So, finally everyone wants to sit and listen to what uncle Discord has to say? Hmmph, took you all long enough… I…

Well, I was hoping you’d maybe actually gag her, but I guess holding her mouth closed will do for now. Thank you.

Alright, story time, or rather more passive aggressive indignation that you’re only now all coming to me.

Oh, spare me your groans and eye rolls! Had any of you made a habit of coming to talk to me about the past, or even at all, you probably would have heard all this by now.

Alright, yes Fluttershy. You do talk to me, but I think you’d find most my stories a tad too frightening on your own to let me finish. Still, you do have a point. At least one of you has made an effort to befriend me…

Oh, don’t give me that look princess, you of all ponies know full well you should have come to me sooner.

Still, I suppose it’s all water under the bridge and I should just forgive you. That’s what us friends do, right? Forgive and forget? Let the past stay in the past, hmmm…?

Well, except when the past comes back to haunt you, of course… I suppose that’s as good of note as any to begin.

Hmmm… On second thought, this might take a while, so you might want to get some snacks… Ah, yes… Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Spike… Applejack? Good, good…

Alright, everyone comfortable? Good. Anyone need to use the little pony’s room before we start? Alright, good.

So, creation stories. Epic and fantastical explanations of the beginning of entire worlds or the cosmos even. They often begin one of two ways: At the great start of it all there was nothing, or there was nothing but chaos.

Alright, so if her ‘royal too purpleness’ is done being a royal pain, I’ll continue.

As I mentioned, creation stories usually start with either nothing or chaos. Any guesses as to which I prefer?

Ha! I knew you’d all say that. No, in fact I find complete nothing and complete chaos equally as boring. Of course nothing is self-explanatory, but nothing but chaos is just as uninteresting. While maximum entropy gives us absolutely no action, perfect disorder allows for no distinction, no definition.

No, it is only in the contrast of order and disorder that one can define change, can define chaos.

So, perhaps there was nothing in the very beginning, but for my beginning there was only chaos. I have no idea how long this perfect disorder lasted. How could I? There was simply nothing to measure time by, nothing predictable anyhow.

Eventually, this perfect disorder waned and finally something tangible began to form out of the endlessly swirling energy and magics of chaos. Only then was I even cognitive that there was an ‘I’. Until that point there was simply no contrast to anything, and it was impossible to know where I began or ended.

Soon, other tiny amounts of something formed and those tiny amounts joined to form larger amounts of something, and…

What? No, I can’t be ‘more specific’! I had just barely formed a sense of self! All I knew was there was something not chaos and I was not it! Now, if you’ll be so kind as to let me continue…

After some time I found I could affect these ‘somethings’. I could move them further or closer together. Rearrange them in relationship to one another, for these little somethings were still all I had to give any definition to anything, including myself. In time, I discovered I could even create them from the seemingly endless mass of chaos itself, at first I could only create a temporary facsimile of them that existed as long as I continually willed it. In time, I discovered how to create them permanently, though I could somehow feel my power diminish each time I did. Not a pleasant feeling.

Still, it seemed I was never a fan of waiting for things to happen, and often times this sacrifice of power to exert real, permanent change seemed worth it. Funny now to think I had a claw or paw or indefinable tendril of chaos in the making of the world itself.

As time went on these ‘somethings’ would become ‘something elses’, distinguishable types of matter from one another. I found I could change myself between these different forms, or even turn myself into combinations of these various forms. As interesting at the time these distractions was, I would always revert back to formless energy after a while. Even with all the myriad somethings and something elses that would form, each one or all of them would only hold my interest for so long. Their patterns where simply too predictable. In time, I found my own meddling tiresome, able to predict with absolute certainty what my influence would do.

No, it would be eons before, either by chance, or perhaps some unseen influence that was beyond my understanding, something interesting, something with a will of its own, something I could not predict would appear.

Life? Not quite. At least, not at its most basic level. While early life was certainly more interesting to watch, and even more fun to duplicate and experience, it was still far too predictable to be considered interesting, at least interesting compared to what lied ahead.

