Chapter 19: And Into The Fire
I was groggy when I finally woke back up. I swear I'm going to flay that nurse alive if she sticks that needle in me again! I slowly opened my eyes back up to see the room I woke up in earlier.
"Good Morning, Chance!" Three fillies happily said a bit loudly. It was better than the yelling so that's good, but it begs the question of why they were here in the first place.
"Morning, what's been going on?" Scootaloo stepped up and answered,
"Everyone at school heard you got hurt so we all decided to stop by," That explains these three chilling next to me, but they said everyone at school so where is-
Before I could finish my thought Applebloom swung the door open and multiple children came filing in. Cheerilee came in behind them and made sure that all the stragglers were in the room as well.
"Good morning, Chance!" Cheerilee happily said as she trotted over to me with a cake balanced on her back. It was a pretty big cake too, I mean the thing could be used for a fucking wedding and still have pieces left over! It had white frosting and the message 'get well soon' on the top of the cake in red frosting. It might be the fact that I hadn't eaten anything since I got to the hospital, but I decided that I deserved half of that cake NOW.
"Leave us some, Chance!" Sweetie cried out as I shoved my face into the side of the cake before gorging myself with said cake. I didn't rightly care that they wanted any because this was probably the best cake I've ever had; at least until confetti shot out the top of it.
"Happy happy birthday I sing this song for you! Happy happy birthday your cake is almost through!" Sang a pink pony who was dancing on top of the cake that I had buried half my face into prior. I looked to everyone else in the room and they were all just as confused as me. Even Cheerilee was surprised by the recent turn of events.
"How did you... you just...what?" Cheerilee sputtered as she tried to get her brain to restart, but sadly it broke and her warranty expired last month. Pinkie just smiled before hopping down from the cake and taking Cheerilee by the shoulder and taking her on a journey of what the fuck happened.
"You see, when you ordered the cake for Chance I had the..." I stopped paying attention because of a tapping on my left side. Turning over to face whoever it was I saw Dinky sitting there. She had a glum expression and seemed to want to say something but couldn't find the words.
"Yes, Dinky?"
"I'm sorry," She squeaked out.
"About what?"
"If I didn't hit you with the stick you wouldn't have run away!" She was tearing up and turned away from me in shame. She actually believed I ran because of her. That isn't right so I decided to clear things up right now.
"Dinky, I didn't run because you hit me with a stick. I don't even know why you thought that, but you didn't cause this,"
"But you-"
"Hush now baby child," I said while putting a hoof over her mouth. "You didn't cause me to get hurt. It was my own stupidity, not you."
She didn't say anything else after that, instead she lunged at me. I didn't realize what the hell she was doing until she wrapped her arms around me for a hug. Why do these ponies love hugging so damn much; It's adorable but why? I just returned the hug when I heard a few of the kids in the room make impromptu gags.
"Dinky and Chance sitting in a-"
"Finishing that is not a good idea" I cut off whoever was starting to sing that stupid saying song thing. I always hated when kids would do that randomly whenever you decided to be nice. It even happened back in Manehatten with that one filly that made fun of how I spoke. Apparently that was a sign that she really like me to them because they wouldn't shut up!
When she pulled away her face was starting to turn pink for some reason. Embarrassment does tend to do that to people so why not ponies. I was going to try to speak some more with her when someone started to tap on my other side, and as I turned around I realized it was Button.
"Yo, Bro," I said. In my mind it was perfectly fine, but Button's face told an entirely different story. His face had a huge smile on it for some reason before he spoke,
"Is there a crow show?"
"No though there's a doe toe,"
"Why are we rhyming, Chance?"
"You continued it when I was just saying hi,"
"Oh right..." He turned around to walk away when I stopped him,
"What did you want Button?" He turned around realizing that he forgot the entire reason he was talking to me in the first place. He pulled out a book that had stars all over the cover before saying,
"Ms. Cheerilee wanted us to work on the project together," God damn it they already got the books! How am I supposed to find what I need now? My thoughts were interrupted when I realized Button had been talking this entire time,
"I'm sorry can you repeat that last part?" I asked which didn't seem to bother him as he turned to a certain page in the book and spoke,
"This is the constalation we're working on, but I can't read this half," I looked toward the half of the page he was pointing to. I froze when I saw the writing because it was the exact same as the book Ryan found.
"Button, where did you find this book?"
"Cheerilee handed it to me, why?"
"It's very important I find out what language this is, Button."
"Why is it-"
"I have to know," He nodded before picking the book back up and heading to Cheerilee who was trying to wrap her head around everything pinkie had just said to her. Why do these ponies love tapping me because yet again someone was tapping my other side.
"Hi Chance," Diamond said when I was facing her. There was another filly behind her with a grey coat and semi-white mane. She was also wearing glasses. I was about to ask who she was when Diamond continued, "This is my friend Silver Spoon."
