Blooming Chaos

by ChillzMaster

Awaken and Soar

“What? Hydra-Eyes?” an infuriated pegasus Canterlot guard roared, closely examining the unlucky dice roll. A unicorn guard opposite the pegasus chuckled and pulled the respectably-sized pile of bits between the two ponies towards him.
“Eh, maybe next time,” the winner chuckled, examining a bit.

The Canterlot Castle Gardens were normally quiet at this time of night; fireflies of blue and purple hues casting magnificent rays upon the paths and plantlife while Luna’s moon bathed the various sculptures dotted in the gardens in azure splendor. Under previous circumstances, Luna’s watch would have been suffice defense, but fear of Changeling retaliation caused an influx in the Canterlot Guard population, resulting in some of the “greener” recruits to be garrisoned in normally untended areas.

“Hey! You’ve got dust on your horn!” the pegasus declared, pointing a hoof at his partner’s instrument of magic.

“Psh, so?” the unicorn attempted to brush off his partner’s accusations.

“You’re the only unicorn that gets residue on his horn after casting a telepathy spell, you cheat!” the enraged guard flew a meter in the air and dove at the cheater. Nearby, a horrified-looking statue seemingly made of mismatched parts began to glow about the chest area. A dark chuckle echoed through the night, unheard by the two combatants. A sudden crack and a loud crash ended the fight and left the two guards looking on at the source of the noise in befuddlement.

“Ah, it feels great to be able to feel this fresh air once more!” a loud voice boomed behind the incompetent security. The guards turned to a character they had never wished to meet.

“D-Discord!” the unicorn gasped out, his horn sparkling, trying to fire a spell, any spell. The draconequus snapped his fingers and disappeared in a flash of light, leaving naught but a blanket, a fork, and an empty garden.

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“Alright Crusaders, here’s what I’ve been cooking up for us for the past week!” Scootaloo enthusiastically beamed, displaying a circus-cannon proudly to her two friends. Sweetie Belle and Applebloom looked at the mechanism in awe, their mouths agape and eyes plastered open. The three were atop a cliff overlooking Ponyville. A pony could see a lot from up there, Fluttershy’s house on the town border, the expansive Apple Family Orchard, the Everfree Forest, and with a squint even Canterlot Castle could be admired from such a height.

“This is so-” Sweetie Belle slowly started.

“AMAZIN’!” Applebloom yelled, bouncing in place. Scootaloo beamed.

“Thanks guys! Pinkie showed me where she got her party cannon and I found this gem for what we’re going to do today to get our Cutie Marks!” the pegasus explained, pulling out a few helmets for the trio, “We’re going to try hang-gliding again, this time using the propulsion of the cannon to go super-fast!”
Sweetie Belle began to drool in anticipation and Applebloom bounced some more.

“Oh please Scootaloo, can Ah go first?” the filly pleaded and held onto her helmet tightly. The pegasus filly smiled at her friend.

“Of course!” she said, helping the yellow pony into the barrel. Applebloom put on her helmet and grabbed at the hang-glider.

“Alright, bite that part there and stick your forelegs through that part there, yes right there,” Scootaloo prepped hastily, eager to start. Sweetie Belle started nibbling at her hooves in anticipation.

“Ready, Applebloom?” Scootaloo called out, the pressure-plate firing device primed for one most awesome a firing.

“Re’eh!” Applebloom called back, mouth full of steering. With that, Scootaloo jumped on the plate, and the yellow filly shot off into the great blue yonder.

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“Oh, did you miss me Celestia?” Discord asked, his long body hunched over forward, “I missed you,” he held a picture of the sun Princess in his hand and drew a talon across the smiling face of the benevolent ruler before the paper melted into butter, “NOT.”

Discord crossed his arms and sighed in thought. Too fidgety, he started pacing and surveying his surroundings. He was close to Canterlot, atop the mountain the alicorn’s crown jewel was built upon. He had conjured some thick clouds to stay somewhat incognito and turned all the snow beneath his feet into slick rubber. One’s ideas bouncing around one’s head could always be solved with more bouncing, so said the spirit of Chaos and Disharmony.

“Alright there Discord, you’re out and surely there’s some Chaos to be had!” he declared happily, bouncing about on the rubber, “Those elements were a bother last time though… and gray does absolutely no justice for my complexion, it just doesn’t!” The draconequus started to float for a bit, digging deeper into thoughts of what to do now that the shackles of Order had fallen off of him, and were probably quick to extend their reach and find their millennium-old captive. Then it hit him. A cheese wheel that is, not a solution. Food always trumps solutions for Discord. And then in mid-bite, another thing hit him, this time a solution.

“Oh, how foolish I’ve been!” Discord declared, spreading his arms apart and throwing the cheese off the side of the mountain, “What’s the place where Chaos is the mainstay, where the clouds move on their own, the plants grow without being told, and the days roll on without a tyrant’s external magic organ?” Discord’s grin spread across his face and he rocketed into the air, fireworks following him.

“The Everfree Forest! I’ll camp out there, wait until things die down a bit, then return and seek revenge!” he yelled, snapping his fingers and disappearing in a flash of white.

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The ground and trees moved fast underneath the filly, and it truly was a spectacular feeling, to soar above everything else and to go so fast, Applebloom was taken aback by the speed of it all. There was the schoolhouse! And there it went! Cloudsdale, the once near-heavenly city of Applebloom’s speculations, was now an on-level metropolis. The fastest of falcons were put to shame by the determined earth pony! The best part of it all? No crash in sight!

“Thith mutht ‘ee mah spehul dalen’!” she squeed against the roaring wind. She swore she felt a tingle on her flank, and was too excited to think straight in anticipation to see a Cutie Mark donning her rump.

The movement of her head sharply turned the hang-glider to the right. Straining to see what was going on, Applebloom looked up at the glider, and found herself climbing higher and higher into the air. The propulsion was too great, she couldn’t turn her head anymore to steer the glider back on target. Higher and higher she went, until the glider gave way and succumbed to gravity, plummeting to the ground. The safety harnesses slid right off, and Applebloom followed the triangular mismatch of cloth and steel, screaming in terror.

Apple Bloom was falling, falling, falling, THUD. The earth pony filly was lucky, a few gusts of wind, strategically placed tree branches, and the fact she had landed in a soft bush cushioned her landing.

“And that is the last time I listen to Scootaloo about anythin’ flyin’,” she muttered, picking herself back up and looking around dizzily. The forest was dark, but a bit uncannily so. Strange noises surrounded the pony, and she swore there was something watching her.

“This place is too dark to be the orchard,” Applebloom noted as she started to trek forth towards a nearby clearing. She looked to her left, where disjointed sycamores shared space with golden-eyed ravens and the sounds of something enjoying a meal that had been running fifteen seconds prior. A head-turn to the left fared no better, draping green and purple vines looked as snakes in an omnipresent indigo fog that appeared to come out of the air itself.

“Wait… Ah’ve been here before,” the filly stopped in the dead center of the clearing, paralyzed from the neck down in fear.

“Ah’m in the Everfree Forest!” she cried out, frightened. A dark laugh climbed its way through the trees surrounding her, growing louder and louder in volume. Applebloom, glued to the spot, collapsed and bunched up as close as she could into herself, burying her face in her forehooves as the mocking laughter became louder and louder.

Comments

[Thoth]

As I said before, EXCELLENT first chapter!

Wonderful descriptions, the characters stayed extremely in-character throughout, and the setup seems perfect already!

Can't wait to see how the story progresses!

[shardfff]

I aprove