Giving Chaos

by Dirty Bit

Chapter 17

"Wait...what?" Spike asked after a period of pause "What are you talking about?" He cocked his head to the side, hoping for a coherent answer.

"I'm referring to the fact that no matter how hard it is I try, I just can't seem to run away from my past as a homunculus despite my change in form. When I was reborn as a pony and taken in by you all, I felt as if I could start anew, but I realized that old habits die hard..." Lust said, her remorseful gaze tugging at Spike "It is as Discord has said before this game began: Who could love a monster?"

"But that's just it, though; it's in the past!" Spike said "I know you made Rarity upset, but you can't just let that bother you now; not while we have to save Equestria."

"You don't understand, Spike." Lust said with her eyes closed "As easy as it is to merely forget what has been done and move on, it can take a serious toll on one's self when more disheartening parts of their past has been brought back for them to see." She turned away and looked out the window at Appleloosa "It takes more of an effect on one who wishes to turn from such ways." Spike stared before the realization dawned on him, causing him to hang his head pensively.

"Wow...I never thought about it that way." He muttered to himself. The purple dragon felt a hoof caressing his head, and he looked up to see Lust giving him a wry smile.

"You've yet to experience it for yourself, since you're just a child and all." She stated, to which Spike furrowed his brow.

"I hate it when everypony tells me that." He gently took Lust's hoof with both claws and stared up at her with a determined gaze "Look, maybe you're right about that, and maybe I do have a lot to learn myself, but I can't just sit here and wait for you and Rarity to give up on each other. Wrath and Greed came to terms with their pasts, and they're doing just fine."

"That's because the both of them were content with their lives before coming here. Not to mention Greed is more attuned to friendship than myself and the rest of our family..." Lust gave a dry chuckle "I commend Greed for even developing a better outlook before any of us."

"Well, I'm sure he wouldn't let you hear the end of it if he saw you like this." Spike quipped as he kept his gaze and tightened his grip "You gotta remember that Discord did this to you. If you asked me, I'd say you were doing just fine as our friend before he mucked it all up. I may sound crazy, but that's just me. Heck, even Twilight would say the same thing!"

Lust stared at Spike while he stood his ground with her hoof in his grasp. It was expected to hear someone akin to a child say something like this to her, but after hearing him out, it wasn't anything similar to the naivete that it was laced with. She noted the seriousness in his eyes, and how he simply would not let go of her hoof.

It almost distracted her from a certain wetness trailing down her left cheek.

"Lust?" Spike blinked as his gaze softened. He watched the lascivious mare rub her eyes before she gently withdrew her outstretched hoof. When she finished, Lust leaned down to Spike and gave him a small peck on his forehead, startling the purple dragon as he stared up at her with widened eyes while she donned a smile devoid of sadness.

"Thank you, Spike. Perhaps you're more mature than I thought." Lust said gratefully. Spike was locked in his stare before smiling bashfully, a shade of red gracing his facial features.

"H-Hey, we're all friends, right?" Spike asked, then looked up with a hopeful glance "Right?" His hopefulness diminished when Lust took a deep breath.

"We have to remember that it is up to Rarity to decide what she thinks of me." She said before she grew thin smile "But that doesn't mean that I cannot have someone vouch for me."

Spike grinned at Lust's words and gave a knowing nod before the two went back to the other cart to join their friends.
_____

"Get along, everypony!"

Applejack was galloping with her own crowd of ponies and buffalo, their hooves thundering on the ground in their stride. She felt energized that she was partaking in a challenge she had an edge in. To her right was a yellow earth pony wearing a brown vest and a stetson hat of his own; a cutie mark of a big red apple was seen on his body.

"So glad that y'all came here when we needed ya most, cuz!" The pony said cheerfully "We were jus' enjoyin' another peaceful day when that large doodad showed up at the top of the largest buildin' in town, then those large ponies appeared and knocked us around like bowlin' pins!"

"Those aren't ordinary ponies, Braeburn." Applejack corrected "In fact, they're clones of one that's pretty strange once ya get t' know 'im. It's a long story, but fer now, y'all jus' have t' trust me on this situation!"

"We're with ya all the way!" Braeburn replied with a confident smirk "Jus' tell us where t' go, an' we'll get to it!"

"All Ah needed t' here. This is gonna sound mighty weird, but we gotta lead the townsfolk int' different homes an' places so we can put an end t' all this. We gotta spot th' biggest ones we see and finish quickly."

