A Friendly Chat with a Titan... What fun. (Prologue)

Prologue
A Friendly Chat with a Titan... What fun.

Well, this definitely hasn't been a normal day, then again when is it ever normal? I decided to take the day and go around town, I shut myself in too much sometimes. It's a nice enough place and while definitely considered a city the sky isn't blocked by countless towering skyscrapers, which in my opinion was a pretty nice thing. So I began to wander a bit through the streets I had spent my life growing up around, and while I'm definitely not lost, I find myself in an unfamiliar street. I know I'm what a few people would define as a shut in but it'd be really embarrassing for someone who has lived around here all his life to get lost no less than five blocks from his own home.

I'm not lost, I just wanted to walk past that same McDonalds... five times.

"Hello there, are you lost young man?" I heard someone call out from behind me in an upbeat tune. Turning around I found myself looking back to find a man sitting on the bus bench. He was an older looking man, with grey hair and dark eyes, wearing an old fashioned Fedora and a snazzy suit to match it. The getup looks pretty sweet truth be told.

"...No," I say, and in response he raises an eyebrow.

"I said I wasn't lost," His eyebrow stays up, but he doesn't say a word.

…

"Okay, I'm lost." I finally admit to him, and myself.

Chuckling to himself a bit before motioning for me to sit on the bench with him as he said, "Well then, we're birds of a feather, even if my kind of lost would be a bit different from yours." This time it was my turn to raise an eyebrow.

"A different kind of lost? I'm not about to get some old wizened and philosophical speech am I? Because a bus bench in front of a McDonalds would be a pretty weird place for one." I state, causing him to chuckle again.

"Yes, I suppose this would be an odd place for something like that wouldn't it?" He says more to himself than to me. "So then, any ambitions?"

What the hell kind of question is that to ask someone you met at a bus stop.

"What the hell kind of question is that?" I ask, properly voicing my thoughts for once.

"Well, just humor me for a moment, after all I'm a crazy old man at a bus stop."

"Well... Fine I guess, I suppose it couldn't hurt."

Did he grin when I said that? Okay, that's just a little bit creepy.

"Well... Ambitions. I can't say that I don't have them, after all everyone has ambitions." Pausing for a moment I go through my thoughts, trying to find a flare of some kind, and come back with nothing. "... I honestly can't say what it is though."

"Ah, I see. A young man with ambition but nowhere to direct it." The small grin I noticed from before begins to widen further. "That's my favorite kind, the embers of ambition subject to be molded like clay."

"I thought that you agreed that a bus stop wasn't the best place to debate philosophy?"

"Yes, I suppose I did, let’s fix that shall we?" He said as he raises his hand, and before I can say a word, the world turns to white.

Well, almost completely white. There's a table with two chairs.

Brain.

Yes?

The fuck just happened?

Hell if I know, you're on your own for this one.

You’re an asshole, brain.

I don’t even have to explain what that implies.

While I'm distracted by my internal dialogue, the man makes his way to the chair on the opposite side of the table. With folded hands as he says, "Well, take a seat, I'm sure you have questions."

Of course, the one day I decide to go outside and this happens... Is that really the first thing that should come to mind in this situation?

No.

Shut up brain.

I put my own mental ramblings aside as I try and come to an understanding about what exactly just happened here.

What was that he said earlier, something about ambition and clay? Not exactly something most would say, but then again most can't make the world disappear either. So unless McDonalds food is even worse for you than I thought there has to be more to this. A lot more.

Oddly enough despite the madness of the situation I find myself in, I can feel a grin I couldn't explain tugging at the sides of my mouth. What’s up with that?

Eventually, I make my way over to the metal folding chair and sat down. Now I feel obligated to point out that if you can make the world just *poof* away you’d at least spring for some better chairs.

Just sayin’...

Well being an introverted person you tend to spend most of your time in your own head.

He does, I can vouch for that.

… So when you spend most of your time in your own head you tend to think that no matter what the world were to throw at you you’d be able to cope with it and keep right on chugging.

It was at this particular point in time that I realize that's a complete load of bull, my legs are shaking enough to make the metal chair rattle under me. I was a fish used to his nice and comfy bowl, dumped out into an ocean I knew nothing about. It's strange, my legs seem to express the fear of the situation at hand, but my face seems to revel in it... I'm not sure what exactly is causing the grin on my face, and the rational part of me is reluctant to find out.

So there I find myself sitting, metal folding chair rattling under me as I stare across the simple wooden table at the magic man in a Fedora. Maybe I shouldn't have told my brain to shut up, because I really need something to say right about now. Luckily however, he does that for me.

“So then, Coal was it?”

Fuck that nickname.

“Yeah, that’s what a lot of people who know me call me.”

“It’s an interesting nickname, how did you get it?”

“Well... when I was six I got a little angry at something that one of the other kids I can’t remember exactly what it was that got me so angry but it was enough for me to grab his hair and start pulling. So when my Mom came to take me home after I got my ear chewed off by the teacher she steps out of the car with a stocking full of coal.”

I really hate this part of the story

“... And I started to bawl my eyes out... That's how I got my nickname.”

“Hmm, interesting. It’s odd that it’s the littlest things that stick with us the longest wouldn't you say?”

“Yeah, I guess s-”

Wait a second, my legs stopped shaking. I guess thinking about something as normal as that snapped me out of it. Did he do that on purpose?

"You did that on purpose didn't you?"

He looks off to the side with an innocent look plastered on his face. "Maybe I did."

Fucking knew it, he's picking apart my brains.

Hey, I'm right here you know. And do I really need to point this one out, or can you actually do something without the help of a figment of your imagination?

What're you talking abou-... wait... I still don't know his fucking name.

Finally.

I once again pull myself out of my inner dialogue and look at the nameless man with a Fedora who was still looking off to the side as he waited for me to speak.

"What's your name?" I ask with the sickening feeling that I might not entirely like the answer.

Slowly, he lets the innocent look fall from his face as he looked back towards me, and said with a knowing grin and said, "My name is Prometheus."

3.
2.
1.

Talking about ambition and molding people like clay.

It fucking makes sense.

Prometheus, one of the immortal Titans from Greek mythology known for his interest in the ambition of man, supposedly responsible for shaping the first men from clay and, later, giving fire to them so that they could progress. Promptly following that he was punished for giving fire to man by Zeus who chained him to a rock while an eagle ate his liver every day as it regrew. Also supposedly freed by Hercules.

That fucker.

Why not.

"... Prometheus. Now that you said that it seems kind of obvious based on what you said earlier. Then again hind-sight is 20-20."

"Well, don't be too hard on yourself. Most people don't assume a man with a Fedora is a Titan."

"So what's the reason?"

He put that innocent face on again. "Reason for what?" He chimed.

"You're an immortal who takes pleasure in watching the ambition of man, you wouldn't do this just to fuck with me. You want something."

"Perhaps I do, but I'd like to see what conclusions you can come up with on your own."

What is this a job interview?

...

Wait, actually it might be.

"Well... You want someone to be an instrument of change I would think." He looked at me expectantly as I continued, "Which would imply that you think the world to be stagnant... I don't see how it is though, one of your supposed interests is the advancement of technology and that happens daily."

"True enough, Humans have always had the desire to grow and become more than they are, the only point of giving them fire was to give them a push."

"... Then..."

It couldn't be. If humans in and of themselves are more than enough on their own...

"You're interested in the stagnation of somewhere that doesn't have any humans."

As I complete my thought I am rewarded with a large grin and round of applause from my gracious host, "Exactly. I was rather hoping you'd be able to piece that together. Now then, I suppose I've let you hang on long enough. I will tell you the specifics on the purpose of my bringing you here."

For some reason I find myself leaning forward in my seat as I feel a strange sense of anticipation. If what he was saying was true then there was a lot that it implied. It meant there was someplace out there, there was someplace that was alien, something out in the stars that was stagnant. Something beyond where any human has touched. It also meant that I would be leaving everything behind. What would happen with my home, what would my family think if I just up and disappeared. I knew a part of me loathes leaving it behind... but I can feel it, I knew it was there before, but I can feel it now like, a fire burning in my stomach.

Ambition

I'm starting to think there was a reason Zeus was so pissed about Prometheus giving man fire.

"Now then," Prometheus begins, snapping me back from my small revelation, "The place I intend to send you has no name for the world as a whole, the sentient races of the planet have never really agreed what it should be called."

Well, they probably want it to be something better than basically calling it "dirt."

"The races of the world have lost their drive, too set in their ways and pacing themselves deeper into stagnation. I intend to change that. Well, you'll be the one doing it truth be told. I'll just be watching."

Understandable, considering the last time he did something directly he was chained to a rock and had his liver eaten a bajillion times. Zeus is pretty creative.

"I will give you power, you will be man in all his ambition and cunning, but I will also give you strength beyond yourself."

Great, now he starts talking with everything being symbolic.

"You will discover this power for what it is as you go. Once you are there you will be on your own, the only one of your kind in a world never before touched by the hands of man."

The way he's talking... I can't tell if I have a choice in this or not... I'm afraid to ask.

"Now then, I think it is time to send a letter to Somepony. For the sake of mischief of course."

Wait a second, the fuck did he just say?

As I sit there with an eyebrow raised I feel confused by his choice of words he begins to write on a piece of parchment with a quill. I know under normal circumstances that'd mean a lot more, but considering everything else that has happened in the past ten minutes it barely even picks up on the radar.

It was at that moment I hear something that sounds a lot like a doorbell. Then I notice that there was a door now.

Sure, why not.

"Ah, excuse me for a moment, I have to go check on that." He says as he gets up from his chair and heads to the door. Once he had opened it and stepped through I quickly turned an eye back to the parchment and pen. Looking it over I can see that it really doesn't say all that much, but appears to be addressing a certain "Miss Celestia." I can only assume that's someone from where I'm headed.

I'm alone with an unsent letter intended for something that wasn't human.

Well, he did say it was for the sake of mischief right?

I quickly lean across the table and snatch up the paper and pen as I begin to write my own little side note at the bottom. It was a small victory but a victory nonetheless. Oddly enough, I can't think of something witty to say, and of course I began to hear the rhythmic footsteps of Prometheus coming back.

After I waste a bit more time writing down nonsense I finally managed to write down "Winter is coming."

Okay, that's weak and you know it.

I don't have any time to argue with myself as I quickly put the pen and paper where Prometheus had left it and try my hand at putting on an innocent face.

"Sorry about that, now where were we?"

"The letter?"

"Ah yes, I was done with it actually so I can just send it now. He says as he has a small smirk on his face and shot a small jet of fire from his mouth at it.

Shot fire from his mouth.

And burned it.

Why the fuck not.

"Well then," He says, cracking his neck and looking back to me. "Best be on your way, right my ambitious little dragon?"

Normally, I would make some kind of comment about how he called me a dragon, but I find myself preoccupied with the fact that the chair folded out from under me and I started falling down through the endless void of white, that was until a moment ago very solid as I begin to fly downwards with the gracefulness of a rock.

You know, one would think at a moment like this I would be thinking about the fact that the ground is probably gonna hurt when I finally reunite with it, but oddly enough I made a connection with something that was pretty damn insignificant.

He was using a quill, which I've never once used in my life. Once he left it was a ballpoint pen. That crafty son of a bitch.

---

A world away, just ready to settle down for bed as Luna had just raised the moon, the starry night sky calming. The world was calm and all was in it's place. Princess Celestia turned and walked into her room from balcony. On her nightstand she noticed a letter, it wasn't one from her student Twilight, she was sure of that. She made sure to lock each one of them away right after reading them and twilight normally doesn't send letters this late at night.

