//------------------------------// // Within Chaos... How Deep. (Chapter Nine) // Story: On Black Wings Unfurled, A Half-Dragon's Roar to be Heard // by Coal //------------------------------// Chapter Nine Within Chaos... How Deep. Okay seriously, how in the hell did I not notice this before. The six ponies who had arrived in a most unexpected manner are now seated along the length of the table. Everyone present seems to be staring at me expectantly as I scratch at my head with my hand. Okay... All six of them have them and no one seems to think much of it besides me. Is this normal? "Coal, is something the matter?" Clestia's voice speaks up, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Well, no. Not really, just thinking about something." I let out a sigh at this and continue, "Well, it isn't important." Looking around I take full notice at how everyone at the table is looking at me expecting something and I ask, "What're you all looking at me like that for?" "Oh come on! He wasn't even listening!" The Cyan coated pegasus says irritably. "Yeah... sorry about that, kind of got lost in thought." I admit sheepishly. "Very well then, I will repeat myself, how long do you wish to stay here at the Palace?" Celestia asks, "If you are going to be staying for long we can have arrangements made." "Oh oh! We could have a party too! There'd be streamers and games like pin the tail on the pony. Oh! Do you like cupcakes, I know everypony likes cupcakes but you're not a pony after all so I don't know if you do." The bubbly pink one says in her flurry that I now think is her default way of speaking. "Yeah... I don't think I'll be staying for all that long." I say as I turn my head to look out the window. Out of the corner of my eye I can almost swear that the Pink one's mane deflated a bit. "If it is something that we might have said to offend you I apologize..." Luna says looking a bit guilty. "Oh no that's not it. I had originally planned to just make this a quick visit to begin with. There's a world out there, and I'm interested in seeing it for myself." I pause a moment and look down at my plate of grass and add, "Besides, if I stay here I might starve to death." "Yes, that seems to be the case. I do not know what is taking the chefs so long to make something." The Batmare chimes in. "There is one thing that's kind of bothering me though." I say looking to what would appear to most to be an empty chair. "Oh, and what exactly would that be dear?" The white coated unicorn asks me. "Well, there seems to be some kind of shivering creature with a pink tail sitting under the table." As soon as the statement is finished the pink tail sticking out from under the table stiffens and shoots out of sight. "Ah come now Fluttershy, he's alright by the Princesses I don't think ya'll should be so scared ah him." The pony with the Stetson hat on her head says, apparently addressing the pink tailed creature. "Am I really that scary? I mean sure I'm a bit weird looking and all but... Well, seeing someone react that way makes me feel a little bad." "Well... Fluttershy is just a bit timid dear, if anything I'd think your claw and wings were putting her on edge. While I think they match your outfit perfectly, they do bear a resemblance to ones a dragon would have." The white coated unicorn assures me. "Rarity is right, Fluttershy has a bit of a problem with dragons older than babies." Twilight adds, addressing the white coated unicorn mare as Rarity. "Oh is that all? Well that really isn't a problem." I say with my patented mischievous grin coming to my face. I will my claw to return to being a hand and my wings to vanish, as I feel the familiar feeling of the cool black mist. Eyes across the room widen a bit and a few mouths even hang open at the spectacle. After a few moments they're left sitting there looking at an ordinary everyday human. You have conversations with your own brain, you're not normal. "See? Not a problem, oh and before any of you ask, no I'm not going to explain how or why I can do that." "B-but that was shape-shifting magic! The wings manifested from nowhere, that is a high tier spell that few unicorns could even think about pulling off." Twilight says, her voice brimming with surprise and disbelief. "Yeah, it's a neat trick huh? But if you think that's impressive just wait until you see what I can do with these babies." I say as I waggle my fingers in the air in front of me. To which I receive several confused glances but I let it slide. "But yeah, I'm not one for overstaying my welcome so I won't be staying for all that long. Probably going to be leaving around nightfall." "I see, that's unfortunate. I was not lying earlier when I said I enjoyed your company Coal. You're... interesting to have around." Celestia says giving me a a downcast look. Aww, I feel so loved... Not gonna get me to spill anything, nice try though Celly. "Well, I'm glad I made a good impression." I say to Celestia as I begin to see a pink maned head start to slowly rise up from under the table, the pony's hooves resting on it. After several moments of me trying my best to ignore it and continue making small talk with Celestia across this long ass table the pegasus finally brings her upper body into view as she seems to be staring at me with a bit of trepidation in her eyes. "Y-you're a lot less scary without the claw... I mean, I know if the Princesses trust you, you can't be mean but..." She says in a almost silent voice. "Yeah, don't feel bad. I'd say hiding is a better reaction than chasing me around with spears so there's always that." I say with a grin, making sure that I don't bring my canines into view. 