A/N: I'm back!
Yes, after a much longer then normal wait, I have returned with Chapter 14. I do apologize for the long wait, and I wish I had some sort of excuse but... I don't.
What? Writing can be hard sometimes.
To all of FimFiction and most of FanFiction: Thank you so much for being patient and waiting while I muscled my way through my laziness phase. Having patient readers is always great, and it really means a lot to me. Thank you all.
To a certain Jimmy and UnFitDinosaur: Really? REALLY? I leave for three weeks and suddenly everyone thinks I'm dead? *facepalms* Guys guys guys guys guys...
The drill is the same. Read, enjoy, comment/like (please). Now ONWARD!
“Attention everypony!”
It was the day after the fire, and everything was proceeding more or less as expected. Flame was still the talk of the town, and you couldn't have a conversation with anypony without the subject of 'that dragon that saved those three fillies' coming up. Despite how near-disastrous it had been, the burning of the shed was nonetheless the most exciting thing that had happened in Ponyville for a long time. Which of course translated into gossip paradise.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders were the stars of the school, and come lunchtime all the students were crowded around a single table. Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle were all asked to repeat the story of their miraculous escape many times, which they did with great amounts of enthusiasm. The only filly that wasn't happy was Diamond Tiara, who sulked at a nearby table by herself. Silver Spoon had already left to hear the story, and without her lackey around Diamond had nopony to rant to about how 'unfair' this was. It took a full twenty minutes of listening to the 'oh's and 'ah's coming from the adjacent table for her to get up and walk over, figuring that she might as well see WHY everypony was centered around three blank flanks.
To her credit, she didn't leave until she had heard the whole story three times.
Combine lunchtime at school and the conversations of at least 500 ponies, and you had a rather interesting day. For the adults, it was exciting. For the children, it was very exciting.
But for a certain purple unicorn, it was aggravating as all hell.
Twilight was worried. But then again, as we all know, this wasn't exactly earth-shattering news. Twilight worried about something every other day. It was practically part of her schedule. The only thing different about this time was that she actually had a good reason for it.
Mostly. Kind of. Not really.
…
Okay, it was a shit reason based entirely upon unspecific facts and jumped-to conclusions, but don't tell Twilight that.
Several things were bothering her. First and foremost was the possibility that Flamesinger might be an evil overlord with the intention of taking over the universe and causing the end of the world as we know it, no matter how unlikely it seemed. She liked Flame. She really did. He was funny, always ready to help, and didn't seem to be fazed by anything. But one thing Twilight Sparkle was incapable of doing was arguing against facts. Well... er... 'fact', but it was a big one. A really big one.
Second was that she had yet to receive a response from Princess Celestia. This shook her almost as much as Flame's powers, simply because it had never happened before. In all her years as Celestia's student, the longest she had ever had to wait for a response letter was one hour and forty-six minutes (she had counted), and that was because Celestia had been attending a rather important meeting and couldn't be disturbed. The letters were never very long, and always contained either orders on how to proceed or a message saying she was worrying over nothing (usually the later), but here it had been over twelve hours and still no response. Odd.
And third, she worried over how all of her friends would react to this information. Case in point: now.
Earlier today she had had Spike send letters to each of her friends, telling them to meet her at the library. The purpose, she stated, was to 'discuss Flamesinger's situation and decide how best to approach it', which was a really complicated way of saying 'I'm stuck, help me'. She hoped that this gathering (or as she had dubbed it, an 'Emergency Protocol Meeting') would be the perfect opportunity to tell everypony about Flame's powers without causing widespread panic, as well as to find out her friend's opinions on the matter.
It probably should have tipped her off when none of her friends knew what the word 'protocol' meant.
Looking around, Twilight mentally sighed. She was the only one here who was acting even the least bit worried. Rainbow and Pinkie Pie (whose hair had gone straight during the entire disaster yesterday) were engaged in a heated conversation of just how awesome Flame had been when he saved the kids. Dash, despite being great friends with the dragon, wasn't about to let herself get outdone and was claiming that Flame's dive through the wall had been a few inches off from a perfect ten, thus qualifying him as just a tiny bit less awesome then her. Pinkie on the other hoof was stating, quite flatly, that there was no way in hay Dash could have done what he did and that she should just accept that and move on. Dash was fighting, but she was quickly subsuming to Pinkie's logic.
Applejack and Rarity were, despite recent events, fine. Part of the punishment for Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle was that they could not step out of their big sister's sight, except for school. This meant that when the two came to the meeting, they brought the fillies with them. Even Scootaloo was here, for without her two friends she could never think of anything to do. Twilight noted that she would have to somehow distract the fillies when she mentioned Flame's powers. Maybe she could use Spike for that...
Oh yeah, Fluttershy did look a bit more nervous then usual. She had (thankfully) been unconscious due to fainting when Flame had revealed his true form, and upon hearing the news from her friends had taken it a lot better then Twilight had expected. She was still apprehensive, but Twilight thought that as long as Flame stayed in pony form, there wouldn't be a problem.
So anyway, back to the beginning of the Emergency Protocol Meeting.
“Attention everypony!”
At the sound of her voice, all of her friends stopped talking and focused on her. She gulped, hoping this wouldn't go too badly.
“Now, I'm sure you girls are wondering why I called you here today, so-”
“Yeah.” Rainbow interrupted. “Just why did you have to call us at ten-thirty in the morning?” She yawned. “I moved a lot of clouds yesterday.”
Twi shot her a quick glare. “Because this is important.”
“Oh. Okay. Important. Got it.” She yawned again. “Continue.”
“Anyway...” Twilight shook herself. “... I called you here to talk about Flamesinger.”
This actually managed to gain most of their attention, particularly Applejack's and Rarity's. Dash however, remained bored.
“What about him?”
Twilight shot another glare her way. “I'm getting to that. It concerns his and Spike's little episode yesterday.”
“Ah yes! My dear Spike, I never did thank him!” Rarity spoke up. “How is our little hero?”
“Sleeping.” Twilight gestured upstairs. “I gave him the day off, and apparently this is how he wants to spend it.”
“Good idea...” mumbled Rainbow. “... I should follow his example...”
“Rainbow Dash, focus! And this isn't so much about Spike as it is about Flame!” She sighed. “Just what are we going to do about him?”
She was met with eight blank stares.
“...Do? I don't really see the need to do anything. He saved my Sweetie Belle and both her friends Twilight. Are suggesting that was a bad thing to do? That dragon deserves a medal!”
She almost facehoofed. Were her friends really this naive? “No Rarity, I'm not. But he revealed what he really was right in front of the whole town! Don't you think that might cause some problems?”
“Speakin' a which...” Applejack butted into the conversation. “... Ah think it's about time Ah heard the full version of just how Flame got here.”
“Oh yes, that's right.” Twilight looked sheepish for a second. She had truthfully forgotten about that. “You don't know, do you? In fact...” She looked at two ponies in particular. “... I don't think Fluttershy or Pinkie Pie know either.”
They both nodded, one with a slight shake of her head and the other looking as though she were trying to rip her face off using sheer force of physics.
