Stability of the Past: The Beginning

by GoodieTwo-Shoes

Chapter 8: Balancing the Scale

A dim grayish-yellow light flashed behind a modest home in the Earth pony village. All the ponies continued about their work, none of them seeing the light. A little weakened by the travel, Harmony took a moment to rest as Chaos cautiously peaked out from behind the building. The former chaos spirit eyed the colorful creatures as if one touch of their hoofs would kill him, or worse, turn him into something harmonious. He gulped and scooted back behind the wooden barrier close to Harmony.

“A-are you sure I have to be here?” he asked, voice shaking a bit as he wrung his stubs together.

The almost fully drained harmony spirit was looking down at herself with a slight frown. Teleporting them there had cost her the rest of her grayed-purple color, but she still had the thinnest bit of a glow. She raised her dim eyes up to her worried counterpart. Before she could answer his question, she heard it.

It was laughter: pure, delightful, joyous laughter. Then she felt the energy that was all around her; it was warm and amazing. It felt so fantastic! It reminded her of the feeling she had when they had first arrived on the planet earlier that day. It was the harmony, the harmony of the ponies, the harmony of her favorite creatures; the creatures that would refill her with the energy she needed to rebalance the planet. A bright smile replaced her worried frown. She could do this!

“He-llooo,” Chaos spoke grouchily.

“Sorry, Chaos,” she apologized for not replying, “Um, yes. Yes, you have to be here.” He whined but more fearfully than disagreeably. “You’ll be okay. They can’t do anything to you. They won’t even know you’re here,” she attempted to reassure him. She understood his concern; being here around her creatures must feel to him as being in his forest felt to her.

“But harmony’s so gross and hot and…what’s that?” he interrupted himself, looking around the empty space around them as if trying to find something.

“What’s what?” she asked, not seeing anything but the house and the trees of the forest behind them in the distance.

“It’s-it’s warm…and…not bad…not good…just…different,” he said, focusing back on Harmony.

She thought for a few moments before realizing, “The harmony…you’re feeling the harmony.” Even as she said it, she was surprised. He wasn’t feeling drained or weakened by his opposite force, like she had thought he would. But the harmony was the only thing around them. It had to be it.

“No, that’s not it,” he said, shaking his head, “Harmony doesn’t feel like this. Harmony feels bad and unpleasant.” He paused to looked down at his colorless, dull body.

“It is, Chaos. You have no chaos energy left, so the harmony isn’t repulsive to you anymore. It’s just…” she explained, making sense of things as she spoke.

“Neutral,” he finished for her, knowing she had to be right. He looked back at her, “But I don’t want to feel like this. I’m supposed to hate harmony.”

“Well, it’ll be easier for you to be around all this harmony now,” she said positively. He just frowned. “Come on. We need to keep going,” she said, moving out from behind the building.

“And you’re sure they won’t see me?” he asked, peeking back at the ponies. He couldn’t risk the creatures seeing him and touching him and feeling him with harmony or something.

“I don’t think they can,” she said a little unsure. He wasn’t fully a spirit anymore, but none of the creatures in his forest seemed to notice him. “I think Control would have told us that,” she said more confidently. “But maybe I should take that off,” she said pointing at the bandage wrapped on his head. Out in the open in the sunlight, the bandage would be obvious floating above the ground, if the ponies were able to see it.

“No!” he said defensively, backing away, “It hurts.”

“I can’t risk them seeing it magically flying around with no magic glow or unicorns around it. It might spook them. I need them calm and happy,” she explained, reaching for the white wrapping.

Freaked-out ponies running away from a free-floating object sounded like a good idea to Chaos. He could use some chaos. Something that would feel good inside him, instead of this neutral blank. A mischievous grin covered his face as he watched the peaceful ponies and swiftly lost his fear of them. Quickly, he tried to scoot out towards the unsuspecting creatures, but Harmony easily stopped him with her stub, pulling him back behind the house.

“Chaos, no! You’re not going to terrorize these ponies and ruin my harmony source,” she said sternly, earning a pout. “Control is watching; you need to behave. Besides, if I don’t succeed, he’ll destroy your little spirit,” she warned. He ceased trying to pull away and glared at the ground. “Now, let me remove that,” she instructed. As she gently unwrapped the bandage, he cringed at the slight pain it caused. After completely removing the bloody wrap and making it disappear, she said, “It looks a little better. I think it’ll be okay.” “Just don’t touch it,” she said, as he reached up to his head. “Let’s go,” she cheered, ready to finally start her mission. Chaos dropped his stubs and stayed behind her.

Harmony excitedly drifted out to the bustling, bright ponies. Just being among her creatures-watching them planting their crop seeds, soaring above her as they directed the wind away from the fields, and talking peacefully amongst themselves-had her green eyes glowing again. Her mouth opened in a smile as she felt their harmony growing inside her. A group of Earth fillies chasing a ball ran through her as they giggled. The spirit sighed at the warmth as Chaos scooted back away from the playful young ponies before they infected him. The three fillies stopped only for a second, thinking they had felt something in the air. Then they raced back after the fleeing ball, their laughter erupting again.

“He he he he!” giggling sounded behind the pair. Turning, they spotted a little pink filly leaning out a window of a large, rosy house. She continued to laugh as she watched the other fillies playing with the toy in the distance.

“Pudding,” Harmony spoke. She quickly grabbed Chaos and hurried over to the house. She started to float them through the front door before he stopped her.

“Stop!” he shrieked, trying to pull out of her grip as she stopped midway through the closed door.

“Oh right. Sorry, Chaos,” she apologized, remembering that he could no longer go through Earthly things. “Just…quietly open the door, slip in, and quietly close it back,” she instructed, breaking into a whisper. She floated the rest of the way through the door and waited for him. The door slowly swung inward as Chaos scooted inside and cautiously looked around. A toothy grin grew up his cheek as he did the opposite as instructed and slammed the door shut with a hard shove. “Chaos, no!” she cried. The raucous bang echoed through the interior of the home, alerting the sole occupant of their intrusion. “Chaos!” she angrily scolded, eliciting a chuckle from him.

Pudding’s distant laughter stopped, as did the impish half-spirit’s.

“It’s very rude not to knock,” Pudding’s voice sounded from the adjacent room. The filly walked away from the window as she spoke, “But I forgive you. Did you need something from…?” The front room was empty. “…the Chief?” She blinked around the empty space, before trotting to the door. “Hello?” she asked, opening the front door. She looked around outside from the doorway before closing it back. “Wait. I was looking out the window. If somepony had come in…or out the front door, I would have seen them,” the perplexed pony thought aloud, “How did the door move?” Harmony was tempted to speak up in hopes she would hear her without the Perceiver and explain not only about the door, but about everything. She could use Pudding’s help. “A-are one of you unicorn’s playing a trick on me?” she asked warily, hoping that’s all it was. Then Harmony remembered how she had unintentionally scared Pudding the last time and decided against trying to speak with her.

“OoowwOOWwwOOWWW! We’re not unicorns. We’re spirits, the ghostly kind!” Chaos moaned spookily, waving his stubs above his head.

