Monsters Are Patient
“Come on, Chaotic, hurry up!”
A certain draconequus-alicorn hybrid’s ears perked up as he heard his younger sister call his name. Opening his eyes, Prince Chaotic could see his beloved sister, Harmony, running away from him. This would have been alarming, if not for the fact that the two siblings were in the middle of a game of tag. Before running any further, harmony skidded to a halt and turned to face Chaotic once again.
“What are you waiting for!?” she called, irritably. “The game doesn’t work if you don’t chase me!”
Chaotic never wanted to disappoint his little sister. In fact, he always put Harmony’s need is from of his own. Always. Now, he couldn’t let his sister down now. Especially not over such a trivial game, so he started to run. Chaotic ran faster and faster, coming closer and closer to catching Harmony. Realizing the chase was on, Harmony turned tail and began sprinting away.
The two ran throughout the royal gardens, dodging a series of statues and fountains. Slowly, but surely, Chaotic lessened the distance between him and Harmony. Eventually, he was only a foot behind her and could catch her with one strong leap. Chaotic was preparing for said leap when Harmony swiftly switched her direction and bolted to the left. Not being as agile as his sister, Chaotic tried to stop, but failed. Instead, he was sent flying into a nearby statue. He crashed into it with a loud thud, sending cracks throughout the old marble. Immediately, Harmony was at his side and holding his paw.
“Chaotic!” she screamed. “Chaotic, please be okay!”
Chaotic could barely hear his sisters cries, for his head was pounding and he had loud ringing within his ears. However, he could still make out the sound of Harmony’s worried pleas.
“H...harmony?” he groaned.
“Yes, Chaotic?” Harmony answered, tears streaming down her face.
“G..go get dad.”
“Good idea!”
Immediately, Harmony left her brother’s side and bolted into the castle. As she did, she frantically cried for her father to come. However, the marble statue had continued to crack even after Chaotic had slammed into it. The tall figure grew more and more unstable until it finally collapsed under it’s own weight. And right on top of Harmony. Noticing the marble falling on her, she screamed in fear, wanting the blow to happen quick.
Hearing his sister scream, Chaotic shot his head up and looked behind him. He instantly saw the large statue falling on top of Harmony. Without thinking of the pain he was feeling, Chaotic flared up his magic and caught the statue with it. Unfortunately, his magic was not quite strong enough to hold the massive marble slab and it continued to fall upon Harmony. Realizing this, Chaotic doubled his efforts and sent another burst of magic. This time, his eyes and horn grew a deep deep shade of crimson and his magical aura became blood red. The statue instantly stopped falling and started to shake. Much to Harmony’s surprise, the statue unexpectedly exploded, sending sending pieces of stone flying all over the garden.
“Harmony?” A voice asked. “What’s going on here?”
Looking up, Harmony could see his father approaching her with a worried look on his face. She then looked around her and almost gasped at what she saw. Her brother was on the ground and enwrapped in a dark red aura. His eyes were glowing an evil glow and his horn was giving off sparks that burnt the grass around him. The statue that he had crashed into was completely destroyed and only a puff of smoke was left in its place.
“Ch...chaotic?” she cried.
Before he could respond, Chaotic slumped to the ground. His body lost its magical aura and he was knocked unconscious. His father and sister rushed to his side, both of them feeling a deep sense of worry. Discord picked his son up in his arms and looked down upon his form. Chaotic had sustained a hard blow to the head and his bleeding nose indicated that. Carrying him inside the castle, he could not help but wonder about what type of magic his son had just used. It was red, a color used for evil magic, but he had used it to save his sister.
Before he could continue his train of thought, Discord burst into the castle’s personal hospital wing. Immediately, the eyes of multiple doctors and nurses fell upon him and Chaotic.
“Chaotic is hurt!” he instantly announced. “I don’t think it’s anything serious, but he hit his head pretty hard.”
Reluctantly, Discord handed his son to an attending nurse, who quickly placed him in a wheelchair. Discord and Harmony watched silently as the nurse wheeled Chaotic away and down a corridor. They moved to follow them, but were quickly stopped by a doctor.
“I’m sorry, but we can’t have you see him until we’ve treated his injuries.”
“B...but that’s not fair!” Harmony cried. “Chaotic’s hurt and I need to be in there with him!”
