Stability of the Past: The Beginning

by GoodieTwo-Shoes

Chapter 1: A Planet Reborn

A newly recovered planet emerged from the darkness of space. It had previously been inhabited by giant reptiles known as dinosaurs. The occupants had been uncivilized and unruly. The planet had been complete chaos, so its inhabitants had been destroyed. Nothing was left behind.

It was now time to give the planet a second chance. Blue with water and brown with barren earth, it was completely lifeless once again. Not even a single blade of grass had broken through the dirt-covered ground.

Control, the god-like creator of this planet, looked down at his creation with his usual blank expression. His circular form, exactly half black and half yellow, orbited the giant sphere as he carefully observed every inch of it. His cloud-like body glowed with green light, as did his focused eyes. Satisfied that his creation was perfectly balanced, he called for his spirit-like apprentices.

“Harmony. Disharmony,” Control calmly called.

Two smaller figures materialized in front of him. One was oval-shaped and glowed with yellow light. Her body was the color of a rainbow from top to bottom. The rainbow started with pink and was followed by orange, yellow, white, blue, and purple. The other figure was bell-shaped and radiated black darkness. His form was colored like a rainbow as well, but it started from bottom to top. His colors looked as though the light had been sucked out of them: gray and dull. Their bodies resembled clouds as well. They both had eyes that matched their mentor’s in color. Her eyes were bright and just, and his were dark and mischievous.

“I asked you to call me Chaos,” Disharmony seethed, “I don’t want ‘harmony’ in my name.” Pulling his stubby arm out, he hid his mouth and whispered in Control’s non-existent ear, “It’s a girl’s name.” Harmony rolled her eyes. Chaos assumed his original position and said with a sideways smile, “Harmony is a dumb name anyway.” Harmony made a face at him and shook her head with a sigh. “Besides, I don’t want to be associated with anything harmony-y.”

“It’s harmonious,” Harmony corrected with another sigh. “I believe Control called us here for a reason.” She directed her attention back towards Control. “Sorry, sir,” she apologized with a small bow.

“It is time to bring life to this planet once again,” Control announced, “You two are now ready to complete this task on your own.” Harmony’s face showed her uncertainty. Chaos, however, was ecstatic. He bounced in place.

“YES!” he cheered, “Finally, we get to do some real stuff.”

“Pardon me, sir,” Harmony politely said, “I don’t mean to disagree, but are you sure we are ready to bring life to an entire planet?”

“Yes. You both have practiced under my watch for a long time now. It is time for you both to move on to the next step,” he said evenly.

“Yes sir. If you say we are ready, then I must agree.” Harmony weakly smiled.

“Come on! Let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s go!” Chaos exclaimed. He was now bouncing in circles around them.

“Could you please show a little patience?” Harmony said with annoyance.

Chaos stopped bouncing and made a thoughtful face. Then he simply answered, “No.” He continued bouncing.

“You’re impossible sometimes,” she said as she narrowed her eyes.

“No. I’m impossible all the time,” he said with a mischievous smile.

“Ahem -” they both turned back towards Control “- You will both go down to the planet and create which ever types of living beings and plant life you wish. However, the creatures and plants must have stability. There is to be an equal amount of harmony -” Control’s eyes moved towards Harmony “- and disharmony -” he looked at Chaos “- The planet and its inhabitants need to have both, but they must be in balance. Once you both agree that this stipulation has been met, you will come back to me, and I will provide the creatures with souls.” Harmony and Chaos looked at each other. She wore a worried expression. His was one of repulsion.

“You want me to work with her?” Chaos asked in disbelief.

“I wouldn’t usually agree with him, but he’s right. I can’t get him to cooperate with me,” Harmony respectfully complained.

"Now Harmony, you should have more faith in yourself,” a new voice kindly counseled. Harmony turned around. Then she smiled.

The voice belonged to a bell-shaped creature that resembled Chaos, but her height matched that of Control. Her white cloud-like form was marbled with light blue, which matched her glow. Her green eyes were very feminine and mysterious. She smiled kindly at Harmony and floated over to Control. His face showed a slight bit of irritation.

“Hi, Destiny,” Chaos greeted her eagerly. “Could you tell Control that me and Harmony cannot work together?” he said with spite as he eyed Control. Control’s eyes slanted slightly and the corners of his mouth dropped a little.

