“So unfair,” Chaos groaned at the transparent purple ceiling while lying upside-down on his floating triangular bed. “She gets to talk to her creatures, and I get punished,” he continued, rolling over to look down at his hyper pet. Scruff noticed his owner watching him and eagerly yapped up at him, wagging his short tail. “Sentenced to my room for a week…and for what? Adding a few improvements to some of Control’s rooms,” he groaned, lazily lifting his glowing stub. He snapped his digits, making yet another new “chew toy” for his puppy.
As soon as the fluffy, soulless reptile hit the floor, the green beast attacked it, digging his sharp fangs into its tough scales. Scruff shook the lifeless creature, sending blue fur and drops of red liquid onto the ground. Dropping his toy, he raced over to the blood and lapped it up.
“Nothing too harmful,” Chaos continued, still bored despite the gruesome scene playing below him, “Just a few seat cushions turned to pin cushions, needles included, of course; a sideways room with all the same stuff just on the left wall; and a much-needed décor color change. Yellow and black aren’t the only colors, you know.” He sighed. Nothing was as fun or filled him with that pleasant, cold chaotic feeling more than bugging Harmony. Even Scruff got boring after a few days.
The pup looked up at him, face stained red, head tilted, and one ear down. The young dog glowed black as the bored spirit lifted his pet up to his bed. After being placed on the bouncy mattress, Scruff excitedly raced around his owner. His clumsy back leg tripped on the blanket, sending him rolling through his owner, making the latter’s form break up and reform. He landed tail up on the pillow with a poof. Unfazed, he wiggled around onto his feet and finally settled down beside the spirit.
“And I had to undo all my hard work and restore High-and-Mighty’s rooms back to their perfect state,” Chaos spat, receiving a sympathetic whine from his loyal pet. “And Miss. Goodie-Goodie gets to watch her harmony and her precious ponies all day. She threatens me and gets whatever she wants. She is so the favorite!” he went on. Scruff’s expression hardened as he angrily ruffed in agreement before his face returned to its normal happy state. “She gets all the special treatment. Don’t get me wrong; I’m glad I don’t have to deal with that moon and those stars every night and day now that her ponies are…”
He stopped. Scruff turned his head at his frozen owner.
“THE PONIES ARE RULING THE WORLD!” he shouted, jumping up and sending the startled puppy backwards off the bed. With his dark green eyes peering around the confines of his prison, the seething spirit slowly floated down to the floor as his pet plummeted into the large pile of discarded, destroyed toys. Scruff popped his head out of the heap, unharmed, but wide-eyed.
Chaos stared at the blank transparent wall where he could open a door that led to a hallway under normal circumstances, but Control had completely sealed that passage. He couldn’t form a door on that wall, or on any wall, that lead anywhere but to another wall, which was anywhere between an inch to a few feet from the doorway. Essentially, he could make a bunch of closets of various sizes. Spitefully, he would sometimes sit in one of his new little closets just so he was technically breaking the rule of his unfair punishment, though he couldn’t actually get anywhere.
His discriminatory mentor had also somehow blocked him from teleporting himself out of the room. Of course, this was the first method he had attempted to use to escape his sentence. He had lasted a few hours, but boredom had gotten the best of him. He had tried to flash out of his room and into Harmony’s room for he had been sure it would be empty, and he wouldn’t get caught. But he hadn’t been able to dematerialize, at first. After attempting for several minutes, he had managed to get his black glow to expand and disappeared but had reappeared only a foot away. Tired but aggravated, he had realized after an hour that he could only teleport around the room and that took a lot of effort.
Now, Chaos was angrier and more motivated than ever. Those ponies, creatures of harmony, were controlling the sun and moon, which affected every living thing on the planet. Therefore, the ponies, thus harmony, was controlling the planet. If that wasn’t an imbalance and a chaos problem, he didn’t know what was. But still, Control, Harmony, and even Destiny all knew and supported the responsibility transfer. They all knew the ponies had control over the sun and moon, and they all wanted it. It was Destiny’s idea, and Control allowed it. Yet, not one of them showed any concern for the chaos or even for the balance towards chaos. They just wanted to keep the harmony and save the stupid unicorn ponies.
They didn’t care. Chaos knew it. He’d always known they were biased. No, not biased; they hated chaos. All of them. Harmony, of course. That was obvious. She was harmony; she was supposed to hate chaos, just as he despised harmony. Control played his part well, acting as if chaos and harmony were the same to him, as if he were personally indifferent of both. He always spoke of how both forces were important and of how they were both needed for a balance. But a balance of the forces and a stability of the planet weren’t the same as an equality. Harmony was always way up there, and chaos was always way down there. That’s how Control wanted the balance; that wasn’t fair. Destiny alternatively, that was bit of a surprise. He knew she was a tricky one, but he thought she was on everyone’s side, even his. But she had slipped that idea right under him, making him feel as though he was gaining something from it. No, he was only losing, losing everything. Chaos wouldn’t stand for this. He had to get out.
Fueled by his fury and motivated by his newly hatching idea, Chaos focused all his energy and expanded his black glow. The darkness expanded until he was completely consumed, making him nothing but a glowing, pulsing black ball. Shortly, the ball exploded, leaving only a black mark on the ground. The pup crawled out of the pile and curiously sniffed the dark spot. Then he sat down with a sad huff. Chaos was gone.
~
Three whole days! Three whole days of harmony watching with the Viewer all to herself. No chaos! No one to bother her or whine or complain. No Chaos! Harmony happily sighed at the large screen as she watched her favorite creatures working together in the crop fields and in the sky above. The unicorns had already risen the sun as promised and were watching over the other two tribes as they worked.
A massive black flash suddenly appeared beside her leaving a fuming Chaos in its wake.
“Chaos!” Harmony said unhappily surprised, “What are you doing out of your room? It’s only been three days. How did you get out?”
“Meeting. Now!” he stated, mad-faced as he snatched her stub. Before she could pull away, he dematerialized them from the room.
~
The pair appeared back in Control’s empty hallway. Stub released, Harmony watched in awe as her counterpart’s figure morphed outwards and formed serval duplicates of Chaos. The clones each took a door and knocked. Then they all were sucked back into the original as a door towards the far end of the hall opened. Control peeked out of the opened door and peered down at the duo that were once again in his hallway.
“Disharmony, your punishment has not ended. You still have…” Control began in his usual neutral tone, internally surprised that Chaos had managed to break out of his room.
“Meeting! Now!” Chaos announced, one-digited-stub raised high above his head.
“You must finish serving your time,” he stated as if he hadn’t even heard Chaos.
“There is a chaos imbalance emergency on the planet that worsens with ever sun and moonrise!” the spirit exclaimed, ignoring his mentor’s words, but floating down the hall towards him.
“What happened?!” Harmony worriedly asked, quickly joining the pair. Had she missed something? Without Chaos, she had been watching the harmony on the planet almost nonstop. Maybe she should have least checked on the chaos creatures on his behalf.
“Ha!” her counterpart scoffed a laugh, turning to face her. “Like you don’t know. This is all your and your precious ponies’ fault!” he accused, pointing his stub at her.
“I-I didn’t do anything,” she said, half-worried he was somehow right.
“Threats are one thing, but lying? That’s just wrong,” he said, crossing his stubs.
“Odd coming from you,” she argued, “I’m not lying about anything.”
