True Chaos

by Woolytop

Chapter 5: The Dragon

The party fell silent for a moment, before the guests began to shriek in terror and scatter as they had when Moonstruck first arrived in town.

“They're pretty good at that,” Moonstruck observed once the room had mostly emptied.

“We get a lot of practice.” Twilight sighed. Moonstruck stood up. “Where are you going?”

“I've never seen a real dragon before,” Moonstruck replied.

“Hey!” Spike said.

“And there are hardly any books on them. I want to see it,” Moonstruck completely ignored him. She jaunted out into the abandoned street, and spotted the huge, rampaging, black-scaled dragon immediately.

“Woah, look at that guy!” Moonstruck said as she reared up on her hind legs and shaded her eyes with her hand.

“He's destroying the town!” Twilight shouted as she ran by.

“Hm. That's a little bit of a problem, isn't it?” Moonstruck conceded as she broke into a trot after her. A rainbow streak shot over head, followed by Peewee the phoenix and Spike.

Rainbow Dash flew circles around the dragon's head. She nimbly dodged around as it tried to swat her out of the air. The dragon let out a roar, which sent her off course. Peewee flew high into the air and began to glow almost as brightly as the sun. Spike flew into the blinded dragon's gut, then launched himself away with a green blast of fire, all to no avail. Moonstruck caught up with Twilight, who seemed to be in thought.

“What's your plan?” Moonstruck asked. Her eyes followed Rainbow Dash, who had corrected her flight path and once again attempted to disorient the dragon.

“I'm working on it. He's too big to teleport and I don't know any spells that'll get through his scales,” Twilight answered.

“Could you create a gust of wind to carry him away on his wings?” Moonstruck suggested.

“No, winds that strong would level the town anyway,” Twilight pointed out.

Spike face-planted into the ground after the bigger dragon swatted him. He pushed himself up and spat out a mouthful of dirt.

“Any ideas?” he asked as he turned to the unicorn.

“Okay. If we could get him to follow the three of you out of town, we could lead him up to the jewel mine and let the diamond dogs deal with him,” Twilight said.

“No way,” Spike shook his head. “What if he decides to hoard up there? Rarity still gets her gems from that mine.”

“Besides, if you lead him out of town I won't get a chance to ask him about dragons,” Moonstruck said.

“You want to... are you crazy?” Twilight asked. Moonstruck smirked.

“You sound like my brother,” she said, as she sauntered over to the dragon. She let out a sharp whistle to get his attention.

“Hi!” she lifted her hand up as if to shake. “I'm Moonstruck. What's your name?”

The dragon stared at her, dumbstruck for a moment. He shook his head, then took a deep breath.

“Look out!” Twilight shouted. The dragon released a blast of fire that washed painfully over the draconequus. When the fire died out, Moonstruck had been charred as black as coal. She let out a weak cough, and then proceeded to dissolve to ash. Her eyes, still intact, blinked, then dropped into the pile as well. The large one rolled down the pile and sat at its base while the small one stayed on top.

“Oh, no...” Twilight said, as she began to dance on her hooves. “Spike, we need to get him out of here, now! If he decides to hoard in the mine, then we can at least regroup before we try to get him to move.”

Spike didn't react at first as he gawked at where a draconequus had just stood. “What? Oh, yeah. Right, I'll go tell Rainbow Dash and Peewee the plan.”

“THAT. Was extremely rude.” They froze as an accusatory talon erupted from the ash pile, pointed at the dragon. He took a step back in shock as a white monkey arm popped out of ashes, and grabbed the wayward eyeball. Moonstruck's head and body followed out next, as if she were pulling herself out of a deep hole. She hid her face for a moment and replaced her eyeball.

“That hurt. You're a jerk, Mister Dragon,” Moonstruck said as she leaned back on her tail. The dragon roared and lifted his claw to smash her. She snapped her fingers and vanished as he slammed his fist down. The earth shook and the ground cracked from the force of the blow. She reappeared, calmly seated on the dragon's knuckle.

“You know, I'm trying to be a nice draconequus,” Moonstruck said. She grabbed her wrist with her talon and started to roll the fur up like a sleeve. “Still, if it's a fight you want...” she took off as the dragon shook his claw and landed behind him. She vanished in a flash of light as his pickaxe like tail slammed into the ground where she'd been, and appeared on his snout, her fingers prepared for another snap. She smirked as she clicked her digits together.

