As usual, my morning scrambles my train of thought from the previous night. Instead of going to Canterlot as I had decided, I went to go ice-skating on the reservoir. I had completely forgotten that Winter Wrap Up had taken place already, so when I got to the reservoir I was disappointed that the ice had melted.
Using some chaotic energy, I decided to skate on a soapy field around the reservoir instead. While lost in the enjoyment of skating, I didn’t realize the large white crowned pony land nearby. Well, I didn’t notice her until I heard a rather large thud as something slipped and fell on the soapy ground. I quickly looked to see what had fallen, and noticed Princess Celestia splayed out with a slightly shocked expression. It took all I had to not… well, nevermind, I burst out laughing violently, so much that I fell on the soap myself.
Once she got up and righted her regal pose, a bit more irritated than before. About this time I stopped laughing and realized that I had made a poor impression on the most powerful pony in Equestria, who could easily turn me into stone or send me to the moon. Trying to mend the situation I apologized, “Sorry, Princess,”, with a bow, “I didn’t expect to see you drop in on an uninteresting pony like myself.”
“That’s why I did drop by, Spirit, you’re not as uninteresting as you think. And I think that this slippery ground proves it.” Celestia responded.
“Oh… so how much did Twilight tell you?” I asked.
“She told me about your discovery, and how you somehow ended up eating it. And the result."
“So…you’re going to banish me now, aren’t you?”
“Don’t worry, Spirit, I’m not going to banish you, not unless you do something really bad. Chaos isn’t a bad thing in itself, but too much chaos harms other ponies, as you heard about Discord.”
“You’re letting me go?”
“As long as you promise to be responsible in using your powers, then I’ll let you keep them. But I do have a request.”
“anything.”
“come with me to Canterlot. Now, I don’t know much about Chaotic magic, but perhaps I can help you learn how to control your powers better.”
“That seems like a good idea, but I think I got them under control.” I reply, just as the soap turns into jello and the reservoir fills with frogs. “On second thought, that’s probably a good idea.” Celestia chuckled at my change in confidence.
We made our way to Canterlot, Her by flight, Me by train. Eventually, I found her waiting at the entrance of the palace. “Good, you made it. Head to the garden, I need to finish up day court, so I’ll find you there after I’m done and Luna takes over.” The Royal Light instructed, “No chaos during that time, all right? Since Discord’s located there, any chaos around him may allow him freedom again.”
“All right, I’m off then!” I replied before flying off toward the garden. Normally I couldn’t tolerate Canterlot because of all of the uptight ponies who live there, but the garden is so neat that it makes up for the common company.
Once I entered the garden, most of the animals scattered as they do for any non-Canterlot visitor. I really don’t care for animals that much, they seem rather useless to me. Plants on the other hand, they are useful as food, so I can appreciate them. Speaking of plants, I noticed a peculiar purple pony plucking random plants. While her coat and mane weren’t unusual, her headgear was not something any pony around Canterlot would be caught dead wearing, a propeller hat.
Interested at this pony’s story, I decided to say something to her, “Uh… hello?” She turned to me and looked at me with perfect violet spiral eyes. With a cheery grin, she replied, “Hi!” Still taken back by those unusual eyes, I couldn’t really think of anything to say.
“Hello…uh?” She questioned, or stated, I wasn’t quite sure.
Stumbling for a response, the best I came up with was introducing myself, “I’m Spirit Wind, Freedom Incarnate!” I facehoofed at my self-given title. Her response was interesting to say the least.
“Wind Spirit, you meet nice to it’s! Hahahahaha.” She giggled. This mare confused me more and more the more I talked to her, but talking to her wasn’t as boring as talking to normal ponies.
“Um…what?”
“you meet to nice!”
“huh?” I was still confused until I thought out each word, and realized she was speaking backwards! This amused me greatly, and I wondered if it was on purpose. “Oh! Nice to meet you as well!”
“heh, on caught finally you so.”
“yeah, that’s a neat way to speak, did you train yourself to speak that way?”
“heritage my of part it’s, no”
“I see, so what’s your name?”
“Screwball” She introduced herself. That name fit extremely well, but I was curious why she didn’t have a last name. I didn’t want to ask anything more personal, so I avoided the question.
“So, what’re you doing here?”
“Dad my visiting”
“I see, is he in town, what’s he do?”
“here doing you are what? Statue a of kind he’s” She replied, nervous to change the subject. While she seemed goofy at first, she’s actually pretty normal. The statue part confused me, but I gave in to her subject change.
“I’m waiting for Princess Celestia to get done with her court for the day, she is going to try and teach me how to control these chaos powers I got.”
“stone into you turn gonna she’s! No oh!” Screwball gasped.
“No she’s not, she told me so herself.” I tried to reassure her.
“did harmony of elements new the before long stone into dad my turned she! Chaos hates she! Is she yes.” She spoke, panicking. I had to let that last statement rattle in my brain a bit before I understood what she said. The record scratch was audible. “Wait, so Discord’s your dad?!?”
“hide gotta you! Later that on more but, yeah.” She said urgently. With a flap of wings the princess’s arrival was marked. “Why hello, Screwball, what brings you to the garden?” Princess Celestia asked, almost accusingly.
“flowers…um…uh…I” Screwball stammered. If you haven’t heard somepony stammer while speaking backward, it’s like crazy on top of crazy, in other words, very amusing. After stuttering that excuse, she bolted away. It seemed as if she just disappeared. Celestia sighed, “that Screwball, I don’t know why I let her stay around.”
“Uh, Celestia, do you really hate chaos that much?” I asked, meekly.
“Oh, you understood her? That’s unusual. Anyway, no Spirit, I don’t. Since Luna and I had sealed her father away, she’s held a grudge against me. She always worries that I’m going to seal her in stone as well. You have no need to worry, my little pony.” Celestia reassured.
“If you say so, can we begin training?” I asked, still a bit wary. I don’t know why I was so wary at that point, the word of one slightly-crazy pony versus the princess of the land, my loyalty should’ve been unquestionable. Here I was, doubting our kind ruler.
“Why yes, to begin, we need to move away from Discord’s statue, follow me to the royal magic academy practice hall.” Celestia instructed. I followed silently behind her, into the practice hall. Inside of the regal structure was an area scattered with many target boards and ropes, some desks lined the edges of the room. An area was cleared out near the north end of the building, circular in shape and surrounded by completely clear gems, this is where she led me to. “Now here is the practice ring, any magic that would exit the boundaries of the ring is absorbed by those clear crystals, likewise, any magic that should go in is also halted by the crystals. A good way to make sure any chaos you make doesn’t go anywhere it shouldn’t.”
“That’s smart. I don’t want to cause any extra damage.” I commented. I stepped into the ring and prepared for any test Celestia could throw at me.
“To begin, here,” Celestia said while throwing in an extremely tacky stained glass lamp, “do something about this, will you?” Confused at the request about the lamp, I began.