//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: Impending Chaos // Story: Redeeming Chaos // by PabloTheDestr0yer71 //------------------------------// Absolute, awestruck silence fell over the room for a good five minutes. Then, Scootaloo spoke up. “…Okay, there’s obviously been some sort of a misunderstanding here. I’ve only known this colt for a little less than a day, and I can tell you right now that he’s not even CLOSE to hero material. Sorry Cosmo, I’m just telling it like it is,” she added, after an offended “Hey!” from Cosmos. “Now, if you want real superstar hero material, look no further than Rainbow Dash! She’s so awes”— The aging centaur cut her off. “I know a great deal about Rainbow Dash, young one…” His voice hid a hint of derision at the mention of the rainbow pegasus. “But I assure you, I did not wait out the last millennium in this very spot to find that I’d informed the wrong Sacred One. The Oracle and his Prophecies have never lied once.” “Cosmos, you are indeed the One. And you have been destined by the almighty Spirits to challenge Discord’s strongest incarnation and reseal the Gateway.” “…..WHAAAT?!?!” I…b-b-but he’s a GOD! … and I’m just a lowly unicorn…” Cosmos stammered, adding under his breath “who no one seems to care about…” Nightshade gazed resolutely down at the foal. “Do not doubt me, Cosmos Quark. The moment of the Chaos Spirit’s release is rapidly reaching fruition. You must do what you know in your heart to be right, for yours is a pure and incredible spirit. And do not let a single soul sway you to think otherwise. “ As the centaur finished his words of motivation, he noticed the satin sky beginning to warm with the rise of the new day’s sun. “I must depart now, children, or the goddess’s Sun will take notice, and I will meet the same fate as my unfortunate species. Do not forget what I have told you, young ones, for it will all make perfect sense in due time…” His image began to dissolve into thousands of light points. But then, Cosmos remembered his whole reason for consulting the centaur. “Wait! Mr. Nightshade, I have to ask you! Do you know anything about what happened to a pony named Ellipse? I just need to know! Please!” But he was too late. The thousands of beacons began to dissipate, and vanished altogether on a morning breeze. *** Luckily for the foals, their mostly-sleepless night had given way to a relaxed Saturday morning, and they trotted back to the schoolhouse playground in uncomfortable silence. “That Nightshade fellow sure was strange,” Scootaloo began, desperately trying to break the quiescence. “But nice!” Sweetie chimed in. “And that tea was incredible. Almost as good as the Celestia’s Seasonings brand Rarity buys.” The three Crusaders and Spike got on the swing set and monkey bars, engrossed in a conversation about something or other (Freddie Marecury & “Princess’s” latest hit single, probably). But Cosmos sat alone at the top of the slide. I just don’t understand… why me? Isn’t my life tough enough as it is? Now I have to worry about going off to fight some Chaos demon, or… something, and I haven’t even lived in this town for more than a couple days! Oh, if only Rainbow Dash really was the true Sacred One… Unbeknownst to him, his horn began to radiate a deep black aura, fueled by his pessimism. None of his friends seemed to notice the dark glow. But one friend did take notice of the young colt’s self-isolation, and decided to do something about it. “Hey Cosmo,” Sweetie climbed the slide ladder and sat herself down beside her fellow unicorn. Cosmos was taken aback by her suddenly reaching out to him. Of all his new friends, he found her to be the hardest to understand by far. Underneath her cheerful, slightly scatterbrained exterior, there was a deeper, stronger emotion apparent to the young colt. It wasn’t an outright bad emotion; he just couldn’t seem to determine what exactly it was. “Oh, hi Sweetie Belle,” Cosmos mumbled a reply. “So, um… what’s on your mind? You seem, I dunno… kind of gloomy right now…” the white-coated filly awkwardly put a hoof on his shoulder, beginning to blush as she did so. “It’s just… Nightshade… And the whole Prophecy deal… I had no idea I was destined to do so much; I think there’s got to be some mistake somewhere. I can’t be the one to find the Keystone and save Equestria! It’s just not possible!!” He buried his face in a hoof, overwhelmed by emotion. “That’s it, huh?” Sweetie inquired. “Pretty much…” Cosmos sniffled a little, losing control. Sweetie drew him in close for a big hug. “Well, even if his Prophecy was right… you wouldn’t have to worry.” Cosmos quickly wiped away the dampness from around his eyes. “…Really? Why not…?” His new friend smiled warmly and released him, hooves still on his shoulders. “Because you’ve got us,” she gestured down to Apple Bloom, Spike, and Scootaloo. “And we’ll be there for you through thick and thin! You’ve got to have faith in us, Cosmos. And I promise you,” Her expression became serious, her eyes seeming to pierce his very soul. “I swear to you right now, we will not let you down. Okay?” The heart-melting smile returned to her face. Feeling reassured, Cosmos smiled back. And unnoticed by both of them, the malevolent