//------------------------------//
// Chapter 14 
// Story: Giving Chaos 
// by Dirty Bit 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 14


Beyond What You See


Discord stared at the two intruders before scowling "Excuse me, but I don't recall saying competitor in plural form." He stated firmly.

Twilight leered at Discord "We're not gonna let you have your way with Spike, Discord!"

Discord recoiled with an expression of shock "Oh my~! I know I'm stringing you all on this gauntlet of games, but even I have standards, Twilight~!" He said mockingly.

It took a while for Greed to catch onto Discord's words before he snickered in amusement. He quickly stopped to focus on the matter at hoof "Alright, Discord. Why don't you make us a couple of booths next to Spike so we can hurry this along?"

Discord sighed in defeat "So be it." He snapped his talons and Twilight and Greed disappeared before reappearing next to Spike, behind named booths of their own; all three booths came with a pressable buzzer on the top. The draconequus turned to his fake audience with a smile "It seems that some challengers have appeared! Looks like they're in it to win it as well! But do they have what it takes to best what's yet to come in this game?" He cupped a paw to his ear at the audience with an expectant smile.

"Not! A! Chance!"

Discord chuckled in amusement as he decided to read the pamphlet he drew "Alright, let's see which one of you dumb-dumbs actually get this riddle..." He cleared his throat before reading the contents aloud "I have one, you have one. If you remove the first letter, a bit remains. If you remove the second, bit still remains. After much trying, you might be able to remove the third one also, but it remains. It dies hard!" A buzz quickly sounded, catching Discord by surprise. He looked over at a smug Twilight "I didn't even set the timer yet. You got an answer for me?"

"Oh, yes..." Twilight said before she held her nose high, as if imitating a posh noble "The answer is habit. By removing the h, a bit - or abit - remains, and by removing the a, the word bit remains. And much like YOUR habits, Discord, they die hard."

Greed stared in awe at Twilight while Spike pumped his fists up in a cheer "Yeah! That's our librarian!" He proclaimed. He watched as the first light on the pedestal lit up, and noticed how Discord frowned in disapproval. The audience of Discord look-alikes booed and hissed after Twilight gave the correct answer.

The draconequus pulled out another pamphlet and smirked after reading it to himself. He then focused his mismatched eyes towards the competitors "What king can you make if you take the head of a lamb, the middle of a pig, the hind of a buffalo, and the tail of a dragon?"

Greed stared into space after listening to the question and was almost certain he thought that the answer was a chimera, but before he could press onto his buzzer, Twilight pressed hers first and spoke "The answer is lion! The head of the lamb refers to the head letter 'l', 'i' for the middle of the word pig, 'o' for the hind of a buffalo, and 'n' for the tail of a dragon!" Another light graced the pedestal above the first one, earning the lavender bookworm another chorus of boos and hisses.

Spike stared before grinning at Greed "I think we can get the element faster if we leave this to Twilight, Greed. What do you say?"

Greed chuckled "As long as we take care of this challenge sooner, I'm not complaining." He then grinned nervously to himself 'Glad her answer was right. I could've screwed us over if I went first...'

Discord scoffed as he sifted through his pamphlets and drew out another one, hastily reading it with irritation in his voice "I've been drawn by the artists these days, and of old; yet I'm seen only when all around me is cold. For most of the time you just live and ignore me; then you gasp for me, stop for me, mutter below me. You might say, in surprise, I've been taken away, but it's true I've been with you, at least 'til today. When I leave you, you leave too! Who am I?"

A buzz quickly sounded before Discord could start his timer, and he stared at Twilight smiling at him, making him bristle with disdain "The answer...is breath." Another light showed up on the pedestal while she tuned out the disapproving jeers of the audience.

Discord bared his teeth and pulled out another pamphlet, quickly reading it off angrily "My first is in riddle, but not in little. My second is in think, but not in brink. My third is in thyme, but not in time. My fourth is in mother, but not in brother. My last is in time, but not in climb. What am I?"

He growled as he noticed how Twilight expectedly pressed her buzzer with a confident smile "Rhyme!" More boos filled the room as a fourth light showed itself on the pedestal.

Discord instantly drew another pamphlet without shuffling his deck "What's black, blue, and red all over!?" He nearly shouted, snarling as Twilight buzzed once more.

"An embarrassed zebra." Twilight said with a superior tone to her answer. She easily ignored the jeering while the fifth light shined on the pedestal.

