All Roads Lead to Rome... Not Really. (Chapter Ten)
Chapter Ten
All Roads Lead to Rome... Not Really
"So... what exactly was that dance Coal?" Celestia asks, looking just a bit dumbfounded by what she just witnessed.
"It was the traditional dance of my people!" I say, while keeping up my the best poker face I can muster.
"You're lying." She says, proving that evidently my best poker face isn't as good as I thought it was.
"Yeah, ya caught me there." I admit with a shrug, "It's just a song that got ridiculously popular, if I had to say why it's so popular I'd attribute it to how crazy it is being oddly entertaining."
"I see, well it was certainly that if anything." She agrees, "Although I definitely did not expect that when you asked me to teach you a spell."
"Well, I did it for tall dark and stoney over here." I say, pointing a thumb over my shoulder at Discord. "I'd figure it's pretty boring for a spirit of chaos to be trapped in stone. Heck, I know I'd be pretty bored if I was trapped in stone."
"I see, I have always wondered whether or not he is actually conscious when he's in stone. The last time he escaped he implied such, but I cannot be sure if that was just a ploy or not." She looks with a thoughtful gaze.
"Well, it really isn't my place to say much of anything on the subject. Seeing as I never met the guy." I'm about to continue speaking when I hear a rustling of foliage come from behind me.
Turning around I see a unicorn. Not all that surprising considering where I am at the moment, but what really perks my interest is that this one is quite a bit smaller than the ones I've met previously. From the size I'd guess it's a child, and a girl if I'm learning anything about their gender differences, or is it a 'filly'. She looks to have magenta eyes, a light grey coat, and a red and brown striped mane. Currently, she is struggling to pull her lower body under one of the labyrinth's hedge walls.
"Ya need some help there?" I ask, which evidently catches her attention as she looks up to see who's speaking to her.
As she takes in my magnificent and noble form, her mouth hangs open as her eyes go wide, whether in fear or fascination is hard to tell. As she stares open mouthed at me, she seems to forget about her efforts of trying to crawl under the wall.
"Little filly, what are you doing here?" Celestia asks her gently, and the way she addresses the 'filly' confirms what I had guessed about the pony's age.
"Oh! Princess Celestia!" She squeaks.
That is so fucking adorable.
Very masculine there pal.
"Well, my school was going to have a field trip to the garden today, but when she heard the noise this morning she said we wouldn't be able to." She says with a pout.
Way to make me feel bad kid.
"I see, if that is the case, then why are you here?" Celestia gently asks the child.
"Well, I've been looking forward to seeing the garden for weeks-"
She really knows how to lay on the guilt.
"-so when our teacher said we couldn't go I kind of... snuck out from where we were staying." She says, looking guilty and adorable at the same time in the way only children can do.
"Ah, I understand. Is your teacher looking for you?" Celestia continues to question the child, as I stand there feeling bad about canceling the kid's field trip.
"Yeah... I mean, I think so. I heard her calling out my name a couple times in the garden but I'm small enough to fit under the hedges."
"I have to hand it to you kid, you've definitely got some tenacity." I chime in, impressed with how far this kid was willing to go.
I mean, it was wrong of her to sneak off like that, but she stuck to her guns at least.
"Thanks mister!" She says in a cheerful voice before a confused look comes to her face, "What does te-nas-city mean?"
A grin comes to my face as I explain, "Having tenacity means you're persistent and determined."
"Oh wow mister, you have some really pointy teeth. And wings! What're you mister?" She says in curious childlike fashion.
"Well, mostly human, but there's a little bit of something else." I say as I look down to her and rest my hands on my hips and add with a wink, "But that last bit is a secret."
"Oooh, okay. So what's your name mister?"
"Well, you can call me Coal." I say with a shrug.
Everyone calls me by that nickname at this point, might as well make it consistent.
"And what's your name kid?" I say while walking over, and I use my claw to widen the filly's hole so she can squeeze through.
"I'm Fiery Thought, thanks mister." she says as she scoots her body out the rest of the way from under the cursed foliage. Standing on all four legs she comes up around two feet high or so.
"Fiery Thought huh? Interesting name you got there kid."
"Thanks mister, my friends think so too."
"Yes, it is a very nice name, but I think we should get this little one back to her teacher." Celestia intones as she walks up to the two of us.
"Awwww, but can't I talk to mister Coal more?" She asks Celestia as she gives puppy dog eyes that would melt steel.
HNNNNNNNG!
Dear god make it stop! Give it what it wants!
"No, you have to go back to your class." Says the Alicorn, who evidently has the strength of Superman to be able to withstand such an onslaught.
"Okay..." Fiery says in a dejected tone as she looks down at her forehooves.
"Now then, if you will excuse me Coal, I will be leading young Thought here out of the maze. We'll have to finish up our conversation another time."
