//------------------------------//
// Chapter 22 
// Story: Giving Chaos 
// by Dirty Bit 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 22


Escaping Oblivion


Lust, Rarity, and Blueblood had trekked towards the clearing where they and the others had dispersed from upon Gluttony's ambush. Their path was erratic, given the many trees in their way, but they were thankfully able to make it back, though Rarity still had to help Blueblood with his trotting. When they came back, they noticed that nothing was out of place, save for large mounds of the forest replaced with razed soil.

"And I thought this place was dreadful before..." Rarity said to herself while shaking her head at the sight.

"A-Are we safe? We don't know who will be next to arrive." Blueblood said as he darted his head around.

"It is wise to remain on your guard, but we may have to move again depending on what happens..." Lust replied. The three unicorns instantly turned their heads to the left as they heard rustling and approaching hoofsteps. They tensed up until they had noticed Applejack, Shining Armor, and Wrath reveal themselves from within the woods.

"Ah, so you're safe as well." Wrath said before looking around "That only leaves the other element bearers, Greed, and Spike." His eyes narrowed as he looked towards the damage caused by Gluttony "This whole ordeal has escalated to astonishing levels."

"We have to find them quickly." Shining Armor said with a serious tone "The remaining element might be important, but our safety comes first."

"Agreed." Lust replied with a curt nod "Let us-"

"Run!"

"That sounded like..." Rarity said before she heard a brief rustle. From another edge of the clearing, Rainbow Dash had bolted into view with Spike in her grasp, with Pinkie and Fluttershy following close behind.

"Hurry up and run already!" Rainbow Dash shouted "Don't stop!" She flew over her friends and across one of the barren trails, to which the others followed after. Spike appeared catatonic as he was curled up in the cyan pegasus' forelegs. When they were a good distance away, yet another edge of the clearing and most of the trees had been instantly engulfed by Gluttony as he looked around, sniffing at the air.

"I know you're around here..." The voracious pony turned to his left after picking up a scent and perked up "There! Come back!" He then resumed his chase, following down the same path the others had followed.

Rainbow Dash could not stop herself as she headed the group while carrying Spike. She noticed how the dragon was still in shock, and she couldn't blame him. They both had that image of their two best friends swallowed whole in the blink of an eye burned into their heads. Sloth was one thing, but Twilight and Greed as well. It wouldn't be long until Gluttony actually devours her along with all of her friends.

It had dawned on the rest of the group that Twilight and Greed were not present, and their hearts had sunk upon the realization; Shining Armor especially. Every part of his being wanted to go back there and teach Gluttony some manners, but he knew that he would compromise Equestria's safety. He was lucky to press on despite his contained anger and sadness.

Lust and Wrath were faring differently, more suited to losing lives, but not without sympathy for who had been lost. Lust looked back at the distant image of Gluttony, narrowing her eyes, then perking up before looking up at Wrath.

"Wrath! I have a plan to immobilize Gluttony!" She called up to him as she began moving towards the right, away from the group as her horn lit up. Wrath looked down before smirking knowingly.

"Say no more..." He said before flexing his wings while he flew and eyeing the trees towards his right. With precision and agility, Lust and Wrath both sliced at the trees; Lust cut at the bottom near the stumps while Wrath had split the falling timber in half.

While they were doing so, Blueblood - who was lucky to keep up with the others for so long - was lagging behind and was close to being crushed by the severed trees. He let off a shriek before he was quickly swept up by Lust after she had finished cutting the trees. While he was thankful, he wasn't happy with feeling more pain in his chest while being bounced on her back.

The large logs behind the group had all fallen and stacked themselves into a pile, causing Gluttony to skid to a halt with an annoyed growl. He inhaled and swallowed up the obstacle in his path, only to see that his prey was now further away from him than before. He stomped angrily before he resumed his chase.

Everypony ran for what felt like an eternity until the group had spotted a light up ahead. They could only assume it was the entrance to Everfree Forest. As they neared it, they all skidded to a halt with dreaded expressions on their faces.

The light that took up the entrance was glowing with a velvet-colored magic aura that appeared in a checkered pattern. There was a wooden sign in front of  the barricade that resembled a stern Discord with a whistle in his mouth, holding a stop sign in his eagle claw while holding out his lion paw in a halting gesture.

