//------------------------------// // Chapter 174 - The Party At the Old Castle // Story: Dadonequus Discord (Book 2) // by CrazedLaughter //------------------------------// The day passed, indeed, though you had found yourself unable to sleep for a while in Chrysalis’s drunken grasp, her unmoving form and hour after hour of boredom had finally tuckered you out. It wasn’t too bad, at least you were being nuzzled by Chrysalis, even if she didn’t realize it. Though, what you didn’t expect was the sudden noise of birds, and the shifting and gentle howls of the forest. Hell, what really spooked you was the sudden slamming of a door. “Gyah! Oof!” You yelped as you jumped forward and slammed your face on a large stone. You sniffed, and began to rub your nose as you groaned. “Dammit, what the fuck was… Huh?” Your ears perked up when you realized you were outside. Looking back, you could see Chrysalis’s front door. Did she kick you out? ‘Kick’ being the operative word, given you didn’t wake up to being thrown. “The hell?” How did you end up outside without waking up to a face full of dirt and a swift magical blast to the rear? You could have swo- What the? You look down at the door to see a plate of food. Pancakes with butter and syrup, and a glass of juice. Chrysalis? Did she make breakfast for you? She… Just like back in the other Equestria.  Just in case, you sniff the pancakes and lean your head in for a bite. Huh, tastes good, and was warm too, did Chrysalis open the door to leave this out for you? She must have had the ingredients sitting around when you upgraded her entire home. But why did she make breakfast for you? Unless… “Woah, maybe… Maybe she did remember. Chrysalis? Hey!” You rush to knock on the door, but before your hoof can even connect, Chrysalis begins to speak to you, coldly, through the door. “I knew it, of course you’d attempt to knock on my door. I make you breakfast and expect you to leave me be and you STILL have to… Ugh, my head.” You could hear it, Chrysalis slumping on the ground. “Before you say anything or worry about me, this has nothing to do with what possibly couldn’t have happened yesterday. Headaches are normal, even among changelings. Now eat your breakfast and leave me be…” Oh shit, seems she didn’t get too far from the door after she just closed it. But why did she make you breakfast? What was the real reason? Hell, it made you want to reveal she did get drunk just to see if you could get some more truth out of her at the despite the eruption of anger that would occur. But if this is progress, then, well, best not to agitate her. “Well, then thank you, Chrysalis, for breakfast.” “You’re we-” But suddenly there is a stop, then a growl “Stop being annoying! I need peace and quiet! Ugh, this is how they treat queens these days? No matter the circumstances, I should be treated with love and respect from the dimwits below me… Ngh, forget it. Why do I try? He never gets it, and yet I continue with him anyway. Oh, good job, Chrysalis, you made him breakfast, it only nearly cost you your skull with that pan crackling that stupid noise.” You could hear her walk away as she ranted. In truth, it made you smile, that little slip showed that she had some humanity in her heart… Er, ponanity...pone… whatever… You eat breakfast, munching down on the pancakes and slurping up the syrup before chugging down your cup of juice. With a wipe of your muzzle, you let out a refreshed sigh as you leave the plate and cup by the door. This was it, real progress. It had been awhile since she did something selflessly. She didn’t have to make you breakfast. And ok, sure, she kicked you out, but she still went through the trouble of gently putting you down and making you a nice meal. Though, then again, kicking you out painfully would have killed you. Whatever, she still didn't need to make you breakfast. Maybe she actually came to an understanding, or maybe she actually remembered what transpired. Either way, you just had to keep up the kindness and you were golden. And not just that either, just be a brother to her, it… It should work, right? You look up through the trees of the forest, and realize that the Everfree actually looked really beautiful in the morning rays of the sun. the twisting trees looked inviting, the sounds pleasant, grass swaying in the wind. You could tell today was going to be a good day. You slap your horn on your head, yawn, and open a portal to the old castle of the two sisters. “Heh, I don’t even think they told me when this whole party thing was actually starting. Then again, it looks like it's still morning, so I’ll probably be early. Still, I don’t have much else to do so I might as well see Cozy’s setu-” Cozy