//------------------------------//
// The Spirit of Order and the Day 
// Story: Chaos Cooldown, an Equestria Origin Story 
// by JeckParadox 
//------------------------------//

	Twilight walked over to her bed and jumped in, sighing contentedly. She stretched herself to the limit, her wings and legs extending as far as they could go before she let them relax and sink into the bed. She levitated the comforter over herself and closed her eyes.
Just one of the benefits of living in a castle. 
Twilight closed her eyes, but she found it difficult to go to sleep for some reason. Her brain was almost always working on something or other, far into the night. It wasn't often she could just sit down and take a nap like this. 
She thought about getting back out for about a half hour before there came a knocking at the door. "Come in." Twilight said happily, getting up. 
"Hey Twi, message for you."
"Oh?" She took the message from her assistant and unfurled it. She noticed the golden horseshoe mark and smiled. Celestia had been pretty busy recently, and hadn't sent a message for almost a month. 


Dear Twilight, I heard from a certain Draconequus that you had some time off today and I thought we could have tea like we used to. Just sit and chat for a bit. Luna and I both have some time off this evening as well, and I thought it would be a fun get-together. Come to the Canterlot Gardens as soon as convenient, Luna and I will be setting up. 
Yours truly, Celestia.  


Twilight smiled. "Spike, I'm heading over to the Royal Gardens for a few hours. You're in charge."
"Yes ma'am!" Spike said cheerfully, extending his wings and fluttering back out of her room. 
Twilight giggled and began floating her saddlebag over to her, checking to make sure her purse still had some bits. 



Twilight walked down the road, nodding to the ponies passing by as they professed their loyalty and honor at seeing her. She turned a corner and smiled at a foal who had skidded to a halt in front of her. His mother took the time to shake Twilight's hoof before leading her son around the lavender alicorn. Twilight giggled at how surprised they all were to see her. She walked down this way at least twice a month after all.
She stopped in front of the nostalgic donut shop, which had a flattering cartoon of her on a sign. "Eat at Joe's" was in the little speech bubble next to the image of her. She pushed open the door and walked in, smiling at Jen as she looked up at the bell. "Hey there Jen." Twilight greeted, the customers in the shop looking at their Princess with cheers and greetings. This was one part of town where ponies gathered just in case Twilight came over, which was fairly often, considering how much she had gotten addicted to the donuts prepared here over the last hundred and thirty years. 
"Hello Princess! The usual?"
"Not today I'm afraid, I'm off to have tea with Celestia and Luna and I thought I'd bring a treat along."
Jen smiled as the patrons gave impressed clapping. It was no small matter to be liked by all three Princesses. "Then what will it be?"
Twilight grinned and looked over the glass case with various donuts on display. She quickly picked out thirteen and had them put in a box. She opened her purse but Jen stopped her. "Please, my treat, tell the other Princesses I'm glad they like them!"
Twilight smiled. "Celestia's been hooked ever since Joe started business." Twilight then levitated the bits she was going to pay into the tip jar and walked back out with the donuts. "You know, her offer still stands about the recipe." Twilight called back.
Jen smirked and shook her head. "Sorry, but I'm not about to let the family recipe go, it's been four generations and we've still managed to keep it to ourselves."
Twilight nodded. Glancing at some of the photos on the wall, one of which showed the original Joe standing with Twilight and Celestia, sprinkles and frosting on all of their faces. Her eyes fell on one of the other framed ones, Twilight, back when she didn't have her wings, all that time ago, along with Celestia and her six... her smile turned nostalgic as she looked at the picture for a few more seconds. 