“Right. Well let's see... it all began when...”
The next half-hour was spent informing the three ignorant ponies just how Flame had ended up in Ponyville in the first place. Repeating the story (with an interruption every thirty seconds by Dash to add details such as 'this part was boring') served to remind Twilight of how mistrustful they had been of Flame when they had first met him, which in turn did nothing to help the amount of guilt that was building up inside her. The listeners, for the most part, just sat there and... well... listened.
The fillies listened too. And after noticing their rapt attention, Rarity and Applejack looked at each other and shrugged. No harm done if they knew his story as well.
“... and then, Rarity came flying down the stairs, and she and Spike hugged. They were both crying, and saying they were sorry over and over again.” Twilight giggled. “It was actually kind of cute.”
This successfully destroyed any interest the Cutie Mark Crusaders had had in the story. They each made a grossed-out face and voiced their opinion through a loud eloquent 'EWWWW!!!'. Sweetie Belle in particular made a point of looking at her sister with evident horror. “You didn't kiss him, did you?!”
Rarity blushed slightly. “Now Sweetie Belle, I was caught up in the moment. I didn't want to lose Spike as a friend, and at the time I-”
“Ewww! That means you did!” The white filly clutched her throat and made several fake chocking noises. “Gross!”
“Oh do stop that. It is most unladylike.”
“You kissed him!”
“No, I didn't.”
“Yes you did! I know you did!”
Rarity just rolled her eyes.
“... Anyway...” Twilight tried to move the conversation along for Rarity's sake. “... after that, I asked him a few more questions, mainly about dragon culture, and after that we decided to introduce him to the three of you. So we headed off to Fluttershy's house.” She surveyed her three friends. “I'm pretty sure you know the rest from there.”
Silence.
All-consuming... ominous... crushing... silence.
Which was promptly broken by Pinkie Pie. “Ooohhh, I just remembered, I haven't thrown a Flamesinger-Rescues-the-Cutie-Mark-Crusaders-And-Looks-Totally-Awesome-While-Doing-It party yet!” This time, Twilight really did facehoof. “I have to get started on that right away! We're going to need balloons and cupcakes and streamers and more balloons and music and-”
“PINKIE!”
“Yes Twilight?”
“Did anything I just say impact you at ALL?”
She blinked a few times. Then resumed grinning. “Nope!”
“Okaaaay... well it that case, could you stay here for a moment please? There's something else I have to tell you girls.”
As Pinkie happily complied, Twi eyed the Cutie Mark Crusaders. She would have to get rid of them somehow. Oh, if only Spike were here! He could easily-
“Hey Twilight... I'm finally up...”
She turned towards the stairs. Spike was slowly coming down them, bleary-eyed and looking as though he had just risen from the dead. As he descended, he rubbed his eyes. “Man, I just don't see why Flame likes sleeping in that late.” He yawned. “I feel more tired then when I normally get up.”
“Oh Spike!” His head jerked up at the sound of Rarity's voice. “I never did thank you for helping save Sweetie Belle!”
“Whatdoyamean?” He lifted one eyebrow in the classic 'huh?' face. “Both you and Applejack thanked me like twenty times each yesterday.”
“What?” She blinked. Then she turned to Applejack. “Is this true?”
“Well Ah know Ah did.” The farmer winked at Spike. “But Ah think you were too busy makin' sure Sweetie Belle was okay.”
“You were totally awesome yesterday Spike!” Scootaloo had finally noticed the young dragon coming down the stairs. “The way you helped save us from that burning building was totally SWEET!”
“Aw... thanks Scoots...” He shuffled his feet. “... But I didn't really do that much...”
Rainbow thought about this. “That's true.” And earned yet another glare from Twilight.
“Nevertheless Spike, you were brave and acted like a true gentlecolt. You are part of the reason I still have my little sister.” Rarity trotted over and kissed him on the cheek. “And I cannot thank you enough for that.”
Spike blushed heavily. In the background, Sweetie Belle made a show of pretending to die on the spot, which Rarity pointedly ignored. The time for a very loud lecture could come later.
“Now Spike...” Twilight grimaced. “I know I gave you the day off, but...”
Spike shook himself and looked back at her, the thought of working on a free day destroying the happy mood brought on by the kiss. Way to go Twi. “Whaaaaaaaaaat is it?
“It's nothing much really. All I need you to is to take the Cutie Mark Crusaders into the lobby for a little while and watch over them.” She hoped her expression was saying 'I need you to do this for me' and not 'I don't trust you at ALL'. “Please? We just have some... important things to talk about.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Important things?”
“Please?”
“*Sigh* Okay... I guess I can do that...”
“Thanks!” She turned to Applejack, who took the hint and began herding the young ones into the lobby. “Y'all heard the mare! C'mon!” This was met by a chorus of 'Awww's from the fillies. As the four headed in, Twi closed the door behind them and quietly made sure it was locked before turning to the group and breathing a sigh of relief. “Whew... good. Now we can talk.”
“Ah don't mean to be rude.” Applejack was suddenly looking apprehensive. “And Ah can understand why ya might not want the Cutie Mark Crusaders to hear somethin', but what could be so important that ya would send Spike out?”
“And what's with the locked doors?” Dash was finally paying attention, and it was clear Twilight was creeping her out. A lot.
“Sorry if this seems weird, but we can't risk anypony walking in on us. That last thing I want is for somepony to hear this and cause a widespread panic.”
This definitely caught the entire room's attention. Pinkie Pie even stopped jumping up and down. And when that happens, you know that whatever's going on is some serious shit.
Twi took a deep breath for what felt like the hundredth time that day. “As I said before, I called you girls hear to talk about Flamesinger. And before any of you say anything, no, this isn't about what he did yesterday. Well kind of, but not really.” She paused. “What I'm trying to say is that Flame... he... you see he...”
“Yeeeeeess...?” Dash was becoming bored again.
“Flame may be an evil spirit of chaos that's in league with Discord!”
Silence.
Again.
Then a snort. Her head shot up to see Rarity with a very unamused frown on her face. “Really Twilight, if you wanted to tell jokes, you could have just said so. You actually had me worried there for a second!”
“No...” They didn't believe her. Gee, hmm, wonder why. “... No no, I'm being serious!”
“Yeah.” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Sure you are.”
“I am!”
“Twilaght, if ya just called us over here to mess with us, then-”
“LISTEN!!!” All the stress that had built up over the past twelve hours finally broke loose. Which, in Twilight's case, was a lot. “I'M TELLING THE TRUTH!!!”
This sudden outburst succeeded not only in regaining everypony's focus, but also in scaring Dash half out of her mind. She shot out her chair and hid behind it for a few seconds before realizing it was just her. Even then, she was startled enough that she didn't try and mask the fact that she had been hiding like a little filly. She slowly replaced herself in the chair, all the while staring at Twilight. “Whoa... okay... calm down...”
Twi collapsed her face into her hooves. “I'm sorry girls, but this has been really bugging me for the past day. I only found out about it last night!”