“Hum hum,” she laughed, “I’m afraid you two must find a way to cooperate.” Chaos’s face dropped, while Control mustered a small smile. “Control is correct. This planet does need stability. Without it, it will spiral out of control once again.” Chaos grinned evilly. “You, Chaos” – his smile dropped, and he turned towards her – “are designed to create disharmony, just as Harmony is designed to create harmony. You both must bring balance to this world. It is your destiny.” She smiled down at them. They both were in awe.

“Ahem -” they shook their heads and looked back at Control “- As I said, it is time for you two to go,” Control said steadily. Harmony nodded once. Chaos sighed. They dematerialized leaving behind sparkles of yellow and black.

“Must you interrupt me?” Control asked evenly while looking forward. “I had everything under control.” She simply laughed quietly.

~~~~~~~~~~

The two spirit-like apprentices came into existence in an empty grassless field. Hovering above the ground, they looked around at the seemingly endless landscape. This was the first time either of them had been on a planet, and it was…

“Boring,” Chaos stated. “This” - he emphasized while waving his stubby arms - “is boring.” He slumped down.

Harmony said with a sigh, “That’s why we’re here…” She spun into the air and shouted while spreading her arms out enthusiastically, “…to bring life to this planet!” Chaos smiled. She floated back down to Chaos’s side. “Okay. I’ll make my harmonious creations over here -” she pushed him several feet away and moved back to her spot “- and you make your chaotic creations over there.” She smiled and turned away. Chaos frowned at her back.

“Fine!” Chaos spat, “I didn’t want any of your harmony getting on my chaos anyway.”

“Precisely why I put you over there,” she said cheerfully with a smile.

Chaos scrunched up his face wondering if she had tricked him somehow. Then he smiled happily. “Good!” He turned away as well.

Harmony decided to start small: something easy. She pulled out her stubby arms and waved them in front of her. Her body glowed brighter. A small yellow ball of light formed in front of her. It grew a little bigger and burst into sparkles. The sparkles cleared revealing a little, fluffy, gray animal with long ears and big feet. Harmony smiled at its cuteness. It was perfect! It was a completely normal and symmetrical bunny.

She glanced over towards Chaos. He obviously decided to start big. There was a giant explosion of black sparkles. It left behind a large odd-looking creature. It looked like a lion, but it had big dragon-like wings protruding from its back. Its tail looked like it belonged to a scorpion. It had large pointy ears and bulky front legs. It also fashioned huge fangs. Chaos smiled proudly at his manticore.

Harmony shook her head and turned back to her work. She gave her bunny a family and a burrow for a home. The ground around the bunny hole glowed yellow and shook. Several trees sprouted out of the ground. She finished it off with a lawn of grass, clover, and a few yellow dandelions. She smiled with pride and turned back towards Chaos.

He was surrounded by a variety of weird creatures. There was a scaly green chicken with a long tail and dragon wings. Beside it stood a wolf made of lumber. There was a two-headed creature with a snake for a tail. One of the heads was a tiger head, and the other was that of a goat. There was a crocodile that appeared normal at first, but, upon closer inspection, it was obviously made of rock. But the creature that Harmony was most concerned about was the huge green reptile with wings.

“Please, tell me that is not a dinosaur,” Harmony begged as she approached Chaos.

“Of course not,” Chaos said with a way of his stub hand. “It’s a dragon!” He smiled excitedly.

“A dragon?” she asked. “That’s practically the same thing as a dinosaur.” She floated around it in observation.

“No it’s not!” he protested from the ground, “It has wings.”

Harmony floated back down and landed in front of him. “What about pterodactyls? They had wings,” she pointed out calmly.

He frowned and opened his mouth to argue, but he had no rebuttal. He crossed his arms and grumbled, “It’s not a dinosaur.”

“I’m not sure Control will be okay with this,” she said with concern. Chaos made a face. Then he grinned and floated over towards the bunnies. He pulled out his stub, and his black glow expanded. A black ball formed over one of the baby bunnies’ heads and burst.

“What are you doing?” she asked with worry. On top of the little bunny’s head between its ears were two tiny deer antlers. “Chaos!” she screamed. “What did you do?!”

“I improved it,” he said with a proud smile.

“Improved it?! It looks ridiculous!” She spun around it in repulsion holding her head with her stubs.

He dramatically gasped and covered the lifeless bunny’s ears, “How could you say that!? You’ll hurt his feelings.” He soothingly patted it on the head.

She sighed. “Even if he had a soul, he wouldn’t be able to hear or even see me. We are just spirits to them. Now change him back!”

“No! I like him better this way.” He picked up the odd little jackalope and hugged it tight.

“We are supposed to be cooperating and compromising, not messing with each other’s creations!” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Now, I feel that this bunny should be harmonious and normal. He is my creation, so I believe I should be the one to decide what he looks like. I therefore kindly ask you to please remove the antlers.”

“I thank you for your kind words,” Chaos said politely while placing the bunny on the ground. Harmony smiled. “But I must say…NO!”