"Yer in luck! We're near the Salt Lick, so we'll just pool some o' th' townsfolk there." Braeburn said as he pointed forward.

"Great!" Applejack chirped brightly, only to see the path ahead of them get clouded with dust as a large crash sounded, causing the entire crowd to skid to a halt. The dust settled to show Sloth slowly emerging from a wrecked building from the left, with Rainbow Dash and Wrath flying in from the right while Shining Armor and Pinkie Pie galloped in shortly after, the latter wielding her party cannon. The party pony noticed Applejack's group and waved frantically at them while the other three engaged Sloth in combat.

"Hi, AJ! Hey, Braeburn! How goes the Appleloosa roundup?" Pinkie greeted, as if she weren't fighting off Sloth.

"Howdy, Pinkie Pie!" Braeburn greeted back "Ah'd love t' chat with ya an' all, but we gotta skedaddle!" He looked over at Sloth obstructing their path towards the Salt Lick and frowned "Shoot...We might have t' make a detour." Braeburn said morosely.

"Well, let's leave 'em to it then." Applejack replied, snapping her head towards the crowd behind her "Listen, folks! We gotta shy away from them ponies over there! Let's go another route!" The large crowd of ponies and buffalo turned to the rightmost street and resumed their pace, leaving the fight that took place behind.

"This really does put a damper on our chances o' stoppin' all this. We haven't even rounded up all o' our friends yet!" Braeburn said as he glanced back at the galloping crowd.

"Ain't nothing t' worry about." Applejack said as she looked around, noticing how there are several buildings untouched by both Sloths "We still got plenty o' places t' choose from b'fore we find th' others and hit the Salt Lick. Let's scatter fer now and look around!" She called to her crowd, to which they complied as they temporarily disbanded to take refuge in nearby places.

Applejack and Braeburn watched how they were gradually flocking in their own buildings, and both felt rewarded upon hearing the sound of a bell for each entry.

However, when they spotted a mare headed towards a different building, they noticed how the doorframe suddenly widened and gained a set of fangs, snarling like a provoked animal. She screamed before the rogue building extended its maw and ensnared the mare, to which a buzzer sounded shortly after.

"What in the-...!?" Applejack said to herself before looking around and seeing the same thing happen to three more ponies, much to the shock of her and Braeburn. Thankfully, the rest of the crowd noticed the deranged oddity occurring and quickly distanced themselves from the buildings they were about to enter.

"Jus' what in th' name o' apples is goin' on?" Braeburn said before turning to Applejack "Ah thought y'all said that we needed t' go inside t' be safe, not eaten!"

"Ah swear Ah didn't know about this!" Applejack shot back before she paused, then glared up at the sky "Discord..."

"That's my name, don't wear it out! Anyways, I'll bet you're miffed about what's happened right? Well, I figured it'd be too boring to just let you herd your cattle easily, so I rigged this town with what I like to call 'Trap Houses'."

"Trap Houses?" Applejack parroted curiously.

"They not only capture anypony that gets too close, but they also deduct points from your score, making your challenge all the more fun! Be careful now~..."

After Discord's singsong voice had faded, the crowd instantly gathered once more, only they were more anxious on where to go next, constantly darting their eyes towards any and every building in sight. Meanwhile, Braeburn gritted his teeth and stomped a hoof in the dirt.

"T'ain't fair! That Discord's a no-good cheater, that's fer sure." He said bitterly.

"No doubt about that. We gotta rethink our strategy on this'un. Fer all we know, the Salt Lick could be a trap." Applejack said cautiously. She rubbed her chin and thought to herself as she scanned each house "It's gonna be a tall order t' rely on instinct here..."

"Well, instinct's all we got at this point, right? We can't jus' sit here an' twiddle our hooves. We're pressed fer time!" Braeburn said in a near-panicked tone.

"Ah know that, Braeburn, but Ah can't risk our friends an' family jumpin' int' th' jaws o' some monster house, then gettin' them int' more trouble than before!" Applejack shot back with narrowed eyes before scanning her surroundings, urgency building inside of her. She was happy to have come so far and catch up with her family, even if it wasn't under the best circumstances.

A nearby building crumbled into splinters as a blue blur was seen passing through and ramming into the first trap house, smacking into it as it somehow remained intact. Sloth was seen moaning tiredly as he leaned against the building while it showed what appeared to be a blue patch on the wooden wall. The building was heard whimpering.

"Sorry about that, AJ!" A rainbow blur flew towards the crowd as Rainbow Dash hovered in the air, staring down Sloth intently as he got up "This Sloth's just so destructive without even noticing."