“Well... you obviously think it's serious.” Rarity trotted over and tentatively put a hoof on her friends shoulder. She wasn't looking unamused anymore. “May I ask though, just why do you think that Flame, a witty outgoing dragon that befriended a manticore, defended Spike from bullies, fixed my relationship with Spike when he accidentally destroyed it and personally saved three innocent fillies, could possibly be in league with Discord?!”
“Rarity, let me ask you something. Yesterday, when Flame used his magic to absorb the fire, did you by any chance feel it? With your own magic?”
She frowned. “Darling, my sister had nearly died. Magic wasn't exactly the biggest thing on my mind.”
“Yes, I thought so, and I don't blame you. But I did. I was curious after hearing so much about it, how he can shapeshift with almost no trouble and can communicate with animals. There are spells for those things of course, but they're powerful, difficult ones! I can barely do them myself! I was hoping by studying his magic I could figure out how he could use such powerful spells so easily. So I used my magic to feel his magic, to sort of get a basic sense of it.”
“A perfectly logical thing to do.” Rarity wasn't getting it. In fact, if Twilight looked around, she would notice that all of her friends either looked confused as to why she was acting this way or confused as to what she was talking about. Simple explanations were not what she did best. “Just what has you so worried?”
“Rarity... his magic... it's like Discord's.”
She got it this time. Only her though. Everypony else was still in a state of obscure cluelessness.
“Ummmmmm... what?” Applejack ventured.
“I don't know what that means...” mumbled Fluttershy.
“Like Discord's? How does that work? Ohh, maybe him and Discord are like second cousins or something! He does kind of act a little like Dissy, but without all the mean meanie-pants part, which is good because that part about Dissy wasn't fun at all. He made all those balloons laugh at me!” Pinkie shuddered, remembering the mental tortures of the smiley-faced balloons.
“Are you... sure? I mean, magic isn't everything.”
“I'm positive! It's almost identical to his!”
“Well.” Rarity was deep in thought. “That is most odd.”
“Exactly!”
“Hey, Twilight? Rarity? I know what your saying probably makes perfect sense to a unicorn, but...” Rainbow raised her forelegs and then let them drop. “... you lost me at around 'Discord'.”
“His magic! It's like Discord's!”
“Yeah, repeating yourself doesn't help.”
“HOW ELSE CAN I-”
“Twilight, please. Allow me.” Rarity cleared her throat. “What our dear friend Twilight is trying to say is that apparently, our dear Flamesinger uses the same kind of magic that Discord does.”
Looks of understanding dawned on all their faces, even Dash's for a change. “Ohhh...” Then she frowned. “Wait, so?”
“So?” Twi stared back at her blankly. “What do you mean?”
“So what?”
“So what? SO WHAT? Dash, Flame is using the same magic as a draconequus that tried to take over Equestria twice! How could you possibly say SO WHAT?”
“Uh, Twilaght?” Applejack intervened. “We're talkin' about Flamesinger here. Flamesinger. Y'know, the dragon that just saved mah little sister's LIFE? Not Discord.”
“For once, I feel I must agree with Applejack. Are you forgetting that he saved three fillies, including both our sisters, only yesterday?” She made a 'tut-tut' noise. “Really Twilight, I thought your memory was better then that.”
“Don't be silly, I couldn't just forget something like that! But that's what makes it all so confusing!” Twilight was nearing one of her mental breakdowns, which was a clue for everypony else to sit down and shut up. “Flame is a good guy! Er, dragon! He's helped us out on several occasions since he came here! He's funny, trustworthy, honest and all around a great friend to have! So WHY is he using evil magic?!”
All congrats goes to Twi. She finally made her friends actually think about what she was saying.
“Weeeeellll...” Rarity mulled it over. “I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for it...”
“But what is it? And how do we find it out? I mean...” She threw her forelegs above her head. “... it's not like we can just go up and ask him about it!”
This was met with five thoughtful stares.
Check that, four thoughtful stares. Pinkie doesn't count. You're not thoughtful if you're grinning like a complete lunatic.
“... Right?”
…
...
Mind click.
“Oh no. NO.”
wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
Now, it might interest some of you to know, what were Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Spike doing this whole time? Were they playing together like little kids should? Were they being mischievous and getting into trouble? Or were they plotting to take over the world using giant titanium robots and magical nukes?
I'll give you a hint: It's not number one, and I'm pretty sure it's not number three. We're still calculating some figures on that one. The magical nukes are out of the picture but the titanium robots are still in the gray area. Those things are actually pretty cheap these days.
So anyway, they were getting into trouble. Yeah, I know, not exactly the biggest shock of your life, but still. Trouble is trouble, and the CMC are known for it. But what KIND of trouble? Ah, now that's a different question.
Let's recap on the situation, from the kids point of view. Spike had come downstairs, fully expecting to have a free day to do whatever he wanted, and had immediately gotten roped into supervising the three fillies. From the fillies perspective, they had inexplicably and suddenly been ejected from the meeting hall because the adults had to talk about something 'important'. All four of them were slightly annoyed, and that annoyance was increased by the fact that they didn't know what the grown-ups were talking about (kids hate that). So they did the only logical thing that four kids would do in this current situation.
No, they did not break out the C4. Good guess though. Actually, they were eavesdropping.
What? What would you have done?
So yeah, every word that was said amongst the adults was heard by the kids. It really wasn't that hard. Twilight kept on raising her voice, so it was difficult not to hear it. Spike had felt a little guilty at first (for some reason none of the fillies had), but that had changed quickly once they had heard the first few sentences. Also, it should be noted that all of them were of the same opinion on what Twilight was saying:
Bull. SHIT.
“I can't believe Twilight has the nerve to blame him for plotting to take over Equestria!” Scootaloo whispered. “That guy just saved our lives!”
“Ah know!” Apple Bloom muttered. “At least mah sister's got her head in the right place. Spake, you know Flame, right?”
“Yeah. Yeah I do.” Spike was torn. He was friends with both Flame and Twilight, and he knew that Twi wouldn't make an accusation like that unless she believed it. Then again, he also know that whoever thought Flame was evil should seriously get their head looked at. “I don't know what Twilight's thinking...”
“Shhh! Quiet down you three!” Sweetie Belle had her ear pressed to the door. “They're saying something else!”
wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
“So that's it then. THAT'S your plan.”
“Twa, you're makin' this a lot harder then it needs ta be.”
“It would never work!”
“Darling, it would not only work, but it would also save us a great deal of trouble. There is such a thing as a simple solution you know.”
“Let me get this straight.” Twilight sighed. “You want me to just go up and ask Flame why he uses evil magic.”
“Well... yes.”
“Actually...” Rainbow raised a hoof to gain some attention. “... why don't we just ask him to come over here? That would save me the trouble of moving.”
“An excellent suggestion!” Rarity beamed at Dash. “ All we have to do would be to send him a letter, asking him to meet us at the library. He'll come, you and him will have your little chit-chat, and this whole fiasco will be over and dealt with.”
“But wait... him... coming over here?” Fluttershy shivered a bit. “Maybe that's not the best idea...”
“Aw, don't worry Fluttershy!” Pinkie bounced over and gave her a reassuring hug. “Flamey would never hurt any of us!”