"Alright, see ya. I have a few things to do before I leave but if you're free around nightfall I'll probably be outside your tower."
Celestia raises an eyebrow at this and I can see she has some kind of question for me. However, before she voices it she looks back down at the filly before shaking her head saying, "Come now miss Thought, we should be getting you back."
Haha, she has a dirty mind.
Like you're one to talk.
Touche.
I watch Celestia walk with Fiery Thought, that tenacious little filly, out of the maze. My gaze stays with them until they round a corner and leave my line of sight. Once they are gone I place my pack on the ground and sift through it a bit until I find my map.
It is 'The Map of the Known Lands." or so the title at the top would tell you. I find Canterlot listed on the map with the notation 'Capital of Equestria' next to it.
Well, it's been fun in Equestria, but where to next?
My eyes scan the piece of aged parchment as I try and decide where I'll be heading off to next. I'm currently in Equestria so while a lot of the names of the cities here are interesting there's more of the world to see. There's the Diamond Dog lands in the north-east, I definitely wouldn't go hungry there with all the gems they dig up. Although, they probably wouldn't be too keen on sharing. Besides, the Diamond Dogs apparently live underground and I'm still enjoying my new found wings so lets leave that for later.
Well, that's two of the major powers ruled out, so that just leaves the Griffin Republic. It looks like it's a bit of a flight to the north, but it'd give me a chance to get my fill of using my wings. I'm also interested in a Republic that's led by an Emperor.
Heck, if my luck holds out I'll end up having brunch with the guy.
Yeah good luck with that one.
The defining geographical feature of the Griffin's land seems to be mountains, which admittedly fits the species. With that decision being made I roll up the map and put it in my coat pocket, and then I promptly fly out of the maze. Mazes don't exactly mean much when you can just fly over all of the walls.
As I fly past a few guards they look up at me but don't act with any hostility. A few of them even wave a hoof at me in greetings, which I return with my hand. These ponies aren't half bad when they don't think you're going to well... eat them.
Truth be told I'd probably react poorly if I thought some kind of alien was going to eat me too.
I just fly around the Palace aimlessly, I had said I'd be leaving around nightfall but I don't exactly have all that much to do around here. Well, except fly around and look awesome, but I've accomplished that pretty well at this point.
Well, I suppose this is a good opportunity to collect my thoughts. Everything has been happening pretty quickly, ever since I fell from the sky into this world.
I find a parapet on a walkway connecting two of the towers and I decide to land and think for a bit. I haven't really just sat back and think in a while. Even with I was traveling I was fixated on a goal, and when I had taken a break from that I was either running for my life or asleep.
I sit for a while, I'm not sure for how long exactly, but it had to of been a few hours. In this time I reflect my actions recently, a lot of the things I've been doing weren't things I'd have done back home. I know some of the things that have happened are impossible for me to have done back home.
Like throwing a folding chair at a dragon's face.
Yeah, that was kind of awesome.
People are influenced by their experiences, so it isn't exactly reasonable to think that I'd be unchanged after everything that has happened to me. Despite that I do feel a twinge of regret as I think at just how quickly I've changed. I was an introverted loner before all of this, and while I'm still a bit of a loner I'm definitely not an introvert anymore. While that by itself isn't a bad thing it's more so the implications behind it that worry myself.
It's harrowing to know that the person I held myself to be is changed so quickly. I'm not adverse to change, but I am adverse to losing my sanity.
Too late for that pal.
Yeah, I guess so. Oh well.
I decide that's enough of a pity party for myself, as I hop down from the parapet and stretch my stiff limbs. It's getting into the twilight hours, the thought reminding me of my 'Sparkle butt' joke, eliciting a snicker from me.
"Is something humorous?" I hear a familiar voice ask as the Princess of the Night approaches me.
"Oh, it's nothing. Just cheering myself up a bit after some pessimistic thinking." I reply, letting my arms fall down from where I was stretching them.
"Would you like to share? I have a few minutes before I must raise the moon." She says taking a place next to me on the walkway. Now that I have a peaceful moment to compare she comes up to about my shoulder, so she's shorter than her sister but quite a bit taller than the average pony.
"Oh it's nothing really, just thinking back to before I came here, and how I've changed since I arrived."
"Changed, are you speaking of your wings? I remember you mentioning them to be 'new additions.'" She asks with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh no, not that. I'm talking more about the emotional rather than the physical. Believe it or not I was a bit of an introverted person before I fell from your night sky Luna."
"Really? That's hard to believe, considering the way you've been acting since you've arrived."
"That's the point exactly, I've changed. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, just a bit humbling to know how easily we can be changed." I say, sounding just a bit downcast as I look out toward the setting sun.
"Yes... I can relate to the feeling." She replies, and from her tone I can tell that there's a story behind that but I let it lie for now.
