//------------------------------//
// Chapter 6: Something to Offer 
// Story: Stability of the Past: The Beginning 
// by GoodieTwo-Shoes 
//------------------------------//

“Figures.  I don’t know why you even worry,” an annoyed Chaos said with boredom to his counterpart, “Somehow they always find a way to work things out.”  Suddenly, his voice raised in anger, “AND ESCAPE MY FOREST WITHOUT A SINGLE FATALITY!”  Harmony quickly covered her ear holes.  “Is it too much to ask for one, little pony death?” he sighed, placing a longing stub on the holographic screen.  “Maybe just a little…severe, excruciatingly painful, oozing wound,” his voice deepened as he spoke.  He sighed again and pressed his cheek onto the Viewer.  “I don’t even care if it was a fatal wound,” he said with melancholy, “Just some real pain for a while…just on one of these ponies…”  “Is that too much to ask!?” he shouted into the stars above him as he dramatically fell through the screen and landed on the floor. He sighed sadly again.  

Harmony came into his view above him.  She blinked her green eyes down at him.  “Feel better now?” she asked.  

“Yeah,” he said.  He floated back up and said, “Just got to let it out sometimes.”  

“Yeah, okay,” she unenthusiastically agreed.  

“Don’t you just wish that sometimes we could do more?” he asked, sounding melancholy again.  She focused back on the screen and halfway listened to him as she watched the angry unicorn king complain about his plan falling through.  “You know, affect the planet and our creatures in some way.  Persuade them in their decisions.  Make them walk a certain way, like right into the clutches of a hungry, blood-thirsty chimera.  Three heads are better than one, you know,” he babbled on, “I could send three ponies, maybe a family of three…no four, right into the jaws of the three heads. And the fourth pony…would just have to watch as his family was…”  

“Chaos…please stop!” Harmony begged, ear holes covered and eyes squeezed shut.  “That’s just horrible.  And so sad,” she said, opening her eyes and uncovering her ears.  

“I’m just saying, it would be nice to give our creatures a little push every once in a while,” he said, with a shrug.  “It’s so boring just watching.  Wouldn’t it be better if we could help them out every now and then?” he asked.  She made a thoughtful face and glanced back at the unicorns on the Viewer.  “What?” he asked.  

“You know, for all your unpleasant chaos babbling, you actually come up with some good idea sometimes,” she said with a smile. 

“Yeah, I know!  Control should totally let us take control over the planet and make our creatures bend to our will,” he said conversationally.  

“Nooo,” she said, “That’s not what I meant.”  “Let’s go talk to Control,” she instructed, taking his stub in her own.  “Then I think we should have a little talk about free will,” she said as they dematerialized. 


~


“But why should they be free to do what they want? We aren’t,” the bell-shaped spirit complained as they appeared in a long hallway with translucent purple floor, ceiling, walls, and several doors.  “Look at us now, going to our ‘leader’ to ask permission to do something,” he pointed out, crossing his stubs.  

“We have free will.  We just have someone above us, and we have to follow his rules, like the ponies with their general, chief, and king.  It’s still our decision to talk to Control,” Harmony cheerfully explained, floating down the long hall.  

“So, what are we asking from our majesty?” he asked, following after her.  

“To help out the unicorns.  They need a little push in the right direction, and I think the Pegasi and Earth ponies need a little persuasion in the magic region,” she explained using her counterpart’s words.  She knocked on the first door and received no response.  So, she moved onto the next door and did the same. 

“Oh oh oh, so little miss goodie-goodie isn’t getting enough harmony, so she’s going to go whine to her precious mentor and ask for help,” he teased as he subtly placed his lightly glowing stub on the first door, until he felt it unlock.  He stuck the tip of his stub inside, formed two digits on the tip, and snapped them. Feeling the interior of the room explode in a chaotic wonder, an evil grin formed on his face.  He pulled his stub back out, placed it on the door, and relocked it before Harmony turned around.  His wide grin was replaced with a smaller, less suspicious one.  

“I’ve never asked to do anything about the planet or its harmony,” she defended.  She turned back around and knocked on another door.  Chaos casually floated over to the second door and repeated the process, filling another one of Control’s rooms with chaos, as Harmony continued, “We’ve been watching the planet for over six months now.  I think an entire species of ponies dying of starvation is important enough to tell Control.”  With a little smile, she said, “And maybe he’ll let me help them out.”  

Resurfacing his stub from the third door, Chaos taunted, “Oh, I seeeee.  Harmony wants her treasured mentor to give her a special task.”  He locked the door and then floated over to her.  He poked her side with each word as he said, “Just…for…her.”  Her glow pinkened.  

“No, I just want to save the unicorns,” she argued, growing pinker.  

He laughed.  “Your pink glow says otherwise,” he teased with a devilish grin. 

“I just…I just think a whole race of ponies going extinct would really throw off the harmony balance, and…and I just want to help,” she defended, glowing in a pink blush as she knocked on the fourth door. 

“Yeeeeah…but that’s not all you want…” he taunted, floating up behind her.  “You want something else,” he breathed in her ear hole, happily making her blush harder. “You want…Control…” he said seductively. “…’s praise,” he rapidly finished with a dark chuckle.  

“It would be nice to get that too…his praise,” she quickly clarified.  “A little ‘thank you’ or a ‘good job’ or a little mission just for me,” she said, imagining how wonderful it would be to do something special for the planet and save all the unicorns.  She just wanted some recognition from her mentor.  Was that so wrong?  Was that too much to ask?  

Chaos actually did have a good point about their job of just watching.  She wanted to do something more than observe; she wanted to show Control that she was capable of so much more and help the ponies find their harmony.  This was a true case of harmony imbalance and a real opportunity to do something for the planet and her creatures.  Plus, she cared too much about the ponies to watch an entire third of them die because the other two-thirds wouldn’t trade with them for the much-needed food.  She had to do something.  

“Yeah, he never praises us for anything we do…no matter how hard we work, how hard we try, how much you want it,” he whispered in her ear hole.  She glowed brighter at his alluring tone and words. In response to her embarrassment, his own black glow darkened along with his now misty eyes.  

Suddenly, the door opened to a neutral looking black and yellow sphere.  The green-eyed figure peered down at the pair: one beaming with a pink glow and the other with his mouth inches from her cheek.  Harmony’s eyes widened as she realized how they must look.  She quickly elbowed Chaos away from her.  He groaned and fell backwards, glow and eyes returning to normal.  Still blushing madly and still under the gaze of her mentor, she swiftly spun around and helped Chaos up.  She ignored his glare and turned back around, her pink glow still strong.  Control stared down at her, presumably waiting for an explanation for their intrusion.  His eyes caught sight of the two abnormalities at the end of Chaos’s right stub. Taking notice of the fixed stare, Chaos looked down and realized that his two digits were still out.  

Chaos lifted his doubled-digited stub and said, “We come in peace.”  Control’s expression clearly read: unamused.  The largest of the three turned his focus back on a slightly less pink Harmony.  

“Um…sir, I wanted to discuss a potential problem on the planet,” she said in a serious tone.  “Due to two uncooperative tribes of ponies, the third tribe is in danger of becoming extinct caused by starvation from lack of enough food sources,” she very officially explained.  

“Species become extinct.  It is a part of the evolution of the planet.  Those creatures that cannot find a way to survive vanish from existence,” Control told her in his neutral tone.  

“Yes, I understand,” she said, hiding her emotions. The ponies were more than just some species to her.  “But, I don’t feel it’s time for the unicorns to go yet.  They haven’t even found their true harmony,” she argued politely.  

