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// Explanations and Life Stories 
// Story: Just Another Average Tuesday 
// by Flamesinger599 
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"I still can't belive she told you- YOU, a creature not even from this universe- her name."

Manty had been going on like this ever since we left Tienn, which was extremely annoying to say the least. We had made good time, Manty still blazing a path and me testing out my new flying ability. Turns out that even though manticores have wings they perfor to use them only when they have to. Manty was much more comfortable on the ground then he would ever be in the air.

I, on the other hand, was behaving very much like a kid with his first BB gun: very hyperactive and plagued by a desire to rest out his new toy on anything and everything around him. Tienn had basically filled my mind with the knowledge of how to fly and I was currently trying a few basic tricks. Even though I had only had it a couple of hours I was already addicted to the sense of freedom flying gave, and I couldn't understand why any creature with wings (hint hint Manty) wouldn't fly whenever it could.

"I think we could make much better time if we BOTH flew."

He waved me off. "Flying makes me nauseous, and besides you can fly about five times faster then I can. I have been paying attention to what you've been doing up there."

"Then you should know how bored I am waiting up for you."

"Yes, and YOU should know how much I care at the moment. I'm not flying, and this is good exercise for me."

"...except that you've been doing it for almost five hours straight, with the only rest you've had being when we talked to Tienn for about 20 minutes."

"I still can't believe she told you her name. She hardly EVER does that."

"*Sigh* Yes, you've made that clear."

"Then let me also make it clear that I AM. NOT. FLYING. Find ways to entertain yourself if your that bored. It will be nightfall in an hour or two and I will stop then, but for now I'm staying on the ground."

I could tell he wasn't going to change his mind, so I decided to take his advice and find ways to entertain myself. Flying in and of itself was exciting, but like everything else the excitement wares off after doing it for two hours straight. Not wanting to ignore my new body's abilities, I began to grab broken sticks left over Manty's rampage and toss them into the air, where I would try and burn them before they hit the ground.

This was met with limited success. I did manage to burn seven out of ten sticks, but on the eleventh stick I aimed my breathe a little too low and ended up setting one of the trees on fire.

The fire was quickly extinguished by a burst of Tienn's blue magic, but I earned a 15-minute lecture from Tienn as well as several rocks thrown at me, not all of which I managed to dodge.

As I rubbed the newly forming bump on my head I returned to what I had been doing, only this time I tried slashing the stick out of the air with my claws instead of burning it. This I utterly failed at, mostly because my claws weren't that long. I simply didn't have the range. As I continued to miss the stick again and again, my mind drifted back to what I had done in order to free Manty.

Tienn had called in 'chaos magic', and she obviously didn't like it. Hell, the way she acted before she read my mind was proof enough of that. It was like she expected me to be an evil overlord or something. She had also mentioned a name...Discord. At least, I think it was a name. If it was, then whoever it belonged to was probably a chaos-user. I just wish I had more details.

Maybe I SHOULD read more of that book...

As I was trying to figure out who Discord was and, more importantly, what he had done, it occured to me that if I was indeed a chaos-user then I could probably do that 'dark claw' thing again. It wouldn't hurt if I tried, right?

Right?

Ignoring the part of my mind that was telling me 'yes', I picked up the stick (which I had missed again) and began to try and break it with chaos magic.

At first, nothing happened. I would throw the stick up, slash at it, and miss it, same as before. After trying this about five times I could tell nothing was gonna change, so I stopped and tried to remember what the circumstances had been before.

I had been frustrated, thats for sure. Then again, I was frustrated now. Missing your target over 30 times in a row can do that to you. Was it anger? Nope, anger and frustration are practically the same thing. What else had I done? I'd tried everything else, I'd slashed at it in a fit of rage, I'd willed it to break...

Willed it to break.

I grabbed the stick and tossed it into the air. While it was in the air I focused on and willed it to snap in two, just like I'd done back at the net. Then I slashed at it.

One flash of darkness later and the stick was on the ground in two pieces, both of them smoking. My claws weren't smoking this time though.

Freaking finally!

Now that I knew how to do it, the next hour was spent practicing and experimenting. I got so that I could use my dark claw on command, and had great fun slashing sticks, branches, and even large rocks out of the air. Manty noticed my antics, but didn't say anything. The chaos magic didn't seem to bother him. Maybe that had something to do with why I could understand him.

It was getting dark and I was tired. Chaos magic was cool, but it took more outta me then I would like to admit. Combine that with flying for roughly three hours and I was ready to call it quits. Manty must have thought so too, because he had stopped and was currently clearing a large space about five times his size, using his tail to knock down trees and fling them to the side. I hovered just above the tree line and watched him.

"So...Tienn gets pissed off at me for threatening to burn down a FEW of her trees, and yet she has no problem with you clearing out a 50-foot wide clearing with your tail."