Glow…. No, Anon, get it out of your mind. At this point, there is no way Chrysalis is working with the Storm Ravager, he would have come up by now. And Cozy? The apples are a coincidence, they had to be. She was too good and pure to get tangled up with him. “Let me just… I’m just gonna see how she has things set up. That’s it, nothing more.” Don’t do it, Anon. You already had a bunch of things you had to deal with already, like having to see Celestia still to deal with Neighsay. However, despite opening a portal, your actual knowledge and memory of the place wasn’t exactly set in stone. Upon entering the portal, you end up in the interior of the old throne room, the portal itself opening through the ceiling. “So, what you’re saying is you and your family grow apples and stuff, and sell it all at low prices, and you guys still live comfortably? How many ponies actually buy apples?” Gallus asked, sitting by a long long table with snacks, sandwiches, and large bottles of apple juice. In front of him was Applebloom, who seemed to be discussing business matters with him. “Well, lots of ponies buy our apples. Ya see, if you have the prices set all low like, then not only are ya sellin’ lots of apples, but yer also making sure everypony can have delicious apple products to eat. Everycreature wins!” Applebloom explains to him cheerfully, before suddenly tilting her head in confusion. “Don’t griffons grow stuff?” “I mean, other than resentment, no.” Gallus shrugged. “Griffonstone isn’t exactly Ponyville. Or more like, it isn’t even close. Most stores will try to take you for all your bits, and even then, they don’t make much. I guess ponies got everything figured out, huh? Bet this info would be useful back home.” “Ah bet it would! Ah bet if you became a farm griffon, you’d be able to make bits on yer own and make everycreature in griffonstone happy!” Applebloom said with a cheer. “Uhhhhh, probably not. But…” Gallus smirks at Applebloom and shrugs. “I’ll just pretend it’d work out. Gotta keep a positive attitude, at least that’s what Professor Pinkie says. Speaking of, kinda weird Cozy didn’t want to involve her in setting up this whole thing, considering it’s supposed to be a party.” Applebloom shrugs. “Well, she did say it was a friend makin’ party, all of us brought together by Anon. Which, ah guess is sorta true, since we all know him.” Applebloom said, not really thinking too much on the oddity of not involving Pinkie. “Yeah, speaking of, where is he anyway? I mean, I know we forgot to tell him when this started, but it’s gonna be noon in like an hour. Did he just not want to come or something?” Gallus asked. “Oh… Er.” Applebloom gulped at that, knowing full well where you might be, and guessing that maybe, just maybe, it didn’t go as well or as smoothly as both you and her hoped. “Well, er, you know Anon, he’s always being all random and stuff. No worries, ahm sure he’ll drop by soon!” And almost like it was on cue, you pop out through the other side of the portal, and fall from the ceiling and down on your face, landing between Applebloom and Gallus. Applebloom jumps back in fright, but Gallus just takes his drink, sips, then looks to Applebloom. “Well, you weren’t kidding. Then again, I’m not surprised, he seems to do this a lot.” “Ugh… What happened? Ngh.” You get up slowly, rubbing your nose as you let out a few snorts. “Ugh, how was my aim so off and… Applebloom? Gallus? WHAT?!” Oh no “You can’t be serious, I’m late?! How am I late?! It’s still morning!” “Not by much.” Gallus shrugged. “Anon, did you seriously sleep through the morning? Did you stay up all night or something?” “No! I slept early! Oh, never mind. What did I even miss? And ooohhh, chips!” You grab one of the many bags that were sitting down on the table, rip one open with your teeth, and start to dig in. “...And just forgets everything and everycreature for snacks.” Even the usually stoic Gallus was perturbed by your mannerisms. “That’s Anon. Er…” Applebloom, already used to your usual shenanigans, suddenly felt the urge to ask you about Chrysalis. But then again, she couldn’t say anything in front of Gallus, and so she quickly shifted her thoughts to something else. “Yer friends are really nice. Been talkin’ to Gallus and learnin’ all about Griffonstone. And it sounds… Um.” “Don’t even hold back, it’s a dump.” Gallus shrugged while raising his talons to his beak. “Yo, guys, Anon is here!” “You guys were waiting for me?” You asked “Erm, sorry. I really didn’t mean to keep you guys waiASDFDSFAS” “Anon!” You suddenly feel a gentle yet warming and exciting hug coming from behind you. Oh yes, the gentle feathery hug of your biggest fan, Silverstream. Oh yeah, such fuzzy