Giving Chaos

by Dirty Bit

Chapter 19

Rarity and Blueblood backed up next to Fluttershy and Spike while Lust in front, her hooves planted onto the floor as Sloth's imposing figure slowly loomed towards the group. The lazy behemoth let off a low and tired growl before he rubbed his head.

"What a pain...I don't feel like doing this, but I have to anyways." Sloth rumbled as he looked back at the group "Don't resist...I'll make this quick...I'm the fastest homunculus..."

"We will not yield, Sloth." Lust replied icily "You're aware that we have to cull the chaos before the entire world is affected by it." Her horn began to glow "If it means having to stop you, I'll do just that." Sloth groaned after Lust's brief speech.

"You're a pain, Lust..." Sloth said as he took another step "I'll take you down first...Then it'll all be easier, and I can nap again..." Lust narrowed her eyes to slits after Sloth's remark.

"I'd like to see you try." She hissed before her horn extended all the way into Sloth's chest, impaling him with ease as he stumbled back with a pained grunt. Her eyes shifted back to her friends.

"Hurry out of the train! I'll handle Sloth myself!" Lust commanded as she retracted her horn while Sloth's wound healed instantaneously.

"But we can't just leave you behind!" Spike said "Sloth's too big and strong for you!"

"Which is exactly why I want you all to remain safe! Now go!" Lust shot back as she duck and narrowly missed a chain. The chain had rended through the windows on the right side of the cart. Lust shot her horn into another part of Sloth's chest while Spike led the other ponies towards the nearest exit door.

As they went outside, they noticed that the carts ahead of the one they had exited were torn up beyond repair, including the engine, much to the groups dismay. Spike looked over at the cart Lust and Sloth were in, seeing the former struggle behind the window.

"Aw, man. Sloth's gonna wreck the Friendship Express before he tears Lust apart!" Spike said as he watched their fight in anxiety.

"What do we do?" Fluttershy whimpered as she looked at her friends "We can't just leave Lust alone like this."

"Certainly not." Blueblood replied "We'll need the aid of the others if we're to stand a chance against Sloth."

"You rang!?"

The group looked over towards the town to see Greed and company making their way back at a breakneck pace. When they gathered, Greed held a hardened gaze towards the train.

"That's Sloth, alright. Only he'd cause that much damage without even trying." Greed said as his horn began to glow "And here I thought we've gone through the worst of it." He went back into his Ultimate Shield form and narrowed his eyes "Alright, guys. We're gonna have to decide on who goes in and who stays behind." He looked over at Twilight "I don't wanna single you out, Twi, but you'll have to sit back so you have enough energy to bring Sloth to his senses."

"I suppose that's best. We've been through enough as it is." Twilight said as she looked over at Fluttershy, Spike, Rarity, and Blueblood "Are you all alright?"

"Lust wanted us to escape while she took on Sloth alone." Rarity explained, looking back at the damaged cart getting worse in silence 'Lust...'

"This isn't good. We gotta move in and help her!" Greed looked over at Applejack "You got some fight left in you, AJ?" He noticed the farmpony nod with conviction in her eyes.

"About as sure as Ah am wantin' t' save th' world!" Applejack pawed at the ground "Let's go help Lust!"

"I'm going, too!" Rainbow Dash said "I can't just sit back and watch Lust struggle against Sloth, even if he is big and strong!"

"You're aware of my own answer on the matter." Wrath quipped with a serious expression.

"Shining and I will be cheering you on from here!" Pinkie said as she slung a foreleg over the unicorn's neck "We were pretty winded back there when we dealt with two Sloths, and I don't have much ammo left for my party cannon." She said with a frown.

"As much as it leaves a bad taste in my mouth, Pinkie has a point." Shining Armor murmured "That last battle drained my magic reserves in both offense and defense."

"Then I guess it's just us four, then." Greed looked at Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Wrath. "Let's get in the fight, shall we?"

After a simultaneous reply in agreement, the four ponies made for the cart, only to have a chunk of the wall slam into Greed and knocking him back a little. The wall crumbled to reveal an injured Lust, whose body danced with red static as her wounds healed. Meanwhile, Greed stared angrily at the cart.