Looking towards it, and with a light from her horn she unfurled it and looked at the flowing script written on it. Definitely not her student's.

Let us see here, how to begin?

Well, I suppose the best way to do so is with introductions. I am Prometheus and while I was, as one might say, tied up for quite some time I noticed your world. I have to say it's quite interesting, but unfortunately stagnant as well. So Miss Celestia I, being the patron of progress that I am, have sent someone your way. He is not a creature native to your world, a species I personally have a great deal of interest in, they're ambitious little scamps. I am bestowing a gift upon him as I send him, one he will in time learn to master. It is my hopes he brings progress to your world, but as the past has proven on many an occasion the best intentions can at times have the worst effects. We'll just have to see how it goes won't we.

Sincerely,
Prometheus

She had no idea who this Prometheus was, it was an odd name and she was sure she would have recognized it if she had known whoever this was. His claim of "finding" our world was... strange. She found his words unnerving, who ever this was they considered the peace of her lands to be stagnation? This creature the letter speaks of is unnerving as well. What she noticed however as her gazed shifted further down she found the hurried scribblings of another.

Ha, not as smart as the bastard thinks he is. I managed to snag the paper from him. So "Miss Celestia" my name is Coal and apparently I'm supposed to stir up some dirt. I'll admit I know just as much as to what is going on as you do,, but if he's the Prometheus I'm thinking of things might be a little more complicated than he'd let us believe. Crap, he's coming back. Umm... Why did I just waste time writing Umm?

Winter is coming...

I'm disappointed with myself if that's the best I can come up with.

She found herself even more perplexed by the words of this second writer. Stir up some dirt? An odd phrase but this must be the creature that Prometheus mentioned. It was mildly comforting to know that a large mindless beast bent on destruction wasn't being sent to her lands.

Winter is coming...? It's the beginning of Summer, that doesn't make any sense.

Shaking her head at the odd letter she set it back down on her nightstand and moved to her bed to rest, why should she worry over a strange letter, it wasn't like it was going to become a problem she couldn't solve.

---

Living out near the Lizardback mountains, far from the lands directly overseen by the Princesses of the sun and Moon everypony usually was vigilant against any creatures that they might try and cause a stir in the town. A few of the colts had even claimed that they saw red little lizards spying on the town but when they checked it out there wasn't a sign of anything having been there.

Fiery Furnace had just managed to lay her head down to bed, her red mane falling in front of her eyes but not caring enough to brush it out of the way. She could have sworn she heard something. She was just imagining it though, no animal would be able to make their way this far into town without someone noticing. Those old mares tales must be getting to her.

No, there was definitely something making noise, she was sure of it, because it was getting louder. She was sure she could make out somepony saying something.

"FFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-"

The only thought that was going through her mind at that moment was what in Equestria could be making that noise, and was answered by the sound being cut off and replaced by the noise of her roof giving in as a strange form fell through and landed in the bed next to her.

So, that's what in Equestria could be making that noise.

Falling into a Mare's Bed... Kinky. (Chapter One)

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Chapter One

Falling into a Mare's Bed... Kinky.

Falling backwards through an endless void of white is a somewhat surreal feeling. It almost feels like you might just keep falling forever, not knowing if anything is getting any closer or farther away because there isn't anything to judge distance from. The only thing that lets you know that you're still falling is the tug pulling you forever downwards and the inability to find a grip on anything. I can't say exactly how long I was falling, again, nothing to judge it by. I began to fear that I might never leave this void, to forever fall through nothingness. So for all I know I took a millennium falling through that endless white void. Kind of unlikely, but so was the entire situation I found myself in.

I'm finally able to pull my thoughts away from the mild feeling of irritation at Prometheus being able to manipulate me so easily, even if was only on something as small as a letter. I find my thoughts turning to the situation I was now in. A Titan was sending me to another world. I knew from what he told me that I would be leaving behind my home, very likely to never return. Never seeing another of my own kind again. I was to be a castaway in an alien world, and I knew that.

And I was still unable to say no.

The story of Prometheus giving fire to man comes to my mind again, I have to assume it actually happened considering the reason I'm falling through this endless void. Some would assume that because Prometheus gave fire to man, he did it to help them. Thinking about it, that probably wasn't the case. He never gave the ancient humans a choice in the matter, he thrust progress onto them. I have the sickening feeling that even had I said no, he still would have sent me...

Wait a second, did something twinkle?

Looking towards it, I could in fact see something that wasn't an endless void of white. It was a small bright light, and more of them were appearing. The void of white slowly being replaced with an expanse of black dotted with points of light, and one large circle of light as the centerpiece. I began to realize I was looking out into a night sky. I felt a rush of relief as I realized that I was finally leaving that void.

You do remember what's under the sky right?

Right, the ground. Fuck this is gonna hurt.

I continue falling, now however with the whistling of wind going past me. I feel myself cringe as I imagined myself hitting the ground at who knows how fast and leaving quite the colorful mark on the ground. Man I'm morbid sometimes. Thankfully however that particular train of thought was interrupted as I hit something soft and plush.

...

Since when is the ground soft?

I have no more time to dwell on it however as I spring back off whatever it was I had hit. Whatever had cushioned my fall had the consistency of a bounce house and I flipped around, so now instead of falling backwards and imagining how much the ground was going to hurt. Now I could look at it. I also dimly noted that the folding chair had fallen with me, as it now came into my field of view... Awesome.

I whip past white puffs of cloud as I continue my perfectly controlled and executed plummet. I begin to make out shapes on the ground below me, at first they were too vague to tell what they were but I as I got frighteningly closer I begin to realize they were buildings of some kind. A few even had thin trails of smoke coming out of their chimneys.

I quickly realize I was falling directly towards some kind of small town. I had kind of been hoping there would be water under me, even if I know that falling at this speed it'd be the same as hitting concrete either way. It's a comfort thing, ya know? So with the realization that I would be in fact hitting very solid ground and it seemed to be rushing up to meet me I started to scream a very very manly scream. My voice definitely wasn't cracking or anything at all like that.

"FFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-"

One house in particular seems to single me out as I begin to close the distance between it's roof and my face. I try to cover my face with my arms but I'm falling too quickly to get them there in time as the wind works against me, my screaming cut off as I slam into the roof of the wooden building with a sickening *Crrrrack*

---

I quickly register a couple of things.

1. No longer falling (Which was cool)
2. Lots of pain (Which sucked)
3. I was laying on something soft (Which was confusing)
4. My clothes were basically shredded from falling through the roof. (Which was annoying)
5. I heard something screaming beside me.

I manage to force my eyes open, feeling the sting of the smaller bits of debris from my elegant landing as I coughed and tried to clear the air by waving my hand. Distracted by the inability to breathe I forgot something... what was it?

"AHHHHHHHHH!"

Oh yeah, the screaming. That's probably important.

I turn my head towards the sounds as I took in some details of the room I found myself. It seems to have wooden walls, a wooden floor, a broken ceiling (My bad), and a single door leading out of the room. There's furniture, a dresser and wardrobe, as well as a very plush bed that I found myself laying face down on. Inspecting the ceiling, part of me was disappointed that it wasn't in a humanoid silhouette but just a decent sized hole from something hitting it and causing large chunks to fall inward.

My head finishing it's sweep I saw the source of the screaming. It's something that looked kind of like a horse, but the proportions are all off. It's head was too big, it's leg were a bit weirdly shaped, and it huge wide eyes. Although the wide eyed part was probably because something had just fallen through it's ceiling.

Side note, the scream's feminine, so that's what I'm gonna go with.

She seems to have used up all her breath in a scream of surprise so now her mouth was agape, backpedaling along the floor to put some distance between us. I can't really blame her, I'd probably be doing the same if I was in her position.

She had deep red hair... or was it a mane? Her coat was a light grey and the eyes were dark like mine. So there I lay, stomach on the bed with my neck craning so I could look at this equine who stared back with surprise and confusion. There's only one thing I cam think to do in this situation.

"Hey, how's it going"?

... Silence. Uncomfortable, awkward silence.

"U-um hello?" She finally replies, the voice was most definitely feminine.

I push myself up off the bed, and begin to get up. I notice that she was staring at my hand, my left hand to be exact, with more than a little bit of fear in her eyes.

Why my hand? Is there something wrong... with... it.

My thought trailed off as I followed her gaze to look at my hand and saw a black scaled claw. All the parts were there, four fingers and a thumb. It's just instead of skin and nails there was scale and claws.

I think you hit your head harder than you thought.

Lifting my hand-claw-thing up, and brought it to my face so I could get a better look at it. I experiment a bit with moving it and found it to work the same way my hand had before. I shot a quick glance to my other hand, and found that it was still the way it always had been thankfully. Then I remembered something that a certain Titan, wearing a certain Fedora, said to me,

'Best be on your way, right my ambitious little dragon?'

'My ambitious little dragon.'

'Dragon.'

...

Well, that explains the claw I guess.

Eventually, I peek through the cracks of my claws. I saw the horse... equine... thing. Staring at me in fear and I could swear she was shaking... Something from another world just fell through the ceiling and landed in her bed. Then it lifted a vicious looking claw in front of it's face as it looked at you. I'm surprised she wasn't screaming again. Then she started to take a deep breath.

You jinxed it moron.

I find myself having to cover my ears at the sheer volume of the terror filled scream as the red and grey...

Fuck it, callin' it a pony.

The red and grey pony made enough noise to wake the dead. And despite the noise from the scream itself I could make out the sounds of many inhabitants of the surrounding houses falling out of their beds in surprise. While the crash could have been thought of someone particularly heavy falling out of bed, and the last scream could be attributed to someone having a nightmare, or maybe seeing a rat. This scream let everyone know something was wrong.

This time it was my turn to fall ignobly fall off the bed and clumsily try to get on my feet as the pony's scream continued. As I was stumbling around, trying to dislodge myself from the debris that surrounded the bed I futility tried to calm her down,

"Hey-hey calm down, I'm not gonna do anything. See?" I said in the calmest voice I could muster up in this situation as I raised my hand and claw and tried to give a smile. This was met with mixed results, because at my words she seems to calm down, if only slightly, but when she saw me raise my claw again and flash my omnivorous teeth she redoubled her efforts at trying to wake the dead. It also probably didn't help that standing at six feet tall I towered over her siting form.

Well, I should probably cut my losses.

I move as quickly as I can to the door I noticed earlier, making sure to not trip over the pieces of debris on the floor. I was to make my way across the room and grab the door handle, I looked back to the Pony who was still screaming her head off as I turned the handle.

Shes got a pretty good set of lungs on her if she can scream that lon- OW!

My thoughts about her lung capacity distracted me from the fact this house was built for something that walked around on four legs and was only about three feet tall standing on all fours. So the door was only around five feet high, and my beautiful face once again felt itself slamming into something solid.

"Son of a bitch that hurt!" I yelled clutching my face, feeling a warm and wet sensation coming from my nose as I guessed it was probably bleeding now.

I do my best to ignore the pain coming from my poor face and ducked my head under the doorway. I look out into the hallway the door led to, and at the end I saw a stairway leading down, likely to the first floor. Unfortunately, between me and it was a bulkier version of the pony from the other room except instead of a red mane it's was grey going on white. It was bulkier and it appeared more masculine so I assumed this one was male.

It's eyes go wide in a similar fashion to the one from the other room as it's gaze meets mine. It had to bend it's neck to look up at my face and the combination of blood seeping through my fingers on top of the fact I probably didn't look too happy after slamming my face into a wall made him stumble back in fear.

Perfect.