No, life had to develop further. Into creatures complex enough to hold my interest. Creatures that would react in new and unexpected ways if I say… turned the water directly in front of them to solid stone, or change the ground they were walking on into more water. Sometimes these creatures would flail or scuttle in confusion at the sudden change in their world. On rarer occasions they would do almost nothing, and seemed to calmingly adjust or accept their fate, as if accepting what little reality they had perceived and sorted out patterns of was simply not quite as they had expected, and this was merely another new experience. Then again, maybe these ones where just simply too undeveloped to process their sudden change in environment.

Who knows? I could never figure it out as these things continued to change, each one often responding ever so slightly different to similar situations. Variances even, as I would eventually come to recognize, beyond the species level. Individual entities all capable of their own decisions and unique reactions to different situations.

Unmistakably, this is when my love of chaos first originated. The skills I had spent untold eons developing were spent getting new reactions out of these, admittedly primitive, creatures. And almost any time not spent changing the world of any I came across was spent coming up with new and inventive ways to ellcit responses. All in the hope I would see something new, something I hadn’t expected.

In time my obsession grew to the point where I felt I would do anything to better understanding why these things could and would act differently. I would transform myself into one of them. Even going so far as to acting just like one of their kind, or at least, as well as I could gather from my observations. Yet I still could not fully predict or even understand why some would act the way they did when presented with something that should have been beyond their understanding.

I lost count, or perhaps never even took count, of all the creatures I’ve been. In time I would find favorite traits of certain creatures and combine them in fun and amusing ways. Even going so far as to pick favorite combinations and even settle on one as my very favorite into something new and exciting would come along and cause me to change a limb, tentacle, or tendril.

Eventually being one thing or another, or even a combination of many became the norm, and I spent less and less time as a being of pure energy. Limiting as it was, being a material thing, even if it was a combination of things, seemed more natural and I began to loathe the tedium of having to even subconsciously will myself to remain in a corporeal state.

And so, one day when I was probably a mass of eyes, tentacles, and deep-sea creature claws, I sacrificed an enormous amount of power to stay that way… Well, until I felt like changing something else on ‘me’, but that was easy enough. The point is, the change to a corporeal being, though still one which could maintain an enormous amount of control over his immediate surroundings, could never be undone. At least, not without spending lots of time and energy to sort out how to reverse the change.

Miss it? No, not at all. I can say with absolute honesty that the trade off, even the severe limiting of my power, was easily worth it. You see, I was searching for something without knowing at the time. Something my formless existence could never grant me. And that thing was a sense of self beyond simply figuring out what I was not. I wanted to figure out what I was. Even if I only had the imagination to be what I had already seen, at least I could be the best of what I had seen.

Anyways, the world would continue to change and the things that lived on it would do as well. For my part, I was more than happy to bear witness to the change and even change with it.

OH the wonders I could tell you all about! The books I could write about your history, of beings learning how to use tools or magic for the first time! The gaps in your science I can fill, but won’t because Twilight is currently making a face that I wouldn’t trade for anything in the world.

Hahahaha… Oh the obsession you ponies have with wanting to know the past… I lived, or at least existed through pretty much all of it, and I can assure you the past is never as interesting what lies ahead… You know… unless you’re going so spent a thousand years as a statue or something like that…

So, time went on and life become more interesting, for me and for the creatures around me. Of course I helped in keeping things interesting. Molding and perfecting new and exciting ways to change the world and watching those around me adjust or try to adjust as best they could.

You see, good chaos, like good art, requires finesse and attention to detail. I spent many millennia perfecting the art of chaos. Learning when to be subtle at times and much more forceful at others.

Oh sure, I could turn the air in everypony's lungs here to taffy and as exquisite as the chaos would be that would come from that act, it would be rather short lived, and pure, blinding panic is such an absurdly easy emotional response to elicit.

No, too much chaos and everyone around simply flees, or breaks down in tears, or throws themselves at your… well, whatever things serve to keep you upright at the time. Predictable, boring responses when a being accepts something so cataclysmic has happened they simply give up.

It’s in the perfect balance of change to what is already there does one see truly fascinating responses. The desire to set things back the way they were, or an attempt to exist in this strange, new world where trees take offense to their fallen branches being used for firewood, or even the occasionally positive response from those who seem to enjoy my little changes.