"So much for going into battle. Sloth decided to bring the battle to us!" Greed said as he noticed the lazy behemoth slowly exit the hole he made, wrecking more of the cart and causing it to collapse.

"You all showed up...What a pain..." Sloth rumbled. He looked at all of the ponies and dragon staring back at him and groaned in complaint "I want to take a nap...What a pain..." Fluttershy perked up upon hearing Sloth.

'A nap...' She thought to herself before she looked to her friends "Everypony, I have an idea."

"Wait, really?" Greed said, looking at Fluttershy in surprise "Well, let's hear it." Fluttershy smiled warmly before clearing her throat and facing Sloth.

"Sloth...You said you wanted to go to sleep, right?" Fluttershy asked, to which Sloth slowly nodded. Her smile widened as she took a deep breath before uttering a soft and melodious aria towards Sloth.

"Hush now, quiet now
It's time to lay your sleepy head.
Hush now, quiet now
It's time to go to bed~.
Drifting off to sleep,
Leave the day behind you
Drifting off to sleep,
Let the joy of Dreamland find you~."

As Fluttershy sang her melody, Sloth remained immobile. The others thought that he was merely pausing before he would attack. Meanwhile, Sloth was having his biggest inner struggle yet: Discord's orders or his own desire? He knew in his mind that he had a job to do, but he wasn't all too enthusiastic about it.

Fluttershy's melody wasn't helping his case, as her song was so soothing that he felt his vast reserves of strength escape him, leaving only his aspect as a homunculus to be carried off by the same song. It wasn't long until the group noticed that Sloth began to slowly descend to the ground before curling up and snoring, a nose bubble forming from his muzzle. Greed, for his part, was surprised.

"Well I'll be damned..." He muttered "All it took was a lullaby to beat Sloth, huh?"

"Of course." Twilight said with a smile "While Sloth might've been controlled by Discord, he's still a slacker at heart. All he needed was something to push him away from his mind control."

"Alright, Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash cheered, to which she was instantly shushed by the others, grinning sheepishly "Hehe, sorry..." She whispered.

Applejack and Twilight both trotted up to Sloth and inspected his sleeping form, the former humming to herself while the latter's horn began to glow.

"Guess Ah shouldn't contempt Sloth fer what happened after all this. It was Discord's fault in th' long run, right?" She said to Twilight as she placed her horn on Sloth's forehead and cast her memory spell.

"That's the gist of it. I mean, we weren't so lucky the first time, remember?" Twilight giggled to herself "It was a good thing Princess Celestia helped us out before it all blew out of proportion."

As Twilight and Applejack talked with one another, Rarity stared at them and sighed to herself before stealing a glance towards Lust. After a small period of time, Twilight lifted her head away from Sloth with a content sigh.

"Okay, so Sloth should be back to his normal self once he wakes up." Twilight wiped her forehead with a worn look on her face "That was a tough challenge, if I do say so myself."

"I'll say! I must admit that you surprised me with Fluttershy using music to soothe the savage beast. Most impressive!"

"Spare us your garbage, Discord!" Rainbow Dash snarled as she looked up "We both know you don't mean what you say!"

"You wound me, Rainbow Dash. But then again, you're only half-right. But I digress. Trivia Time~!"

Discord's singsong voice earned the attention of the entire group, save for Sloth.

"Looking at their respective pasts, I cannot tell if Sloth had it the best or the worst. Did you know that he dug the longest underground circular tunnel for over one hundred years? Honestly, I never expected somepony as lazy as him work for that long!"

"Land Sakes" Applejack uttered as she looked over at Sloth with eyes wide as dinner plates.

"It gets better. The tunnel acted as what humans called a transmutation circle needed for Father's ambition! Sloth laid the very foundation for his plans by making that tunnel!"

"I thought you said you couldn't tell if Sloth had it the best or the worst." Pinkie said matter-of-factly.

