Chapter Eight: Chaos

All was quiet for a moment, and Discord looked around.

"What? Is there something wrong?" Discord acted oblivious. He looked at the corpse. "Oh! This thing. How... unsightly it is. I so greatly dislike death, it's just so boring. Why don't I make things less tense." He snapped his... thumbs, I guess. The man suddenly stirred. Discord lifted him up by his shirt. A zipper appeared in front of him. He opened it and threw the now squirming man inside and closed the hole that the zipper created. The guards, princesses, and the other ponies had no idea what to make of it, and remained where they stood. Discord had just resurrected someone, opened a hole in reality, and closed it. Effortlessly.

"What did you just do?" I asked, almost rhetorically. I knew what he had done. I just wanted to know why.

"I brought the poor fellow back to life and sent him back to where he came from. After all, he did free me from that dreadful imprisonment," Discord replied casually. Discord had brought him back to life and sent him back? He could just do that? I was amazed, as were all others in attendance.

"Discord! Do you know what's happening?! Do you realize what you've done!?" Celestia was angry. After all, Discord had brought about an event that could end the entire universe. That included her land, her city, her people, her empire.

"Of course I do! However, I'm here to help." Discord was sincere. Why in the world would he want to help? And where were all of his tricks?

"Why would you help us? Explain yourself, please," I asked in a polite tone. It didn't hurt to be polite.

"Please do." Celestia was simply fuming with anger.

"Oh, so I shall! You see, you boring peace-loving ponies, when I disrupted the barrier over a millenium ago, the two universes' inhabitants were equally matched. Now, however, the two are unbalanced, and one would surely win in the event's climax. I cannot be a being of chaos if only one outcome I cause is likely. That would be boring, like watching a snail and a rabbit race; almost certainly, the rabbit would win. So, at this opportune moment, I offer my assistance in fixing the barrier." As he concluded his speech, he looked about. "Why are you all staring at me like that!?" He created a bubble around each the guards, and sent them towards their posts.

"I don't understand. Discord, you should be causing chaos, not putting everything in its place." Applejack had a point, and had to express it.

"Oh, little Applejack, always the honest one, yes? What fun is a game if there are extra or missing pieces? Your compatriot, for example, should not be here." He pointed to me. "And with everyone worrying about the universe, how will we have fun?" It became clear; Discord wouldn't play any of his games while the crisis looms. I was relieved. This- no doubt temporary- alliance could be very helpful. Discord was a powerful being, and his magic could affect humans better than that of the ponies, evidently.

"Now, we can put all of this unpleasantness behind us. Now, if you'd excuse me, I'll be tracking down more of our uninvited guests." Discord flew off rapidly, whistling cheerfully. This was all a game to him. If he saved this universe, he could have more fun than if he'd destroyed it- and probably himself- by causing chaos after the crisis was over. I was relieved that the man was alive and back home. My mistake was fixed; the man was gone. We had also made a powerful- if unpredictable- ally.

"What do you suppose we do now, Twilight?" I prompted the silent unicorn.

"I don't have any idea."

"Discord's on the loose. We should stop him, even if he claims to be on our side in this." Celestia had calmed down significantly, but still greatly disliked the draconequus for his actions in the past, and understandably, didn't trust him. I looked down at the ground where the man had fallen. There was a splotch of blood which had begun to dry in the sun, which was beginning to set.

"Let's give him a chance. Maybe he's telling the truth." Twilight was a decent character, and grudges were not something she kept. Indeed, Discord had sown chaos around Equestria, and indeed he had tried to shatter her circle of friends, but she must have seen how powerful he really was, and must have known that he could help us.

"Never trust him. He's too unpredictable," Celestia warned. "You and your friends can stay the night here. Make yourselves at home."  Her tone returned to a formal one. She departed the garden with her sister, bound for the throne room.

"There's nothing else we can do here," I said, and started for the exit as well. The mane six followed me. After an hour or so of milling about on our own, we dined on a meal of fruits, vegetables, and breads for dinner, at Celestia's insistance. Despite the exhausting events of the day, I found myself lacking in hunger. Was Discord really to be trusted? Probably not, but he was unpredictable. Spike turned in early. Over dinner, our ensemble talked.

"I hope we didn't make a mistake in letting Discord go," Applejack said between bites. I had eaten little.

                "I think he's changed. Or maybe he hasn't. I don't know!" Pinkie  thought aloud, and laughed, mouth full of food. She was bubbly, as usual, and was gobbling down the contents of her plate.

"Me too, Applejack. He did seem sincere, though, and he did revive the human, and even sent him home." Twilight cocked her head, and looked at me. "Why did he keep calling us horses? Horses are, as far as we can tell, extinct and related to today's ponies somehow." I thought about her question. It was like if I asked her why she called me a neanderthal. Huh, made sense to me.

"Horses exist in our world, and like ponies, are just domesticated animals; little intelligence and no reasoning ability. They're more identifiable and common than ponies, though very aesthetically similar, just larger," I explained.

"Very interesting," Fluttershy noted. "I'm concerned about that human. He didn't seem well."

"I think he was just... confused." Rarity put it lightly. She was visibly distressed by his extremely informal manner.

"He was a total whacko." Rainbow Dash hit the nail on the head. We all turned to face her. She shifted uncomfortably. "What? I'm just being honest. Zach, you aren't anything like that."

"She's right. He was insane. Insane because this world doesn't even make sense. He had no idea where he was, unlike me. He had no knowledge of ponies before. Also unlike me. He reacted in a way that could be expected; he could not accept the reality of the situation he was in, and gave in to denial and delusion. I pity him, but at least he's home, hopefully with his family." After saying that, I thought about my own family, and when I was going to leave Equestria.

"You must miss your family." Fluttershy's impeccable sense of empathy showed itself again.

"I do. I hope to go home soon, but first, there's the issue of the universe about to collapse," I said, making clear my priorities. No one else spoke much for the rest of the meal, and we all retired to our guest suites. This time, I was not restless. I was experiencing a relative calm in the hurricane that had been this ordeal. The eye of the storm, I thought, as I drifted off to sleep. Yet another interesting day.