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// I Prefer Questions 
// Story: What Is Chaos? 
// by The Wizard of Words 
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If Celestia were asked of her favorite place in all of Equestria, she would answer honestly that it was her garden.

The Canterlot Castle Garden was immaculate, grand, and breath-taking in all senses. Made of flora from all corners of Equestria, it carried just as many shades of colors and scents in the wind. It was a welcome and open place, never constricting to those who walked through it, and similarly never making any pony feel out of place.

Roses, from as red as the setting sun to as blue as the ocean deep, owned their own beds along many walls of the garden, both interior and decorative. Where they were content to own the ground, Honeysuckle would begin to blossom, climbing the hard surfaces as easily as a curious spider. But where the walls would end, trees show their size, shadowing the structure with their tall trunks and thick branches.

And for every different flower or flora there was, there was a new scent or color to go with it. Sweet scents that lured the nearby ponies, tingling sensations that kept the curious ones, and the odd sour mixture that confused with how delightful it seemed. All led to veritable rainbows along the ground, split up or mixed into more shades than the average pony could possibly dream.

But in the rare cases where the scents did not allow the mind to wander and the colors were no longer captivating, there were the many small animals to entertain the spirit. Gentle creatures of all sizes and origins made their homes in the expansive yard, from the squirrels burrowing into the dozens of different types of trees, to rabbits that dug around the roots of the hundreds of different flowers, and birds that nested in every form of shrubbery.

There was life in the flora of the gardens, but then there was life that lived in the garden. It was perhaps the clearest sign of harmony’s strength. It was why even now, as she walked through the expansive patch of land, golden regalia along her hooves and crown upon her head, Celestia found the garden to be her favorite place in all of Equestria.

It was here that she was allowed to breathe, to release the stress of her job, to remind herself of why she toiled in her work sun rise and set. She could not venture to the ends of her kingdom to see her ponies at any moment, but she could come here, come to see the proof of their existence, and to remind herself of their importance to the kingdom.

Celestia let out another long sigh, feeling her heavy alabaster wings twitch, pleading silently to be expanded. Her ears perked as she heard the tweeting of a pair of birds, perched atop one of the walls of the hedge maze. Mating season was soon approaching, but they were merely enjoying one another’s company for now. Simply, they were in harmony.

Harmony. The interaction of two opposites, working together to maintain a balance. That careful teeter between too much and too little, what one wanted against the other, and vice versa. Sharing water amongst plants, food amongst ponies, talent amongst the young, and wisdom amongst the old. Different areas, different kinds, but all balancing out to make a kingdom of perfect harmony. Equestria, her kingdom.

But just as it was true in life and nature, for all things there was something else in contrast. Her sister’s night to her day, grassy plains to rocky mountains, even magical study to field labor; they were all opposites, converses that needed one another to be what they were. Harmony was no different. Celestia was not too proud to admit that.

But now, she realized, more than any other time before, she was able to have a discussion with that other side. She could talk, discuss, and reach a conclusion with everything that Harmony wasn’t.

Celestia, symbol of Harmony, could talk to Discord, master of Chaos.

Before, when he believed Chaos the only way to live, he wouldn’t offer either of the alicorn sisters an ear to listen with, be it attached to his body or not. During his return and attempt to recreate his world, he thought too much of deception and clever tricks to take a conversation seriously. But now was different.

Fluttershy, the former bearer of the Element of Kindness, was successful in turning Discord around. He listened to the yellow mare, took her words sincerely, and above all else, did nothing to truly hinder or threaten the harmony that existed in Equestria. It was, however, definitely far and away from a perfect change, though if such a thing had happened Celestia would have sworn it a trick.

More than once Luna complained to Celestia about the changing of her moon becoming cheese moments before it dipped past the horizon, allowing only very early risers to see the odd sight. The glass-stained windows, far more than once, had danced together as Celestia trotted towards her throne, blurring heavily the line between reality and dream. She did not need a millenia’s worth of wisdom to know that Discord used those same tricks, to a lesser degree, on the ponies of her kingdom as well.

But it was never permanent, never more than a small trick or prank to shock an otherwise monotonous schedule. It was rather hard to run through an every-day schedule when you suddenly found yourself walking on the ceiling.

And that, in truth, was what Celestia wanted from the ancient Draconequus.

Discord was not meant to be changed to a symbol of Harmony. That would never do. It was against everything Celestia stood for, demanding any creature change who they were. Harmony’s very definition was the coexistence of multiple different parts. If everything was the same as everything else, then there was no harmony. There was only boredom.

