Giving Chaos

by Dirty Bit

Chapter 3

Greed and Envy rolled across the ballroom floor, trading punches and kicks as they grappled one another while doing so. When they tumbled past Twilight, Shining Armor, and Cadence, Envy found itself under Greed and managed to launch the avaricious pony away with a good kick. Greed recovered onto his feet and grinned despite his suit being ruined "Nice shot, Envy! But I'm still up!" He activated his horn and went into his Ultimate Shield form as he shouted in his metallic voice "You're mine!" He galloped towards Envy with his horn pointed.

Envy grinned defiantly and flew into the air, passing over Greed "You'll have to catch me first, dumbass!" The jealous pony taunted as it soared into the next room over a crowd of nobles.

Normally, Greed would be well-mannered with passing by other ponies be they noble or not, but he was riled up after Envy decided to provoke him into fighting. He dove into the crowd and stormed past each pony in front of him without hesitation or even excusing himself, wanting to find Envy and settle the score.

Twilight galloped after the two former homunculi, fearing that their sibling rivalry would disrupt the gala "Greed, come back here!! This isn't what we meant by cheering Envy up!!"
_____

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash was enjoying her conversation with the Wonderbolts, sharing a hearty laugh with her soon-to-be fellow members "This is so great being with you guys like this! I know we only hung out for a small time back then, but this is SO much better!"

Soarin grinned "I hear ya! Sometimes, it's good to cut back and enjoy ourselves for once, minus all of this celebrity work!"

Spitfire rubbed her chin with a raised eyebrow "Say, Dash...Who was that unicorn that was with you and Envy earlier? He seemed like he knew Envy."

Soarin blinked "Come to think of it, how'd he get into the VIP section?"

Rainbow Dash turned to Spitfire "Oh, that's just Envy's older brother Greed! He tends to live up to his name sometimes, but he's a cool stallion. He's been dating my friend Twilight, too!"

Soarin looked around "Speaking of Envy, how come you haven't introduced her to me? I would've talked to her with you, seeing as how you two are together!"

With that statement, the cyan pegasus felt a lump in her throat as she thought about how angry Envy was when it was being ignored. Rainbow Dash gradually felt guilty after realizing the error of her ways 'Oh geez...Envy's a jerk sometimes, but I think I just reached that level myself...' She looked at the Wonderbolts with a smile "Hey, guys? If it's not too much trouble, I could just go look for Envy and we can all talk together. How's that sound?"

Spitfire smiled at Rainbow Dash, then looked up as she heard flapping "Say, isn't that Envy right now?" She asked as the rest of the trio turned to the ceiling.

Rainbow Dash's eyes widened when she noticed Envy flying around with a mischievous grin on its face 'Oh no...what is that changeling up to this time!?' Her answer came in the form of a line of shoved ponies in the crowd below Envy "What the-?" She flew up to get a better look at what was happening.

Greed was busy sifting through the crowd in his Ultimate Shield form and Twilight was following after him while carefully moving past the ponies rammed in his path. Rainbow Dash was confused as to why this was happening, but she knew that if Envy was involved, it was not something good; especially since she remembered how badly she had treated the jealous pony. The cyan pegasus looked down to the Wonderbolts and called out "I'm gonna go after Envy! Be back in a flash!" She then soared away and joined in the chase.

In the crowd, Greed pushed past more noble ponies while keeping his piercing red eyes up at his target in the air "C'mon, Envy! You started this fight, so you may as well finish it! You're not gonna keep this chase up, are you?"

Envy looked back down at Greed and scoffed "Well, there's no point in fighting with all these ponies here, so why don't we take it outside?"

Greed chuckled as it chased the jealous pony "Sounds like a plan!! At least you're not acting cowardly!"

Envy looked around for a good exit, and then noticed a hall to its right leading towards the castle's vestibule. It grinned triumphantly as it made a course through the air and soared to the entrance, ignoring the fact that Celestia, Luna, and Wrath were watching.

Greed noticed this and followed close behind as he squinted his eyes. He galloped along the red carpet and made a hard turn left away from the staircase after Envy out of the opened entrance.

Celestia, Luna, and Wrath were all surprised about this, and even moreso when they noticed Twilight and Rainbow Dash chase after them as well. Wrath turned to the princesses with a hardened gaze "Princesses, if you'll excuse me, please..." He said as he rushed down the stairs and followed the two couples out the door.
_____

The statue in the royal gardens continued to sit idly by, now decorated with several droppings on its head.