“Chaos, stop it!” she automatically demanded.

Wearing a worried, but uncertain expression, the filly searched the room with her wide eyes. Pudding thought she heard something strange, but it sounded very distant. She shook her head and reasoned, “There’s no pony here, so I couldn’t have heard anything.”

“She heard me!” the half-spirit said excitedly.

“Shhh!” Harmony shushed. The pink ears flinched impulsively at the sound the pony was trying to ignore.

“Or…she heard you,” he smiled menacingly. It made perfect sense now that he thought about; Pudding was the only pony that heard Harmony immediately through the Perceiver. If any creature with a soul on this planet could hear them, it would be her. And maybe one of the side effects of losing his power was the ability to communicate with the creatures. Oow, he hoped so! Or if it was Harmony scaring her own creatures that would be even better. “Say something else?” he insisted, very intrigued by the turn of events. Harmony shook her head, now realizing the obvious that if she didn’t want to talk to Pudding and possibly scare her, then she shouldn’t speak at all where the filly could hear her. “Come on. Say something. She’s one of your favorites, the first of your creatures you spoke to. She’s a harmony creature. Don’t you want her energy, her help?” he tried to entice her. Harmony closed her mouth tight and turned away.

He really did want Harmony to get her energy recharged-the faster, the better, so they could get away from all this harmony, he could recharge himself, and his little spirit would be safe-but he also really wanted to mess with the ponies and, of course, Harmony. He saw how scared Pudding was the last time and how frightened she was getting now; he knew this was the opposite of what they needed, but he couldn’t resist. Although, it did seem different than normal, as if he were almost forcing himself to enjoy it. He didn’t feel guilty for his actions, but he wasn’t readily enjoying their angst either. Watching Harmony squirm away from his words while trying not to yell at him to stop and the little pony cowering on the floor with her hooves over her ears, weren’t feeling him with cold pleasure as they usually would. But, it was still a bit fun to watch.

“Ha…ha…heh…,” a nervous, weak laugh interrupted his game. They both stopped to stare at the filly. “I-I’m just a l-little filly and v-voices are all a-arooouuuund…” Pudding hummed, uncovering her head.

“Tell me she’s not…” Chaos sneered.

“T-The spirits and their w-whispers, they keep on m-making me frooowwwn…” the filly continued, sitting up and looking wide-eyed at the room.

“She is,” Harmony whispered, shocked but happy.

“I-I hid under my pillow from what I-I thought I heard,” she sang on, slowly standing, “But I-I think that’s not the way to deal with fears at aaaaall,” she went on with more confidence. “Then what is?” she asked herself, looking up at her own face on the framed family portrait above the Chief’s front desk. “I say, ‘Pudding…you gotta stand up taaaall’,” she told her portrait as she straightened her stance, “Learn to face your feeaaars.” She turned back towards the front door where the sounds were the loudest. “You’ll see that they can’t hurt you. J-just laugh to make them disappeeeeeeaaaaar,” she half-sang. She took a long, deep breath, closing her eyes.

“Ha! Ha! Ha!” she laughed loudly, opening her eyes.

“Hauh!” Harmony gasped, feeling a strong warm energy fill her. The filly’s face broke into a bright smile.

“Sooooo, giggle at the ghostlllyyy!” Pudding sang happily, bouncing towards the front door, “Guffaw a the grosslllyyy! Crack up at the creepppyyy! Whoop it with the weepppyyy!” She bounced around the front room. “Chortle at the kookkkyyy. Snortle at the spookkyyy,” she continued, “And-tell-that-big-dumb-scary-voice-to-take-a-hike-and-leave-you-alone-and-if-he-thinks-he-can-scare-you-then-he’s-got-another- thing-coming-and-the-very-idea-of-such-a-thing-just-makes-you-wanna…hahahahaha..heh…” She fell into a fit of giggles on the floor. Then she sang, “Laaaaaaaaaaaaauuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh!”

“Is she talking about me?” Chaos asked with a frown. His face dropped when he saw Harmony’s top stripe reappear in a bright pink flash.

“She did it! She fueled me with her harmony!” Harmony quietly cheered.

“By laughing?” Chaos asked, eye-ridge raised.

“Yes!” she laughed with a wide smile.

Knock-knock-knock!

“Heh-heh…c-coming…ha ha,” Pudding snorted, picking herself up off the floor. Still giggling, she opened the front door to greet her friend.

“Hay, Puddin’. Ya sound like your feelin’ all better,” Cookie said, walking inside and noticing the absence of a bandage on the other filly’s flank, “What’s got your giggle box all wound up?”

“Just laughing my fears away,” she replied with a wide grin as she closed the door.

“What’s got ya’ scared?” she questioned, slightly concerned. It couldn’t be too frightening since the pink filly was still smiling.

“Just those spirits again,” Pudding replied.

“Spirits, as in more than one?” she asked, friendly tone changing.

“Yeah, but they can hurt us,” she replied, completely unafraid.

“Uh…y-yeah, of course they can’t. A-Ah mean spirits and ghosts and those kinds of things aren’t r-real,” Cookie stated, carefully looking around her.

“Yes, they are, I heard them,” she said defensively. “But, there’s no reason to be afraid of them,” she assured her.

“Pfft, Ah ain’t afraid,” the freckled filly defended.

“Yeah, you are. You’re kinda shaky, and your eyes are all wide,” she refuted, pointing to her knocking knees.

“Uhh, i-it’s just cold in here,” she denied, forcing her legs still.

“It’s okay to be afraid. You just got to laugh those fears away!” she cheered.

“Ah ain’t afraid of somethin’ that don’t exist!” she stubbornly said.

“But they do exist. I told you I heard them,” Pudding got defensive again.

“Well, Ah never heard ‘em,” she scoffed.

“You calling me crazy!?” she yelled, “I am NOT crazy!”

“Well, you’re the only pony hearin’ voices!” she hollered back.

“She can’t hear us?” Chaos asked, previously silently enjoying the argument and Harmony’s renewed distress. Cookie’s eyes widened further as she flinched away from where the spirits were standing beside her.

“You heard that!” Pudding shouted, pointing a hoof at her.

“A-Ah don’t know what you’re t-talkin’ about,” she denied, turning away from the three of them. Unseen, she bit her lip and looked around her.

“You’re a liar! You heard that voice, and you are afraid!” Pudding accused, frowning.

“Ah ain’t no lair!” she defended.

“Then what do you call somepony would doesn’t tell the truth?” she harshly asked.

“Ah…,” she began. She sighed, lowered her head, and turned back around. Closing her eyes, she quietly replied, “A liar.”

“We’re friends, Cookie. Why would you lie to me?” she asked, sitting down beside her. The yellow maned filly sighed again.

Opening her wide eyes, she explained, “Ah just didn’t want to admit Ah was afraid. And Ah thought if Ah pretended Ah couldn’t hear those scary v-voices that they would go away or Ah wouldn’t be scared anymore. Ah’m sorry, Puddin’.” “You’re right; we are friends. And Ah shouldn’t have lied to ya’,” she continued with a smile, “Friends should always be honest with each other.”

