*GRUMBLE*
The extremely uncomfortable feeling in my stomach beckoned me to cease my meditation. As to why I chose to meditate for hours on end on an empty stomach was beyond me.
I grunted and opened my eyes. I then took a small glance towards the window, seeing that it was currently a brightly lit afternoon.
Fasting was by no means, a part of my meditation. However, this time around it was inevitable. It had been a while since I last meditated, so I wanted to extend it a bit... well, "bit" was an understatement.
I practically wasted a good one third of my day and as always, I didn't feel even a tiny bit of difference. I seriously felt like I must have been missing something.
For one thing, I never imagined that it would take this long to acquire peace of mind. Shamefully, for the first time in my lengthy training, I contemplated on whether I should just skip that step and simply move on to the separation of Yin and Yang.
I then quickly dismissed the thought as soon as it entered. The old man made sure to properly relay how super important it was to have patience. Thus, I would have to suck it up and wait for that fateful moment where id feel like I was ready.
My stomach grumbled once more as an annoying reminder of its emptiness. I rubbed it and glanced towards the door. It was high time to eat some afternoon breakfast.
I stumbled up to my two feet and slowly paced over to the chambers exit. I opened it, my action being expectably greeted by the guards presence right outside. I softened my facial features at the sight of the familiar-looking guard.
"Im sure you must be starving standing guard here all day, what do ya say you and me go hit the dining halls?", I offered.
The guards whole demeanor seemed to have greatly softened at my request, I must've nailed it right on the bullseye.
I gave the hard working lump of fur a smile of approval and motioned him to lead the way, which he gladly complied to. As we walked, I began to ponder whether Celestia and Luna were back by now.
I had never really been this close to royalty, so I wasn't exactly sure how long a business trip of royal class was supposed to last. But I figured that it would make things a lot simpler for me if I just asked someone who was used to such events, like the guard for example.
"Have Celestia and Luna returned yet?", I asked.
"Not that i've heard of.", replied the guard.
"I see, do you know how long they're expected to be out?"
"According to their schedules, they should be back by todays appointed moon rising."
"Ah, ok."
It was safe to assume that "moon rising" was when Luna is to raise the moon, so they should be back in four to five hours. With that safely established, I turned my attention back to the guard. His appearance truly matched that of every other guard I had seen so far, were they all clones of each other or something?
That was a silly thought, but it still perplexed me how they could manage such similarity with one another.
"What is your name, soldier?", I asked as I gazed at his back.
The guard tensed up a bit before answering.
"Private Spark of the sun guard, earth pony division."
"I see, mind if I just call you spark? Or would it be rude to drop the formalities?"
"I.. believe that it would be best to keep the formalities, sir."
"Welp, I guess that'll do, private."
We continued our advancement down a set of stairs, then straight down a familiar hallway. We reached the doors on the end of said hallway, and pushed them open.
Under us laid the same black carpet that greeted me and Celestia last night, the professionally sowed fabric serving to call upon some unpleasant memories.
Speaking of the unpleasant memories, I spotted a certain ball of fur dining at the table along with a variety of other ponies. Me and Diamond Plate locked eyesights as I paced over to the table.
The ponies which sat with him all turned in my direction and eyed me with disgust, but none with bigger disgust than Diamond Plate himself.
I felt my mood darken as I dismissed Spark to his own corner of the dining hall. He eagerly trotted towards a table which seemed designated for guards, the table Diamond Plate sat on being for guests and residents.
I circled the table, looking intently for a free seat. However, each time I found a seat it was swiftly occupied by some of the luggage the guests had.
I heard Diamond Plate and his irritating followers snicker as seat upon seat was denied from me. A jolt of frustration lit my mind as I glared at the idiots occupying the table.
They consisted of males, females, some winged, some horned, but they all shared the same crest on their clothing. The crest which was also stretched on the tight suit Diamond Plate wore.
Great. So that furball really has himself a whole lineage of nobility backing him up, that crest must be his bloodline.
Hmph. You let them make a fool of you and in a way, me. Infuriating! No matter how much I wish otherwise, you and I are now one and the same. I insist that you stop being such a pacifist fool and kill those pitiful weaklings, brat!