“Not every creature is meant to succeed, Harmony,” he told her.  

“Yes, I understand that as well.  But, these ponies are special, very special.  They can wield magic with their horns,” she explained, “And I believe they can do so much more with it.  They’ve learned so much already.  I just think they have a lot more potential and so much more harmony and magic to discover.  I just don’t feel like it’s their time to go.”  

“Do you believe this is an issue that will affect the balance of the planet?” he asked, peering down at her.  

Harmony looked around with uncertainty.  Her eyes landed on Chaos, who was now sporting nine and twelve digits on his stubs.  She shook her head watching him trying to intertwine them all together.  She wondered about her decision to bring him along, but it was his words that inspired her idea.  She focused back on her mentor, now sure of her decision to alert Control to the situation and sure of her gut feeling that the balance could be in jeopardy if she let the ponies be.  

“Yes,” she said confidently, floating tall.  

“Then it is time for our first New World Meeting,” Control said officially.  

“That sounds important…but also boring,” Chaos commented, all twenty-one digits tangled together.  “Do I have to go?” he asked.  Control glowed bright green and encompassed the trio inside his light. Once the blinding light faded, the three of them were sat at a round white table floating in the center of a spherical, non-transparent white room.  Everything in the room was a physical solid, not intangible or translucent. “I guess that’s a yes,” he sighed. He shook his stubs, scattering the cloud-like substance of his digits, which floated back to form the tip of his smooth stubs.  Stubs back to normal, he rested his would-be-chin into his palms with his elbows on the hard table and sighed.  He made a face at the solid surface. 

“Where are we, sir?” Harmony asked, looking across the table at her mentor.  

“The Meeting Room,” he simply replied.  

“It’s nice,” she complimented, scanning the perfectly round and spotlessly white room.  

“You mean boring,” Chaos sighed, trying to stick his stub through the table only for his stub to spread outward on the tabletop. “The chair’s cool though,” he said, spotting the round, cushion underneath him.  It had the same greyish, upside-down rainbow pattern as his natural coloring.  “But, I don’t really like yours,” he told Harmony, putting his stub back down and looking at her matching cushion chair that resembled her rainbow instead.  As she looked his way, he quickly formed two digits on his hidden right stub and snapped them.  

“I think it suits me,” she said, admiring her special chair.  Chaos’s grin transformed into a frown.  He snapped his digits again, but still the chair remained the same.  

“Your powers don’t work in here,” a feminine voice suddenly spoke, making the chaotic spirit jump.  

“Destiny!” Chaos startled.  “You should wear a bell,” he said, pouting at her.  

“What do you mean his powers don’t work?” Harmony asked, looking from the bell-shaped figure diagonally across from her and to the smaller one next to her.  “Did you try to do something to my chair?” she accused the cross-stubbed spirit.  

“Calm down, it didn’t work,” he pouted.  “So, why didn’t her chair turn into a miniature black hole?” he asked the blue and white figure.  

“Black hole?!” the oval spirit shrieked.  

“Yep!” he replied with an evil grin.  

“This is the reason your powers do not work in this room,” Destiny explain.  “Discussions about the planet can get rather heated, so yours and Harmony’s powers won’t work for safety reasons,” she told them.  

“That’s insulting!  I would never!” Chaos dramatically said, crossing his stubs and turning away from the table.  

“You tried to suck me into a black hole, and I didn’t even do anything,” Harmony argued.  

“Only a tiny one.  You wouldn’t have even fit through,” he defended.  

“But, I honestly would never use my powers to hurt anyone,” she said to Destiny, “…not even him.”  

“It’s just a precaution,” she assured her. “Even Control’s and my own powers are limited in this room.”  

“Reeeallyyyy?” Control said, grinning sideways at the round figure seated diagonally from him.  

“It is time to begin,” Control addressed the small room.  “Now that everyone is present,” he said with a glance at the figure to his left.  Destiny returned the look with a smile.  “Harmony has informed me that the planet is in possible danger of becoming unbalanced,” he addressed the group.  

“The issue with the unicorns,” Destiny said knowingly.  

“How does she know everything?!” Chaos asked, sitting straight up.  “How do you know everything?” he asked her.  

“Hum Hum!” she laughed, getting a narrowed eyed look from the spirit across from her.  He used his two digits to point at his eyes and then at her.  

“Ahem,” Control cleared his throat.  “Yes, the unicorns,” he agreed.  “Harmony,” he said, signaling her to explain the problem to everyone.  

“Um…” she began, looking at all the eyes on her. “Yes, the unicorns,” she said professionally, “They need food for the coming winter.  Since this is their first experience with the cold weather, they did not prepare and store any food in advance.  Now they have almost completely diminished their food supply in their forest.” She looked around at everyone, seeing that she still had the two larger of the three’s attention.  She continued, “Like the Pegasi have done, they wanted to trade with the Earth ponies for food.  The problem is, they have nothing to barter that the Earth ponies want.  They have nothing to offer.”  

“How does this affect the balance?” Control asked. 

“I strongly feel that without receiving any food from the Earth ponies, the unicorns will starve once the winter actually comes.  Without the unicorns, the harmony will decrease and throw off the balance of the planet,” she explained, gaining a glance from her counterpart.  “Or, worse, they will resort to fighting.  A war among the ponies will only result in a high increase in chaos, which will severely throw off the balance of harmony and chaos.  The planet could be in real danger of becoming unstable,” she said with passion and concern.  Chaos had his full focus on her now, a wide grin on his face.  

“That sounds like a real problem, Harmony,” Destiny said, her usual happy tone turned a bit worried.  

“Indeed,” Control agreed.  

“Let’s not get carried away,” Chaos said smoothly, “Harmony may be exaggerating.  We all know how worked up she can get.  She gets all worried about her precious ponies and blows everything out of proportion.” He glanced at the frowning spirit next to him.  “Earlier, she told me she was worried about them, so we watched them for a while. And guess what?” he calmly explained. “They worked things out, and they all were fine.  Not a single one even died,” he huffed, crossing his stubs.  

“That’s not completely true, sir and madam,” Harmony said in her professional tone, “The Pegasi and the Earth ponies made their deal and escaped Chaos’s forest unharmed, and the unicorns were heading back to their castle unhurt by his creatures as well.  But, as I said, the unicorns were unable to make arrangements with the Earth ponies.  We need to do something before it’s too late.”  

“She just wants a special task,” Chaos grumbled. Harmony instantly blushed.  

“Special task?” Control asked, looking from the dark spirit to the pink glowing one.  

“I-I was hoping you would allow me to intervene with the creatures,” she admitted quietly, eyes downcast.  

“Is this why you came to me?” he asked, a pinch of anger in his tone.  

“No!” she argued, looking up.  “I would never ask for something like this for my own selfish desires…sir,” she said, eyes back down.  “I was just hoping I could fix the problem, the very real, very serious problem, by intervening with the ponies,” she explained, eyes moving between the table and her mentor. 

“Yeah, right,” Chaos grumbled.  

“It’s true,” she defended.  “Sir, you have to know I would never be so selfish as to make up a problem and interfere with the planet and its stability for my own selfishness,” she practically begged the figure with the neutral expression.  She couldn’t stand the thought of her mentor believing Chaos’s lies about her.  

“Yeah, that’s why you were lit up like a pink bulb in the hall earlier,” the bell-shaped spirit refuted.  