Taking advantage of the creature's backpedaling, I manage to rush past it towards the stairs without him causing me much trouble, in fact he moved out of my way. Probably thought I was going to attack him or something.

Mwahahaha, run in terror little creatures.

Brain, now is not the time.

I feel kind of bad falling through their roof and proceeding to scare the living hell out of them, but I didn't have time to waste. From what I saw when I was falling this was a town. Towns usually didn't take too well when big scary things fall from the sky with blood dripping from their face, they tended to jab big scary creatures with pointy things.

...

It's kind of depressing thinking of myself as some kind of "Big scary creature."

Making my way to the bottom of the stairs, and I hear muffled voices coming from behind me but I ignore them as I looked around for an exit out of this building. It hadn't looked all that big when I was falling so a door shouldn't be too hard to find. I looked around and found that I was in some kind of living room, and a doorway led into what looked like a kitchen if the stove I could see was any indication. Looking in the other direction I found another door. I make my way over to it, my still normal hand covering my bleeding nose.

Trying to turn the handle with my new (And very shiny) claw I found it was locked. A moment of panic filled me as I tried to turn it again with a bit more force and I heard the crack of wood giving away and found myself holding the metal doorknob in my claw as it had a section of the door attached while the rest, no longer the having lock holding it in place, slowly swung open.

... Did I just break the door?

I stand dumbfounded as I look at the brass doorknob in my claw. It took me a moment to fully register that I had actually broken off the lock from the door. It takes the sound of movement upstairs, as well as movement outside, to finally spur me back into action.

Pushing the door open with my shoulder as I drop the doorknob and made my way into the street. It wasn't anything particularly fancy, just a well worn dirt path. What really caught my attention however was the sound of hooves hitting the ground, and as I turned my head to look at the source of the sound I found myself staring down several ponies like the ones I had found upstairs.

The only difference, these had armor and spears. Pointy, pointy spears.

Fuck.

Hey bud, I know you're still enjoying having a cool new claw but you should probably get it in gear. 'Cause last I checked spears still hurt quite a bit.

I hate it when my brain is right, it makes it a lot harder to say he's full of shit.

The half-dozen or so ponies were quickly closing in on me, spears leveled and their iron armor glinting in the pale moonlight. It might have been a sight to see if I wasn't preoccupied with the fact they intended to see if they had sharpened their spears well by goring me.

Looking off to the side I noticed a small wooden wagon and crates piled up on one side of the road. Now, to these three foot tall or so ponies, the crates wouldn't be a viable way to get onto the roof. However, for a certain six foot tall biped they would provide a very helpful boost.

I take off at a run towards the crates, which unfortunately, brought me closer to the charging Spearme- er... Spearponies. It's a little unnerving to see those spears getting closer and closer to me as I basically ran towards them. They paused momentarily in their charge as I took long strides in their direction which thankfully allowed me to make it to the wagon before they got too close with their spears.

I took long strides up the crates climbing high enough so that I could propel myself high enough to land with both feet on the building's roof. I heard the Spearponies... that still feels awkward to say... skid to a stop on the road below me as I began to run along the rooftops.

That's right equines, what do have to say about that? Can't climb too well can you?

I continue my run across the roofs feeling confident in my safety for the moment as I was fairly certain the four legged equines wouldn't be able to get up onto the roofs to jab at me with their pointy pointy spears. Now that I was away from I found myself thinking about how they could possibly manage to keep up a gallop while clutching a spear in their fore hoof. For that matter, how did they even manage to hold a grip on them in the first place? Last I checked hooves weren't ideal for holding something.

"Stop right there creature!" I heard someone call out from behind me, drawing me out of my train of thought. The fact that someone had said something to me wasn't what caught my attention my attention, more so it sounded as though it came from above me.

Looking over my shoulder and towards the sky and sure enough I spot another of the armored ponies. The main difference I noted was the fact this one had wings.

Now that's just cheating.

Now I had to worry about ones on the ground as well as ones in the air. That's just peachy.

I know I don't really have too much time to dwell on it, so I just kept on running. The more I ran on these roofs the more I began to realize that this town really wasn't all that small at all, it had just appeared that way because I had first started to see it from so damn high up.

I had to adopt a strategy of changing my elevation so that I wasn't ever able to be pinned down by the flying ones or the ones on the ground for too long. I ended up having one too many close calls as I barely managed to avoid the thrusting spears which made my already battered clothes all that much more worse for the wear.

I had really liked this shirt too.

Off in the distance I could see what looked like a wall, which filled me with hope that I was finally reaching the edge of this damn town. For once tonight it looked like my luck was actually starting to get just a little bit better as the buildings were built so close to the edge of the inner side of the wall that I would probably only need to make a hop skip and a jump to find myself out of this place and away from these equines and their spears.

Just when I was jumping the gap to get to the last building between me and the wall, as if to contradict my earlier thought that my luck was starting to turn for the better, I felt a rush of cold air as something akin to a large spray of icicles shot past me. The feeling of it made me stumble in my step as I was caught off guard by it and ended up tumbling my way down the roof.

I was barely able to catch the lip of the roof with my right hand as I dangled over the edge of the roof, my body swaying as I looked in the direction I had felt the blast of cold air come from. Standing on the wall looking down at me I saw another one of the ponies in armor, this one looked like it had some some kind of horn surrounded in a pale blue light coming out of it's forehead. It began to lower it's head slightly to aim it's horn towards me and the glowing surrounding it intensified as I pieced together just where the blast of cold air come from.

I know that I could never get out of the way of it's next shot, as I hold myself up with just one hand. If I dropped down I wouldn't be able to get back up onto the roof and be able to make my way over the wall, and if I didn't drop down I would get blasted and end up falling to the ground anyway.

Damned if you do damned if you don't huh?

Pretty much.

I was frozen with indecision as the pony did whatever it did with it's horn and before I could convince myself to let go of the roof and fall down to the waiting one son the ground it sent another show of icicles at me. I held my clawed left hand up in a futile gesture to block some of the deadly volley as the icicles flew at me.

The icicles seemed to be almost drawn to my outstretched claw and as they collided with it they seemed to almost be drawn into it, the cold wisps of air coiling around my arm. My eyes grew wide, as did the eyes of the pony who had originally fired the deadly volley, as the deadly shards of ice disappeared into my claw.

Holy shit this has to be the biggest sugar rush I've ever felt.

I feel energy spreading throughout my body, and I feel like I could lift a mountain, put in back down, and then jump over it. Although right now I just settled for pulling myself back up onto the roof and running across it to the wall. I felt a grin spread across my face as I jumped up onto the wooden wall and the pony who had been shooting what we both had thought were deadly projectiles backed away in fear as my shadow fell over him.

I leap from the battlements of the wall as I finally escape this town. I feel the cool night breeze invigorate me as I leap out into the open air, the adrenaline and energy filled grin still on my face as I looked out at the twenty foot some drop bellow me.

That wasn't a problem though, I wasn't afraid of heights anymore.

Because I have wings.

---

The Captain of the Guard sat there as he watched the black winged figure glide out into the night away from the city. He had put almost the entire guard for the city out to catch whatever it had been. It had just fallen from the sky and crashed into one of the buildings in the city and then sent them all on a merry chase.

The Guardponies of Ironhoof have always been wary of dangerous creatures in the area, and the fact one had managed to get into the middle of the city was very unnerving, and the city was quickly thrown into a mild uproar.

It was surprising that something on two legs had been able to move as quickly as it had, and even with the Pegasi in the air around it they still hadn't been able to pin it down. Even when they had gotten close to strike at it the creature had always managed to move out of the way just in time, the spears only serving to tear into it's tattered clothing.

What had surprised the Unicorn Captain even more was when the creature has been dangling by it's unclawed fore hoof it had raised it's black claw towards his ice storm spell and just... took it.

The grin that came onto the creature's face had nearly been enough to make the captain question his attempts to kill whatever it was with magic. When a black mist came from it's back and left two black draconic wings pushing their way through the tattered clothing on it's torso he definitely regretted it.

When it finally had jumped out of the city and glided it's way into the night he didn't even order anypony to follow it.

Folding Chair the Dragonslayer is Best Pony... Awesome. (Chapter Two)

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Chapter Two

Folding Chair the Dragonslayer is Best Pony... Awesome.

It took me a little while for the rush I had gained from when my claw touched that burst of ice for me to some back to my senses. It wasn't so much that I didn't realize what was going on, I just hadn't cared at the time. For a couple of seconds I felt like I was on the top of the world, and I felt as though nothing could stop me.

So when I finally started thinking rationally again I found my new appendages... surprising.

Wings huh? Well at least I got a pair instead of just one like the claw. It would've been really strange trying to fly with just one wing.

I find gliding through the air to be strangely calming. I'm not flying exactly, as I'm not actually flapping my wings as much as they were just catching the air and holding aloft, and in a way it's very relaxing relaxing. I can smell the cool night air and the wind was blowing through my ruined clothes. It was definitely a nice change of pace from plummeting from the sky like a rock. The only thing that kept bugging me was why I had wings. Because honestly, I have no clue.

For that matter the same could be said of my left hand turned claw, it's black scales matching my hair and new found wings. I didn't really have the opportunity to think about it very much when I first noticed my hand had changed, but now that I had a moment to myself I felt myself wondering why exactly my these things were happening.

I mentioned it earlier when I first noticed the claw, Prometheus had called me an ambitious little dragon and with the wings making an appearance I couldn't help but think he had meant that in a very literal sense. There was also what had happened with that one horned Pony, now that I can think for a minute I put two and two together, and realize it's basically a unicorn.

I almost got murdered by a unicorn... How many people can say that?

I should really feel more upset with everything that has happened truth be told. For some reason, I just can't find much fault with what the townsfolk did because when I thought about it while their reactions were perhaps a bit extreme it wasn't very surprising.

A yawn escapes my lips as I looked out into the rolling hills before, noting that they eventually led up to some kind of mountain range. The chase had taken a lot out of me, and in comparison to the rush of energy combined with my adrenaline I feel extremely sluggish. I think it probably isn't the best of ideas to just plop down in the middle of nowhere and take a nap so I decided to find a better place to hole up for the night, and then I could look around for something to eat.

I feel myself drifting closer and closer to the ground as my short ride in the sky came to an end. I landed on my feet and now that I was firmly on the ground I turned my head to look back over my shoulder at one of my wings to inspect it further. It definitely wasn't any kind of bird's wind, that's for sure and based on what Prometheus had said it was evidently a dragon's wing sized for his body. It looked like they were around five feet long each, so fully extended from end to end they'd reach about eleven feet across give or take when I take my shoulder width into account.

They sort of scrunched up behind my back naturally when I landed, just as they had unfurled when I had leaped into the air off the wall. They're still foreign enough that I didn't have much conscious control over them, but I could feel them when I prodded them a bit with my fingers so they were definitely a part of my body now, just one that'd take a little bit of getting used to.

I figure the middle of the night probably isn't the best time to try and teach myself how to fly, so I just settle for using my familiar feet as I trudged my way over the rough hills that lead towards the mountains which when I peaked a hill and looking towards then, were surprisingly close.

So then Lizardman, you just ran for your life from a bunch of technicolor equines, how do you feel?

Shut up, I wasn't about to just go around trying to fight an entire town. That'd just be stupid and a good way to make a terrible first impression.

I think you made a pretty terrible first impression as is.

Trying my best to ignore my own internal ramblings I climb my way up another hill, I find myself feeling thankful that my wings folded up on their own because the wind started to pick up and being dragged around by my wings would have been a pain. I just kept moving forward, intent on finding a place to lay down for some sleep far away from any four legged creatures with spears. A particularly strong gust of wind hits me, and I'm thrown off balance causing me to tumble back down the hill I had just reached the top of.