“So, you don’t know that your ponies are Ruling The World?!” he angrily questioned, throwing up his stubs.
“Not this again,” she sighed in exasperation, rolling her eyes to the ceiling, “They are not ruling the world.”
“Oh so, I was wrong when I thought the sun and moon shined on all the creatures? I guess they only provide light to your ponies’ little piece of the planet?” he questioned with venom in his voice, stubs going back into his body.
Harmony’s face dropped as she realized Chaos was right. She had never thought of that. She never meant to throw off the balance. She only wanted to save her unicorns…maybe get a little praise from her mentor…possibly get a little bit more harmony from her creatures, but not enough to unbalance the stability! As much as she loved harmony, she knew there had to be a balance between harmony and chaos. That’s the most important thing her mentor had taught her.
“Disharmony, do you believe there is a true imbalance on the planet?” Control asked, finally giving Chaos his full attention and floating completely into the hall. The door shut behind him.
“Yes. The harmony is dangerously overshadowing chaos as we speak,” he said urgently. There was the slightest brief pause.
“It is time for the Second World Meeting,” the larger figure announced. As his green light engulfed the two spirits, Harmony felt guilt-ridden while Chaos felt justified, finally getting the equal treatment he deserved.
~
The trio appeared in the pristine, solid room once again. Each figure was seated in his or her special seat as the fourth member materialized with a blue flash above her own cushion. Before Chaos could utter a word, Control spoke.
“Before this meeting begins, I require a sidebar with Destiny,” Control stated, glancing at the figure next to him.
A white wall grew up in the center of the table and not only blocked Chaos’s and Harmony’s view of the secret meeting, but also prevented them from hearing the discussion. The bell-shaped spirit attempted to float up to peek over the barrier, but he was stuck hovering just above his seat. With a huff, he slouched down, resting his head in his palm with his elbow on the hard tabletop. He allowed his thoughts to brew further as he was forced to wait for his turn again. Harmony slouched as well, but in grief as guilty thoughts of her own selfish mistake filled her head. The yellow light around the spirit dimmed to a bluer shade.
~
“So, you suggest we do nothing to stop this?” Control questioned with a tiny bit of irritation slipping into his voice.
“As I said, this will happen in one way or another sooner or later no matter what we do,” Destiny patiently explained for the second time during the sidebar. “It is best to let the events unfold in front of us now than to prevent it and wait for it to happen later when we are less prepared and less aware. At least now we can watch closely and step in and control the situation before it goes too far,” she further explained.
He paused for a moment before concluding, “We observe, wait, and put forth control when the time is right.”
“Yes,” she agreed, relieved he was with her on this.
“Very well,” he stated, lowering the wall. Seeing the barrier sinking back down, the two spirits floated up straight and turned their attention to their two superiors. “Disharmony, what is your suggestion to rebalance the chaos of the planet?” Control questioned.
A quick grin twitched on Chaos’s face before he answered in a serious tone, “I suggest that I be allowed to make one more creature for the planet.”
Harmony blinked in surprised; then frowned in confusion. Just one creature? She looked to Control and Destiny; both were calm and quiet. They didn’t appear to share in her suspicion. Chaos did everything big. Why would he only ask to make one creature? Besides that, how was one creature going to rebalance the chaos with her harmony creatures controlling something that affected the entire planet? It didn’t make any sense. He had to be up to something. Surely her superiors saw that.
“Do you believe this will rebalance the planet?” Control asked, no hint of distrust in his tone.
Wait, was Control just going to let Chaos do this without argument or even an explanation of how his plan could possibly work? Harmony didn’t understand. She had to really work hard to get him to allow her to fix her harmony problem or even get him to see there was one. Why was he being so easy on Chaos? Obviously, his plan was flawed and therefore very suspicious. She wanted to speak up, but felt it wasn’t her place, especially since she was to blame for the imbalance problem. She bit her lip and held her tongue, trying to hold on to her belief that Destiny and Control knew what was best.
“Yes, my plan will bring the balance back to where it should be,” the chaos spirit said, an almost hidden gleam in his dark eyes, “The chaos will be restored to its proper state.”
“His plan is flawed, suspicious, and doesn’t make any sense,” Harmony blurted out, unable to stop herself. She immediately closed her mouth tight, but it was too late.
“It’ll work far better than yours did,” Chaos jabbed, taking her confidence down a notch.
“I-I fail to see how one creature will rebalance the planet,” she argued still, “And Chaos always does everything big. Doesn’t it seem even a bit suspicious that he only wants to make one creature?” The larger figures only held their stares. “Shouldn’t he at least explain how his plan will work?” she asked, glow dimming with her confidence, “Like I did.” Her eyes drifted down to the table.
“She just doesn’t want to share the spotlight,” he accused, voice deepening slightly as he continued, “She can’t stand that it’s my turn, my special task.”
“I’m not jealous,” she said forcefully to her counterpart, glow the slightest bit red.
“Favorite,” he spat at her, tone sounding more dark than teasing. His eyes darkened more along with his slightly expanded glow.
“I’m not the favorite,” she stressed, floating a bit higher above her seat.
“Then but out and let me have my turn!” he growled, showing his sharp teeth, eyes growing misty.
“Enough,” Control broke in, gaining both their attention. “Disharmony will go to the planet and create one more creature,” he stated.
Both spirits returned to normal, him wearing a grin and her looking down again. Finally, Chaos was getting his turn. Harmony felt guilty again for losing control of her emotions and a bit hurt for neither of them even considering her side.
“Harmony, everything will be okay. Trust us,” Destiny assured, expression mostly neutral with a bit of compassion.
“Of course, it will with my plan,” Chaos spoke, glancing back at Harmony.
Control gave him a slight warning look before saying, “Harmony will go with you to assure that the balance of chaos and harmony is restored.”
“What?! No?!” he shrieked, “This is my special task! MY TURN!” His black glow expanded again, his dark eyes emitting a mist.
“Harmony is going,” he said with finality.
“NO!” he argued, floating up onto the table to glare down at his unfair mentor. Harmony nervously sank down into her cushion. Control and Destiny remained calm as Chaos continued to attempt to stare him down. After a long, tense pause, Control spoke.
“Then a new plan will be conducted,” the mentor stated, looking at the dark, misty eyes with no emotion at the ragging spirit.
The livid spirit stared him down for another tense moment before floating back to his seat and dropping his angry expressions, knowing he had no real power in this room. “Fine,” he said, crossing his stubs and looking away. He hated that Harmony was accompanying him, but at least he was finally getting his way for once.
“Meeting adjourned. It is time for you both the travel back down to the planet,” Control announced, “Disharmony, you will make one more chaos creature and only one more. Harmony, you will assure that the balance is stable once the creature is made.”
“Yes, sir,” Harmony said quietly, but dutifully, floating back up properly.
“Fine,” Chaos said shortly. A green glow encompassed the two spirits and flashed them out of the room.
~
The pair materialized back on the planet for the first time since their first trip there. This time it was full of life. Just watching the planet was nothing compared to actually being there. The grass was so green and the sky so bright and blue and spotted with soaring birds. The sounds of the inhabitants were so lively, the aroma of the plant life so strong and lovely. Harmony’s senses absorbed everything for a moment, while she floated round within the tall grass of the field, dazzling green eyes bouncing from one wonder to the next. She could feel the existence of her creatures warmly beating around her. A couple of playful squirrels scurried across the ground and raced through the invisible spirits; their cloud-like bodies completely undisturbed. Harmony smiled as she watched them run out of sight. The planet had truly been brought to life by their creations and Control’s souls. It was so amazing being back!
