//------------------------------//
// Chapter 7 
// Story: Giving Chaos 
// by Dirty Bit 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 7


Throwing a Curve


Wrath stirred from his unconscious state, tensing everypony around him up. Twilight canceled out of her Ultimate Shield form and revealed herself having a confident smile as her horn glowed "Don't worry, everypony! I got this!" She leaned her head down and touched Wrath's forehead with her horn. The furious pony grunted while he was covered in an aura before it faded.

They waited for a reaction, and Wrath opened his eyes with a moan "Where...am I?" He looked around at the group "You're all here..." His eyes stopped on Greed "Greed? Where are the others?"

Greed grunted with a frown as he canceled out of his Ultimate Shield form "You kind of stole my question there. You don't remember anything?"

Wrath recovered back on his feet "I remember being apprehended by Discord along with the other homunculi followed by being given the power of regeneration. Everything beyond that point is a blur..." He looked down in thought.

"Oh, fudge! You've managed to take away one of my precious pawns! But as a reward, how about some trivia?"

Greed looked up in the air "Not now, asshole! I'm not in the mood for guessing games!"

"I never said YOU were gonna be guessing! Everypony besides Greed listen up! Do you know about Wrath's past?"

Shining Armor looked up "What about it?"

"Did you know that poor little Bradley was once a human orphan groomed to be a world leader, only to be turned into a homunculi by his so-called 'father'? If that's not enough, he lead an army and enacted massive genocide on a neighboring nation while bashing on their beliefs! He was the textbook definition of a warmonger back then!"

All eyes were on Wrath as he stood with a hardened expression. He then closed his eyes "It's true...After all, he did peer into my mind..." Wrath stated in a distant tone. Everypony but Greed went pale at this.

Shining Armor stared at Wrath "But...why?" He asked, surprised by the gathered knowledge of Wrath's past.

"Don't you get it!?"

Shining Armor turned to a glaring Greed "That was the past! Nothing to do with Equestria OR any of us! Discord's trying to throw us all off!"

"Am I? Or am I just showing Wrath's true nature as a homunculus and not a pegasus pony with a funny eye?"

Twilight looked up with a glare "Whatever you're planning, it's not going to work, Discord! We'll find the elements and the princesses soon enough!"

"Ah, but the game has only begun...You'll be getting more tasty tidbits in the future, let me tell you! It's your decision whether or not you want to leave Wrath behind after I shared my small bit of trivia with you! Discord out!"

Feeling as Discord has left them, the group traded glances with one another. Greed simply trotted up to Wrath "How do you feel?" He asked in an inquisitive tone.

Wrath examined himself, lifting one wing "A little sore...I feel as though I've been taxed of most of my strength. I can still move, though. Hopefully, I can recover with enough time."

Greed smirked "Good enough for me." He turned to Twilight "We got Wrath, now we just have to search Ponyville for the first element!"

Twilight nodded to Greed "That's right. We should get going."

Blueblood frowned "Excuse me? What is our decision involving our new guard captain?" He pointed a hoof at Wrath "Do we still want him coming with us?"

Greed jerked his head towards Blueblood "Of course he is! What, are you just gonna leave him here just because Discord decided to talk about him?" He turned to the others "Are any of you gonna do the same?"

Pinkie shook her head "Uh-Uh! Wrath's our friend to the end! And we're gonna need an extra set of hooves to find those elements!" She smiled "Let's have Wrath join the party and boost his experience!"

Rarity hummed "I'll admit, I'm not keen on Wrath's past. In fact, it worries me almost as much as Blueblood..." She took a deep breath before she smiled "But Pinkie is right. He's still our friend!"

Applejack shook her head "What's done is done. Ah don't like what Ah heard, but Wrath's helped us in th' past, too!" She smiled "Besides, there's still the matter of savin' th' rest o' Greed's family from Discord!"

Rainbow Dash remained silent, more worried about what Envy's past contained. She wondered if she could still look at the jealous pony the same way once the twisted game was all over.

Fluttershy smiled "I agree with everypony else."

Spike crossed his arms "Who are we to turn away one of our friends?" He shuddered "Don't know why Discord even did that, though..."

Greed scoffed "I already told you, he's just gonna throw us off..." He looked towards the town "Let's just hurry up and find that first element now!"

Shining Armor remained silent before taking a deep breath "Right. Let's get to it." He turned to Wrath and stared before giving him a thin smile, to which the furious pony returned in kind 'Warmonger or not, we were both soldiers...'

Twilight took point "Alright, everypony! Let's move!" The group took off into Ponyville in search of the first element.
_____

It seemed like a wild goose chase wherever they went; All they would find would be more of Discord's abnormalities that he added to Ponyville, whether it is spinning windows, laughing doors, or stairs that raised and lowered with each step; Pinkie had found a black hole that led to other reaches of Ponyville, giggling at each point she ended up in with each jump. Sadly, she had no success in finding the element.

Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Wrath searched in the air, but had trouble distinguishing the element's location with flying pigs, pies, and cotton candy clouds. It didn't help that the sun had instantly set and gave way to the moon, darkening their vision as they hovered in the air. They quickly went back to flying when the sun came out again.