Her smile fell. “Chaos! You…I…ugh!” she staggered angrily. He chuckled delightfully. She sighed loudly. “Just go back over there and give those creatures a home,” she ordered while pushing him back to his spot. She floated away steaming. He chuckled some more before resuming his work.

Chaos grew his creatures a dark forest as a place to live. He added some odd plants, even some that could move. He put in a raging river and tossed the rocky crocodile in it. He multiplied the creatures he had already made and created some new ones. Some of his creatures were young and some were old. He refused to call them a family, however. Families were a harmonious thing. Harmony pointed out that the baby mammals and birds would need to be cared for until they were old enough to care for themselves. The reptile eggs would also need protection until they hatched. He reluctantly gave the mothers just enough maternal instincts to care for their young, which would only last long enough for the babies to grow up and the reptilian eggs to hatch.

Harmony’s creatures, however, were very family oriented. They were kind and caring. Some of them even lived in packs or herds. Chaos was able to convince her to at least give them a little variety. Her squirrels, for instance, came in red, gray, and brown. She gave them a nice, quiet, calm forest as a home. It had a small river that slowly flowed through the trees. She filled the forest with birds, squirrels, bunnies, and insects. She also made some predatory animals, like wolves, bears, and snakes. She put them far away from the little animals. Sadly, death was part of life, but she could at least try to prolong the inevitable.

They both added some hills and mountains to the area. They formed some clouds in the sky and covered most of the remaining ground with grass. The area seemed complete. Harmony floated up into the air to get a better look. She frowned. The area was completely surrounded by Chaos’s forest. Her creatures would be stuck in the giant oval or have to face the dangerous chaos creatures. Chaos joined her in the air. She gave him a sideways glare. He looked down at their work and then smiled toothily at her. She shook her head.

“This seems pretty good,” she said, “But somethings missing.”

“What?” he asked. “Oh, I know! We need more chaos riiight here” - he motioned his stubs around Harmony’s area.

She gave him a disapproving look. “No,” she said. He dropped his stubs down. “It needs…ponies!”

“Ponies?” Chaos raised one eye ridge.

“Yes! -” she smiled and floated back down “- It needs some creatures to control this area…creatures who are more sophisticated…creatures that can help keep this place in balance!”

“Ponies?” Chaos repeated. “I thought we weren’t supposed to be making any creatures that lived here before.” He followed her as she descended downwards. “How are ponies supposed to control anything anyway? They’re no smarter than the rest of these creatures.”

“Sure they were,” she said as she reached the ground. “You just didn’t see their potential. They made tools and built fires! The dinosaurs and other creatures never did that.”

“Still, you want this world to be run by ponies?” he asked as if she were crazy.

She glowed brighter and pulled out her arms. “Well, not the whole world. I’m sure we can make some other creatures as well that can keep the balance and build things and talk and…”

“Hold on,” Chaos stopped her with a grin, “You want to make smart ponies that control the world and can talk!?”

“Yes,” she said evenly.

Chaos fell to the ground in a fit of laughter. “Ha ha ha…you’re-you’re…ha…kidding me…he…right!?”

She stopped and frowned. She looked down at him seriously and said, “No. I think ponies are intelligent and kind and perfectly capable of controlling their own land.” She smiled sincerely. He continued laughing. “They just need a little help.”

She raised her arms and glowed brighter once again. A yellow ball of light appeared and burst. Once the sparkles cleared, a golden yellow stallion was visible. His mane and tail were brown, short, and curly. His eye color matched. Chaos raised his head and looked at the male pony. Then he fell back over laughing. Harmony ignored him and created another pony. The mare was creamy white. Her main and tail were blonde, long, and wavy. Her eyes were baby blue.

“Ahem.” Harmony stood over Chaos, who was still rolling in laughter. He gradually stopped laughing and pulled himself up. He floated up next to her and looked at the pair of ponies. He started giggle. She gave him a look. He calmed his giggles down until just a few escaped. “These ponies are not like the ancient cave ponies” – she floated behind them – “These ponies are special. They are more intellectual, and they have a sense of harmony.”

“Stop!” Chaos interjected putting one stub up, “Harmony? These ponies have harmony?” He floated around the two new creatures.

“They have…um…underdeveloped harmony,” she said with a smile, “It’s in their blood, but they will have to learn how to bring it out and use it.”

Chaos made a face. “That’s not fair. Why do you get to have ponies with harmony?”

“What do you mean?” Harmony asked, “I have made many other creatures with harmony in them. These ponies just have a better sense of what harmony is. They just don’t know it yet. Besides, you have plenty of creatures with chaos in them.”

“Yes, but mine don’t rule the world!” he yelled dramatically.

“They don’t rule the world” – she rolled her eyes – “They just control this part.” Chaos frowned. “Don’t worry, they won’t step…um…hoof into your forest.” His expression didn’t change. “Would you feel better if you had some chaotic creatures control some areas of this world?”

He smiled and gasped. He quickly frowned and crossed his stubs. “Maybe.”

“Fine, but your creatures better not interfere with my ponies,” she warned.