A-... are you some sort of devil!?
Devil? Only someone as weak-minded as you would see my acts as devilish. It is simple, the weak are nothing more than prey to those who have even an ounce of power. It is beyond humiliating to be pestered by such fragile fools!
You my friend, need some serious education on ethics and morals.
Ethics and morals are left to the weak to stress their puny little heads about. Also, I do not intend to make this into a philosophical discussion, fool! End these ants, now!
No. Its exactly because they're weak that Im hesitant to attack. My strength isn't utilized for preying on the weak, it is for conquering the strong. I refuse to murder these so called ants in cold blood, my pride as a warrior stakes on it.
Truly the pride of an incompetent.
Ugh, Desim I love ya buddy but nows not the time to argue. Im sure you must be feeling this immense hunger as well as I do, so lets just ignore these mindless followers and eat up ok?
Tch. You bore me, coward.
Yeah, yeah.
I finished my circle around the table, every seat having been stolen from me by varying pieces of luggage. I frowned and walked over to a random seat which was in between two females.
They eyed me with wretched faces as I approached. I then took the chair and shook off the luggage which rested on it. The female to my right glared at me as her stuff ate the ground.
I gave her a venomous look, the mild killing intent behind it effectively redirecting her rude gaze elsewhere. I rolled my eyes and attempted to shield my temper with a deep breath before sitting.
I ignored the newfound silence on the table as I filled my plate with soup. Then, I grabbed a few slices of bread from a little distance in front of me.
I directed a slight smile towards the good looking food and began to eat, ignoring the many eyes glued onto me as I did so. Before I could fully express the bliss of flavor that the soup brought to my tongue, I was interrupted by a voice in my head.
Hmm, excellent. Give my condolences to the chef.
Huh? umm... ok?
That was completely unexpected, but the fact that someone like Desim praised the chef was enough to detail the overwhelming quality of this soup.
My taste buds have never had the privilege to taste such a wonderful dish as this. I even made a mental note to control myself, or else id soon end up as round as Diamond Plate.
I happily continued to eat the soup, occasionally taking big bites of bread as well. Murmurs and whispers echoed through the table, key words such as "Disgusting", "Slob", "Hideous", "Untrained", and even "Monster" reaching my ears.
I frowned and continued my rapid eating, the table then suddenly going quiet. I glanced next to me towards Diamond Plate who was standing next to me with no regard for my personal space. Apparently, he went through the trouble of getting up and trotting over to me.
As to how he managed to get this close to me without me noticing, ill never know. Pretty impressive actually.
"So, Celestias dirty pet is allowed to come here without its master? Careful folks, you may catch a disease!", he boomed loudly, his remark being met with obnoxious laughter.
I ignored him and continued eating as he opened his big mouth again, it also seemed that even a noble could get away with not brushing his teeth.
"Oh my, look at those fleshy hands of yours as you eat. Maybe it was your stench that made your fur fall off in the first place? How utterly unsanitary.", he ironically sneered.
The table was now roaring with laughter as the ponies inhabiting it pointed hoofs and forks in my direction. I continued to feign ignorance, simply striving to enjoy my current plate of food.
"You have some nerve ignoring me, dirty beast!", he hissed.
"He is just petrified with fear due to your grace Diamond Plate!", shouted a female across from me.
"Haha, maybe he needs Celestia to change his diaper!", added a male with a horn. The table then exploded into another fit of laughter and ridicule, Diamond Plate laughing right into my face.
I didn't even move an inch as he shot me with his unbearable breath, my tounge momentarily backing into my mouth to escape it. I gripped my fork a little tighter and cooped up a mouthful of soup into my mouth.
Diamond Plate's face flushed red with anger at my irrelevance towards his evidently insignificant presence. He roughly shifted closer to me and smacked the plate of soup onto my body with his hoof.
The noodles and liquid splashed onto my exposed torso and clothing, the wet, cold, and drenched feeling making me tense up.
"Did that wake you up, hideous beast!?", rudely yelled Diamond Plate, a cheer of laughter also serving to compliment his bold action.