For instance, let’s say the furniture around you suddenly came to life and wanted to pay you back for all those years of being sat and led upon!

There, you see! An amazing and varied display of responses. While some panic and cower, others fight back physically or insult the newly-made living furniture! And then we have the odd one who seems to be enjoying this new turn of events.

It was through these little tricks I discovered, or rather decided, what my role in this world would be. I would introduce disorder and chaos to places that were simply too orderly… too predictable… too dreadfully boring. True, many did not appreciate my granting deliverance from the mundanely orderly nature of their lives, but that was part of the fun! Seeing beings go through mazes and all kinds of physical and psychological tests just so they could have an audience with little ol’ Discord. Many would come to fight, some to talk, some would try one first, then the other when their plan ‘A’ would inevitably fall through. The best was when one or more beings showed up with something they were sure would overpower me.

Which brings me to my favorite species of all, ponies. No species has ever been so simultaneously good at striking a balance with its surroundings yet equally good at disturbing that balance of the tiniest, most inconsequential things…

Oh my, no, I didn’t only mean the tiny differences between your three races. Though the differences are so very slight in the grand scheme of the world, that it is a pretty laughable reason for you ponies to almost let your entire species go extinct.

No, I meant little things like a little visit from your future self causing a panic, or concerns over a self-imposed letter-sending schedule nearly destroying a town.

Hahahahahahehehehe… Sorry Princess, but you are just too much fun to tease.

Anyhow, these little episodes of ponies wrecking their own precious tranquility had made them nearly as fun to watch as to mess with. Is it any wonder that I chose them to share in the endless joys of chaos?

Well of course it wasn’t always appreciated! That was part of the fun! Ponies always knocking on my door, braving gravity run amuck, and even massive, trap-filled landscapes to come and see me!

I suppose this finally brings me to the start of my story. For it was likely one such pony, or his weapon rather, that set things in motion.

This intrepid young pony was named Whiplash, a brown earth pony with a fiery red mane who braved a castle I had created just full of fun little distractions and challenges to get to me.

After floors and floors of challenges, he stood before me in my dark and foreboding throne room, enchanted whip wrapped around his foreleg as he readied to do battle with me.

I swirled a goblet full of chocolate milk and smirked back at him. “It was not by my claw I was once again given flesh. I was brought here by ponies who wished to bring me tribute!”

“Your words are as empty as your soul! Pony ill needs a savior such as you!”

Alright, party pooper. You got me. I may have embellished the exchange a bit. However, it’s only because Whiplash was a bit of a dim bulb. Fun to run through the odd maze of chaos and molasses swamp, but when he finally got to me what he said was anything but interesting…

“You’re going down, Discord!” He cried dramatically as he galloped into my throne room.

I sighed from my throne. “…That’s it? You spend hours trudging the honey, dodging trebuchet-launched squids, and listening to dolls singing the same repetitive song over and over again and that’s the best you could come up with?!” I slumped down to the point where I was a puddle on the floor, only my eyes and mouth distinguishable from a brown mass. “I was hoping you’d have time to come up with something interesting to say or at least have gone half mad. You didn’t even compliment my decorating job!”

Truth be told, I also embellished the part about the throne room being dark. In addition to my large and imposing throne, the room had massive spiraling columns and long patchwork drapes created from every color I could imagine, and even a few I couldn’t. It was also rather well-lit with candles that bared my likeness lining the walls.

I bubbled up into a column of gelatinous goo and then solidify back to my ol’ Draconequus self. I folded my arms in front of my chest. “You’ve said that one.”

“I’ve braved everything you’ve thrown at me and now I’m going to take you out!”

I puffed a gust of air up, blowing my eyebrows off my face briefly. “Said that one, too!” I replied in a bored tone as my eyebrows drifted back into place.

“You’ll pay for giving the broccoli on my family’s farm the ability to run away!”