"I know, right? These homunculi are too much fun! But I shouldn't gush for too long. I couldn't help but notice that your poor Friendship Express has been torn asunder has it not?"

"Yeah, we kind of need it for our next location!" Greed spat angrily as he reverted into his regular form.

"Well, you'll all be happy to know that you're half-way finished with our little game. Heretofore, I'll let you part with two gifts for your efforts thus far."

When Discord's voice faded, there was a brief flash that had covered what remained of the Friendship Express before a much larger train was in its place. Coincidentally enough, it was modeled to look as if Discord had transformed into a train. His head acted as the engine; his wings were found on top of the middle cart; his tail acted as a caboose. The group was not pleased by the train's redesign, even if it was big enough to carry Sloth now.

"Okay, so that's one gift. So where's the other?" Greed asked, to which a scroll appeared in front of him, making him flinch "Son of a..." He murmured irritably. Twilight levitated the scroll towards herself and unraveled it to read its contents.

"You've reached a checkpoint, whoop-de-doo!
And now another clue for you:
From barren lands to darkened woods
Hurry now and collect the goods."

"Darkened woods, huh? Where do you think that'll be?" Greed asked, only to be met with Pinkie raised a hoof, frantically waving it with an ecstatic grin on her face. Greed arched an eyebrow at her "You got something, Pinks?"

"It's the Everfree Forest! You'll never find a darker and more woody area!" Pinkie said jubilantly.

"Seems plausible enough." Lust replied "Do we not know of any other place?"

"I guess this is all we can go by, then." Twilight sighed as she rolled up the scroll. She then looked over at Sloth "We should probably wake Sloth up before we go."

"Leave that t' me, sugarcube!" Applejack said as she climbed atop of Sloth and began hopping up and down his back. To her satisfaction, she heard several disapproved moans from her landings. She hopped off of Sloth and patted him on the head "Good t' have ya back, Sloth. Up an' at 'em now. We gotta get movin'!"

"Moving...What a pain..." Sloth said as he slowly rose up. As he got up, the group noticed Chief Thunderhooves and his small group of buffalo approach the station. They simultaneously bowed their heads in respect.

"We've come to thank you for your efforts in Appleloosa, and wish you the best of luck on your journey." Chief Thunderhooves said as he raised his head "I hope that you may restore balance to this world soon enough."

"No problem." Greed replied "You think you can give Braeburn our regards? We sort of owe him for what we've put him through."

"Of course. May your travels be safe." Chief Thunderhooves replied, to which Greed snorted before laughing, making the buffalo confused.

"Your concern's appreciated, but I'm pretty sure safety's out of the question where we're headed!" He said after his laughing fit, while Twilight shot a look before smiling politely at the buffalo.

"Thank you for your help as well, Chief Thunderhooves. Don't worry, we'll take care of all of this soon enough." Twilight stated calmly. After the group exchanged their goodbyes, the buffalo roamed back into town while Greed and Twilight watched.

"You really should work on your social skills..." Twilight chided with a frown.

"Says the mare with her nose in the book. Besides, I'm not exactly lying, am I?" Greed asked with a smirk. Twilight sighed before smiling at Greed.

"You'll never change, will you?" She asked playfully.

"Guess not." Greed said before looking over at the train, his smirk disappearing "Who do you think they'll send in the Everfree Forest? We're down to Gluttony and Envy now..."

"I'm not sure myself, but I'd hate to see what Discord would actually do to them." Twilight replied, shuddering at the thought of both encounters.

"Well, we'll never know until we get there, right? Let's move." Greed said.

"Right." Twilight replied curtly as she followed Greed and her friends into the new and improved train. Looking inside, they've noticed that while the cart itself was more spacious than before, several things were out of place in the cart's interior, namely the seats, some of which hanging sideways on the walls or upside-down on the ceiling. Needless to say, the entire group was not pleased with the design.

"What is this? The Chaos Express?" Rainbow Dash quipped as she looked around.

"Rather fitting, if I do say so myself." Wrath responded as he surveyed the area as well "We cannot be certain if Discord has any traps placed on this very train to serve as a hindrance to our goals, if not for his own amusement."