Greed grinned triumphantly as he watched Discord nearly blow a fuse "Looks like that element's as good as ours. This challenge was more easier than I thought!"

Spike took in Discord's ire for himself and rested his chin on his claws as he leaned forward on the booth with a look of entertainment on his face "I'll say. Who doesn't know more about riddles than Twilight?"

Discord fumed before drawing another pamphlet. After looking at its contents, his anger was instantly replaced with a devious smile "Alright, Twilight. Since you're so well-minded around my little questions, why not try this one on for size?" His eyes focused on the card in his grasp as he read it off "I am an empty void; throw all the gold in the world and not a single inch of me will be filled. I resound in everything, everyone... release me, if you can, and you will reach peace." Twilight widened her eyes after what was read, much to Discord's satisfaction; Spike followed suit once he noticed her pause "What's that? No swift answer with that smug little smile of yours? Splendid! That means I can start the timer!" He said as he snapped his talons and conjured his twisted timer that began to tick away after the 60 second mark.

Twilight took a deep breath and looked down in deep thought 'Okay...void...gold...everything and everyone...What could it be!?' She said as she slowly lost her composure, a light sweat on her head.

Spike looked at Twilight in worry and balled his claws into fists "C'mon, Twilight, I'm sure you know this!" He hissed in encouragement, though was growing nervous when he saw the timer reach 30.

Discord squinted his eyes with a malicious grin at Twilight losing her focus and poked a claw on a watch that appeared on his eagle arm "Tick tock, Twilight; time's a wastin'~." He taunted with a laugh, eager to feed on the despair of his contestants.

His laughter ceased when a buzzer sounded.

Twilight and Spike perked up and searched their booths to make sure they didn't accidentally press their buzzers. They then remembered the stallion next to them, who happened to do so with a smile more confident than anypony in the room could manage.

Discord watched with a dumbstruck look in his eyes before pointing a claw "You? YOU know the answer?"

Greed showed a toothy grin to Discord "Who else? It's me..." He placed a hoof on his chest "An empty void that cannot be satisfied no matter how much gold or valuables you can put inside. Anypony and everypony can have what you're talking about, but who the hell said it could bring peace if you get rid of it? The answer to your question? You're looking right at him!" His grin widened "It's greed!"

A sixth light showed itself on the pedestal while the entire room went silent. Discord's pamphlets disappeared as he kept his stare on Greed "I should've known you would know yourself so well that you can be answered in a riddle."

Greed laughed defiantly "What can you do?" He looked over at Twilight with an arched eyebrow "I'm surprised somepony didn't recognize it sooner..." The avaricious pony smirked at Twilight and Spike.

Spike rubbed his chin before a look of realization was seen on his face "Ooooooh, I get it. I should've just thought back to my birthday a while back..." He smiled at Greed "Way to go!" Twilight scratched the back of her head in embarrassment, laughing nervously.

Discord sighed before he snapped his talons and made the audience disappeared, then picked up the Element of Laughter and lazily tossed it to Twilight, earning her attention as she caught it with her magic "Here. You win." He looked away with a ghost of a smile "For now, anyways..." He added suspiciously.

Twilight looked over at Discord "What? What do you mean?"

Spike himself was confused by what had been said "Yeah. Aren't you angry about losing another element?"

Discord waved a dismissive claw "Oh, not in the slightest. After all, the game has only just begun!" He then grinned at the trio "Speaking of, I'm sure your friends could use all the help they can get with their own challenges before you can get out of Manehattan without any problems. Ta-ta for now~!" He waved mockingly and laughed before winking out of existence in a flash of light.

Greed grunted "He's right. We might've gotten off easy, but who knows what the others are going through right now!"

Twilight shifted her gaze between Spike and Greed "We gotta go look for our friends and fast. Let's just hope they're doing as well us."

Spike waddled to the door "What are we waiting for? Let's hurry up and find them before things get worse!" He said as he reached for the knob, only to see the door open itself. Spike yelped and jumped back, and he noticed another unexpected sight behind the door.

"Well ain't this a peach? Glad we found y'all in one piece!" Applejack said as she had a hoof off as if she reached for the knob as well.

Pinkie, who stood next to Applejack, leaned her head in with a grin "Hi there! Did you guys win?"

Twilight smiled as she exited the building with Greed and Spike, Pinkie and Applejack giving them space to leave "We sure did, thanks to Greed." She said as she levitated the newly acquired element towards Pinkie "We were lucky to win your element in a fake game show."