Harmony gasped as her second stripe quickly lit up and returned to its bright orange color. Her smile and her glow grew.

“And now that you told the truth, I can help you chase those fears away!” she cheered, pulling them both into a stand.

“How?” she asked, nervously looking around again.

“You just gotta laugh!” she giggled.

“Laugh?” she asked, raising an eye ridge.

“Yeah, when you laugh things aren’t scary; they’re funny!” she laughed.

“Well, how do ya figure that?” she questioned, not understanding how simple laughter could make her not afraid.

“Because…,” she paused and took a deep breath. “When I was a little filly…!” she happily sang as she bounced in place, hooves still on the ground.

“I know where this is going. I’m out,” Chaos said, quickly slipping out the door as the pink filly continued to sing.

“Chaos, wait,” Harmony called, following him through the door.

“The spooking and arguing were good, but I’m not listening to that mind-numbingly cheery song again,” he said, sliding down the single step.

“I liked it. It was cute, and it had a good lesson in it too,” she said, following him down into the short grass.

“Of course, you would. How did she even improvise a song out of nowhere like that?” he asked, “I could practically hear the music.”

“I…” Harmony began to answer.

“It’s f-freezing out here!” a regal voice complained, grabbing their attention. It was the princess sitting on a cushioned purple pillow, shivering as she looked upon the Pegasi clearing the sky. “Why can’t mother or father oversee the Pegasi’s work?” she asked her companion.

“The king and queen have other duties to attend to, princess,” Clover replied tiredly.

“Then the Peagasi need to work faster, so I can return to my chambers by the fireplace,” she sneered.

“As I said, princess, I am sure…” Clover began.

“We’d work faster if we didn’t have to listen to your constant complaints,” Hurricane said loudly, as she shoved another cloud away from the crop fields.

“That is no way to speak to your princess, ruffian,” Platinum scolded.

“You are not my…!”

“Hurricane!” General Thunder Cloud warned, “Stay focused. Our work is to help all of the ponies.”

“Yes, sir,” Hurricane agreed, getting back to work.

Pansy, who had been struggling with her own cloud, had overheard the short argument. After repositioning her cloud away from the fields, she peeked down at the princess and noticed her shivering. Platinum was a little stuck-up, but she was still a pony. And right now that pony was in need of something more than her royal robe to keep her warm. Maybe she could help her.

The yellow filly took a moment to look around for something she could give the princess to give her warmth. She saw nothing but her own armor and the light blue and green scarf her mom had knitted for her that was wrapped securely around her neck. Well, she supposed her mom wouldn’t mind making her another one if she explained why she had given it away. Sneaking a peek at Hurricane, she quickly flew down to the princess. Both unicorns gave her a questioning look as she nervously landed in front of them. Harmony and Chaos had wondered over closer and curiously watched the scene.

“Can we help you?” Clover asked, in a friendly voice. Pansy mumbled quietly as she ducked, helmet slipping down to cover her eyes. “Excuse me, I’m sorry. I couldn’t hear you?” Clover said politely. The anxious filly spoke a little louder, but her voice still went unheard.

“Speak up, please,” Platinum said impatiently. Pansy squeaked and stepped back. She quickly undid her scarf and stretched it out to the princess with her shaking hoof. She bowed her head again, her long mane flowing out of her helmet and onto the ground. The royal filly raised an eye ridge at the unfashionable garment.

“Thank you, Private Pansy. The princess graciously accepts your kind offer,” Clover spoke up, using her magic to levitate to scarf from the shaking hoof and around the neck of the ungrateful pony.

Pansy stopped trembling and lifted her helmet out of her eyes as she raised her head to finally speak audibly with a small, shy smile, “Oh, I don’t mind. My mom can knit me another one or my long mane can keep me warm.”

“Your mother made this for you, and you’re giving it to me, even if you’ll have to go without?” Platinum spoke slowly, astonished.

“Yes. You were cold, and I wanted to help you,” Pansy said, rubbing her foreleg with her hoof. “I hope you like. I-Is it acceptable?” shying away, afraid the royal pony wouldn’t like her simple gift.

“Yes. It is more than acceptable. It’s marvelous. Thank you, Pansy,” she said truly thankful. The Pegasus beamed, and Harmony felt the warmth overtake her again as her yellow stripe returned with a bright flash.

“Private, get your flank back up here,” Hurricane called from the sky.

“Coming, sir,” she squeaked, quickly bowing to the princess before flying back to the sky.

“That was very kind of her, wasn’t it, princess?” Clover asked slyly.

“I suppose it was,” she agreed, falling back into her snooty, royal attitude, “In this freezing cold so far from the castle, this garment will have to do.” She wrapped the scarf tighter and hid her smile in the warm cloth.

“Of course, your highness,” she said, turning to hide her own grin in the hood of her thin, brown robe.

Holding back an elated squeal, Harmony grabbed Chaos and quickly pulled him behind the closest house.

“Eeeeehheeheh!” the excited spirit squealed quietly. “Ooooh! That felt so Good!” she exclaimed to her frowning associate, “And I got half my colors back now.” She peeked around the corner back at her ponies and said quietly, “A Pegasus being kind to a unicorn, that’s intertribal benevolence.”

“Intra-what?” Chaos asked, pulling her attention back to him. “Violence!?” he said hopefully.

“No. I said intertribal benevolence. I meant the tribes are doing more than just cooperating out of necessity; they’re actually showing care for one another,” she explained.

“I prefer regular violence,” he commented casually, crossing his stubs. Use to his usual anti-harmonious remarks, she shook her head and floated out from behind the building and a little closer to her ponies.

“This is going so well. I’ll be fully energized and have plenty of time to make my creation before nightfall. And you’ll be back to normal, Chaos,” she spoke happily. She turned back around and didn’t see him. “Chaos?” she asked as she floated back around the corner, thinking he just hadn’t moved along with her. Seeing no one in sight, she instantly panicked, “Chaos!” She quickly circled the entire building while yelling, “Chaos! Where’d you go!? You’re supposed to stay in my sight!” Rounding the building again, she continued, “You’re going to get us so much…” Wide eyes and strange looks stretched in front of her from across the small village to the sky. “…trouble,” she squeaked. Stubs flying over her mouth, Harmony hurried to the back of the building again.

Knowing that they couldn’t see her, she carefully peeked back out at the ponies, nonetheless. The ponies were no longer staring in her direction but looking all around in search of the strange far-off voice instead. After a moment, everypony went back to their business and thought nothing more of the strange sound. Just the wind or something from the nearby woods most assumed. Temporarily relieved, Harmony sighed and slumped to the ground. She needed to be more careful, her ponies all seemed to be hearing her now that she was on the planet. She wasn’t sure why; she’d have to ask Control later. But right now, she chose to believe her ponies were very special as Destiny had once said when they were first receiving their cutie marks. Thoughts back on her missing counterpart, the worried spirit took to the sky with a groan to get a better look for the troublesome Chaos.