“That was because you were teasing me about my mentor and my desire for his…” she stopped herself, growing pinker.  She dared to looked his way.  While Destiny released a little giggle again, Control seemed the slightest bit irritably curious.  

“Heh, heh.  For his what, Harmony?” Chaos teased.  

Mortified and desperate to steer the conversation back to the important business, the spirit of harmony did something she would usually never resort to: played dirty.  She stared straight at the spirit with the devilish grin and in a serious, dark tone spoke one word of warning, “Dog.”  

Varying ranges of confused expressions turned her way. Realization struck Chaos as his expression dropped to an almost frightened appearance.  Then he glared daggers at Harmony, who just smirked at him in return. Defeated, he stayed silent and looked away.  She felt awful doing that to him, but she had no other way to stop him.  Words were her only power in this room.  She couldn’t let him keep arguing against her.  Never mind her embarrassment, she needed Control on her side so she could help the unicorns.  

“Sorry, sir, madam,” Harmony said, turning back to the silent pair.  “Can we please just continue?” she asked, turning a bit pink again.  

“Yes,” Control said, neutral once again.  “If you are certain that there is a real issue and the planet’s stability is in real danger…”  He stared down at her.  

“Yes, sir,” she said confidently.  She glanced at Chaos, making sure he didn’t attempt to argue against her again.  He still had his back to her.  “I can feel it,” she added with a nod.  

“What is your proposal for a solution?” Control asked.  

“I’m not sure…I mean, I have a few ideas.  I haven’t had much time to think on it,” she admitted.  “Chaos was saying that he wished we could help our creatures out, give them a push, or some persuasion,” she said, trying to give her counterpart some credit. Chaos was unmoved by the gesture. “It made me realize that he was right. I think this is what the ponies need. A little push in the right direction and some persuasion,” she told her mentor.  

“Explain,” Control spoke.  

“The Earth ponies need to be persuaded.  They need to see the value in the unicorns’ magic. The unicorn king already offered his magic to help the Earth ponies with their crop growing, but it didn’t work out so well,” she recalled.  “If the Earth ponies gave the king another chance and really tried to value his magic, I think they could work things out.  I believe magic is what the unicorns could offer the Earth ponies in exchange for food,” she explained.  “The Earth ponies just need a push to give magic another chance as a barter,” she concluded.  

“How do you suppose things will differ?  Why will the Earth ponies accept magic if offered again?” Control asked.  

“I was hoping I could help the Earth ponies understand magic’s value.  Show them that magic isn’t a ‘weird’ thing, as they call it.  If they see it has value, they will be willing to trade their food for the unicorn’s magic’s help,” she told him, “Imagine how much food they could grow with all three tribes working together.  The Earth ponies could use their plant knowledge, the Pegasi their weather control, and the unicorns their magic to grow the plants large and healthy to supply enough food for everypony before the winter comes. This could be a gateway to the ponies finding their harmony with each other and finally accepting each other despite their differences.”  She smiled and said, “They could finally be truly harmonious just like I created them to be.”  Chaos deeply frowned at the idea but held his tongue.  

“That would be fantastic for you, Harmony,” Destiny said.  

“How do you plan to accomplish this, Harmony?” Control questioned.  

“I was thinking I could go back down to the planet and talk to them, sir,” she said, unsure.  

“That is not feasible,” Control shot her down. 

“I know they can’t see or hear me, but I thought maybe there was something you could do to allow me to be heard by them, sir. You have done it before, talked to the creatures on the planet, haven’t you?” she asked, confidence shrinking.  

“It is not feasible,” he repeated.  

“But, is it possible?” she asked.  

Destiny answered for him, “I believe I have a more suitable way for you to achieve communication, Harmony.”  

“How?” she asked, turning her attention away from the silent Control.  

“Communicating with the creatures does not require travel to their planet.  You can do it from up here,” she explained.  

“How?” “HOW?!” Harmony and Chaos asked in unison. 

“I can show you,” Destiny said.  

She closed her eyes and glowed a bright, light blue that blinded and absorbed the two spirits.  As the light disappeared, Control sat alone in the meeting room.  

“Meeting adjourned,” he said to nobody.  


~


Blinking their green eyes, Harmony and Chaos discovered they were in another room they had never been in before.  This one was large and dome-shaped with a white interior as well. But the flat floor and rounded walls that transformed flawlessly into the ceiling flowed with moving splotches of light blue.  Destiny floated in front of the two spirits and glowed a bit brighter again.  A large oval piece of the wall in front of her faded away and left a blank screen that resembled the Viewer.  

“Ah ha!  This is how you know everything.  You have your own secret Viewer,” Chaos said triumphantly, swiftly floating next to her.  

“Not exactly.  It’s called a Perceiver,” Destiny told him, blue glow back to normal. “It allows me to see more than just the physical forms of the beings of the planet.”  

“Hum, so it’s an extra special, fancy Viewer?” he asked, as Harmony joined them on Destiny’s other side.  

“Is this going to help me talk to the ponies?” she asked, admiring the large screen.  

“Yes…” Destiny stopped and glanced behind her. A flash of green lit up behind them and left Control in its place.  “Come to join us, Control?” she asked.  He silently floated up next to Harmony and glanced at Destiny before looking at the Perceiver.  

“Such tension,” Chaos commented from the far side of Destiny, who giggled.  Harmony stood awkwardly between the two larger figures as Control just ignored the comment and stared at the blank screen.  

“Follow me, Harmony,” Destiny instructed, saving her from the awkwardness.  She led her to a blue circle on the floor in front of the giant screen.  As Harmony floated over it, the circle lit up and she instantly felt a wave flow inside her.  “Feel that?” Destiny asked.  Harmony nodded.  “The Pad links you to the Perceiver, and the Perceiver helps you better connect with your creatures.  This will allow you to communicate with them,” she explained, gesturing towards the screen. Harmony looked up and saw that the screen was no longer blank.  

“Did I do that?” she asked, looking at the Perceiver.  Destiny nodded.  “I was just thinking about them.  I wasn’t even trying to do anything,” she said, watching the Pegasi clear out the clouds as the Earth ponies watched below from their crop fields.  She smiled at their cooperation.  

“Go ahead, Harmony.  Speak to them,” Destiny encouraged.  Harmony looked nervously among the three of them.  Destiny was smiling, Control was just watching her, and Chaos was filled with a mixture of jealousy and curiosity.  She turned back to the screen.  

“Hello?” Harmony said with uncertainty.  Nopony seemed to have heard her.  “Hello,” she said louder.  

“With more feeling, from inside,” Destiny instructed. 

Harmony closed her eyes and expanded her yellow glow. “Hello,” she tried again, opening her eyes and seeing no change.  She scrunched up her face and shut her eyes, making her glow brighten and expand.  The circle below her lit up with more intensity. “Hello,” she said with determination. 

“Hello?” a voice replied.  

Harmony’s eyes shot open and she looked at the Perceiver. “Hello!” she said again.  

“Is somepony there?” the young voice asked. Harmony searched the screen but only saw the ponies working.  

“Hi.  Yes, I’m here,” Harmony said.  

The screen suddenly morphed into the image of a pink filly looking around a small room in confusion.  She was lying on a bed filled with straw looking around, her back end wrapped in white bandaging.  

“Where are you?” she said, looking under her bed. 

“Oh no!  Are you okay?  I didn’t realize that giant orchis mantis had bitten you that hard,” Harmony said, growing concerned for her creature.  Control and Destiny stayed quiet and let her talk.  Chaos grinned at the injured filly.  