"Ah'm surprised that trap house is still standin', what with Sloth's bulky body an' all."Applejack commented as she stared at the house.

"We heard about them during our battle" Wrath said as he flew in, while Shining Armor and Pinkie Pie followed suit "So this isn't just a simple herding challenge while we're fending off these clones of Sloth. What do you propose we do, Applejack?" He asked inquisitively while hovering in a stance, ready to pounce at Sloth.

"Ah ain't too sure." She replied with unease, though looked back at the house and its current condition, squinting at the blue patch on the wall "Wait a minute...Did that house actually bruise?"

"Say what now?" Braeburn asked as he observed the house as well "Well, shoot, it is bruised. Ah'm surprised th' windows are still up after that giant pony slammed int' it."

"Windows..." Applejack hummed to herself, then gasped as an idea crept into her head. Thinking quickly, she scooped up a pebble from the ground and aimed at the building sitting to the right of the trap house, tossing it at a window and watching it break.

"Whoa! What's th' big idea, Applejack?" Braeburn asked, thrown off by Applejack's random action.

"That one's fine! Any pony or buffalo, get inside quick!" Applejack barked, to which a group of four ponies and two buffalo hesitantly went over. When absolutely no hostility was detected, they quickly scampered inside in a single file line, to which the sound of a bell was heard. Applejack smirked triumphantly at the sound while Braeburn's jaw gaped before he beamed at his cousin.

"Now Ah get it!" Braeburn said as he picked up a pebble. "Them trap houses' are almost like actual monsters with their windows not breakin', so we jus' gotta see which house is good by hittin' one, right?" He watched Applejack scoop up and toss another pebble up and down.

"Darn tootin'. We'll get Appleloosa safe in no time." Applejack proclaimed vigorously, then looked over at the rest of the crowd "Alright, folks, y'all know the drill! Grab yerselves a rock or two an' let's get a move on!" She grinned as the ponies and buffalo scoured the ground for any available rocks and raised them like soldiers with weaponry.

"What a pain..." Sloth rumbled as he looked over at the large group of townsfolk, slowly turning to face them "Obstacles are a pain..."

"Oh, no you don't!" Rainbow Dash said as swooped down and landed a kick in Sloth's face with her hindleg, though she only succeeded in making Sloth stagger as she yelped in pain. She descended towards the ground and inspected her leg while the lazy behemoth scratched his head, as if he were confused "What do you homunculi eat!?" Rainbow Dash asked in shock.

Sloth reeled back a foreleg and swung a chain at the cyan pegasus, but it only succeeded in colliding with a magic shield.

"Applejack, hurry and get the civilians out of here! We'll do what we can with Sloth!" Shining Armor commanded, though grunted when he felt another chain collide with his shield.

"Thank y'all kindly. We can still win this!" Applejack replied as she and Braeburn galloped away and led their group, feeling reinvigorated.

While Sloth was busy clashing with Shining Armor's shield protecting himself and Rainbow Dash, he got struck in the face once again, but this time by a pie that obstructed his vision and caused him to moan in complaint.

"Easy as pie!" Pinkie quipped as she stood with her party cannon, resting a foreleg on her trusty weapon "Speaking of, how is it? I had trouble deciding between blueberry or cherry before I left Canterlot, so I went with coconut meringue." She chirped happily, oblivious to Sloth wiping at his face.

"Blindness is a pain...Pie is a pain..." Sloth moaned as he tried regaining his sight. Meanwhile, he was unaware of Pinkie looking insulted as she placed both forelegs on her party cannon and aimed at Sloth.

"Oh, it is on!" She snapped as she activated her cannon and launched more pies. Wrath stared down at Pinkie Pie and managed to smile at her gesture.

'It's somewhat humorous to realize that she's making this little battle entertaining.' Wrath thought to himself before he swooped down and knocked Sloth at his right side, knocking him into the same trap house as before and eliciting another whimper from it.
_____

The group averted themselves from the battle against the lazy behemoth and galloped away towards any other available building and took turns tossing a rock or pebble at each window. If glass were to shatter, a smaller group would instantly flock to their sanctuary; if a snarl or whimper was heard, the larger group would instantly flee to the next building. They repeated the process until Applejack and Braeburn remained.

The two Apple family members made their way towards the counter found near the station, seeing that the remaining number was at one. While she was happy with the fact that the worst was almost over, Applejack was still troubled at the fact that she had missed more townsfolk to save and that there were two Sloths that were far from defeated and holding duplicates of her element.