~

Inside a large but simple brick building some Earth ponies were busy preparing what little food they had to make enough lunch for all three tribes of ponies. Everypony had a job to do, whether it was tending the fields, clearing the skies, or overseeing all the work. It was all important, and theirs of spreading the limited amount of food around was very important and very challenging.

“This is impossible. There’s not enough food,” one stressed stallion said, “We can’t feed ourselves and them!”

“Maybe there’s enough for us and the Pegasi, at least they are actually helping,” a blue mare suggested.

“The unicorns aren’t doing nothing ‘cept sittin’ on their royal flanks. We should just cut them out,” the stallion agreed. A rouse of yeses and yeahs filled the kitchen.

“Quiet, everypony!” an orange mare shouted politely over the noise. Her tall toque rose above their heads as she made her way through the small crowd to the cooking cauldron. “The harvest will be soon, and we’ll have plenty of food for everypony,” she said. The last crops the Earth ponies had planted before the deal that had struggled to grow had swiftly transformed from bare steams into fruitful yields with the Pegasi’s help. They had even already begun planting the next round of crops. “Ah don’t care much for the unicorn’s way, but we need the sun to grow food. So, we have to share, and we might as well try to get along,” she said to her kitchen crew. “Right now, we’ll use what we got,” she said, looking into the half empty pot.

“Sorry, chef Citrus, but there’s just not enough,” the blue mare said.

“We don’t have enough for the unicorns,” the stallion insisted.

“Then we’ll make it enough,” the head chef said. The orange mare trotted out the back door and quickly came back with a bucket of water. She poured it in the water, filling the cauldron a fourth of the way from to the top.

“Won’t that make it bland?” the mare asked, with cringe.

“And not very fillin’?” the stallion added.

Citrus hummed into the pot, seeing the few vegetables floating inside the hot water. Then she looked around the kitchen. Her eyes lit up at the sight of the open pantry. She rushed over to the small room, grabbed an arm full of ingredients, and spread them out on the counter. She threw a few tomatoes in a bowl and mashed them up. Setting that aside, she grabbed another bowl and threw in several herbs and seasonings. After mixing it all together, she took the bowl to the cauldron and stirred it all inside. The pleasant smell that had been filling the room increased to a mouthwatering level. She took the spoon out and held it out to the stallion’s mouth. He took a sip.

“That’s actually not too bad,” he commented, “Better than the soup we’ve been havin’.”

After trying a bite, the blue mare said, “And it’s a little thicker. This will fill everypony up.”

“Ah call it stew,” Citrus said a bit proudly, “And it’ll be even better when we have more ingredients to spare.” “Now, let’s get the bowls ready while it heats,” she instructed.

As the ponies set out the bowls and spoons, the cauldron began to gently swing above the fire. Had the kitchen crew not been busy working, they would have heard quiet grunts and hisses coming from in front of the cooking pot. The large black pot began to tip forward and then gently swing back, sloshing the stew near the rim. The pot tilted again. Just before the lunch spilt over the edge, the cauldron suddenly tilted back and swung into the back wall of the fireplace. The loud bang gained the attention of the busy ponies, but, seeing nothing but the cauldron hanging motionless over the fire, the ponies went back to work. What they couldn’t see was the struggle between the two as Harmony was holding onto Chaos with one stub over his mouth and the other holding his stub out to keep the pot still. Feeling sharp pains on her left stub, she quickly disappeared them from the room.

~

They appeared at the edge of the woods away from the center of the Earth pony village. Harmony released Chaos and held her stinging stub. He spun around with a deep scowl and a slight growl.

“What are doing?!” he asked, teeth bared and stubs pointed sharp.

“You bit and scratched me,” she said, looking more than physically hurt.

“You grabbed me!” he accused.

“Because you were going to spill the ponies’ only food, and they were going to hear you,” she defended, keeping her injured stub close to her.

“I was not!” he defended.

“Then what were you doing with the cauldron?” she questioned.

“I was just…” he said uneasily, losing his defensive posture.

“Just what?” she asked with suspicion, placing both stubs on her sides, “Why did you even sneak in there when chef Citrus came back with the water?”

“I um…” he mumbled, twiddling his now smooth stubs.

“And why did you leave my sight? Do you want to get in even more trouble with Control?” she questioned, pointing her right stub at him. Before he could respond, a loud, low growl rumbled from his middle. His eyes widened as he attempted to cover the sound with his stubs. Dropping her pointing stub, she asked more gently, “Chaos, are you hungry?”

“No! That was gas!” he denied. “I mean…I’m so angry at you for grabbing me that even my body is growling at you,” he huffed, turning away with his stubs crossed.

“Chaos,” she said with a sympathetic smile, “It’s okay if you’re hungry. You’re not fully yourself right now, and somethings have changed about you. I suppose it make sense that you need food, now that your energy is all gone. Is that why you bit me, because you’re hungry?”

“I am not hungry, and I do not need food! I am the spirit Chaos, and I don’t feel the things or need the things my creatures do,” he said, turning back around with a growl, “The only thing I feel is anger at you for attacking me.”

“I didn’t attack you. I was just trying to stop you,” she said, feeling bad for making him feel attacked.

“Then what is this?” he asked, holding out his right stub. The palm of his grayish white stub was now very red. Harmony gasped, covering her mouth. Realizing he was showing his vulnerability, he quickly tucked his burned stub between his body and his other stub.

“Chaos, I am so sorry,” she apologized, tears brimming in her eyes, “I didn’t know it would burn you. I-I couldn’t touch it myself. You were touching it; I didn’t even think it would be hot to you.”

“Well, it was. Why do you think I was having trouble? Every time I tried to look inside, it started burning me,” he explained harshly.

“I’m sorry,” she said, tears leaking out of her eyes.

“You should be. You keep hurting me,” he said, touching his sensitive head with his good stub, “Because of what I did to you, now you’re taking your revenge when I’m weak.”

“No! I’m not. Those were accidents,” she desperately said, “I would never do that.”

“You tried to run me into a door,” he accused.

“I wasn’t thinking,” she defended. “But I’m sorry; I really am, for all of it,” she quietly cried. Chaos wasn’t grinning at her angst; he just stared at her with narrowed, untrusting eyes. “You don’t believe me? But I’m a goodie-goodie, remember?” she said, feeling deeply hurt.

“Goodie-goodies don’t make threats or hurt those they say they care about,” he said, holding his stare.

“I should never had threatened to tell Control about your puppy; I’m sorry. You should tell him when you’re ready. And I really didn’t mean to hurt you, ever,” she begged him to listen.

“And they don’t lie,” he added.

“I’m not lying,” she cried.

“You said you forgave me,” he stated.

“I do,” she replied desperately.

“How can that possibly be true?” he asked. “I betrayed you, I hurt you, and I never even apologized. And you still don’t hate me, you don’t want revenge, and you want me to come back with you? That doesn’t make sense. That’s not how it works. You must be lying,” he insisted.