"Hello," She said in a sort of snarky voice which earned her a glare from diamond.
"Nice to meet you Silver. What did you need Diamond?"
"I just wanted to know when your cuteceañeara was,"
"What do you mean by that?" She pointed toward my ass which now had a picture of a bonfire on it. Well color me purple and call me Vincent, I have an ass tattoo! "I've been up for two days and no one said a word about this?"
"You didn't know?"
"I was a little unconscious for a few days,"
"Well then I should help you plan-" The doors opened before she could continue with what she was saying. In walked in two royal guards and one very large white alicorn. I remembered that I had attacked her back in the cave and now I'm remembering that she is royalty, I'm fucked.
Everyone in the room bowed down to her, even me. I didn't see a reason why not to, and it might just serve to keep me from being executed. Wait, I'm in a hospital so execution isn't happening so what is she...
"May I speak with Chance alone?" Celestia asked Cheerilee who nodded and ushered the enitre class out of the room. She looked to the guards and nodded for them to leave as well. Once they were finally gone she walked over to me and took a seat. I felt so small in her presence, and instead of that safety I once knew near her, I felt fear.
"I'm sorry princess!" I blurted out rather suddenly. I didn't dare look up at her in fear of what she might do if she didn't think I was honest,
"I know, but you committed a capital offence, Chance. If you were any other pony it would be grounds for execution." As she spoke I felt chills run down my spin over what she had decided to do with me instead of execution.
"I understand,"
"You however are a sick colt, and I'm not a tyrant so I've decided that instead of execution you shall be Arrow's personal assistant."
"I under- wait WHAT?"
"I said you shall be-"
"I heard you, but that seems a little lenient,"
"Only you, Arrow, and I were in that cave. If a guard was there I'd have to throw you in a dungeon. This is a great mercy I'm granting you Chance. Do not waste it," With that she started to walk out of the room, but I had to ask,
"What happened to Fire Catcher?"
"He's back in his cave with a few new royal gems," She then walked out of the room with elegance leaving me alone in silence. A few moments later was when everyone else returned to talk to me, and see what the princess wanted. I never answered that question because of what she said about if anyone else was there.
You just got 100 likes, congratulations.
6398760 I've reached the milestone!
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Ok. That seems genuinely Out of Character for Celestia, especially considering she was in the wrong for attacking the dragon.
6398778 I see her doing that. She can't let Chance going of scott free, but she made the sentence something that wouldn't cause him any actual harm like it normally would.
Wait does this update daily?
6398827 semi daily. I don't have a strict schedule, but I try to get it out every two days. I actually enjoy writing so since it's the weekend I can get the chapters out faster. In other words sort of.
like 107
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great chapter again, it is good to see a little humor back to the story, it was starting to get rely serious for the last few chapters. Chance never gets a break does he, with all the interruption to his line of thinking and having a new subject of interest thrown in his face every few minute, I am surprise that his mind has not split itself to pieces yet.
I think the discussion with Celestia was much too short and rush in my opinion, as Chance did not had a full explanation about the gravity of his actions in the cave, and did not put the right serious tone to the conversation. Being a foal, Celestia should have explained to him like a child all the different implications of his actions, like the why is attacking a sovereign is a capital offense. then explain why he was lucky to have been alone in the cave, and to explain more explicitly that she was being incredibly forgiving on her part to completely forget what append, as well as be clear that it was all to be kept secret from everypony. I would also would have advise, that she tels him that she is going to keep a personal interest on the progress of his treatment, underlining that any resistance on Chances part mite bring consequences to him, showing that he is still waking on egg shells. If she wants to truly help chance, she would assign some pony to teach him how to control his magic, so that it doesn't go out of control again and be Celestia's eyes and ears on the mater.
Also, Chance should have had at least a guardian (Arrow would have been a good choice sens he was present during the events and therefor limit the prorogation of information) present to reassure him and make sure he understood what he as told as well as insuring good behavior in her presents.
Lastly I think that Celestia should, at the least thank Chance for not letting her kill Fire Starter over a miss understanding, it would help to reassure him that there is no grudge between them and to finish on a light tone, before she left. I know this was all told but I find it just too lightly touch to have the appropriate impact on the reader.
As for the punishment of being Arrow assistant I wander, what that will entail. Does that mien that he is force to be a cadet to the Royal Guard for an unspecified amount of time, or what? Does that mean that Arrow has even more authority on Chance now?
I also wander how is Chance's cuteceañeara is going to be like.
6398909 I kind of felt like I needed to extend that conversation, but I wasn't sure how exactly. I guess now I see how I could have, but that can be corrected later (hopefully). Good to see you're back mix-up, it's always good seeing your comments.
6398923 always my pleaser for me keep on the good work.