"Alright, Braeburn. We jus' gotta find a place fer you to hide in an' we'll take care o' th' rest." Applejack said with a smile "Ah'm glad we were able t' work together like this."

"Me, too, cuz!" Braeburn grinned "That was some smart thinkin' back there with them houses." He scratched his head with an embarrassed smile "Gonna have t' dip int' our savings an' then some t' pay fer all them windows once this is over."

"Small price t' pay an' all that. But Ah'm sure th' princesses can lend ya some money to cover damages." Applejack said as she began trotting back into town with her cousin at a leisurely pace "Gonna be tough t' figure out what other place hasn't been touched yet." She said as she looked at how Appleloosa and its streets were deserted save for her friends fighting off the two Sloths.

"Well, at least we got everypony t' safety, even th' ones that got hurt. That counts fer somethin'." Braeburn said encouragingly. He rubbed his chin in thought before he perked up "Hey, wait a minute! We still haven't hit th' Salt Lick yet!" Applejack looked over at Braeburn.

"Hey, yer right. But we'll have t' be quick iffin' we won't be met with any trouble." Applejack said cautiously. The two began to gallop along the barren streets in search of the desired establishment. But as they went along, they noticed an oncoming blur, to which Applejack quickly pushed Braeburn out of the way before she was sent flying into a window belonging to a nearby trap house while the blur slammed into another one, revealing itself to be another Sloth.

Applejack fell to the ground while Braeburn got up after getting pushed and noticed his cousin doing the same.

"Applejack! Are ya alright?" He asked in concern.

"Agh! Consarnit..." Applejack said as she picked herself up and rubbed her right foreleg "Felt like Ah hoof wrestled with Big Mac five times in a row." She looked over at the recovering Sloth and galloped towards Braeburn "We gotta get away from 'im. One touch an' yer outta th' game!"

"Right!" Braeburn replied as they went to gallop away, only to see Twilight and Greed - both in their Ultimate Shield forms - headed their way. While Applejack could recognize them, Braeburn was intimidated by their appearance.

"Whoa! What in tarnation are they?" Braeburn asked as he pointed a hoof.

"Relax, Braeburn, it's jus' Twilight." Applejack said as she pointed at Greed "That one over's her coltfriend, Greed." She then looked back at Sloth turning to face them, his uncovered eye making the farmpony tense. "But now we have t' worry about not gettin' hit."

As Sloth slowly got into a stance, Greed and Twilight joined Applejack's side, staring down the lazy pony, though they were catching their breath.

"Picked a hell of a time to show up, Applejack." Greed quipped with an invisible smirk "We were having so much fun with Sloth while you were out and about. Is that pony the last one needed for this game to end?" He asked, looking over at Braeburn.

"Yeah, we were in a hurry until Sloth came breezin' by." Applejack said as she stared at Sloth. When his knees bent, Greed's eyes widened.

"Scatter!" He shouted as the four quickly separated and avoided Sloth speeding past them and hitting a building, making it crumble. Applejack and Braeburn were stricken with fear until they noticed it was an empty building. Twilight picked herself up and regrouped with the others.

"Sloth's too strong for Greed and I no matter how many times we land enough hits on him. Not to mention it's even harder to grab the element considering how many times we tried taking it off." Twilight explained as Sloth got up.

"It's sorta th' same way with the other Sloth." Applejack said "Imagine if the two would end up hittin' each other..." Greed and Twilight instantly turned to Applejack.

"That's it!" They both chorused brightly.

"Divided, we're lucky to even stand up against Sloth due to his massive strength and size..." Twilight said, while Greed looked over at Twilight.

"Meaning that it's gonna take Sloth to beat Sloth! We just have to find our friends and lure the two into one spot." Greed finished eagerly.

"But we still gotta get Braeburn to th' Salt Lick pronto!" Applejack piped up "Th' game's not over without 'im."

"Then it looks like we'll have to lead this Sloth to our friends. Come on!" Greed said as the four galloped away from Sloth, who grumbled at their retreat.

"Running away...What a pain..." He said as he burst into a gallop, easily catching up with his incredible speed. Twilight looked back and gasped.

"Everypony, look out!" She shouted as the four ponies quickly moved towards the left, narrowly avoiding Sloth as he slammed into another trap house. While they turned a corner, the lazy pony picked himself up and rubbed his head.

"Stubborn..." Sloth looked over at the fleeing ponies and slammed a hoof into the dirt "Stop running...You have to be stopped..."