"Hey! Sorry I'm late." Twilight announced, Celestia and Luna looking up at her appearance. 
"Well met, friend Twilight, salutations, we were worried you wouldn't make it!"
Celestia chuckled. "Come over here and sit a bit, we've got... a lot to talk about."
Twilight raised an eyebrow, but she shrugged it off and sat down with two of her best friends. "Oh? I thought we were just going to chat and drink tea."
"We are... but Discord's recently told me something... unsettling, that I was hoping could be our first topic." Celestia said slowly. 
"What is it Tia?" Luna asked. 
Celestia sighed. "...Discord said off-handedly the other day that he created the universe."
Luna gaped for a second before beginning to chuckle. "And you took him seriously?"
Celestia rolled her eyes and grinned. "Of course not, at first... but then he told me to ask Twilight about it."
Luna turned to Twilight, who's eyes widened in surprise. "Well, friend Twilight?"	
"...you guys... oh yeah... hehehe.... I think I know what he's talking about... it was pretty early on, when I first got my wings, it's remarkable what you can still recall after a hundred years... huh?"
Celestia nodded. "You'll come to treasure that perfect memory of ours."
Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Perfect you say? Then you should know for yourself whether or not Discord created the universe."
Luna frowned. "Well... not perfect, but accurate. Our memories don't exactly span the edges of time, Twilight."
Twilight smirked. "If what Discord told me those years ago is true, his does."
"oh?" 
Twilight nodded. 
"So... you think Discord really did create the universe?" Luna asked, deadly serious.
Twilight thought for a few seconds. "Well.... yeah. At least he didn't have any reason to lie, and it sounded convincing. He's older than both of you combined, and even then, you two probably don't even remember more than maybe one percent of your lives."
Celestia stared at Twilight with bewilderment as Luna began to giggle. "Well, I for one refuse to believe it. I've got thousand upon thousands of years in my memory. And while I may not remember my childhood, I refuse to believe I'm that old."
"Well, that's what Discord says. He thinks, or at least he said you two were trillions upon trillions of years old. And that he was way older."
Celestia's look became thoughtful, but she just looked to the side. "Twilight... I'm not sure I believe Discord.. though I think I can entertain the possibility. I can't remember much past a few hundred thousand years ago... but I'm sure me and Luna were fighting Discord earlier on than that... and I haven't aged a day in all these years..."
Luna shook her head. "You two... you believe the physical embodiment of pranks on something of this scale that easily?! Pfft. Discord's been our enemy since before I can remember. Even now that we've reformed him I'm sure he'll go to great lengths to get a crack in on Tia and I. I'm sure in his explanation of the universe he made us out to be utter dunces, correct?"
Twilight grinned. "Quite the opposite, he spoke of you two quite fondly... though he did mention that he taunted you a lot... and... well... I better tell the story, as best I can remember it..." Luna and Celestia looked at each other, before nodding for Twilight to continue. "Well... Discord said that he came into existence with the first.. atom, I think it was. And he learned how to create matter. From there he made the first world, which he exploded."
Celestia and Luna looked at each other for a second, before deciding to shrug and go with it.



"So... that's the gist of it."
Celestia frowned. "...If all of that is real... I don't really know how to take that..."
Luna frowned as well, "as for me, I refuse to accept it. And I have several good reasons I'm surprised Celestia hasn't thought of." Luna said, smirking a little. "Reason one: Discord created us? Please, we're as powerful as him, why would he do it in the first place? Not to mention the idea that Discord is the closest thing we have to a father..." Luna shuddered slightly. "And reason two: he expects us to believe this feud started with a misunderstanding on our side? Discord is obviously shifting the blame to us, Twilight.... when he first broke out, so long ago, and the fight we had... it was horrifying, the chaos was enough to almost drive me mad from looking anywhere for more than a few seconds! And though I can't remember it now, I could remember back then that that wasn't even the worst I had seen him do! Do you even comprehend how long it took to scrounge up enough energy to even begin the healing process? Him doing something 'playful' or 'natural' is ridiculous. If that's what he calls healing the universe, I'd hate to see him try to hurt it."
Celestia nodded. "I think this whole thing is made up... now that I think more seriously about it." She gestured to the statue garden. "I think I even know what he's basing it off." She finished her tea and the donut on her plate, getting up. "Follow me, I think it's about time we went and looked at the statues."
Twilight frowned for a second, but she got up and followed Celestia anyway, Luna following close behind. 