I rolled my eyes and slumped back into my throne. “You’ve also said that one…” I paused to stroke my beard ponderously as I stare of at the ceiling. “Though, I suppose that’s my fault for not coming up with some new way to keep you on the tips of your hooves.” I grinned mischievously at Whiplash. “Besides, you should be thanking me! I’m sure dinner is much more rewarding when you have to catch it!”

Whiplash unwrapped his whip from his forearm. “CATCH THIS!” he cried before he took his whip into his mouth.

I pursed my lips slightly as I glance away. “Well that’s new at least.” I produced a large sheet that read ‘5’ on it. “There! You’re on the board!” I motion to a large scoreboard across the room where I add place a ‘5’ to the side marked ‘visitors’. The home team was winning by a landslide at this point, in case anypony was wondering.

Whiplash responded by quickly whipping his head back, which caused his whip to whip back, then he brought it forward.

“I’m supposed to catch this, right?” I said with a smirk as I caught the tip of Whiplash’s whip in the grip of my eagle claw. The whip cracked loudly as my claw closed around it.

To my surprise, Whiplash had brought something new. His weapon inflicted a pain I had never known, and I mean beyond injury to my flesh and bone, such that it is. As powerful as I was, my physical body was susceptible to certain undesirable stimuli such as injury or even special types of illnesses. Though with my magic and control of my body usually only surprise attacks were considered painful, and even then a severed appendage or head can make for make for some pretty good entertainment…

Heh heh… In any case, my claw went numb and fell limp at my side, which was problematic since it was my snapping claw.

Of course my magic worked fine for the most part without my snapping claw, but I admit this new, strange sensation threw me for a loop. I had never once in my existence encountered something that posed an actual threat to me.

“My, my. Somepony has been a busy boy!” I said as I expertly dodged his next strike. “Tell me which wise and powerful wizard created such a tool.”

“IW’LL TWELL YWOU WWHEN YBORE DWEAD!” Whiplash cried through the whip in his mouth.

“What?!” I replied as I twisted my head up, upside-down, and out of the way of his next blow. “You’ll tell me when I’m dead?! How is that going to—”

What? You’re really that surprised that my first brush with potential defeat, and possibly a mortality I had not even considered until then seems to have barely phased me?

Sigh… Alright, fine! I admit my reaction was far from dignified. Though, in my defense, Whiplash often forgot there was a whip in his mouth and tried to talk anyway. As I said, ‘dim bulb’.

Whiplash quickly wrapped the bottom of the whip around his forearm and stood on his back legs as he snapped his whip as high it would go. I flinched and shifted my body up, desperate to avoid another sting that might further nullify my power.

“NO! THROW AWAY THE WHIP!” I replied as I clung to the top of the patchwork drapes I had arranged around my throne room.

“WHY WOULD I THROW AWAY THE WEAPON I CAME HERE TO DEFEAT YOU WITH?!” Whiplash shouted back up at me.

“Well fine then!” I cried. “I’m just not coming down ever!” I cried as I attempted to climb the drapes further.

Whiplash grinned up at me. “Oh, I’m quite full. How do you think I got through the room of tapioca pudding?”

My eyebrows lifted a few feet of my face. “You ate your way through that room?! There were several thousand gallons of pudding in there!”

“I don’t believe you!” I say as I point my talon limply out. “Whoa…” The act nearly sent me to the floor. I quickly clambered back up as best I can.

I pause and ponder this slightly. “… Alright, I’m not coming down, but I’m going to give you an ‘8’ for at least making me think about it… as soon as the feeling comes back to my talon.”

In an almost unimaginable display of intelligence, Whiplash clamped his teeth around the bottom of the drapes and began to pull.

I definitely had to give Whiplash and the pony who helped him credit. The ways I could have easily and immediately solved my crisis were literally without end. However the thought that I was vulnerable, that I could somehow be dispatched had my mind as numb as my talon and I instead held on tight to the drapes as if the quickly ripping material would somehow protect me from a pony with a magic whip and vendetta.

With a few more pulls the drapes gave way, taking me with them… Right on top of Whiplash.

I scrambled to get away from him as he flailed under the drapes and pulled them off himself. I suppose I should be thankful that thinking wasn’t Whiplash’s strong suit. A clever pony would have thought to step to the side and strike me down as I hit the ground.