“Look, Harmony,” Discord said, embracing his daughter. “The doctor’s right. It would be better for Chaotic if we just let the doctor fix him up first.”
“N..no. I have to be with him.” Harmony began to weep, burying her head into Discord’s shoulder.
“There, there,” Discord cooed, comforting Harmony. “I know you love him, but we need to let the doctors do their thing.” Harmony continued to cry, until she finally said what was bothering her so much.
“This is all my fault, daddy.”
“Harmony! How could you say that?”
“Because it’s true! It was my idea to play tag and I made him chase me into the garden. If I hadn’t been so carless, this wouldn’t have happened.”
“Shhh,” Discord shushed her, rubbing Harmony’s back. “You were playing a game and Chaotic hit his head. This is in no way you fault.”
“It isn’t?”
“Of course not.” Discord then pulled Harmony away from her and looked his daughter in the eyes. “Now, Harmony. I need you to do something very important, okay?”
“Okay,” she sniffed.
“I want you to go get mommy and tell her what happened. Do you think you can do that?”
“Yes, I think I can.”
“That’s my girl,” he said, ruffling her mane. “Now go and get mommy.”
As Harmony sprinted away, Discord’s thought turned back to what he had seen earlier in the garden.
“I haven’t seen that type of magical energy in years,” he thought. “The last time a unicorn’s magic was that red was when.....No. That can’t be right. Chaotic couldn’t have used that type of magic. It’s just not possible....or is it?”
Once again, Discord’s thoughts were interrupted. This time, by the sound of approaching hoof steps. He looked to his right to see Celestia and Harmony standing in the medical wing’s doorway, panting as if they had ran there from the other side of the castle.
“What...happened...to...Chaotic?” Celestia asked, between gasps for air.
“Wow, Celestia,” Discord joked. “You look like you just ran a mile.”
“This is not the time for jokes, Discord! What happened to our son!?”
Recognizing Celestia’s serious tone, Discord began to tell her the whole story.
“From what I know, Harmony and Chaotic were playing a game of tag when he tripped and fell. The only thing is he fell right into one of the garden’s statues. I heard Harmony calling for help, so I rushed outside. I found Chaotic on the ground and unconscious. He hit his head pretty bad, so I took him here. I don’t think it’s anything too serious.”
“Harmony?” Celestia asked, looking down at her daughter. “Is this true?”
“Y...yes, momma.” she responded, still crying. “It’s my fault just like dad said.”
“Sweetie,” Discord said. “This is not your fault, remember?”
“Oh yeah.”
“Anyways,” Discord continued. “Mommy and I have to talk about something important right outside. That means you need to stay here. If a doctor comes and tells you you can see Chaotic, I want you to visit him, okay?”
“Okay, daddy.”
“Good. Now, honey, can I see you outside for a moment?”
“Well, sure.”
“Great.”
Pushing Celestia outside of the hospital wing’s doors, Discord took one last glance in the direction Chaotic was wheeled off in. Once outside, Discord could feel Celesta’s gaze fall upon him.
“So, Discord? What is so important that we need to discuss when our child is in the hospital?”
“Look,” Discord said flatly. “In there, when I told you what happened, I may not have told you the whole story.”
“Okay? What did you forget to mention?”
“As you know, when I heard Harmony calling for help, I rushed out to the gardens. But what I didn’t ell you was what I saw when I did. The statue that Chaotic had crashed into had cracked and was toppling over. The way it was falling, it would have landed right on top of Harmony. The only thing is that Chaotic caught it with his magic before it did.”
“That’s impossible! Chaotic is way to young to use magic to lift something that heavy.”
“That’s what I thought too. Not only that, the magic he was using was a deep red, kind of like...”
Before Discord could continue, Celestia quickly stuck a royal hoof in his mouth and cut him off.
“Discord. Think about what you are saying! Our son using the same type of magic as...as...” Celestia bit her lip, unable to say what she was thinking.
“I know, Tia. But I swear that’s what I saw.”
“Well,” she sighed. “It wouldn’t be too farfetched. He is part draconequus, after all.”
“Plus, the alicorn blood in him would enable to him to handle such power.”
“Oh, Discord. That’s exactly what I’m afraid of.”