feelings within you, her hugs were always welcome. “Hey! You finally made it! Yay! Now everycreature is here!” Smolder entered next, Sweetie Belle following behind her. “See, that’s what I mean. The professors, other mares, er, me. Does Anon always react like that? Even though, you know, he has a marefriend.” “Yeah, I think Anon is just cursed. Like, you’d think he was desperate, but he has Diamond Tiara. And then you’d think he’d be all sleazy, but he really is loyal to her. So what else could it be but a curse?” Sweetie Belle asked, your apparent blush visible to everyone. Smolder began to tap under her chin as she really put some thought into it. “That kind of makes sense, I guess. Never heard of a pony just falling for everycreature before. Or anycreature falling for everycreature before really. I guess it’s a chaos thing.”  As Smolder and Sweetie Belle approach you, they give you their own greeting. And er, realizing your position, their glares, and the fact of what things looked like. You ended your snuggle with Silverstream and backed off with a squirrely grin, greeting everyone. The room began to fill as everyone else from around the castle gathered. Sandbar and Yona entering together, talking about their personal lives. Scootaloo with Ocellus were soon after, Scootaloo was actually regaling Ocellus with her stories of Rainbow Dashes feats, which seemed to entertain the changeling. Finally, the last to enter the room, from the main hall, was Cozy Glow, sporting a cheerful grin as she would usually have during her better moments. “Anon! You’re here! I was almost afraid you weren’t going to show. I’m so so so happy to have you here, to have all of you here!” Cozy said as she hovered up and began to hug at the air. “Hey, I may be late, but I wasn’t going to miss this for anything in the world. Just sort of surprised you guys are this excited to see me.” You said. “Well, it’s more like Cozy has been really wanting to show us this super special surprise she has somewhere in this place. I didn’t really mind, I’ve been telling everycreature about Rainbow Dash! Erm, even though you all have her as her professor and all.” Scootaloo said, getting a little sheepish on her realization. “Oh, Scootaloo, that’s alright. We don’t know all too much about Professor Rainbow Dash’s work as an element anyway. All her adventures sound so amazing!” Occelus said, genuinely enamored by the stories. “Yona can actually agree to that. Yaks have many great adventures, but Yaks never make moon monsters good or beat evil kings of darkness. Yona very impressed.” Yona said with a nod. “Speaking of impressive, this place is huge! Me and Yona were exploring as much as we can and we didn’t even find the basement yet. And everything is so cool! The armor still looks tough, even if it’s dusty. And some of the old books here are not only still readable, but have some pretty interesting stories to them.” Sandbar added, enamored by the old castle. “Yeah, and its got this spookiness to it I like. Just afraid to blow a flame in here though, there’s so much dust that I’m afraid I’d make the whole place catch fire just by blowing a puff in a cloud of it.” Smolder said as she sat at the table.  “Sounds like you guys have already been having fun and getting to know each other without me.” You said with a half hearted laugh. “That’s fine. Erm, actually…” You couldn’t come up with anything to talk about to be honest. Your mind was still muddled with what transpired yesterday, along with your eventual meeting with Neighsay. “Uh, well. Erm, well…” You look to Silverstream. Welp, it was as good a time as ever.  “I guess I could talk about my adventures. If anycreature is interested.” Silverstream immediately dropped her elbows onto the table and stared at you as she rested her chin on her talons. “Talk! And don’t stop! Ever! I wanna know everything!” “Erm, actually. Now that Anon is here, I was thinking we could play a super fun game that everycreature would love! In fact, it’s part of my super secret surprise I want to share with everycreature.” Cozy hovered over to you and have you a gentle hug, nuzzling onto you. “Especially to my bestest fwiend, Anon!” “A game? Ehhhhh, I dunno.” Gallus said. “It’s not because I’m scared or anything. It’s just this place is kind of too old to be playing a game in, could crumble on us or something. And yeah, we all got here ok, but if we play outside, we’re probably gonna attract some attention, the kind we don’t want.” “Yona not afraid. All friends are here, so forest thingies won’t mess with us.” Yona said as she stood tall. “Oh, well, we would be playing here.” Cozy said as she hovered in front of everyone and began to spin a little. “Actually, the