"Well, thanks for listening to a pessimist's complaints, I appreciate it. In return, how about I show you something interesting?" I say, a mischievous grin coming to my face with the thought.
"Really? And what would that be?"
"Well, earlier your sister did a 'mind meld' thing. If you'd do that I'd show you a little something about my people. I'm pretty sure you'd appreciate it."
"Very well, I'm intrigued. Hold still a moment, it's been some time since I last attempted this." she says turning her head so that her horn is facing my forehead. Before she makes contact I can't help but think about how vulnerable I am like this, she could easily spear me with her horn like this. I had the same feeling when Celestia had done it earlier but in my manic state of mind I had simply ignored it.
Oh well, nothing for it I suppose.
Her horn makes contact and I leave the thought behind, it really isn't that important but having something that sharp so close to my head is unnerving.
---
Well Luna, welcome to the mind of an alien, how do you feel?
"Well, it certainly feels different compared to a pony's mind. Not bad, just... different."
Oh yeah, what, I'm not good enough for you? I see how it is.
"... What is that?"
It's nothing, just ignore it.
Ignooooore me!
"Very well then, I'll just take it as one of your peculiarities."
Yeah, I have a lot of those, but I digress.
I think back to a time when I was around seven, watching a presentation in science class. It was one of the rare occasions when I hadn't been scribbling on a notebook, but that was mainly because we were watching a video. Much more interesting than learning why plants are green.
My science teacher had been a big N.A.S.A buff, and for a certain anniversary he had decided to show us a video. It wasn't in color and the picture was grainy but it still managed to hold my young mind's attention.
It was my memory of the first time I had seen the Apollo moon landing.
The landing craft of the Apollo mission was just touching down on the moons surface and a white suited figure was making his way towards the rocky surface.
"I going to step off the lander." The muffled and robotic sounding voice comes from the man in the spacesuit.
The figure steps off of the lander, and lands onto the surface of the moon.
"That is one small step for man. And one giant leap, for mankind."
I can practically feel Luna's surprise as she realizes what exactly is happening.
So, did I disappoint?
---
I feel Luna disconnect our minds and I open my eyes to see her looking at me with wide eyes. "Was that...?"
"Yeah, that was the first time my species reached the moon. We did it without magic even, we're just stubborn like that."
"I'm... surprised, something like that is no small feat and..." She trails off, but I can tell she has something else she wants to say.
"And...?" I prompt.
"Well... why would you go through all that effort to reach the moon?"
"Well, something about my race is how we're always been fascinated with the stars and things beyond our world. Although truth be told, we've always been enthralled with things that are out of our grasp. If we're told we can't do something, that usually just makes us want to do it all the more. In fact, a good way to get a human to do something is to tell them they can't do it. We're weird like that."
"Yes, in that context it sounds odd. At the same time however, it's... admirable."
"Admirable?" I ask, an eyebrow raising as I look towards her, I can't tell what exactly that look on her face is.
"The desire to become something more than what you are, that is an admirable quality."
"Well thanks, I feel all giddy inside now." I say in a joking tone.
"You shouldn't belittle yourself like that." She says, seemingly annoyed at the joke at my own expense,
"Well, say that after you find out about all the other crap my species has pulled." I say as I hop up onto the parapet and hop down, my wings catching the air beneath me and in a few moments I'm flying.
"I will take that as an invitation for when you return!" I hear Luna call out from behind me as I fly off.
The sun has set and Luna does her job well as soon the moon is in it's proper place in the sky. I think back to when I had left my halberd outside of Celestia's room, and I'd rather not leave without it so I tilt my wings and head towards the tower. This time however, as I approach the tower I see a three forms take of from the ground and they move to intercept me. They look like they're ponies if the silhouettes are anything to go off, so I stop and wait where I am for them to reach me.
As they get closer I recognize one of them in the moonlight, it's the Batmare! She and two other bat-winged guards are flying their way towards me and I feel a smirk come to my face.
"So then, it looks like you've learned something from our game last night."
"Yes, it was a good wake up call for most of the guards. There were quite a few demotions for those who were tasked with guarding the Princess last night." The Batmare informs me.
"Yeah well, don't worry, she's expecting me this time." I inform them with a wink.
"Yes, she told us you might be coming by before you left. It doesn't pay to assume however, so I decided to make sure it was in fact you and not some other dragon-winged alien."
"Hmm, good policy. Well, keep up the guardin' boys and girls." I say as I go to fly past them and they don't impede my progress any further.
It doesn't take very long before I find myself at the balcony I had landed on last night. This time however, it's occupied as I see Celestia standing there looking up at me as I approach, and I notice something being held in the golden glow from her horn.
"So Celly, awaiting me for our late night rendezvous?" I ask as I bring myself to a landing on the balcony. As I do so I see that the object she has in her magical grasp in my halberd.