That was why Discord was needed, in small doses of course. His small pranks and tricks encouraged the mindsets of mares and stallions across the land, thinking differently and acting as they believe they should, not as they were told. The constant mind games of the Spirit of Chaos did wonders to awaken the inner thoughts of others, often all according to his ever-changing plan.

Celestia let out a long sigh. Discord had done more good for her kingdom than any pony could argue with. True, his acts of the past still weighed heavily on the present, but it was difficult to ignore his willingness to help his friends, Fluttershy more than any mare else. That was only too clear from his little stunt at the Gala.

True once more, she had invited him for the purpose of keeping the otherwise predictable party from being a bore, but she did not expect the commitment he had to the yellow mare. Then again, he would likely say that the unexpected was what he was aiming for. Yet, in this one case, Celestia wasn’t sure she could believe it. And that was what was plaguing her thoughts.

For all of their history, for all of their many meetings, one-sided conversations, and quick battles of harmony and disharmony, Celestia had never truly understood what chaos was. Discord’s brand of it, at the very least.

He seemed to so well enjoy the randomness of others, finding surprises that were made against him just as enjoyable as his own machinations. For how detailed and intricate his ploys were, he never seemed any more than excited when they were spun against him. But then, at the same time, he would find the ultimate surprise, his defeat, to be too cruel.

It was only made more difficult when Celestia realized how well she understood the Draconequus himself. A spirit more ancient than many inhabitants of the world, and certainly Equestria, he was responsible for some of the darkest secrets throughout the land. Random and near-omnipotent, yet still kind enough to never even think about harming a pony. As unexpected as that would be, he had justified it to her once, in a moment of rambling that was likely meant to distract her.

“Do you really think you can make things happen with something as stiff as a board?” He asked the question while waving a house above his head, upside down of course and deconstructing itself. “Heavens, no. Chaos is only alive so long as there is something to enjoy it. You can’t have a party if no shows up.” Cruel as the logic was it was sound for his madness, and it helped Celestia understand the copiously compiled creature.

It was impossible to enjoy the fruits of his labor, or perhaps the sourness of his deeds, without another life there to speak or give opinion of it. Harmony couldn’t be had unless there two lives coexisting, so it made sense in its own way that chaos needed just as many parts to function. Not equal and opposite as it was with Harmony, but there nonetheless.

Yet another sigh left her lips, her head bowing with it. She entertained a breeze that passed over her coat, tickling the feathers of her wings and running through her ethereal mane. It was a feeling she was well and familiar with, something she enjoyed. It was something that Discord would call ‘too predictable’ and hope to change in some meaningful, and often horrendous, way. That was the chaos Celestia could not tolerate.

Altering what one pony loved simply because it was too predictable, turning a peaceful night’s sleep into a game of guessing in the dark. It was no different than attempting to throw a wrench into a working machine simply because it was ‘too reliable’. It was something that she, as a ruler of thousands of ponies, all looking to her for guidance and protection, could not hope to understand.

She couldn’t understand why he would do something, why Discord would take pleasure in it. But, if she followed the logic for it, the criteria for why an action was necessary, the threshold between chaos and harmony, perhaps then she would be able to understand that mischief part of the world.

So the question wasn’t who Discord was. No, rather, the question was what chaos was.

“If you have a question, my dear princess, you only have to ask.”

Celestia only took in a slow breath of air at the voice. Too many sudden entrances and too many surprises had made her utterly unfazed and nonplus to the owner of the voice. She raised her head as she opened her eyes, already knowing what she would find. She knew she would see Discord, Spirit of Disharmony, Embodiment of Disorder, floating above her with golden mismatched eyes, a long curling smile along his face. Perhaps that was her first mistake, assuming.

Instead her own pink eyes settled on a tree. A large oak tree.

Granted, it was a tree that was bent four different ways about its trunk, branches that twisted as often as they extended, and appeared to be leaking sap in place of having leave, but a tree nonetheless. From a distance, it would have belonged in the garden, amongst the multiple kinds of flora from all parts of Equestria. Perhaps not the rose that shined, but certainly belonged.

That made the golden eyes that were pasted on it, curled upwards like a grin, all the more vibrant to her. Just as well as the creeping chuckle that followed, from a mouth that appeared to split the bark it came from.

“Oh, now that is a good expression to have,” the familiar voice of Discord rang from the tree. Said tree bent with the voice, one of its long branches curling until it was pushed into the bark above the golden eyes on the trunk. “It does fit you so much better than that stern expression of thought. Spending time thinking about logic in things, hoping to find that one strand of reason. Ugh, spare me the horror.” And again, the three shivered with the words, sending little droplets of thick sap to the ground.

“Discord,” Celestia spoke the draconequus’s name. “When did you arrive here?” She didn’t have any reason to play along. It was so often the trap that many ponies fell into. It was one she had learned to avoid centuries ago.