'Cause I'm just such a gentleman. "Oh, um... Yeah, that would be bad." She says, her voice rising just a bit in volume. Now it's only slightly above a whispering mouse's voice. "Yeah, it was. Oh well, water under the bridge and all that." "Oh, so the big shape shifting dragon thing is a big wimp huh?" The cyan pegasus speaks up with a derogatory tone in her voice. "Well, this was before I could well, fly, breath fire, and discovered my general all around awesomeness." I reply in a joking manner. "Yeah, well, you must be a pretty good flier if you out flew one of the Princesses. Not as good as me of course but then again who is?" "Well, you're probably better at it than Sparkle butt over here." I say gesturing towards Twilight. Twilight's eyes widen in response and everyone, excluding Blueblood the unicorn with a stick up his ass bigger than his horn, seems to find my observation about Twilight's flank tattoo very funny. In fact, the rainbow maned pegasus I had been speaking to chortles with laughter and all but falls out of her chair. "S-sparkle... butt..." Twilight says evidently at a loss for words. Abruptly getting up from my sitting position I say, "Well, I'd best get out of here before she gets her senses back together, and decides to shoot lightning at my face." From there I promptly open a window and dive out as I will my wings into existence, and while I didn't get a good look at most of their faces it was either a look of shock or humor as I departed. I startle a few guards patrolling outside and I give them a wave as I soar past. It's still only around noon despite everything that has happened so I decide it isn't time to leave just yet. Looking over to the Palace gardens I spy the labyrinth I noticed earlier. Deciding it's as good a place as any to spend an afternoon I fly in lower and come to a landing. As I land I get a glance at my hands and I realize I had made my left hand turn back into a claw without even realizing it. At this point the claw feels just as much a part of me as my right hand does. Oh well, it looks kind of awesome anyway, so I guess I'll just keep it like this most of the time. With that decision made I begin to casually stroll my way through the garden and labyrinth. The sun continues it's trek across the sky for a time while I do this and it appears to be around four in the afternoon. I'm admiring a statue that evidently symbolizes victory as I hear the clop of hooves hitting a hard surface coming from behind me. Turning around, I see Celestia walking calmly towards me. "You do know that my student was fairly flustered with you calling her 'Sparkle butt' correct?" "Yeah, that was the point. Besides, a good student has to know how to expect the unexpected right?" "I suppose so. Admiring the garden are we?" "Yeah, that and contemplating how empty my stomach feels right about now." "Ah yes, on that note I actually do have something here for you." She says as a golden glow makes it's way over towards me and seems to be encasing a small fruit platter. "The reason it was taking the chefs so long to prepare was that they couldn't decide what would suit your palette best. Eventually I made my way down there and informed them that fruit should be fine." Taking the platter from the glow wrapping around it I grab an apple slice and take a bite out of it before saying, "You know, this technically doesn't count as breakfast anymore, so you still owe me that." "Very well, I can accept that reasoning. Does that mean you'll be staying longer?" "Nah, I still have a lot to see, and besides I think having me around for just one day has been stressing enough on your guards already." "Yes I suppose you are right, most of them are still a bit shaken up from the chase this morning." "Good, they should be. Maybe now they won't be as complacent as they were. Heck, I managed to get in your room by flying straight in, and no one saw a thing. There's definitely some room for improvement there" "Very well then, I'll make sure to keep that in mind." she says as we stand there together, admiring the scenery as I munch on my delicious fruit. "Would you care to take a walk around the garden Coal? I know you've likely been doing that already but it's relaxing when you walk with someone else." "Sure, why not. But only because you're considerate enough to use 'someone' instead of somepony. Truth be told, all of the pony related phrases are just a little bit grating." And with that we began to walk around the garden and labyrinth. This time with Celestia with me I got lost a lot less often than when I had been wandering aimlessly on my own. Eventually, as we walked into one particular area within the labyrinth Celestia's expression grew dour, and the look intensified as her eyes came to rest upon a particular statue. It was definitely an... odd statue. It looked to be a jumbled mess of all sorts of different creatures. Although, with my own current state of jumbled parts I guess I'm not exactly one to talk. "Is something bothering you Celestia?" I ask as she comes to a stop in front of the statue in question. "Yes... but it is not because of you Coal... It's simply an old enemy of mine." "You know, if I didn't know any better I'd think you were talking about this statue." I say come to a stop next to her. "I am, while he might not look like much in his current petrified state, this statue is Discord. Spirit of chaos and disharmony." When she says chaos she has has obvious distaste for the concept in question. "Not too long ago he threatened all of Equestria, his powers being enough to alter the very rules by which the land is governed." "So what, he flipped a bunch of stop signs upside down?" I ask, not fully understanding her meaning. "No, he did far more than