aura around his horn began to flicker, and disappeared entirely. With Sweetie’s pep talk over, the two cruised down the spiraling slide together to rejoin their friends. And on the way down, Cosmos could’ve sworn he felt a quick peck on his cheek as the two foals jostled against each other in the corkscrewing descent. Must’ve been an accident, he thought, bluntly dismissing the action and joining the others. But just as the foals and dragon had begun to converse as a full group again, a streak of silvery fur and feathers plummeted from out of nowhere and landed shakily beside the group. “Hey!” Rumble was gasping noticeably, recovering from his rookie landing. “Did you hear?!” “Rumble, you’re gonna have to be more specific than that…” Spike rolled his eyes. “Look here!” The gray colt threw a copy of the Cloudsdale Inquirer at Spike’s feet. Emblazoned across the front page was a gripping header: “Cloudy With a Chance of Chocolate Rain; Spirit of Chaos Forecasted to Break Loose Again?!” Intrigued, Spike began to read bits and pieces aloud. “Royal guard officers testify… bizarre occurrences around Mt. Canterlot… Discord not actually broken free yet… But signs point to his inevitable release!?!? Holy sweet Celestia!” the dragon dropped the paper as if it were aflame. “Do you even realize what this means?! Nightshade’s Prophecy was totally true!” “Wait half a darn minute,” Apple Bloom interrupted. ”This is the Cloudsdale Inquirer we’re talking about. The same paper that tried to predict Nightmare Moon’s hostile victory over Celestia and the Elements? What I s’pose I’m trying to say here is, you can’t always believe in this thing 100%.” “AB’s right, guys,” Scootaloo chimed in. “The Inquirer is notorious for spreading false gossip. This could just be another hoax meant to build up pointless hype…” Cosmos still looked unsure. “But if this truly was the case, how do you explain the fact that this story fits so well with the legends and Nightshade’s Prophecy?” “That may be so,” Scootaloo continued. “But we still shouldn’t believe everything it tells us.” “She does have a point, Cosmos…” Rumble admitted sheepishly. “Sorry for hyping the whole thing up, everypony; I can be a little naïve sometimes.” “It’s quite all right, Rumble,” Apple Bloom gave the paper back to the pegasus. “Let’s all just forget about this whole Chaos Prophecy hoopla and get back to the farm; I’ll bet Applejack’s worried sick, what with us gone all morning and everything…” *** The rest of the day went by rather slowly, compared to the almost surreal encounter with the centaur prophet. After Apple Bloom was harshly rebuked by her sister for “runnin’ off without so much as a note,” her friends stuck around to help her with her punishment; picking up all the rotten apples from the west orchard. Eventually, the grueling task turned into a game when Spike decided to peg Scootaloo with a particularly worm-riddled specimen. In the blink of an eye, the air was filled with mushy apples as the foals and dragon pelted one another with them. It was so much fun; they almost didn’t hear Applejack heading up the path toward them. “It’s HER! Quick, we gotta clean this place!!” The group scrambled into action. Just as Applejack rounded the bend to their little clearing, they had swept the last of the foul fruit into the stand of tall grass nearby. “Well, I’ll be! This place is looking real nice, Apple Bloom! You and your friends here oughtta come on in and get a drink. You must be parched!” She then remembered what it was she coming to tell them in the first place. “Oh, and Twilight just came by, Spike. She said she wanted to talk to you and Cosmos, but ah don’t know what about… The dragonling and colt exchanged a confused glance, following Applejack back down the orchard path to the barn. There stood Twilight Sparkle, but something was slightly… off about her. “It’s about time, Spike!” Twilight huffed. “By Celestia, can’t you waddle any faster?” Spike looked slightly hurt. “Geez Twi, that was a little harsh, wasn’t it?” Twilight gave him a condescending glare, her horn glowing menacingly. “Was that back-sass I just heard?” Spike swallowed hard. “N-no, ma’am!” “Good!” Twilight wheeled back around and began to lead the two back to town. Cosmos tilted his head as he followed behind. What in Equestria could’ve happened that made her so angry all of a sudden? Just as he asked himself this, the young unicorn noticed a small patch of fur on Twilight’s withers was slightly discolored from the rest of her body. Slightly… grayer. It was barely noticeable, but definitely there; a splotch of some sort, right between her shoulders. He knew he wasn’t just seeing things. “Would you hurry it up back there?!” “Sorry, sorry!” Cosmos scampered to keep up with Spike and the peeved mare. “Say, Twilight?” Asked Spike innocuously. “Why exactly do you need to tell us so urgently and all?” The purple unicorn’s foul glare morphed into a grim smirk. “Oh, you’ll both find out in due time.” Her horn began to glow again, this time with a malevolent shade of crimson. All in due time, you fools… *** Cosmos slowly opened his weighted eyelids as he came to his senses. Ooof, my head… what a day this has b—wait. W-where am I? All around him was