“Okay. Now to find the perfect place for my creation,” Chaos abruptly said more to himself, too focused to appreciate the feeling of being back on the planet in which they themselves had animated.
“What are you up to?” she asked, following him through the field. She trusted her superiors, but she couldn’t ignore her suspicious feeling.
“Just fixing your mess,” he said, leading them towards the trees far off in the distance. She frowned, opting to just wait and watch. She had orders, but she wasn’t going to let her guard down.
As Harmony followed Chaos through the tall pasture, she felt an uneasiness building inside her. The initial pleasant feeling was fading fast. The further they traveled, the stronger the unpleasant feeling grew, making her cold and very uncomfortable. Her counterpart could feel it too, but he was enjoying it. The cold, pleasing feeling was directing him to where he wanted to go. That same energy was making Harmony feel uneasy and drained.
“Chaos, I don’t feel so well,” Harmony weakly said.
“Good,” Chaos replied distractedly.
“Where are you taking us?” she questioned, yearningly glancing back at the bight field behind them.
“Just the best place on this planet,” he responded, dark grin creeping up his right cheek. “My chaos forest!” he proudly announced, spreading his stubs wide to present the dark forest in front of them. She frowned, shivering from the cold. “The perfect place for my newest creation,” he said, entering between the eerie trees.
“Your last creation,” she said as she reluctantly followed behind him, feeling her now grayish glow decrease. “I feel terrible,” she moaned as they traveled deeper into the forest.
Chaos’s grinned widened, happy to be enjoying her misery again. It felt so good to be free of his confined room and even better to be back in his forest, especially now that all his creatures had souls. There was so much chaotic life in the forest; and it was wonderful. He glanced back at the droopy spirit whose unusually dim eyes nervously darted around. The mischievous spirit’s sharp teeth showed as an idea formed in his naughty head. He quickly looked around until he found a small two-legged snake crawling up a hanging vine from a low nearby tree branch. He swiftly snatched up the reptile, spun around, and shoved his stubs in front of Harmony’s face.
“Boo!” he yelled. She gasped and jumped slightly. Then she turned her head and raised an eye ridge at the empty stubs in her face. His smile dropped at her meager reaction. Then he followed her gaze. “Where’d it go?” he asked surprised.
He turned back around and saw the serpent still ascending the vine a little higher than where it was moments ago. With a frown he attempted to nab the snake in his stubs again, but the creature and vine just went right through his appendages as if they weren’t even there. He tried a few more times before lighting up his stubs and trying to lift the snake with his aroura instead. His entire glow expanded and darkened, but the reptile continued it ascend undisturbed, no black glow formed around it.
“All our creatures have their souls now. We can’t affect them, remember?” Harmony reminded him, demonstrating by floating through a large rock, “It’s like we aren’t even here, as if we don’t exist.” Chaos put away his stubs and made a face up at the serpent before blowing a hard breath at it. The snake nor the vine moved.
“Hay!” he shouted at his creature. It didn’t seem to hear him. He floated up and stuck his stub through the reptile and held it there. He shivered pleasurably as he felt the reptile’s chaos energy course through him. The small snake continued up at the same slow pace until it reached the branch. Chaos drifted back down and intriguingly asked, “What about creatures off the planet? Could we affect creatures not on the planet that have souls?”
With a deep frown, she replied, “That can’t happen. Creatures, especially with souls, aren’t allowed off the planet.” She made a face as he continued to study the creature. “Is this about that puppy you made?” she asked, gaining his attention. His eyes widened slightly. “There’s no way Control is going to give it a soul,” she continued, floating out of the rock to move closer to him. Chaos relaxed; she didn’t know. “And you still are going to have to tell him you have it,” she added seriously.
“You promised,” he said darkly with a hint of desperation, quickly spinning around to glare at her.
“I won’t tell,” she sincerely assured him. He dropped his glare. “But you have to some time,” she added.
“Whatever. Let’s keep going,” he said grouchily, continuing their journey.
She frowned but followed. He didn’t bother flying around anything this time. He just floated straight ahead going through all the trees, bushes, and creatures in his path. Harmony did the same, too exhausted to make any turns around the obstacles. Soon, she felt the cold feeling growing again.
“Seriously, Chaos, I don’t feel well,” Harmony said, glow almost completely gray and gone. Her counterpart stopped and shushed her without turning around. “Chaos,” she whined, drifting in front of him.
“Move,” he commanded, easily shoving her out of the way.
She regained her balance and turned around to see what he was watching. Two large black panthers with a pair of horns on their heads and several spikes running from the back of their heads all the way down to the tips of their tails were pacing in a circle. Both felines were emitting a deep, low growl as they followed each other in the large circle, dark eyes never leaving the creature in front of them. They continued to size each other up as Harmony wondered what the importance of these two particular panthers was. Chaos watched in rapture, finally finding the source of the intense energy he had been following. He almost purred as the energy fueled him, his black glow darkening and expanding. His counterpart trembled from the cold energy; her warm glow was gone.
Suddenly, an ear-piercing screech rang through the trees as the larger, red horned panther leapt onto his fellow feline. The oval spirit gasped, feeling a bit dizzy. She could feel Chaos’s glow expanding more next to her.
“It’s the disharmony…f-from the fighting,” Harmony realized, speaking weakly, “They’re both…the same species…and t-they’re fighting…”
“…to the death,” Chaos sinisterly added, making her eye ridges slant sadly. “And…” he said, evilly smiling at her, “…they’re bothers.”
She gasped. She looked back at the bloody battle only to instantly cover her teary eyes and turn away. Knowing that there was nothing she could do to stop them, her mind just raced as it tried to think of a good reason for a family to fight each other so brutally. The struggle continued as the two creatures clawed and bit each other, roughly rolled around, sent fur and blood everywhere, knocked into trees, inadvertently tore up the flora in their way, and generally caused chaos with their careless civil war.
“And why are they killing each other?” Chaos asked, only gaining her earhole’s attention. She refused to uncover her eyes. “Hunger?” he gleefully asked. He floated over to the downed purple horned panther and “patted” its full, roundish stomach. “No. Plenty of little critters filling that tummy,” he said, as it leapt back up through him and tackled its brother. “How about a mate? See any females around here?” he asked, slowly spinning around at the vacant forest.
He noticed that his trembling counterpart’s eyes were covered. He flew over to her, forced her stubs away from her wet face, and spun the two of them around, giving her a glance at the terrible battle.
“Nope. No girls,” he said, releasing her.
Silently crying, she rushed through a tree to shield herself from the battle and the unrestrained, out of control spirit. She earnestly wished she could leave, but she had a duty to stay with Chaos, no matter how unrestrainable he was.
“Can’t blame the hormones,” he said, misty dark eyes looking at the tree where the frightened spirit was hiding. “So, they’re not famished, not raging with hormones. Since they’re brothers, they can’t be defending their family. Don’t see any cubs around here anyway,” he hummed calmly, feigning deep thought as he slowly drifted over to the tree. “Any guesses!?” he practically shouted as he threw his head through the tree.
