Chaos Origin Chapter 16

Fall from Grace

Discord woke up at early morning, stretching himself. He felt rather exhausted, and had a major headache. He groaned and swayed a bit as he held his head. “What the... Ow... What happened...?” He looked around, blinking when he noticed Luna asleep on his bed. She was tugging at his lion paw.

“What’s this?” He leaned over to her. He raised an eyebrow as he watched her sleep. “Little Luna.”

“Wilder...” Luna sighed in her sleep.

He scratched his head. “Aww, look at the little filly. Sleeping so soundly. So trustful of me. My. I sure have become such a good friend, haven’t I? I’ve become... So nice. So cute. So... orderly, YUCK!” He teleported himself above the bed and out the window. “I mean, look at this! What the heck is this?! This place looks so horrible, I’m gonna be sick! SO boring...!”

He floated around the room, frustrated. "No wonder things were going to end up the way they were... Well...” He smirked as he looked at his claw. “I have to prevent that now, don't I?"

Luna rubbed her eyes and yawned as she sat up on the bed. “Wilder...?” She frowned a little as she watched him hover around the room in such an agitated manner. “Art thou feeling--” She gasped as he snapped his fingers, trapping her in a bubble of jello. “Wilder?!”

“Wilder who, dear? Pleasant morning, isn’t it? Or at least, I’m about to make it pleasant.” Discord snickered as he watched Luna try to escape her prison. “Nothing’s wrong with havin’ some fun, right? Besides, it’s a proper way of celebration for the events of yesterday! Perfect to celebrate our...! No. MY victory!”

Luna tried to talk to him. She tried to move, too, but found that her movements greatly limited by the sticky substance. She could not be heard, either.

Discord rolled his eyes as Luna gave him an annoyed, confused look. “Ah, I’m done with you. You’re the biggest bore of all, you know that?” He flicked his claw fingers, making the jello move. He snickered when he splattered the jello on the wall, sticking Luna to it. “Alright, that was actually pretty funny. See ya around, Luna!” He vanished from the room. He smirked as he continued to change things around the palace grounds, his headache increasing, yet fading at the same time. The pain drove him mad, but also incited great thoughts and ideas for his creations, unlike those he had ever had before.

~~~

Some minutes later, Celestia woke up feeling much better, as well as great gratitude to her sister and those that had fought so valiantly the day before, particularly Wilder.

She raised the sun and quickly made sure that she looked her best. She ordered as best a breakfast as was sensible, given the delicate conditions of the kingdom. She was sure that a good speech would lift everypony's spirits after the meal.

She muttered to herself in front of the mirror as she finished brushing her mane. "It's so embarrassing. I didn't know anything else until I woke up this morning. Dear, I hope no one takes it badly..."

Once she walked out of the room, she was greeted by servants that awaited for her instructions.

Celestia looked at Minute Passer as he finished his report. “Thank you for working so hard, Minute Passer. Have you seen Wilder anywhere?”

“Oh, no, Princess, I-I have not.”

“Luna is not around, either... She probably has gone to bed now.”

Minute Passer looked at Celestia again. "Shall we go get Princess Luna and... um... Wilder, Your Highness?"

"No, it's okay. They'll come down when they feel well enough. I can wait for them, thank you." She actually felt more nervous than she sounded. Wilder had saved her life, after all. She wasn’t sure of what she should say to him.

“Come now, it’s nothing difficult... Simply thank him and, well, have a good day, like we normally would. Just, be grateful to him, it’s simple...” She sighed. “It’s... not really that simple. I mean, there’s something... something else, isn’t there? Wh-What if he wants me to say something else? How exactly do I thank him for saving my life and the kingdom without sounding... like he saved my life and the kingdom. I don’t want it to sound too formal, he doesn’t like formalities... B-But I don’t want him to think I undervalue his gesture, of course not...!”

She shook her head. “Oh, this is hopeless. Some imagination you have, Celestia. Turning simple thanks into such a big...” She blinked, realizing that she was blushing as she looked at herself in a mirror from the hall. “Wh-What? Oh, dear, don’t think too much into it!” She suddenly felt even worse.