Whiplash pulled the patchwork drapes off of him and quickly located his weapon. He leaned his head down and took it in his mouth. “Ywourr wien owff twerrwor ewnds nwow!” He began galloping towards me.

I slapped my lion’s paw hard against the floor and Whiplash suddenly sank, whip and all.

“Thanks for reminding me I could turn the floor into pudding,” I said with a smirk followed by a quick salute with my paw.

It was then that I noticed something curious. Maybe it was the fact that the whip was so close, or the fact that I was now aware of it and thinking a little more clearly, but it was as if I could feel the pudding around it disappear, or rather turn back into air. No doubt due to the room and, in fact, the castle itself being nothing more than an elaborate construct of my thoughts. It’s possible the whip itself made Whiplash’s harrowing trip through my castle easier, and even quite possible he hadn’t noticed.

I began to concentrate on the whip, or rather… understand that the act was somehow impossible for me. While I could clearly see and feel the item, it seemed impossible for me to grab it with my thoughts or magic. It was as if the item didn’t exist for me at some level and was a whip-shaped hole in reality itself. I would have dwelled upon this more, except Whiplash did something rather unexpected.

“Of course—OM—” Whiplash replied as he half-swam, half-ate his way across the floor, the whip wrapped around one of his arms once more. “—NOTHING WILL STOP ME FROM—NOM— ENDING YOUR REIGN!”

My eyes went wide and my lips opened wide as laughter began to spill out of me. I rolled on the floor in absolute hysterics. I had come so close to a possible demise, or at least a state where it’s likely I would be rendered unable to continue with my fun and here was the pony who was trying to defeat me desperately eating the floor to get to me.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHahahahaha… I must admit this is the most interesting battle I’ve had in eons, Whiplash. You should be proud.” I held up another sign. “Have 10 points, oh hay,” –I flipped the sign around— “Have 50 points! I don’t even care.” I updated the score board accordingly. I was still winning, of course, but he had bridged the gap in our scores considerably.

“You’ll care when I—OM— destroy you!” Whiplash cried. He quickly made it to the end of the pudding pit and stepped back onto solid floor. The pudding floor fell off of him in large, viscous globs. All except for his whip, which was completely pristine. He took his whip in his mouth once more and quickly jerked his head back, the end of the whip flew up in response, ready to strike.

I grinned wide as Whiplash jerked his head again. I snapped my eagle talon; feeling had finally returned to the appendage. Before Whiplash could follow through on another troublesome blow he and the whip disappeared from my view.

‘Doesn’t make sense?’ Why not! I can teleport others at will! It’s really quite ea—

Sigh… Alright… so I may have had to resort to a more resourceful method to get rid of the whip. More on that in a bit.

I let loose a massive laugh as I made my way to one of the throne room windows and looked out. Far below me was Whiplash, angrily starting up from my twisted castle’s equally twisted front door.

“Open this door so I can climb back up there and finish you!” Whiplash shouted up at me.

I stroked my chin thoughtfully. “Hmmmm… I’m thinking ‘no’! But I will leave you with this wonderful parting gift.”

…What? Kill him? Why would I do that? He had provided me with some of the best entertainment I had in a long, long time! On top of that, he had opened my eyes to my vulnerability. Perhaps not a pleasant experience, but a new one nonetheless, and better him than someone clever enough to actually succeed in their goal to end my fun. No, Whiplash had done well and he would be allowed to try again.

At the front of my castle, Whiplash readied himself for anything, and indeed, I possibly could have done anything to him. I snapped my talon and a large, golden star that read ‘you tried’ appeared on his chest as well as a very large, very full, and very lovely gift basket full of fruits and vegetables.

“Am I supposed to trust this?!” Whiplash cried as he motioned out to the basket.

I rolled my eyes so hard the popped out of their sockets and rolled onto the castle floor. “Oh don’t worry, you big baby. Most of those are fine and the ones that aren’t hardly explode at all!”

“I’ll be back, Discord! Mock my words!”

I sighed and smacked my eagle claw against my face, my face stretching and springing back into place as my claw came off. “I’m quite sure certain I will mock them! The word you probably meant to say was ‘mark’!”