sheer and utter darkness, filled with a rhythmic industrial noise. His dragon friend lay unmoving at his side, probably asleep. The colt could feel that he was in some sort of small room. But for some strange reason, it felt as if the room was…moving?! Sure enough, the shrieking sound of metal on metal made him jump with a start, and an earsplitting whistle cut through the pulsing piston-sound The sound of a steam engine. Why in the name of Equestria am I on this train right now?! One minute I’m at Sweet Apple acres talking to Spike and Miss Twilight, and next thing I know, I’m— The memories began to seep back into his consciousness. The memories of what had happened before his blackout. “Spike had asked Twilight why she’d called us back to town so urgently… and she said we’d find out in due time…” The car door swung open with a bang, and Cosmos started in alarm. As his eyes began to adjust to the darkness around him, he could see an equine silhouette in the doorway. As a faint light shone through a sliver of window curtain, the colt could see it glimmer off of a pair of familiar glasses. The silhouette’s horn crackled to life with a beacon, revealing the shadow’s true alias. “F-f-father! What are we doing here?! Why did Twilight knock Spike and I unconscious?! Above the glasses, his father’s brow furrowed into a solemn grimace. “That doesn’t matter now. We all have extremely important business to attend to, and time is running out. You must listen to me, for I won’t repeat myself more than once…” “What are you two trying to hide from m—“ Cosmos was cut off abruptly, and he felt a throbbing pain as his father’s forehoof connected sharply with his lower jaw. “You shut your rebellious mouth, and DO AS I SAY!!” Hot tears began to stream down the unicorn colt’s face as he cowered before his father’s wrath. Looking up at his infuriated parent in disorientated confusion, Cosmos did notice that something was noticeably more off about him than usual. And then he saw it. Right at the base of Quantum’s neck. Another discolored splotch, like the one on Twilight. It looked like some sort of… slime… Or ooze… Mesmerized for a moment, Cosmos snapped himself back to reality. Despite his aching jaw, he still managed to stammer. “Y-yes sir. What is it you need, father?” “The train we’re aboard is on a direct route to the capital. When we arrive at our destination at the Canterlot central depot, I need you to hurry as fast as you can to the south edge of the royal sculpture gardens; it should be due east of the depot, through a small stand of trees. You’ll have to scale the garden’s hedge without alerting the princesses’ guards. If they catch you, there’s nothing I can do or say to help you.” Cosmos shuddered, imagining a cold and musty dungeon cell with him inside it, trapped for the rest of eternity. “As soon as you enter, I will give you further instructions. But you must be sure to make haste in your mission, and constantly be on your guard so as not to let the guards notice you." “But father,” Cosmos piped up, “will I be doing something… illegal, by breaking into the private royal gardens like that? Are you telling me to break the law?” Such was Cosmos’ fear at the prospect of being a criminal, he almost didn't feel his father’s hoof on his face as he was sharply cuffed again. “What sort of rebellious fiend has gotten into you, boy?! If you question my instruction but one more time, so help me Luna, I will—“ he cut himself off, eyes ablaze with irrational fury, then began to simmer down. “Never you mind that. Just… Do as I say, be quick and vigilant, and there should be no trouble whatsoever.” “But—“ “Do it for your mother, Cosmos!” Quantum’s words echoed through the colt’s mind, and his mind flashed back to the past, to a time when everything looked brighter, when even the smallest nuances of life had their own beauty, place, and splendor. Back when his mother loved him. Cosmos, no matter what happens, I will love you. Forever, and always. Just as his eyes began to brim with tears, there was a shriek of metal and a hiss of steam as the train slowed to pull into the station. At long last, the car squealed to a halt, and the few passengers began to unload from the lefthand side. Utterly bewildered and confused, Cosmos looked to his father, silently pleading for some guidance as to how to proceed. Quantum urgently gestured toward one of the car’s righthand windows, whisper-shouting the word “Go!” “But what about Spike?” Cosmos hissed back, gesturing to his snoozing friend. “I’ll take care of him. Just go, NOW! Before it’s truly too late!” the unicorn stallion shoved his son toward the furthest window and magically threw it open. With one last glance back at the car, Spike, and his somber father, Cosmos leapt out the window and into the waning light of the Canterlot dusk. *** Meanwhile, deep in the maze of the sculpture garden’s hedges, a much more sinister force was stirring within his stony confines, eyes aflame with hatred and anticipation. I can feel your presence, your ingenious mind. It coaxes the very essence of my spirit from this wretched prison. The dawn of my freedom is close at hand. Do what you were born to do, my child, my brilliant servant. Release me.