//------------------------------// // Chapter 18 // Story: Angel of Gold // by Magna85 //------------------------------// “Rise and shiiine!” My eyes opened. A pink blur was in front of my face. It smelled like bubble-gum. I rubbed my bleary eyes. “Come ooooon! I’ve got something to show yoooou!” Said pink blur, now a pink person started shaking me. “Alright! I’m up, I’m up,” I said as I waved Pinkie Pie off. “Come on! You’ve gotta come see this!” Suddenly she sped out of the room. I continued rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. Before I opened my eyes, I remembered what had happened last night. I silently thanked whoever that guy was for the time with Alice. I heard a bird chirping at me from the bedroom window. It was a small bird, maybe about four inches tall. It was mostly black with a few white feathers. I tilted my head in confusion at the odd coloration in such a vibrant world. Then it flew away. I shook my head and proceeded to try and get out of the bed. I say try, because apparently I had shredded my sheets with my wings last night. “Aren’t you coming?” I heard a voice ask from my door. “I will in just a minute, I need to get this stuff out of my wings,” I said as I tried to reach around to grab at the material. Another pink blur zoomed by my wings and surrounded one, then the other. After the blur left my wings, Pinkie Pie was standing there with a bright grin on her face covered head to toe in torn bed sheets. Surprised both at the sudden kindness and almost cartoon like action, I opened my mouth in shock. Then she looked at herself and began to spin, throwing the sheets everywhere. After she stopped, she grabbed my hand and almost ripped my joint apart pulling me out of the bed. I just barely missed slicing the door frame to pieces from the sudden movement. “This way!” Pinkie Pie said as she zoomed off in front of me. No, really. She zoomed. She didn’t sprint, she zoomed. I shook my head in bewilderment. “Celedon?” I heard a voice behind me say. “Hm?” I turned around to see Tim standing there in his armor. He sighed and said, “You know, I wish I could have stayed asleep, just for a little while longer…” “No kidding,” I replied. However, I took a deep breath and said, “But we’re here now. We need to stay in the present.” “I guess you’re right,” he said as he started walking after Pinkie Pie. “Did she get you up too?” I ask. He nodded but didn’t say anything else. We walked in silence until we reached the corner she had disappeared behind. As we turned said corner, we saw pink disappear around the next corner. It continued like this for a good few minutes. We saw her go through a large door, which I knew was the dining hall. Just for a few seconds, I felt very wary. I glanced at Tim, who shrugged his shoulders before opening the door. “SURPRISE!” I jumped two feet into the air. I heard a yelp from Tim as he shot to the doorframe, trying to hide from the sudden noise. Inside the dining hall was a party made up of the Elements and the Princesses, along with a weird mishmash of creature parts. The general shape was an Eastern dragon, and it would take far too long to describe all the animals that made up his body. I saw a lion’s paw, a rooster claw, an antler, and two mismatched wings. The most striking part to me were his bright yellow eyes with red irises. The glint of madness could easily be seen in those eyes. I worried that he might have an effect on Tim. “Ah! I assume these are the guests of honor? Or should I say, guest and prisoner-on-probation?” the thing asked in a smug voice. “Hey! I wasn’t aware of myself during this so called war. I literally could not help it!" Tim yelled at the thing, indignant. Suddenly, the thing popped behind Tim and pulled his arms behind his back with a pair of handcuffs, and Tim was suddenly in an orange prison jumpsuit. The thing was also wearing a police officer's cap. Make that he will have an effect on Tim. "Discord, that is enough. Don't set him off on purpose, please," Celestia commanded. "Oh fine, have it your way Celestia," Discord said right before he snapped his fingers, causing the jumpsuit, handcuffs, and officer's hat to disappear in a flash. Pink. "Alrighty! Celedon and Berserker are both here for their 'Welcome-to-Equestria-but-not-really-for-Berserker' party!" "Wait, what?" Tim said, barely registering the not so subtle hint at him being here for over a thousand years. He was still reeling from the sudden arrest. I shook my head and walked into the room. On the dining table there was an absolute mountain of foods of all types and sizes. At the end of the table were golden things that looked like cupcakes. Suddenly, Pinkie Pie had brought me one of the cupcakes and held it under my nose. "Try one!" she said, smiling brightly. The instant I sniffed the confection, I almost bit her fingers trying to get at the treat. Thankfully, she moved her hand out of the way and I calmed down. I took a deep breath and thanked her before munching down on the absolutely heavenly taste that was Pinkie's Golden Cupcake. It even had frosting, made of gold, on the top. The entire thing was light and fluffy, just like the good cupcakes I had before, but I could eat it without feeling