Rarity, Applejack, and Spike felt like they were actually going in circles when they chose to look around Sweet Apple Acres. They were certain that they followed a straight trail that led to the farmhouse; Each time they galloped past the front arch, it was as if they exited from the end they came into. Applejack decided to hop the fence and found that it was the better way to enter Sweet Apple Acres. Rarity and Spike followed close behind to help search the area.

Twilight, Shining Armor, Greed, and Blueblood searched around the market square, only to find several residents doing what appeared to be a cossack dance in unison from where they stood against their will. Blueblood was easily unnerved by the scenery, much to the irritation of Greed. They galloped past each pony that continued to dance and searched the stalls for any sign of the element.

The whole group had no luck in their search, each of them feeling their spirits dampen. They looked up in the sky and heard Discord cackle in amusement, leering at the sound of his voice; Blueblood and Fluttershy reacted differently by shivering.
_____

Twilight sighed as she took point of the group "This isn't good! We've nearly searched all of Ponyville and we haven't found the slightest clue of the first element's location!"

Greed growled "Something tells me we're being played for fools..."

"Well, that IS part of this game! All of you are serving to be the best entertainment I've ever had!"

Spike frowned "This is getting ridiculous! What if he lied about the first element being in Ponyville?" He jumped when a scroll appeared in front of him.

Twilight took it with her magic, unraveling it and reading its contents aloud

"Your efforts, while futile, have served to be bold
So as a reward, you're about to be told
The location of the element you're desperate to find.
Here's a hint, she's so frightened and kind."

Twilight arched an eyebrow "Frightened and kind? But who would..." She trailed off, remembering who fit both descriptions. The lavender bookworm turned to a fearful Fluttershy, and examined her 'He couldn't have...could he?' She trotted over to her friend with a calculating glance "Fluttershy, can you hold still for a moment?"

Fluttershy was confused at Twilight's request "Um...sure. What's wrong, Twilight?"

Twilight squinted her eyes at Fluttershy before she dug a hoof into her mane, eliciting a squeak from the timid pegasus. Everypony around the two mares were about to question Twilight's methods until she pulled it out; The Element of Kindness. She smiled "We found it!" Twilight proclaimed joyfully.

Greed was dumbfounded "The first element was in Fluttershy's mane the whole time!?" He darted his head at Fluttershy "Why didn't you tell us sooner!?" He asked as Fluttershy cringed and whimpered.

Twilight frowned "Settle down, Greed! None of us knew about this to begin with." She brought the element to her vision with her magic as she rubbed her chin "Though I'm more curious as to why Discord would even pull such a trick...Just giving us the element while it was under our noses."

Rainbow Dash scoffed "This is Discord, remember? We can't expect anything to make sense!" She groaned "It's probably gonna be even tougher to find the next element since it'll probably be someplace else..."

Wrath nodded in agreement "The best game is a challenging one. With Discord's power, he could possibly bend the rules if he so chose to do so."

Applejack frowned "Well, where do we go from here? That's one element down, but where's th' rest o' them?"

On cue, another scroll appeared in front of Twilight. She took it and read the contents.

"You found the first one, good for you!
Now here's the next thing you'll have to do.
Get back on the train, though the ride's not pretty,
And you'll find yourselves in the big city!"

Rarity blinked "Big city? But there's plenty of cities in Equestria!"

Applejack looked down "Ah think Ah know where Discord wants us t' go next..." The group turned to Applejack for an answer as she raised her head with a reluctant frown "Discord's wantin' us t' head t' Manehattan. The next element could be there."

Blueblood shuddered "Ponyville was bad enough, but Manehattan is rife with street crime and untended filth!!"

Shining Armor frowned "That was before Discord was free. We have to be ready for everything now!" He turned to the group "Let's head back to the train and get this over with."

With a nod of agreement from the group, they all trailed back to the train station.
_____

Discord watched the events from his mirror with a sigh "Oh, these ponies just love to grouse and gripe when I try to brighten their day with some fun." He turned to the encaged homunculi next to them with a smile "Don't you agree?" The draconequus asked nonchalantly.

Gluttony replied "But that's Pinkie's job! Are you Pinkie now?" He asked absentmindedly.

Discord chortled at Gluttony and patted his head with his lion paw "You really know how to talk, my pudgy little friend! I'm glad I have you here to keep me entertained while the others are doing so from afar!" He looked over to see Lust giving a spiteful glare at him in silence "Oh, don't be so sour, baby doll! You're gonna be the next star after all!"

Lust perked up "What do you mean?"

Discord grinned wickedly "Exactly what I mean...They know where to go next, and they're gonna be expecting company!" He snapped his fingers and Lust teleported into Discord's grasp "It's about time I give them what they want and then some..." He laughed smokily as he streaked an eagle talon across Lust's forehead, causing her expression to go from surprised to blank.

It wasn't long until a familiarly malicious smile slowly spread across her muzzle.


End of Chapter 7