“NO!” Harmony shrieked, spinning around and jumping back away from him. She uncovered her eyes so she could see what he was doing. Thankfully, the large tree trunk was blocking the horrendous battle.
“Come on, guess,” he ordered playfully, voice still dark and disturbing grin full of sharp teeth.
“N-No,” she stuttered backing away, “W-Why are you d-ding this? I-I don’t want to be here? I-I-” she squeezed her eyes shut for a moment “-I feel awful. So cold and exhausted and sad and drained…and scared.” She looked down to see half her colors were gone and the three remaining were almost as gray as Chaos’s normal colors. Right now, those colors on the bell-shaped spirit were so dark gray the colors could no longer be distinguished. “You’re supposed to be making a creature,” she said as harshly as she could.
“I’m getting to that,” he said calmly. “Now, GUESS!” he shouted, black glow darkening his entire body, leaving only his misty eyes. Harmony fell back, chest heaving with each labored breath as her white color visibly drained.
“I-I-I don’t know,” she cried, tearing streaming down her pale face.
He tisked his tongue three times, then said, “Poor little goodie-goodie can’t figure it out.”
He flew at her, snatched her stubs, and floated them back through the tree and over top of the ending battle. Both panthers were covered in blood, gashes, dirt, and debris. The purple-spiked feline could barely stand on its weak legs; his brother wasn’t fairing much better.
“These two creatures, both made by me, both the same type of animal, both in the same family, brothers…” Chaos spoke daggling his tormented counterpart below him just above the fight, “…are fighting, about to kill each other, end their own brother’s life, for what?” He paused as the red-horned panther jumped on his brother sending him to the ground with a hard, head-bashing thud. “Not for a desperate need for nourishment or for a female partner or even to protect their own cub,” he said voice deep and frightening. Harmony tremble with fear, anxiety, and cold as she lost her blue color. “Oh no. Not for anything as important as that!” he said, sharp white teeth showing on his dark glowing body. The larger panther growled down at his pinned sibling, who squalled in pain for mercy. “All this hate, enmity, betrayal, greed, cruelty, deception, resentment, angry, destruction…” he rushed out. “All this chaos and disharmony is for one simple thing,” he said, pulling her up to his face. “Territory!” he spoke, creeping smile and dark greens eyes directly in her face. He dropped her back down below him, still holding her hostage in his stubs. “Territory. Just a piece of land, easily replaceable, easily shared,” he went on as the small creature wailed, “But no. He would rather kill his own brother than to give up or even share his territory.”
The evil spirit dropped them lower, putting Harmony’s face right beside the dying feline’s. The larger beast raised its paw, claws retracted, and swiped down at his brother’s neck. Harmony shut her eyes at the sight, but she couldn’t block out the terrible sound of the dying shriek or the wet, cutting gurgling of the final strike against the panther’s neck.
He finally released her, letting her fall the short distance to the ground. Eyes covered, she could only feel the strong cold energy against her side. She dared to take a peek and saw to her dismay that she was sitting in the body of the dead panther. She flew back out of it, seeing the full horror of its dead, mangled body. Looking down away from the terrible sight, she noticed she had lost all but a sliver of her last, grayed-out color.
“And the best part,” the dark glowing, misty eyed spirit cheered from above, “The very thing this creature killed his own flesh and blood for was destroyed in the fight by his very own bloodstained paws!”
Harmony looked around her at the damaged, destroyed area of the forest. Her dim, wide eyes caught sight of the red horned panther falling to the ground in exhaustion. Then she noticed a white light in her peripheral vision. She stared towards it and saw a grayish-white ball of light ascending out of the dead panther. She realized it was his soul. It slowly drifted up and hovered over the body. Both spirits watched it curiously. Then it suddenly shot upwards to the sky and out of sight. Harmony sniffed in mourning for the creature whose death seemed unfair and unwarranted.
Chaos looked away from where the soul had vanished to look at the sad, almost fully drained spirit on the ground. He paused for a moment, before his wide, toothy smile returned. He peered down at his black glowing form.
“I feel great,” the dark spirit said with an eerie calm, deep, dark voice. The weak spirit gazed up at him, sad eyes hardening as much as she could manage.
“You should feel terrible…making me witness that…almost depleting my energy,” she said as angrily as she could.
“You…” he said, floating down to her eyelevel. Fear flashed in her eyes, but she didn’t back away. “…should take cover,” he warned, straight-faced and staring into her eyes, “It’s time to make my next and greatest creation.” A grin rose up his cheek as he floated up into the air.
“I knew you were up to something,” she said, “You’ve gained all this extra power, and you’ve weakened me. Now you’re going to make something far more powerful than required to rebalance the planet, aren’t you? You’re going to throw the planet into chaos!” His grinning cheek and misting eye twitched in an almost painful looking expression.
“Not kidding, Goodie-Goodie,” he said, sounding a bit more serious, “Better get outta here.” Harmony gave him a concerned look. “Not that it matters to me if you’re destroyed in the wake of the creation of my newest creature,” he said, eerie tone and smile consuming both cheeks.
He closed his dark eyes and allowed his pulsing, black glow to completely encompass him. With a gasp, Harmony rushed back through the tree and hunkered down against the tree trunk into a ball on the ground. The black glow expanded until Chaos was nothing but a dark large glowing ball in the air. His dark, misting eyes flashed opened as his black glow and gray rainbow energy exploded outward. Harmony felt the cold force of energy rush above her. The gray rainbow with the black smoky border continued exploding and rapidly flowing outwards until the entire planet was consumed.
~
As the chaos energy encompassed the globe, Control visibly felt the effect. While the balance of the planet tilted towards chaos and disharmony, the round spirit’s black coloring grew. His black half began to overtake his yellow half, corrupting his perfectly balanced hues.
“It is time to put forth control,” Control spoke weakly with a cold shiver.
“You are correct. Now is the time,” Destiny agreed.
She flew up high above the planet and glowed a blinding bright blue. Her eyes flash opened; their light green color was almost white. A matching blue energy covered the chaos that surrounded the globe and forced it back into the forest. As the black boarded, upside-down, gray rainbow energy imploded, Control’s black color receded back. He was left with a slight unbalance, a hint more black than yellow. Destiny, glow and eyes returned to normal, descended back to the weakened spirit.
“Are you alright, Control?” she asked concerned.
“Fine,” he quietly replied, with a slight shiver.
“You’re weak,” she persisted.
“I am fine. The focus is on the planet,” he insisted.
~
The chaos energy collapsed all the way back to a small, thick grouping of trees a few feet from the floating spirit. Just as the energy disappeared, Chaos plummeted down, black smoke fizzling behind him. From behind the bushes where the spirit had landed came a small gray ball of light that gently floated up and over to the group of trees. The light descended between the trunks, flashed brighter, and vanished.
With extreme caution and terror, Harmony peeked out from behind her tree, still weak and chest still heaving. She relaxed the slightest bit seeing nothing had changed, except Chaos was no longer floating threateningly in the air. The forest was as it had been before her counterpart had unleashed all his power. In fact, she didn’t see him or the creation he was supposed to have made. She carefully floated through the tree and scanned the area. A small trail of black smoke was rising out of some bushes. After floating over to the smoking shrubs, she warily peered behind them
“Chaos…?” Harmony said with caution, fear, and concern. The almost white spirit laid motionless on the ground, eyes closed and his black glow completely absent. “Chaos,” she repeated with more force, heart racing with fear. Taking a deep breath, she floated through the bushes and carefully picked up his heavy body. She took him back out into the clearing where the battle was fought. As she gently placed him down, she barely noticed the larger panther taking his leave. “Chaos!” she said, shaking him. His head flopped loosely, but he didn’t stir. “Chaos!” she tried again. “Chaos, wake up!” she desperately shouted, shaking him as hard as she could.