"Okay, so it's decided then! First order of business if I DO get free...Pidgeons are the first to go! Hm, then again, where's the fun in that? I know! I'll turn them into oranges! That would be fun! Or what if I take away their wings and replace them with buttered toast? Hmmm, decisions, decisions..."

An invisible wave was felt by the statue.

"Whoa...That was invigorating! Where is it coming from exactly?"

A few feet away from the statue, Envy was flying by with Greed closing in as they were near the hedge maze. The avaricious pony felt that his sibling had dragged this chase on long enough and decided to leap onto the statue and launch himself into the air as he pounced on Envy "Gotcha!" He brought the jealous pony down as the two continued their little scuffle in front of the strange statue.

"Amazing! So THAT'S where it came from!! Say...isn't that the same unicorn I noticed with Twilight Sparkle earlier? He looks as if Celestia tossed him into the sun! Oh, but what am I saying? Those two must have more energy inside of them than those fillies from last time I came out! I can just feel the chaos flow!!"

"Greed! Envy!"

The two former homunculi ceased their fighting and looked over to see Twilight and Rainbow Dash catch up to them; Twilight holding a stern glare while Rainbow Dash looked both curious and wary. Rainbow Dash landed and glared at the two "What's going on here? Why are you two fighting??"

Envy shoved Greed off and glared back at Rainbow Dash "Wouldn't you like to know! Shouldn't you be chatting with the Wonderbolts or something!?" It snapped at the cyan pegasus

Twilight sighed and turned to Rainbow Dash with a mixture of disappointment and pity "That's part of the reason he's fighting Greed..." She then turned back to her coltfriend with a glare "And apparently this was his way of cheering Envy up!"

Greed cancelled out of his Ultimate Shield form and huffed at Twilight "Envy started it!" He pointed at Envy "And besides, you think there would've been a better way knowing the pony's mood! I told you we should've just left Envy be, but you and the others decided that I practiced generosity! Well, here it is! This is my act of generosity!"

Twilight scowled "Be that as it may, you two caused a disturbance in the Gala! If Princess Celestia saw what happened in the castle, she wouldn't be happy!"

Envy sneered at Twilight while it brushed its ruined coat "Keep your skirt on, Twilight! It wasn't a big deal!"

Rainbow Dash approached Envy with a glare "Anything's a big deal with you, Envy! All this because I ignored you back there?"

The four ponies were oblivious to the statue next to them as they argued.

"Ooooooh~...Relationship troubles? This is new! Especially from the Elements of Harmony themselves! Hm...I wonder how Rarity is doing without Tom at her side *chuckle*"

"Everypony!"

The group turned to see Wrath approach in a gallop and stopping in front of them "What is the meaning of all this?" He asked in an authoritive tone.

Greed scoffed at Wrath's tendency to act like he ran the castle "Quit playing dutiful guard, Wrath! Me and Envy stopped fighting and I'm already being scolded by Twilight!"

Wrath glared at Greed "I don't know of your's or Envy's intentions on acting like misbehaved children, but this behavior is unacceptable. You'll have to come back and pardon yourselves for your actions."

Twilight looked at Greed and Envy "Before we do, though, you two should apologize! That whole brawl just came out of left field!"

Rainbow Dash chimed in "I'm with Twilight! C'mon and make up so we can enjoy the rest of the night!"

Greed and Envy looked at each other and narrowed their eyes as they held out one of their forelegs and gave a hoofshake; it was forceful between the two as they leered at each other, dark grins plastered on their faces.

Twilight scowled "Come on, you two! Like you mean it!"

Wrath sighed in disappointment "I'm afraid that's the best you can get between the two of them, Twilight Sparkle...It will be easier towards other ponies, but if it is a matter between us as a family, there can only be so much we can actually apologize for..."

Rainbow Dash frowned at Wrath "Seems pretty sad, if you asked me..."

Greed retracted his hoof and smirked "Sad for you maybe! If anything, I enjoyed our little fight together!" He turned to Envy with a snarky grin "I managed to show Envy here who's boss!"

Envy glared back with a grin of its own as it got into Greed's face "Oh, sure you did!" It snapped back. The two were surprised when they were separated while being covered in a magenta aura.

Twilight deactivated her horn with a frown "Enough already! Let's go back inside and sort things out!" The group of ponies left, while the statue stood in the grass.

What was different about the statue after they left was the shades that it was wearing with a face of confidence rather than fear. A serpentine shadow hovered quietly in the sky over the castle, watching the five ponies go inside before winking out of existence after the sound of snapping was heard.