I rested my hands on my knees as I took a moment to breathe. After a short while, I stood up from the table and subtly headed towards the exit. My action was met with more laughter and also booing from Diamond Plates crowd.
"Whats wrong? Don't have anything smart to say this time?", He asked arrogantly from behind me.
I simply kept walking towards the exit, not even bothering to alert Spark of my soon to be absence. I then opened the double doors and closed them behind me.
I quickly paced down the hallway, up the stairs, and towards my room. Soup dripped down to the floor from my hair as I opened the door and slowly walked inside.
I then strode over to the window and lazily opened it as a voice resounded in my head.
Unbelievable! Idiotic fool, are you satisfi-
"GRRRAAAAAAAAARHHH!!!!!!", loudly interrupted my voice as a stream of hungry, relentless hot fire escaped my mouth and out towards the outside.
The pure thickness and heat of the stream quickly colored the windows edges a cringe worthy, scorching black as it continued. I then abruptly ceased the stream and punched a fist shaped hole next to the blackened window exterior.
I ripped my fist out of the wall and angrily stomped over to my bathroom door. I resisted the urge to blast it off the wall as I opened it.
I entered the spacey bathroom and swiftly turned the bathtubs faucet on, not even bothering to adjust the temperature this time.
I quickly stripped myself of clothing and beamed it aside with an angered grunt. Then, I speed-walked towards the filling bathtub and entered it.
The ice cold water that covered my body was soon boiling with the angered heat radiating off me. I sunk my body deeper into the water until my lips were submerged.
I pouted and angrily gurgled bubbles from my mouth as I glared towards the wall across from me. If I there was ever a time when I strongly considered eating horse meat for dinner, it was now.
I grabbed the bar of soap and roughly rubbed it on my hair and arms. I then sharply stood up and rubbed the rest of my body as well. After doing so, I sat back down into the hot bubbling water, the soap immediately being soaked off due to the hot temperatures.
I decided to stay in for a while to calm my nerves.
Look at you. Taking your anger out on various inanimate objects when you can simply quench your thirst on their fragile flesh.
I already told you. Its precisely because I know that I can crush those idiots that I don't do it. Also it was a tactical retreat, if I stayed any longer Im not sure if I could've been able to control myself.
And what is wrong with that? You just keep proving that you are of more use to me dead, useless brat!
I know that it means no difference to you, but im not gonna make an enemy of the rulers of this land by slaughtering their subjects. Plus even if Luna and Celestia didn't care, I probably still wouldn't have done it. Unlike you I have at least a shred of decency!
Urgh, enough of this! First you honor our meeting with ignorance and disrespect, then you claim you want to be my "friend" and attempt to give me a name, and now you endure foolish ridicule because you honor the weak!? Never in my long span of existence have I ever met such a malice-empty fool!! Don't you want to destroy!? Don't you want to conquer!? Do you not feel anger and animosity towards those who executed you!? Don't you want to inflict pain onto the world for the pain it inflicted onto you!? DOES YOUR LIFE FORCE NOT BURN WITH THE DESIRE TO SPREAD PAIN AND CHAOS TO EVERYTHING AROUND YOU!??
I tightly shut my eyes and winced at his absurd volume. I felt my head ring as he finished, a tad bit of dizziness also accompanying the ring. never before had he raised his voice this way, yet I could feel the anger that radiated off of his presence.
However, I couldn't tell what his anger was directed towards. All I knew is that his essence boiled with hot animosity, an animosity that seemed mysterious in nature. I gulped before answering.
...No. No I do not.
.......
........
I could still feel the anger emanating from his presence, but it seemed like he was done conversing with me for now. While his outburst did raise an eyebrow, I decided that it would be best if I simply didn't question it. We were both entitled to have our own issues without the other prying too deeply into matters.
I stood up and hopped out of the bathtub. My mood was still a bit questionable, but not dangerously so like earlier. Besides, some of us had it a bit worst.
I dried myself off with the color shifting fabric again and picked up my clothing. I shifted my uncomfortable metal bracelets a bit before clicking them off.