~~~

Discord appeared above the palace grounds, looking down at the frightened servants. He grinned as he summoned a giant gray cloud over the palace and the villages around the grounds. "Our prognostication for today... HEAVY WEATHER!" From the cloud, ice-sculpted hippos and elephants began raining and collapsing over the city.

The ponies did not waste one second to try to get away from the falling, massive animals. They screamed and ran in a frenzy, trying to find shelter from the bizarre, dangerous rain.

Discord laughed hysterically as he watched. “These ponies really need to share my vision! I'll show them how magnificent it truly is to be in chaos and disharmony! What do you think?" He turned to speak to a bunny that he held in his claw, to which he quickly gave fly wings and eyes. He unleashed several of those mutant animals like a swarm over the farming fields and the villages, laughing even more as the chaos increased. “Oh, this is just too good!”

~~~

Celestia gasped as she stared outside. She watched as everything changed so suddenly. Ponies were being tormented by all kinds of bizarre things that appeared out of nowhere. Some of those things even got to a dangerous point if the ponies did not move away quickly.

"What...?!" She looked aside, but there was not much difference at all in the change of scenery. There were still subjects of her everywhere, chased around by the odd creations, frightened and confused out of their hooves. “E-Everypony, please calm down, it’s going to--”

She made her way through the grounds, watching her subjects as she tried to calm them down. “Listen, it’s--don’t worry, I’ll do my--please listen to me!” It was no use. The whole growing kingdom, all the villages that made the city, had gone out of control the more she tried to pull it back together.

"This..." She sighed and shook her head. "Wilder." She'd recognize the strange and bizarre magic anywhere. But, as she observed the enchanted things and mutated animals, she noticed that the magic itself was different. Quite unsettling.

The Sun Princess covered her head with her wing as she kept walking through the grounds, until she spotted Discord. She made her way through sticky puddles of caramel and other substances, until she was beneath him. She felt more uneasy and nervous the more she approached him, but she did not let that (and the swarm of flying gummy bears and animals) stop her. She grunted as she cleaned the mess that the gummy little things had left, and gasped when she saw that they went on to attack other unsuspecting pony victims. She glared back up at Discord. "Wilder! What are you doing? We've talked about this, about your magic!"

She screamed a bit as she quickly dodged one of the fallen hippos. "What in the world...?!"

She looked up and groaned a bit as she noticed that the draconequus had completely ignored her, too wrapped up in the enjoyment that his chaos brought. To him, anyway.

“Wilder! Are you listening to me?!”

Discord laughed, speaking to no one in particular. “Look at those! Can’t believe they can’t get out of that apple sauce. All they have to do is eat it! Without swallowing it, of course. Even I don’t like to be tickled from the inside”

Celestia sighed and shook her head, frowning with determination. She flew up and set herself right before Discord to speak to him.

Discord raised an eyebrow. “Ah, it’s you. Out of the way, Tia, you’re blocking the view.”

"Once again, you're taking things too far. I thought you'd already understood, Wilder. It's okay to want to lighten the mood, but..." She flew to the side to dodge another massive animal again. "Wilder, you're endangering everypony! Please make something a bit milder! I’m sure everypony will enjoy that to their best instead?"

Discord yawned.

She tried again, still giving him a nervous smile. “I understand that you’re trying to make everypony feel better. I like that, you always have such fun intentions in mind. Don’t worry about them screaming, they just--it takes a bit for them to understand your feelings. But I do, Wilder. I get that you’re trying to help, just... Let’s try a different approach, alright?”

She had a feeling things were going to be severely different that morning. Not that the raining animals hadn't been enough of a hint. It was something that he had said earlier that she didn't get to hear completely. Something about chaos and disharmony...

She suddenly remembered Dust Tail’s advice and warning.

“We cannot trust him, Thy Highness... We do not know what his intentions are... Thou best prepare, Thy Highness, we cannot expect anything good from that creature...”

It was as though the Council had prophesied that something like this would happen. They saw it coming, she was the only one who did not. The eldest princess of the land, the very ruler did not suspect anything at all. That, that was if her council’s words and fears were true.