6398944 Will do mostly because...
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6398956 so am I... So am I
"Hush now baby child," I said while putting a hoof over her mouth. "You didn't cause me to get hurt. It was my own stupidity, not you."
Spoken like a true gentle colt.
6400222 Indeed.
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I really really want to like this story. Unfortunately I feel like I'm sitting on a giant bouncy ball or something while reading it. Descriptions are often lacking and almost every chapter so far feels rushed. Celestia came in and basically just told a child that if it weren't for him being known to have a mental disorder from their perspective that he would be dead. I'm pretty sure that him being a child should have been important to that decision too, not just his mental state. Beyond that, it still felt like she was overreacting towards him. Twilight Sparkle had a magic surge that endangered several ponies and caused a lot of damage to royal property. She gets to be Celestia's personal student. Chance has a magic surge that saves a life and gets reprimanded for it (almost executed for treason). The both of them even got their cutie marks from said surges. This story really seems like it could be good, so I haven't downvoted it, but I can't really upvote it either.
6398778 how could Celestia be considered to be in the rough in all of this? She was out to protect her subjects from a dragon that was at the time thought to be holding a colt hostage and how had breath fire to ward off the one her ponies that had fond the missing colt in his cave how could she be blamed to have used extreme measures to help free Chance from a dangers dragon. She was acting on sketchy information that told her a colt was in the claws of a dragon that had breath fire on the one pony. No pony could have guess that Chance was afraid of the Lyra, and that the dragon was just warding off a pony that he thought meant harm to the colt.
I have a hard time imagining Celestia being in the rough in any of this; at best it was a horrible misunderstanding of the situation on every ones part and that it was a bad cal. If anything the responsibility in all of this would go to Arrow and Fire Starter. the first one would be to have lost sight of the disturb colt that was his responsibility his watch over. The second should had handed over the colt, or at least warned to the guardsponies that there was a runaway colt in his cave the moment he was settled in and should never have had breath lethal fire on a pony that was looking for him. Chance couldn't be blamed for any of this because he is a minor, who are not responsible for their actions.
6400644 I'm happy you didn't down vote, and I know I lack description on just about everything. Also I know that I didn't write the Celestia scene the best way possible, but I wasn't sure how I was going to pull that scene off to begin with so, yeah.
Thanks you for commenting and not down voting; I hope to see you return for future chapters so I can try to redeem myself.
Edit: I forgot to mention that magical surge thing. Twilight had no control over that while Chance had almost complete control. By attacking Celestia (a sovereign ruler) he could have been executed. That happens when someone attacks a leader even if it's by accident.
6400693 Yeah... but he is still just a child, so her threat was still uncalled for.
6400867 Which was part of her reasoning for not going for it. She still had to make it clear how serious this was though so she had to say what the punishment could of been. I'm not defending her, but I am saying what I believe would occur.
Gezz.
you take some time off and when you come back your 2 chapters behind, dear god
Not gonna get into it, but Celestia's really out of character.
Does Equestria even have a death penalty?
So apparently celestia doesn't understand basic morality or even the most basic of physical assault laws. Well done, you have made someone supposed to be the the standard of good come across as some bitchy politician who thinks she is more important than she really is
nice story so far but i have to agree that celestia is kinda ooc
"I know, but you committed a capital offence, Chance. If you were any other pony it would be grounds for execution." As she spoke I felt chills run down my spin over what she had decided to do with me instead of execution.
Oh W.T.F.
Okay, let's clarify something. When you're writing a MLP fanfic your goal ISN'T to write Celestia as far out of character as possible.
IN what continuity does this sound even REMOTELY like something ever-benevolent Celestia would say to a FRIGHTENED CHILD? She doesn't even execute TIREK, why would she even suggest this in front a child, especially when SHE was the one who bumblebuggered up the situation by charging in and attacking?
Your characterization is getting worse with each chapter. This isn't Celestia, it's TardLestia!
I dont like Celestia
6466766
Hafta agree with this guy. This Celestia is almost a tyrant that I would believe it if next chapter it's suddenly revealed that she's replaced by Chrysalis.
Am I the only one who is disgusted by Chance?
They tried to kill an innocent dragon. They ignored everything he tried to say. He had to physically attack the princess to even get her to pause.
Now he is a spineless coward pissing his pants in terror, rather than seething in anger over her racist actions and attempted murder of an innocent.
If I was in that world and an if I were a friend of Chance, I wouldn't be after that.
And I would have raked Celestia over the coals.
Unlike Chance, I don't bend when I'm in the right. I don't care who they are.
The Monk
"Thirty minutes, Celestia. I was gone for thirty minutes," he said to her in an annoyed tone. "And in that time, Canterlot has been overrun with insect-like creatures, the groom is hypnotized and unable to perform his job, and you are being flung across your own throne room by...whatever that is. In thirty minutes." -Onomonopia