//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Embracing Chaos // by Smjames //------------------------------// Embracing Chaos Chapter 3 “You quit the Wonderbolts!?” The purple alicorn’s scream rang out through the throne room louder than the Ponyville bell tower being rung by an especially enthusiastic Pinkie Pie. Taking a moment to rub her ears with her feathers Dash rolled her eyes at Twilight and said sarcastically, “Uh, yeah Twi. I literally just said that.” “I… But… WHY?” Twilight stammered uncomprehendingly. “Why would you quit the Wonderbolts?” She started pacing back and forth as she went on, her wings twitching erratically as she walked. “It’s been your dream to fly with them since before the day I met you! What could possibly cause you to give up on that after you finally made it in? It just makes no sense. I mean I know flying back and forth across Equestria without a break isn’t easy — by Luna’s shining stars do I know it ain’t easy — but that can’t have been enough to force you to quit. But what else could it be? Were the stunts not impressive enough for you? Were the crowds not respectful enough? I just don’t understa—” Twilight snapped out of her rant as she felt one of Rainbow’s wings lightly smack her across the back of her head. She turned around to see Rainbow bearing a frustrated look as she said, “If you would just sit still and listen for a second Twilight maybe I could explain!” Twilight could feel her checks reddening a bit. “Eh heh, sorry Rainbow.” She dragged over two of the chairs her friends had been previously using and clambering onto it. “I’ll just sit here and listen quietly.” Rainbow looked skeptically back at Twilight as she fluttered up into her own chair. “Wonder how long that will last?” she muttered near silently to herself as she settled in. “All right. ‘Splaining time.” Rainbow blew out a breath and rolled her hooves through her mane as she tried to figure out where to start. “So you remember what I was like when we first met? How braggy and boasty I was and how I didn’t care about anything other than the Wonderbolts?” Twilight nodded and said, “You were just a little bit obsessed with them back then.” Rainbow looked back with an eyebrow raised and asked, “That’s an understatement if I ever heard one Twilight. Before I met you girls the Wonderbolts were the only thing I thought about. Everything else was just a distraction. Job, friends, anything that wasn’t practicing my stunts was a waste of time and not worth the effort.” Twilight winced at the harsh appraisal her friend had of herself. “You weren’t that bad Dash. I mean you would never have become the Element of Loyalty if you didn’t care about other ponies.” “Yeah I guess so,” Rainbow said with a slight smile. “But I was still pretty obnoxious.” She paused as she turned to Twilight and asked, “That was the right word, right?” “Yes, that’s correct,” Twilight said while giggling. It had been so long since she had seen Rainbow that she had almost forgotten about her friend’s efforts to improve her vocabulary. As Dash’s obsession with the Daring Do series grew she had been faced with the dilemma of repeatedly running into words she was unfamiliar with. Her solution to that problem had been to constantly badger Twilight into telling her what they meant, to the point where even the studious alicorn became a bit upset. Twilight had eventually all but forced Dash to start reading a thesaurus, an effort that Dash had taken to surprisingly well. Ever since then it had become a bit of a running joke between them, one that brought Twilight no end of amusement. “Some might say you’re still a bit obnoxious. In a charming way,” she added snidely. “Yeah, ha ha,” Rainbow responded while poking Twilight in the stomach. “And you’ve been gaining weight. Are you still going out to fly every day like I told you before I left?” Now it was Twilight’s turn to be embarrassed. “Of course I am,” she said as with as much certainty as she could muster. Dash didn’t appear to be the least bit fooled, one of her eyebrows raised questioningly. Twilight’s eyes shifted back and forth as she clarified, “Well most of the time.” “Oh really?” Rainbow asked suspiciously. “Ok then.” She leaned in close and stared Twilight down, asking, “When was your last flight?” Twilight cringed under the gaze, confidence slowly faltering. “Uuhh…” “Weeell?” Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Magic and defeater of such terrifying threats as the unreformed Discord and the monstrous Tirek, finally quailed under the glare of one of her best friends. “Two… two weeks ago.” Rainbow rolled her eyes as she retreated to her chair. “Why am I not surprised? Figures becoming the head egghead would make you completely forget about physical stuff.” Twilight pursed her lips before saying, “Weren’t we talking about why you quit the Wonderbolts?” Rainbow’s face immediately fell, causing Twilight to regret her wording just a bit. “Yeah. That. Well just imagine this. Imagine me without any of the nice stuff that makes me your friend, focused purely on training and willing to do anything to win, even if it hurts other ponies. Now imagine an entire team made up of nothing but that!” Twilight gaped at Rainbow in openmouthed disbelief. “All… all of them?” “Yep,” Rainbow answered monotonously. “Remember that one recruit back in Wonderbolts training I told you about, Lightning… something or other? Turns out she would have fit in with the Wonderbolts way better than I did.” “But she was the one who was almost let us all DIE just to complete some stupid stunt!” Twilight objected instantly. “And the one who almost made me quit the Wonderbolts before I was even really a member.” Rainbow’s face became melancholy as she continued, saying, “Maybe it would have been better if I had quit then, not wasted some much time.” Twilight winced, immediately trying to find some way to lighten her friend’s mood. “Well, what about Spitfire, the team captain? She seemed to be pretty nice when I met her several years ago for that waterspout endeavor. And Soarin was really courteous to Applejack when she was selling deserts at our first Gala.” Rainbow reluctantly nodded. “Yeah Spits is alright for the most part, kinda stern sometimes but that’s just a part of her job, ya know? And Soarin is totally chill about everything, in it for the fun and the fans. Even if he does tend to fly into stuff when the fanfillies are cheering for him,” Dash said a chuckle. “The big dufus.” “See,” Twilight pointed out. “At least some of the Wonderbolts are friendly.” “Two ponies can’t make up for everything, Twilight,” Rainbow said sternly. “Especially not with how the rest of them act. They’re always arguing with each other about how they are obviously the best and that they’re stuck carrying the whole team on their backs. None of them are friends with each other. Heck, I’m surprised they can even stand being in the same room for more than a few seconds.” With a single pair of wing beats Rainbow lifted off her chair and started fluttering back and forth in her rant. “Whenever Applejack and I had our competitions we were always doing them as friends, just teasing and joking with each other for a few laughs. In the time I’ve been on the team five fights have broken out. Five! And these weren’t just disagreements or nothing; these were full on brawls. If you had been there you’d swear those idiots were trying to kill each other.” “But that’s not the worst part. The worst part is that they somehow have Spits completely fooled about the whole thing. Every time shows up during one of their ‘arguments’,” she paused in back and forth movement to flutter her wings in an air quotes motion, “they’ll just stop whatever they’re doing and pretend nothing was happening. They know Spitfire will suspend them if they get caught so whenever she’s around they’re all on their best behavior, but as soon as she’s gone then Bam! They’re right back at it again.” Twilight’s frown had been growing more and more pronounced as Rainbow’s story went on. “Have you tried reporting these fights to Spitfire directly?” Her anger spent Dash slowly settled back down into her chair, saying, “What am I supposed to do, report the entire squad? There wouldn’t be a team left if every jerk was put on the sidelines. Besides, once I saw the first fight and objected the rest of them told me to keep it to myself or else.” Twilight’s hoof flew up to her muzzle to suppress a gasp. “They actually threatened you? They didn’t try to hurt you did they?” “Don’t worry about it Twi,” Dash said calmly. “After facing down manticores, changelings, and bugbears it’ll take a lot more than a room full of arrogant pegasi to take me on.” “Well then what was stopping you from reporting them?” Twilight asked. Sadness returned to Rainbow’s face for her answer. “I wasn’t scared that they’d hurt me so much as they’d do something to get me kicked out. I… I was still so new to team. I didn’t want to take any risks.” Twilight nodded understandingly, then softly flew over to her friend’s side and drew Dash into a comforting hug. “I understand Rainbow. Being a Wonderbolt was your dream and you didn’t want to lose it. That’s nothing to be ashamed of.” Rainbow quickly returned the hug, saying, “Thanks Twilight. I figured you’d understand.” With a final pat on the shoulder Twilight smiled at her friend and retreated back to her chair