“Nnmm…” she heard a quiet moan.
“Chaos?” she asked, shaking him a little easier.
“Mmm…wh-wh…,” Chaos mumbled.
“Chaos! You’re okay!” she cheered, pulling him into a tight hug.
“Mmm…off!” he faintly moaned, weakly trying to push her away. She held the embrace a little longer, then gently laid him back down. “Where…where is he?” he asked, forcing himself up on his elbows.
“Who?” she asked.
“My creature,” he replied, getting up. He stumbled a bit, holding his spinning head. Getting his bearings, he continued with exhilaration, “The Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony…of the planet.”
“The what?!” she exclaimed.
“Not a spirit like us, not a creator, but a creature with almost equal power to my own, a creature coursing with almost as much chaos as myself,” he explained with a dark grin, searching around for the powerful creature.
Harmony just followed, shocked, horrified, and overwhelmed by his words. A creature like that could destroy the stability of the planet with ease.
“Basically, me, with the exception of residing on the planet, the place where I cannot readily go, the place where I can no longer create any chaos because of High-and-Mighty,” he gleefully went on, moving over to a thick grouping of trees, “He shall spread chaos all over the…what the heck is that?!” Harmony raised an eye ridge and looked down where the outraged spirit was glaring. “That can’t be it! He’s supposed to be a tall, dark, and chaotic beast, not a tiny, rainbow pyramid!” But that’s all that was present between the trees, a small pyramid with a grayish upside rainbow pattern that matched Chaos’s usual coloring.
“I…I think it’s an egg,” Harmony slowly spoke, feeling a bit relieved.
“Why is he an egg?! He’s supposed to be full-grown, powerful, and ready to spread chaos all over the planet!” the furious spirit shouted. He took several deep, shaky breaths, weak from using all his power.
“Take it easy, Chaos,” she advised, taking notice of his lack of color again.
He gave her a dark look, and accused, “You did this, didn’t you? You made him an egg!”
“I couldn’t have even if I tried. You almost completely drained me by making me witness that awful scene,” she said with some returning anger, now sure Chaos wasn’t in any immediate danger of dying.
“Yeah, well. You’re happy now, aren’t you?” he questioned.
“Yes, I’m glad your plan didn’t work. Had you created the creature you had planned, the planet’s balance would have been thrown into chaos. Why would you try to do that? Control gave you a chance to fix the balance, why would you take advantage of that and overstep your boundaries?” she asked, mad at his betrayal.
“Because the planet’s balance should be at total chaos; it doesn’t need any harmony! And I didn’t do anything more than I said I would. I only created one more creature, and that creature was supposed to bring the balance to where it should be, bring chaos to its proper state. The scale should be tipped towards chaos, not the other way around!” he said furiously, stubs flailing around, “How is this pathetic egg going to do that?!”
“It will hatch and grow with time,” a voice sounded from all around, making them look about.
“Destiny?” Harmony asked, recognizing the voice.
“Yes. I’m speaking to you from the Perceiver,” Destiny explained.
“It shall not hatch nor grow without a soul,” Control intervened in their heads, tone showing no sign of his weakened state.
“Ha!” Chaos huffed to the sky. “I don’t need you to give him a soul; I already gave him one,” he said smugly with a grin.
“Hau!” Harmony gasped. “How!? You can’t make a soul! Only Control can do that,” she exclaimed.
“Can and did,” he said, stubs crossed over his chest.
His counterpart observed the egg again and reached out a stub. Instantly, an icy energy chilled her, and she detected the beating life inside it. “He’s right,” she said in worried awe, quickly pulling her stub back.
“Yes,” Destiny agreed, “His creature does in fact already contain a soul, and it lives and breathes inside that shell.”
“It has a soul, so what are you going to do to it, sir?” Harmony asked, looking down at the tiny, odd egg. “Are you going to destroy it?” she questioned, concerned for the planet’s stability and for the living baby behind the shell.
It was a chaos creature created for the purpose of bringing complete chaos to the planet, but she couldn’t stop the thought that right now it was just a defenseless, innocent baby. No matter what it was meant to do, it had yet to do anything bad. She didn’t want to see it destroyed. But she didn’t want any harm to come to the planet, the stability, or her own harmony creatures either.
“I could,” Control responded with no remorse. Both Harmony and Chaos looked up with worry. He didn’t want his best creation destroyed, especially before he had a chance to reign chaos down on the planet. “But the best course of action is to balance it out,” he finished, allowing both spirits to relax a bit.
“Control is correct,” Destiny chimed in, “Since the creature and its soul already exist on the planet, destroying it now would be unwise. It is not currently physically causing any chaos or disharmony and is only emitting a small amount of that energy in the space around its protective egg.” Harmony nodded, remembering the cold energy she felt. “But, that energy certainty has the potential to reach a level far greater than anything on the planet, one that is, as Chaos had said, almost equal to his energy when he is at full power,” she continued, “But, while its energy and power matures with it, the amount of physical chaos and disharmony it causes will depend on its rendering. Just as any other animal, its behavior and character will be influenced by not only the nature Chaos put into it, but also the nurture it receives.”
“So, it still has a chance to be good, to not spread chaos and disharmony all over the world?” Harmony asked with wary hope.
“No way! My little spirit of CHAOS and DISHARMONY is not going to be a goodie-goodie!” Chaos argued, “He will spread more chaos than this world has ever seen!”
“We won’t know for sure until he grows up,” Destiny said calmly.
“That is why something must be done to balance the creature before it hatches,” Control stated.
“But if something balances out him, then the balance will be tilting towards harmony again,” Chaos reasoned with a frown.
“The stability of the planet was never in any danger until you created that creature, Disharmony,” Control revealed, slight frown only seen by Destiny.
“Yes, it was! The ponies are controlling the sun and moon,” he disagreed.
“It is true that a species made of harmony is in control of the sun and moon. However, as long as the unicorns continue to follow the cycle of those orbs, as they have done thus far, the stability will not be affected,” he explained stoically.
“Then why did you allow him to make that creature or even have the meeting in the first place, sir?” Harmony asked, confused.
“To see his actions unfold,” he answered. “The meeting was conducted to give me an opportunity to discuss your concerns with Destiny and to give you the illusion that you were correct in your concerns, Disharmony. For it was clear you were ready to take control over the situation whether you were given permission or not,” he explained, “Destiny advised we let you do as you wished, so we could witness it and take control when the time was right.”
“You knew I was planning something the whole time, and-and you played me? You tricked me?!” Chaos questioned with wrathful disbelief. They still hadn’t given him his turn nor had they seen the importance of chaos. It was all a sham, and they were still biased.
“I knew you would act out eventually and felt this was the proper time to allow you to do so,” Destiny explained evenly, “I informed Control of this, so he would allow you to make your creature, which you did so while we kept careful watch. As I feared that creature would have been far too powerful for the planet. That much power, chaotic or harmonious, cannot be allowed on the planet at once. The stability and the planet itself could be destroyed. That is why I had to take control.”