that. He has the power to change the laws of nature and sow eternal chaos if he is left to his own devices." "Okay, but why does he do it?" "He is the spirit of chaos, what else would he do?" She asks, giving me an inquisitive look. "Well, even within chaos there is logic. It's kind of circular logic if you think about it too hard but it's there. I mean think about this, if he causes chaos because he is the spirit of chaos doesn't that make sense?" "I suppose so, in a convoluted way." "Yeah, it is isn't it? Well, putting that aside for a moment ask yourself this. Is the reason he causes so much suffering because that is his nature, or does he do so because that is the only way others view him?" Celestia seems to consider my words but does not say anything in response so I continue, "I am a firm believer in that we act according to the way others perceive and treat us. If one is treated harshly they tend to respond in kind, and in the other sense if they are treated with kindness they are likely to reciprocate. We're beings capable of thought, not simply forces of nature that have no emotions or consciousness. Just take that into consideration." So, getting philosophical are we? I'm ashamed of even being associated with you now. Celestia and I share a moment of silence as we both regard the statue within which resides Discord, malevolent spirit of chaos and disharmony. The moment seems to stretch for nearly an eternity before Celestia finally breaks the silence. "You are right, perhaps I have been too scornful towards him, even if he does deserve it. I will... consider your words, but I cannot promise anything." "Never asked you to." I say as I finish the last of my food platter. "Although I have to imagine being stuck in stone like that would be incredibly boring. Heck, if the two o us having a philosophical conversation is the most excitement he gets, I feel kind of sorry for the guy." Just then, an idea comes to mind and I turn to Celestia and ask, "There wouldn't happen to be any spells that can play a song from memory would there?" She seems a bit confused by my seemingly random question and responds, "Yes, I suppose there are a few, why?" "Just an idea I have, there wouldn't happen to be any that are simple to learn would there?" "Yes, I suppose there is a simple memory spell that could work. Do you want me to teach you it?" "If I could learn it in just a few minutes, yeah." "I... suppose I could impart the knowledge with a brief sharing of minds." "Alright, perfect, just make sure you don't go too deep in my noggin' there. There's a lot of stuff in there that might not suit your pony princess sensibilities." "I do not see where you are going with this, but I'll indulge you for now." She says as she begins to point her horn towards my forehead and the familiar glow begins to envelop it. It's an... odd feeling. It's kind of like there's someone else inside my head. Like that's out of the ordinary for you. --- Someone who's not normally inside my head. "Coal... who exactly are you talking to?" I hear Celestia's voice intone in my mind. Wait a second, you can hear me? Haha, finally! You wouldn't believe how annoying it is to be this bozo's brain without anyone else to talk to. Gee, thanks. "Is this... normal?" For humans? No. For me? Yeah, pretty much. --- With that the brief three-way conversation inside my own head come to an end, and once she comes back to herself Celestia gives me a very odd look. "Yeah, I guess I'm just a little bit crazy, but I act sane enough most of the time so it really isn't all that bad. You did give me the spell thing though right?" "Yes, I'm not exactly how you'll focus it without a horn, but you evidently have some magical attributes if you can change your form the way you do." "Alright, perfect." I say as I crack my fingers. "This is gonna be fun." I look up towards the looming, evidently fear stricken, statue and say, "Hey, Discord! If you're in there how about I show you just a little example of just how crazy we humans can get?" With that, I snap my fingers with a specific song in mind. Soon after I feel a slight drain as a techno beat begins to fill the garden. "Oppan Gangnam Style." Then, I proceed to break out into a dance along with the song. The dance had been a painstaking effort to learn, but on the rare occasions when I had left my home it was always a crowd favorite at parties. Celestia's eyes go wide at my seemingly nonsensical dance, and I could swear I see a glint come from the statue's eyes. Look at me now, dancing to a Korean song in front of the Princess of the sun and the spirit of chaos. I'm having a blast. --- Within his stony prison Discord had watched the entire exchange between Celestia and this strange creature. It reminded him just a little bit of himself, but then it went into a conversation with Celestia about philosophy of all things. If Discord could have moved he'd have gagged. Then however it made a request to Celestia regarding... music? This was definitely more interesting than their earlier conversation. It didn't even make him want to tear his own fang out. Then however the creature disengaged from it's exchange with Celestia and addressed Discord. "Hey, Discord! If you're in there how about I show you just a little example of just how crazy we humans can get?" and then it snapped it's fingers in a manner similar to Discord when he spreads chaos. And oh did this creature demonstrate chaos at it's finest when it wanted to. It was the first true moment of unadulterated joy that Discord had felt since being turned back to stone. Oh Celestia, I do hope you keep this 'Human' around. He's a keeper. He briefly manages to think before disolving back into hysterics.