Pinkie grabbed and wore it on her neck "Sweet! Now we can get out of this dark and horrible place!"

Applejack frowned "After we round up our friends, that is. But that could take ages if we don't find their numbers soon." She tilted her head at the group "Anypony remember the numbers that were drawn?"

Twilight rubbed her chin "Well, we know Rainbow Dash has the number zero, though she wasn't happy about that. Wrath said he got number forty-two..."

Spike raised an arm "I remember seeing Fluttershy getting the number twenty five before we all split up."

Pinkie waved a hoof "Oh yeah! Shining Armor got six, then Rarity and that mean old Blueblood got the number thirteen!" She said as she darted her head to look around the clustered buildings "Where do we go from here?"

Twilight hummed "The best we can do is split up and look around. You two can continue while me, Spike, and Greed will go our own way as a group. It's best we don't wander Manehattan by ourselves again."

Applejack nodded curtly "And how! Let's get movin', y'all!" Everyone split up into their own	groups and sped around the city as they searched for their friends.
_____

Wrath and Lust continued their furious battle, unaware of the onlookers that watched them from a safe distance in the darkened room. Rarity and Shining Armor were both astounded by the overwhelming ferocity that was displayed between the two former homunculi. Wrath was able to dodge and block each attack that was sent by Lust and counter it with ease, while the lascivious mare snarled from each blow she had received.

Blueblood was easily frightened by the ensuing battle "Those two...They're like monsters..." He uttered in terror.

Shining Armor narrowed his eyes at the battling ponies "It's because of Discord that they're acting like this now." His frowned deepened "Although, he was just reviving their natures as homunculi...They really are monstrous."

Rarity watched as Lust received more hits from Wrath while he tactically maneuvered around her with finesse. Each hit was easily patched up while Lust was practically wearing red static all over her body due to Wrath's superequine movement.

Wrath hopped away from Lust while she was catching her breath and glaring daggers at her younger brother "You...Do you have any idea what you're doing, you fool!?"

The furious pony scoffed "I can ask you the same thing, but considering your condition, the question would prove to be moot."

Lust shot her horn at bullet speed towards Wrath, who easily dodged and countered with another slash, only this time he used his wing to chop off Lust's horn before moving in for another slash to her face. He moved behind her and skidded to a halt as he faced the lascivious pony and see her patch up her wounds, the cut on her face making her disfigured for a short moment; her horn was next to regenerate after retracting to normal length.

Wrath grunted to himself while Lust glared at him 'This may end up being a stalemate until Twilight arrives, if she's anypony to bring Lust to her senses...'

Lust continued to leer at her younger brother until a smile crept onto her face "You're frustrated..." Wrath did not waver in his hardened gaze as she took one step forward "You don't show it entirely, but I can see it in your eyes that you're finding this battle to be nothing more than a bid for time, if not a petty struggle to keep us both occupied." She said condescendingly.

Wrath remained silent until he smiled back at the lascivious mare "You always were the most intelligent out of all of us, Lust...However, that doesn't mean I'm ready to bow out at moment's notice." His look of resolve came back "I'll do whatever it takes to free you from Discord's control, even if it means wearing you out entirely!"

Lust scoffed "Enough of this..." She muttered as she bolted at Wrath and resumed the battle between them.

Rarity stared at the battle and hung her head "She's right...Looking at their battle, it's naught but a distraction for what's to come." She brought up her head to watch Wrath "We don't know who will go down first, and the rest of our friends are dealing with similar fates as well."

Blueblood rested a hoof on his patched wound "Are we really pushed in a corner when this twisted game has only begun?"

Shining Armor gritted his teeth, not wanting to admit to the current circumstances himself. He was confident that his little sister and Greed could find their way out of their own troubles and help out their friends in their time of need. He kept a firm gaze on the battle in front of him "We can't give up hope; not when this whole thing has just begun." The other two unicorns turned to Shining Armor "It might've been easier back at Ponyville, but things will only get harder by the passing day. The challenge we're in is proof of that."

Rarity stared at Shining Armor before she nodded to him with a determined smile "You're right, Shining Armor. Maybe we need to have more faith that our friends will come to us in our time of need."
_____

Pinkie opened a door to see a brick wall just behind it "Nope!" She slammed the door and went to the next one with the number zero over it. After opening it, she noticed an oncoming train, to which she shrieked and slammed the door shut, her back against it "That wasn't it either!"