“But... but...” Twilight was quickly running out of arguments. “He's... we could... it would be... maybe not... something?”
All of her friends stared at her uncomprehendingly.
“Ugh... FINE!!!” Cue the gasps of relief and exasperation, mostly the later. “But if he gets mad, don't blame me! Now where's Spike... SPIKE!”
There was a faint scuffling sound from behind the door, before it was opened by Spike wearing a 'I totally wasn't doing anything' face. “Yeah Twi?”
“Take a letter! And...uh...*Sigh*” She let her face drop into her hooves again. “... get me a cup of coffee.”
wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
We both stood there. Unmoving. Neither of us saying a word.
The sunlight glinted off our swords, both of them raised up in front of us, ready in case the other should try to attack.
Slowly, barely moving any other part of her body, Tienn leveled her sword at me. Her eyes were glowing bright blue, so that you couldn't see the irises.
-I give you this one chance. Back away, and I will stay my blade from your throat.-
I imitated her, pointing my sword. My eyes were black, and smoke issued off of them at frequent intervals.
Then I cocked my head.
“...
You mean surrender?”
She rolled her eyes. -Yes.-
“Then no.”
And with that, I charged.
She just stood there, waiting for me. When I reached her, I brought down my blade, intending to slice her in two. She side-stepped and used her leg to trip me, sending me into the dirt. I rolled away as her sword imbedded the ground I had just been lying on. Scrambling to my feet, I faced her, my black eyes narrowing.
She laughed. -You were a fool to challenge me.-
“Whatever.” My heroic response.
This time, she attacked. She imitated what I had done, bringing her sword down upon my head. I raised mine, intending to block it, but too late realized it was a faint. She had somehow managed to change directions mid-air, and instead of blocking her blade I ended up with a quick gash along my left arm.
I stumbled, then quickly got back up to face Tienn. She was grinning.
“Nice move, but...” I readied my sword. “... it'll take a lot more then that to keep me down.”
Her grin widened. -Okay!-
Shit.
I went at her, this time swinging in with a sideways chop. She flicked her blade to the side, blocking it. I disengaged and charged again, intending to cut her head off. This one was blocked as well.
It continued on like this for several minutes, me trying to hit he with increasing frustration, and her just blocking everything I threw at her. It was almost like she could sense what my next move would be right before I did it.
After roughly my thirteen-hundredth attempt, I stopped and glared at her.
“Are you going to actually try and attack me, by any chance?”
-Well, I was going to, but you started looked so funny trying to hit me repeatedly that I just couldn't bring myself to end it.-
“Then I'm afraid you'll have to, for the sake that if you continue to block me I'll probably suffer some kind of mental breakdown due to rage quitting.”
She sighed and put on a sad face. -Oh, very well.-
She came at me like a bullet. Seriously. I couldn't even see her movements, let alone block any of them. All I know is that what felt like five seconds later, I was on my knees with gashes all over my body. I was amazed I even still had my sword.
“Whoa, how did you...?”
-Unlike you, I actually know how to use a sword.-
“Humph. Knowledge is overrated.”
-Says the guy whose about to lose his head.-
“You were moving like forty freaking thousand miles an hour! I can't just just block crap like that!”
-I can.-
“That doesn't count. You're like... a goddess or something.”
-You're a dragon that can use chaos magic.-
“Who has no experience whatsoever with a sword.”
-See? My point from the very beginning.-
“Yeah yeah...” I struggled to my feet. “Now let's finish this.”
I charged- er, jogged- towards her with my eyes shut, my sword slashing blindly in front of me. My theory was that by doing this, anything in my path would be cut down, including Tienn. Genius plan, right?
Yep. Up until the point when Tienn ruined it.
In a quick secession of moves, she first shoved my blade aside with her own, then used her free hand to punch my in the face. While I was dazed, she did a full three-sixty with her blade and aimed low. It cut through both of my legs like they were made of butter. This caused me to fall over backwards, and when I landed she deftly stomped my sword arm, making me drop my weapon. Quickly, she snatched it up, flipped both blades so they were pointing down, and stabbed both of them into my exposed face.
The fight was over.
Color drained from the world. The grass, the trees, the dirt, my new house in the distance, all of it faded from view. The sensation of the wind on my face disappeared as well. Sound faded, until the only thing that remained was my slowing heartbeat. My entire vision was filled with the image of my dead body, both mine and Tienn's swords sticking out of my face, my legs half gone. The eyes weren't pure black anymore, and smoke no longer drifted from them.
My new body... was dead.
Faintly, I could Manty saying something. He might as well have been saying it underwater. I would have understood him more. But gradually, it became clearer. Soon I could make out a few words. What was he saying? Something about me, I could definitely hear my name somewhere in-
“FLAMESINGER!!!”
“WHOA!!!” I jumped slightly and turned around. There was Manty, looking rather annoyed. I sighed.
“What is it man? I'm trying to sulk in the atmosphere of my defeat here.”
“Which I wholeheartedly support. Just please...” He smiled, showing his teeth. “... don't space out. It's aggravating.”
“Uh-huh.” I turned back to staring at my dead body. “I'll keep that in mind.”
“You lost, by the way.”
“No shit.”
Staring at the little dead figure, I sighed again. Next to mine, Tienn was making hers do a little victory dance. I glared at her.
“You could have just cut my head off, or stabbed me, but no. You HAD to brutally execute me.”
-Of course.- She giggled. -That's the fun part.-
Reaching down, I picked up the remains of my little 'fighter'. Assembled mostly of sticks and twigs, wielding a miniature stone sword sharpened by Tienn, and completely controlled and animated by magic, it was theoretically the source of hours of fake battles. That is, until Tienn killed it.
“Aw Bob...” I cradled the thing in my hands. “... you had so much spirit.”
Manty guffawed. “Bob!?! You named it 'Bob'!?!”
“Yeah, I did. And you can shut up now.”
I set 'Bob' down. Tienn had already released her magic from her own figure, and it was now lying peacefully alongside mine. She was grinning rather widely.
-That was by the far the most fun I've had in a long time! Let's do it again!-
“No.”
She pouted. -And why not?-
“I have to regain my self-esteem first.”
-It was you that came up with this idea. You should have anticipated losing.-
“Yeah.” I looked at her. “But how does a tree spirit know how to use a sword anyway?!”
-Sword fighting was a basic skill back in my day, one that everypony should learn. And so I did.- She snorted. -Can't say I used it too much though. Not a lot of reason to use swords when you have magic powerful enough to crush entire cities to dust.-
Both me and Manty stared at her.
She looked back, confused. -What?-
“Okaaaaay...” I turned “Let's get back to that second round.”
This managed to distract her long enough for me to share a look with Manty.
Damn.
Yeah.
…
…
Let's not piss her off.
Agreed.
As I readied up Bob, I noticed a couple problems. Namely, the two big holes in Bob's head and the fact that both his legs were gone.
“Hey yeah, uh, Tienn? Little problem here.” I held up the limp figure. “Bob's dead.”
-Then fix him.-
“How?”