“Me?” The crooked tree spoke again, small splinters of bark falling to the green grass. “I had a niggling little thought that you were thinking about me, call it the intuition of the inobvious.” Celestia would call it spying. “So naturally, as the reformed me should properly do, I decided to pop in for a visit. I thought I’d do as the ponies do and dress as the situation requires.”

“So a tree, then?” Celestia spoke her words without thinking. Granted it was far and away from Discord’s most random or horrendous form, but it seemed just different and odd enough to strike a chord with her. Naturally, that was the desire. “A crooked, leafless tree.”

“But of course,” Discord’s floral form spoke with a bow, a bow that made its bark and oak creak with the effort. “After all, we are in a garden.” And there it was again. That line of logic that begged Celestia to nearly groan in annoyance. The laughter that followed from Discord’s words made it clear he enjoyed the reaction. “Having trouble with the idea?”

“No,” Celestia spoke clearly, honestly. “But I do have questions, questions I can ask now that you are here.” She hardened her eyes at the tree as she spoke.

It exploded into light a moment later, complete with a loud bang. Celestia only squinted at the bright lamination, ears folding at the noise. She was used to Discord’s magic as well as she was his antics. And sure enough, as the light faded, she was met only with Discord, the real Discord.

A tall draconequus who far preferred to lie in the air without the use of his wings than walking on his mismatched feet. A spirit with odd horns, misaligned eyes, and a toothy grin the curled about his head. An agent of chaos that tapped his paw and claw together in imperfect rhythm.

“Oh, and I do love questions,” Discord spoke honestly as he always did, more or less. “But I far prefer to be on delivering end. Seeing how many different ways a pony can answer a question.”

And to show his words, as Celestia could count on Discord to so often do, he stroked one of his forelimbs with his lion’s paw. As he did, leading it up and further to the distal end, it split into multiple parts. Nothing grotesque, no more than you could expect of a Mad God, but instead turning his single reptilian limb into one among dozens. He grinned with his ever crooked smile as he waved each one towards her.

“A single question, if you will,” he spoke with his paw against his slytherin body. “Leading to one of hundreds of answers.” His many claws waved again, each one fanning the air. Celestia could feel the choppy motion. “Just watching someone try and think of an answer is random enough for me.”

“But I far prefer answers,” Celestia countered just as easily, showing no faze to Discord’s antics. “For answers are what makes someone who they are. How they decide to face a challenge, or even what they believe is the difference between right and wrong. It is their answer, not their method, that will last for all their lives.”

“And so true it is, but what fun is there in thinking that far out?” As if to show once more, everyone of Discord’s multiple claws pointed to the horizon of the garden, nearly making up the entire line. “It’s the now that’s where all the fun is to be had.” As another display of his literal words, he reached out with his paw, the limb extending like putty towards a nearby tree.

When it was within the straightened branches, it lightly poked something within. It took a moment for Celestia to note that it was a squirrel, camouflaged by the brown bark of the trunk. At least that was all it was for a moment. No sooner did Discord poke the unlucky creature than did it expand like a balloon.

Then, just like a balloon, it floated down to the ground with hardly a noise, its fluffy tail poking out from it like the string to hold it from. It lightly rolled across the grass, bouncing more than rolling, the creature not making even a squeak of protest. Discord’s humored giggles said he was entertained enough. Celestia was only able to release another sigh, what she was sure to be one of many, should this conversation succeed.

Her horn glowed an ethereal gold, mind focusing her magic into it. The same hue took over the unfortunate creature for only a moment, before glowing to a light too bright to stare into. The princess needed worry. She knew exactly what was happening.

With a soft buzz, and a quick flash, her magic dissipated to show the squirrel back on the ground, unharmed and chattering upwards with clear confusion. She only smiled softly at him.

“Go,” she pointed with her muzzle, waving her head. “I apologize for the interruption.” The brown furry creature gave a satisfactory nod before skittering across the ground, jumping back onto the trunk of the tree and back up into its branches. With that done, the alabaster alicorn turned her attention back to spirit she was conversing with.

“Now who could honestly say that was a surprise?” The creature asked her, his multitude of claws shrugging with his one singular paw. “You helping living creatures simply because they are there, it’s so predictable that it’s duller than a hammer.”

Now was the time to ask.

“Discord,” Celestia began. “I just want to know... what is chaos?”

The Solar Princess could safely say she had never seen the draconequus grin as wide before.

“Then by all means,” Discord spoke with a low bow, all of his claws laying upon his body until his elastic form bent and twisted over itself. “Let us… talk.”

Celestia was sure of only one thing thus far. She had entered a true battle with her sanity.