I then threw them into the bathtub along with my clothes and began scrubbing them with soap. I hummed the fire nations national anthem while I roughly cleared my things of soup.
After a while, I lifted my things up and placed them on the ground. With a sturdy low kick, I set them ablaze and began a countdown starting from fifteen.
"Fifteen.. Fourteen.. Thirteen.. Twelve.. Eleven.. Ten.. Nine.. Eight.. Seven.. Six.. Five.. Four.. Three.. Two.. aaand One.", I finished.
With a snap of my fingers, I put a stop to the hungry flames. I then traced a finger over my fire resistant clothes, my finger being pleasantly met with dryness.
I ignored the slight steam of evaporated water emanating from them as I proceeded to put them on. To the least, my clothes now had an endearing odor of vanilla to them.
I clipped my bracelets back on and headed out of the bathroom. I immediately cringed at the sight of the blackened window, next to it being a hole slightly greyed with heat.
I looked around the room for something, anything to cover the hole up with, an idea then suddenly hitting my head. I chuckled and ran back into the bathroom, while inside swiftly grabbing two magic fabrics.
I ran right back out and towards the hole I made. Next, I splayed the two fabrics out and stuck them on top of the hole. The fabric blended in perfectly with the walls shade of yellow, making the spot seem like it had fur.
It was still a questionable sight, but much more pleasing to the eye than a gaping hole. After admiring my work a bit, I closed the window curtains which served to conceal the window.
I wiped a bit of sweat off my forehead and huffed a small sigh of relief.
"That'll do for now.", I whispered.
With a bit of a carefree demeanor, I strolled over to the exit and slightly opened it. Spark was surprisingly, nowhere to be seen as my gaze met a wall.
Upon registering his absence, I opened the door completely and stepped outside. It wasn't my intent to wander around, I was actually going to look for him over at the dining hall.
He probably didn't notice me leave, so I was going to alert him before he got into any trouble with his higher-ups. As I headed over to the designated staircase, I bypassed a door.
Sounds of objects shifting around emanated from the other side of it. Plus it definitely didn't seem like a door to anyones chambers..
I inched my ear closer to the door. There was no mistaking it, someone, or something was moving things around. I placed my hand on the doorknob and slowly turned it.
The doorknob squeaked loudly as it turned, alerting whatever it was behind the door of my presence. I heard violent shifting and some sort of flapping before I snapped the door open.
the room was poorly lit and resembled something like a spacey janitors closet. I hesitantly walked inside and looked around me, there didn't seem to be anybody here.
But the spilled bucket of water on the floor disagreed with me. I eyed it suspiciously, a drip of water then falling off something at the ceiling.
I quickly took a stance and looked up, my gaze being met with a grey colored mare struggling to stay afloat with her drenched wings.
before I could question her, she clumsily tumbled out of the air and onto me, knocking me over. My head hit the floor, a wave of dizziness and pain washing over my mind.
Something hairy and soft rubbed onto my cheek, the feeling beckoning me to open my eyes. What was displayed in front of me was this girls butt.
It had a cutie mark of bubbles on it and she awkwardly rubbed my cheek between her legs as she tried to stand up. However, she repeatedly slipped on the wet ground. Each time she did so, her flank smacking me in the nose.
I began to struggle too, but my struggle was cut short by a fabric that fell onto my face. I picked it off my face and inspected it, the fabric seeming to be exactly like the color-shifting fabric in my bathroom drawer.
I then slowly inched my eyesight towards the monstrosity between this females legs that approached my face. My eyes widened as her hoofs began to slip on the water yet again.
Nervousness swelled into my mind as I tried to quickly soothe myself with a thought.
A-..as I stare into a dark abyss... I shall fear no evil..
A small smack then echoed through the room as my face was patted with the winged female's snatch. My muscles jolted and with a small surge of adrenaline, I pushed the darn thing off me.
I sat up wide eyed, panting heavily as sweat dripped down my face, my finger slowly tracing over my poor defiled cheek.
Oh grandmother, your sweet little Kurama has been robbed of his purity.