entire castle is where we would be playing. Erm, except the basement. And we wouldn’t be moving around a lot, so it’d be safe. In fact, only Anon would be moving around.” Wut? ”What kind of game is that?” You ask. “Oh, she’s talkin’ about hide and seek. Ah used to play that with Big Mac and Applejack when we were younger. Ain’t we all a bit too old for that game?” Applebloom asked. She didn’t mean to be rude about it, but it caused Cozy Glow to frown and slowly float down anyway. “O-oh. I’m sowwy, I-I didn’t want anycreature to feel like we were going to play a baby game… I just wanted to have fun with all my friends.” Cozy said, shaken, saddened in her tone as her eyes began to water. Oh fuck that shit! “Yo, You ain’t ever too young for a fun game of hide and seek! And besides, this castle is huge! I think it’d be a pretty fun challenge looking for all of you in this place. In fact, yeah, I’ll be the seeker, I gotta train my detective skills anyway.” “Oh! I was already willing to play! But to try to match skills with the great hero colt, Anon?!” Silverstream began to prance around as she giggled. “I’d love love love to try! Even if I lose! At least it’ll mean Anon really is the seeking master!” Sweetie Belle just looked to Silverstream and shook her head a bit, with a bit of an eye roll. “Yeah… But, I wouldn’t mind playing anyway. It could be fun! I already have an idea on where to hide.” “Hah! I’m super ready for this. As Anon’s partner, I pretty much know every place he’s gonna look. I got this for sure!” Scootaloo exclaimed as she was gave you a sly grin. Oh yeah, she was already ready to win. “Oh, erm, I guess I shouldn’t use my powers then, that would be cheating. I think it would be, anyway. But Hide and Seek does sound very fun. I think I remember a few of the old changeling strategies for hiding, so I think I’ll do alright.” Ocellus said. “W-wow, s-so you all really want to play?” Cozy said, as her eyes began to shine, her expression becoming brighter. “Yeah, ok, why not? Just don’t be surprised if I win this one. Griffons are hunters for a reason, we’re great hiders.” Gallus said, actually showing some competitive energy and spirit as he already begins to look around the room. “Don’t be too sure, Gallus. Me and my siblings play all the time, I’m practically a master!” Sandbar said, getting excited already for the challenge. “Then it’s settled! I guess I can start counting from here on this table. But, er, Cozy. You said there was a surprise? During the game itself? How does that work? Am I supposed to be looking for something else too?” Oooh, maybe a super awesome present? Well, probably not awesome. But for her? You’ll act like it is “Mhmm! It’s on the lower floor of the castle! But you can’t go there yet, not until you find me first!” Cozy said with a childish giggle. “If you can find me, then I’ll show it to you.” “Ah, like a bonus then.” You say with a soft chuckle. “Sure, why not? Just don’t be surprised if I find you first.” “Oooooooh! Now I wanna know what the super secret special surprise is! Can I take a peek, pleeeeeeease!” Silverstream asked, practically bouncing with curiosity. “Oh, no no no no!” Cozy said as she flew over to Silverstream, shaking her head. “Nocreature can see it until Anon sees it first! It’s the most amazing surprise ever! But it’s also a gift I want to give to him, to show what a big big hero he has really been! Silverstream, golly, if you went and looked at what was down in the the lower floor, you’d be all super surprised and might want to tell everycreature! But you can’t do that, even though, to me, it really does show what a super amazing hero Anon is.” “Really show how super amazing a hero he is?” Silverstream practically had stars in her eyes. “Is it that amazing?” Cozy simply nodded. “Oooooohhhhhhhh, mmmmmmmmm… Ok. I-I won’t look.” Silverstream said, as she looked down in disappointment, internally frustrated she couldn’t even peek at the surprise. “Thank you sooo much for understanding, Silverstream. I know it must be hard, given how super heroey my surprise is, but pwease, don’t peek, okies?” Cozy said, wanting reaffirmation on Silverstream’s conviction. Silverstream shook, gulped, and then slowly nodded. “Okies.” “Yay! Now, come on, everycreature! Let’s go hide.” Cozy cheered out. “Heh, well, you guys better really hide! Because I’m really that good!” You yell out as they rush. Smolder then turns around and shouts back. “Then don’t use your horn!” Dammit! Ok, whatever, you didn’t need it anyway. “Y-yeah... Ok, gonna count now.” Super special secret surprise? Heh, how could you ever suspect Cozy after all this? Truly the friendliest filly you’ll ever meet. Er, next to Diamond.