"Yes, and there are several reasons for that. First of all, the tre- I mean, Tienn- trusts me because I have lived in the Everfree for a good while, and in that time I have only ever taken what I needed. Second, Tienn HATES fire. It is her mortal enemy, and also one of the reasons she dislikes dragons. Lastly, it is a lot easier for her to simply put a tree back into the ground then it is for her to re-grow an entire burned-down tree. Now are you glad you asked that question?"

"I am so, so sorry that I said anything at all, and I technically didn't ask a question."

"Your welcome. Now give me a hand here, will ya?"

I helped him clear the rest of the space. Turns out dragons are, surprise surprise, stronger then humans, so I could lift a full-sized tree by myself. Well, more like 'drag', but at least I was able to help. Manty of course just tossed everything aside like so many sticks. One of the perks of being a manticore: immense strength.

I saved a good number of branches and when we were done clearing I broke them down into medium-sized pieces and clumped them together into what I hoped was the shape of a campfire. I was horrible at lighting (and making) these things back on Earth, but now that I could breathe fire I was fairly certain that wouldn't be a problem.

I took a deep breathe and was just about to bathe the pile in flames when I was rudely interrupted by Tienn.

-Flamesinger?-

"Yeah?"

-What are you doing?-

"Well Tienn, I don't know how it is for tree spirits, but us regular mortals have to worry about little things like 'comfort' and 'not freezing to death'. I've no doubt this body can take a helluva lot more heat then my old one, but I'm not willing to to freeze my ass off all night simply to see if it can withstand cold."

-That is...actually a good reason.-

"So can I light my fire?"

-Well, yes. If you must.-

"Thank you."

I managed to get my fire going without any more interruptions, and soon I was lying in my bedroll next to a blazing fire. To my surprise, the bedroll fit my size quit nicely, allowing full space for my my wings and tail, which I had actually just realized I had.

Really? It took me 12 hours to realize I had a tail? Geez, I'm stupid...

It was long, almost as tall as me. It was blue-scaled like the rest of my body and had several random spikes sticking out of the end. I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed it before now.

Manty had setteled down at the other end of the clearing, but upon seeing my warm fire and how comfy I was next to it, he slowly got up and made his way over, where he promptly layed down again on the side opposite from me.

"Where'd you get that bedroll? It fits you perfectly."

"Dunno. It was in a satchel underneath my bed when I woke up in this world, along with some other stuff. Almost like it was waiting for me."

"...why am I not surprised...?"

"Stuff like this doesn't happen to me every day y'know."

"It just might now that you've come here."

"Whats that supposed to mean?"

He fixed me with a stare. "Magic is a common occurrence here. So are dragons and monster. Y'know all those fantasy books I saw in your memories? Here, they're real. The only difference between your myths and this world is that humans are replaced with ponies."

"If you're trying to intimidate me, its working. Also, how come you know about the books I read, and yet you didn't know how I came by the bedroll? Didn't Tienn show you most of my memories?"

"She only showed me the ones that had to do with the culture of you're world. That included your myths. She also didn't show me any memories that had to do with your family."

I sensed this was a question he had been waiting to ask.

"Yeah, thats...kind've a touchy subject."

"Oh." He immediately stopped talking and instead stared into the fire. I could tell he was curious though, and since he knew almost everything else about me and was one of the only friends I had here, there was no reason he shouldn't know. I mean, its not like hes gonna tell anyone else, right?

"My parents were...young, when they had me. I mean like my age young. They probably met at some crazy party or another. I don't know. All I know is that my mother died while having me, and as soon as I was entrusted to my father he dumped me on the doorstep of the nearest orphanage and then dissapeared. I've been living at that same orphanage for my whole life. And that is my entire happy existence in a nutshell."

Manty was silent for a long time.

"Wow. That sucks."

"Meh, I don't even remember them. Sure it sucks to have no parents, but never having them helped me get over it. They were only my mom and dad in the technical sense. What about you? Where are you're parents?"

He stiffened. "That is ALSO a rather touchy subject."

"C'mon, you basically know everything there is to know about me. I promise I won't laugh."

"...very well..." He took a moment to gather his thoughts.

"Something you should know about manticores is that it is actually very rare to find one that travels alone, like I do. Mostly we travel in groups. Each group, or tribe, has a chiefton, or basically one manticore that is stronger then all the others. His offspring are supposed to be gifted with strength beyond normal manticores.

I was the son of a chiefton.

I was the son of Razor Claw, head of the Bloodletter tribe. Now, each manticore, once they reach a certain age, must pass a test of some kind before becoming an adult. Usually its something simple, like battling a timber wolf, but my father got it in his head that I, being the cheifton's son, should overcome something more. He just didn't know what.

His answer came in a rather unusual form. We were camped in the Everfree, near one of the slightly-used trails. On that particular night, a scout came and informed my father that six ponies, two unicorns, two pegasi, and two earth ponies, were travelling along that path. To my father, this was the perfect test of strength and loyalty. I was sent to kill the ponies and bring back their carcasses.