Perfect, now the wind hates me too.

These rough and rocky hills are stable enough to easily walk on, but when you tried to grab onto a rock to stop yourself from falling uncontrollably it tended to just get pulled with you. Rolling side over side down the hill I find myself being protected from a lot of the more painful parts of rolling down a rough hill by my wings and I didn't feel much at all on the outside of them. Good to know they were decently tough, I won't have to worry about tearing them all the time, I can't imagine how much that would hurt. I was blown in a direction that would be left in relation to the mountains and it was a different direction than when I had walked up the hill the first time.

By the time I came to a stop I had a few minor bruises, nothing major especially when compared to the massive lump on my side from when I had crashed through the roof of a building. I grumbled a bit as I pushed myself up off the ground and looked around to see just how far I had rolled.

I'm surprised by what I see, as I find that I had rolled into some kind of cave that seemed to have been carved out of the hillside, and it was placed in such a manner that the surrounding hills blocked sight of the entrance unless you were basically right on top of it as I was right now. I stand up feeling worse for the wear, while the roll down the hill hadn't been very physically taxing it had been a reminder I wasn't in the best of shape right now and with the cave in front of me promising shelter for the night I went inside. The walls of the cave blocking the vicious whipping of the wind outside and was a welcome relief.

"Hello? Is anyone here?" I call out, knowing that the odds of someone responding were slim, it had more so been to check and see if there was anything making it's home here already. Satisfied with the lack of response beyond a slight echo as my voice bounced off the walls of the cave I made my was inside, found a moderately comfortable rock near the entrance of the cave and let my eyelids close.

---

I feel myself slowly waking up, and under normal circumstances would like nothing more than to just lay there and enjoy my warm bed. Today however, it was decidedly uncomfortable, mainly due to the fact that it was a rocky floor and not my actual bed. The rising sun lighting up the entrance of the cave only served of a reminder of the fact that I am not a morning person even when I was well fed and in my own bed.

I'm never going to get this crick out of back.

I groggily manage to get myself onto my feet as I try to make myself a bit more coherent. While I was doing that however I start to smell something... It's, very odd. I've never smelled anything like it before and there really wasn't much I can say to describe what exactly what it is that I smell. I decide on getting up to go investigate the smell, and it seems to be coming from deeper into the cave.

As I was getting up, I conveniently managed to forget the fact that my left hand was currently a claw, and as I went to scratch my itchy scalp I managed to jab myself in the head.

"Ah! Oh come on, am I really stupid enough to do that!?"

Evidently you are.

Letting out a frustrated sigh I get to my feet and turn to go and investigate the source of whatever it was that I smelled. oddly enough the smell of it was making me hungry and my stomach let out a low rumble, reminding me just how hungry I had been before I went to sleep last night.

I can just make out something that seemed to sparkle in the sunlight entering the cave and I as I make my way over to it I see something that I could hardly believe.

There was a giant pile of gems sitting in the back of the cave.

And it smells so fucking delicious.

Now, it's been awhile since I took health class in high school, but I'm pretty sure gems were inedible. If that was the case why could I smell them, and why did they smell so delicious?

Walking over to the sparkling item on the ground I could now see that it's an emerald of some kind, and a decent sized one at that. It looks like a fair sized apple for crying out loud!

Bending over to pick it up I grasp it in my left hand, using the tips of my claw to hold it up to the light. Yep, it's definitely a gem, and I can definitely smell it. Despite the fact I can't really place the smell I'm pretty sure that gems aren't supposed to have a smell in the first place. I know I'm a bit crazy for thinking this, but on an empty stomach after having had to run for my life this emerald was looking pretty tasty right about now.

Taking a swing in the dark, I brought the emerald up to my mouth and took a bite, and it crunched!

Standing there looking at the once whole emerald now with a chunk missing out of the side, I could have swore I just bit into a green apple. I could taste the sourness of a green apple, and if it weren't for the difference in texture and lack of juice I would have sworn it was a very good green apple if I had been blindfolded.

Dimly finishing chewing what was in my mouth I eventually swallowed and it went down like every other meal I had ever had in my life.

Just then, I hear the sound of something very large moving around behind me, and in hindsight I might have noticed it earlier ,if I hadn't been so distracted by the fact I just took a bite out of an emerald.

"Well well well, what is it we have here, something hoping to run off with a quick prize is it?" I hear a voice boom from behind me in a feminine voice.

Turning around I found myself staring face to face with a... giant... orange... dragon.

Ya know, thinking about it there was probably a reason all those gems were all stacked in a pile wouldn't you say?

I find a dragon about the size of a large bus looking down at me, it's form taking up most of the exit, and I doubt it'd politely move out of the way to let me leave. If memory serves dragons tend to be just a little bit protective of their hoards.

The dragon raised an eyebrow as I turned around as it said, "Now then isn't this a surprise, I don't recognize what you are." The dragon's gaze shifts toward the emerald in my hand and added. "... And there are not many creatures that can eats gems like a dragon can. So tell me, what are you?"

"Oh me? I-I'm nothing at all." I stammer out as I drop the emerald to the floor, "Just a little monkey with wings who was just leaving, sorry about the gem."

"Oh no, you're not leaving just yet." The dragon says as it begins to make it's way into the cave, which prompts me to start trying to put as much distance between me and it as possible. "I'm more interested in you than I am about the gem you were eating. You have a very interesting scent, and now that I look at you more closely you have the wings and a claw of a black scales."

A what now? She must mean my black dragon claw and wings.

"Black scales are very rare you know that? Add that to the fact that besides the foreign scent you have, you also smell of dragon. It's... interesting."

I'm nearly backed all the way into the gem pile, and part of me was hoping that the dragon wouldn't roast me while I was standing in front of it's hoard.

"I'm not interesting, not one bit. I'm just a strange creature with tattered clothes. Nothing interesting about that, not one bit." I said feeling the fear rising up in my throat as it stopped twenty feet away from me.

"Oh but there most certainly is, now then creature is it rude among your kind to not give a lady your name?"

... So it's a chick... That just might explain why it's enjoying torturing me so much.

And you call me an asshole.

"Well, no... It's just that I was distracted by... your stunning scales! Yes, they caught the sunlight coming into the cave that I was at a loss for words." I manage to pull out of my ass.

I could swear I saw her grin a bit as I said that as she says, "Well creature, you know flattery will get you everywhere. Now then, what are you called?"

"Well, I'm Coal, at least that's what a Titan called me."

Did I mention that I ramble when I'm scared out of my mind? Because I'm pretty sure I do sometimes.

Luckily, she seems to ignore my mentioning of a Titan as she says, "Well now Coal, I'm surprised you were named that, personally if my offspring had black scales I would name him something more impressive like onyx perhaps. At least it matches the color of your scales I suppose."

Well, my parents didn't name me Coal, but I'm not about to correct her.

"Yes, I don't know what my parents were thinking, and what is your name miss?" I say, trying to buy as much time as I can, and maybe get on her good side.

She raises her head in pride, almost hitting the ceiling as she says, "My name, is Cobalt." She says with no small amount of self appreciation. As she shifts her position I could swear I can see something outside of the cave that isn't rocky hills but I can't tell what.

"Cobalt? But that's blue, and your scales are orange." I stupidly blurt out, as I was distracted with trying to figure out what exactly he saw and why it felt familiar.

Sometimes I think you just try and get yourself killed so you can get rid of me.

Before I can mentally berate myself on my stupidity any further she lets out a sigh and says, "Yes, both of my parents were blue dragons, and when I was an egg that was the color of my shell so they named me Cobalt before I had hatched."

"How does that work?"

"I've wondered about that myself. Enough about me however, we were just talking about your being in my cave weren't we?"

Wait a second... It's the chair. The folding chair that fell with me. How the hell did it get here? I know I glided for a decent distance on my wings after I left the town, and I walked for a few hours at least after that. so how is it here? Wait, when I hit whatever I hit in the sky it made me bounce and flip over, and the chair must not have bounced so it went straight down whereas I was knocked somewhere else.

"You know, it's impolite to keep a lady waiting."

Oh right, the dragon, I had almost forgot.

"I apologize miss Cobalt, I just stumbled upon your home by accident after I left a nearby town and I was tired. I didn't realize someone lived here." I say, trying to think of something, anything, to get myself out of this situation.

Well, you have a chair.

...

He's right, I do have a chair.

I know the best time to catch someone off guard is when they're in the middle of talking, so I'm going to wait until she starts talking. Then, I'll do the stupidest thing I've ever done in my life.

"I see, so you're the one who caused that uproar? That would explai-" After she gets into her thought I start running out towards the exit of the cave and I actually manage to duck under her leg and make it past her.

That's just the first hurdle though.

Next comes the ring of fire.

"IT IS RUDE TO INTERRUPT A LADY!" Cobalt bellows as she turns herself around to face me. Come on, it's not that far outside the cave.

I manage to make my way out of the cave but Cobalt surprises me with her agility as she manages to spin around, slamming her tail into the cave wall, and bound her way out of the cave and narrows the gap between is to little more than ten feet as the force of her impact on the ground throws me off my balance and I end up on my knees. That's alright though, the chair is right in front of me.

"Now then Coal, let us see if showing you just how easily coal burns is enough to teach you to treat a lady with respect."

I see her begin to open her maw and I can see the fire beginning to lick it's way up her throat as I feel the same feeling that caused me to freeze up when the unicorn had pointed it's glowing horn at me. This time though I fought past that feeling.

And I throw a metal folding chair at a dragon.

I briefly see Cobalt's eyes widen in surprise as the improvised projectile soars into her face, smacking her right between the eyes. The unexpected blow, while certainly not enough to put her out of action surprises her enough to cause her head to flinch to the side and forget about roasting me for a moment.

Then I ran, and I would've made a Frenchman proud.

As I quickly learn, there probably isn't any better motivation you could get to get you to run like the wind, than the thought of a very angry dragon hot on your heels. I couldn't think of much besides running as I heard Cobalt use quite a bit of colorful language that most certainly doesn't befit a lady.

So distracted I was by my fear that my foot not hitting solid ground was the only warning I received as my foot slipped into a small tunnel that was well concealed by a shrub.

"Son of a Bitccccccchhh!"

I manage to yell, my voice echoing off the tunnel walls as I once again found myself falling uncontrollably.

Have I mentioned how much I hate falling?

---

After several long minutes, Cobalt finally manged to calm herself down after she saw the bipedal creature fall down one of the tunnel the Kobolds used to keep an eye on her. While she was still fuming she had to admit, this creature known as Coal is definitely interesting. He is a creature unlike any other she has seen in her little under a century of living and he appeared as if from nowhere.

Cobalt often spent quite a bit of time observing the city of Ironhoof, and she had been doing just that just when Coal had fallen from the sky and the city had reacted like a beehive being poked with a stick, it had been interesting to watch to say the least, the peaceful city being thrown into an uproar as some creature ran around inside.

Coal had best not think he has seen the last of Cobalt, oh no, he's far too interesting to just let walk away. And besides, he still hasn't apologized for throwing a chair at her. Unfortunately, she was going to have to be patient, because for now he was in the Kobold''s claws. For his sake this creature best be able to think on his feet, because with the Kobolds taking too long to think might just end very, very badly.

And if he goes and gets himself killed Cobalt won't forgive him for dying before apologizing.

Kobolds and an Ancient City... Why not. (Chapter Three)

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Chapter Three

Kobolds and an Ancient City… Why not.