Realizing the fault was not so much her’s as it was Chaos’s own lack of understanding that made him untrusting of her, she stopped crying and gently explained, “It can work that way, Chaos. When someone cares for someone, they don’t hate them or seek revenge when they do something wrong, they forgive them.” Not sure he believed that, his would-be-nose scrunched up. “But apologies do help mend hurt feeling,” she hinted with a small smile, wiping away her tears.

“I didn’t say I was sorry,” he said, turning away with crossed stubs again, “And I’m not going to.”

“That’s fine,” she said, “But I want to prove to you that what I said is true, and that I am still a goodie-goodie. Caring doesn’t end with one bad decision.”

He turned back around, looking at her curiously and asked, “How? Are you going to hug me again?”

“No, I’m going to give you what you need,” she answered, glowing brighter.

~

After Harmony’s bright yellow flash, Chaos still squinted his eyes against another bright light. He kept his eyes shielded with his good stub until they adjusted. Wide eyed, he looked at the tropical scenery around him. Tall palm trees towered over him, salt water gently waved over the warm white sand, the bright sun shone down on him, and animals sounded in the dense forest opposite the sea. He had been there when Harmony had created this island, but it seemed livelier and more picturesque this time.

“Whoa,” he said quietly, forgetting his pain, anger, and hunger for a moment. He let his injured stub drop to his side. Harmony smiled, glad to see him relaxed. Seeing her, he quickly hid his stub and his astonishment and asked, “Why’d you bring me here?”

“Unlike where the ponies live, there is still plenty of food here, and we won’t have to steal,” she replied, looking at him while floating towards the tropical forest.

Remembering all the colorful fruits she had made when they were last here, a small cautious grin formed on his face as he licked his lips. He couldn’t detect any delicious smells like the stew, but he knew there was something there that would make the growling, uncomfortable, empty feeling go away. But he still felt he couldn’t trust her. He knew she was supposed to be a goodie-goodie, but everyone has their limits, right? Maybe he pushed her too far back in his forest; and now he was vulnerable, and she had already hurt him twice. Plus, she was harmony, and he was chaos. They were opposites. So, with all of this put together, how could he possibly believe that she really cared about him?

Her smile dropped as she turned away from the forest threshold to see him still standing in the sand, and asked, “Aren’t you coming?” He was no longer smiling, and his stubs were crossed to hide his injury and his rumbling belly. She tried, moving closer to him, “I know this is hard for you, no powers, no energy, having real pain, being away from home and away from your chaos, being stuck here with me, not knowing what’s going to happen to you; I can’t imagine what it feels like being in your position.”

As she spoke, for the first time since the chaos forest, she really tried to put herself in his position. He had only created his little spirit because he wanted everyone to see chaos as he did, and he believed that the chaos was imbalanced and that no one cared about chaos or his chaos creatures, that no one cared about him. She knew their mentor never really showed any enthusiasm for harmony or chaos and never gave any real praise for their work. But, she knew he did care about the balance, and therefore, cared about harmony and chaos. She also believed that Control cared about her at least a little and would thus have to care about Chaos on some level, right? She wanted to believe he did, but she couldn’t be completely sure. She did know that Destiny cared for them both. That was something. She also knew that she cared for Chaos, and she intended to show him that. She was sure he was in for some real hard times from Control when they got back, if Destiny was correct and that it was possible. She was sure her mentor would be right in punishing him, but she also believed he needed to be shown some kindness.

“No, you can’t,” he spat, scooting back, “They all love what you stand for; you’re the favorite.”

She didn’t want to argue, so she simply said, “Eating will make you feel better.” He huffed a laugh, rolling his eyes. That was better. She knew him, and while she had never seen him hungry, she knew he always acted and felt worse when his energy was low. While she kept herself under control, she herself felt worse when her energy was down. She knew this was more than just the need for food that was making him feel bad, but it was a part of it. If she got him to eat, she was sure his attitude would improve, not only from the energy it would provide but also from her kindness in taking time away from her mission to provide it for him. She only hoped Control didn’t interrupt, and that he would allow them this time to attend to Chaos’s needs. “There’s a lot of different fruits to try, different shapes and colors, like you had suggested,” she offered, with a smile. He narrowed his eyes at her, but the untrusting undertone was gone. “Won’t that be fun? Trying all the fruits you helped make, eating new things, finding them all and tasting the new flavors, won’t that be chaotic?”

He dryly laughed, “Only you would think eating different fruits is chaotic.”

He kept his stubs crossed and slowly scooted through the sand to Harmony. With a smile she led the way through the trees and into the cool shade of the forest. Shortly, they had made their way to a gathering of fruit trees. Chaos looked up at the long, yellow fruit high above him. With a grunt, he stretched his stubs up, bananas still several feet out of reach. Seeing his struggle, Harmony floated up to the treetops, grabbed a bunch of bananas, and floated back down to him. She tapped his shoulder and held out her other stub. He stopped his futile reaching, looked at her opened stubs, and then frowned at her. Confused, she looked down and saw her empty stubs. Remembering her inability to touch anything on the planet, she smiled nervously, glow turning pink. Chaos ignored her embarrassment and tried in vain to reach the fruit again.

Harmony watched him again; then suddenly her face and glow brightened. She quickly floated over to him and scooped him up. He let out a surprised yelp as she flew them up to the treetops. She held him out in front of the bunches of bananas.

“Put me down!” he demanded, squirming to get free.

“I can’t touch the bananas, but you can,” she said.

“I don’t need help,” he insisted.

She didn’t respond. She just continued to hold him out in front of the fruit. He crossed his stubs stubbornly, until his stomach growled a minute later. Grumbling, he snatched five bunches, losing a banana as he tried to hold it all. Harmony carefully floated them back down. Once they reached the ground, he grabbed the fallen fruit and quickly scooted away from her. He went behind a tree, dropped his prize, sat down against the bark, and took a banana from his pile. He turned the fruit over in his stub, and then shoved the whole thing into his mouth. His sharp teeth tore through the tough peel as he chewed. Sweet taste covering his tongue, his eye widened brightly. He hummed and closed his eyes, relaxing against the tree as he swallowed. He licked his lips and popped another whole banana into his mouth. Harmony smiled, watching Chaos enjoying his feast of bananas.

Once he had finished the whole pile of yellow fruit, he rubbed his tongue against the sticky roof of his mouth. Spotting a cool pool of water, Harmony gestured towards it. With a humph, Chaos scooted over to it and bent down to drink the water from his cupped stubs. Thirst quenched, he looked uncertainly at Harmony, unsure what to do now that his new needs had been attended to. He had to admit to himself that he felt better after Harmony’s help, but he still didn’t want to trust her.

“Feeling better?” she asked. He didn’t answer. “Let’s go back to the ponies then.” He made a displeased sound but allowed her to approach him. She grabbed his stub, and they disappeared from the warm tropical island.

~

The pair reappeared back at the Earth pony village. The Earth ponies were bringing out the cauldron of stew and bowls.

“Looks like it’ll be time to eat soon,” a browned robed, purple unicorn filly stated to the princess sitting next to her. The royal filly was covered with a thick purple robe, neck wrapped in the gifted scarf, and was lying on a soft pillow.