before signaling Rainbow to continue. “Anyway, after that first fight I tried to ignore the others’ hostilities and just focus on being a part of the team. Spreading the magic of friendship and all that stuff you’re always blabbing about.” Rainbow waggled her eyebrows at Twilight and only got an eye roll in return. “And at first I thought it was working. The team wasn’t fighting as much and I made a few friends with the other newbies. But that changed very quickly the second I made the mistake of trying to move up in the ranks.” Twilight’s brow furrowed as she prepared herself for the worst. “What happened?” Rainbow gave a heavy sigh and fell back against her chair. “It was our third show of the season up in Las Pegasus in the cloud stadium they have there. It’s pretty cool, but the one up in Cloudsdale is better. Anyway, the team had just started practice when Spits noticed that one of the flight leads, Barrel Roll, was missing. We spent about an hour looking for him but he was nowhere to be found so Spits had to start looking for a replacement. Soarin suggested me before any of the others could volunteer, and Spits decided to give me a chance at some leadership.” “Were you nervous?” Twilight asked with a curious smile. “Me? Nervous?” Rainbow loudly scoffed. “Just who the hay do you think you’re talking to? I’m never nervous. So what that this would be my first time leading a difficult routine in front of crowd of thousands of ponies? It was no big deal.” Twilight merely smirked at her friend’s bravado and replied, “So you were nervous.” Rainbow pretended to be offended a little longer then let it go with a cheeky grin. “Eh, just a little bit. It would be tough but I knew I could handle it. Spits wouldn’t have given me the job if I couldn’t.” “No she wouldn’t,” Twilight agreed. “So how did the show go? Did the team give you any problems?” “Nope,” Rainbow said proudly. “Whole thing went off without a hitch. I lead the team through the whole routine no problem, and the crowd just ate it up. Spits was so impressed she said she would think about having me bumped up to flight lead pretty soon. It was one of the best days of my life.” Her smile faded a bit as the she continued. “Somehow part of me knew it wouldn’t last.” Twilight frowned, the weight of her friend’s mood dragging her down with it. “Rainbow…” Dash shook her head to clear out the morose thoughts and continue the story. “So right there, right at the highlight of my day who should show up but that featherhead Barrel Roll. Guess what happened to him? That moron spent the whole night before at some party and got so drunk he completely forgot we were heading out the next day. He didn’t even wake up until noon! Feathering noon! And as soon as he gets to the stadium he has the gall to start yelling at me for taking his position. The position he was totally absent from to begin with!” Twilight pursed her lips in distaste. “Either he is really stupid or really arrogant to not see the hypocrisy there.” “It’s both, trust me on that one.” Rainbow grew a bit of a smile on her face as she spoke the next bit. “But it was mostly stupid at the time cause he made the mistake of shouting at me while Spits was nearby. As soon as she knew it was him she rushed over and really tore him a new one for what he did. I haven’t seen a pony cowering that badly since that time Lyra broke a Pinkie Promise. Dereliction of duty, disgracing the team, she really let him have it. And this was all in public by the way. By the end he was shaking in his suit and Spits decided to suspend him for the rest of the season.” Twilight tilted her head in confusion as she said, “Well that doesn’t sound so bad. Sure he was a jerk but he got what he deserved in the end and you proved yourself as a capable leader.” “Yeah I know. Sounds awesome right? That’s what I thought at the time. What I didn’t realize was that everypony else on the team was there as well, and some of the older guys didn’t like what was happening.” Rainbow’s face became downcast as she narrated the events that followed. “That night Spits and Soarin took me out to this really cool restaurant to celebrate the day, and while we were gone the older team members, the ones who were causing trouble all the time, started spreading around a whole bunch of lies to my friends. They said stuff like ‘she’s only moving up cause she’s friends with the Cap’, and ‘she tricked Barrel into being late so she could take his place.’ Stuff like that.” Twilight felt the beginnings of tears in her eyes. “Oh Rainbow…” “By the time we got back the damage had been done. All the work I’d done to try and make friends was totally wrecked. None of them would do so much as look at me if Spits wasn’t around, and every time she did something to recognize my achievements they just got worse. It didn’t matter what I did after that. All they could see me as was this over-ambitious filly with friends in high places. It… it got really hard to enjoy the flying when the guys I’m flying with couldn’t stand to be around me.” “Rainbow, that’s…” Twilight paused to cover up some crying sniffs, “that’s horrible.” “Yeah,” Rainbow agreed despondedly. “It was pretty rough. But you wanna know the worst part? The whole time this was going on I was still getting letters from you girls about what you all were up to. Fluttershy’s vet clinic expanding, Rarity opening another shop in Canterlot, Applejack still working the farm, you and your whole school thing, and Pinkie Pie’s… whatever she was doing. Each time I got a letter it felt like I was getting a glimpse of the life I’d left behind. Of what I was missing. You girls are my best friends in the whole world, ponies I’d traveled across Equestria with and saved the planet with multiple times. And this was what I gave being with you for? Hanging around with a bunch of flankholes who hated me for something I wasn’t? That royally sucked.” Twilight had to fight the urge to rush forward and hug her friend again, refraining and saying instead, “We missed you too Rainbow. Every day you were gone.” She paused as Rainbow smiled back at her and gave a grateful nod. “So what made you finally decide to quit?” Rainbow blew out a puff of air, trying to send all of her negative thoughts and memories off with it. “It was last week, when I got your letter about your school’s grand opening. I’d already been tossing the idea around for a while so when I saw your invitation I was like, ‘Ya know what? Buck this! If these guys don’t want me around then fine. I’m gonna go and support the dream of one of my real friends, cause that what friends are supposed to do.’ And I’ll never leave one of my friends hanging. No matter what.” Now Twilight didn’t bother to hold back the tears as she again moved forward and caught her friend in a massive hug. “And you never have. Thanks for being here Rainbow, and I’m sorry you had to go through all that.” “That’s okay Twi,” Rainbow said as she returned the hug unreservedly. “It wasn’t your fault the Wonderbolts aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. It was just a lifelong obsession/dream. I’m sure I’ll get over it.” “And we’ll be here to help you do that,” Twilight assured. “All of us.” The two friends held each other close for a while, just enjoying being together again after so many months apart. “So,” Twilight finally said after the two broke apart at last, “you were asking about a teaching position?” Rainbow nodded and rubbed the back of her head with slight embarrassment. “Yeah, I was. I figured since I was heading this way anyway I’d see if I could get a job here. I mean, I could always go back to being weather manager in Ponyville, but I think I should try doing something else for a while. Broaden my horizons and whatnot.” Twilight smiled brightly and said, “That sounds like a wonderful idea Rainbow. Learning and doing new things is never a bad idea, and I’m sure you will be an excellent teacher.” “How do you figure that Twi?” Rainbow asked with a skeptical look on her face. “Oh don’t act surprised Dash,” Twilight responded confidently. “I’ve seen you be a great leader to foals and adults alike. Coaching the CMC on their routine for the Equestrian Games, taking charge of Ponyville’s competitors for the games and for the waterspout creation. You have quite the skill with holding ponies’ attentions and encouraging them to do their best, two of the most important characteristics of a good teacher. Actually teaching the material should be a piece of cake after that.” Rainbow looked thoughtful at the observation, tapping her hoof to her muzzle for a moment before a gentle smile appeared on her face. “Yeah, heh, I guess you’re right. Never really thought about it like that before. So what kind of teaching would I be doing?” Twilight warped over to her desk and started shuffling through some papers while saying, “To be honest Rainbow you could take over the positions of most of the pegasi classes in you wanted to. Basic and advanced flight instruction, cloud management and creation, physical training. You’ve got so many different talents it would be hard to pick just one for you to teach.” Rainbow grinned and shined her hoof on her chest proudly. “Yeah, I guess I’m pretty awesome like that. Oh hey could you make sure I have some spare time after school so I can coach the hoofball team? That’d be, like, twice the level of awesome.” Behind her mound