“No.  My daddy just wrapped it up to be safe.  He worries too much,” she said.  Making a face and looking around, she asked, “How’d you know about that meanie bug? Are you a spy?!”  

“Um, not exactly.  I’m…” she said, looking at Destiny.  She nodded for her to continue.  “I’m sort of a spirit.  I watch over you and the planet.  I created you and your family,” she explained.  

“A spirit?  Are you a ghost?!” she asked, throwing her blanket over her head.  

“No, Pudding.  I’m your creator,” she explained.  

“My creator?  But, my mommy and daddy are the ones that had me,” Pudding argued, settling on talking to the ceiling.  The image on the screen faded again so that the filly seemed to be looking directly at them.  

“They are your parents, but I created you.  I made it so that you and the rest of my creatures remember things as though you were born and raised to the age you are now. It’s the way I was told to do it, so no one would question where they came from.  So, everyone could just live their lives,” she explained.  “Think about it.  Do you have any memories of being a foal?” she asked.  

Pudding thought for a moment and then replied, “No. I just had a feeling.  All I can feel is the idea that I used to be a foal.” 

“That’s why.  I made you,” Harmony told her.  Pudding looked down and rested her head against the straw of her bed.  “I don’t mean to upset you.  I just need your help,” she said.  

“But…but if you made me, that means mommy and daddy aren’t my real parents,” Pudding said, looking up with tears in her eyes. “Is that why my mom is locked up? Is she really just some crazy mare that tried to take me away from my dad?  But, he’s not my dad either…” she said, looking around in a panic.  

“No no, Pudding,” she said, ignoring Chaos’s snicker, “I used some of each of your parents to make you.  Your just as much as theirs as if they had you themselves.” 

“But…”  

“Puddinghead.  They are your parents, okay?” Harmony assured.  

“Um, okay,” Pudding said, rubbing her eyes.  

“I’m sorry, Pudding.  Is your dad around?  I think it would be better if I talked to an adult…the chief,” Harmony carefully worded. 

“Um, daddy told me to stay in bed because of the bite,” Pudding told her, blinking the tears away.  “And, um,” she sniffed, “Mom’s um grounded right now.  She kinda freaked out.”  

“Let’s not talk about your mom, okay?” she said. 

“Okay,” she said.  “Oh!  I know,” she said, suddenly more cheerful.  She grabbed a little bell next to her and rang it.  

“Daddy told me to ring this if I needed anything,” she explained. 

A few moments later the door opened and a brown filly walked in.  “Ya need somethin’, Pudding?” she asked.  

“Hi, Cookie.  I need my dad.  The spirit needs to talk to him,” Pudding explained.  

“Spirit?  Like a ghost?” Cookie asked, eyeing the small room.  

“No, Cookie,” Harmony said.  The freckled filly made a face.  

“She’s talking to you, Cookie,” Pudding said.  

“Can you hear me?” Harmony asked.  

Cookie shook her head and said, “I’m gonna get your pa.”  She quickly left the room.  

“That was weird,” Pudding said.  Harmony hummed.  

Walking through the opened door and up to the bed, Chief Purple Caramel asked with concern, “What do you need, Pudding?”  

“I’m fine, but the spirit needs to talk to you,” she responded.  

“Hello,” Harmony said.  

“What spirit?” he asked.  

“The one that just said ‘hello’,” his daughter said. 

“Chief Purple Caramel?” Harmony tried again.  

“Don’t be rude, say hi, daddy,” Pudding said.  

“To who, Pudding?” he asked, looking around. 

“The spirit!” she insisted.  

“Pudding, I don’t see or hear any spirit,” he told her. 

“But, I can hear her.  And she said she needed help,” she told her dad.  

He looked at her with concern and noticed her resemblance to her mother.  “Pudding, I think you need to rest,” he told her, covering her up.  “I…the bite, i-it must be affecting your mind.  Okay, just go to sleep,” he said, trying to smile.  

“Okay, daddy,” she said, hearing the concern in her voice.  He kissed her head and left her alone.  

“Pudding, I…” Harmony tried.  

“No!  Stop talking to me.  You’re not real.  Just a voice in my head from the bug bite,” she yelled, pulling the blanket over her head. “I’m not crazy,” she whispered.  

“That went better than expected,” Chaos said with a grin.  

The screen went blank again.  “I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to upset anyone,” Harmony said sadly.  

“This is why we do not interfere with the creatures.  Not all will listen and those that do find it hard to understand,” Control advised.  

“Don’t be discouraged, Harmony.  We can still solve this problem,” Destiny told her.  Harmony looked up at her sadly.  
“You just need to find the right pony to talk to.  An older pony, one who has more power of persuasion over the others, one who will listen and convince the others to follow in their lead…” she stopped and looked at the screen, “Just who I was thinking.” 

Harmony turned back to the screen and said, “The king? But I needed to talk to the Earth ponies about magic.”  The unicorn king was back in his castle, angrily pacing in front of his throne with his right-hoof guard watching him.  

“I think you should approach this from a different angle,” Destiny suggested.  “You feel the unicorns have a lot more potential left with their magic, am I correct?” she asked, getting a nod.  “Instead of convincing the Earth ponies to accept the unicorn’s offer, why not give the unicorns a better offer to give, an offer that the Earth ponies would not refuse?” she asked.  She brightened her blue glow and shifted the view on the screen to the balcony where the sun was setting low in the sky.  

Harmony stared at the Perceiver for a few moments. Then she gasped.  “Is that even possible?  Can I do that?” she asked. 

“Absolutely not,” Control intervened.  “The sun’s cycle is far too delicate to put in the hands of any mere creature.  Furthermore, no creature is powerful enough to lift the sun,” he explained, showing a fair amount of rage.  

“I’m not suggesting one creature be responsible for the sun, Control.  If the unicorns work together and show their true harmony, they will be strong enough to complete the task.  As long as there is enough harmony between them, that connection with our Harmony will be enough to allow them to control the sun,” Destiny told him.  “As for the cycle, you are much too concerned with its precision, Control.  The planet will be fine if the cycle is a bit off.  After all, the moon’s cycle is very fluent with its fulls, halves, and wholes,” she went on.  

“One race of creatures cannot be allowed to control a body as important as the sun,” Control argued.  

“Not just the sun, the moon and stars as well. As with the sun, the unicorns’ combined magic will be strong enough to control the moon and stars as well.  I see no future where the Earth ponies would refuse to give a little of their food in exchange for the sun’s warmth and light and the moon and stars’ illumination and beauty,” Destiny explained. 

“That may be true, but that is too much power to give one species,” Control refuted.  

“It’s the perfect offer,” Harmony said more to herself.  Control looked to her.  “Sir, I would gladly give up my responsibility of the sun, if it would save the unicorns,” she said, “I don’t know another way.  The Earth ponies are very adamant about hating magic; I can’t think of another way that they would agree.”  

All was silent for a several tense moments before Control said, “Very well.  If you are certain of your decision…”  

“Yes,” she said.  

“Disharmony, are you willing to give up your responsibility…”  

“Definitely!” Chaos interrupted, “You know how boring and tedious it gets to raise and lower the moon every single night and day?  I do!  And it’s awful.  I’d rather conserve my power and use my time for more important things.”  Harmony gave him a look.  “You know, like observing the planet and resting,” he quickly said. 

“Proceed,” Control said to Harmony as he watched the screen again.  She nodded. 