"Yes, in fact I am. I just found something you left behind after your previous visit." She replies as the halberd floats it's way towards me and I grab it with my hand.
"Yeah, I decided it probably wouldn't be the best idea to bring a weapon into a Princesses' bedchambers. I'm crazy, but I'm not that crazy just yet."
"Yes, that was probably wise. If I had seen you with a weapon I likely wouldn't have been very open to talk."
"Yeah, well I hate to cut this short but it's a big world out there, and unlike some people I'm not basically immortal." I say as I flare out my wings and go to leave.
"Yes, that might in fact be an issue. Well, best be on your way, but remember. If you ever return to Canterlot I do still owe you that breakfast."
"I'll keep that in mind." I say as I'm about to leap off the side of the balcony and I add, "Oh, and before I forget, say hi to Sparkle butt for me." I don't wait to see her expression so I can only guess at what her reaction was, but I'd like to think she found that funny.
A moment later and I'm gone, soaring through the cool night air once again. Part of me is surprised with how alert I feel despite the fact the last time I slept was back in the ruined castle.
Well, I guess I can chalk that up to me being a Half-Dragon too.
That, or Celly spiked the fruit with some magic crap.
With that reminder of the only thing I had eaten today was a plate of fruit I go to reach around into my pack and grab one of my gems to munch on as I travel. However, when my hand makes contact with nothing but air, I realize I left my bag back in the maze next to the statue.
Well, that would have been embarrassing to fly all the way to the Griffin Republic, and realize I forgot all my stuff back in Canterlot.
With a shake of my head I head back to the labyrinth, and quickly find the area with Discord's statue from the air. I see my bag lying on the ground, and I quickly sweep it up in my grasp and sling it over my shoulder. Having wasted enough time with this little detour I quickly launch myself back into the air and soon I'm on my way heading north.
Griffin Republic, here I come.
---
Fiery Thought had always been a filly to push boundaries. Always asking questions, and always one to be found coloring outside of the lines so to speak. She had been looking forward to going to the Canterlot gardens for weeks before the day had finally came. Unfortunately when something happened up at the palace and set the guard into a frenzy the trip had been cancelled.
Well, it would have been very out of character for Fiery Thought to just sit in the hotel like a good little filly, wouldn't it?
When she met this strange and mysterious creature named Coal, she had so many questions she had wanted to ask him. So despite having been caught by Princess Celestia herself, she had still snuck back out once her teacher's back had been turned.
She had even managed to find Coal's pack still lying on the ground where he had been earlier. Fiery Thought, driven by her intense curiosity had opened it up and started to poke around. When she had heard the flapping of wings she panicked and tried to hide inside the pack, fearing that a patrolling guardspony was passing by.
However, when she felt the bag being lifted high into the air she realized it probably wasn't a guardspony.
In fact, it wasn't even a Pony.
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Hoooo shit.
This is about to become awesome :D Also, called sharing the moon landing, though I was disappointed in her reaction.
Oh no...
2005861
Ah, but is it her reaction, or the way Coal perceived her reaction? Who knows~
I fully expect him to put on a bad imitation of a Russian accent when he discovers Fiery Thought later. No idea why.
2005874
Why must you be so cruel? Also, I don't know if I've told you this before, but this is a great story.
Sigh...
2005967
You're just realizing now that I'm eeevil~!?
But I am happy you like the story.
Great chapter can't wait for the next one of my favorite HiE's
OOOHHH SHIT JUST HIT THE FAN
OOOHHH SHIT JUST HIT THE FAN
2005995
Well, actually, I've come up with another theory in light of the new evidence. Maybe Luna is excited but doesn't want it to show, instead she'll be shitting brix next time she tells Celestia about what she saw?
2006201
Who knows~?
Oh Yes!!!! Plucky young sidekick obtained!
ya 2006412 ya well I for one knew that one of the words were spelled wrong but gave up hope on trying to spell it right because I suck at spelling in general and do not care but that just goes to show that we are more different then you think
2006262
Capital Letters, Dude, Capital Letters!
Coal has aquired a side-kick! Oh, what adventures they shall have together!
hilarity ensues, great chapter! keep up the good work
Discord would be a better sidekick
Just wanna say, I totally saw this coming with Fiery Thought.
Coal is officially a child predator!
It seems odd to me that Coal decides he has seen enough of Equestria after spending one day in one building of one city.
But, then again, he has frequent arguments with his own central nervous system. I suppose his mind works a bit different from mine.
Also, Innocent Stowaway + Innocent Kidnapper = Interesting Situations.
IGNORE ME!
Coal... Why. Why did you have to do this... AHHHHHHH
... oh my god is she in the bag? She isnt, is she? Let’s read on and find out.
HOLY CRAP WHAT?!?! SHE ACTUALLY SNUCK INTO THE BAG?!?!
3682231
lol
8771523
lol