“You? You did this?!” Chaos questioned with fury. She definitely wasn’t on his side.
“As the embodiment of destiny, I must ensure everything happens at it should and nothing happens as it shouldn’t. That much power cannot and should not be created on the planet at one time,” she continued, “So I contained and minimalized that power the best I could without destroying it by putting the creature in its least powerful form.”
“A baby, an egg.” Harmony said, looking down at the tiny pyramid again.
“Yes,” she replied, “While he has all the power he would have as an adult, even after he hatches, he will not know how to control it or unleash it upon the planet. He won’t be harmless for some of that power, that magic can come out in bursts, especially when he is experiencing a strong emotion-just like the unicorn foals. But he won’t be a threat to the balance until he grows up, his power matures, and he learns to use that chaotic power however he wishes.” “As Control has said, something has to be done to balance his chaotic power before he reaches that point. The sooner something is done, the better,” she concluded.
“Harmony, it is up to you to do as Disharmony has done and put all your energy into creating something as powerful as this egg and full of as much harmony as you possibly can,” Control instructed, “Like this little creature, your creation will be in its infantile form and will grow with the potential to be the most powerful force of harmony on the planet. Your creation must balance this egg, or the stability of the planet will remain in serious jeopardy.”
“Me?!” Harmony said, alarmed, “But I…”
“You can do this, Harmony,” Destiny assured her.
“Heh!” Chaos laughed, “She barely has any color left. No way she can make something as great as this.” He gestured his stubs to the triangular egg and added, “As great as he will be.”
“He’s right,” the oval spirit said, eyes downcast.
“You will do as Disharmony has done and fuel your energy with the energy from your creatures around you,” Control informed.
“I…I don’t know…I…” she said nervously, floating away from the egg and looking up.
“You don’t have a choice,” the round spirit said neutrally, “Either balance this creation with one of your own, or it will have to be destroyed.” Chaos looked down at his little spirit.
“And that could risk causing serious damage to the balance either by removing too much chaos at once or by releasing the chaos upon the planet,” Destiny solemnly said, “And if the chaos energy doesn’t destroy the planet on its own…”
“I will have to,” Control stated, his from tensing in the slightest.
“Then everything will be gone…all my creatures, the ponies…your creatures,” she said, frowning at the glaring spirit standing between her and his egg. “I…” she said, turning away from Chaos to look in the distance where she knew her ponies, her beloved creatures lived. She closed her eyes for a moment, feeling the slightest tingle of warmth coming from her distant creations. “I’ll do it, sir!” she said with purpose, floating tall. Her counterpart relaxed, but his glare didn’t drop.
“That is the wise choice,” Control said, tone not revealing the slight ease his form took.
“First, you need to refuel yourself,” Destiny instructed with a smile, “Go find your creatures and find your harmony.”
“I will, madam. I won’t let either of you down,” Harmony said confidently.
“Disharmony is to go with you, and do not let him leave your sight,” he ordered.
“I won’t,” she said and nodded.
“What?!” Chaos exclaimed to the sky. “No, I don’t want to go,” he whined, his drained state catching up to him, “I don’t have any power. All that harmony will make this worse.”
“You have put the planet’s balance in serious peril; you cannot be trusted to roam it alone,” their mentor stated with a hint of anger, “Your condition will not get worse. It is as dire as possible.”
“Does that mean…I’m…I’m not a spirit…n-not a creator anymore…I’m just another chaos creature?” he asked fearfully, wearing a worried frown.
“Yes,” Control said with no emotion, “You were warned to not fully deplete your energy.”
“But, c-can’t I just recharge? I don’t want to be stuck like this forever!” he begged. After a short silence, he desperately shouted, “Control!”
“If he can’t recharge and he can’t even leave my sight here, then what’s going to happen to him? And won’t the same thing happen to me after I make my creature?” Harmony asked with concern and sympathy.
“Yes, but Disharmony’s treacherous and ill-conceived actions have made it necessary,” his reply sounded in their heads.
“Okay, I’ll still do it,” she said boldly, “I’d do anything for my creatures and their home.”
“What about me?!” Chaos yelled urgently.
“It may be possible to recharge your power and reinstate your position as a creator,” Destiny informed evenly.
“How?” he demanded.
“I will inform both you and Harmony of my thoughts once her mission has been completed,” she told him, “Right now, it is most important to make the harmony creation as soon as possible so that it may grow along with the chaos creation and so they may continue to balance each other over the years with as close to equal power as possible.”
“I won’t let you down!” Harmony assured.
“But remember, first you must take care of yourself,” Destiny said caringly.
“Find your creatures, fuel yourself with as much power as you can handle, and put it all into the creation,” her mentor instructed.
“Be sure to think carefully about what creation you will make,” Destiny advised, “You only have one chance, and it must be all but perfect.”
“I understand,” Harmony said.
“What about my little spirit?” Chaos questioned, a hint of concern and desperation in his pale eyes, “You just said it would be unwise for him to be destroyed, that includes being eaten by my other creatures, right?”
“I will keep watch over it on my Perceiver, but I feel it will be safe for the time being,” Destiny assured him, “Once this situation is resolved, you can find a caregiver to raise your creature. Once Harmony’s creation is made, it will be vital they both stay alive and safe, so the stability stays balanced.”
“Ehg!” he made a displeased and disgusted sound. “Caregiver. But I guess since he’s not full-grown as planned, he will need someone to watch over him until he can take care of himself,” he reasoned, “Fine. But you better tell me the second there is any sign of danger to him.”
“Hum!” the blue and white figure giggled. “He will be fine hidden in the trees.”
“He better be,” he threatened, glaring up.
“Enough time has been wasted,” Control interrupted, “I will keep watch over your progress.”
“Yes, sir,” Harmony said, saluting the sky. “Come on, Chaos,” she ordered, grabbing his stub. He whined but didn’t put up a fight as he was dragged along.
~
After traveling through the dark, cold forest for some time, Harmony finally weakly spoke, “Stop whining. This is all your fault.” The energy of the forest was still making her feel uneasy and terrible. She could barely focus on the tiny feeling of harmony she was following. Chaos’s whining was just distracting her more. She could teleport them out of the awful trees, but she didn’t want to waste her energy or loose the harmony trail.
“At least let go of me,” Chaos complained. He tried to pull free, but even with her little power, she easily overpowered him. After every word, he attempted to pull out of her grip as he said, “Why…are…you…so…strong?!” He leaned his full weight back trying as hard as he could to pull away, but only left himself winded as Harmony kept floating forward.
“I’m not; you’re just very weak,” she simply said, “You should feel lucky that you’re even still here and appreciative that Control didn’t make me just abandon you back there and not allow you back with us.” Giving up on freeing his stub, he was forced to follow along as she lectured, “You betrayed us, betrayed me, Chaos. That was very selfish of you to attempt complete chaos just because that’s what you want. You’ve been taught that a balance is important, and you we very cruel to me when you made me watch that…battle.” She shivered at the memory and then continued, “You practically laughed at my angst. And what you said about only doing what you said you would, that’s only half true. You knew you weren’t trying to put the balance where it actually, really is supposed to be; you still were stretching the truth. You lied.” She glanced back to give him a disappointed, hurt frown.
