Wanderings of a Chaos God

by BronyWriter

Eden

It wasn't more than about an hour of flying before I could see what was beyond the outskirts of Klugetown. Back when I'd been in the badlands with TD, all we saw was sand, rocks and the shimmering in the distance of extreme heat. If I hadn't been able to conjure up food and water, TD might not have made it through the badlands in his state. However, even from where we were in the air, I could see the massive change.

There didn't appear to be a scrap of desert left. It had been replaced with grass and buildings and crops of every kind that I could think of, most notably corn and wheat. Ponies of all tribes bustled around, each doing whatever jobs that had been assigned to them to improve one of the worst parts of the planet. I had to admit that things looked... good. However many bits TD had poured into this, it seemed to be working.

"I don't think we're going to die of dehydration going through this," Skystar says as we pass by a group of ponies bundling up various grains. "I think we could live here for quite some time."

"Yeah, most likely," I agreed. "I have to admit that TD's probably right about how much this project will help everybody around the world. Equestria hasn't wanted for food in a long time as far as I know, but, yeah, this is going to change things when it gets fully going."

"Wonder how much this is costing Equestria," Skystar said.

I shrugged. "Trillions, I'll bet. What I'm curious about is if it's sustainable. Equestria is the most prosperous nation on the planet, but who knows how long he can keep this going."

"Well, with him, Celestia and Luna being immortal--" my ear flicked at that. "I'm sure they'll adjust accordingly. Celestia and Luna have been around a long time, and something on this scale would also take their approval, so I'm sure that they have put a lot of thought into this as well."

"Probably." I stopped and stared at what was clearly a group home of some sort. Adult ponies sat around and tables eating breakfast while various foals played around them. One or two of them were even sitting around, of all things... a lake. Wow. What TD and I wouldn't have given for one of those back when we were going through this place the first time. If one didn't know better, they'd say that this was some place from the heart of Equestria, not somewhere that had been the planet's worst desert a few short years ago. The air even felt cleaner.

My heart skipped a beat when an earth pony mare with a golden coat and blonde mane looked up and noticed the two of us. She smiled and waved at us to come closer. Skystar and I exchanged a glance, and the mare stood up and walked over to the short fence separating us.

"Howdy, strangers." She extended her hoof to me. "Mah name's Golden Fields. You two ain't from around here, looks like."

"Uh, no," I said, tentatively taking Golden's hoof and shaking it.

"Yeah, we're just... traveling through."

"From Klugetown, Ah'll wager," she said, motioning down the road we'd come from. "Been on the road long?"

I shook my head. "Just since dawn."

"Long enough, then." She motioned over to the rows of tables behind her. "Stay a spell and have some breakfast. Got plenty to go around, and somepony has to eat it. Two of you might as well help."

"Oh, uh, thanks, but we wouldn't want to be a bother," I said.

Golden snorted and rolled her eyes. "It's all already made up, and the plates are stacked waiting for somepony to use 'em. It'd be more of a bother to put away more food than less, and you two might as well not go on hungry." She hopped over the fence and started nudging me toward a small gate. "Wouldn't be very neighborly of us ta just let ya walk past all this food when you've both probably got a lot of travelin' ta do. Come on. Won't take no for an answer."

"I see that," I said, walking toward the gate. "Well, if it's not too much of a bother, I suppose."

"Would have offered either way, but it ain't," Golden said. "You two just take a seat, and we'll bring ya out some food, alright?"

Skystar and I walked over to one of the wooden tables and sat down at one of the benches. The other ponies around us all smiled and nodded to us. It would have creeped me out if I hadn't been through this kind of thing whenever TD and I went to one of the Apple Family's get-togethers and been treated the same way. Without that, I might see this as some kind of cult commune. A few of the ponies moved from their spots and sat down across from us.

"Welcome," a middle-aged gray stallion said, extending his hoof to us. "I'm Barley Grower, and this is my wife Wheatgrass."

"Charmed," I said, shaking both of their hooves. "I'm Silver Scribe, and this is Skystar."

"Pleased to meet you," Wheatgrass said. "You two just passin' through, or are ya new here?"

"Just passing through," I said. "Golden Harvest saw us walking by and invited us to breakfast."