-*Sigh* Must I do everything for you?-
“Sorry, but while I'd love to fight you again and get my ass kicked for a second time, I can't with a half-dead fighter. So you'll just have to be patient while I conjure up a little magic here and-”
There was a flash of light as Tienn shot a bolt of magic at Bob, causing me to jump away and drop him. When the light faded, his legs were reattached and the holes in his head were filled up. Perfect to go for another round.
-There.- She looked at me expectantly. -You can fight now, yes?-
“Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhh...” I resignedly picked him up and moved him back towards the designated fight zone. “Okay Bob... back to the killey circle...”
-Yay!- Tienn clapped her hooves.
With Bob laid out on the ground, I moved back a couple of feet and concentrated. This was a basic manipulation spell, not that hard to do, but moving every part of the body at once still took a lot of concentration. Exciting and mentally exerting at the same time. Whoopty-fricking-doo.
Bob was surrounded by a dark glow (how does that even work?) and his eyes turned black again. He stood up and faced Tienn's fighter, who of course had been standing there for the past five minutes. He walked over and picked up his sword, which he then pointed at his opponent.
“I'm going to win blah blah blah you don't stand a chance blah blah blah it's clear who's the better one blah blah blah.” You could practically hear the enthusiasm in my voice. “Now let's fight and be done with it.”
I took one step forward, and exploded.
Check that, Bob exploded. And he didn't technically explode either. Y'know how whenever an object (a letter, for example) gets moved by transportation fire breathe, it appears in a flash of green fire? That's actually what happened. The only problem was that said letter appeared right in the airspace that Bob had just walked into.
The flash was enough to thoroughly destroy my concentration, so I had a nice clean view of Bob, his head blown off and the rest of him on fire, fall first to his knees, then to the ground, where he slowly continued to burn.
Daintily, the letter drifted over and landed beside him.
…
…
…
“Whoa.” Manty muttered.
I realized my jaw was open and quickly closed it. I looked at Manty, then to Tienn (who was wearing a half-open-mouth expression), then back to Bob. The sudden demise of my fighter had been enough to shatter Tienn's concentration as well, and her fighter was also laying on the ground. I sighed.
“Nobody. Say. ANYTHING.”
I carefully reached out and picked up the letter. Breaking the seal with a claw, I unfurled it and read aloud.
Dear Flamesinger,
Please join me and my friends in the library as soon as possible. There is something very important we wish to discuss with you.
Sincerely,
Twilight Sparkle
“Important.” I glanced back at Bob's dead body. “Yeah.”
Tienn was still in a state of shock. I looked at her, then at Manty. He shrugged. I turned back to Tienn.
“Whelp, looks like you won. Congrats and all that.” I got up and headed into the forest. “I'm out.”
I left to the sound of Manty laughing his head off.
wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
'Kay, let me fill you in on a few details about what happened yesterday after the incident. Namely, the fireball that I had had to dispense with that was supposedly un-put-out-able.
Yeah, I, uh... put it out.
It wasn't actually a problem. I found the lake that Dash had directed me towards quite easily, dunked the thing under the water, and got greeted by a faceful of steam. When I pulled it out, fire was gone. I didn't really get the chance to tell Twilight, because as soon as I had gotten home I had collapsed into bed. And the next morning, I was also in bed, and this afternoon we had had the little fighter tournament with Bob...full schedule if I ever saw one.
Oh don't look at me like that. I was going to tell her. Eventually.
I had other things on my mind, okay? Besides, I was mostly worried about a bigger problem: the town.
You see, I wasn't sure how many people had been at the fire. In fact, I wasn't sure how many people got a good look at me in pony form. Or how many had seen me change. Or whether those who had had told those who hadn't. All in all, I simply didn't know how many townsfolk knew that I, Flamesinger, was a dragon. So when I entered Ponyville (walking in full sight of everyone like a idiot), I wasn't sure what the general reaction was going to be.
Simply put?
Literally EVERYONE stared.
I kid you not on this. You'd think there would be at least a few people who either hadn't heard, or just didn't care (yeah right), but no. EVERY. SINGLE. FRICKING. PONY that was there, could not take their eyes off me.
It was almost instantaneous. First a couple ponies caught sight of me, and those few immediately stopped talking and stared. This alerted those beside them, and they stopped talking and stared as well. And it spread, until everypony in the immediate vicinity had his/her eyes trained on me.
And then the muttering started.
It was the usual stuff. A lot of 'is that him?'s, a few 'what's his name?'s, and a good bundle of 'that's the dragon!'s. A few of the onlookers pointedly took a few steps back, but the majority of them didn't seem worried. More... curious. As if that made fifty million people staring at me any better.
As for me, myself, and I? After a great amount of hesitation seeing my new-found (and highly unwanted) fame, I decided upon the course of action known as 'screw it' and just stared walking towards the library like nobody's business. People moved out of the way (some a little farther then necessary), but didn't seem to realize I could hear them and kept right on muttering.
The most annoying part was that it moved along with me. The library is near the middle of town, and to get there I have to go down several streets and pass through the marketplace. And of course, everypony there figured that since everyone around them was staring, they should too.
This... really... sucks.
After a grand total of 23 seconds, I was already aggravated. Having four hundred pairs of eyes on you can do that. By the time I was in the market place, it was just steadily getting worse I was nearing the breaking point (also known as the 'get-mad-and-yell-at-life-in-general' point), which would not end well for me. So I did the logical thing.
“Okay!!!” I yelled, surprising everyone. “Can everybody PLEASE stop staring!?! I feel like I'm about to spontaneously combust!!!”
This seemed to remind the ponies of the immediate situation, and most of them turned back to what they had been doing, muttering 'sorry' only to continue to sneak peaks at me through the corner of their eye. A few kept full-front staring, but they were mostly kids.
What?
Whatdoyamean that wasn't the logical thing to do? Of course it was!
Just ignore them? Heh, good luck with that. I'm guessing you've never had a whole town stare at you like you were a freak.
Anyway, with that obstacle out of the way, I was able to proceed to the library without hindrance.
“Hey...”
Okay, without a LOT of hindrance.
I turned around. It was some random stallion, dark red mane and tail, light brown coat, cutie mark of a book, thick glasses. He looked nervous, shuffling his hooves. I noticed that a lot of townsfolk now had their eye on him.
“Yeah?”
“You're the... “ He coughed. “You're the... dragon right?”
“Yeah.”
I love messing with people's minds. “O-Oh... w-well... u-uh...”
I looked at him closely. “Dude, are you okay? You're hyperventilating.”
“Y-Yeah... I'm just...” He took a deep breath. “I just wanted to...uh... to thank you... for uh... for saving the kids... and... yeah.”
“Oh.” Awkward. “Well, it wasn't really that big a deal... naturally fireproof and all that... I wasn't exactly risking my life or anything...”
“Yeah, but... when you did that absorb thing with your magic? That was awesome!!!” He then assumed a 'what the hell did I just say' face and quickly lowered his head.
I looked at him, surprised. “Well when you say it like that, it's like I conquered the Nine Realms and developed a cure for cancer.”
He looked confused. “What?”
“Nothing. Say, what's your name anyway?”
