourist?” “Kind of,” I laughed lightly, “I didn’t come with any tourist groups though.” “Who did you come with then?” It was clear she wasn’t really paying attention to our talk. “My sister; she has some friends here but it’s my first time in Ponyville.” Lying is surprisingly easy. “Well, I hope you enjoy your time here.” She turned to me, “Do tell me, what is your cutie mark?” She asked. I grinned awkwardly, “Oh I.. Don’t really have one.” “Oh?” she looked confused for a long moment but soon shrugged it off, returning to her search, “You’re a late bloomer then? So I’ll have to rely on your mane and….” She spun around, holding up an orange cloak with a few aqua accents not yet attached, “Tada!” She trotted to a sewing machine and began stitching, joyfully humming a little tune, “Here.” The cloak had transformed from it’s plain state to a beautiful piece of fabric with delicate aqua ribbon trimming, embroidered dots just above the ribbon and an additional orange hood. “I love it!” I felt a natural smile grow on my face, I ran over and picked it up with my magic. “You can put it on.” she pointed her hoof towards at small changing area and I practically galloped to it. I took off my current cloak and put on the new one as quickly as I could, not trusting that anypony really couldn’t see my wings, but I forgot the worry quickly. I looked awesome. The orange cloak accented the orange highlight in my mane and tale and the blue matched my eyes as well as the hair ties I used to keep my mane and tail tied up. “Thank you!” I said happily, picking up my satchel of bits, “How much?” She thought for a moment, “Well that was mostly made of scraps so how about, ten bits?” I smiled and gave her the bits, “Thanks again.” I walked happily towards the door to leave. “Oh um, my sister,” Rarity started, I turned to listen, “She and her friends help foals get their cutie marks as well as resolve other cutiemark issues.” she smiled, she stepped closer and took my map to show me the directions, “It’s in Sweet Apple Acres, they have a tree house there.” She pointed to the specific place. It was represented on the map as a tiny, pink shield. They have everything here! Well, everything not chaotic I guess. But it was refreshing and amazing! The treehouse was a distance to walk but it looked worth it, “I’ll check it out.” I couldn’t help but show an excited look, it almost seemed like I didn’t have to try to avoid my regular rude ways, I was just naturally being nice. I disowned the thought immediately, I was made like this. Father said so himself. Screwy told me that while I was being made he said, “Could you imagine anything more chaotic? An alicorn who was mean! The exact opposite of the princesses.” she then mimicked his crazed laughter. I scoffed to myself once I left the store, not letting anypony see my annoyance. I was a daughter of Discord, lord of chaos, and would have to be whatever he wanted me to be.