I inched my traumatized gaze towards the grey mare. It was convenient how she had finally regained composure after her fuzzy buttocks were off my face.
She had a slight blush on her muzzle and seemed troubled. Also, upon closer inspection, she had quite the bad case of lazy eye.
"W-who are you??", I asked between rattled breaths.
"Aww, please don't tell my boss that you caught me here!", she responded.
"But who are you..??", I shakily repeated.
"Im Ditzy Doo, but my friends call me Derpy.", she answered.
Derpy huh? She did an excellent job of living up to that nickname. I trembled as I recalled what transpired a few seconds ago.
"W-why..? Why are you here?", I questioned as my disturbed breathing finally calmed itself.
"Umm.. I sorta had mail for somepony named Gold Trotter but... the palace is so big and.. and-"
"You got lost?", I finished for her.
She scrunched her lower lip and nodded. I rolled my eyes and helped her to her feet. I then awkwardly handed her magic underwear back to her. Of all the ways to find out what the fabric was used for, this was definitely the worst.
She took the fabric with the most flustered expression her lazy eyes could help to muster. I scratched my head and turned away as she placed it back on.
"Look Derpy, lets.. just forget this ever happened ok?"
"Uh huh..", she responded with a slightly embarrassed blush.
"Well then.. ima just... ya know..", I said as I headed out of the room.
"Ehmm.. good luck with your errand, if I meet this 'Gold Trotter' guy ill make sure to let him know you're looking for him.", I said while slowly closing the door and leaving her to herself.
I took a deep breath and used all my will power to bury the memories of this incident deep into my consciousness. I then bravely looked forward and continued on to the dining hall as if nothing ever happened.
I went down the set of stairs, and walked down the long hallway towards the double doors. I opened them and peeked inside, the dining hall being empty, to my surprise.
There was no one in it, not even Diamond Plate and his infuriating goons. I shrugged and headed back towards the way I came.
After taking the typical route and awkwardly bypassing a certain door again, I opened the doors to my chambers and walked inside.
I weakly strode over to my oversized bed and plopped face down onto it. I grunted into the soft fabric and simply stranded there, in serious need of a little nap, not like I had much else to do but sleep and meditate.
My mind quickly shut down at the opportunity to rest from the absurd events that it was forced to experience.
*3 hours later*
My pleasant nap came to a halt by the sound of loud knocking at my door. I released a grumpy sigh as I lifted my eyes open. I then lazily glanced towards the window, Luna seeming to have already raised the moon.
I weakly stumbled to my feet and rubbed my eyes. I softly paced over to my door, another series of knocks emitting from its direction.
"Coming, coming!", I irritatingly huffed.
I arrived at the door and opened it. Outside stood an unfamiliar looking guard, his presence raising one of my eyebrows.
"Yes?", I asked.
"Forgive me for disturbing your sleep, but her highness Celestia summons you, sir.", he replied.
"For what?"
"I am sorry, but I was only told to summon you."
"Arrgh, ok, ok.", I finished as I left the room and closed it.
The guard led the way and I simply followed as always. We went up the set of steps and walked over to the throne rooms doors. The guard opened it for me and motioned me to enter while he stood outside.
I complied and entered, inside was Spark and Diamond Plate who gave me a dirty look. I shook my head at him, which to my delight, seemed to have angered him. I then glanced up towards Luna and Celestia who each sat on their perspective thrones. They both seemed completely exhausted.
I walked over and stepped in between Diamond Plate and Spark.
"How may I help you your highnesses?", I asked tiredly.
"Kurama, I have been alerted to every single detail of what transpired this afternoon.", replied Celestia with equal drowsiness.
I raised my eyebrow and glanced towards Spark. He smiled and nodded towards me, I then weakly returned his smile. He was a nice guy wasn't he?
I directed my attention back to Celestia.
"I see, is this the reason you summoned me?"
"Yes. It is unforgivable that you be treated with such disrespect and insubordination on just your second day of residence. I deeply apologize for the.. inconvenience.", hissed Celestia as she chillingly glared at Diamond Plate. However, there wasn't an ounce of remorse on his ugly mug.