“Well, they tricked me,” he defended, dodging the frown by looking down, “They knew what I meant. They knew what I was doing. They just let me have my ‘turn’, my ‘special’ task just so they could stop me on their own time. They never really meant it. They didn’t give me a real chance.”
“Only because they foresaw your betrayal,” she argued, looking forward again, “If you really did have a chaos problem, I know Control would have given you a chance to fix it as he did me. But you took that chance you thought you had, you thought they gave you to do exactly what they knew you would, exactly what you shouldn’t have; you tried to break the balance.”
“I didn’t have it all planned out,” he quietly replied, volume rising as he continued, “I did think there was a problem. But I just had so much chaos built up, ready to be released, and I felt so cheated with you getting all the special treatment and that nobody really liked or even cared about chaos. You all allowed the unicorns to take over the sun and moon, and I thought made more harmony. And no one seemed concerned with how that would affect the chaos. I just had to take this perfect opportunity to lash out and take a stand for chaos, make them see my side, show them how great chaos is, show them it should be the top power on the planet!”
“Hua,” she sighed, “I can kind of understand.” He raised his pale eyes to her back, giving her a strange look. “I sometimes feel the same way about harmony, that it should be the only force,” she admitted, “But I know there has to be a balance.” She looked back at him and said, “I wish you could see that.” He looked away, so she turned forward again and kept moving on. Tired of talking and moving, Chaos fell to ground with an exhausted sigh and just let her drag him across the ground.
After a short while, the light gray former spirit meekly asked, “Harmony?”
“Yes?” Harmony replied, irritation dropping in the slightest at his oddly docile tone.
“Do you think Destiny is right? Do you think there’s a way to fix me?” he asked, watching the tree branches pass by as he was dragged through the forest.
“I don’t know, but I hope so,” she responded honestly.
“Why? So, you can be fixed too?” he bitterly asked.
“Yes, that’s true. And I admit those three days that you were sentenced to your room and away from me were probably the best most relaxing days of my life,” she began. Unseen by Harmony, Chaos allowed an almost hurt-filled frown to form as he glared at the branches. “But…I don’t know, I…it was odd, being alone, you not being there,” she went on, “I don’t know if I would like that all the time, forever.” A small smile replaced his frown. “I’d miss you,” she didn’t hesitate to admit. His smile grew. “I don’t know why,” she added, “You pester me constantly and torture me with your chaos watching, but I know that’s just who you are. And I guess it’s just who I am to like everyone, including you.” She finished with a smile of her own, “I think you make me appreciate the harmony I do have even more.” She felt him shiver in discomfort.
“Egh!” he said in disgust, “That was so heartfelt and sweet, I think I might actually throw up this time.”
“Thank you,” she said with a slight laugh.
Suddenly, the floating spirit was stopped in her tracks by a strong pull against the stub that was holding Chaos’s stub as a loud bang was heard. “Ow!” he shouted.
After letting him go, Harmony hurried through the rock her counterpart was behind and worriedly asked, “Chaos, are you okay?” She saw his head was smashed into the hard stone.
“That really hurt,” he groaned, holding his head with both stubs. She pulled him up as he whined, “I mean like really, really bad.”
“What happened?” she asked with concern.
“You ran me into a rock!” he moaned, gently rubbing his pounding head.
“You…you hit your head on a rock?” she slowly asked, puzzled written on her face.
“Yeah,” he hissed in pain.
“B-But how?” she questioned, worried as well.
Chaos’s eyes widen, and his stubs dropped against his sides. Cautiously, he moved over to the rock and tried to go through it. Instead, he bumped into it. He looked at Harmony, his mouth agape.
“Chaos, you’re not floating!” she exclaimed.
His underside was flat on the ground. Panicked, he tried to float up, but just jumped and landed unsteadily back down on the solid ground. “What’s wrong with me?” he questioned.
“You’re-You’re not a spirit anymore,” she realized. He held his stubs out to try to make them glow, but nothing happened. “What’s that?” she asked, seeing red on his palms, “Blood? You’re bleeding!” Quickly, she floated up to look at the small but bloody wound on his head.
“We don’t bleed!” he freaked, staring at his own blood.
“But the creatures do,” she reasoned, trying to be the calm one.
Pouting with tears brimming in his eyes, he sniffed, “But I don’t want to be a creature! It hurts.” He held his throbbing head again and whined, “I want to be a spirit like you.” Drained in so many ways, he leaned tiredly on her.
“I know, but you knew this would happen if you used all your energy,” she gently said, patting his back. “Wait!” she exclaimed, “I can touch you, and you can touch me.”
“Creatures can’t do that,” he said quietly, leaning back and wiping a tear. Blood was smeared on his cheek. Harmony tried to wipe the blood away, but she couldn’t touch it; she could only touch him. She frowned, truly puzzled.
Their mentor suddenly spoke in their heads again, “Disharmony is not technically a creature of the planet.”
“What is he?” Harmony asked, looking at her stunned counterpart.
“You lied?” Chaos asked.
“No,” Control replied evenly, “It is complicated. Using all your power put you in an in-between state. In between a creator like us and a creature like those you’ve created.”
“What does this mean, sir?” she asked as Chaos just stared up at the sky.
“The effects vary, but he has characteristics of both,” he explained, “He can see, hear, and touch you and you he. He can also affect and be affected by certain things on the planet.”
“Like the rock?” Chaos asked, rubbing his sore head again.
“Yes. You can no longer float at the moment or use any power for you have none left to use,” he continued, “There are other characteristics of creatures you may share or those of a creator you may no longer have. Time will reveal those. Now, you both must continue. The balance is at stake.”
“Yes, sir,” Harmony said with a nod.
“What about me?” the injured half-spirit asked, “My head seriously hurts.”
“That’s because it’s real pain, pain that our creatures feel, pain we usually can’t experience,” she kindly explained.
“I’ve been hurt before,” he disagreed, “Just the other day Control slammed me into the wall before he sent me to my room. That hurt…but not like this. Oww!”
“It’s just not the same. Control taught us the difference between us and our creatures when he was teaching us how to make them, don’t you remember?” she asked.
“I didn’t need to know all that boring stuff,” he gripped, “I just needed to know how to make them.” She rolled her eyes. “Oww,” he moaned.
“Here,” she said gently, placing her stubs over his head. She made them glow, but his wound didn’t heal. “Humm,” she hummed as he covered his head again. She made her stubs glow again, and a white box with a red cross appeared in her palms once the yellow sparkles cleared. “It’s a first aid kit; the ponies use them when they get hurt,” she answered his questioning look, “Put your stubs back down and hold still.” Hesitantly, he slowly lowered his stubs, hissing in pain. “I’m sorry, Chaos. I didn’t know you could get hurt. I’ll be more careful,” she apologized while opening the box. She grabbed a bottle from inside and used her yellow aura to hold the first aid kit in the air.
“I think I’ll…walk or scoot or whatever myself from now on,” he said, crossing his stubs.
“This might hurt,” she warned before pouring on some disinfectant.
“What are you…ow!” he shrieked. He tried to float away but fell on face instead. “Ow!”
“Chaos, be careful,” she instructed, pulling him up with a bit of a struggle.
“What was that for?” he asked with a pout.
“It’s disinfectant to clean it so it won’t get infected,” she explained, putting the bottle away, “That’s what the ponies do.”