of papers Twilight suddenly froze in place, her eyes fixedly gazing off blankly into the walls. “Hoofball team?” she parroted in a hushed whisper. “Yeah, the hoofball team,” Rainbow confirmed as she hovered over to Twilight. “Every really big school has one, Twi, even an egghead like you should know that.” She then caught the strained smile Twilight had on her face and put two and two together in her head. “You do have a hoofball team right?” A shake of Twilight’s head was her answer. “A physical education class?” Rainbow said in a worried tone. Another no. “Do you even have a sports department at all!?” Twilight’s left eye twitched heavily as she said, “Opps?” “OPPS!” Dash cried out angrily. “How do you ‘opps’ an entire part of a school’s curriculum?! EVERY school has a sports department Sparkle! Every! Single! One! How in the feathering hay could you forget that?!” “It never came up,” Twilight said in an attempt at an excuse. “I was so focused on the classroom education it just never occurred to me. And to be fair nopony else remembered it either!” Rainbow groaned and smacked her head down onto Twilight’s desk; ironically enough in the same spot Twilight had been doing so earlier. “I can’t believe this. Like, I seriously am having trouble understanding this at all right now.” “Don’t worry Rainbow, we can still fix this!” Twilight said desperately as she started clearing her desk and grabbing up blank sheets for notes. “We still have some time before the school year starts. I’ll just have to stay up for the next few nights getting teachers and funding and everything and it’ll be fine! NO NEED TO WORRY!” Small strands of Twilight’s mane started to poke up as her twitching accelerated. Dash pulled back a bit in concern as she recognized the onset of a panic attack in her friend. “Whoa there Twilight, calm down. You’re already super busy with all this other school stuff. You should have someone else manage all the sports stuff so you don’t, you know, go crazy or anything.” Twilight paused, taking several long and measured breathes while using her magic to straighten out her mane. “You’re right Rainbow. There’s too much on my plate already for me to be able to focus on a development this big. Delegation would be for the best.” Twilight paused in thought before gaining a delighted grin. “And that’s why I’m making you head of the sports department.” Dash let out a sigh of relief and said, “Glad to see you’re seeing reason and not letting yourself freak out again. So what sort of pony are you look… Wait, you want ME to do all of that?!” “You’re the most applicable pony I have available at short notice,” Twilight explained rationally. “You know sports the best out of anypony I know and have contacts with all sorts of groups because of your time with the Wonderbolts. I’m sure you can manage this no problem. Plus you have lots of management experience being the Ponyville weather manager. You’re perfect for the job.” Dash looked at her friend with a mix of surprise and awe. “You… you really think that I can do all of this for you? You’d trust me with it?” Twilight simply nodded and said, “Yes Rainbow. I know you are more than capable of do this. There’s nopony I’d rather trust with this right now.” Rainbow smiled gratefully at Twilight, rubbing her eyes to clear out the tears DIRT that was in them. “Th… thanks Twilight. That means a lot to me.” Twilight sat back and let Rainbow have her sensitive moment, quietly shuffling her desk back into order while she waited. Finally Rainbow got a hold of herself and announced, “Don’t worry, Twi. By the time I’m done this place will have the best dang sports department in all of Equestria, guaranteed.” She paused as a loud grumbling echoed from her stomach. “After I get some lunch. Can’t keep on being awesome on an empty stomach. Wanna come with me Twi?” Twilight giggled but shook her head. “Sorry Rainbow but not just yet. I still have a little bit more paperwork to do. I’ll be down in a few minutes.” Rainbow stuck out her tongue and gagged. “Ugh, paperwork. The worse part of any job ever. Good luck with that. See you in a bit.” “Bye Dash. I’ll be done soon.” With that the pegasus waved to her friend and flew out the door, remembering courtesy enough to shut the door behind her. Twilight settled back down at her desk, sighing contentedly as she sat down. She bore a wide smile on her face, her chest still warmed from seeing her friends again after so long. She was just about to get back to work on looking over her schedules when she felt a light prickling down the back of her neck. She was being watched. Something else was in the room with her. Rather than give any visual indication of her realization