//------------------------------// // Aftermath // Story: Destined for Chaos // by ChaosknightRB //------------------------------// Aftermath "No!" Chase awoke with a start, his body trembling with emotion. He sighed a breath of relief. It was just a dream...where am I? Looking around him, Chase noticed he was in an unfamiliar place. A dark, dusty room with a steel door and a single barred window which was the only source of light. The cobblestone walls that formed it were cracked and covered with small markings scratched into them. Am I in...jail? As he stood up, Chase felt a stinging sensation on his right cheek. "Uuhg," he groaned. "feels like I got hit by a bus." Shaking his head, he walked over to the window. It was placed only slightly higher than his height. Chase grabbed the bars with his hands. "Let's get a better look at where I am." Pulled himself up, he saw that he was hundreds of feet above the ground. He lowered himself down and sighed. "Less than a week in a world full of talking ponies and I get thrown in jail." This is Costa Rica all over again. "You've never even been to Costa Rica, idiot." A cold voice spoke out. Chase looked around trying to find the source. It sounded familiar, cold and emotionless. "How did you...who are you?" he could see the room was clearly empty apart from himself. "You know full well who I am bearer." The voice answered him. Chase merely stood in the middle of the room with a confused look on his face. "I see, so you don't have any knowledge whatsoever do you?" He just shook his head, now assuming whatever it was could see him. "Great, I get stuck with some moron who doesn't even know what he is. How you managed to pull back is beyond me." The voice gave an annoyed sigh. "This is going to be a long cycle." "Wait, cycle? What are you talking about?" He waited for a response, but nothing came. "What the heck is going on?" Time passed as Chase simply sat down against a wall. Whatever had spoken to him before was now long gone, or at least he hoped it was. From what he guessed it had been a few hours at least. Since he had awoken, the only sound that rang out was the occasional bird from outside. He spent his time is quiet contemplation on the strange mark that had appeared on the back of his right hand. A pair of crossed blades. Simple in design, yet even as nothing more than a red outline they still seemed brutal. You know, this kind of reminds me of those tattoo things that ponies here seem to have. I wonder what it means. Better yet, where did it come from. Chase's mind was filled with questions, questions that needed answers. But for now, all he could do is simply wait. The silence was broken by the sound of steps coming from the other side of the door. He could hear that there was talking between multiple individuals, but they were still too quiet to make out. Until, of course, one had mentioned his name. This is either really good, or really bad. Chase sighed and shrugged. At least something's happening. The talking stopped just outside the door. A loud thud came from the door as it opened slowly, giving way to princess Luna, Twilight, and a four familiar royal guards. They still all look the same. How does that even make any sense? The alicorn stepped into the room, gesturing Twilight to follow suit. As the guards attempted to enter, however, she shook her head. "Please wait outside while we speak with him. We shall be fine." The guards nodded and stepped back, but not before shooting Chase a fierce glare. Geez what's their problem?...oh, right. The heavy door closed, leaving the three of them alone in the room. Chase merely sat with his and Luna's eyes locked. She did not seem angry, nor did she seem particularly pleased. Her expression was a serious one, one that seemed more distressed than anything. The tension in the room was immense. Complete and utter silence had filled the air around them. Minutes would pass with only the quiet stare, neither knowing how to begin. Luna was barely able to let a sound slip from her mouth before Chase could interrupt her. "So, um...I'm guessing we both have questions." A bit taken back by his interruption, she simply nodded. "I guess I'll start then." Chase made sure his focused gaze did not leave Luna's eyes. "What the heck is going on?" Luna let out a short sigh. "Are you aware of what you are?" Chase gave the princess a confused look. Seeing it as an obvious no, she continued. "I see, then would you mind presenting your, um..." Luna made a gesture towards her own hoof. "You mean my hand?" he said raising it. Luna nodded. Chase stood up and walked over to Luna, extending the hand with the symbol on it. With one look at the mark, Luna's expression further worsened. "It would seem that Wrath is in fact part of this cycle." "Cycle?" Chase asked her. "Wait, does this have something to do with that game Discord mentioned?" Luna cringed slightly when she heard the name. "The draconequus treats the matter lightly, as it can only benefit him in the long run." "I've been meaning to ask you about that princess," the young unicorn finally spoke up. "I thought Discord was supposed to be sealed away again. How did he get out?" Luna sighed as she sat down, knowing it would be a long conversation. "It seems that I will have to explain a few things in detail for this to make any sense." Chase and Twilight both sat down, patiently awaiting her story. "The cycle, as I have been referring to, is actually called the Cycle of Balance..." Chaos is neither good, nor is it evil. It merely exists because harmony exists. This world only abides by one law, balance. For every good, there is evil. For every day, there is a night. The same relationship exists between chaos and harmony. Without one, the other simply cannot exist. In this world, harmony has taken precedence over chaos. The Elements of Harmony have been used multiple times within a relatively short time of their existence. This act has caused a huge fluctuation in the balance between chaos and harmony. When the scales have been tipped in such a way, chaos must push back in order to correct the balance. To do this, the Elements of Chaos are created. The Elements only purpose are to fight one another, until only one remains. Each of them gifted with powers from an unknown force, the beings are taken over as they destroy each other. No one knows why they must fight, only that they must. When only one remains, it is said that balance will be restored. The means by which this is done is beyond the knowledge of anypony in Equestria today. Neither the first nor likely the last Cycle of Balance to happen, it has continued on since untold millenia before pony-kind. The last time being just before Discord was originally sealed in stone. The event nearly destroyed Equestria as a whole. "So you're saying I'm one of these Elements of Chaos?" Luna nodded. "That is correct. You are the element of Wrath, to be precise. The element that was formed as the antithesis to kindness." "Right, then why did the other princess disappear? How is she mixed in with all of this?" Luna frowned. "Celestia has been removed from this realm. The last time the Cycle occurred, we had taken it upon ourselves to try and stop it. As a result, she was taken away so that there is no way we could combine our powers again." Twilight was also upset from her mentor suddenly disappearing, but curiosity still got the best of her. "What exactly was it who took her away?" "I don't know." she said shaking her head. "Whatever decides these cycles is the one behind all this. Though who or what it is, I just don't know." Chase scratched the back of his head as his mind tried to process everything. "Yeah, I'm lost. And I don't even know where to begin asking about what I'm supposed to do now." "Princess," Twilight began. "didn't you say that the element takes over the host so they just fight?" Luna looked at her quizzically. "I did, what of of it?" Twilight extended her hoof towards Chase. "Well, look at him. He may have been taken over before, but he seems perfectly fine now." "This was something I noticed as well Twilight." Luna put a hoof to her chin. "Though I do not understand why. In any case, that doesn't change the fact that he exists as he does now. As such, in my sisters absence it falls upon me to decide the fate of this one." Chase tensed up slightly. He was getting a bad feeling about what might happen next. "Generally, I would have you executed for your crimes." The alicorn gave him an intense look, causing a chill to run up his spine. Oh god. I'm going to die aren't I? "However," she began. "It should also be noted that though several guards were killed, they did not remain as such." Luna's expression calmed down slightly. "As a result, it is as though these crimes were never committed in the first place." Chase exhaled in relief. "However," There's more? "As an Element of Chaos, and one of the most dangerous at that, I cannot allow you to simply leave unchecked." Luna looked over to Twilight. "Tomorrow, Chase shall return to Ponyville. Where he will live under the watchful eyes of the Elements of Harmony," Well that's not so bad... "Under the guise of a pony." Dammit!