You have to understand that, like dragons, manticores are a violent species. Our culture is focused almost entirely on battle and conquest. What I had been sent to do was not unheard of and I was perfectly willing to do it.

However, things didn't go as planned.

I was in the middle of stalking them when it happened. I felt a sharp pain in my right forepaw, and suddenly I found myself right in front of the ponies, roaring my head off and trying to figure out what was wrong with my paw.

There was indeed six ponies, and one of them, a yellow pegasus with a light pink mane, seemed to understand I was in pain. All the others tried to attack me, but were extremely unsuccessful. Ponies are a peaceful race, not used to fighting, and so I was able to fend them off one by one quite easily. They were about to try a full-on charge, but the yellow pegasus stopped them. It was well she did, because I would have killed them had they tried such a direct tactic.

The yellow pegasus walked up to me, calm as can be, and asked me what was wrong. I was a bit dumbfounded, but I showed her my paw and it was then that I realized there was a foot-long spike of wood in it. I almost laughed out loud when she called it a 'splinter'.

She helped me get it out, and in that act I saw something that I had never seen before in my tribe. I saw kindness. This pegasus didn't care who or what I was, she saw I was in pain and she wanted to help. No one had ever done that for me before.

And so, I let them go.

Of course, my father was furious. To him, I had just shamed the entire tribe, and more importantly, its chiefton. He branded me with the name 'Strongjaw', a dishonaray title that basically means 'numbskull', and exiled me from the tribe. I have survived on my own in the Everfree ever since."

I mouthed the word 'wow'. "That is SO much more impressive then my story."

"Impressive? How is it impressive?"

"Dude! You stood up to your own father to defend what you thought was right! That takes guts man! How is it NOT impressive?"

He blinked. "Well when you say it like that, it sounds impressive."

"And thats all that matters. Now get some sleep. You've been destroying trees literally all day."

"What about you?"

I grinned. "I'm gonna do some research."


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 Section 2d-Chaos Magic

Chaos magic is, at its most basic form, the magic of the dragons. It is the exact opposite of Harmony magic, the magic of the ponies, and focuses more on combat and the manipulation of the elements then healing and creating. Like ponies, not every dragon can use chaos magic, and yet there are no decernable physical differences between a chaos-user and a non-chaos-user. The only way to tell is to have another chaos-user examine the dragon for small signs of chaos magic. If they exist, then that dragon can learn chaos magic and become a chaos-user.

The only real rule, or 'golden rule' of chaos magic is this: NEVER FORCE CHAOS MAGIC ONTO ANOTHER LIVING BEING. This rule has been broken several times throughout history, most noticeably by the being known as Discord, who attempted to take over Equestria twice. On the flip side, Discord is also the only known dragon able to attain the form of a draconequus, a being completely in tune with chaos magic, very similar to an alicorn.

One of the main differences between Harmony and Chaos magic is that while harmony magic is bound by the use and creation of spells, chaos magic is more free-flowing, controlled entirely by the will of the user. This allows chaos-users to do things like preforming multiple feats of magic at once, and yet it also requires chaos-users to put more time into learning how to control their power.

Chaos and Harmony magic are not compatible, and neither are their users. With dragons it is simply the case that they cannot use harmony magic as their bodies cannot adapt to it. This is somewhat of the case with ponies, except on a higher level. If ponies attempt to use chaos magic it will corrupt them, causing their hates and fears to grow and their love and care to fade. The biggest example of this is when Princess Luna, alicorn princess of the night, secretly experimented with chaos magic. It corrupted her, eventually turning her into Nightmare Moon, an evil version of herself. She was only returned to normal by means of the Elements of Harmony, the ponies's only weapon against chaos magic.

Because of this, ponies consider chaos magic evil and dangerous. Discord's attempted take-over, followed by Nightmare Moon, followed by Discord again, all eventually convinced the ponies that all chaos magic was evil and had to be destroyed. And so, they took the Elements of Harmony, which no chaos-user can defend against, and used them to hunt down and destroy all the chaos-users. They believed they were doing the right thing, and yet they only succeeded in wiping out a non-existent threat.

Currently, there are no chaos-users left in Equestria. The few that have popped up over the years have been destroyed by the Elements of Harmony. It is rumored among the dragons that an extremely powerful chaos-user, an Element of Chaos, will someday appear and bring balance to the magic of Equestria, but so far these rumors have held no basis in fact.


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The section ended there.

I closed the book, put it back in my satchel and laid down, trying to fall asleep.

As I starred into the slowly dying fire, one thought continuously crossed my mind: Was I that Element of Chaos? The one destined to bring balance?

...or was I yet another chaos-user about to be destroyed by the Elements of Harmony?

-End of Chapter 4-