Controlled Chaos, Chaotic Control

by Siswitch

Chaotic puppet show

“It’s a beautiful night for a dance under the moon, don’t you agree?”

“Discord, the suns still up.”

“And whose fault is that?”

----

The unicorn glanced at the large wooden puppets that had been created for the show, perfection considering they were made from pebbles, Discord hadn’t told Celestia what the show would be about but she didn’t really care as long as he kept his special brand of magic to a minimum.

He was surprised when he heard how many ponies had came to see the show but as with any royal event many ponies just wanted to be seen attending the same obscure show the princess’s were. The disguised draconequus tightened the fastenings on his hooded robe with his magic and neatly placed all the puppets in a large fancy wooden box, he shut the lid quickly as he heard Celestia open the door.

“Discord, I’m just going to say this once; behave.” The alicorn stood in the doorway, ready to leave quickly if anyone saw her. She was obviously nervous, her wings where folded tightly at her side and her usually dazzling magenta eyes where dull and small with worry.

“My name is Bedlam.” He rolled his eyes mockingly and kissed her cheek. Celestia calmed down a little and gave a small smile. “I won’t do anything other than make a show, hopefully they’ll enjoy it.”

She nodded at that and took a look at his unicorn form, he looked slightly different from the Pegasus disguise he used the day before as his brown coat was replaced with the reddish brown hue his body usually is but his eyes he had changed to look normal, she was grateful he was at least trying to fit in although she had no idea how annoying it was to him to fit in.

Curiously she lifted the box containing the puppets with her yellow magic, opening the lid slightly to peek inside, Discord yanked it away quickly with his own magic and tutted.

“Spoilers.”
-----

The crowd was alive with hushed whispers as they pondered the show ahead of them, the poster didn’t say what it would be about and they had never heard of the 'puppet master'.

Their whispers where silenced as the lights fell and the curtains rose, revealing the silhouette of a unicorn. Celestia fidgeted in her balcony seat, as did her sister.

“He’s going to do something.” Luna whispered to her older sibling. “He’s going to freak everyone out.”

“Good.” Celestia smiled a little, Luna narrowed her eyes in confusion. “These people paid to see a show. He’ll give them a show.”

Discords horn began to glow with a soft yellow glow, slowly getting bigger until he was fully illuminated, he was wearing a dark black cloak with purple borders that gave him a mysterious air.

“Welcome to my show.” His sinister voice sent a shiver down everypony’s spine, “I am Bedlam Turmoil, here to recite you a tale that I have been studying my whole life, the tale of somepony you’ve all heard of but don’t actually know a lot about.” Luna rolled her eyes.

“Oh great, it’s going to be about himself isn’t it?” To her surprise her sister shushed her, she was curious to see just how much he’d tell the crowd.

“The spirit of chaos that escaped from his stone bonds a few months ago, Discord, do any of you know why he was imprisoned in the first place?” He questioned the crowd, trying his hardest not to smile. Nopony answered, “Exactly. No one except me knows where to look to see what actually took place on that day... I will enlighten you little foals on one of the most important days in Equestria’s history...”

After a short pause he walked offstage and opened the box of puppets, removing the ones of himself, Celestia and Luna. He sent them out onto the stage with his magic and said in a strong, loud voice.

“Many, many years ago, before the princess’s lived in this dear land of Equestria, they found a young spirit name Discord...”

That’s when Discord cheated. Many puppeteers use their own talent to draw the crowd into the story but he used magic. He sent out a radiating burst of his magic and suddenly everypony was looking at the show with new eyes, the scenery was almost lifelike, they could almost hear what was going on and most importantly the puppets seemed to come to life; Their choppy wooden frames were smoother and sleeker albeit still blocky, no strings seemed to hold them up, their movements were fluid and they seemed to occasionally change expression. Discord grinned at their confusion and continued his tale.

“Discord was young at this point and had no chaos in him so was, in Celestia’s eyes, a friend. Luna though knew what he would grow up to be and decided to shun him.” The Luna puppet turned her back to the Discord puppet, “Like a monster. Discord decided not to pay heed to her and became friends with the princess of the day, playing with her, talking to her and sharing many tales he had heard of. Their childlike innocence however was not to last.”

Celestia’s eyes softened as the puppets seemed to grow older. An old Castle was the scenery, the candles flickered in an invisible breeze and the stone was covered in a non-existent moss.

“As they grew older Discord knew soon his instincts would take over and asked Celestia what they should do.” The Celestia puppet’s head fell and looked at the floor, “‘Leave’ She said simply. ‘Let us keep the memories we have. I don’t know what damage you’ll want to cause and I never want to find out.’”

Discord took in a deep breath as he remembered that day, as did his alicorn, the scenery changed to one of a forest.

“So he left. He lived his life as nature intended, causing chaos from land to land never stopping in one place for more than a day.” The puppet teleported, when it reappeared it had grown older, “After around a thousand years he found a lovely, peaceful land that bored him to no end. Without hesitation he found the nearest village and began changing it to his liking.” The puppet was almost dancing through the town as it changed everything to random and chaotic objects. The grass was replaced by springs, the streets where lined with oversized fish and all the lampposts became candy canes. “He was having a wonderful time! Until...”

A shrill scream chilled everypony to their core. Celestia closed her eyes for a second and sighed, she then opened them and watched as the events unfolded.