The dragon suddenly turned an interesting shade of yellowish-orange. Moonstruck yawned and reclined onto the bridge of his nose.

“You changed his color?” Rainbow Dash shouted as she flew by. “That's it?”

Moonstruck calmly lifted her fist and slammed it into the side of the dragon's snout. A loud crack echoed throughout Ponyville as chunks of scale fell from the impact.

“No,” Moonstruck said as she pried a piece of scale loose. She popped it in her mouth and stretched. “I turned his scales into peanut brittle.”

The dragon roared and lifted his claw to bat Moonstruck away, but every time he moved more cracks echoed through the town. Soon his scales began to slough off his body in great sheets, revealing very pink, bare skin underneath.

“Hope you girls like peanuts,” Moonstruck said as she teleported back to Twilight's side. The dragon began to flail about in an attempt to keep his scales on his body, which only made things worse. Once every scale had lost it's place and clattered to the ground, the dragon could only wrap his arms around himself. He let out a roar that could be described as a wail, and took off into the sky. Enormous drops of water slammed into the ground as he fled.

“Oh, no, I didn't mean to make him cry!” Moonstruck said as she lifted herself off. Her horn flashed and her suitcase was in her hand. “It was nice to meet you in real life, Twilight Sparkle. Thank Pinkie Pie for the party for me. Bye!” She flitted off before she could hear any objections.

Moonstruck followed the dragon into the forest. She looked around as she flew; There were a lot of cool things in the woods, but she couldn't afford to get distracted right now. She tracked the dragon to a cave, where she could still hear his wails. She landed and stepped inside.

Finding the dragon in the cave wasn't much of a problem. A huge, shivering pile of pink flesh sat right in the middle of the chamber. Moonstruck looked around. The cave was really barren.

“Aren't dragons supposed to have hoards?” Moonstruck thought. “Hey!” she shouted to get the dragon's attention. He looked up, let out a choked roar, and pushed himself up, taking a huge, dragon-step back for every step she took towards him.

“Hey, it's alright...” she cooed as the dragon pinned himself against the cave wall in abject terror. “I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry. It must have taken a long time for you to grow your scales like that.”

The dragon sniffed before her fell into a blubbering heap, and continued to wail.

“Shhhh...it's okay...” she whispered. The dragon continued to cry, and cowered, and covered his face with his claws. Moonstruck tapped the base of her fang. She dropped her suitcase and pulled out her violin. Soon, a soothing lullaby rang through the cave.

“Hush, now, quiet now, it's time to lay your sleepy head...” Moonstruck sang. Nana sang this song to her a lot when she was younger, to get her to go to sleep, or stop being fussy, or to just generally stop being a brat. The verses melted together in with the violin, and soon it was the only sound in the cave. The dragon had stopped crying, and presently risked a peek out from under his claws, his puffy eyes mesmerized by her performance.

“We were never properly introduced,” Moonstruck said as she finished. “My name's Moonstruck.”

“My name is Rumble. Rumble Darkscale, the ninth,” he replied.

“ Rumble Rumble Darkscale The Ninth,” Moonstruck said. Rumble blinked at her again. “How about I just call you Rumble? Or Rum-rum!”

“No, It's just one Rumble,” Rumble said. “Please don't call me Rum-rum.”

“If it's only one Rumble, then why'd you say it twice?” Moonstruck asked.

“I paused for dramatic effect,” Rumble growled.

“Anyway. Your scales. Do you want to talk about it?” Moonstruck replaced her instrument and sat on her suitcase.

“Oh, yes. My beautiful scales...” Rumble sighed. Smoke poured from his nostrils and filled the room. “I come from a long line of powerful, terrifying black dragons, stretching all the way back to my Great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather, Rumble Darkscale the First.”

“Your family was boring. Nine sons and they couldn't come up with an interesting name?” Moonstruck said.

“Excuse me?! I bear the name of 'Rumble' with pride!” he roared. Then he sighed. “At least, I would. You see, when I hatched, I was born... bare!” Rumble rolled over to show off his pink flesh. “Not a single scale adorned my body! I was as pink as a piglet!”

“And...that's not normal?” Moonstruck guessed.

“Not at all! Hatchling scales are soft and sensitive, but almost always there,” Rumble groaned. “My parents hoped that they would come in on their own, but they never did.” Rumble looked like he was about to start crying again. “The other whelps mocked me. I could never go on any raids, play any games, go swimming... and I was a constant source of disappointment and shame for my clan.” Rumble paused for a moment to take a few deep breaths.