4 Years Later
Chaotic had been thinking about that day a lot lately. For some reason, the day he hit his head on a statue replayed in his mind over and over again. However, that wasn’t saying much. Hitting his head had caused Chaotic to lose memory of most of what happened. He could only recall bits and pieces of the whole event. The doctor had told him he had a simple concussion and that he should play more carefully next time. He also remembered how his sister reacted to the whole thing. Harmony had been crying over him, telling herself that it was her fault that he had gotten hurt. Although it felt kind of nice to know that Harmony cared for him, Chaotic hated seeing his little sister cry.
“Chaotic!” screamed a voice, jarring him from his thoughts. Chaotic looked over and saw his mother standing over him with an annoyed expression. “How many times do I have to tell you? Pay attention in class!”
The class he was currently in was the private magic tutoring he had been getting from his mom. Ever since he started showing signs of magic potential, his parents insisted that Chaotic learn as much as he could. He just wished that his mother’s lessons were not so boring.
“As I was saying,” Celestia continued. “This spell is used for switching the personalities of two ponies. To cast the spell, you must first focus your magic one of the ponies, then the next one. If you do them both at once, the spell will fail. Next, you simply cast the spell while using your magic to focus on the space in between them. Any questions?”
“Uh, no.”
“Good.” Glancing at the clock, Celestia realized that her lesson time was nearly over. “Ok, Chaotic. It looks like you’re done for today. Why don’t you go join your sister down in the kitchen.”
“Sure thing!” he answered with a smile.
Chaotic hopped out of a seat and made his way out of his mother’s chambers. The kitchen was not too far of a walk from his mom’s room because she often had late night cravings for cake. It only took a few minutes until Chaotic reached the doors of the royal kitchen. He opened them and walked inside. Chaotic was instantly greeted by the sight of his younger sister.
“Hey, Chaotic!” she called. “Are you done with lessons for today?”
“You bet!” he replied. “So what are you doing?”
“I’m making a pizza!”
Looking over to what Harmony was working on, Chaotic could tell that his sister was right. A large slab of dough was laying on the counter, covered in tomato sauce and cheese. However, the pizza looked more like a crime scene than food.
“Really?” Chaotic asked. “I thought you were just making something uglier than you.”
“Oh, shut up.” Harmony said, rolling her eyes, “You wish you looked as good as me.”
“Okay, sure. So...aren’t you going to put it in the oven?”
“Well, I...”
“What is it, Harms? Can’t you put your...let’s call it a pizza, in the oven?”
“I...I can’t reach.”
Instantly, Chaotic was on the floor laughing while Harmony gave him a death glare from the kitchen counter.
“Come on, Chaotic! It’s not my fault it’s up so high!”
“I know. I know. I’m sorry. Anyways’ do you want some help?”
Instantly, Harmony perked up and smiled over at her brother. “That would be great.”
Chaotic picked the “pizza” up with his magic and levitated it towards the oven. He then opened the oven handle and popped it open. He took his time placing the pizza inside, making sure he didn’t accidentally drop it. Once it was inside the oven, Chaotic used his magic to close the oven once again.
“There you go, sis.”
“Thanks, Chaotic. You’re the best!”
“I know,” he said, puffing out his chest. “Of course I’m the best.”
“Oh, please.”
Just then, Discord appeared in the room with a giant puff of smoke. Harmony and Chaotic coughed and gagged as the smoke reached their faces.
“Whoops. Sorry, guys.”
“It’s okay, dad.” Chaotic answered. “Any reason you filled the entire kitchen with smoke.”
“I assumed that since Harmony was cooking, the smoke alarms were going to go off anyways.”
“Hey!”
Discord laughed before continuing his explanation. “I’m just kidding, pumpkin. The real reason I’m here is because I want to show Chaotic something.”
“Really? What is it?”
“You’ll see, my son.” Discord then help out his hands and a large book appeared in them. The being of chaos blew on the book and it flew out of his hand and towards Chaotic. It landed right in front of him and Chaotic leaned in to read the title.
“The Aura Spectrum,” he read. “Volume Two: Red.”
“That’s the one!” Discord said. “I want you to read this when you get the chance.
“But it’s so long.” Chaotic moaned, flipping through the pages.
“I though you might say that,” Discord grinned. He immediately snapped his fingers and the book disappeared. In its place were only a couple of slightly torn pages. “These are the pages I want you to read. You don’t have to do it right now, but I want to talk to you about it tomorrow, understand?”
“Sure.”
“Good! Now, I don’t know about you guys, but I’m ready for some pizza!”