“Hello, can either of you hear me?” she asked, returning the view back to the seething king and silent guard.  The scene didn’t change.  “Hello.  Silver Sapphire, Adjutant Friday,” she attempted again.  The crowned unicorn didn’t halt his pacing.  The white stallion with the black and yellow, short mane didn’t budge. “Your highness…majesty…king?”  Harmony tried several more times, even shouting their names, but neither heard a sound.  She looked back at the others in the room, but no one offered any help for she had to do this on her own.  The determined spirit stared at the screen and moved the view around the room, until inspiration finally struck.  

“Sir, could I lower the sun a little early.  I need to get his attention,” Harmony asked her mentor.  His green eyes narrowed a fraction before he nodded.  “Thank you, sir,” she said with a bow of her head.  “Chaos, I need you to not raise the moon or bring out the stars,” she instructed, taking control.  

“I can do that,” Chaos agreed with a grin.  The promise of being relieved of his boring, routine duty, brought him on board with Harmony’s idea.  Forget about the stupid ponies getting along; without raising the moon, he’d have more freedom and more energy.  He could make an entire army of chaos puppies, all with their very own souls!  His grinned widened as he rubbed his stubs together.  

Before Harmony could question if she could control the sun from this room, the Perceiver changed again to show the sun from the king’s balcony.  She raised her glowing stubs and concentrated on the glowing orb.  Just as easy as ever, she moved the sun down and out of view of the planet’s inhabitants.  

The image faded again and showed the throne room, which was now pitch black.  Both ponies lit their horns and looked towards the balcony.  They waited, but the moon and the stars did not come out.  Silver Sapphire led his right-hoof guard out onto the balcony, and they both looked to the dark sky.  They could hear the distant sound of confused, panicked, and angry voices far off passed their forest below.  The same could be heard through the dark interior of the castle. 

“Your highness?” Adjutant Friday questioned.  The king stayed silent for several moments before he finally came up with a solution.  

“The Pegasi and their weather control must be behind this,” Silver Sapphire concluded, “Their clouds are covering the sky and blocking the light.”  

His right-hoof guard seemed unsure, but agreed, “You’re right, your majesty.”  

“It wasn’t the Pegasi!” Harmony’s voice finally reached the mind of the white unicorn.  Adjutant’s yellow eyes looked around.  “He heard me!” she said excitedly to Destiny.  “Adjutant Friday, it’s not the clouds that are blocking the moonlight.  The moon and the stars are gone,” she told him. He looked surprised.  “I am your creator, and I am responsible,” Harmony told him.  

“What is the matter?” Silver asked his guard.  

“Do you hear that, highness?” he asked.  

“I hear nothing but my worried ponies,” he replied, looking at the large thrown room door.  

“A voice.  She says the Pegasi are not responsible for the disappearance of the moon; she is,” he explained.  

“Who?” the king asked.  

“Our creator,” he responded, looking to his king. 

“Creator?” the silver unicorn asked.  

“Yes.  I created you.  I’m Harmony, your majesty,” Harmony said.  The king gasped and frantically looked around the room.  “Don’t be frightened.  I just want to help you and your unicorns,” her voice rang in their heads.  

“Help?  How?” Silver Sapphire questioned, eyeing the dark room suspiciously.  

“By giving you an offer for the Earth ponies,” she explained.  

“What is this offer?” he asked, silently instructing his guard to search the dark room.  

“I really don’t mean any harm,” she assured them, seeing the white unicorn checking behind the throne.  “Adjutant, you’re not going to find me behind the throne,” she almost laughed at her creatures.  The guard quickly raised his head and eyed the room.  “I’m not in the throne room.  I’m not even on your planet.  I’m communicating with you through…well, think of it as magic,” she explained.  

“Magic?  Like ours?” the king asked.  

“Hum…sort of,” she replied.  

“Is that why your voice seems to be in my head and not my ears?” the guard asked, looking to the high ceiling.  

“Huh…” she said, taking in this new information. “I suppose so,” she said.  

“What is your offer?” the king said, eyeing his guard.  The white unicorn stood to attention and stayed silent.  

“The sun, moon, and stars,” she answered.  

“You will not bring them back if we do not agree?” Silver asked, narrowing his eyes at the ceiling.  

“Oh no, I intend to bring them back even if you refuse.  But, I hope you won’t,” she explained.  “My offer is to allow you and your unicorns the responsibility of raising and lowering the sun and moon and bringing out the stars.  Performing these tasks every night and day will be your offer for a portion of the Earth ponies’ food,” she told him.  

“Huum,” the king hummed, rubbing his chin.  “I like it!” he declared.  “The perfect idea.  The Earth ponies will have to provide us with food if they want their sun back,” he said, with a sideways smile.  

“Wait, no.  That’s not what I meant.  I didn’t intend for you to threaten them,” Harmony told him, looking unhappily at the crowned pony.  

“As for those winged ruffians, they will provide us protection from any creatures of the dark forest that dare to tread in our own forest or scale our mountain,” the king went on, ignoring his creator’s dispute.  His guard looked at him questioningly.  “You and your fellow guards do provide decent protection.  But, you saw it for yourself,” he explained to his pony, “Those ruffians have used their roughness and violence to better themselves for battle. And they have those metal suits and hats; their armor protects them better than your thin capes.”  Adjutant looked at his flimsy blue cape and had to agree. “My ponies are too regal to be fighting anyway,” he told him, “With the Pegasi’s protection, all my ponies can stay in the safety of the castle and practice their magic.  You will still stay at my side, Adjutant Friday.  I can’t put all my trust in those hooligans, even with our new threat.”  His guard nodded.  “Then it is settled!  I will take you up on your offer, Creator Harmony,” Silver Sapphire exclaimed to the shadowy ceiling.  

“Again, it is not supposed to be a threat, and I didn’t mean to involve the Pegasi.  They have their deal with the Earth ponies already,” Harmony desperately tried to explain. 

“The sun we will be providing will be shining on the winged ones as well.  So, therefore, without an offer from them to us, there will be no more sun!” he declared, stomping his hoof.  

She didn’t like the way her creation had spun things around, but she had to agree.  Otherwise, the entire unicorn race would suffer.  And she was not about to stoop to threatening her own creatures. 

“Okay, your highness,” Harmony reluctantly agreed, sorrow in her voice, “As you wish.”  “The moon and stars will be brought back tonight, and you and the rest of the unicorns will lower it in the morning and raise the sun.  And in exchange, you may ask the other tribes for what you want in return,” she explained professionally with a hint of grief. 

“Very well.  We agree,” the king replied, “Now, provide us with the power to do so, and we will be done.”  

“You already have the power,” she said with some amusement.  “I believe if all the unicorns work together, your magic will be strong enough,” she explained, hoping she was right.  

“So, you take away our moon and give us nothing?” he asked, glaring up.  

“No, I gave you knowledge of your own abilities and an idea for an offering,” she explained, staring back at the ungrateful unicorn.  Her yellow glow turned a shade redder.  “I suggest you gather your ponies and prepare yourselves for this momentous task before morning,” she advised, easing her stare.  

“Very well, we will,” he said, eyes narrowed at the ceiling.  “Now, the moon,” he said, looking to his balcony.  

Harmony took a deep breath.  Then she looked at Chaos whose face was plastered with a gleeful smile.  The Perceiver changed back to the balcony.  “The moon,” she said to the pleased spirit.  