“B-B-Blank...” He shook himself. “Blank Page.”
“Cool. Flamesinger.” I reached out a hoof and he (very hesitantly) bumped it. “So what, do you write books or something?”
“Y-Yeah. That's my goal anyway. I'm in the middle of my first one now...” He took a good look at me. “I think you may have g-given me the inspiration for the next chapter actually...”
“Really? Me, being inspiration for someone?” I scratched my head with one wing. “Never thought that would happen.”
“Y-You're... You're not like what I though a d-dragon would be like.” He suddenly wilted. “No offense.”
“Naw, trust me, most everyone I've met has said that. I'm by no means a template for my species.” I thought about it. “That would be kind of scary, actually...”
He laughed. “Yeah... I think I could see why...”
“Anyway, it was cool to meet you, but I sadly must leave due to a summons by a certain Twilight Sparkle.” I gestured over towards the library. “Something about something important.”
“Twilight Sparkle?” He looked startled. “THE Twilight Sparkle?”
“What, is she famous here?”
“No, not really, it's just that...” His cheeks turned very red. “Nothing. Are you friends with her?”
“Yep. Are you?”
“No.” He looked kind of sad at this fact.
“Have you even talked with her?”
“No. Well sometimes... when I check out books...”
“Then you should. You DO know she is obsessed with books, right?”
“Yeah...”
“Just checking.” I turned. “Look me up sometime. I live a short ways into the Everfree, just ask Derpy Hooves for directions. Oh, and pro tip: mind the signs. See ya!”
As I said farewell to Blank Page, I took note that most of the stares directed his way were now stares of admiration. But I didn't really have time for that right now.
Hmmmmm... likes books... shows signs of interest whenever Twi is mentioned... possible crush? I grinned. Requires farther investigation.
Luckily, nopony else bothered me on my way to the library, though the muttering and sidelong stares were still up and running. I practically bolted for the library door when it was in view and shut it behind me as quickly as I could, breathing heavily. It was then that something caught my attention.
First of all, I was in the lobby. Second, I could hear voices coming from behind the door that led to the reading room. Third, both Spike and the designated Cutie Mark Crusaders had their ears pressed against said door.
I casually strode over, to which none of them reacted to. In fact, they didn't notice my presence until I squatted down beside them and whispered: “Man, Twi said it was important, but I didn't think it was this important.”
“AAAAHHH!!!”
They jumped away from the door, conveniently right into me. This knocked me over, and we all went sprawling across the floor (wooden floors are not comfortable to do this on). I ended up lying on my back with Spike draped across one arm (leg, whatever) and the CMC on my stomach. Apple Bloom blinked her eyes open and found herself face to face with me.
“Hey! Who're you?”
“Oh me? Just the ruler of the universe, nothing too special.” I grunted. “... Don't suppose you could get off my stomach, could you?”
“Oh yea, sorry.” She quickly slide off, as did the other two. “Y'all just surprised us, we didn't mean to-” Then my voice registered.
“Hey... hey wait, you're him! You're the guy!”
“You have successfully named my gender. But can you guess my name?”
“You're him!” Scootaloo quickly butted aside Apple Bloom. “You're the dragon that rescued us yesterday! You're Flamesinger!”
I chuckled. “Call me whatever you want. I especially liked the 'Mister Dragon' one.”
“What you did yesterday was AWESOME!!!” Cue Scootaloo fangirl mode. “You were all WOOSH and then all ROAR and then when you did that fireball thing and all the fire rushed to your hands and then you jumped through the side of the shed...” She let out an extremely adorable 'squee' “AWESOME!!!”
“Well, I hate to brag, but I am pretty awesome.” I saw Spike slowly standing up. “Hey Spike, you alright?”
“Yeah... yeah I am... we were just... uh...” He cringed. “Doing something.”
“Eavesdropping. Yeah, I noticed. And I have to say...” I laid a hoof on his shoulder. “... I'm very proud of you.”
“Uh, Mr. Flamesinger?” I turned to see Apple Bloom staring at me. “Yup?”
“Ah just wanted ta say... er...” Suddenly, she hugged me. “Thanks for rescuing us. If y'all hadn't put out the fire...” She was beginning to tear up. Man, these kids get sad quickly.
“Hey hey hey.” I hugged her back. “Your safe now, and that's what matters. And besides, if I had let you die, Applejack and Rarity would have made sure I joined you in being dead.”
Sweetie Belle hugged me as well. “I don't care if you're a dragon. You're still nice.”
“Awwwww, thanks. I love you too.” I hugged her back as well.
Scootaloo, rather then thank me, choose to go for more of a flying hug approach, “Yeah, you're the awesomest dragon EVER! I don't care what Twilight says!”
“Well your awesome too- wait what?” That last part had caught up with me. “What did Twi say about me?”
“Oh... well uh...” She shifted her hooves nervously. “You see...”
“Twilaght thinks you're evil.” Apple Bloom stated flatly.
“...
…
Huh.” Perplexed wouldn't even began to describe the expression that was forming on my face. “Ooooooo-kaaaaaay...”
“But don't worry!” Sweetie spoke up. “My sister doesn't!”
“Yeah, Rainbow Dash doesn't either.” Scootaloo said reassuringly. “Twilight was going on and on about how your magic was evil and something about Discord though...”
Shit. They found out. I'm screwed. I tried not to let my emotions show. How the hell did they find out?! At least the others don't seem to care... but damn, Twi? Of all ponies? *Sigh* PLEASE let this not screw up my life...
“Well, uh...” I shook my head to clear it. “Sounds... uh... important! I'd better go... check some stuff... be right back...”
I immediately headed towards the reading room. As I passed Spike, he shot a look at the girls and whispered to me. “What's got Twilight so worried? What's evil about your magic?”
“Nothing, I just...” I sighed. “Just don't worry. I got this.” I continued on. “You can either eavesdrop some more, or just let me give you a full rundown when I'm outta here. Either way, Twi's probably not gonna let you in, so it's a choice of information now or later.” I reached the door and took a deep breathe. “Wish me luck.”
“Okay...” Spike sounded worried as I opened said door and closed it behind me. “... good luck.”
wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
When I entered, Twi was yelling at everyone.
Sadly, I didn't get to hear exactly what she was yelling about, because as soon as she saw me she shut up. The sudden absence of her voice also served to alert the entire room to my presence, so my hopes of sneaking in quietly were dashed and destroyed.
Okay Flame, stay cool and act natural. Twi seems to be the only one accusing you, so freaking out and running won't accomplish anything. I just gotta act natural... act natural... act natural... how do I act natural again? NO! Stop thinking like that!
“Hey gang!” I really really really really really hoped I wasn't looking nervous. Which I probably was. “How's it goin'?”
Two of their little sisters almost died yesterday and you walked in on Twi raging at everyone. YEAH, IT'S ALL GOIN' FINE!!!
I mentally told my brain to shut it and walked over to Dash, who was... sleeping.
I looked at her. Then at everyone else.
Sighing (for only the millionth time that day) I sat down next to her. “Okay, what happened THIS time?”