"As if I wasn't troubled already..." Shining Armor muttered as he sat down on one of the floor seats.

"Alright, everypony. I'm not as fond of the redesign of the Friendship Express as the rest of you are, but it's all we have to see this whole thing through." Twilight lectured "Our past challenges were hard enough, but the road ahead of us is bound to be worse. It'll be tough, but we have to endure and press on if we're to have any chance of undoing all of this chaos." Wrath sat down on the floor as she smiled at Twilight.

"Spoken like a true leader. Perhaps Princess Celestia saw more in you that I would think of..." He said, to which Twilight blushed in embarrassment.

Before anypony else would decide to talk, the cart's door closed as the train began to move, the wings on the exterior flapping haphazardly. Soon enough, the train was lifted into the air and on a direct course back to Ponyville.

During the flight, Rarity sat with Blueblood on one of the floor seats in silence, the latter looking towards the former in concern.

"Rarity, are you still troubled?" Blueblood asked in concern as he looked upon the fashionista's bereft expression.

"I-..." Rarity paused, before shaking her head "I am. Your words ring true, Blueblood, but it's still hard for me to just pretend this never happened."

"You needn't bring that to my attention, you know." Blueblood said with a wry smile "I only wish for you to remain strong for your friends, Lust included. I, myself, am lucky to even move with this wound in my body." He let off a sigh "If only there were a better way to convince you about this whole ordeal."

"What a pain..."

Blueblood and Rarity noticed Sloth laying next to their seat on the floor, not directly facing them.

"Grudges are a pain...Thinking is a pain..." Sloth nestled his head into his hooves "Too much work...A waste of time..." As they stared upon the lazy behemoth, Rarity and Blueblood smiled to themselves.

"I really do envy Sloth's indolent behavior amidst this crisis, even if it is unbecoming at times." Rarity said "And yet..." She paused, thinking over Sloth's simple words. After a brief moment, she held a look of realization. While it was a traumatizing experience dealing with Lust's sadistic nature, Rarity was reminded that it wasn't right to dwell upon it for too long, especially when somepony else was affected by it more than her.

She had to admit how surprising it was that the very situation was all it took for Blueblood to act more differently than before.

'Can chaos really bring us together?' Rarity thought to herself as she looked at Blueblood, then over at Lust, who sat with Fluttershy and Spike on the floor a couple of feet away from her and Blueblood. Looking back on her previous thoughts, she does remember that despite what had happened, Lust was still a friend to her. Rarity rose from her seat, trotting over to Lust with a look of resolve. The lascivious mare, along with Spike and Fluttershy, noticed her approach.

"Lust..." Rarity began, to which the trio anticipated what would be said next. The fashionista took a deep breath before she continued "As far as our little...episode back in Manehattan, I'm still a little shaken over what has happened between us." She looked away with a penitent face "But in the end, I happened to let that get to me without realizing that you weren't in control at the time..."

"Rarity..." Lust said, her stoic face slowly deteriorating.

"I mustn't let such a thing come between our friendship." Rarity said as she drew out a hoof towards Lust with a hopeful smile "Which is why I wish to not only forgive you, but apologize for how I've acted. I know it'll be rough, especially with Equestria hanging in the balance at the moment, but in time, I'm certain we'll heal any broken bonds between us."

Lust stared at the hoof stretched out to her in disbelief. Here she was, having someone apologize to her and simultaneously forgiving her for misdeeds that were inherently not your fault. Was this what it meant to have friends who cared about you? Lust slowly and reluctantly reached out her own hoof before it touched Rarity's, and just like with Spike, she could feel wetness trickling down from her left eye as she smiled.

"Thank you, Rarity..." She said softly, to which Spike, Fluttershy, and Blueblood were equally touched by the exchange between Rarity and Lust. The others had their own respective expressions of warmth upon noticing the scene for themselves. Meanwhile, Sloth and Rainbow Dash tried looking away from the scene, the latter sneering to herself over the supposed sappiness.

"...What a pain..." They chorused with disapproval.