Her eyes opened wider, her heart beat faster as she thought about the horrible idea. Had Wilder turned...? No. No, it couldn’t be. Wilder’s just fooling around. He must have gotten carried away, is all. He doesn’t mean the ponies any harm, everypony just misunderstands. He probably messed up and did not feel like trying as hard after how tiring yesterday was. He’s just made a few mistakes. That’s all. He likes jokes, this is just another joke of his. He thinks it’s funny. He’ll change his approach in no time. Somehow the thoughts didn’t quite convince her.

Discord teleported behind her, giving her an annoyed look. "Oh, come now, Tia. Have you always been this cheesy? Ewgh. Look, I’m just warming up! Ponies can’t take it? Not my problem. This is the beginning of a new age. THE AGE OF CHAOS!"

Celestia stared at him with surprise. “Ch-Chaos...?!”

He put his claw around her, pulling her closer to him. "Picture it, Tia. The new world of Chaos and Disharmony, where nothing, anywhere, makes sense! That will be the most fun, you know.” He turned her to look at her. “Why don’t you join me? We can change this world together! Nothing will keep us apart anymore in a haven like this!" He grinned and stretched his paw out to her as he gave her his proposal.

Celestia gasped, giving him an alarmed look. "W-Wilder... But... We, we already talked about this!” She pulled away from him. “This is not bringing any of the citizens fun. It is not like before! What's happened to you?!"

Discord raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean? It’s just--”

Celestia spoke seriously as she stared at him cautiously. "Stop it at once and let's talk. Chaos and disharmony will not bring any good to the land. It will not hold anypony together or help us grow. I think we seriously should go over this again..."

He rolled his eyes at her, disregarding her request completely. “Oh, please. You and your boring talks. I don’t feel like hearing them this morning!” He laughed as he unleashed more bizarre events upon the city, ignoring her and her pleas.

“Wilder, stop it!”

“You stop it, you’re getting annoying! Just look at this! You usually love what I make, don’t be hypocritical and tell me you hate it now, Celestia!” He looked at her expectantly. “Huh? The bouncing cake? The lemonade? The upside-down chocolate milk slide? The fireworks? You loved it all, so why hate it now?”

She didn't know how to respond to his strange and uncontrolled behavior. It was so different and so sudden from before. "I-I... I did like it, but... It... It was different... So different...” She stammered as she looked at the villages while they struggled with the chaotic magic. I can’t believe it... Did I... Did I do something wrong to lead him to believe this? That this... Was alright? It can’t be...

She stepped forward in the air, deciding to try again at confronting him. She was not going to budge. “What has gotten into you?! I thought we had agreed on something different! The tricks of your magic that I liked did not harm anypony! You said you were going to bring joy to everypony in the kingdom, that you would control it for that reason alone. But right now, you’ll end up hurting somepony. Did you already forget, Wilder? We agreed on that!”

Discord looked around himself with an expression of feigned worry. Then he looked at Celestia. "Oh, dear... I..." He clenched his fists and grinned again, cutting his act. "The only agreement I’ll accept will be that of an unorganized world. A CHAOTIC WORLD!"

He floated backwards, leaning down in the air. "Last night I recovered my real memories. My purpose, my past, everything, Tia. It all became so clear!” He laughed, looking around at the destroyed land. “I was not sent to bring joy and laughter, this world is simply dull. I am here to change that. I’m here to finally rid us all of the lies that would've sent us into boring order, into ruin!" He approached her and whispered to her. "And my real name, by the way... is DISCORD!!" He turned and with a flash of light cracked the ground in pieces, each segment floating on its own. The streets, houses and palace as well were dismembered.

Celestia grunted, bracing herself as the force of the chaotic magic broke the city apart. She faced Discord again. "STOP IT! I don't believe that. I won’t believe that! You helped us, Wilder! And you got along so well with everypony! Don’t expect me to believe that you’re just going to throw all that away for... for..."

“You don’t believe I’ve changed my mind about these lies?”

“Lies?!”

Discord shook his head. “Then you’re more naive than I thought, Celestia! So foolish...”

“I’m not foolish. I believe in you! That’s another story!”

“You believe in Wilder, that’s different! Wilder was a lie. I’m the true creature you should set your sights on! I’m the one who was with you all along! This is the real me, but I’m still the same, you know.”

“You’re not the same.”

“Am too! What’s so bad about wanting to clear everything up?! It’s wise to change your mind when you see you’ve made mistakes. And I made big ones! I’m embracing what I truly am right now, THIS is what I really represent here. Chaos and disharmony! If your little world doesn’t like it...”