Twilight took another calming breath and lifted up her pen in her magic before setting to work signing and marking the various papers on her desk. While she worked she subtly started scanning the room around her, using her lifting of the pen to disguise the spell. Doing both activities at the same time was difficult, but Twilight wasn’t Celestia’s star pupil for nothing. Unfortunately the throne room’s cavernous size made the scan take longer than she would have wanted. She had already finished the last of her paperwork and had to resort to looking over her older papers by the time she finally located the intruder, and when she sensed who it was she had to resist the urge to smash her head against the desk again. “Enjoying yourself up there Discord?” A sudden and explosively loud pop sounded in front of Twilight’s desk, the draconeques appearing with guffawing laughter and leftover bits of popcorn kernels sticking to his fur. “Oh immensely, my dear Twilight. Truly, few things can be as engaging as watching the events that transpire around you.” Twilight narrowed her eyes at Discord. “I don’t really recall giving you permission to pop into my office and listen in on my conversations.” Discord recoiled, bending his snake-like body into a loop before unwinding with a whoosh. “Oh Twilight, you wound me. To think that you would suspect me of such a heinous act as that, after all we’ve been through together.” Twilight rolled her eyes and asked plainly, “Fine then. If you weren’t listening in on my talk with my friends then what exactly were you doing hiding up in the rafters?” “Oh that’s quite simple really,” Discord said as he poofed some roof tiles into his paws. “I was eavesdropping.” He left the tiles fall out of his hands to float feather-like down to the floor. Given that her forehead was still shining red from the last few hours of abused she’d heaped upon it Twilight opted to not smack her desk with her face again. Instead she merely closed her eyes and counted to ten, willing herself to think of anything other than her urge to blast Discord with a tickle spell and leave it on for a few days. “Well then, while you were listening… Sorry, eavesdropping, did you happen to hear what Rainbow said her teammates did to her?” “Indeed I did,” Discord said, his voice tinged with a hint of menace Twilight had not heard since his first release. “And speaking of which, would you, my dearest headmaster, be willing to let me take a short vacation before school starts? I have a few things to take care of around Equestria. Throw a few parties, sell more of my merchandise, take out the trash, things like that.” Twilight sighed. “I’m sorry Discord, but as tempting as the offer is I can’t let you do that. The actions of the Wonderbolts are quite frankly disgusting and entirely unprofessional, but regardless of that they are still representatives of Equestria and having them be turned into piles of garbage and thrown into the dump would reflect badly on the country as a whole. So for now I must ask you to hold off on your pranking revenge.” Discord folded his arms over his chest and grumbled, even forming an extra pair of arms to show his full level of annoyance. “Very well Princess Sparkle. I shall refrain from enacting my personal brand of chaotic justice. I am not surprised you would be so reluctant to… wait did you say ‘for now’?” “I did,” Twilight answered. “While you assaulting the Wonderbolt team members is unacceptable, I am perfectly capable of striking back at them in the way that hurts them most. I may not have any physical evidence of wrongdoing, but Rainbow’s testimony is more than enough to instigate a full investigation into the team and their activities, which if there is any truth to Rainbow’s story will mean we can bring the whole group down.” She grew an almost predatory smile as she said, “And once they are no longer members of the Wonderbolts…” Discord, Spirit of Chaos and absolute master of improvisation, could not do anything other than gape at Twilight in shock. Eventually he managed to find some words, saying, “My, my, this is a surprise. Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship and leader of the Elements of Harmony asking me, Discord, to work my magic on some of her precious ponies? What is Equestria coming to?” Discord paused in his grandstanding and turned to look more seriously at Twilight. “Are you certain you wish to trust me with this Twilight? I recall you were having some serious doubts about my trustworthiness with simply being a teacher.” “Yes, I’m sure you had a great view of my ‘uncertainty’ up on the ceiling,” Twilight snarked while applying a light pain removal spell to her forehead now that she was thinking about it. “But no doubt you also heard my friends saying that I should give you a chance to prove your trustworthiness. Consider this another part of such a chance.” Her face became stoney and harsh as she said, “No one harms my friends in such a way and gets away with it for free.” Discord’s smirk grew proud and evil as he said, “On that, my dear, you and I are in complete agreement.” “I do have some rules for you though,” Twilight announced. “Be entirely certain that the ones you target were the ones causing the issues in the first place. There will be no permanent or debilitating injuries for any of them, regardless of how far they went. And absolutely no mind altering. My friends’ tales of that are horrible enough to listen to. I wouldn’t wish that sort of treatment on anypony, not even one like Sombra.” Discord nodded, his tail taking notes on the back of his head as he listened. “Fair enough, Sparkle. You do realize this still leaves me a lot of leeway to have my fun?” “Well aware,” she answered plainly. “Just because I don’t want them hurt doesn’t mean I don’t want them to suffer. Just not more than they deserve.” Twilight smiled and said, “Anyway, now that that is settled do you have your class schedule on you?” Discord smirked and snapped his fingers, a small box appearing in front of Twilight. She looked down at the box skeptically. “A box? How does this have your schedule in it?” “Flashcards,” Discord answered happily. “And don’t worry Miss Sparkle, they are indeed in the correct order.” Twilight blinked at the box, having a bit of doubt about the idea of Discord being orderly but shrugged and accepted the box. “Perfect,” she said cheerfully. “That’s one less thing to worry about then. Thank you Discord.” She paused and mulled her words over for a moment. “For some reason it feels really strange to say that.” “Oh I quite agree,” Discord said with an amused look. “It is just as odd for me to hear, but pleasant all the same. If that is all, I shall be off to wreak some glorious little havoc.” “Hold on a moment Discord. I have a question.” Discord obligingly stopped in place, holding on to a bar hanging above him as he stood by. “What exactly did Pinkie do to you for breaking the Pinkie Promise?” Discord froze in place. Literally, as chunks of frost formed over his fur and his limbs were covered in blocks of ice. Twilight rolled her eyes and lit up a heat spell, her magenta aura surrounding Discord and quickly melting the ice away. Even after he was freed though he was still shivering, and it seemed to have little to do with his low temperature trip. “There are many things mortal beings should never have to witness in their lifetimes; things that would scar the mind forever and drive most insane. Tis rare indeed for an immortal like myself to afflicted in such a way. For your own sake, please, do not ask me this question again. And pray to your mentor that you never do something to invoke the pink one’s ire in a similar way.” He shivered again before popping out of the room without another word. Twilight stared wide eyed at the space Discord had just occupied, her mind running in circles to try and puzzle just what Pinkie could have done to scare Discord of all beings so terribly. Well, if nothing else I could just sic Pinkie on the Wonderbolts and call it a day if I wanted. Nah, that’s probably a bit too cruel now that I think about it. She shrugged her shoulders and reached over to the box Discord had given her and started to open it. She stopped though as she remembered just who had given her the box. Opting to take a few precautions she hovered the box off in front of her desk and opened it there. Thankfully nothing exploded or burst out of the box to spook her so she levitated it back into her hooves and withdrew the first card. The card was made of bright purple paper and had the words written in barely legible chalky white ink. “Introduction to concepts,” Twilight read aloud as best she could. “Talk about types of magic and general theory. Heavily imply Chaos Theory is more than he seems. Troll Twilight when she watches class.” She glared off in the distance, knowing that somewhere Discord was laughing his tail off. Sighing Twilight set the card down and picked up the next one, noticing that it was cyan this time with rainbow colored crayon lettering. Looking down at the box Twilight realized that every card was unique from the others and that the legibility went up and up the further in the box she went. Bemused but slightly pleased she put the cards back in the box and made her way out of the office and off to lunch, thinking to herself, Sometimes chaos can be colorful and fun. Who’d have thought?