"You gotta be kidding me! He's trapped us like rats!" Rainbow Dash shouted in outrage as she leered at the barrier in front of her. She looked down at Spike to see that he still had not reacted since he witnessed Twilight's and Greed's grim fate. She and the others looked back to see Gluttony slowly closing in on them as his ribs danced like the legs of a spider.

"I finally found you...Now I can eat you all at once!" Gluttony proclaimed cheerfully, though was unable to express himself in his current form "So tasty..." The group all huddled together as the voracious abomination closed the distance between them, feeling as if it were actually over. Up until Gluttony instantly stopped and sniffed at the air.

"There's another..." He hissed despite his open mouth and moved his head left and right "Where? Where is it? Who's missing?" He continued sniffing at the air, trying to locate the source. As he turned to his left once more, he noticed a blue mist invade both his vision and his nose. Upon catching the foreign scent, it was so strong that he felt lightheaded and began to sway before finally falling over, blacking out from the powerful mist. He slowly reverted to his regular form while he was unconscious.

Everypony else caught on and instantly covered their mouths and noses. Rainbow Dash made sure to do the same for Spike. Wrath made sure to flap his wings and create a gust of wind that carried the mist off further into the forest. They all instantly turned to their right upon hearing hoofsteps.

The one that stepped into their sight was not a pony, but a zebra mare wearing golden earrings and bands on her neck and left foreleg. Her eyes were turquoise and full of knowledge. She had a cutie mark, though it resembled a tribal drawing of the sun. She heaved a sigh of relief as she looked towards the group as she carried her saddlebag.

"Thank goodness you're all safe and sound.
I figured that you would come around."

"Zecora!" Pinkie chirped with a grin as she hopped over and hugged the zebra "Boy are we glad to see you!"

"That's the one known as Zecora?" Blueblood examined her and turned to Rarity "How does a zebra take residence in one of Equestria's dangerous areas?"

"She has her ways." Rarity replied with a smile. Wrath trotted over to Zecora and gave a curt and polite bow.

"We're in your debt for your assistance. This was a battle that we were close to losing altogether." He said, to which Zecora nodded to Wrath after breaking her embrace with Pinkie.

"It was no problem in the least.
But why has Gluttony become a beast?"

"Discord's th' one who did all o' this." Applejack responded bitterly "He's done taken this game o' his too far!" She took off her hat and placed it on her chest with a sorrowful glance towards Gluttony "He already took away three o' our friends...Twi, Greed, an' Sloth; all three o' them are just restin' in his belly." Zecora's eyes widened.

"I am certain of his appetite,
But what you've told me is not right."

Before Applejack could explain further, she noticed how Shining Armor silently trotted up to Gluttony, a look of pure rage in his eyes. He gritted his teeth as his horn lit up intensely, directing it onto the unconscious homunculus.

"Shining!" Wrath's voice halted his advance as he slowly turned to face the furious pony, who had a hardened gaze of his own "I tell you this as one who represents the very emotion you're portraying: Do not do it. You'll compromise our safety in doing so." He said firmly "I know what he has done to your sister and my brothers, but you shouldn't act so rashly about this."

He expected an angry retort, but he noticed how the aura surrounding Shining's horn began to fade before the magic had been cancelled out. Shining Armor's legs shook before he collapsed at Gluttony's side, looking down at him with his as he still grit his teeth, his eyes hidden under his mane as his body trembled. A tear went down his cheek.

"Twilight..." He uttered "Why? Why did it have to be like this?" Shining got choked up as he continued "Why did this pony have to eat you!?" Fluttershy trotted to his side and rubbed his back, feeling his sadness as well. Pinkie was close to doing the same until she shook her head and puffed her cheeks.

'No! I can't just accept that Twilight, Greed, and Sloth are just gone like that!' She thought to herself 'This game would've been over already...right?'

"I can't believe she just chose to stay back and let it happen..." Rainbow Dash muttered. She noticed how her hooves felt wet and noticed how Spike was shedding tears at the moment, curling himself more as he held onto the cyan pegasus' chest. As they mourned the passing of their friends, Wrath noticed Gluttony's body twitch.