“Discords Chaos had never, ever harmed a living being before so he was curious at such a pained shriek. Turning he saw a young filly...” A small puppet of a purple filly appeared, even though it was only a puppet she looked so frightened, it seemed to be shaking “How was he supposed to know she was allergic to fish?”

The filly’s eyes grew dull, the Discord puppet was looking at her shocked.

“And did she get a rash or grow lumps like a normal pony with allergies? Did she give any hint that it was them and not Discord that had hurt her? No. The damage was on the inside, he could sense it.” His voice was becoming bitter. “She simply.” The puppet fell to its knees, a small red drop fell from her mouth and onto the ground. “Dropped.” The puppet grew limp and fell to its side. “Dead.”

The crowd murmured in shock at this, wondering if that was true and that’s what really happened that day. Celestia sighed shakily as she looked away, Luna looked worriedly at her sister as she saw a small tear fall from her eye.

“Everypony thought was him that had killed her.” An angry mob gathered around the draconequus. “He only resisted a little took him to the palace, he knew the town wouldn’t listen but maybe he could explain to whoever ruled this land that he was a simple spirit of chaos just passing through and never meant any harm. Maybe he could atone for the accident.” The scenery was of a palace once more, although this was a much nicer newer once. “Discord was led to the throne room where two regal alicorns sat, the puppets eyes grew wide as well as Celestia’s puppet’s eyes. “He was not prepared to see her again, not like this.”

Celestia didn’t know how much more she could take. She could hear the sadness in Discords voice that no one else knew him well enough to hear and it was breaking her heart. Celestia wanted to stop looking but couldn’t help watch as the alicorn puppets approached him.

“Discord knew how he looked at this point but kept his cool, smiling weakly at the two mares. ‘I know how this looks,’ he said ‘but I meant no harm, I promise I meant no harm.’ He took a few steps closer to the mares ‘Surely you believe me, Celestia?’

But Celestia just looked at him with eyes that said more than ever needed to be said.

‘oh come on, you remember me well enough to know I wouldn’t harm anything, I know you do!’ He gave a weak chuckle. Celestia looked at him blankly.

‘Leave’ She motioned to the back door of the palace. Discord was hurt, yes, but he kept a brave face and walked past them both. Without looking at them he said the last words he would ever speak for a thousand years.

‘I will return one day and regain your trust, Celestia. I promise!’ And then he struck the pose he would be frozen in for the next thousand years. Freezing a man while his back is turned... That was cheap.” The puppet turned grey as a beam of light hit it.

Celestia winced a little, she just didn’t want Discord to know what she was going to do but she knew herself it was cheap.

“Discord did indeed return a thousand years later but he had spent so long in imprisonment that the only thing he could think of was getting Celestia back... He was still childish after so long. He wouldn’t help himself.” The puppet showed Discord causing chaos in Ponyville. “He didn’t expect to be beaten again before he could properly talk to Celestia.” The six elements of harmony where shown casting Discord into stone again. He sighed wearily.

The magic wore off; the stage was once again a stage and the puppets mere wood. The crowd again murmured in confusion but became quiet as Discord walked onto the stage.

“And that, my little ponies, is the story of Discord. Hopefully you have learned something from this...”

“Wait a minute!” A blue stallion interjected, “How do we know that was a true story?” Discord smiled and looked at Celestia.

“Ask your Princesses.” Everypony’s eyes immediately went to the two mares, Luna glared at her sister warning her silently not to confirm it.

“Yes.” Celestia ignored her. “It’s all true.” Everypony looked shocked and chattered amongst themselves at this new piece of confirmed history. One mare, however, was still confused.

“But how did you find out all this? You’re awfully specific considering you’ve only read about him.”

Discord’s smile grew quickly, his eyes glinted with mischief. Celestia’s own eyes grew wide as she saw the look on his face but was too late to stop him.

“To be honest, I know all this from an eye witness account.” The hall grew quiet with confusion, the confusion became shock as they saw the unicorn’s body stretch and narrow, its whole being twisting and deforming until it was one of a draconequus. The crowd gasped and some shrieked but none of the confused crowd ran, most in fear, some in curiosity. Celestia didn’t know whether to be angry or impressed that he seemed to be getting a lukewarm reception, her sister was the same way but was leaning more towards anger.

“How dare you show yourself inside castle grounds!” Her voice was booming and nearly at royal Canterlot level.

“Come now, Luna.” He removed his cloak and patted down his blue feathers that had gotten messed up during the transformation. “Be nice to your sister’s boyfriend.”

Celestia winced at that, she ignored the crowd below that was going wild and glared at Discord, who was beaming proudly. The alicorn spoke with gritted teeth, her mouth a sarcastic smile.

“You always knew how to put on a show, dear.”

Comments

[Ducreux'ed]

Schitt just got real!
An excellent chapter, I can't wait to see what happens next. And shame on your for torturing your readers with such an epic cliffhanger.

I feel bad for Discord, he didn't deserve to be stoned but it makes for an amazing love story.

[Siswitch]

327493 my proofreader felt the exact same way about my cliffhanger! Don't worry, I feel very hyper so the next chapter should be out early this time. Glad you enjoyed

[TheSilentVampony666]

How is Discord NOT getting SMACKED??

[Frosty_Rainbow]