"Glad she did," Barley Grower said with a smile and nod. "Always nice to meet new ponies."

"Yeah." I looked around some more. Gosh, it didn't feel like the same place at all. Not a single skull of a dead animal that had died of dehydration around anywhere. I even spotted a pig pen with half a dozen pigs lounging around in the mud. I briefly wondered for a moment if we'd have some breakfast ham, but these are ponies, and even pegasi only eat fish. I mean, I could eat meat if I wanted to, and had on occasion, but that might be a little off here.

"So, where are you two headed? Somewhere in Equestria, or are you passing through that?" Wheatgrass asked.

"Just passing through Equestria," I said. "We have something in another country to do, and Equestria is the most direct route."

"A diplomatic mission for Mount Aris," Skystar chimed in. Top secret, lots of hush hush and all that."

I actually managed a small smile at that, and rolled my eyes a bit. Having said that, though, I'd imagine that if anything was going on, Novo would want to know about it. The question would be if TD knew about anything untoward going on there. Based on how he treated Klugetown, I couldn't imagine that he was particularly nice to the country that had actually invaded Equestria and caused the death of fifteen thousand of his subjects.

In any case...

"So how long have you guys been here?" I asked.

"Pretty much since the start," Wheatgrass said with a smile, grabbing her husband's hoof. "It wasn't always this lush as Ah'm sure you well know, but the crowns did a lot to keep us safe and healthy while we turned it into what you see now. Prince Antares 'specially did a lot of work down here in the early days."

"How long did it take before it became like this?" Skystar asked.

"Oh, probably about a year," Barley Grower said, scratching his jaw in thought. "We had a huge party after the first successful harvest. The first three barely yielded anything edible, but each one got better as the methods and technology advanced." We're going to start exporting in the next year or so, I think. Crystal Empire, I think."

"Yeah, how are things up there?" I asked. "I know that Prince Shining Armor died during the Storm War, but I didn't hear about anything much after that."

Barley Grower sighed and flattened his ears. "It was definitely difficult for Princess Cadance. Haven't heard a lot about what she's up to, but she's still ruling, as far as I know. We have the odd crystal pony in our little community, and they were talking about how she's just as paranoid as Prince Antares is these days."

I frowned and tilted my head. "Paranoid? What do you mean?"

"Means neither of them are gonna get surprised again like what happened with the Storm King," Wheatgrass said. "They've got information networks 'round the world, last I heard. The ponies in control of the Storm Kingdom give him pretty regular reports on what's goin' on."

I grimaced at that. I knew that he was expanding his spy network, but I'd hoped that he wasn't on some 1984 kick. I'd hoped that he wouldn't be a totalitarian dictator once he took over, but again, seeing how he'd treated Klugetown didn't give me the highest hopes that he was being really nice.

Golden Fields chose that time to come back to the table with two plates balanced on her back. She gave Skystar and I a friendly smile and slid them off, putting them in front of us. Toast and eggs. I gave Golden Fields a grateful smile and picked up one of the pieces of toast."

"You two eat on up now," Golden Fields said, sitting next to Wheatgrass. "Let me know if you'd like some more."

"Thank you," Skystar said, picking up her fork and digging into her eggs. "Thanks for being really nice to us."

"Ain't a problem at all," Golden Fields said with a wave of her hoof. "Like Ah said, it wouldn't be neighborly ta just let you walk by all the food and not feed ya."

"Well, we appreciate it," I said. "We were just talking about how long they'd been here."

"Ah, yeah, Ah've been here from the beginning, same as them," Golden Fields said. "From Baltimare originally. When Prince Antares asked for volunteers..." Her smile widened. "Well, as a devoted Antarian, Ah couldn't exactly say no, could Ah? He's done so much for Equestria that Ah can't just pass up the opportunity ta help him when he needs me, can Ah? Same reason Ah volunteered for the war."

I flinched back at that, hopefully subtly enough that they didn't notice. Yeah, it was always odd to hear ponies talking about worshiping my brother. Granted, I had the occasional fringe group of ponies who worshiped me for being the chaos lord, but TD's church was many, many times larger than my cult, and it had only grown since the wars.

"We're Antarians ourselves," Wheatgrass said. "Too old to fight in the wars when the time came, but we're here doing our part."