I hate falling, so very much. The funny thing is I didn't really care one way or another about it twenty four or so hours ago. Then I fell from the sky, fell off a roof, fell down a hill, and now I’m falling down a hole in the ground.

Well, I guess falling is better than being set on fire.

Thinking of the cup as half full are we?

I vaguely notice the walls of the tunnel appeared to have been carved out using tools, not some natural formation or, as I piece together that Cobalt probably carved out her cave from the hillside, dug out using large claws. No, this was definitely done by tools.

Too bad I don’t have the time on my hands to ponder who would have dug a tunnel here as I tumble down it. I felt my head slam into a wall at least three times, my wings instinctively moving to try and shield some of the blow so at least I avoided cracking my skull open, and I can’t even begin to try and count the times I hit one of my limbs on something.

It probably didn’t help too much that this tunnel was small, it was circular and around four feet in all directions but try as much as I did I wasn’t able to stop my descent largely in part that the further down I went the darker it got, and from the times I managed to slam my shins into them there were some kind of crude steps going downwards.

I land with a thud on the ground that knocks the breath out of me. Trying to catch my breath I realize I must have finally reached the bottom on the tunnel, or at least a part where it leveled out for a little while.

Once I get my breath back I try and take a quick inventory of myself the best as I can in the pitch black around me.

Okay, is everything still attached?

Okay, arms, hands… hand and claw, fingers, legs, wings. All still there.

Yup, everything’s there.

Alright, anything broken?

Everything seems to be moving alright, and beyond a lot of bruises everything seemed to be in working order.

Heh, you’re lucky you didn't snap your neck.

Letting out a groan caused by the soreness of my body I started to try and get up, but as I try to reach my full standing height I slam my head into the ceiling before remembering that the tunnels had only been around four feet high when I could still see.

"Well, it’s only one more bump to add to the dozens I've gotten in the past day." I say as I hunch down a bit so that I can move around a bit, my wings felt a little cramped and I knew if I stayed like this too long my back would start killing me but it was better than slamming my head into the ceiling. I grope outward towards where I think the side of the tunnel is and feel the rough stone against my fingers.

Now then, I have a choice. I can continue down this pitch black tunnel and walk into who knows what, and considering something had to have made this tunnel and carved those steps leading out that might not be one of the healthiest choices to make. Or, I could head back up and out of the tunnel and see if Cobalt had cooled down a bit after I threw that chair in her face.

...

Definitely the tunnel.

Yep, hands down.

So for once, I continue onward in agreement with myself, as I use the wall against my hand as my guide down the tunnel. The slow pace set by the pitch black combined with the hunched over posture is very unnerving and the longer I'm down here, the more and more I feel like something is going to jump out at me.

I feel my foot hit something solid fairly hard and yelp in surprise at it. When I do so for just a moment I see the tiniest speck of light, so small I wouldn't have noticed it if there was any light around, appear in front of my face for just a second.

The hell was that?

I think you're starting to go crazy... er-crazier I mean.

I know I saw something what in the world was it.It was there for a second and the next it was gone, and it had appeared right in front of me to top it all off. Come on, does this entire world just not want to give me a break for once? Well, at least I don't think things can get much worse than having a dragon breathe fire at you.

...

Dragons breathe fire.

Wow I'm an idiot sometimes, I can breathe fire too can't I? I saw a speck of flame come from my mouth when I yelped.

Alright, this might actually help a bit if I can actually get it to work. Alright... how in the world do I do this. I mean, it's not like I feel there's now a part of my gut that'll shoot fire if I focus on it. Well, Cobalt seemed to take in a deep breath when she said she was going to burn me alive, so lets start with that.

Slowly beginning to take in a deep breath, letting the air fill up my lungs I try and get the same feeling of air being forced out when I yelped. Feeling the pressure building and the feeling of something coming up my throat and for a second I felt like I might be making myself throw up, but when I opened my mouth I saw fire.

Freaking fire, from my mouth. What now world, eat it.

Lasting only for a second I could see a small jet of fire coming out from my face and extending a few feet down the tunnel, lighting it up briefly. I could feel the maniacal grin forming on my face as I saw that flame. I wanted this feeling to last, for once since I landed in this place I felt good, even my battered body couldn't get in the way of the feeling. Heck, not even after I took that attack from the unicorn had I felt like this, when my claw blocked the attack I had only felt a surge of energy.

This... this was a feeling I wasn't too familiar with, but I guess I'll find out exactly what it is in due time. That's the way it tend to go with things like this after all, sort it out when the time comes for it. Right now though, there was the small matter of moving forward through this cramped tunnel. Tearing a piece of my tattered shirt off with my claw I take a moment to wind it around one of my fingers and hold it up. Taking in another deep breath, hoping that my dragon claw would be fire resistant because if it wasn't this would hurt quite a bit.

This time aiming for a bit more control with it, I managed to shoot a small flame and it hit the cloth on my claw. Luckily the flame isn't burning my claw, as I had expected, it felt a little warm sure but it wasn't burning me so I was fine with it. Especially considering now I have an improvised torch to work with.

Looking off into the light cast by the burning cloth I see that the tunnel continues down for a while still, and I know that by the time I get to the end of it my neck is going to be killing me. Oh well, onward and upwards. I'm not really sure for how long I was walking, minutes? hours? It's hard to tell when there isn't any sun to go by.

I do finally reach the end of the tunnel however, and it opens up into a decently sized cavern. This cavern, while it appeared to have been naturally formed, showed signs of something working the walls and floor with tools. I can't see any reason why someone would do that though. I mean digging a tunnel is understandable, but why waste time working on a natural cavern that has nothing in it?

Taking a few steps into the room, thankful to finally be able to stand up straight, I start walking out into the cavern, looking off into the gloom cast by my light.

Suddenly I hear a subtle *Click*.

I feel something whiz past my chest fast, and it causes me to freeze up for a moment making my eyes go wide in surprise. Looking in the direction where the whiz had felt to be going I see a long, vicious looking dart laying on the ground below what looks to be a decently sized new hole in the wall. Looking in the opposite direction I notice several holes in the wall leading across the cavern.

So that's why someone would spend time working on a cavern with nothing in it. Traps.

With new caution in my step I start making my way across the cavern much more slowly and carefully. I make a large effort of avoiding anything on the floor that looked unnatural, fearing some kind of pressure plate. I don't relish the idea of another close call with a dart. The last one had almost taken a chunk out of my gut as is.

Wait...

The tunnel had been around four feet high and the dart had been shot at a similar height these traps had likely been designed by creatures of around that height and intended for them to be used against either rivals or other creatures of similar height. The cavern ceiling was high too. High enough for someone with wings to get some breathing room...

It's a stupid idea, the closest I've been to flying so far was gliding and letting my wings catch the air under me. There had been basically no effort on my part when I did that. What I'm thinking about now though would involve me actively flying under my own power.

Oh come on ya big baby, what's the worst that could happen?

I hate you.

Shaking my head I try my best to get the butterflies out of my stomach and try and move my wings. It takes me a little while to find the new appendages and try to actively move them, but I do manage to extend them and move them around in circles a bit. It would probably have been helpful to see Cobalt fly, but considering she has a very different body to try and move I don't think it'll make all that much of a difference. Or at least I hope so.

Tentatively moving my wings a bit more I slowly start to feel my feet lifting up off of the ground.

I have to admit, this is kind of exciting.

Feeling encouraged by my feet starting to lift off of the ground I start flapping my wings with faster and with more intensity. I'm not disappointed as I feel the air being pushed under me as I start to rise further up. The feeling of weightlessness is invigorating, and I find myself idly wondering how birds can ever stand being on the ground.

Experimenting a bit further I manage to get myself slowly moving forward, and while it wasn't what anyone would call graceful I think it's pretty damn good for someone who didn't even have wings for all too long. Without having to walk like every rock was a landmine even at my current pace flying I was getting across the room a lot faster and with a lot less anxiety. Reaching the opposite side of the cavern I find myself looking at another tunnel similar to the first.

Oh come on, my neck was just starting to feel better too.

Continuing onward I repeat a similar process from the previous tunnel and flying whenever I came into a cavern large enough for it. Taking stock as I made my way through the underground I notice that whoever had built this place really liked traps. From my aerial view of the caverns I could see all manner of traps arrayed. I'm really glad I have these wings right about now. One wrong step down on the ground would be pretty painful.

Finally however, just as the light of my "torch" begins to die out, I start to see a light at the end of the tunnel I'm crawling my way through. Excitement takes hold as I think I've finally found something besides neck breaking tunnels and trap filled caverns. As I get closer and closer to the light my senses are bombarded, and I realize that there was a great deal of sounds and smells coming from that direction as well.

As I pass through the opening, I find myself looking out into an entire city built under the ground. I'm not even kidding, the place is enormous and easily dwarfed the town I had originally found myself in. There didn't appear to be any torches around, but I can see some kind of lava river giving off the light I saw earlier, and there was a large amount of three foot tall lizard-like bipeds walking around the city and I found myself assuming that they were the inhabitants of this place.

Oh, and there were two of them on either side of me armed with spears. It seems like I walked in right when one of them was in the middle of the yawn. When he noticed me come out of the tunnel and rise to my full height the little guy looked positively dumbfounded by what he saw. The one who was yawning had scales the color of a low flame, and the other had patchy muddy brown mixed with black.

Why do these things look familiar, I know I haven't seen anything like them but something about them is ringing a bell.

"W-what it be Nirkul!?" The one who had been yawning says looked at me his voice slightly reminiscent of a yipping dog, evidently his drowsiness left the moment he laid eyes on me.

"Not know! Not know!" The one who was evidently named Nirkul replies.

Remembering the last time I started some of the natives had ended I hold up my unclawed hand in what I hoped was a disarming gesture as I say, "Hold on guys, I'm not gonna do anything." Extending my wings a bit add "I mean hey, I'm even part lizard, see?"

Their eyes bulge even more as the still unnamed one says, "It talks! it talks!"

"No, look Virnuln, it have dragon wings! You not know what that means!?" Nirkul says, causing his fellow to perk up at the thought.

So the second one's name was Virnuln. I really hope I don't have to pronounce any of these guys' names any time soon.

"Um... what does my having wings mean?" I ask in what I'm hoping is a calm and even voice.

"Name!? Name!? What is it!?" Nirkul asks, seemingly ignoring my question in his obvious excitement. Well, excitement was better than being chased with spears, and I really don't relish the thought of trying to get back out the way I came with these guys on my tail.

"Well... I'm called Coal if that's what you're asking..." I say, feeling just a bit awkward with the way they're talking. It's understandable sure, but the way they talk is a bit jarring to hear. Hmm, these guys are really reminding me of something but what is it?

"See Virnuln? Name match scales!"

"So, what does me having wings mean?" I ask again, hoping to actually receive an answer this time.

"It important! Very Important! We not say right, no no, see Kurltmak!" Virnuln says

"Who is Kurltmak?"

"He the Dreganem, leader and knower of old things!" Nirkul says to me, after he does so he turns to Virnuln and says, "Go! Go! Tell Kurltmak!"

Virnuln's head bobs a few times so quickly I think he might have rattled his brains a little. He quickly takes off at a run down one of the larger carved stone streets leading into the city while Nirkul was still stared up at me with his mouth slightly agape.

... Awkward silence again.

Why the heck to these things seem so familiar, it feels like it's staring me in the face... Wait a Second, are these guys Kobolds?

Looking at the little guy named Nirkul in front of me again it certainly seemed like he was a Kobold. He was short, lizard like, his voice sounded kind of like a yipping dog, and he didn't look at that physically strong.