Celestia shook her head, flying closer to him. "Please, I don't want to fight you! It has to be something else. I don't believe that such horrible things are your purpose! You have shown anything but that so far. You have made us all laugh and have fun. You made things entertaining and interesting. You gave them life of their own, and a new meaning. You made things have a new meaning here. Wilder... You saved my life!"

"MY NAME IS DISCORD!" The city was divided into ten cracked and floating pieces, with the castle in complete ruin. He quickly shook his head to the side to move the tuft of mane between his eyes, so he could glare at Celestia properly. "Yes, I saved your life. You know how you could return the favor, Tia? By quitting this boring world and joining me into the new one! One where we don’t have to lie to one another!”

“What?! Wait--”

He grabbed her hoof and pulled her closer. “Let’s rebuild this world to its proper state, just you and me! What do you say to that, dear princess?" His question sounded mocking in his voice.

"This... But, this isn't..." She looked down. "This isn't the you I... like. Not the one I... Not the one we owe our lives to." She looked up at him, crying. "What's so wrong with being 'Wilder'? What’s wrong with being somepony kind and funny, that doesn't harm others, but helps them and brings laughter to everyone? Just because what you became with us is not in your 'memories' does not mean it is not true! I told you that what you are doesn't matter to me. It's what you do, how you are and what you give to others, and you were so good, Wilder... I... I had never met anypony like that before!"

She dared fly up to him again, even though he glared, growled, and retreated from her a few inches. "What's wrong with being the one that earned my respect, affection, and my friendship, Wilder?! It does not mean that you are a lie. I can’t fight you, Wilder. I can’t fight so dear a friend. So please, don't... Please stop this." She looked at him again, pleadingly. She told the truth with each of her words. He really did mean so much to her... She really did not want to fight him, she did not even have the intention in her. The very thought was painful unlike anything else, as painful as watching her kingdom suffer.

Discord looked at her, then smirked and chuckled. “Heh, heh. Oh, Tia, you are SO wrong...” He muttered as he raised his tail behind her.

From below the mountain appeared a bearded colt of violet color, wearing a blue hat and a cape with bells on the ends. He seemed rather old, but powerful and wise. He shot a blast of blue energy in Discord's direction. The attack hit the draconequus, teleporting him to another site.

The pony teleported to the base of one of the castle's floating ruins, then and created a force field amended the whole cracked mountain. He looked at Celestia. "Celestia, it seems my timing couldst not be any more precise."

Celestia looked at the unicorn pony with shock. "M-Master! I..."

Luna flew down over to them. She spoke anxiously as she looked at Celestia. "What hast come over Wilder?!" She grunted as she shook one of her hind legs. Apparently, she was still working on getting the sticky substance completely off her coat.

Celestia felt as though she would start crying again. "I'm not sure..."

Starswirl the Bearded coughed violently, and panted with struggle. "That spell took much of my energy, I'm too old for this..." He glared at Celestia and Luna. "Princesses, what ist the meaning of this? Word arrivest to my ears of an army of black creatures and changelings invading the land. Then thou welcometh me with a... draconequus tearing thy parents' city apart?”

Celestia and Luna blinked as they endured Starswirl’s reprimand.

Celestia spoke as Luna lowered her head in shame. “Master... You know what... what he is?”

“I have lived for quite some time and thus have experienced and learned of many ancient things. But that ist not the point. Celestia, thou convinced me to believe that thou were ready to take leadership. Why didst thou not fight that creature as soon as thou saw harm? Thy citizens were in danger, Celestia, why didst thou not act precisely? Or a better question yet, why didst thou let such a creature here in the first place?"

Celestia lowered her head as Starswirl questioned her. She felt ashamed of herself, and more broken than she already was. She could hardly think of anything to say. When she spoke, she did so weakly. "I... I-I'm sorry, Master. You are right. I, I should have acted..." She mentally cringed and berated herself for her pathetic, poor excuse. Which was not really an excuse. It wasn’t anything. “I don’t understand how this happened, he was so...”

Luna tried to explain things herself, though she was quite puzzled and hurt by their friend’s behavior, as much as Celestia was. "Master, Wilder wast not acting like this before. He became our friend, a true, close friend. He wast so nice to us! But... But..."