“Fine, but once they have souls it’s up to them what they do,” Chaos said with a grin.

She knew he was right. Once any of these creatures had his or her soul, Chaos and Harmony had little control over them. Control could communicate to them telepathically, but he rarely did it in the past. Destiny always had and will have indirect influence over the entire planet and its inhabitants. All Harmony could do was hope Chaos’s creatures would leave her creatures alone. It was only fair to allow him to have some intelligent creatures as well.

“Fine,” she simply said.

She made some more ponies of all different ages. She took Chaos’s advice and gave the ponies many different bright and colorful hues. She actually thought they looked cuter that way. She placed the ponies in an empty field north of the small forest and hills she had created. Here they had room to build houses. The trees of her forest could provide wood, as well as food.

Chaos floated nearby, impatiently watching Harmony at work. He floated around in circles, trying to occupy himself. He counted all the ponies as Harmony created them, but that was too tedious for him. He tried to twiddle his fingers, but he didn’t have any to twiddle. He just had too boring stubs at the end of his stubby little arms. He could give himself fingers, but it wasn’t worth it. He’d still be bored.

There was nothing he hated more than waiting while someone else had all the fun. He frowned and looked at Harmony as she made another pony. Then he got an idea. With a mischievously smile, he quietly floated over to one of the mares. Her pink back glowed black. The black left behind a pair of matching feathery wings that folded over her sides. He snickered and floated over to another pony. Each pony he floated past grew a pair of bird-like wings.

Harmony heard his giggling and turned to see what he was up to. To her horror, about a third of her ponies now had wings.

“Chaos!” she screamed, “Stop that this instant!” She quickly floated over to him and snatched his stub.

“Hay!” he shrieked, “Let go of me!” He jerked his arm free and floated back slightly. “I’m making improvements.” He smiled with glee.

“Not this again,” she sighed, “We’ve already had this discussion. Now please remove those wings” – she pointed at the abominations.

“So, you don’t want me to put wings on ponies, but you didn’t care that I put antlers on half of your bunnies?” he asked with a serious frown.

“You what!?” she yelled and quickly floated into the forest to check on her bunnies. Chaos watched her leave. Once she was out of sight, he cackled and rubbed his stubs together.

A few minutes later, Harmony floated back into the field. She said as calmly as she could, “Chaos, please remove the antlers and win…” She stopped. He jaw dropped and her eye twitched. Another third of her ponies had not wings, but horns on top of their heads. Chaos turned around and smiled cheerfully at her.

“You like it?” he asked sinisterly. “The ones with horns can do magic!” He smiled excitedly.

“Agh! Chaos, remove all these imperfections now!” Her yellow glowed intensified and grew with rage.

“No. I think I’ll leave them this way,” he said evenly while looking at his improvements.

“Chaos!” she seethed, her glow turning slightly red.

“They are much better this way. They can fly” – he floated over to a winged pony and flapped her wings – “and they can do magic -” he flicked the horn of a stallion. “Think about their potential now!” he said enthusiastically, “They can soar over the mountains and all the way up to the clouds! They can use magic to build extraordinary homes and buildings!” Harmony’s glow died down. She looked at him with a serious and thought-filled face. “It’ll be so chaotic! Ponies will be flying through the sky and conducting magic at their will, while the sad little normal ponies will be stuck on the ground with no magic!” He laughed darkly, and his black glow grew. “Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!” he laughed, throwing his arms up into the air. Harmony frowned.

“Whoa there killer,” she said as she put her stubs on his shoulders. He stopped and looked at her with a scowl.

“Wha?” he complained.

“Let’s not spiral this world back into complete chaos again,” she said calmly. He frowned and dropped his stubs. “But you do have a point. With wings and magic they can accomplish so much more,” she cheered enthusiastically as she spun away from him and looked out at the ponies. “Your improvements are actually…well…improvements,” she laughed. His eyes slanted angrily and he opened his mouth to speak. “I think I’ll let you keep the antlered bunnies.” He smiled. “Come on. Let’s go make some more creations,” she said happily. She grabbed his arm and they disappeared.

They traveled all over the planet, leaving life everywhere they went. They created a desert land ruled by bison. They gave a snow-covered land to the yaks. They constructed a large mountain to house one of Chaos’s creations. They were half eagle and half lion. In a land far from the ponies, Chaos created more hybrid creatures. Some stood up-right and had lion-like manes and tails. They also had bat-like wings. The other creatures of the land stood on four hooves with a horse body. Where the head would be was an erect body with arms and hands. They had bull heads with large horns. Chaos and Harmony even went underwater to create life. They made sea ponies, which resembled the other ponies, but had fins for forelegs and the bottom halves of their bodies were tail fins.

They materialized a distance away from the planet. They sluggishly circled the globe and observed all their hard work. They nodded to each other in agreement - far too tired to talk, let alone argue. They disappeared to go back to Control.