For once in my life, playing board games in the basement with my friends was actually helping me out. Kobolds were monsters that the players could fight as they played the fantasy Role-playing game known as Dungeons and Dragons. Generally, they were considered weak and often used as cannon fodder minions as they served the dragons they fanatically revered. Usually getting creamed by any adventurer worth their spit, due to their size and relatively weak strength. My heart had always gone out to the little guys when they were mentioned, I mean it must really suck to be them you know? Considered so weak as to be disregarded by people without a second thought later on in the game.

I however always viewed Kobolds in a different light, still do in fact. Something I always felt that people overlooked was the fact that Kobolds aren't stupid. I mean seeing these two's reactions to me walking in and the way they talk probably doesn't support that too much. While they might be fanatical at times and their brains go at about the speed of light at times which makes them seem jittery and stupid but the past half-hour or so of me avoiding traps would beg to differ.

Kobolds are crafty, and what they don't have in raw strength they make up for with tricks, traps, and overwhelming numbers. I really hope this isn't some kind of ploy they're using to get me to lower my guard.

Nirkul shakes his head to get his focus back as he notices me staring at him and says, "Come! Come! Hall of the Dreganem, where Kurltmak is! Follow! Follow!"

He says as he begins to hustle in his clunky set of miniature armor towards the city and looks back over his shoulder looking at me expectantly. I feel a moment of reluctance to follow brought upon by my previous experiences with the sentient races of this world, but thinking about it I don't really have much choice in the matter. These guys evidently built the tunnels I used to get here and they definitely know them better than I do and I doubt if they wanted to catch me there wasn't much chance of me escaping.

Giving Nirkul a nod I begin to follow him as he runs ahead of me into the streets, shooing anyone who might be in the way of my path towards "The Hall of the Dreganem."

Do you have any idea how ironic it would be for the one monster you always kind of liked to be the one that killed you? Becaue if they're leading you further in to get surrounded, you're boned.

As I walk down the wide street of the underground city I see Kobolds on the sides of the street having similar reactions to the ones Nirkul and Virnuln had when they saw me. Quite a bit of yipping, shouting, and excitement followed my walk through the street.

I have to say, if this is how they treat everyone who stumbles their way down here I can't imagine what reaction they'd have if someone important actually showed up. Maybe it's just the wings.

Walking down the street besides the excited Kobolds I see that almost all of the buildings in this underground city appeared to be very old. From the look of the buildings this place could have been around for thousands of years. The age of the buildings wasn't what really caught my attention though, what really surprised me was how well crafted all the buildings looked. Whenever Kobold construction was represented in D&D the only parts that weren't crude and ramshackle were the traps they built and those had to be well built or they just wouldn't work right.

Walking across a bridge that was built over the river of lava I had noticed earlier, I was surprised that it didn't feel nearly as hot as I had expected it to be. It was still hot of course, but it didn't feel "Melt the flesh off of your bones" hot. Oh well, just another mystery that'll have to wait until later, because just a few moments later I arrived at the base of a set of steps leading up to a large building and Nirkul was waiting at the top of them outside the front door.

Well, here I am at the Hall of the Dreganem. Lets go see Kurltmak.

---

Princess Celestia was having trouble sleeping, trying her best to get some rest before she had to raise the sun in the morning, but it eluded her. She knew why she couldn't sleep, even if she didn't want to admit it.

It was that letter.

Or more specifically, what she had learned shortly after she had received the letter through means unknown. She had learned earlier today during an audience with her subjects when a messenger arrived bearing news that the independent frontier city Ironhoof had been thrown into a small uproar... okay, a large uproar, when something had fallen out of the sky and landed in the town.

It was a creature that walked on two legs, had no fur to speak of besides a patch on top of it's head. It had a wicked claw at the end of one foreleg and the other had been even stranger ending with small nubs for it's digits. Then, as it had escaped the city it blocked an ice storm spell and grew black dragon wings on the spot.

Normally, this wouldn't bother Celestia all that much. The city was in a dangerous area after all, things like that were bound to happen at one point or another. No, what really bothered her was that the creature had supposedly appeared around the same time she had read the letter and while it was still likely just a coincidence she still found it unnerving.

"It's nothing." She assured herself. "It's nothing more than a coincidence."

Despite having said that, she still couldn't sleep.

Exposition... Interesting. (Chapter Four)

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Chapter Four

Exposition... Interesting.

The carved columns and grand walls of the Hall gives the building a certain look of majestic utility. I can tell that it was designed not only to last the ages but also to show to any looking at it that whoever was inside was pretty damn important. Normally, that might intimidate me just a little bit, I've always had a little bit of trouble meeting people in positions of power, not really sure why, I just am.

However, it was just a little hard to feel intimidated when the street behind me was filled with Kobolds of all sizes and colors gawking my direction and the murmur of an excited crowd coming from them. Despite their obvious excitement at my arrival, the reason was they were so excited about that I'm still not too sure, they all kept a respectful distance.

I still haven't seen Virnuln since he ran off to tell the "Knower of old things" Kurltmak about my pressence here but Nirkul was still here waiting outside and the way he's hopping from one foot to the other combined with his size make him seem kind of like an excited child. I can only assume the reason I'm waiting is because Virnuln was still doing whatever he was sent off to do, he got a few minutes head start on us and he had gone at almost a full sprint so he should have had more than enough time to tell Kurltmak I was here so there had to be something else.

Getting a little impatient and feeling uncomfortable with the large number of Kobolds staring at me I flex my wings a bit almost without thinking. Despite having them for only around a day now they already feel so natural to me. Accompanying the flex of my wings I hear another murmur go up within the crowd.

Oh come on, I didn't even really do anything. How is me flexing my wings impressive.

Well, considering humans don't normally have wings I'd say moderately so.

With that thought on my mind I begin to hear the large stone doors of the Hall of the Dagenem oppening and my attention is drawn back towards them. I see five Kobolds come into my view one of then is Virnuln and he is standing next a Kobold with grey scales and two differently colored. Two in the back of the room seem to be working with some kind of mechanism which I assume is what's opening to door and considering the size of these doors two of these little guys opening it is pretty impressive. The one that catches my attention the most however is a Kobold standing in front of Virnuln and Mr.Mismatched eyes, the old Kobold has dull worn golden scales walking with a hunch and using a cane.

Well, I think I just met Kurltmak.

The three of them start walking down the steps, Virnuln still having his earlier excitement still showing in his walk. Kurltmak takes his time walking down the steps using his cane and the third hovering protectively around him, and fromt he way he's looking at him he probobly thinks Kurltmak is about to fall to pieces on the spot.

Reaching the bottom of the steps and looking up at me with his amber eyes Kurltmak says, "I apologize for keeping you waiting Half-Dragon. These old bones don't work as well as they used to I'm afraid." Finally, someone who can talk straight.

Half-Dragon?

"What do you mean by Half-Dragon?" I ask, one eyebrow rising inquisitively.

Kurltmak looks mildly surprised by the question and says, "You don't know? I had assumed that was why you are here."

"Well, the original reason for my being down here involved an angry dragon lady and fire."

"Forgive me for presuming to know your intentions. Now then, perhaps we should address the crowd before they pass out." He says looking past me at the now silent crowd watching our exchange.

He steps forward a few paces and looks out into the crowd before saying, "My fellow Kobolds of Crimson Waters, as you know the time has come for a Half-Dragon to stand before us once again." The crowd's resulting cheer forcing him to pause as he waits for them to calm back down. "It has been time beyond counting since such has been the case, and I understand your excitement, I feel it as well. The Half-Dragon has only just arrived however, and he knows very little of himself and as we who serve the Half-Dragon it is our honor to aid him."

Wait, serve the Half-Dragon? Kurltmak definitely has some explaining to do and... well... I'm not entirely sure how I feel about that.

Don't worry, I'll be here to poke a hole in your fat head if it starts getting too big.

While the crowd still buzzed with excitement they evidently respect Kurltmak's opinion enough to begin clearing out and heading back to whatever it was they had been doing before the great Half-Dragon had shown up in their city. Kurltmak looks back to me, looking me in the eye just as the last of the crowd starts walking off.

"You look somewhat confused Half-Dragon, and from what you said earlier I can understand the reason as to why. IF you will follow me into the hall I can explain."

Slowly nodding at him I respond, "Yeah, I think I need a bit of an explanation after the way you all reacted to me."

"Yes, yes I believe you do." He says as he stars to ascend back up the steps, occasionally being assisted by Missmatch, seeing as he hasn't given me a name it'll have to suffice for now, when it looks like he's having difficulty with it.

Following at my sides as I walk up are Nirkul and Virnuln follow behind me on opposite sides. Both of them seem to have calmed down quite a bit after Kurltmak's little speech earlier. Walking up the stone steps it took us a few minutes but we do eventually make it up and start walking through the doors.

---

Holy murals Batman.

Windows let in light from the river of Magma outside but even with that I can't see the walls of the hall because from the floor all the way up to the ceiling were images painted on the walls. These must have taken an unbelievable amount of time to paint, especially considering the ceiling went up at least a good fifty feet and the hall seemed to lead down several hundred feet before ending at a door. Looking at the pictures I saw as I was walking past them I began to realize they weren't just there for decoration, they seemed to tell a story.

On the right side of the hall the first picture I see was one of three dragons each of a different color resting upon separate mountains looking downward, and in the valleys formed by the mountains there were Kobolds fighting one another in what looked to be some sort of pitched battle.

The picture merged with the next as the scene shifted showing Kobolds fighting what looked to be what I could only call Griffins, some sort of humanoid dog creatures, and the three different kinds of ponies I had seen on the surface and the Kobolds were very clearly losing.

The scene shifted once again melding with the previous one as it showed a battlefield filled with slain and injured Kobolds with the sun setting behind them as a red dragon looked down on them atop a pile of gems.

The final scene on this wall was what looked to be a griffin with red tipped wings similar to the others from earlier standing atop a ledge looking down at tired and weary looking Kobolds while holding out a claw towards them. However, where all of the other Griffins had feathery wings, this one had the wings of a red dragon.

Looking to the other side of the Hall I saw the story continue as the Griffin shown earlier was standing atop the body of the same red dragon who had appeared in one of the earlier pictures with the Kobolds surrounding them looking up in aparent to be awe.

The next picture showed The Griffin atop the battlements of a fortress letting out a gout of fire as the surrounding battlements were filled with Kobold defenders as all of the other races I had seen previously depicted in the pictures were arrayed out before them.

The colors swirled between this picture and the next and it seemed as though time had passed between the two as the next scene showed a group of world-weary Kobolds looking up at what appeared to be one of the dog creatures from earlier but this one had a stark white coat and a set of bronze dragon wings coming out of it's back and I saw what looked to be a light of hope in the eyes of the Kobolds.

The final picture showed the same Dog creature standing before a large number of Kobolds as he looked out into a vast cavern with a river of Magma flowing through it, and a ghostly silhouette of a familiar looking city.

"Yes, it is quite the tale if you know it. It is the tale of the Kobolds that many have forgotten." Kurltmak says startling me slightly as I realize I had stopped in the middle of the hall to look at the pictures.

"The Griffin and the Dog... They had dragon wings..."

"Well, the official texts say that they had a great deal more than just that, but yes that is how the artists who made these murals depicted them. Like you, they were Half-Dragons and the only two we had ever known to have existed." His gaze shifts from the mural of the Griffin holding a claw out to the Kobolds and looks me in the eye, "Until now that is."

"What happened exactly, I mean the murals give an idea but... what happened exactly?"

"I apologize again Half-Dragon but if you would do me the great kindness of coming to the listening room where I can rest my old bones I will be more than happy to tell you all that I can."