“Good. It’ll be nice to have hot food to warm me in this freezing weather,” Princess Platinum complained, despite her warm clothing.

She noticed her assistant shiver and shift around on her bare hooves. While Clover had a robe as well, it was much thinner and, therefore, offered less protection from the chilly air. She looked away, not liking the strange, bad feeling she was getting from watching her assistant’s discomfort. Her eyes caught sight of the blue and green scarf around her neck. She looked up to the sky at the yellow Pegasus filly who had given it to her. It was such a kind thing to do. She moved her eyes back to the cold unicorn filly. Maybe she could…

“Clover, come here,” the princess instructed. Glad to move around to create at least a little bit of heat, she walked the short distance to her.

“Yes, princess. Do you need something?” she asked politely.

“Yes,” she said confidently. “I need…” she hesitated, loosing her confidence.

Clover knew better than to interrupt royalty, so she stayed silent and waited for the princess to finish. Platinum looked away, peeked back up at Pansy clearing the sky, and then returned her stare back at the purple filly.

She said with renewed confidence, “I need you to join me on my pillow and under my robe.”

“Excuse me, princess,” Clover said, taken by surprise.

“Even with my new scarf, I’m very cold. I need your body heat to warm me,” she said assertively. It was rather chilly, but Clover couldn’t believe that the princess-covered in a thick robe, a warm scarf, and sitting on a cushioned pillow-could still be so cold that she would allow her-a nonroyal pony-to sit with her on her pillow and even under her robe. “Please, join me, Clover,” she said, dropping her royal facade a bit. Clover allowed herself to smile and was surprised to see the princess return it for only a quick moment.

“Of course, princess,” the green mained filly said. She climbed in next to her as Platinum lifted her robe with her magic and lowered in back on top of Clover.

“This lasts only until lunch,” the purple mained unicorn said, heir of superiority returning, “Then we-I will have the food to keep me warm.”

“Yes, as you wish,” she agreed, enjoying the generosity while it lasted.

An unseen white light flashed beside them as Harmony regained her white color. She smiled wide, holding in a squeal of excitement. Chaos stood next to her uninterested.

“Soup!-or um Stews On!” chef Citrus announced, gaining everyone’s attention.

All the ponies immediately stopped what they were doing and quickly made their way to the cooking house. The ponies all gathered round, forming a line in front of the cooking house. The stew was being served to the hungry ponies from a table outside the building. Harmony floated over to the table, Chaos trailing reluctantly behind her. They watched the smiling ponies each take a bowl of steaming stew. A blue Pegasus filly took her share and flew off to enjoy it on a cloud. Behind her was a yellow Pegasus filly, who timidly took a bowl and squeaked out a tiny, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” chef Citrus said politely.

Pansy smiled, hiding behind her blue maine. She spread her wings to join Hurricane, but stepped on her long hair, falling forward into the table and dropping her bowl to the ground. The stew cauldron rocked unsteady; then toppled backwards towards Citrus. The orange mare tried to catch it, but it was too heavy. She began to fall backwards, but stopped, a tiny drop of stew spilling onto her chest. She saw that she was engulfed in a purple glow. She was moved back onto her hooves and the cauldron back to the table. She looked around and found a little filly with a purple glowing horn.

“Um, thanks,” Citrus said.

“Happy to help,” Clover replied with a friendly smile.

“She almost spilled all our food!” an Earth stallion shouted, pointing an accusing hoof at Pansy.

“We would have starved!” a unicorn mare cried.

“She’s an embarrassment to our kind!” a Pegasus mare barked.

Pansy ducked down, cheeks glowing red and tears brimming in her blue eyes. The condemning ponies continue on as the filly hid behind her maine and wings. Harmony watched, longing to but unable to help. Chaos observed, unamused yet unsympathetic.

The commotion reached the ears of the blue filly eating on a high gray cloud. Slurping up the last of her stew, she peered down and saw her Private being condemned by the other ponies. Even her own Pegasus kind was ridiculing her. She set her bowl down and wiped her mouth. She had been put in charge of toughening up the timid filly by her father. She felt that gave her a sense of loyalty to Pansy. She had to do what was best for her. Maybe it was good for her to be criticized by the other ponies; that would toughen her up.

Hurricane continued to watch the scene below as the poor filly hid miserably. The blue filly’s featured hardened; this wasn’t right. She stood up, spread her wings, and soared down towards the cooking house. She landed between Pansy and the complaining crowd.

“What’s going on here!?” Hurricane asked.

“She almost spilled all our food!” an angry Pegasus stallion replied. The blue filly looked at the almost full cauldron of stew then back at the crowd.

“It looks good to me,” she said.

“We would have starved!” a mare cried.

“Well nothings spilled and nopony’s gonna go hungry, so stop complaining!” she demanded. Pansy peeked out from her hiding spot. “And I’m sure it was an accident.”

“But she’s always messing up! She can barely fly straight, and she’s scared of everything! She’s an embarrassment to the Pegasi!” a Pegasus shouted. Pansy hid back into her maine and wings.

“She’s still learning!” Hurricane defended, “And with my help, she’ll be a great flyer and a brave soldier!” “And, until then, if anypony has a problem with my Private, they’ll have to go through me!” she stated, stomping a hoof and spreading her wings. The crowd quieted and turned away. The line reformed. Hurricane huffed, then closed her wings. She bent down to Pansy and gently asked, “You okay, Private?” The yellow filly pulled her wings in and raised her head, uncovering her face from her hair. She nodded slowly, and then a small smile formed. “Good.” Her voiced changed to a commanding tone, “Then get up, get your food, and let’s get this line moving!”

Pansy quickly stood up, saluted, and then squeaked, “Yes, sir!” She scrambled to get herself a fresh bowl of stew, then hurriedly trotted away. As Hurricane smiled after her, a bright blue flash glowed on Harmony. Her blue strip had returned. She grabbed Chaos and spun them up into the air.

“One more! I only need one more! Then I’ll be fully recharged!” she cheered. She lowered them down onto the roof of the cooking house and released Chaos. “I feel so good!” Showing no interest or contempt for her joy, he yawned, slowly blinking his eyes. He rubbed his eyes and yawned again, body drooping. Her smiled warmed, and she suggested, “Why don’t you rest up here while I get my last color back? I know you’re supposed to stay with me, but you can’t cause any trouble up here. Besides, I can still see you up here from anywhere in the village.” She was sure he would go right to sleep as soon as he allowed himself to close his eyes. He grunted disgruntledly but didn’t protest otherwise as she led him over to the chimney. She ushered him to rest against the warm bricks; he obeyed drowsily. “You rest, and I’ll come get you when I’m ready to make my creation.” He grunted again, closing his eyes. She flew down from the roof in search of more Harmony.