"No problem. I for one, deeply apologize for not being able to avoid it.", I replied.
"No, no. It seems that you handled the situation in the most mature way possible. Truth be told, I may have had my doubts about you in the beginning, but now I see that I was overreacting.", remarked Celestia with a soft smile.
"I hope for your forgiveness.", she finished.
I chuckled loudly and shook my head.
"Yeah I could tell, but don't worry. As a ruler, it would have been nothing short of foolishness if you hadn't suspected me at least a tiny bit. It just goes to show that you're good at what you do.", I deliberately flattered.
Celestia released a small laugh into her elegant hoof before answering.
"Oh you flatter me."
I grinned at her small fit of laughter. At least now I didn't have to worry about an overly cautious princess on my back. Plus she really did look way better with a smile.
"Ehem! Are you two done licking each others flanks? Lets just get this over with!", rudely commented Diamond Plate.
Me, Celestia, and Luna glared at him in response to his rude language.
"And where do you think you get off talking to a princess that way?", questioned Luna.
But before she could further reprimand him, she was stopped by her sisters hoof. She glared at Diamond Plate for a bit longer before speaking.
"As you wish. Kurama, would you like to press charges on Mr. Diamond Plate for verbal and physical harassment?", asked Celestia.
I began to comprehend where this was going. I gazed towards Diamond Plate's smug looking face and yawned.
"Like.. right now?," I asked contemplating whether I really should.. but it didn't seem like I'd get anything valuable from it.
Celestia tiredly nodded her head as she looked on in kind anticipation to my answer.
"Naw."
Everyone sharply turned towards me with a look of surprise. Even the fur ball seemed pretty astonished by my decision. I guess even he was aware of how hateful he could be, but he seemed to enjoy it, which made it worse.
"Why is it that you revoke all charges?", asked Luna, a dumbfounded expression etched onto her snout. She seemed to really have a thorough dislike for the guy herself, it actually made me wonder just what heavenly force impeded the princesses from kicking this obnoxious guy out.
Maybe some sort of political reasons. Oh well.
"Well, mostly because it sounds like a huge bother. Also, judging from that irritating look on his face, he probably wouldn't learn a single thing from it either. Let the money magnet keep his precious money, not like I care much for it anyways.", I answered while lazily picking my left ear.
"Hmph! It seems like you're fond of retorting only when the princesses are here to defend you!", hissed Diamond Plate insultingly.
I frowned and turned towards Celestia.
"As of today, I would like permission to defend myself in case he takes it out of hand.", I requested as I lit my fist with flames.
Diamond Plate visibly flinched at the sudden summoning of fire, a look of confusion being summoned onto his arrogant mug as he eyed my engulfed hand.
"I promise I wont overdo it if the situation calls for self defense.", I finished with a cold smile.
Celestia returned my cold smile.
"Permission granted.", she spoke.
The terrified look on his face was priceless.
I then abruptly turned up the intensity of my flames, making him tumble backwards to the ground. After he got off his fat behind, he ran right out of the throne room.
I ceased my fire and rolled around on the floor laughing, Celestia and Luna also contributing some chuckles of their own. After a small while, I stood up and wiped a tear from my face.
"Well then your highnesses, ill be heading back to my chambers.", I said as I walked towards the exit.
"Best of evenings to you.", heartily responded Celestia. I was glad that her mood lightened up a bit.
"Sweetest of dreams to you, Kurama!", also answered Luna.
I grinned and waved goodbye, I waited for Spark to step outside as well before closing the door.
"Thanks for your help comrade, and goodnight to you.", I told him.
"Not at all, sir. Good night.", he replied.
We then split our paths and headed towards our designated sleeping areas. I took the route towards my room and arrived at my door.
I entered my chambers and quickly paced towards my bed. I swear I heard it call out to me as I bounced down onto its refreshing fabric.
I sighed and ceased to think about anything else. Quite frankly, I just wanted to resume my sleep. I must have been becoming a skilled sleeper too, for my consciousness began to fade fast.
I smiled and wished goodnight to my comfy pillow as I fell asleep.