Nodding my head, I can feel the curiosity building in me as I wonder what all of this really meant. The reason why the Kobolds were treating me the way there were was starting to get clearer but there's still a lot of details that I'm missing here. Kurltmak begins his walk down the hall again as I hear the tapping of his cane echoing off of the stone floor rhythmically. When we reach the end of the hallway Nirkul and Virnuln move ahead of us to pull open the double doors for us as we begin to walk into a warmly lit circular room with ten seats arrayed in a half-circle facing a larger one atop a raised platform.

Virnuln and Nirkul stay by the doors as Missmatch and Kurtlmak sit in two of the chairs in the half-circle as they look expectantly to me and then towards the throne-like chair. I feel a bit uneasy about sitting in the throne looking down at the Kobolds... Well, looking down at the Kobolds more than I normally do. I shake the feeling off, my curiosity pushing me to find out what all of this was about.

Walking up the small set of steps leading up to the throne I lower myself into it, allowing my wings to wrap around the back and the tattered remains of my clothing laying limply on the stone armrests. Kurltmak looks up towards me and a smile comes to his face as he lets out a deep chuckle I didn't think his small form could make.

"Ah, of all the keepers I had never thought I would ever be the one to welcome the next Half-Dragon, only a few years from my grave and here you are. Fate just has a funny way of doing things at times." He bows his head towards me and says, "Allow me to formally introduce myself to you, I am Kurltmak keeper of the city of Crimson Waters. Now then, forgive an old lizard if you would Half-Dragon, we may begin now if you would like."

"Yes Kurltmak... thank you for giving me such a warm welcome. I'm called Coal, and the first thing I would like to know is what exactly is a Half-Dragon?"

"You are a Half-Dragon, as I have called you several times already and the Kobolds of Crimson Waters owe everything to the Half-Dragons of the past. The telling of the Half-Dragon's story is one of telling the story of the Kobolds. The first Half-Dragon came to us at a dark time, the dragons who our ancestors served had endless greed in their hearts and commanded the Kobolds who served them to fight the forces of other dragons and steal what they could from the hoards of their rivals. In turn, the defending dragon would send his forces to protect his gems and the cycle continued without end, the dragons sitting atop their gems caring nothing for the Kobolds they sent to war."

"When the dragons began to fight to a stalemate time and again with one another some began to look toward the other races of the world and sent their armies to claim the riches they held. More and more dragons began doing so, and soon it escalated to the point where it appeared as if we had made an enemy of the entire world, but we did not care. The dragons commanded it and so we were compelled to fight."

"We were losing, and many knew it but ever onward the dragons pushed us to fight to protect their riches and claim that which belonged to others for their horde. It was at the point where it seemed as though our entire race would be claimed by the conflict a griffin appeared, one who had a pair of dragon wings. She called herself Crimson Tide and she boasted of ending the war the Kobolds had with the other races, and she claimed she would do so by stopping the dragons who caused it."

"In the beginning of the war, we might have been compelled to defend our masters but with the threat of extinction looming over our heads we listened to her words with hope in our hearts, even if we believed she would fall beneath the might of our masters. She began to fight the dragons and despite how impossible it seemed, she defeated them time and time again, freeing the Kobolds who once served them as she fought them at near equal terms living up to her title of Half-Dragon."

"Eventually she became fearsome enough that even the dragons began to reconsider continuing to force the Kobolds to fight for them and more and more of our kin were released from their service. When the last dragon stopped claiming dominion over the Kobolds it was a time of joy, to be free of the taskmasters who caused so much suffering upon us. Unfortunately however, we still had enemies to fight."

"The other races were not quick to forgive the Kobolds they had fought for so long, and felt it best to do what they could to vanquish the threat they saw in our kind then and there. We fought them again, but this time it was by our own will, following one who had earned the right to lead us. Then came a day when it seemed that all hung in the balance for us, the last force of our kind held the fortress of Irontail while the forces of our enemies marched against us."

"The Half-Dragon lived up to her name that day as we fought to hold the fortress, and countless fell on both sides before the day was done. In the end we held our victory, costly as it was. Crimson Tide had died in the fighting and we were left lost, but our enemies at long last left us alone and for a time we were able to distance ourselves from war."

"Despite all of the efforts of Crimson Tide however the Kobolds walked an unforgiving path for many, many years. We were no longer the instrument of dragons, but neither was there a Half-Dragon to lead us. So in the end we were subjected to the whims of the other races. Mainly, it was the Diamond Dogs who used Kobolds as slaves in their mines and we were once again forced to serve for the greed of another. The Ponies and Griffins had respected Crimson Tide, even if they had feared her, so they did not treat us with cruelty, but neither did they treat us well."

"But again we saw a Half-Dragon appear before us, this time it was one of the Dogs who used us as slaves, but the sight of the bronze wings on his back made us pause, the legend of the Half-Dragon was the only thing that had kept many of us going down in the Dogs' mines. He called himself Starclaw and he felt deep regret for what his kind had subjected the Kobolds to for so long and he swore he would lead us to a place of our own, to allow us to live without the chain of slavery around our necks."

"As true to his word as Crimson was to hers he fought against the Diamond Dogs who kept us chained, showing again the strength of the Half-Dragon. He freed as many as he could, but after the impact the war had on our people and the period of slavery afterward our numbers were frighteningly few. We would not last long with the world on edge about the Kobolds rebelling and Starclaw looked for a new home for the Kobolds, and he gave us Crimson Waters. He helped us build the city you are currently in, and had sat in the same throne that you do now. However, he did not stay with us long, after the city was on it's way to prospering he told us he would not be able to stay. He was a kind soul, and the war against his own people, even if their own actions had caused it, he was riddled with wounds of sorrow that could be ignored in times of war, but would fester and rot in times of peace."

Kurltmak takes a deep breath and pauses for a moment before continuing, "That was all centuries upon centuries ago, and we Kobolds have lived in Crimson Waters for all of this time. The races above, who once fought a war against us that left cities in ruin now believe us to be nothing more than legend, stories to scare their children with when they won't listen. We have waited for a Half-Dragon to come, and now you are here. In time you will discover your strength, and we will be there to help you in any way that we can."

"We are the last of the Kobold, and you are our Half-Dragon. We will aid you in peace, and follow you into war, but before all of that I need a drink."

---

On the surface far above Coal and the Kobolds Princess Celestia and Princess Luna of Equestria, The emperor of the Griffin Republic, all the Alphas of the Diamond Dogs, and the leaders of the other races knew nothing of what transpired below them in the city of Crimson Waters. All they knew was the status quo that they had become oh so familiar with these many years.

Prometheus had told him to break them of their complacency, and without even intending to do so he was well on his way. The Titan watching on the sidelines could not have done better even if he had made it all so himself, but that wasn't his way. He would give the spark, but he would do nothing about the fire that began. It was up to the ones who lived the world themselves to decide if that fire was to be one of progress, or one that would burn down all in it's path.

Gems, Halberds, and Farewells... Onward we Go. (Chapter Five)

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Chapter Five

Gems, Halberds, and farewells... Onward we Go.

Note to self: Never ask for history lessons while starving.

Truthfully, I don't think if I was actually starving I could have put this off any longer. I'm being offered the answers to many questions that I've had on my mind since the moment Prometheus told me of his intentions. I just wish I had thought to ask for something to eat before he started, running for your life and sprouting wings makes you hungry. Oh well.

After giving me the story of the previous Half-Dragons and getting a cup of water Kurltmak starts going into the world as it is in it's present.

"Ah yes, thank you Seletec." He says to Missmatch whose name is apparently Seletec but I still think Missmatch fits him better. Turning back to me he continues from where he left off. "Yes, that is the tale of the Half-Dragons and the Kobolds, we have lived here in Crimson Waters since Starclaw left us. However, we have not been completely idle, we have watched the world above us and made sure that none discover us and old grudges begin to emerge."

"Three powers are most prominent. Equestria, a large and diverse land ruled by the princesses of the Sun and Moon is a place where the earth itself in saturated with unnatural amounts of magic. It is inhabited by the three pony races, the Earth Ponies, the Unicorns, and Pegasi. For the last nearly three millennium they have lived in relative peace, although there have been isolated incidents occurring, especially in recent days."

"Then, there is the Griffin republic in the far northern mountains, but the name Republic might be a bit of a misnomer as they often act in the way an empire would, but they haven't had a full out war for centuries now. They have an Emperor as well as a senate, the Emporer having a hand in things when the situation calls for action the senate handles the day to day managing of the Republic."

"Finally, in the far east there are the Diamond Dogs and while in normal times they lack anything akin to a central governing body as the individual packs are led by their Alphas. In this sense they are the most unstable of the three major races, but as the Kobolds have seen, as well as experienced, they are able to become quite powerful despite that."

There are other races who call our world home, but if I were to tell you everything about the world we'd likely be here for several weeks." He says with a small chuckle. "Now then Half-Dragon, is there anything you would like to ask of me?"

"Yes actually, can I get something to eat? The last time I ate was a while ago and I've been burning a lot of energy."

"I apologize Half-Dragon, I did not know you were in such a state or I would have had something brought immediately." He says to me and then turns to look at Virnuln, "Go and bring the Half-Dragon something to eat." To which Virnuln nods and quickly makes himself scarce.

Huh, I could get used to that. Just a wave of my hand and anything I want would fall into my lap...

Turning my attention back to Kurltmak I say, "Thank you, but there is something else I would like to ask. You have told me a lot about what the Half-Dragons did but not how they did it. I've noticed a few things recently but I don't know what being a Half-Dragon fully entails yet."

Oh, so the all powerful ruler is thanking his mindless servants is he?

Shut up.

"Of course Half-Dragon, my knowledge is always your disposal." He says with a respectful bow of his head towards me, "The past two Half-Dragons were recorded to have strength, agility, and durability when compared to the other members of their races.

Well, that explains why falling into a roof hard enough to break it didn't kill me.

"They were able to assume parts of the form of dragons at will, and a legend that has been passed down since the battle at Irontail was that before she fell in battle Crimson Tide had turned fully into a dragon of considerable size and turned the tide of the battle in our favor. Unfortunately, we cannot be sure if this actually happened or if it was just a tale passed down by enslaved Kobolds to give themselves hope but there are some-"

"Hold on a second," I interrupt "You said they could take on parts of the form of dragons at will. What do you mean by that?"

"It means exactly what it sounds like," Kurltmak replies with no hint of being offended by the interruption, although from the look Seletec, or Missmatch as I still call him in my mind, is giving me I don't think that's how the old Kobold is supposed to be treated. My bad, sheesh. "The Half-Dragons were told to be able to assume their partly Draconic aspects as well as dispel them on a moments notice. I had just assumed that you were in the form you are as a personal preference."

"It isn't, I'm not entirely sure how most of my powers work just yet, I didn't realize I could make parts of my body disappear. How the heck does that even work?"

"I... cannot say, the Half-Dragons when they came to us previously knew at least partly of how to control their powers and never sought fit to tell us of their inner workings, I couldn't tell you how it works."

"Alright, fair enough I suppose." I say as I lean on my hand a tad grumpy from being basically told I'm inept and the fact my food still wasn't here. I close my eyes for a moment and try and see if there was actually anything to what Kurltmak was telling me. I do my best to try and feel the parts of myself, envisioning myself with my claw and wings and willing them to be gone. I feel a cool feeling on my hand and back as I open my eyes I see my left hand enveloped with a black mist and if the feeling coming from behind me was any indication something similar was happening with my wings. A few moments longer and the mist clears showing my perfectly normal left hand.

All hail the glorious transforming lizard!