“It wasn't until very recently that my scales began to grow in. They came slowly at first, sharp little black specks protruding from my skin, but over the past year I had grown my gleaming black coat of scales as lustrous and refined as any gem. I finally felt like I belonged,” Rumble said. “That town was my first raid.”

“Why did you raid Ponyville, anyway?” Moonstruck asked. “That fire breath of yours is hot, you know. You could hurt somepony.”

“Because that's what dragons do,” Rumble replied.

“But is it what makes you happy?” Moonstruck posed.

“What do you mean?” Rumble asked.

“Well, you've been going on an on about how you made your parents and the other little dragons unhappy, but what is it that makes you happy?”

“I... don't know. I've never thought about it,” Rumble replied.

Moonstruck tapped the base of her fang. “I'm going to try something,” she said. “It... might not work, and I don't know what'll happen if it doesn't. But if it does work, you'll have your scales back.” She said.

“Really? You can do that?” Rumble asked. “You would do that?”

“Yep! Probably. But only if you promise to stop living just for what makes others happy.” Moonstruck said.

“I... can try, I suppose,” Rumble agreed.

Moonstruck lifted her hand and snapped her fingers. Rumble suddenly turned from pink to black, but he was still scaleless.

“Close,” Moonstruck said. She snapped her fingers again, and Rumble grew himself another set of peanut brittle scales, which promptly shattered and fell to the cave floor.

“Third times a charm?” Moonstruck smiled, and snapped her fingers again. A set of bronze measuring scales appeared atop hishead. “Oh, now you're just being silly.”

Rumble sighed as he pulled the scale off his head while Moonstruck continued to ponder.

“I've got it!” she said. She reached back to her tail, and grabbed one of her white spines. With a grunt, she ripped it out, laid it on Rumble's skin, and meshed it in place with a spell.

“I don't think that's going to help,” he said.

Moonstruck smirked, then snapped her fingers. Where there was once one scale, there were two, and then four. The scales multiplied over and over again until they covered the dragon completely in white armor. He didn't look exactly like he had before the peanut brittle, but it was close.

“I can probably turn the scales black, if you want,” Moonstruck offered.

“Oh, yes please,” Rumble said. Moonstruck snapped her fingers, as the white scales began to turn to black, all except the very tip of his tail.

“That's so you don't forget that you promised,” Moonstruck said.

The dragon looked at the foot of so of white scales at the end of his tail. He laid his chin on the ground.

“Thank you,” he said deeply. “Thank you so much.”

Moonstruck bopped his nose.

“No problem!” She smiled and picked up her suitcase. “Hey, have you noticed anything really strange happen in the area? Or even just a little out of place?”

“I don't know. Little things here and there, I suppose,” Rumble said as he lifted his head and scratched his chin. “Why do you ask?”

“I'm looking for someplace,” Moonstruck said. “The only hint I have is to 'follow the chaos'.”

“I see.” Rumble nodded. “There is one thing that sticks out in my mind. Come, let me show you.”

Comments

[Woolytop]

I was a little worried Moon might come off as overpowered after this chapter. On the one hand, if a draconequus could be struck down by conventional means, why was Discord a problem? But on the other, I established earlier that there used to be a lot of draconequines, so where did they go? I plan on explaining it later, but in the meantime I hope I didn't throw anyone.

[Bachelor 2]

lol cartoon burning

[Meeester]

Loved the pile of ash and just everything about how Moon uses her magic. VERY reminiscent of 90's cartoons and I love it; it's perfect for how a "good" draconequus should be.

[Netherweaver]

Boop. That is all.

[Reader Wolf]

Moonstruck is the Mask

[Lars]

*Moon gets turned into a pile of ash...then sticks her arm out of the pile*
.........le fuck?

Okay, that was glorious.

[AliCentaur Br0ny]

"The dragon released a blast of fire that washed painfully over the draconequus. When the fire died out, Moonstruck had been charred as black as coal. She let out a weak cough, and then proceeded to dissolve to ash. Her eyes, still intact, blinked, then dropped into the pile as well. The large one rolled down the pile and sat at its base while the small one stayed on top."
YES! You, you just used the classic get-roasted-turn-to-ash-with-blinking-eyeballs thing from classic cartoons of the 90's... THANK YOU!