“I thought I was done with that,” Chaos said, frowning.  She just stared at him, growing a bit redder.  “Fine.  But this is the last time.  If your ponies want their moon so badly, they will just have to raise it themselves,” he huffed, raising his glowing stubs. 

The moon shot into the sky, and all the stars appeared at once immediately following.  The unicorn seemed pleased as he and his guard dimmed their horns.  Then they left the throne room, walking out of the screen’s view without another word.  Harmony looked at the Perceiver with a blend of disbelief, anger, and sadness. The wall materialized back over the screen and the circle below her dimmed.  

“You did well, Harmony.  Your offer was accepted by the unicorns, and it will soon be accepted by the other ponies as well,” Destiny encouraged.  

“But the king turned it into a threat,” she argued miserably, “My offer was supposed to bring the ponies together, help them find harmony among themselves.  The Pegasi and Earth ponies will only agree to the offer because they will be forced to. How is that better than the way things are now?”  

“The ponies will be working together, will they not?” the larger female figure asked.  

“Yes, but…”  

“Then you have helped them take a step in the right direction,” Destiny said, “And all the ponies will have food for the winter.” She smiled down at the shorter spirit and gained one in return.  

“Yes, you’re right, madam.  Thank you for everything,” Harmony said.  

“You are welcome,” she said.  

“It is time to return to your usual duties,” Control announced.  

“Wait!  I want to talk to my creatures,” Chaos exclaimed, quickly floating over to the blue circle.  He was suddenly blinded by a bright green light.  When his vision cleared, he was greeted by a rapidly approaching transparent, purple wall.  Hitting the wall of the hallway, he mumbled, “No fair.”  He pealed himself off the wall and turned towards Harmony.  “Why don’t I get to talk to my creatures?” he complained, crossing his stubs.  

“Because you don’t have a reason.  There’s plenty of chaos on the planet,” she replied. “Too much,” she mumbled.  Chaos frowned deeply at her and turned away. Harmony made a face and looked around the hall.  “It feels unusually unbalanced in here,” she said with a frown, “This is Control’s hallway. Why would it feel so low on harmony?” 

“I’m not talking to you,” Chaos grumbled, back turned towards her.  

“Why?” she asked, not entirely upset by that idea. 

“Because you’re the favorite,” he said before disappearing.  

“Chaos,” she called, following after him.  


~


The unhappy spirit appeared back in the Viewer room, immediately followed by Harmony.  

“I’m not anyone’s favorite.  I just had a real harmony problem before you had a real chaos one,” she explained, “You should be happy.  My harmony failed before your chaos did.”  She frowned, still feeling a bit like a failure.  

“Hum,” he hummed.  “Okay, but I’m still not talking to you,” he said, floating in front of the Viewer.  

“Why?” she asked, joining him.  

Scooting further away from her, he replied in a very dark tone, “Dog.”  His black glow darkened as he moved them around the planet.  

“Oh,” she said, looking down.  “Chaos, I’m sorry.  I really am,” she said in a begging tone, “I just needed you to stop, so I could explain things to Control.”  

“Just because I embarrassed you, doesn’t give you the right to sale out my puppy,” he growled, not looking at her.  

“I didn’t do it just because I was embarrassed,” she told him, “I had a real problem, and I needed Control to believe me, so I could fix it.”  He didn’t respond.  “I honestly didn’t do it to get special treatment.  It’s my job to keep the harmony in balance.  I just needed to do my job,” she explained.  “But, I shouldn’t have threatened you like that,” she said, “Here I am, angry at my creature for threatening his own fellow ponies, when I threatened you, my fellow spirit.”  She looked at him sadly, filled with guilt.  “I am truly sorry, Chaos.  And I promise I won’t tell Control until you’re ready, okay?” she said, begging him to look at her.  

After a moment, he turned around with a big frown on his face.  “Okay,” he said shortly, narrowing his eyes at her.  

“Um, okay.  Good,” she said unsure.  He suddenly laughed.  “What?” 

“Nothing.  It’s just that the goodie-goodie weaseled her way into getting what she wanted through threats, and now she even agreed to lie to her precious mentor about a secret chaos creature because she felt so guilty,” he casually said, a pleased smile on his face, “I think I actually feel a bit of pride for you.”  

“What?  I didn’t…Chaos!” she fumbled with her words.  

“Don’t yell at me.  You did it,” he said gleefully.  

“But…I-I…” she struggled.  “I didn’t mean to…”  

“He,” he laughed, “Let’s watch some chaos.  I think you might actually enjoy it.”  She felt concern for herself at his words as he grinned, zooming in on the unicorns.  


~


As the night continued on, the king discussed the new bargaining chip with his royal unicorns.  Once his ponies were well informed and had time to rest a bit, he led them out and down towards the Earth ponies’ land.  Most of the unicorns were in agreement, but some, like their creator, did not like the idea of threatening the other tribes.  By morning, the unicorns had reached the farm land, and the moon was low in the sky.  The king and his queen and princess dismounted their unicorn pulled chariot and moved to the front of the group.  Silver Sapphire nodded to his ponies, and all horns pointed to the sky. 

A glow of multiple colors illuminated as all the unicorns lit their horns to lower the moon.  Despite everyponies’ best effort, the large orb stubbornly held its place, not budging an inch.  The tribe tried again, horns growing brighter.  Still, the moon didn’t move any lower.  

“Is everypony helping?” the king bellowed, looking around at all his ponies.  All nodded and looked at each other.  “Try again,” he commanded.  As before, the horns glowed brightly, but nothing happened.  “Creator Harmony assured me that this would work, correct Adjutant Friday?” he said to everypony and then addressed his right-hoof guard. 

“Yes, your highness,” the white stallion agreed. “She said we would be strong enough for the task if we all worked together,” he recalled.  “Maybe we aren’t working together enough,” he suggested.  

“How do we work together more?  We are all trying to lower the moon at the same time. What more can we do?” Queen Fluorite asked.  The guard shrugged.  “Any suggestions?” she asked her royal subjects.  All the ponies looked around at each other.  

“Anypony?” Princess Platinum asked.  

“Um…I have an idea,” a young voice said shyly, purple hoof raised.  Everypony stepped aside to reveal the filly with the two-toned green mane.  She timidly hid behind her mother’s foreleg. Everypony seemed to always get annoyed by her enthusiasm for knowledge, so she was a bit afraid to speak up.  

“Go on, Clover,” Iris said, pushing her daughter out from under her.  The purple filly looked back at her parents.  

“Everypony wants to hear what you have to say,” Fescue encouraged his clever daughter.  

Smiling, Clover spoke up, “I think we should hold hooves.”  Everypony gave her a strange look.  “That way we will all be connected, physically.  Then our magic can come together and work as one unit,” she explained, putting her hooves together to demonstrate.  

“It’s worth a try, I suppose,” the princess said less than enthusiastically.  She took her mother’s hoof and reached out for her father’s.  “Come on, daddy,” she said.  

“We have nothing to lose,” the queen said.  She took the purple hoof of the red and orange maned mare next to her.  

One by one, all unicorns joined hooves.  The king watched all his ponies come together until he was the last one.  He hummed and took his princess’s hoof and then looked at the dark purple hoof of the green maned stallion.  Fescue gave him a friendly smile.  Quirking a little grin of his own, Silver took the hoof and then looked to the sky. Without a word of instruction, everypony lit their horns in unison.  All their different colored auras morphed together into a bright yellow light that illuminated the field around them.  Finally, the bright orb began to descend through the sky.  After a slow, steady drop, the moon was finally lowered and the stars dimmed until the sky was dark and black.  