Applejack growled "Consarnit! Of course Discord would put up th' same number over different doors jus' t' distract us!" She opened a door with the number twenty-five over it, only to find what appeared to be an odd-looking clown grinning at her.

"Excuse me." The clown asked politely "Do you have Prince Albert in a can? You do? Well you better let the poor guy out! Wa-HA! Wa-HA! Wa-HA!" He flexed his left foreleg up and down while he opened his mouth to perform his creepy laugh.

Applejack stared before she slammed the door on his face and shuddered in disgust "Ah always didn't like them clowns..."

At a different building, Pinkie opened up another door with the number zero, that revealed a zebracorn with a top hat, who heaved a sigh of relief "Oh, thank Celestia! Now I can finally get ou-"

"Nope!" Pinkie shut the door absentmindedly, shaking her head "That's not the one either..." She said while she ignored the muffled 'Hey!' behind the door. The party pony frowned despondently "What'll we do now? They could be anywhere!"

Applejack lightly stomped at the ground "Maybe we just ain't lookin' hard enough." She stated as she looked around the several doors with twenty-fives and zeroes all around at different angles "If we were Rainbow Dash an' Fluttershy, where would we be?" She asked pensively while she scanned her surroundings.

Pinkie hummed to herself before she looked down a street with numbers different from the ones they were looking for. Squinting her eyes, she noticed two doors with the desired numbers in the distance at opposite sides "Hey! Let's try those doors over there!" She said as she pointed a hoof.

Applejack followed Pinkie's outstretched hoof and hummed "Well, we ain't got much t' work with, but it's worth a shot." She said as the two mares galloped towards the two doors; Applejack had her eye on the number zero on the left side, while Pinkie eyed the number twenty five on the left. The former examined the door in front of her "Ya really think they'll be in these doors, Pinkie?"

Pinkie smiled "It's like you said, Applejack; we ain't got much t' work with, but it's worth a shot." She said as she mimicked the farmpony's drawl.

Applejack shot Pinkie an unamused glance "Try not t' do that again, sugarcube..." She looked back at her  door and took a deep breath "Alrighty then. It's now or never." She said as she cautiously pushed the door open and looked inside. Applejack gasped when she saw a sweating Rainbow Dash constantly pressing her hooves on a pad "Ah found Rainbow!"

Pinkie grinned over at Applejack and the small image of Rainbow Dash behind the opened door "Goodie! That must mean Fluttershy's behind the other door." She said as she opened the door and bolted inside without another word while Applejack did the same to her own.
_____

Fluttershy was getting exhausted over having to constantly memorize and input several patterns with mixed results over the entirety of her challenge, feeling as if she were caught up in an endless loop. Despite her current status, she was easily discouraged over the times she had failed certain patterns. What troubled her further was Discord's taunting voice being heard in the room.

"Fluttershy...Are you certain you can trust Rainbow Dash?"

She did not know why Discord began to ask these questions, but she was more than certain about the answer to the latest one "Of course I do. She's my friend. Nothing can change that."

"Fluttershy! I'm here!"

Fluttershy looked behind to see a pink glimmer of hope galloping towards her "Pinkie?" Her eyes widened when she got a better look at her friend "You have your element?"
_____

Rainbow Dash was working up a sweat and growling in frustration as she held her own on her challenge. Sadly, she was in a standstill over her equal amounts of successions and failures throughout the duration of her challenge. What made it more taxing was Discord taunting her as she tried to maintain her pace.

"Rainbow Dash...Are you sure you're not jealous of Fluttershy?"

The cyan pegasus brushed off the question and continued to enter her patterns. She wasn't going to give Discord any of her time, even if she was in the middle of a grueling challenge.

"Rainbow Dash!"

Rainbow Dash perked up at the familiar sound behind her and looked back "Applejack?" While she was distracted by the sight of her friend, she accidentally stepped on a different color that was no part of her current pattern and heard a buzz, followed by the floor around her descending a level, much to Applejack's surprise  "Darn it!" She turned away and focused on the glass panel "Look, AJ, I don't know how you're gonna help me out, but I'm kind of busy here."

Applejack galloped through the arch leading to Rainbow Dash's pad and looked down at her and the colorful abyss below "Land sakes! What're ya tryin' t' accomplish here?" She said as she looked up at the glass panel giving off more colors, to which Rainbow Dash quickly memorized.

