//------------------------------// // Chapter 10- Under the Hood // Story: Building Walls, Burning Bridges // by MonolithiuM //------------------------------// I woke up to the sound of chirping birds and incessant banging. Grumbling, I snatched the clock on my nightstand to be thrown as a lethal projectile. Slowly but surely, I dragged myself to the window and scowled while I searched for the bastard with the hammer. In time, I found the perpetrator, but my aim wavered for a single moment and I missed. The clock ricocheted off of a gutter and blew apart into gears, glass, and springs. The nails holding the gutter in place began to come loose, and the entire structure started to shudder. The stallion with the hammer didn't notice though, and he kept swinging the hammer in his magic. With a pop and a groan, the gutter came swinging like a golf club. I watched with mild interest as the drain swung in a perfect trajectory to hit the stallion upside the right of his head. CLANG. I winced and backed away from the window, turning around in the process. "Welp, better get Stitches." And so I strolled out of my room and into the decorative hallway, where the guards roamed aplenty and the servants served the pompous douchebags known as royals. Every so often would the royals enjoy a verbal beat down from yours truly, one that many of the common folk would enjoy. They knew, however, not to stick around. I have a tendency to retain some of the pent-up anger even after the target of my abuse has run away in tears and shame. The guards had consistently attempted to use their new expanded vocabulary, but they always used the incorrect words at the most incorrect times. The best one still had been, 'superfluous language'. Poor fool thought that it meant that an object was extremely fluid, and thus got a scolding from a tourist visiting from Saddle Arabia. Shit was hysterical. But, as I was saying, I made it to Doctor Sure Bitch's office in the medical ward and hopped onto her desk. "Stitches," I said evenly. "What is it, Mono?" She regarded me with an emotionless, unfazed stare. "Some stallion gut smacked in the head with a gutter, he needs medical attention." Sure Stitch stood, rubbed the bridge of her snout with a single hoof, and groaned. She had grown used to my shit after only a few days, and the injuries that had been culminating from my being here in the palace. "What did you do?" "I threw a clock and I missed. Then the clock hit the gutter and I socked him good." I crossed my arms and grinned broadly. "I simply can't lose." \\\\||||//// Princess Luna had begun preparing for the Dreamsculpt event with Mono two days ago. Since she needed him to be unaware, she chose tonight to initiate the ability. All she had to do to establish a strong connection was get close to him and fall asleep herself. She was spending most of her time strolling along the ebony hallways, pondering scenarios and situations and what events with which to manipulate them. She had been so busy, she almost missed a rather odd feature on one of the guards. Halting her trotting, she moved into the guards face and stared at him in mild confusion. "Guard, is your helm sufficiently enchanted?" The Night Guard tilted his head and cocked a single eyebrow. "Yes, m'lady. As far as I can tell, this helmet is fully enchanted and working at its full capacity. Is something the matter with it, Princess?" Luna inched closer to the Guard's eyes, taking in the absolutely stunning detail entwined within them. Unlike the normal, untextured iris that all creatures on Terran owned, this Guard was a curious exception. Structures of overlaying strands made up the chocolate-brown eyes of this Guard, seemingly weaved of fine silk, with the pupil a pearl of black amongst the huge orb. Small red threads crisscrossed over the sclera and lighter pink threads mixed in with them. Luna became enraptured by the eyes for a moment, then blinked. She retracted her head and narrowed her eyes at the Guard. "Guard, remove your helm," she spoke in a commanding tone. The Guard visibly stiffened. "But, Princess…" He suddenly lost his voice and his head sagged low. Luna furrowed her brows and nudged him with a hoof. "Guard? Guard!" She jabbed him again, only for him to clutch her hoof with his own. Golden wisps drifted from beneath the Guard's helmet, disappearing into yellow embers that died into black cinders. You know, Princess, I really wanted to keep my being here on the down low. The stallion raised his muzzle so that his eyes met the Princess' "What- what are you?" She found that she was unable to remove his hoof, and the smile on the Guard's face intensified. He brought his head up a bit more, and he revealed his eyes to be fluctuating with the golden light. Instead of the deep, warm brown, the stallion now had vivid hazel eyes. The honest, almost innocent smile was accompanied by a sad look in the eyes. It was as if he had expected to be caught. Now listen, Princess. Luna glared at him. I've got to go now, I'll be checking up on Mono, um… eventually. Probably… Anyways! Bye-bye! The stallion's eyes flashed back to their normal marigold and he collapsed to the floor. Princess Luna stared at the stallion, whose normal breathing indicated he was in a state of slumber. She jumped when a sound like cracking glass split the silence. She turned to look behind her and saw that the hall now had a large vertical splinter straight through it, as if space itself was being molested. It snapped again, and a lion's paw thrust outwards. Then the talons of an eagle shortly followed. Princess Luna blinked. "Discord…?" The aforementioned draconequus' head burst through, his mismatched arms holding the sides of space apart. He gazed at Luna with wide and frightened eyes. "Lulu! It doesn't have a chance now that it's been found out!" He grabbed Luna by the horn and pulled her through, taking her completely by surprise. \\\\||||//// Celestia lifted her head. She sensed a presence, a vague yet powerful presence. "What could that be-" CRACK Discord leapt out from nowhere with Luna in tow, her expression deadpanned and blank. The spirit of chaos searched the room with speed unrivaled and snapped his fingers, conjuring two pillows which he threw the Princesses on. "Discord! Where have you been?" Discord shushed her with a single talon and looked about him. "It's been keeping me out so I didn't interfere, but now that it's been found out, I can assist." Luna blinked and then glared. "You grabbed me by the horn! How dare you-" "Shush! If it's listening, or worse, creating-" Discord froze and turned his gaze to the audience, his eyes full of fear and realization. Grabbing both Princesses by the horns, he shouted, "We need to go!" \\\\||||//// "…and remember: keep calm and play along!" With that, Discord snapped his fingers and left Celestia's study, leaving Luna and Celestia to ponder what Discord had said. They then both brought their attention to the audience and furrowed their brows. "Celly, I'm off to take a bath, I will see you later tonight in Mono's room." Celestia rolled her magenta eyes, "You make it sound so dirty." The study went quiet once again. \\\\||||//// Well, I blew cover, but that's just fine. There are always other pawns to play. The bluish-gray mist swirled about above Canterlot on a windy mountaintop. It produced a coin, which it played around with. Though I feel I'm relying too heavily on you. Don't give me that look, I think we just need more space. No, I'm not leaving you, I just need some time to relax! It's not that I can't be calm with you, I'd just rather be with the guys, y'know? No, I'm not gay. Oh, well you wish I was? WELL I WISH YOU WERE A PERSON SO I COULD DEVASTATE YOUR FACE! The mist was silent once again and simply let out an aggravated sigh. Discord's going to ruin everything. I couldn't keep him out of the plot for long… The mist snickered. Out of the plot for long, ha! Oh, brother. Leering down at Canterlot, the mist watched Mono tap keys on his computer swearing over and over every time he met a spiky demise. While the mist couldn't hear him, it knew what the boy was saying. Meatboy is pretty difficult. It was able to conjure a shifty grin within the cloud. Best keep it that way, just for him… The azure mist then disappeared inside a wave of wind-blown snow.