This seemed to shake them all out of their state of mental shock. Pinkie immediately bounced over and engulfed me in a bear hug. “Flamey! You're here!”
“Yep, one dragon, reporting for duty as requested.” Note to self: Pinkie's hugs are painful. “Though said dragon kind of needs air to breathe, so if you wouldn't mind...”
After surviving Pinkie's bear hug (Ugh... my ribs...), I looked over to where Rarity was seated next to Applejack. “You: it's good to see you out of that living coma, and you: Uhhhhhhhhh... explanation! Right! Well you see I-”
“There's no need for any a' that, sugarcube. Twilaght already explained it all. But still...” She looked me straight in the eye. Not sure if that means anything. “... why didn't yah tell us before?”
I raised an eyebrow. “Would YOU?”
She thought about this. “Good point.”
Rarity got up and walked over to me. “Flamesinger, as with Spike I simply cannot thank you enough for what you did, and as I neglected to give my thanks to you yesterday, allow me to do so now.”
She stopped in front of me. Then suddenly, she gripped in a vice-like hug, not as painful as Pinkie's but still enough to ensure that I couldn't budge an inch. “THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!”
She then let go of me and walked calmly back to her spot beside Applejack, ignoring all the 'WTF' looks her friends were giving her.
And that, my friends, is how you say 'thank you' in Equestria.
I grinned. “You are most welcome. And now...” Why is Applejack glaring at Rarity? “... there was something you guys wanted to 'discuss' with me, yes?”
“Yes, we-”
“Hold on a second there Twilaght.” Applejack got up and strode over to me as well. “Ah do believe Ah haven't properly thanked Flame either.”
“What?” What? “Yeah you did. I remember from yesterday, when I thought you were pissed at me, but instead of murdering me on the spot, you hugged me. It wasn't that big a deal, I was happy to do it and-”
She interrupted me by kissing me on the lips.
It wasn't a huge kiss, just a small peck really that didn't last that long, but try telling that to my brain. My general thought process was basically along the lines of '…..................', so not a lot of activity was going on up there.
She broke the kiss after a few seconds and, like Rarity, calmly trotted back to her seat. She wasn't even blushing. As opposed to myself, whose cheeks were now a lovely shade of crimson. Luckily, everyone was staring at Applejack in complete shock, so I was saved the embarrassment of public blushing. Manty would never let it rest if that happened.
“Well... uh... maybe... just... wait...” C'mon brain! Move your ass already! “Hold... 'kay, gimme a sec...” I proceeded to repeatedly shake my head back and forth, which only succeeded in giving me a quick headache. Groaning, I clutched my forehead. “... That did not help...”
“Er... Applejack...” Rarity was also attempting to escape the confines of her mind. “Did you just...?”
“Yep.” Applejack replied smugly.
“Stop... way... what... who... ugh, dammit Applejack! How am I supposed to THINK now!?!”
She chuckled. “That's your problem.”
“You just fricking KISSED me! I don't even...I mean... just...” I looked at her helplessly. “WHAT!?!”
Her face softened. “Jus' consider mah 'thank you' for savin' mah little sister.”
“Well you could have just... I dunno...” I blinked. “Crap, uh... why did I come here again?”
Twilight coughed. “That would be to answer a few questions.”
“Questions! Yes! Distraction, sweet distraction!” I shot Applejack a look. “You and I are going to have words after this.”
“Ah look forward to it.” She grinned. Damn, it's creepy when she does that.
“Whatever.” I turned back to Twi. “So, now that I have re-gained access to my thoughts and memories, what is it you girls wish to 'discuss' with me?”
“A-Are you sure?” She glanced nervously at Applejack. “Maybe this isn't the best time.”
“On the contrary, this is the perfect time, for if I don't have anything to occupy my mind right now I will more then likely go insane.” My straight face seemed to unnerve her.
“N-No, that's fine, we can just-”
“Twi, I'm begging you, on my knees, to please do SOMETHING to get my mind off of what just happened.”
“Oh, alright.” She rubbed her temples. Five minutes in, and everything was already falling apart. This was NOT how she had hoped it to go. “I suppose now's a good a time as any, seeing as how-wait.” She peered over my shoulder, then frowned. “Is Rainbow Dash still asleep!?!”
We all turned to see Dash snoring away in her seat, which for some reason really pissed off Twi. She scrunched up her face and yelled at the top of her lungs: “RAINBOW DASH!!!!!!!!”
Dash yelled and jumped about five feet into the air before realizing where she was. She glared at Twi. “What the hay Twilight!?! I was in the middle of something!!!”
Twi deadpanned. “You were sleeping.”
“Exactly!!!”
“Y'know, no offense to Dash or anything, but why did you wake her up?” I snorted. “I'm assuming that the reason she was asleep in the first place was due to your lecture?”
“You're a mind-reader.” She yawned and steadied herself against my shoulder. “So what'd I miss?”
“Uhhhhhhh...” I glanced at Applejack, then quickly looked away. “Nuthin'.”
“Cool.” She yawned again. “Then why am I awake?”
I pondered this. “I don't know.”
“You're awake because I was just about to start questioning Flame here.” Twi said rather pointedly.
“Are you still on about that? I told you, he's not gonna care.” She looked at me. “Are you?”
“Depends. What are we caring about?”
“Your-”
“ANY-way...” Twi was looking daggers at Rainbow. “I was just about to ask him.”
“Good.” She shook herself and blinked a few times. “Man, I'm tired. How long was I out?”
“Silly, you weren't out! You were asleep!” Pinkie said happily. She was surprisingly the only one who wasn't moving about, instead choosing to remain by Fluttershy, who was watching me warily. She hadn't said anything during the entire proceedings.
“You were out when I got here, which was about ten minutes ago. Dunno much more then that.” I turned back to Twilight. “Now let's got on to these questions.”
“Thank you.” Twi shot me a relieved look. “It won't take long, trust me.”
Everyone promptly sat down and shut up, with me in the middle being the focus of attention. It served to remind we just why I was here in the first place, though thankfully my nervousness didn't crop up again. Hard to be nervous when you've just been kissed not two seconds ago.
Twilight summoned her usual ink and parchment and took a moment to collect her thoughts before facing me again. She had turned serious, which told me that I'd better prepare to deflect some pretty tough questions.
Shields up.
“Before we start, I would just like to say that the meaning of my questions are not to offend, but to inform. I'd appreciate it if each question were answered thoroughly...” She gave me a stare-down. “... and honestly.”
Yeah, that doesn't sound like high school at all. “Okay.”
“Good. Number one...” She cleared her throat, looking nervous. The next came out really fast. “... isittrueyouusethesamemagicasDiscord?”
“Y'know, I'll answer any question you got, but in order to do so I have to physically understand them.”
“Sorry. Is it... is it true that you... that you...” Spit it out already, c'mon. “... that you use the same magic as Discord?”
“Two things: One, it's called 'chaos magic', and two, who the hell's Discord?”
Did I mention that it's annoying when everyone stares at you and goes silent?
“What?”
“Are you serious?” Dash choked out. It looked like she was trying very hard to guffaw.
“What!?!”
“You... don't know who Discord is?!” Twi stared at me incredulously.