The bright yellow glow of the joined magic disappeared, completely darkening the night.  All eyes looked up at the empty sky.  Everypony was silent as they took in what they had just accomplished.  The unicorns looked at each other and released their hooves.  

“We did it!” one pony shouted.  Suddenly, the dark night was filled with cheers as everypony joined in the excitement and praise.  All the unicorns shook hooves and hugged, congratulating each other.  

“Well done, my ponies!” King Silver Sapphire commended with a bellow.  “Now,” he said lighting his horn, “Let’s go forth and make our deal.”  “We will have nourishment again soon!” he hailed, leading his cheering ponies towards the small town the Earth ponies had built for themselves.  


~


“What’s goin’ on with the sky, General?” the Earth pony chief asked, peering up at the second pitch black sky they had experience that night.  The two leaders had woken up before sunrise to begin working on the crop fields and weather again.  They needed to start growing food as soon as possible, so the Earth ponies had invited the Pegasi to stay in their town for the time being.  But, once the moon had gone down, the sun did not return, and, worried, the two leaders had retrieved their ponies to check on them and investigate the second strange occurrence.  “Why’s the sun not up yet?” Purple Caramel asked the large Pegasus.  

“My soldiers are looking into it, but they are having difficulty seeing in the dark,” Thunder Cloud explained, glancing up at the almost invisible Pegasi flying carefully above them.  

“Try this,” Cinnamon Straw offered, holding out a small log with a flaming batch of straw on the top end.  

“Thank you.  This should do well,” the general said, taking the torch.  “Take this to First Sergeants Cirro and Fujita, Lieutenant Rain,” he professionally ordered his wife in front of the other tribe as he gave her the portable fire. 

“Yes, General,” she responded, taking the makeshift light and flying it up to the investigation leaders.  

“Can you make more?” Thunder asked, looking down at the brown stallion.  

“Yep,” Cinnamon responded with a nod.  “Cookie, go tell your ma’ we need more torches, but be careful.  It’s very dark,” he told his daughter.  

“Okay, pa’,” the lighter brown filly said, before carefully hurrying towards the fire-lit buildings.  

“General, I can help.  I can fly them up to our soldiers,” Hurricane offered, eager to help. A shivering, yellow filly stood directly behind her, trying to hide from the scary dark night.  

“Hurry after the Earth filly,” he ordered his daughter, letting her assist them.  She nodded and took flight.  “But be cautious!” he hollered protectively.  

“Yes, sir!” she yelled back, stopping long enough to salute him.  He saluted back and gave her a nod before she took off through the dark night.  His dark blue eyes wondered down to the light blue maned filly.  Pansy froze, staring wide-eyed at the large stallion that was staring down at her. “Come on, Pansy!” Hurricane yelled, as she soared back above her new charge.  

“Sorry, sir,” the timid filly squeaked, carefully fluttering her wings.  She slowly ascended up to the scowling blue filly, who immediately took off.  Pansy hurried after her, trying to keep up with the much faster filly.  In the dark, she bumped into a stallion.  “Sorry, daddy…um, sir,” she apologized.  

“Go on,” the yellow stallion instructed, gently pushing her along.  After his daughter was back on track, he made his announcement, “We’ve cleared all the clouds, sir, but we still can’t see anything that could be blocking the sun’s light.”  
“Master Sergeant Nimbus, light is coming.  The Earth ponies are providing us with flamed logs,” the general informed him from the ground.  

“Yeah, thanks.  These things are awesome!” Shear said excitedly, waving around the torch he had taken from his parents.  The flame illuminated around him, showing off his wide grin.  

“You’re welcome,” Cinnamon said, worriedly watching the young Pegasus swinging the flame around.  

“Give me that!” Virga said, snatching the torch from her careless brother.  Light gone, his frown was unseen.  “You’re not supposed to play with fire, numbskull,” she scolded.  

“Cut it out, you two!” their father yelled, swooping in above them.  He had another torch in his hoof.  

“We wouldn’t have given it to you if we had known you were going to fight over it,” Fujita said, equipped with a torch as well. 

“Sorry, sir, ma’am,” the twins said.  

A pair of cries suddenly sounded through the dark.  A frowning orange filly with a screaming brown foal wrapped in her wings on her back and another crying orange one in her foreleg walked up to the group.  

“I’m sorry, but the twins won’t stop crying,” Honey apologized. “I tried rocking them and singing a lullaby, but they won’t stop,” sounding a bit irritated.  

“Where’s your aunt?” her mother asked, flying down and taking Aureolin from her arm.  He stopped crying and stared at the flame in his mom’s other hoof.  

“She’s busy watching the other foals,” she said, swaying her body in an attempt to quiet her little sister.  

Honey had volunteered to stay and help Cymbidium Spring watch after the foals and younger colts and fillies while all the other Pegasi were occupied with solving the missing sun problem.  She was hoping Pansy could stay with her and her mom, but, since Hurricane wanted to help the adults, her frightened cousin had to as well.  Now that the general’s daughter was tasked with the duty of toughening up the timid filly, Pansy had to practically be at Hurricane’s side twenty-four seven.  

“We’re busy too, Honey,” Cirro said, handing her his torch in exchange for his youngest daughter.  

“I’m sorry,” Honey apologized, observing the flaming stick.  “What’s this?” she asked curiously. 

“A cool fire log made by the Earth ponies,” Shear said, swooping down and taking the torch from his mom.  Aureolin immediately wailed, his light taken away. 

“It’s called a torch!” Virga yelled over her baby brother.  Hearing her brother’s scream, Ecru began crying again.  “Look what you did!” the oldest sister accused her twin.  

“It’s not a toy!” Shear mocked.  “I took it before our little brother burst into flames!” he argued.  

“Stop yelling!” Honey yelled, “You’re scaring them!” 

“You’re the one who’s yelling!” Shear accused.  

“You started it!” the filly argued, flying up in front of him.  

“Don’t yell at him!  That’s my job!” Virga screamed, pushing her little sister.  

“Knock it off!” Cirro commanded, rocking his screaming daughter.  

“They/She started it!” the three of them yelled, pointing their hooves at each other.  

“Stop it!” Fujita ordered, covering her wailing son’s ears.  

“I think your soldiers could use some discipline,” Chief Purple Caramel used the general’s own words against him, watching the usually orderly Pegasi arguing like ruffians, as the unicorns had called them. General Thunder Cloud narrowed his eyes at the smaller stallion before standing tall and raising his head.  

“Enough!” a loud command quieted the fighting ponies. The shout didn’t come from the large, now confused, Pegasus general however.  Everypony turned towards the commanding sound and took in the group with the glowing horns.  “Just as I suspected,” the king said, leading his ponies, “Without our sun, everypony resorts to fighting in the confusion and darkness.”  

“Your sun?” Thunder asked, raising an eye ridge.  

“That is correct, winged leader,” the king said, stopping in front of the staring ponies.  

“The sun don’t belong to you,” the chief argued, stepping up in front of the unicorn leader.  

“That is where you are wrong, Earth-bound leader,” the silver stallion said.  “All the lights of the sky, the sun, moon, and stars, now belong to us,” he exclaimed, holding his head high to address all the groups that were gathering around them on the ground and in the sky.  

“Just because you put a crown on your head, don’t make you king of the sky,” Purple Caramel said, glaring at the stuck-up stallion. 