She could not believe things had changed so quickly. When she awoke, terrible things were already happening all around the palace, and to the palace itself. Not to mention the nasty good morning her best friend had greeted her with. He had behaved in an unrecognizable manner, and now this display of irrational, and dangerous, magic...

Her thoughts went back to what Wilder had said to her the night before, but she quickly thought of something else. The idea of losing her best friend frightened her so, even more than Nightmare Moon did. The trouble had to be due to some other reason, some misunderstanding...

"And it wast all deception." Starswirl coughed slightly. "Thy ‘friend’ nearly tore the kingdom that thou both loveth apart, that should have been enough for either one of thee to act immediately and stop him." He sighed and walked closer to them. "Thou art leaders. As such, thy friends wilt NEVER be of bigger importance than the citizens and subjects that thou art commended to protect."

Luna looked down, feeling very ashamed of herself. She was so responsible when it came to her duties. Though very young, and even since she was younger yet, she had given up so many joys and pleasures... She had kept herself from enjoying the kingdom and the ponyfolk that she ruled over in order to ensure its safety. She had worked so hard and kept herself distant because of this, until Wilder arrived. Wilder really had been a blessing to her and the kingdom. So she could not understand why he suddenly...

She frowned as she tried to piece her thoughts together. It couldn’t all been just a trick, could it? There was no way... There was no way he could have done something so cruel, lying to them all along, gaining their trust to later betray them in such a way. That just was not possible. But, the more she tried to convince herself that it was impossible... The more plausible it actually seemed, especially with the screams of their subjects and the noises of their kingdom falling apart as emphasis to her fearful doubts.

She closed her eyes and lowered her head again. She could not think of anything to say to their master.

Celestia shook her head, speaking apologetically to Starswirl. “We are sorry, Master Starswirl. You’re right. I should not have hesitated. I thought that, perhaps I could... I thought I could fix things, I thought he would understand.” She turned serious as she continued to speak. “But alas, I was wrong. I made a terrible mistake, and I will do all I can to correct it.”

Luna nodded and followed after her sister’s determined example. She looked at Starswirl in the eyes. “We shalt do our best to restore the kingdom, Master Starswirl. No matter what it takest.”

Celestia searched within her to find her courage and feeling of duty. She could not allow the chaos to continue. Even if it conflicted with her feelings, and made her heart ache. She had to be strong for her people. “Yes. We will fight and restore peace to the land, even if...” She sighed. “Even if we have to take him down. We will, Master Starswirl. We will fight him with our best, if the situation calls for it.” She tried her best not to hesitate with those words.

She opened her wings and looked at Luna. “Let’s go, Luna. We have to do our best against... Discord.” She had to get used to the idea that their friend had changed. For the worst. She had to confront reality, she had to stop trying to avoid what was happening, and instead look at the problem in the face to save her kingdom.

Wilder, her best friend, was no more. He could not be. No matter what he said or how much she wanted to lie to herself, he had disappeared as of... as of last night. Wilder was not there at the moment. He probably had never even there to begin with. There was also that chilling, agonizing probability that Celestia had to confront, no longer hide from. She acknowledged the possibility, but soon stopped thinking about it. She stopped thinking about her best friend’s change altogether.

Luna looked up at her worriedly. “Discord? But--”

“He has stated it himself, Luna. His name is ‘Discord’. We shall address him as such, if he so wishes. Let’s go.” She started to fly, followed closely by Luna.

North of the city, far away but still within sight, the mountains seemed to have a ring of clouds surrounding them. Thunder clashed down and odd colors appeared to cover the mountains.

Starswirl stepped towards the divided main city of the kingdom. He looked up at the princesses. "I shall guard the city. Go! Vanquish this new evil, send it back to the abyss!" He yelled as the princesses took flight, away to the mountains.

Celestia sighed, charging straight ahead. "Be prepared, Luna."

Luna nodded as she looked at the mountains. "Yes, sister. We wilt be. Do not worry, We wilt be by thy side at all times, to defend thee."

Celestia smiled a little, admiring her little sister’s courage, despite everything that was happening and causing them pain. She flew ahead, leading her sister to the battle of their lives.