“It matters little, fiend! I’ll be back with a new whip and then I will bring you down!”

I frowned as my eyes rolled up to the whip, or rather the brand new hole in my throne room. They rolled up to the hole and peered down. I hadn’t been paying attention, but the whip had basically disintegrated the floor of the throne room, and the floor beneath that, and beneath that… falling all the way to the ground level where the stone floor beneath it had transformed back to pain dirt.

I walked back up to my eyes and placed them back in my head. After some brief, careful thought I unmade the floor around each hole the whip had made. That done, I levitated the ground underneath the item up to the throne room.

With a snap I appeared back at the window. “WHIPLASH!” I called out after the pony, as he began to trudge away, his gift basket in his mouth.

“WHHAAAAFF!?” He called back through the gift basket handle.

“HERE!” I quickly ducked back into the castle and launched the mound of earth at the window. I stopped and tilted the mound before it could crash into the stone frame of the window. As a result the whip flung out into the air and onto the ground. Perhaps Whiplash would think I simply threw it, perhaps he wouldn’t think about it. Either way, he cautiously trotted up to the item and inspected it. Once he was satisfied the whip was the one he had walked in with, he let go of the basket long enough to wrap the item around his arm again with his teeth. Soon, he, the whip, and most importantly, the gift basket were on their way back to his home.

…

Why, the gift basket was the most important because I wanted him to feel he had done well!

…

Alright, so there was a few ears of corn I could use to listen in on his conversations and potatoes I could use to spy on him.

…

Well, at least a few of you have a sense of humor!

…

Oh that’s easy. I let Whiplash keep the whip because I knew the alternative. I had been around long enough to see power hungry tyrants rise and fall. Some of them also encountered weapons that were the key to their destruction. Sometimes they’d hide the items deep within a well-guarded location or hide it in a dungeon full of traps. The ones that thought themselves cleverer than that would have it buried randomly in a swamp, or desert and not bother to record its location. I think one even simply lobbed the scimitar that was to be his undoing into the ocean.

Often times both strategies don’t work out in the long run. The determined and courageous would often find and plunder these secret areas and bring the weapon to harass or even end their foe once more. The resourceful can often locate a weapon no matter where it has ended up.

No, this way I knew exactly who had the whip and who to be weary of. As a bonus, Whiplash was pretty stupid, so enchanted whip or not, it was incredibly unlikely he’d be my undoing. Once he was too old to keep up the good fight, no doubt the whip would pass to someone else in his family. I simply had to keep tabs on him and what he did with the whip. No need for elaborate dungeons or storehouses someone might break into. No lulling myself into a false sense of security because the whip is in some hole someone would discover in a century or two.

Of course, someone else had made the whip for him no doubt. That was certainly something I had to be weary of. I suppose I could have devoted time to figuring out who that was…

On the other paw, Whiplash had given me something no one and no thing had been able to in all my existence: a challenge. I craved another. Another chance to prove I deserved my fun not by virtue of being alive longer or being more powerful than the creatures around me, but that I could outsmart them. I welcomed this change and the feelings of empowerment it brought.

Still, it dawned on me that perhaps I could attempt to improve myself somewhat. My power had got me far, but I was aware it had limits. Perhaps it was time to see if I could rise above them. To see if I could turn myself into something greater than I was.

Besides, how much of my power was invested in the creation of this planet? How much had I sacrificed to speed things along? I had no idea, but perhaps I could find out and even reclaim some of this energy.

So instead of looking outward for the next threat, I looked inward in the search of power. A search that would allow me to uncover truths about this planet I had not yet comprehended. Truths even about the cosmos itself. A search that would draw unexpected attention from creatures I had never seen before. Things beyond this world.

Little did I know it was not the whip or magic like it that would be my undoing, but my own search for self-improvement that would lead up to my imprisonment at the hands of Princess Celestia and Luna.

And it all started when I went back to the beginning, when I looked back at that formless mass of Chaos that I had come from…

…

What? I told you this would be a long story! You should have gotten a snack!

Chaos Vs. Order

by Justice3442

Chapter 1: In the beginning…