"Everypony, at attention! Gluttony's moving!" He noticed how everypony tensed up and watched the voracious pony's body move more. He trembled even more until he jolted awake, though he was clutching his stomach as he screamed in pain.

This sudden gesture threw the group in confusion. He tried to keep his balance, though he ended up stumbling to his knees and hacked up some blood from his mouth, much to the disgust of the group, save for the homunculi. His stomach ended up expanding and opening as he reared onto his hindlegs, showing the ominous opening from his grotesque form.

Before everypony could consider it Gluttony preparing to attack, the eye in his stomach had opened up slit in its pupil that showed redness from inside while red static had danced around his body. His stomach grew even more until a large blue hoof had appeared from it, followed by another, until a familiar pony finally exited from it, with two more in his wake.

Gluttony stumbled backward on his hind legs as his wounds began to heal, though ended up falling onto his back. Meanwhile, the group gasped at the ponies that have exited the voracious pony's stomach, Spike included.

"Oh...What a pain..." Sloth said as he laid on the ground "...Never again..."

"Took the words right out of my mouth..." Greed muttered as he regained his footing and rubbed his head "You guys alright?"

"I'm fine." Twilight piped up as she stood up herself "What happened? Are we-" When Twilight looked around, she gasped and darted her head "We made it!" Her gaze fell onto the group, and she grinned brightly at them.

"They're back!" Pinkie proclaimed jubilantly before pointing at Twilight's tiara, her smile widening "And Twilight's got the element!"

Spike and Shining Armor stared with widened eyes before they saw fit to approach Twilight and latch onto her, the former bawling as he buried his face into Twilight's chest.

"Twilight! Y-You're okay!" Spike cried as he held onto his sister figure tightly.

"Don't scare us like that again! Do you hear me?" Shining Armor snapped, to which Twilight looked down sadly before nodding to her older brother with a thin smile.

"Promise. It's good to see you again, Shining." Twilight said happily.

"You, too..." Shining Armor said as he hugged Twilight with Spike, tears of joy streaming down his face. The rest of her friends quickly huddled up as well with the exception of Blueblood, Lust, Wrath, Greed, and Sloth. Wrath looked over at Greed.

"However did you manage to escape from Gluttony's stomach?" Wrath asked inquisitively. Greed smirked and pointed at Sloth.

"We got Sloth to thank for that one. You see, when we were inside..."
_____

	Greed and Twilight trotted through the bloodied floor with their horns acting as lanterns while Sloth slowly followed them from behind.

"You're saying you actually found something? And here I thought you were lazy." Greed quipped as he moved on.

"It was right next to me when I woke up..." Sloth rumbled as he tried catching up to the two unicorns "There were too many trees...Trees are a pain..."

"But do you know what it is?" Twilight asked as she looked back at Sloth "What did it look like?"

"...A stick..."

"A stick?" Greed parroted before looking disappointed "Kind of a common thing with trees, big guy..." He deadpanned.

"No...This stick was different..." Sloth explained "Very different..."

"I hope you're right." Greed said "Last thing we want is another wild goose chase."

"Greed, we should at least trust Sloth on this one." Twilight chided lightly "Besides, our last kerfuffle didn't last long."

"That's because you decided to scare us by getting eaten." Greed shot back "But you're right. We gotta expect the unexpected sooner or later. It's like I always say..." Twilight smiled as she knew the next phrase, deciding to join Greed.

"There's no such thing as no such thing." The two unicorns chorused before sharing a chuckle.

"What a pain..." Sloth moaned in complaint. He looked up ahead and noticed a display of fallen trees "We're here..."

"Good. Let's get to it, then." Greed said in determination as he galloped towards the trees, Twilight following suit. Sloth merely continued his sluggish pace without a care.

"Hmm..." Greed diligently scanned around the wading trees and scratched his head when nothing had turned up "Hey, Sloth. Do you remember where you saw this stick you were talking about?"

"It was around here...That's all I know...I don't remember..." Sloth rumbled.

"What do you mean you don't remember?" Greed asked in outrage "Something like what you were talking about shouldn't be hard to miss!"

"You were noisy...I followed your voice...Memory is a pain..." Sloth replied, to which Greed groaned.