Rainbow Dash kept her focus on the challenge while she answered Applejack "I'm just doing this stupid game, and I gotta make my way to the top, otherwise I'm gonna be stuck here and somepony will have to take my place! I gotta show that glass panel who's boss!"

Applejack tried taking in Rainbow Dash's explanation while simultaneously observing the glass panel and its blinking colorful. What could she mean by 'showing the glass panel who's boss'? More importantly, how could she win if all she's doing is constantly entering patterns. Applejack hummed to herself in deep thought until she hatched an idea that was befitting to the currently chaotic situation "Rainbow Dash, stop."

Rainbow Dash ignored Applejack as she licked her lips and entered more colors "Not gonna happen, AJ. I gotta keep moving or else I'm doomed!"

Applejack frowned at the response she received until she spoke up "Did Discord mention anythin' about ya losin' if ya just stand still?"

As Rainbow Dash finished her latest pattern, she took in Applejack's question and silently contemplated while she stood still. She looked up at the glass pad to see it stopped blinking colors as well "Huh? What is this?"
_____

"I'll tell you what it is!" Pinkie said jubilantly to a confused Fluttershy "It's a joke. This whole challenge you and Dashie are in is a joke. Me and Applejack came here to save you, but we don't know how right now."

Fluttershy stared until she simply stood on the pad and looked down "Umm...But I don't know how to win this challenge either. All I remembered Discord saying was to..."
_____

"Show the glass panel who's boss..." Rainbow Dash uttered as she glared at the panel "...I'll bet this stupid panel's the reason why me and Fluttershy are stuck here!"

Applejack smirked "If that's th' case, then why don't we put a stop t' this dumb game and take Discord's words t' heart?"

Rainbow Dash grinned deviously at the glass panel in front of her "I couldn't agree more." She went to jump, but remembered that she didn't have her wings. The cyan pegasus then looked back at Applejack "AJ, I need you to give me a boost!"

Applejack nodded and hopped down onto the pad Rainbow Dash stood on "Ya got it, sugarcube." She faced away from Rainbow Dash and lifted her hindlegs while the former hopped onto them with her own, her eyes locked onto the glass panel above her.
_____

Fluttershy shivered as she stared at the glass panel while she stood on her pad "A-Are you sure about this, Pinkie?"

Pinkie shrugged "Not really. But something tells me that you and Dashie are dealing with the same thing involving that glass window thingy, so maybe she's about to do the same thing."

Fluttershy stared before clenching her eyes shut "I don't know if I can do this..." She said nervously.

Pinkie patted Fluttershy's back with a chipper smile "Then we'll do it together!" The two mares faced away from the mirror with their hindlegs lifted "Okay, on three." She squinted her eyes "One...Two...Three!" Pinkie and Fluttershy shot their hindlegs outwards towards the glass panel.
_____

Rainbow Dash easily shattered the panel with a foreleg after Applejack had launched her upward towards it. When it fell to reflective pieces onto the ground, the platform containing the pad moved back up to its base level as soon as Rainbow Dash landed.

The two mares looked around until they noticed two things: Rainbow Dash's wings returning and the door opening on its own. They both smiled at each other before they galloped outside and away from the challenge.

When they got outside, they were greeted by Pinkie and Fluttershy, who managed to exit their own door without any problems; the latter had her wings back as well. Rainbow Dash rubbed her head as she gave off a sigh of relief "Finally, we're out of that crummy place. But where do we go from here?" She noticed Pinkie with her element and gasped "Hey! Where'd you get that?" She asked inquisitively.

Pinkie smiled "Greed, Twilight, and Spike won it from Spike's challenge!' "They're busy finding Rarity and Blueblood right now."

Fluttershy frowned in concern "Oh my...I wonder if Rarity and Blueblood are doing alright."

Applejack narrowed her eyes "Th' way Ah see it, they probably have th' worst challenge outta all o' us. We should meet up with them quick iffin' they're strugglin', too."

"But what about Shining Armor and Wrath? Shouldn't they need our help as well?" Fluttershy asked.

Rainbow Dash waved a dismissive hoof "I doubt they need our help. Those two can handle themselves easily! Let's just hurry and focus on finding Rarity and Blueblood."

After they reached an agreement, the group took off in search of the door with the unlucky number; Rainbow Dash took to the skies while the rest broke into a swift gallop. It was going to be an endeavor to make it out of Manehattan so that they can get back on track to find the remaining elements to defeat Discord.


End of Chapter 14