“I’m not a pony!” he argued.
“But you might get an infection,” she said, grabbing a small container.
“You’re just trying to hurt me,” he sniffed, moving stubs to hold the wound.
“No, don’t touch it,” she kindly said, pulling his subs back down, “I’m not, I promise. I’m just trying to help. Please, hold still. The rest shouldn’t hurt so much.” He glared but allowed her to finish. She gently rubbed on some antibiotic ointment before beginning wrapping it in gauze bandaging.
“Why do you want to help me?” he asked, voice quiet but curious.
“Because I care about you; I care about everyone. I just told you that,” she simply explained, focused on her careful wrapping.
“But, why?” he asked, peering up with his pale eyes, “You were right. I betrayed you and everyone else. I was selfish. I lied. I was cruel to you. I always laugh at your distress. I mean, I almost destroyed the planet and all our creatures.” His usual grin never found its way on his face.
“I know, but I’m just naturally forgiving,” she said, finishing the wrap and starting the tape.
“Are you mad at me?” he asked, his eyes big and gleaming, his stubs nervously wringing.
“I guess I should be. I should be furious and hate you,” she said evenly, making him look down, “But I’m not, and I don’t.” He carefully looked up again, confusion and a bit of hope on his face. “I’m just a bit mad. You shouldn’t have done that to me. I didn’t deserve that. I know how much you want nothing but chaos on this world, but why did you have to involve me?” she asked. Chaos was silent as she finished with the tape and made the box disappear. “Because Control made me go?” she guessed. She heard a sniff as he shook his head. “Chaos?” she asked, floating down in front of him. His face was wet with tears, and his eyes shining with unshed ones. “Chaos, what’s wrong? Your head?” she asked, worried she messed up the wrapping and accidently hurt him.
“I-I just missed…” he tried, words fuzzy from crying, “I missed bugging you. And I felt so cheated that you got all the special treatment, and I didn’t get to do anything but get punished. And I thought no one cared about chaos, but…I guess the chaos was never affected at all by the unicorns…and Destiny and Control knew that…so they weren’t worried about the chaos because it had never changed. The chaos was never imbalanced at all, so what I did was unjustified.”
“So, you took it out on me?” she questioned caringly.
“I…I didn’t…I didn’t mean for it to go that far…not on you,” he sniffed, “I never meant to drain you, but I didn’t care that I was.” He roughly rubbed his face, frowning as he spoke, “There was just so much chaos around me and in me; it felt too good to stop. Then I saw your face when the soul left that panther, so hurt and betrayed. And I actually…cared a little. But the chaos was too much; I could barely hold it back long enough for you to take cover. It got painful.”
“You, you waited until I was safe?” she asked, cautious smile forming.
He looked down again with a pout and said as if the word brought him more pain, “Yeah.” He was immediately wrapped in a tight hug.
“You do care!” she cheered, grin reaching her sparkling eyes.
“Stop it! I don’t care about you; I just need you around to tease you,” he demanded, trying to push her off, “It feels weird! You feel weird.”
Ceasing the hug, she said, “You feel different too. Solid. It must be the in-between thing from using all your power. I suppose that’s also why you’re so…um, emotional.”
“I’m not emotional,” he denied, quivering pout on his lips. As she watched him wipe off the nonexistent harmony kooties, she thought about something he had said earlier.
“What did you mean before about having so much chaos built up?” she asked.
“From the chaos creatures and their fight,” he stated. He stopped dusting off the harmony but found he couldn’t absorb his stubs back into his body.
“No, not just that. Before, you said you had so much built up and ready to release, and it was the perfect chance to do so because you thought there was an imbalance,” she explained.
“Ah, nothing,” he said, averting his eyes. “Just the usual amount…I mean all we do is watch the Viewer, and I was in my room for three whole days with no way to let it out,” he defended, looking around.
“No, that’s not it,” she disagreed, “If watching that chaotic battle fueled you more, then causing chaos around you without actually using your power would fuel you too. So, bugging me should fuel you.” She frowned as she realized, “You’ve been building power up all this time…bugging me, filling Control’s rooms with chaos, causing discord between us and among all of us. You haven’t just been pestering everyone for fun, you’ve been doing it to gain power. That’s how you not only gave that creature so much power but still had enough left to make it a soul. How long have you been doing this?” He didn’t reply. “Chaos!” she demanded, surprised and bothered by the realization.
“Okay, yes. It’s true,” he admitted, sounding strange, but not guilty, “And I’ve been doing it ever since I discovered I could.”
“When was that?” she probed worriedly.
“The second morning of the reborn planet when I was arguing with Control about his unfair treatment of not letting me stay up to watch my night creatures on their first night,” he told her, tone a bit angry at the reminder of how long their mentor’s bias treatment had been going on.
“That was because he didn’t want this to happen to you,” she said, guesting to his powerless form, “You’ve been storing up chaotic power that long?”
“Well, I have used some, recently on Control’s rooms and the puppy and a few other…small things,” he said, voice quieting as he spoke.
“How…how am I going to do this?” she said to herself, turning away from Chaos, “You’ve been storing up power for months to make that creature.”
“Well, not specially to make him, but to eventually take some kind of big action for chaos, yeah,” he agreed.
“No, I mean, how am I going to build up enough power in less than one day to make something as equally powerful as your egg?” she asked, pitch going up as she began to panic.
“That’s exactly what I was saying before,” he told her, not sounding happy nor sympathetic, “You barely have any color.”
“But I didn’t know you had all that extra power,” she said, spinning around to look at him with wide eyes. Her respiration began to increase. She quickly turned back around, one stub on her head as she said in alarm, “I can’t do this.”
“You can, Harmony. Just believe in yourself,” they heard a reassuring voice.
“D-Destiny? B-But how? I don’t have time,” she asked, heart still racing.
“Hay, you’re supposed to be watching my little spirit!” Chaos interrupted.
“Hem hem!” Destiny laughed, “Don’t worry about your egg, Chaos. Control is watching over it on the Viewer while I speak with Harmony on my Perceiver.”
“He better not get hurt,” he grumbled.
“Hum hum!” she giggled.
“Stop laughing at me,” he ordered.
“I mean no offense; I just enjoy seeing how much you already care for your little spirit,” she explained joyfully, making him pout, “But he will be safe.” Addressing the other issue, she said; “Harmony, it’s not the quantity of time, it’s the quality of the harmony you absorb.”
“You mean I need to find a good source of strong harmony?” she asked, calming down.
“Yes,” she assured, “While Chaos had plenty of time to build up his energy, he lacked a good, quality source of it being stuck up here with just the three of us: one who has almost complete control over his emotions, one who is in an almost constant state of peace with all around her, and one who is filled with his opposite energy. You have a great advantage, Harmony. You have the whole planet almost full of creatures of your own harmonious creation.” Harmony looked from the sky to the distant area where she felt the weak, warm energy.
After a moment of consideration, Harmony stated to the sky with renewed confidence, “You’re right, madam. Thank you. I just have to find the right source.” She turned her grin away from the sky and towards Chaos. “And I know exactly where to start!” she cheered, grabbing his stub again, “Come on, Chaos.”
“Oh no! I know what you’re thinking!” he said, cringing expression full of fear.
Smile growing wide, she glowed brighter with confidence and announced, “Ponies here we come!”