like I was going to puke. I think I shouldn't ask her how she made them, however. I saw Discord looking at me from across the room with a mischievous glint in his eye. Then he just shook his head and floated off to some other part of the room. I still didn't know what Discord was, so in curiosity I went up to Celestia and asked, "Your highness, what is Discord?" She looked over to where Discord was making it rain chocolate milk into a glass from a cotton candy cloud, and blew out a sigh. "Discord is chaos personified, and right now he is wearing that form. I'm sure he would show you his natural form if you asked. Maybe," she said. She looked a little tired from dealing with him. "I don't need to see what Discord really looks like that badly," I said. "Did someone mention my name?" a suave voice asked into my right ear. Completely by accident, my wing flared out and sliced right through him. Just as I was about to begin panicking, he just floated there with a look of nonchalance on his face. "What? Do I have cake on my face?" he asked, his head completely disconnected from his body. I was speechless. "Discord, pull yourself together," Celestia said as she put a hand to her face. "Of course, Celly," he said with a grin. His various pieces smashed themselves together and there was a flash, and Discord was back to defying logic with a complete body. ...I could feel a headache coming on. After several hours of delicious gold and some dancing from the music that had been set up by a DJ PON3, Tim proving to be surprisingly adept at it, I was asked to play a song. I didn't really have any idea of what to play, not that I ever did. I just decided to see what my fingers would do. As before, I invoked the phrase to summon my harp. However, as I said the words, Discord's face became troubled. He had changed to his 'normal' form about halfway into the party. He was just taller than Celestia, taller than me even, and wore an unkempt brown blazer with a split color button up shirt. His pants were two different colors as well, a green right leg and a red left leg. His wings were complete opposites, his left being a bright blue feathered wing, while his right was a dark purple draconic wing. Even his shoes didn't match, the right a white snakeskin boot and the other a type of formal shoe that clacked against the floor with every step. I had talked with him once he changed for a little while, learning his history with the Princess and the Elements, or 'Main Six' as he called them. He had been on probation just like Tim, and had redeemed himself. Though he cannot be fully controlled, and he never will be, he learned that too much chaos all the time would become boring. That and, as he looked over at Fluttershy, "I have friends now, who I do truly care about." I smiled at this. Even former villains have their good moments. Anyway, my harp appeared in a flash and I saw Twilight smack her head in frustration. All the examinations she had done were based around my body, now that I think about it. Shaking my head from that thought, my hands touched the strings. I closed my eyes, and began to play. The notes were slow as I plucked the strings. I even used my feathers to provide chiming sounds. I went through the melody once before transitioning to using both hands for a higher and lower part that synced together quite nicely. A drum joined in as I played, feeling the beat like an artificial heart. A woodwind instrument joined the higher part soon after that, with the drum coming about every fourth beat. I began a more complex piece with the higher section, the woodwind following every note to perfection. The drums beat softly, doubling up during the intense parts. Meanwhile, the lower section stayed on tempo, never once straying. The chimes were constantly there. During the last few seconds, everything else cut out except for the drums and the lower section. I played the low strings for a few seconds, leading into the last drum beat and chiming cascade. Once I finished my song, I again saw the naked awe in all who listened. It was pretty much the same as before, though Discord did still look troubled. I bowed to my audience as my harp disappeared again. As I went to grab another cupcake, I saw Discord conversing with the Princesses, with a surprisingly serious look on his face. I was a little suspicious, but I trusted the sisters. However, the instant I picked up one of the delicious golden treats, I was suddenly standing in front of Discord, with the sisters behind him. "Do you know what The Song is?" he asked pointedly, not mincing words. Stunned by the sudden movement and question I hesitated for a couple seconds. However, I shook my head and said, "No, I don't know anything about ‘The Song.’" Discord leaned in and narrowed his eyes in distrust. Behind him, Celestia said, "Discord, if she did know it, she would have been battling her urge to sing it all this time." He cast a glance back in the direction of the Princesses before leaning backwards and adopting his smug snaggle-toothed grin again, "Well nevermind then. Just, try to keep your ears closed to things you shouldn't listen to. Arrivederci!" And with that paranoia-inducing remark, he popped out of existence.