“Should I?”
“Everypony does!”
“I'm not a pony. I thought we were all aware of this fact.”
She suddenly looked suspicious. “Are you SURE?”
“Pretty sure. I mean, I might of heard of him... let me think...” I stroked an imaginary beard. “Hmmmm... Discord Discord Discord... aha!” I brightened. “Come to think of it, I may of read of him someplace. Wasn't he that one bad guy that did something bad?”
Twilight facehooved. “Yes, but it's a bit bigger then that.”
“You only know of him from a book?” Rarity shook her head. “Darling, he tried to take over Equestria only about a year ago!”
“Take over Equestria... wait!” All the details from 'A Guide to Dragons' came rushing back in an instant. “Discord. Draconequus, very powerful chaos-user. Attempted to take over Equestria twice, was stopped both times by the Elements of Harmony.” I sat back, rather proud of myself. “See? Remembered.”
“Well... yes. Yes, that's pretty much it. So you DO know who he is.”
“Vaguely, but enough to follow your logic. What about him?”
“Why do you use his magic?”
“You mean chaos magic?”
“What's 'chaos magic'?
“The stuff he uses.”
“Then yes.”
“To be honest... I don't really know.” I held up a hoof to stop what was undoubtedly going to be a loud exclamation along the lines of 'bullshit'. “Now now, hear me out. I've only had these powers for about... eh, three weeks. I'm still learning a bit about how they work, but I know the basics. It's called chaos magic, and certain dragons (like me) have it. It's just a different branch of magic, nothing special.”
“Discord's not a dragon.”
“Draconequus, dragon, whatever. They're the same thing.”
“No, they're not.”
“A draconequus is just a really, really powerful form gained by experienced chaos-users.” Man, look at me go. If you didn't know better, you might say I actually knew what I was talking about. “Discord was probably a dragon once.”
“But that's-”
“I can see you're confused, so allow me to simplify it: Woke up, had powers. The end.”
It was then that Applejack did something weird. Well, more weird then kissing me that is. She walked up to me in the same fashion as before (which may have freaked me out. A lot), except this time she just stared at me. Not into my eyes or anything, just me in general. She took note of my stance, my wings, my expression, my eyes, and basically every facial feature that moved. When she was satisfied, she went back to her seat. “He's tellin' the truth Twilaght.”
Twi looked surprised, while I just stood there stupidly. “He is?”
“Yep.” She raised an eyebrow. “What, yah don't believe me?”
“No no, of course I believe you. Why wouldn't I?” Twilight seemed to be going into 'I'll deal with this shit later' mode, which was good as I really wasn't in the mood for any mental breakdowns.
“Whoa...” I blinked out of my trance and looked at Applejack. “So... you're some kind of pony lie detector or something?”
“Ah can tell when somepony's tellin' the truth, so yeah, Ah guess yah could say that.”
“Yeah, she's also the-” Pinkie was quickly interrupted by Applejack shoving her hoof into her mouth.
She chuckled nervously. “Don't mind her. She's just bein' Pinkie Pie. That's all. Yep, nuthin' else.”
I stared at her for a few seconds.
“You suck at lying.” I noted. “But whatever.”
I turned back to Twilight. “So is that it? Can I go now?”
“No. I still have a few more questions. Do you intend harm to Ponyville in any way?”
I deadpanned. “Yeah. I'm secretly planning to betray all of you and murder everyone. That's why I became your friend, rescued your children, and fixed your relationships with each other. Seriously, is this what you've been worrying about the whole time?”
Twi just sat there, slack-jawed.
“He's lying.” Applejack said rather unnecessarily.
“Yeah...” She put her head in her hooves and sighed. Then she straightened and looked at all of us rather sheepishly. “Well I... I guess I was kind of worried over... nothing... huh?”
“NOW she gets it!” Rainbow Dash applauded.
“Sorry girls, it's just... Discord was bad news... I really didn't want a repeat of that...”
“Aw, don't worry Twilight!” Pinkie gave her a big hug. I noted that is was nowhere near as bone-crushing as the one she gave me. “We don't blame you!”
All the girls decided that it was group hug time and went in to join Pinkie, while I was left on the sidelines. Which was fine by me. As Fluttershy trotted by, I gave her a small smile, which she returned (Yes!). As she was being hugged, Twi peered at and looked at me apologetically.
“Listen, sorry for... uh... for the whole 'blaming you for being evil' thing. I just didn't any problems, it was really bothering me, and-”
I held up a hoof. “Really, it's fine. You dealt with it in a good matter, and I am by no means offended. Just next time... please... come to my house, okay?”
She grinned. “Deal.”
wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
Princess Celestia strode down the hallway, accompanied by her usual Honor Guard. They were mostly for decoration, and none of them would be of any actual use in a real fight, but she kept them around. They were impressive, and intimidating too if she wanted them to be. They were also rather fun to talk to. That was a quality she looked for in all of her guards, as being the ruler of a peaceful kingdom tended to get quite boring at times.
But today, she was in no mood to chit-chat.
She reached the end of the hall and emerged into the outdoors. Several bridges branched off from here, one leading to the ballroom, one to the gardens, one to the maze, etc. She ignored all of these and instead turned down the one that lead to the barracks.
After a short walk, she began walking past small fields, were the daily drills were taking place. When she saw them, Celestia rolled her eyes. The standard training offered by the army paled in comparison to most she had seen, such as the Griffon Kingdom. But it was, again, a peaceful time, so she supposed it didn't matter.
She made for one building in particular, the Captains office. Upon entering, she was greeted with the aggravating sight of everyone looking at her, then quickly bowing. Most people don't realize just how annoying this gets after more then a thousand years of ruling, and it did nothing to improve Celestia's mood. Which was already quite low.
“At ease.” she said rather crisply, not even bothering to slow down. She marched straight up to the Captain, who was looking rather startled but nonetheless came to attention. “Captain Shining Armor.”
“Yes your majesty?” Shining Armor, Captain of the Guard and Twilight Sparkle's big brother, had done a fantastic job in his time as a soldier and had earned the respect of the princesses. That was the only reason Celestia was trusting him with this.
“Gather a squad of your finest men and have them ready to depart for Ponyville at a moment's notice. Also, prepare my carriage. I will be riding with you as well.”
“Yes your majesty.” This was why she liked him. No-nonsense, no pointless questions, no dilly-dawdling. “May I ask as to the nature of this sudden trip?”
“A threat has sprung up in Ponyville, one that requires my attention. Also, inform your guards we will be taking the Elements of Harmony with us. That should get them moving.”
“The Elements of Harmony?” Shining raised an eyebrow at this, if only for a second. You didn't just 'bring' six all-powerful magical items with you without a reason.
“Yes, the Elements of Harmony. It is unknown how powerful this threat is.”
“Yes your majesty.”
Without another word she turned and swept away from the building, leaving Shining Armor to gather the troops and get ready to move out.
I'm coming for you, chaos-user...
-End of Chapter 14-
A/N: I'm thinking about adding Blank Page as a sidelong character. Y'know, not have any affect on the plot, but still... there. Thoughts?