"Of course; you have a one-track mind. You were more focused on Twilight and I, and you just forgot where your so-called stick was..." Greed shook his head "This could be a problem."

"Umm, Greed?" Twilight said, earning his attention as she stared at something interesting "I think I found what Sloth was talking about."

"Really?" Greed galloped over to Twilight's side and noticed her staring at an orange pole that stuck out in the water with a small sign on the top that said 'Pull me'. Greed stared at it before pointing a hoof "How long as that been there? I don't remember seeing it in the forest."

"I think I have a good idea who placed it there..." Twilight said suspiciously with a frown "Looks like the game's not over until he says so..." It wasn't long until Greed understood Twilight's comment and nodded.

"Yeah...You're right." Greed looked over at Sloth slowly approaching the two and waved a hoof "Come on, Sloth! We found your stick!"

"What a pain..." Sloth finally reached them and stared at it "Oh...over there..."

"Alright. Is everypony ready?" Twilight asked, to which Greed nodded while Sloth stood still "Okay, here we go..." Using her magic, she got a grasp on the pole and tugged it towards herself. The pole surprisingly leaned forward easily as if it were some kind of lever. After a large clank was heard, a small ball of light appeared in front of the three ponies. They stared at it until it suddenly expanded, turning their world white...
_____

"And here we are." Greed concluded with a smile "Guess this game's more important to Discord than we thought."

"Indeed..." Wrath replied as he looked down pensively "Normally, I'd expect him to just eliminate us with relative ease, but he really is enjoying himself too much to have us lose so quickly."

"Well, we're not exactly familiar with this guy. He's nothing like our old man." Greed frowned "And oddly enough, I don't even like it..." He looked at the group of ponies huddled together, then over at Gluttony, who was getting up with a ravenous look in his eyes "Shit!" The others caught on as well as they backed away.

Before Gluttony could think to pounce, he was met with another blue mist sent his way, instantly knocking him out as he accidentally sniffed at it. The group then let off sighs of relief as Twilight chose to approach Gluttony's unconscious form and cast her spell. Greed looked over at the zebra mare with his interest piqued.

"Hey, how did you do that? Never seen a trick like that for as long as I've known you!" Greed complimented, to which Zecora smirked and fished out a blue powdered substance in her saddlebag.

"My sleeping powder is a trusted item.
I use it on creatures, rather than fight them."

"I see." Greed said as he eyed the hoof ful of powder before looking at Zecora "Speaking of beasts. You wonder why there aren't any at the moment?" the zebra's smile vanished as she shook her head.

"I believe it has something to do with this air.
This ominous feeling that acts without care."

"Oh! Are you talking about me, perhaps?"

"Discord..." Greed hissed as he glared at the sky. Meanwhile, Zecora was both curious and troubled by the voice that echoed in the sky.

"I must say, you've taken quite a while to finally understand the second hint. At least you already acted upon it and got the element. Since you've finally triumphed, I believe it's time for some trivia, including why Gluttony looked so monstrous."

"Ah don't even know if I wanna hear this..." Applejack said as she looked at the sleeping pony with a frown.

	"Gluttony's appetite knows no bounds. In fact, like you've just seen, he'll actually eat living beings. But the reason behind his voracious nature was because his dear little daddy wanted to turn him into what he called a 'Gate of Truth'."

'Gate of Truth?' Greed's eyes widened 'The old man must've lost it thinking he would accomplish that on his own!'

"Of course, the poor man failed, thus leaving Gluttony to send anything he eats in his other form into some realm that exists between reality and fiction. Kind of like a darker purgatory, if anything. So as you can see, this little walking butterball is doomed to insatiable hunger, making sure to go leaps and bounds to make sure that he gets a good meal whenever possible."

"A Gate of Truth?" Twilight wondered "What do you suppose that was all about?"

"You know how Father wanted to become one with God?" Greed asked "Well, he needed a gate in order to reach him, even if it meant manipulating Gluttony or making a giant transmutation circle. Of course, the old man acted on the second option the moment he failed..." Greed shook his head "I wanted that power for myself, but I obviously was dumb enough to know what I really wanted."