Chaos’s left eye popped open. He stood and rubbed his stubs together. Now that he was alone, he could finally cause some chaos. A big yawn interrupted his scheming. But he was tired, and making chaos just didn’t seem to have the same appeal. Besides, didn’t Harmony say she could still see him? He wasn’t really listening; she bored him right now, and he was tired. He slouched back against the chimney and closed his eyes. Maybe if he rested for a bit, he’d feel like making some chaos. He settled into the warm bricks, sighed, and went to sleep.

~

After searching around the pony village for a few hours, Harmony had only managed to feel a little harmony here and there, but nothing was enough to return her last color. Looking at the low sun, she was beginning to worry she wouldn’t make it before sundown. Once all the ponies went to bed, she wouldn’t have a chance at getting her purple color until morning. And what if that was too late? Unsure of where to go next to find enough harmony, she decided she should check on Chaos, who seemed to be up and moving around now from her distant view of him. So, she flew back over to the roof where she had left him to rest. When she got there, she found he was awake…and squirming. Upon seeing her he stopped fidgeting and crossed his stubs instead.

Seeing her lack of full color, he asked impatiently, “What’s taking so long?”

“Sorry, but I can’t find enough harmony,” she replied. “Or maybe I’m just not finding the right harmony,” she added as an afterthought.

“Well, hurry up!” he shouted, accidently allowing a little wiggle to escape.

She would have thought he was merely being impatient, but, if that was all it was, he wouldn’t be trying to hide if from her. “Are you doing okay?”

“I’m as fine as I can be this bump on my head and this burn on my stub that you put there!” he accused rubbing his head then holding his stub protectively. Then he squirmed again.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for those things to happen,” she said, not pointing out that she had already apologized. “I was just wondering because you seem restless…squirmy,” she added.

“I’m just tried of waiting. You’ve been at this practically all day, and I’ve been stuck like this!” he gestured to his lack of colors.

“Sorry, I want this over with too. I need to get recharged, so I can make my creation before it’s too late,” she said, slouching down above the roof. “The right harmony,” she thought out loud, “I regained my other colors when somepony did something that showed true, pure harmony…hope and laughter with Pudding…strength and honesty with Cookie…healing and kindness with Pansy…beauty and generosity with Princess Platinum…bravery and loyalty with Hurricane.” “What else is there…who else…where else?” she wondered aloud as she circled around on the roof.

“We should go back down there,” he said. More urgently, he said, “And get off this roof…now.” He couldn’t stop the withering that came with his statement.

She turned her attention to him at the urgency. Not sure what was happening with him, she submitted and said, “Okay we’ll get down.” She floated to him, then disappeared them. They reappeared on the ground behind the building, but Chaos’s urgent movements and expression didn’t stop. “What’s wrong?” she asked with concern.

“Nothing!” he said defensively.

“Chaos, please. I want to help you,” she begged.

“Nothing’s wrong!” he insisted, still squirming and stubs starting to shake.

“I helped you get food and let you rest; that made you feel better,” she said. His eyes darted away then back to her. “You can trust me. I’m a goodie-goodie, right?”

She did help him, and she hadn't tried to hurt him anymore. Maybe they were accidents...maybe she was a goodie-goodie. He wasn't sure, but he needed this to go away. And he hadn’t been able to do it on his own, and she was the only one around.

“It’s nothing…just…it’s…full,” he mumbled.

“Because you ate?” she asked, seeing his stubs squeezing and hovering over his middle.

“I don’t know. It just feels really full. It’s uncomfortable…really uncomfortable,” he said quietly, looking down. He wiggled again, stubs moving lower.

She looked at him thoughtfully, trying to discern what could be wrong. She thought about everything that had happened to him, everything he had done. Then realization struck her. Her glowed slightly pinkened. This was a bit awkward, but it couldn’t be helped. She’d have to tell him and hope he would know how to handle it. She didn’t know, but Chaos was different. He could change the structure of the ends of his stubs to give himself digits, his nonexistent nose could run, and somehow the black darkness around his boy glowed. Maybe he would know what to do once she told him what the problem was.

“I think maybe you might need…relief,” she said awkwardly, glowing pinker. He turned his head at her, not understanding. “You need to…need to…” She sighed. She was being silly. This was a perfectly normal thing to do…well normal for the creatures anyway. “Chaos, you need to pee,” she said bluntly, standing tall.

Chaos seemed to grow paler, and squeaked, “What?”

“Well, it’ simple, really. You drank water, so now it needs to come out. Perfectly logical and normal,” she stated, glow returned to its yellow color.

“But,” he sputtered, squirming more, “We don’t do that. How am I supposed to do that? We don’t even have…”

“I’m sure you can figure it out. You do things we…or I… can’t do all the time,” she interrupted, glow pinkening again. “Like the trick with the digits.” With a hard expression and a frown, he raised his smooth stub and bending it back and forth. “You can’t do that anymore?” she asked, worried.

“I can’t even put my stubs back into my body, and you can do that!” he shouted, “You mean to tell me the only way to make this really uncomfortable feeling go away, is to do something I physically can’t do?!”

“Um…”

“You did this to me! You did it again! You hurt me again! You’re no goodie-goodie! When are you going to stop!? What do you want from me!?” he yelled with desperation.

“Chaos, I’m sorry, I didn’t know this was going to happen. You were hungry; I was just trying to help,” she defended, but felt guilty, nonetheless. He looked angrily at her, but then looked distraught. Tears began to form in his pale eyes; his lip quivered. This was the last straw: everything had become too much.

“I’m sorry!” he wailed, “I didn’t mean to do all that to you…to hurt you…to scare you that bad…I couldn’t stop…the chaos was too good to stop!”

Tears streamed down his face as he cried. She floated to him. At first, he backed away; she stopped. Then he whimpered and allowed her to hug him. He leaned into and cried on her shoulder. She rubbed his back to comfort him. Attempting to help, she expanded her glow to encompass him and thought about taking the discomfort away. Warmth spread around them, and Chaos stilled, but didn’t pull away. Her glow receded; his crying stopped. He pulled back to look at her, his face full of confusion and relief.

“It’s gone,” he quietly said, “How did that happen?”

“Trust, care, and a little magic,” she replied. Suddenly, a bright flash of purple appeared. “We did it!” she spun away, twirling into the air, “We shared a moment of harmony and friendship!” She smiled down at him, his shoulders were slumped and he wore a frown.

“I can’t believe I just helped you get harmony,” he muttered, but said no more.

“Thank you,” she said. He huffed, crossed his stubs, and stuck his tongue out at her. She smiled wider. “I just need a little more, so I’ll know I have enough harmony. And I think I know what to do. I’ll be right back,” she said, and flew off. She soared over the village, looking down at all the ponies, who were finishing up outside, soon to head inside for the night. “I hope this works,” she said, feeling confident.

She dived downward towards the ponies, not slowing down as she quickly approached a young filly. She closed her eyes, held her breath, and flew directly through the purple filly. A rush of warmth and good feeling flowed through her. She opened her eyes and flew back above the pony. The filly stopped and looked around confused.

“What was that?” Clover asked allowed.