~~~~~~~~~

The two worn-out little spirits appeared in front of their mentor. Their glows had all but gone out.

“We are all done, sir,” Harmony said tiredly. Chaos fell over, exhausted.

“Good,” Control simply said. He looked down upon the planet. Harmony bit her lip and fiddled her stubs. Chaos didn’t move. He just lied there, too drained to even look up. Control took his time observing every nook and cranny. He orbited the planet, frequently focusing in on certain areas of the globe to observe them with more care. He checked the air, land, and water for balance. He finally backed away. He raised his eye ridges slightly, a little surprised at how well they had done. “Very good,” he merely stated.

Harmony smiled slightly. She was hoping to get more praise out of her reserved mentor. Chaos scrunched his face and raised his head to speak. Harmony quickly covered his mouth.

“Thank you, sir,” she said, “We are pleased with your approval.” Chaos just grumbled and dropped his head back down.

“You both have created a fair balance of chaos and harmony,” Control continued, “These creatures will do much better than the previous inhabitants.”

“Come now, Control,” Destiny chimed as she appeared. “I believe they have done wonderfully.” Harmony gasped quietly and smiled.

“Thank you so much, madam,” Harmony beamed. Her glow brightened a little.

“Thanks, Destiny,” Chaos said with gratitude while sitting up. He continued, speaking with accusation now in his voice, “I told Harmony the dragons and antlered bunnies and winged and horned po…humhhu -” Harmony covered his mouth.

“He…he,” she awkwardly laughed.

Chaos pulled her stub away and said, “What?! He’s already seen everything we did, and he gave it his ‘Control Stamp of Approval’” - he air quoted - “that you so desperately wa…”

“Shh…shh…shhhh!” she quickly shushed him. “I…um…we…ah…he he,” she babbled, her glow turning slightly pink. She looked down.

“Hum hum,” Destiny laughed, covering her mouth. Harmony glowed pinker.

“Ahem -” Control gathered everyone’s attention, “- It is time for the giving of the souls.”

He floated up high above them, his green glow expanding. His light intensified. The two spirits shielded their eyes. White, transparent, and sheet-like lights began flowing from him. They drifted down towards the planet. Once there, they quickly scattered out and shot into their proper vessels. Harmony was astounded. Her mouth wordlessly awed as she peered down in wonderment. Chaos smiled at how chaotic the souls looked, weaving around each other and every obstacle. He secretly wished one of the souls would wander into the wrong body. That would be hilarious! He smiled, rubbing his stubs together hopefully. Destiny just smiled up at Control. She always loved to see him this way.

Author's Note:

And thus the planet was reborn!

Don't think I'm trying to be mean to MLP or it's fans or anything. That's just Chaos. I was just poking fun at how a lot of people react to MLP and trying to bring some humor into the story.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed. Feel free to comment.