"Friendship." Twilight said, approaching Greed and pecking his cheek with a smile "I think you made the right choice back then." The avaricious pony smirked.

"I'll wake Gluttony up!" Pinkie said as she dug into her mane and fished out a cupcake, to which Blueblood grimaced at the gesture.

"How long was that resting in her mane!?" He asked in disgust.

"It's a habit of hers, as unsanitary as it is." Rarity said with a roll of her eyes. Meanwhile, Pinkie waved the cupcake over Gluttony's nose, which twitched and inhaled the luscious scent before he woke up and opened his mouth wide. Pinkie instantly retracted her hoof as Gluttony sunk his teeth and chewed on the cupcake before swallowing it and blinking.

"Huh? Where am I?" He looked over at Pinkie and grinned "Pinkie, it's you!" He then noticed Lust approach him with a smile and gasped "Lust! Lust, you're here!" Gluttony hugged both mares tightly, happy to see them again.

Shining Armor looked at Gluttony before he took a deep breath and shook his head. He had to remember that Discord was the reason Gluttony was acting so monstrous before.

"I'm so glad to see you all! All I remembered was being held by Discord with Envy." Gluttony said as he looked around, then noticed Blueblood and glared "What is he doing here?" Blueblood whimpered and backed away.

"Now now, Gluttony..." Lust said as she patted Gluttony's head "Blueblood will not be a bother to you or anypony else. In fact, he's a lot nicer than you last seen him."

"Listen to Lust, darling. She's telling the truth, you know." Rarity said with a reassuring smile. Gluttony only huffed with a scrunchy face directed at the prince.

"I just realized something..." Spike said as he rubbed his chin "So far, we have five elements." He looked up at the group with a glimmer in his eyes "We're almost done with this thing! All we gotta do is find-"

"Envy..." Rainbow Dash interrupted grimly as she looked down at the ground "Which means this is gonna be even tougher than this challenge." She murmured in melancholy.

"Rainbow..." Twilight frowned at Rainbow Dash's visible sadness. Before she could comfort her, she noticed a scroll appear in front of her. Catching it with her magic, she unraveled it and read its contents aloud for everypony.

"Isn't it grand? You've done so well!
Now here's another hint I'll tell:
Canyons so tall, with space so wide.
Beware of what may lurk inside."

"Canyons? But does that mean we'll have to go back to the desert?" Greed asked as he cocked his head to the side.

"Far from it." Wrath said "Perhaps we'll have to head for the badlands."

"It's neither of those places..." Rainbow Dash said neutrally as Greed and Wrath looked at her "I've already been there; it's Ghastly Gorge. I can't think of another dangerous place."

"What, you mean you haven't been to Tartarus?" Greed asked with a grin "Because let me tell you, that place is dangerous..."

"Isn't that the place where you held that race with all the animals?" Fluttershy asked before she fidgeted her hooves "I hope we won't have to run into any quarry eels..."

"Guess this means we'll have to backtrack into the forest and look for our train, won't we?" Spike asked. A rumbling shook the group until a train horn was heard. They all turned down the path to see something come towards them while plowing through the trees. To avoid getting caught in the destructive path, they moved out of the way to see that it was the train that rolled their way, stopping right in front of the barricade. The engine then kissed the sign in front of the barricade, and caused the both of them to disappear.

"Sheesh..." Greed said as he got up and stared at the train "That was too weird, even for me..."

"Tell me about it." Rainbow Dash said as she flew down and landed beside the door "Well, we better get moving now, since our train is here."

"She's right." Twilight said "We're almost done, and we can't afford to waste any time now." She looked over at Zecora with a smile "Thank you so much for your help, Zecora. We couldn't have done all of this without you." Zecora only waved a dismissive hoof with a warm smile.

"It was indeed my pleasure to assist.
But, you must press on and end all this."

"Believe me, we will." Twilight said in determination before trotting next to Greed "Shall we?"

"You got it." Greed replied as he trotted into the train with the others, but not without waving goodbye to Zecora.

When everyone had boarded, the train proceeded to ride out of the forest's entrance before setting off into the sky. Zecora watched the train disappear into the distance before she narrowed her eyes with conviction.

"My friends, do what needs to be done.
See to it that this battle is won..."


End of Chapter 22