"These are probably what Discord was speaking about." Celestia said, gesturing to the statues that lined the area. I recognize a few of them; Victory, Friendship, wonder, music, almost a hundred different statues."
"And you kept Discord here?" Twilight asked. 
"Kind of... it's..." Luna sighed in annoyance. 
"What?" Twilight asked the Princess of the night. 
"...you might take this as evidence for Discord's absurd story... but my memory of what happened is fairly foggy.We hit him with the Elements of Harmony hundreds of thousands of years ago, and believed him to be destroyed, gone from the world completely. And I think it was justified too, considering the damage he caused... but thousands of years later, when we first came to Canterlot Mountain, before the current city was built, we found... well, we found ponies here worshipping the statues. They agreed to let us live there and build in exchange for preserving the statues. Considering what a good piece of land Canterlot is, we agreed immediately, and they left. It was only after we accepted that we realized the statue of Discord was kept there... we assumed it was just a statue, he was well known throughout the world, and we didn't doubt that an ancient artist had used him as a model... but then he broke free... we managed to use the Elements again, and we did hundreds of spells on the statue, to make sure he was kept sealed. We investigated the other statues, but none of them have the same energy as Discord did... they're just rock." Luna walked up to the statue representing Victory and gave it a buck. Twilight winced as the statue's legs cracked, and the whole thing tumbled down, shattering even moreso. 
"That was your daughter!" Twilight almost yelled. 
Celestia raised an eyebrow. "You really believe Discord's story?"
Twilight frowned. "Princess... I've always been good at believing impossible stories, made up monsters... and more than a few have turned out to be still alive and well. And honestly, when Discord was telling me that story, that was the most genuine he had ever seemed to me...all the rest of the time he seems to be playing... but the look on his face when speaking about your 'mother'... that was the only time I thought he had ever shown real regret around me."
Luna looked at Twilight for a few seconds before sighing, her horn glowing, rebuilding the statue so it seemed to have never broken in the first place. "Fine. I'll speak to Discord about this... but if all this is true..."
Twilight shook her head. "So what? It has no real meaning for this world. I mean... of course I'm curious about our history, but... it doesn't really affect us much. Discord says that I should just focus on the now. On being happy, doing my current job, all that stuff."
"Twilight, what are you talking about?! This is monumental, if it is true... it would mean rewriting Equestria's history-"
"No, it wouldn't . All the stuff you remember is Equestria's history, it's the history of all the previous worlds that needs to be written down." Discord said from above, making all three alicorn Princesses jump. "Honestly Celly, Loony, why do you even care?" He sat down on top of Victory's statue, and patted the head fondly. "It shouldn't matter to you. Luna, if I told you it was all a prank, and I really was the devil who has been trying to destroy the universe all those years ago, would you feel any different than if I was a crazy Spirit who occasionally spices up the universe for it's own good?"
"Hey there Discord." Twilight greeted. "Sorry about all this... it's just that Celestia and Luna don't think you're telling the truth about all this."
"Oh please, they've insulted me far worse than that. Once Celestia said she thought turning bright pink and having constant fireworks shoot from where her mane used to be was ugly and demanded I turn her back. Nopony appreciated good art nowadays."
Twilight giggled at the image, prompting Discord to do it to both Royal Sisters, who immediately began threatening and shouting at him, Luna diving at the Draconequus as he teleported away. "Oh! I have a great idea for a new game! Sparkler Tag!" he shouted, snapping his claws as both Twilight and he were also pink and launching colorful sparks from their heads. "Me and Twilight versus you and Celly!" Discord cheered, snapping his claws and rearranging the field, making impromptu goalposts out of various statues. 
"No! Change us back now, or we'll get the Elements of Harmony and-" Celestia began
Discord smirked. "You forget, my defense is the element of magic!"
"Defense? I thought this was tag!" Twilight interjected. 
"You haven't played Sparkler Tag, have you Twilight? Seriously, what kind of childhood would you have to not have played Sparkler Tag once?"
"You just made it up!" Luna growled. 
"New Rule! Every time Luna speaks something catches on fire!" Discord said triumphantly, "Everypony ready? Go!"
Celestia sighed as Discord sped straight down through the ground. Lun rolled her eyes as he popped back out, flying upwards and bouncing off a cloud. Twilight let out a short laugh before beginning to revert the 'arena' back into the statue garden. But not before Discord could crash into the statue of Victory with a loud crash. "I win! Victory! Triumph! Hooray! King for a day!"
"Never." Luna said. She then noticed a blade of grass erupt in a sudden poof of flame that disappeared as soon as it appeared, leaving only an ember where the blade of grass was the second before. She clamped both hooves over her muzzle and glared at Discord. 
"Celestia, would you please make Luna stop looking at me like that?" Discord said, pointing accusatively at Luna. 
Celestia sighed, turning to Twilight. "You still think... this... created me, Luna, and the universe?"
Twilight looked at Discord dancing in place near the statue. "...I'm not really sure... he seemed serious back then... but that might just be my memory acting weird..." Twilight shrugged. "But then again, he has the power to do it, so why question him? He doesn't seem to care what we think, so..." Twilight smiled sadly at the ground. "...I figured I could think about it seriously some other day, when I had nothing better to do... but honestly, I just want to have tea with you and talk about my week. We can solve all the mysteries of the universe on our own time." She looked back at Discord, still dancing, but now with an afro on a color-changing glass tile floor. "A draconequus once told me nothing needs to be decided today, until then, why not enjoy ourselves?"
Luna smirked. "That sounds like a good motto for a sloth." She then realized what she just did and looked around to make sure nothing caught fire. 
"Already un-did it Luna. Come on, let's go finish the donuts. Discord, do you want to come and have tea with us here?"
"Nah, I'm good, I still want to gloat in my utter beatdown of the Princesses."
The three alicorns each nodded, Twilight giggling, Celestia shaking her head slightly afterward, and Luna rolling her eyes. The three trotted back out of the garden, leaving Discord to dance by the other statues. 
He stopped after a few minutes, standing and looking at the statue with the golden flag. "Come on, that was a flawless victory! Still not enough for you to wake up?" He groaned at the statue. "What will it take, a war?"
There was no response from the stone. And Discord stood there for a few seconds before taking out a permanent marker and drawing a moustache on her muzzle and angry eyes over her own eyes. "I'll see you sometime, Triumph." He said cheerfully, snapping his claws together and teleporting away, leaving the statue to stare, unblinking, over the gardens, with a triumphant grin on her face. 