Afterwards, some pigeons flew by, but their wings were instantly turned into pieces of freshly buttered toast as they dropped down.
_____

Pinkie and Gluttony hopped over to the snack table to have a second helping after they exhausted their energy through dancing. Lust ate an hors d'ouerve she levitated with her magic, then looked over at the two hungry earth ponies "I hope you two won't act like Sloth earlier with the food..."

Pinkie giggled at Lust "Good one, Lusty! We're just hungry after all that dancing! Right, Gluttony?"

Gluttony, who had his mouth full, nodded and muffled in agreement as he swallowed his portion and went back for more.

Lust looked around to see many nobles murmuring with nasty looks towards her and the others. She stared back with a neutral expression 'It seems we've yet to be accepted by everypony in Canterlot with how my siblings are acting...' The lascivious mare turned to see an embarrassed Rarity talking with Fancy Pants while Applejack and Fluttershy talked amongst themselves around Sloth while he slept. She chuckled to herself "This seems to be quite the party..."

Pinkie swallowed a bite of her food with a grin "I'll say! If only we could get everypony in the castle to dance, then it would be a blast!"

Gluttony turned to Pinkie with a smile "Like your exploding cupcakes?"

Lust blinked at Pinkie and Gluttony "Excuse me?"

Pinkie smiled at Lust "Oh, just one of my many super-duper secret recipes!" She inched towards Lust "The secret's in the frosting!" The party pony leaned in forward with her eyes squinted, a mischievous smirk on her muzzle "But I'll never tell..." She uttered in a sly tone.

Lust stared back at Pinkie and wondered why she hasn't looked into her with how long she has stayed in Ponyville. She remembered back to when Twilight mentioned to refrain from doing so, but with each passing antic from Pinkie, Lust grew more curious to study the party pony's full capabilities.

Spike waddled up to Lust and looked away, trying to act suave "So, Lust...I see you've been by yourself on the dance floor. That can't be right for any mare if they're dancing alone..." He looked up at her with a smile "So I was wondering if you'd like to-"

Lust interrupted Spike with a smile "Sure..."

Spike blinked incredulously "R-R-R-Really!?"

Lust closed her eyes and flicked her mane with a hoof "Rather you than Blueblood, I suppose...You're one of the few individuals on Gluttony's good side, so it's an added bonus for you."

Gluttony looked at Spike with a kind smile "Go ahead, Spike! You can dance with Lusty if you want!" He piped up cheerfully.

Spike stammered as he gradually lost his composure, sweating bullets as he contemplated how far he had gotten with a beautiful mare 'If only it were Rarity...Oh, but Lust is just as beautiful as her! I'm so confused!'

Lust smiled teasingly at Spike as she held out a hoof "Well? Aren't you going to escort this mare onto the dance floor?"

Spike perked up and quickly took Lust's hoof "U-Uh, yeah! Right! Shall we?" He held a shaky grin as the two made their way onto the dance floor.

Pinkie watched and playfully nudged Gluttony "Rarity's gonna be soooo jealous!"

Gluttony turned to Pinkie with a quizzical glance "Really? Why?"

Pinkie got into Gluttony's face with a smile "Because Spike's dancing with Lust, silly! You know that!"

Gluttony looked at the nervous dragon dancing with Lust "Is that bad?" He asked with a frown.

Pinkie shrugged "Well, that depends on how Rarity takes it! Who knows, though? Maybe they could take turns dancing with Spike! Speaking of...I think it's time we danced, too! C'mon, Gluttony!" Pinkie hopped out on the dance floor with Gluttony following suit.

Applejack and Fluttershy looked around at the many nobles that seemed miffed about what was going on in the room. Applejack frowned "Looks like we've made another scene again! Hopefully we can go through the rest o' this night without any more problems!"

Fluttershy cringed "Oh, I feel awful to see everypony upset because of what we've done..."

Applejack sighed "Well, t' be fair, an' Ah hate t' admit it, but it was more o' th' homunculi's doin' in this night! 'Cept fer Wrath an' Lust, of course, seein' as how they're th' most mature outta them all..."

Fluttershy blinked "But haven't we acted rashly last year?"

Applejack gave a wry and nostalgic chuckle "Touche, sugarcube." She turned to Sloth and scowled "If anythin', it'd be a high point if Sloth actually manages t' move his flank!"

"Wish granted!"

Before anypony could make out the sudden voice, Sloth grunted as he slowly rose himself up, much to everypony's surprise, and he continued to grunt as began to buck around like a bronco, causing small tremors in the room.