She wore a suspicious expression but continued on her way. It worked! Harmony absorbed some harmony from Clover without disturbing her enough to affect anything. She took off again, directly her fight back and forth to fly through everypony along the way. They all hesitated only a moment before returning to their tasks. Meanwhile, Harmony was collecting harmony at a rapid rate. Once she had went through all the ponies, she floated above the village and flew back to Chaos. When she landed next to him, her glow was brighter than ever, and she felt great.

“It’s time,” she said, grabbing his stub, and they disappeared.

~

A bright yellow flash of light shone down in a deep crevasse of the dark woods. Two figures appeared after the light had ceased, one a glowing rainbow-colored oval-shaped figure, the other a pale gray bell-shaped figure. The pale one looked around, then frowned.

“Wait a second, this is my forest,” Chaos objected, “You can’t make the most powerful of all the harmony creatures in my chaos forest.”

“It’s the perfect place,” she said confidently.

“How’s that?” he asked.

“Because this is the place that needs harmony the most, and it’s close to the most powerful creature of chaos, your little egg,” she calmly explained.

“Your creation is supposed to balance out mine, not overthrow the chaos from the most chaotic place on the planet!” he protested, throwing up his stubs.

“It won’t, as long as your egg continues to create chaos, the powers will only balance,” she said with a strong smile.

He just huffed in response. Still smiling, she floated deeper into the trench. Chaos followed. As she did so, she noticed she no longer seemed bother by all the chaos energy around her. Likewise, he no longer felt good and empowered by it. They continued on until they went into a covered area that ended in a rock wall.

“This is it,” she stated, smile still present. She looked back a Chaos, and simply said as her glow brightened, “You’ll want to take cover.” Quickly, he scooted away and took cover behind the wall outside the covered part of the chasm. A tremendously bright and yellow light blasted out passed him. He ducked down and covered his head, knowing this didn’t offer any more protection.

Harmony’s glow brightened still, so much so that the yellow of the glow looked almost white. As she prepared to make her one and most harmonious creation, she thought about all the harmony she collected and how she had regained all her colors. “Laughter,” she giggled as she thought about Pudding laughing her fears away. The almost white glow turned pink and flashed out of her. “Honesty.” Cookie telling her friend the truth about being afraid. An orange flash. “Kindness.” Pansy offering her mother’s scarf to the princess. Yellow flash. “Generosity.” Platinum sharing her space so her assistance could be warm. White flash. “Loyalty.” Hurricane standing up for her Private. Blue flash. “Magic of Friendship.” Chaos trusting her to use her magic to help her friend. Purple flash. Then her glow formed around a rainbow of all the colors and shot out from her with a strong force than blasted through the forest.

~

Control and Destiny saw the glowing rainbow grow until it encompassed the entire planet. As before, Destiny floated up with her eyes turning white, and the bright rainbow was engulfed in a light blue glow and pushed back towards the forest. Control’s yellow side grew larger; then his two-tone colors returned back to perfect balance. The corner of his mouth twitched up.

~

The rainbow glow shot back to the ground in front of Harmony. Then she was knocked backwards, white cloudy trail trailing behind her. She hit the ground and slid to a top into the rock wall. Pale and glowless, she didn’t move. Chaos peeked out from behind his shelter and found Harmony.

“Are you dead?!” he shouted over to her. He didn’t get a response, so he scooted out and slowly over to her. He looked down at her white, still body. “Now you look like a ghost,” he said. “Harmony,” he whispered, wringing his stubs. He watched her for several moments. Then she stirred. She pushed herself up to rest against the wall. “Huh, you are alive,” he said, sounding neutral. She groaned. He watched her but didn’t say anymore.

“Oh…I feel so…drained,” Harmony groaned, head spinning.

“Here,” Chaos said, holding out something long and yellow.

She looked at it, then at him and said, “A banana?”

“What does it look like?” he said shortly.

She reached over and took it, “You saved this for me?”

“Well I thought you would get hungry, and it’s our only change to experience eating good food, so…” he trailed off and looked away.

“Thank you,” she said. She pushed herself up to an unsteady stand and hugged him. He didn’t pull away, but the embrace didn’t have the same warm feeling. She released him and looked back at the fruit. “Wait, where was this?” she asked.

“Harmony, you have completed your mission, and now it is time for you to recharge and rejoin us,” Control’s voice sounded in their heads.

“Wait, what did you make?” Chaos asked, looking around. There was nothing there but the stone wall and the empty ground in front of it.

“It’s underground,” she whispered to Chaos. “Yes, Control,” she replied, “How do I recharge my power.”

“Go stand over your creation and wait,” he instructed.

Slowly and dizzy headed she made her way the short distance to where her invisible creation was. She swayed slightly as she stood in the spot. She saw Chaos watching her and remembered his gift. This was her only chance. She lifted the banana, peeled it back, and took a bite. Sweetness filled her mouth as she chewed. She smiled at her counterpart, who stared back. As she finished the banana, she felt a warmth beneath her. It wasn’t a pleasant warmth, nor was it unpleasant. She dropped the peel on the ground and allowed the warmth to spread up her body. As time passed, she felt herself growing strangely impatient and had an odd urge to complain to Control that this wasn’t working. But before she allowed herself to speak out, the warmth grew hotter and more comfortable. Eventually, the heat felt pleasant and welcoming. She settled into it with a sigh; a smile formed on her face. Finally, after a long time of suspense, a small yellow glow returned around Harmony, and she felt herself float slightly upwards.

“It worked!” she cheered, but didn’t move “Thank you so very much, sir!”

“How long is this going to take? I need to recharge too; I’ve been stuck like this all day,” Chaos complained to the canopy of the forest high above.

“Once Harmony has a full color, it will be safe for her to move and finish recharging once she’s back here. Then you may go to your creature and recharge,” Control explained neutrally. It didn’t take much longer for her full glow to return and for her purple color to gradually appear. “Harmony, escort Disharmony back to his creation.”

“Yes, sir,” she said, and took Chaos’s stub.

“It’s not fair; you got to recharge first,” he gripped as they disappeared.

~

They appeared back in the destroyed area of the forest where the triangular egg was hidden in the thick grouping of trees. The unpleasant chill was felt again by Harmony, who once again felt uncomfortable in the chaos forest. Chaos scooted over to his egg, squeezed between the trees, and sat on the side of it, leaning his back against it. He shivered at the cold but didn’t move. A long time passed, but nothing happened.

“It’s not working! We waited too long!” Chaos cried out.

“Patience,” Control simply said. Chaos huffed and stayed put.

More time went by. Worry started to replace his impatience. If Chaos couldn’t get his power back, he wouldn’t be allowed to return with Harmony. He didn’t want to be stuck on the planet, powerless and invisible. He didn’t want to keep his new needs or the pain he had experienced.

Finally, Chaos’s body grew darker as a slight black glow formed around Chaos. He smiled wide, relieved to see his energy returning. He turned his smile to Harmony, who grinned back. Suddenly, a green light formed around them. They looked at each other confused. Then they were gone.

Author's Note:

I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter that I finally posted. As always, reviews and comments are welcome.

Again, I hope to at some point post some artwork on Deviantart for the last few chapters.