“My cutie mark is what has made me king,” he argued, turning to show off his regal mark.  “But that is no matter now.  We made you an offer, Earth stallion, but you refused,” he addressed the chief with a frown. “So, you have forced my hoof!” he exclaimed, stomping a powerful hoof into the dirt.  “Give my unicorns and I a third of your food-” he looked at the chief “-and protection from the dark creatures-” he glared at the general “-or we will not return the sun!” he threatened.  The two groups of ponies gasped and glared at the self-proclaimed king. 

“You are not our king, we will not obey you!” Thunder Cloud bellowed.  

“Yeah!” Purple Caramel agreed, standing tall beside the black stallion.  

“Then I wish you luck growing your food in the dark,” he said sinisterly before turning to lead his ponies away.  
The general and chief exchanged looks as they heard their ponies whisper worriedly amongst themselves.  The chief knew he couldn’t grow anything without the sun’s light and warmth.  The general could control the weather all he wanted and provide as much rain as he could squeeze from the clouds, but he knew he and his soldiers could do nothing to mimic the sun’s part in growing the food.  Both leaders knew they needed the sun, and without the unicorns they had no hope of getting it back.  

“Wait!” Purple Caramel yelled and halted the unicorn king.  A grin crept up the king’s cheek before he turned around and stared neutrally at the Earth stallion.  

“We agree with your deal,” Thunder Cloud said begrudgedly.  “My soldiers and I will provide protection,” he reluctantly said, lowering his head a fraction.  Loyally, his ponies all landed and stood behind him and nodded in agreement.  

“And we’ll give ya’ some of our food,” the chief said, glare painting his face.  His ponies all came behind and nodded as well.  

“Very well then,” the king said professionally. He turned back to his mostly happy ponies and smiled, “I knew you would see it my way.”  

Clover and her parents, as well as some of the other unicorns, didn’t share in their king’s glee.  The idea of threatening the others felt wrong, but Silver Sapphire was their leader, and they needed food.  What else could they do?  Conversely, the queen and princess seemed pleased with their leader’s success in making the deal.  Both had their noses in the air and wore satisfied smiles.  Like her mother, Platinum felt, as royal unicorns gifted with magic and the sky’s light orbs, they deserved respect from the grubby and ruffian ponies.  

Joining hooves again, the unicorns lit their horns and formed one large mass of yellow light.  A bit impressed, but still unhappy, the two tribes watched as their new royal partners worked together and gradually and steadily brought the sun over the horizon.  The bright orb slowly rose and illuminated the long since darkened sky.  Once the sun was in position, the horns dimmed, the hooves released, the unnecessary torches were stomped out, and everypony was relieved to see the orb of light again, despite their new deal with the stuck-up tribe.  Unlike their creator, the king and his unicorns felt more energized after raising the sun, their unified harmony filling them with joy and pride.  The warm feeling almost covered any guilt or sorrow some of the unicorns felt for going along with the threat.  

“Thank you,” the general said professionally, “How may my soldiers help you?”  

“We will discuss that later.  For now, we need all of your ponies to help the grounded ponies grow our food,” the king ordered, immediately falling into his new position.  

“Yes, king,” Thunder said, staying professional, despite the anger inside him at his own words.  

Hurricane huffed out her own anger but stood at attention beside her mother and behind her father.  They were powerful, strong Pegasi; they shouldn’t be forced to obey the freakshow, snobby unicorn.  But, like the others, she would follow her father anywhere and do whatever he asked of her.  Next to her, Navy Rain shared the same serious stare as her fellow soldiers, Cirro, Fujita, Shear, Virga, and Nimbus included.  Holding her fussy little siblings again, Honey frowned, but not at her baby twins this time.  She was happy that everypony was working together, but she was worried about how stable a deal made of threats would be.  She just wished all three tribes would work together because everypony genuinely wanted to come together as one in peace, despite their differences.  

“Chief,” Silver said, gesturing for the pinkish-purple stallion to begin growing the food.  

“Come on everypony, we have a lot of work to do,” Purple Caramel said to his ponies, unable to stop the scowl.  

Cinnamon Straw, Citrus, and Cookie followed their leader and their fellow ponies as he led all three tribes to the crop fields. Cookie didn’t mind sharing their food with any pony that helped them grow it, but she hated how the unicorn king was treating her kind like his personal farm servants.  Her parents weren’t too keen on the new arrangement either, but they knew this was the only way.  

And with that, the three-way deal between the tribes was finally made.  The Earth ponies would grow food for all three tribes, the Pegasi would provide protection to the unicorns and weather control for the Earth ponies’ crops, and the unicorns would raise and lower the sun and moon for all.  


~


Despite neither of the three pony groups being completely happy about the new agreement, Harmony was thrilled with their progress.  They had successfully made a deal, and all three tribes would be working together.  Destiny was right; this was definitely a step in the right direction.  Her ponies would eventually find their true harmony; she could feel it.  

Excitement overtaking her, she latched onto her unsuspecting counterpart and twirled them around in a tight hug.  Before Chaos could push away, Harmony let go and breathed an exhausted breath.  She looked up and realized her successful communication with her ponies had cost her almost two colors.  She didn’t care.  She had succeeded; all her ponies had found cooperation.  

“You know,” Chaos said thoughtfully, wiping the invisible harmony germs from his body, “I don’t know why your Earth ponies are so against magic; it’s not like they don’t have magic too.”  

“What do you mean?” she asked, surprised.  

“I gave them magic when I gave the others horns and wings.  The Pegasi have magic too.  How else would they fly?” he said as if it were obvious, “You really think those puny wings are strong enough to lift a tiny horse?”  

Harmony hummed.  She hadn’t thought of that.  She reasoned that’s why the Earth ponies had such a strong connection with the planet and its plants.  

“That’s actually a good thing.  It’s a shame they don’t know that.  That’s something they share,” she said after some thought.  “Sharing, like they are now.  I’m so happy!” she cheered.  

“What about the king threatening them?” he asked, frowning at her joy.  

“Like Destiny said, this is a step in the right direction, a step towards harmony,” she happily explained.  He stuck out his tongue in disgust, but she only yawned in response.  “I think I should go rest now,” she yawned again, “The Perceiver takes a lot more power out of me than the Viewer.  The ponies are good now.”  She smiled at the screen, seeing the three tribes all gathered together in the empty crop fields.  

As she dematerialized from the room, Chaos waved his stub at her as a goodnight gesture.  Then he allowed a grin to creep up his cheeks.  He disappeared himself and appeared in his room.  Hurrying over to his invisible closet, he stopped in front of the wall noticing a pool of red liquid seeping from underneath. Curiously turning his head, he made the door reappear and pulled it open.  A pile of disembodied limbs, squishy organs, and decapitated heads poured out of the small room and covered the surprised spirit.  

Chaos popped up out of the heap of his torn, destroyed, lifeless creatures and looked into the closet.  There sat Scruff, covered in blood and pieces of creature parts. The odd puppy happily chewed on a detached head of one of the soulless creatures.  Spotting his new owner, the young dog dropped the chew toy and barked innocently.  Chaos looked shocked as he floated up out of his ruined creations, his cloud-like body scattering and reforming as he ascended through the bodies.  The spirit slowly approached the joyous puppy, whose tail was rapidly wagging.  He grabbed the destructive dog and stared him right in his red eyes.  

“I’m so proud of you!” Chaos cooed, squeezing his new pet with a smile.  

As the proud spirit praised his good puppy, a very displeased spherical figure floated down his hallway and stared into the many open doors of his once perfectly balanced rooms that were now overflowing with pure chaos.