Pinkie gasped "Hey! Sloth's dancing! How cool is that!?" She grinned at how Sloth was moving, despite the problems he was causing.

Applejack yelled as she and the others were being shaken "Sloth, fer th' love o' Celestia, stop that right now!"

Sloth spoke as he moved "It's...not...me..." He strained as he continued to partake in an imaginary rodeo.

Applejack blinked "What?"

Fluttershy squeaked in fright at Sloth's sudden action "Sloth, please stop this! You're scaring us!" She mewled as she backed away.

Lust and Spike watched in confusion, and Lust's gaze grew more serious 'What could be manipulating Sloth? We heard a voice, but where did it come from?'

Spike reeled back and fell on his rump when he could not take more of the tremors being made by Sloth "What's going on!? Why's Sloth acting like this?"

"Hahahahaaaa~! Dance, puppet, dance! It's a party!"

Everypony gasped and looked around the ceiling for the voice's source, murmuring to themselves in terror.

Rarity looked up and glared as she hissed to herself "There's only one despicable cur who would be able to do such a thing..."
_____

As Twilight and company made their way inside of the castle, they felt tremors and tried to maintain their leggings. Greed broke the silence as he looked around "What the hell!?"

Celestia and Luna felt the tremors as well and looked around "Where is this coming from!?" Luna asked.

Greed, Wrath, and Envy looked at each other before giving a simultaneous nod, reaching a silent and unanimous agreement. Greed turned to the others "Everypony to the ballroom! I think something's up with Sloth!" With that, the group, now numbering seven, made their way towards the ballroom. Celestia, Luna, Rainbow Dash, Envy, and Wrath took flight with how badly the ground was shaking.

When they reached the ballroom, their eyes widened to see Sloth bucking around against his will. Rainbow Dash twitched an eye "I'm not the only one that's seeing this right!?"

Twilight tried to stand while the shaking grew worse "Why is Sloth moving so rambunctiously!?"

Wrath saw this and was baffled himself "Sloth would only move that way if he were actually pushing himself in a fight...This doesn't make any sense!"

"Oh, don't make me say it again! I know you're new here and all, but I shouldn't repeat myself, should I?"

The group looked up as Greed shouted "Who's there!?"

Twilight was breathless "It...It can't be..."

Celestia's face was that of rage as she looked up "Discord! Show yourself!"

"Well, normally I would, but you'd expect that...So why don't you find me, hm? I'll give you a hint...Your's is but a 'door' of opportunity..."

Greed blinked "Door? Door..." He perked up "The front door! This guy's at the front door!"

"Good boy, Greed! As a reward, Sloth will stop dancing! Poor little guy's probably wasted too much of his precious energy acting against his will..."

A snap was heard, and Sloth managed to freeze while he stood on his hindlegs. He was about to fall forward, over a group of gasping noble ponies that dashed away as the indolent pony lumbered forward. Sloth managed to get on all fours, though he caused one last tremor when doing so.

"Weeeell? What are you waiting for?"

Greed turned to the element bearers and his siblings "You heard him! Let's get moving!"

Shining Armor and Cadence held determined glares "We're coming, too!" The guard captain stated firmly.

Greed gave a curt nod "Good enough for me! C'mon!" The group galloped towards the castle's vestibule without another word.

Blueblood looked around and instantly felt his security had been abandoned with the appearance of Discord and the element bearers away. He shrieked as he galloped after the group "Everypony! Wait for me!"
_____

The group had gathered to see that the front door had been sealed shut, much to Greed's annoyance. He looked around "So where is this jackass? He told us to meet him here, didn't he?"

Celestia shifted her eyes around "Discord can work in mysterious ways, Greed...He could be anywhere..." She darted her eyes to the front gates as they began to rumble "There!" The group took their own stances, save for Blueblood, who managed to arrive only to hide behind Sloth as he stared at the door.

After the rumbling grew worse, it opened to reveal a tall and serpentine figure that held several different parts on its body: An eagle's claw, a lion's paw, a dragon's tail and leg, a pony's leg and head with different antlers and misshapen red eyes, along with a large snaggletooth. He hovered with a set of mismatched wings; one bat and the other eagle. He grinned maliciously at the anticipating group...

Until he spread out his arms and legs as he held a comical smile "Celly~! I'm home~!" He shouted in a singsong tone. Surprisingly, there was the sound of canned laughter followed by applause, much to the former homunculi's confusion.