"Oh... uh... yeah. Cool. Good for you," I muttered, focusing on the suddenly really interesting piece of toast in my hoof.

"We were gonna hit the chapel after breakfast, if you'd like to join," Golden Fields said. "If not, that's totally okay in our book. Just thought we'd offer."

"Yeah, uh, we were probably going to hit the road after this," I said. "Thanks for the offer, though." I glanced over at Skystar who had finished her food already. I finished my eggs and pushed my plate away before clearing my throat and standing up. "It was all really good. Thanks."

"Of course, darlin'," Golden Fields said as her and the other two stood up. "You change your mind about the service, the chapel is right down the way yer goin', and hey..." Golden Fields winked at me. "If when yer travels are done and you feel like ya want ta do somethin' meaningful, we'd be happy ta have you two back. Always room for another helping hoof." She nodded to Skystar. "Or claw, as it were. This place is..." A small smile crossed her face, and she took in a deep breath, enjoying the morning air. "Paradise. Yeah, that's the best word for it. Good hard, rewarding work with ponies that all love ya in one of the lushest areas in the world. Perfection is what it is. Wasn't like this before, but now, thanks to Prince Antares and all of the hard work goin' on, Ah'd say it's the best place in all of Equestria."

"I'll keep that in mind," I said quietly. "For the moment, we should get going. Lot of traveling we have to do."

"'Course," Wheatgrass said. "But we're happy ta have you two here all the same."

"We were happy to be here," Skystar said. "The food was good."

Without another word, I walked back through the gate, Skystar right behind me. She put on a bit of speed to walk next to me. "You okay?" she asked.

"Dunno," I said. "Not really, I guess. It's nice to see that everything is going so smoothly over here, and yeah, it's cool that there's going to be a lot more food around the world thanks to what he's doing here, but just the way that they... worship my brother. I guess I have a unique perspective on all of that both because I grew up with him and..."

I remembered the piercing screams of the Storm King, breaking through the sounds of Tempest's final wails.

"I don't think they know the real him. Because of what they've seen him do and what he's told them, they love him more than anything. I don't think they would if they saw what he actually did to the Storm King, or if they were in that meeting with the Klugetowners."

"Maybe not, but he has done objectively good things around here," Skystar pointed out. "There are a lot of happy ponies here since he changed things, and I guess every ruler has a dark er side, right? I know that not everything that Mom has done was all sunshine and rainbows. She'd had to do things that I didn't like, and when I take over for her, I'm sure that there will be some things that I don't like that I'll have to do."

"I get that, I get that," I said with a wave of my hoof. "I just wish that he wasn't so... uncaring and sadistic sometimes. What he did to the Storm King and Capper and Verko wasn't justice, it was revenge. I guess I'm just worried that if I see him again, he'll be the same way that he was in the meeting in Klugetown. Blank, emotionless, robotic, unfriendly... it wouldn't surprise me if I heard that he hadn't cracked a humorous, sarcastic remark in years. They worship him, but they don't even know some of the stuff he's done and is still doing. It's just..."

I looked to the side and saw a building about the size of a house in Ponyville. My heart skipped a beat when I saw a state of TD on top of it, his wings spread and a benevolent smile on his face. Ponies were filing in, most of them wearing those scorpion necklaces. I walked up to the fence and just stared at the congregation. Some of them even looked up to the statue, put their forelegs over their hearts and tilted their head to it in a bow.

"Maybe he's going to go back to the way he was," I said quietly. "We can be happy."

"Well, if you want to at least talk to him..."

I grimaced and shook my head. "Someday. I want to make sure that the Storm Kingdom isn't suffering first. If I see that he's not getting revenge on the nation that attacked Equestria..." I took a deep breath and turned from the chapel. "Come on, Skystar. Let's get going.

Comments

[Bloody_Tofu]

Yay!!!!! So glad to see this once more.

[HoneyBadgerr]

I never get tired of the "my brother may be a god but I knew him before he was potty trained" outlook she has

[redandready45]

10716376

Even if I become a billionaire, I still be the goofy kid to my siblings.

[JBL]

Kristen is what you get when you watch too many superhero cartoons where the hero allows the villain to escape "until next time".

[Bloody_Tofu]

Boop!