"Please, please open your eyes!" She didn't really understand the words, but she understood the meaning well enough, she moved slightly, trying to regain balance. Her wings and her horn and her hooves all glowed with white light, and they levitated her up, turning her around and around, before she turned toward the source of the voice. 
"Are you okay? Is everything alright? Do you feel fine, nothing out of place?"	
"Ahb.... dbu..." she tried, her mouth wanting to make the sounds, but unsure of how to do it correctly. 
"Oh my... oh no... there's something wrong with your brain! Nonononono!!! I'm sorry, can you fix it? Do you know how?" Once again only the meaning was passed to her, unable to understand the words. She tried to speak back, but she found the meaning was easier to convey.
I'm confused...
The source of the voice, a gray light containing many smaller red and yellow lights, let out a sigh. "Whew... don't worry, it's your new body, it's just like your old one, only better! Not that your old one wasn't good... it just... doesn't work any more... or exist..."
I don't understand.
"Y-you don't have to yet... we're back together now.. what do you want to do? Can you tell me where you went when your body stopped working?"
What are you talking about?
"So you don't remember where you went?"
Who are you?
The light shrunk, filled with pain. "...do you remember anything?" he asked quietly.
I... I don't think there's anything to remember...sorry.
"...." the light backed away slightly, but it turned back around and glowed even warmer, a comforting light. "It's alright.. I knew it wouldn't work... somewhere deep inside me. Welcome to the world, one who isn't me or she. I hope you live a long, happy life."
This time it was her turn to be scared. Are you going somewhere?
"No... there's nothing more interesting than you in this world. I'll stay here."
Where am I? What am I? Who are you?
The light looked over her for a few seconds before turning back to the endless landscape of rocks, water, and the stuff that was in between. "You're here, you're you, and I'm me."
Those aren't answers. she thought, somewhat annoyed. 
The light seemed confused. "What do you mean, they aren't answers, they're all correct, aren't they?"
Kind of... but they're not specific, they don't mean anything more... they need something else...
The light was intrigued. "What do they need? What do you mean they need something?"
She made her meaning. The light frowned. "There's no word for that."
"Nayhm." she said. 
"A name?"
She nodded. They need names. I need a name, you need a name, this place needs a name. How else can you tell them apart?
"Easily, this place is everything that's not you and me, I am what isn't you or this place, and you are what isn't me or this place."
But what about everything else?
The light thought for a few seconds. "I don't think there is anything else... maybe the stuff that isn't anything? Or the place she went to when her body stopped working...But there's nothing else here."	
Why not?
The light smiled deeply. "Why not indeed?"



Celestia's eyes opened suddenly, and she got up out of her bed, a contentment deep in her bones. "That... was a strange dream..." She whispered to no one in particular. She got back in the bed, summoning a little water to help her get back to sleep. As she began drifting off she began to mumble. "...I wonder what I named him..." she whispered before falling back into deep sleep.