"Well now, I'm honestly surprised that was so easy, let alone that it actually worked." I say looking up from my hand and speaking to Kurltmak.

"I did not doubt it Half-Dragon, while I still know very little of you, of what you are, I can feel that you are Half-Dragon, just as sure I can feel the warmth of my old and aged scales."

Wow... That was really heartfelt... I feel kind of bad about getting upset at him not being able to tell me about something he had no way of knowing. I am still a bit irritated about the food thing though.

As if the world had heard my thoughts just then I see Virnuln walking back into the room with a platter as he starts to walk towards me with it.

Yes! Man, right now I'm so hungry I could eat a horse.

...

That saying probably isn't going to ever be the same anymore, considering I've met sapient equines huh?

Luckily however the platter I'm looking at doesn't have anything along the lines of sapient equine meat. Instead on it sit a wide assortment of very sparkly gems, and boy do they smell delicious.

Virunuln reaches the base of my throne and holds the platter above his head saying, "Your meal Half-Dragon. Straight from the vaults and nothing but best for Half-Dragon."

I look down appreciatively at him and pick up one of the gems, a succulent looking ruby, with my now normal hand. At this point, I don't even think of picking up a very expensive looking ruby with the intention of biting into it strange at all. Just a day ago I would have called everything that has happened to me since I met Prometheus crazy, something straight out of fantasy, in the realm of impossibility.

Well, I suppose that's just adapting huh? If I didn't take all of this in stride like I am I'd probably be a curled up in a ball somewhere.

I let the somewhat depressing thought be washed away as I hear a satisfying sound come from the ruby being chewed in my mouth. It tasted like a candy apple and not a county fair candy apple either. It tasted like a gourmet candy apple, if they even have those that is.

Looking back to Virnuln I see him still standing there with what must be very heavy platter of gems for him. I feel like a bit of a jackass for making him stand there that long like that after carrying it all the way from wherever the vaults are.

"Virnuln you can just set them down somewhere, this ruby should tide me over."

I never would have thought his lizard-like face could be able to accommodate the grin he had after I said that, but somehow it did.

Holy shit, you'd think I'd just appointed him the king of the Kobolds from the size of that grin.

"Knows my name! Half-dragon knows my name!" He exclaims with glee, almost dropping the platter as he sets it down next to my throne. Then practically skips back to his position at the door as I look on at the sight with a raised eyebrow.

Kurltmak evidently seeing the confusion on my face, which is pretty impressive considering hes never seen a human face before this, explains, "Ah, you'll have to excuse his enthusiasm Half-Dragon he and Nirkul are two of the more... attached Kobolds in regards to the Half-Dragons. In fact, it must be some twist of fate that you come out of the tunnel they were positioned at. Truth be told, they're not even supposed to be in the hall right now, but when Virnuln came running in here almost passing out that he had met the Half-Dragon I couldn't bring myself to tell them to leave."

When Kurltmak says this Nirkul and Virnuln look at their feet guiltily as I look towards them.

"So, is there a reason that they're talking in broken sentences?"

"Well, that isn't exactly normal but Kobolds are prone to excitement and their meeting you must be making their minds go faster than their mouths can manage to decipher."

Finishing off the ruby in my hand I reach down and grab another gem and munch on it as I looks to Kurltmak and say, "Well, that's all fine and good I suppose. I do have a decree I'd like to make as the Half-Dragon."

"Really, what would that be?" Kurltmak says perking his head up at the thought.

"I need some clothes."

---

When I "ordered" clothes to be brought to me as the Half-Dragon, I had done so as kind of a joke. Seeing the dozen different sets of expensive clothing sized for me I realized they hadn't taken it quite that way.

Looking at most of the sets of clothing that the small army of Kobolds had prepared and brought to me most of them are pretty flamboyant, and not exactly my style.

No, the red one's too frilly for my taste, the blue's too short on the legs, the purple's just... not that one.

I list off the the sets of clothing one by one as I go down the line, finding none of them to be something I could actually see myself wearing. In fact with most of them I'd rather keep wearing my tattered rags, but I don't think that would fit very well with the "Noble Half-Dragon" position I'm in right now. My gaze finally reaches the end of the line of clothing and I see one I like.

It consisted of a long black overcoat that seemed as though the back had slits cut to allow my wings room to breath with it on. It came with a silver shirt that would go on under it, a pair of pants that matched the color of the overcoat, and the shoes were black with silver edgings and designs

Well, normally I'm not one for wearing that much black, but it does match my scales.

I point to it and say, "I would like that one, I think it's... fitting. Leave it here and let me change"

The Kobolds obediently go about carrying out my wishes, taking away the other sets of clothing and filing out of the room. Once they all have left the room I begin to remove my old clothing and begin to don the new set. The size is surprisingly comfortable and I'm surprised that the Kobolds were able to guess my size as well as they did. Looking down at myself I have to say I look half-decent, a big improvement from the clothes I had originally been wearing even when they were new.

Who says a dragon can't have style?

That thought on my mind I turn towards the door that would lead back out into the main part of the hall. I begin to push the door open as I push and I see Kurltmak, Missmatch, Nirkul and Virnuln waiting for me.

"Ah Half-Dragon, I must say it's a definite improvement from what you had been wearing earlier." Kurltmak says to be in his old and wizened tone.

"Yeah, I think so too." I say, looking out towards the murals lining the walls again.

"Is something troubling you Half-Dragon?" Kurltmak asks as he notices my gaze grow distant.

"Yes... I think there is something." I say, causing Kurltmak to look at me expectantly.

"It's just, I feel like a stranger. Not just in this city but to this world in it's entirety. I know you've probobly noticed my lack of knowledge about most of the it." Kurltmak nods in response to that, "That is because I have not been here for long, and while I know you'd be more than willing to answer any questions I might have about it being told of something, and living it are two very different things."

"I... see. It is not my place to question the Half-Dragon, and I will not question where you have come from. I will ask however, as an adviser and confidant, what is it you wish to do?"

I think for a moment as I truly consider what I truly want to do. Up until this point I've only been going where the flow of events have been taking me, without much real time to consider what I want. It's easy to just blindly stumble forward when you don't have any choice in the matter, to just grit your teeth and wait for things to get better.

This however, is a different thing entirely. Now I can choose what I want to do, and I know Kurltmak wouldn't stop me even if I just said fuck the world. Part of me wants to, an immature and petty part of me wanting to do it out of spite towards Prometheus as if that were the only thing I could do to deft him. However... I think in the end that would hurt me more than it would inconvenience him.

It's kind of hard to get payback on an immortal Titan huh?

Kurltmak has told me so little of a world around me, an entire world untouched by the hands of humanity. The innovator, the explorer, and the crusader that the human race has proven itself to be. An entire world stretched out before me. Now how could an ambitious human resist that?

"Kurltmak," I say, feeling the conviction growing in my voice. "I have a world to see."

---

Taking into account my luck so far with this cheery little world of magic and technicolor ponies I figured I'm probobly going to need some way to defend myself. So, I asked Kurltmak to see about getting me a weapon.

"Of course Half-Dragon, what kind of weapon?"

I scratch my chin thoughtfully, as I consider the question.

What kind of weapon indeed.

Thinking of medieval weaponry first thing that comes to mind is a sword, the weapon of kings as it were. However thinking about it using a sword with any degree of skill takes a lot of training from a young age so that thought finds it's way out of the door pretty quickly. Taking a moment to take my wings into consideration perhaps a bow of some kind? It'd allow me to stay safely in the air. When I remember how I broke the handle off of the door without even trying and the fact that there seemed to be quite a few creatures that would be able to reach me in the air that idea goes out the window too. An axe or a mace wouldn't be fitting either I simply couldn't see myself using one with my build even if I did have the strength for it now.

I keep going through a list of weapons in my mind and none of them seem to fit. A flail? That wouldn't work very well when I was flying. A spear? It feels better but there're some bad memories that go along with that. A spear is close but not it.

Halberd.

...

The Halberd, a two-handed pole weapon that was the combination of a spear and an axe. It's pointed spear like tip allows for thrusting attacks or use in a charge. It's axe-head allows for the wielder to take sweeping strikes.

Perfect.

"A halberd Kurltmak, a Halberd would be perfect."

"Of course Half-Dragon, it will have to be forged from scratch for someone of your stature but the smiths will begin immediately."

"Thank you Kurltmak, I know I'm making a lot of selfish demands. I just can't sit idly by while an entire world is out there. I promise that I'll return someday however. I owe you that much for everything you've done."

Kurltmak has a warm smile come to his face as he replies, "That is comforting to hear Half-Dragon. My people will be disheartened to hear that you are to be leaving us again so soon but I think your decision to be a wise one despite what any might say."

"A wise decision?" I ash wish no small amount of confusion in my voice.

"Yes Half-Dragon, to see the world with one's own eyes is something that will serve one who is to change it very well."

"You... you think I'm going to change the world?" That thought doesn't exactly bring me a lot of comfort.

"I do Half-Dragon, the logical part of me would say that I believe that to be so because of the effects the previous Half-Dragons had. However that is not truly why I think that. I cannot put into words why I feel this way, and perhaps it is simply senility catching up to me but I cannot deny that I feel it." He lets out a deep sigh as he says this and adds, "But that is enough uttering from an old lizard I think."

So then world changer, are you just going to stand there or are you going to get the smiths to make you your Halberd?

---

Nirkul and Virnuln were the ones to escort me back to the surface. Thankfully I remembered to ask them to take me to the surface through a tunnel far away from where I had left a very angry orange dragon. I stand on the surface under the night sky for the second time since I fell into this world. Now however I move with a purpose, I am not being carried by the current, and I now look towards the horizon as my goal. I grip my Halberd in my left hand, the finely crafted metal feeling as light as a feather in my grip. Calling forth my wings and I feel the cool sensation of the black mist on my back.

"Good-bye Half-Dragon" Nirkul says with poorly concealed sadness, and Virnuln stands next to him looking like a scolded child. During my short stay in crimson waters the two little Kobolds had been a constant for me, always so excited and full of energy. It's depressing seeing them look like that.

"Now you say that like it's the last time we'll be seeing each other." I say with a hint of humor in my voice and at the words I see them perk back up a bit. although they still look like they're about to cry.

looking at my left hand, and I see my human fingers and skin. It's strange to admit this bu tit feels odd seeing it that way. One of the first things that had happened to me when I arrived in this world was my clawed hand.

Sometimes I don't understand myself at all.

The black mist begins to surround my hand and it lingers for a moment. When it fades away I see my now familiar looking black scaled hand gripping the metal shaft of my Halberd. I feel a strange sense of pride well up in my chest as I see it gripping my newly forged weapon. Beginning to beat my wings I feel my feet losing contact with the ground and soon I find myself flying forward as the cold night air nips at my skin.

I had consulted the map Kurltmak gave me before I had left Crimson waters and I already knew where I was headed.

First stop, Equestria. I think I'll see if I can pay "Miss. Celestia" a visit. For the sake of mischief of course.

---

Nirkul and Virnuln watched as the Half-Dragon flew away, both of them sad to see him go but comforted in the fact Kurltmak had agreed to their request.

When the two Kobolds had first heard of the Half-Dragon's plans to leave Crimson Waters they asked Kurltmak if they could be allowed to accompany him. Kurltmak had given them a coy smile and told them that the Half-Dragon had not said anything either way, he allowed the two of them to leave Crimson waters so that they could follow the Half-Dragon as he explored the world.

The Kobolds had tunnels reaching to nearly every corner of the world, it was how they kept tabs on the other races. Now however they were going to serve as the way in which the two young Kobolds would follow their Half-Dragon.

"Virnuln?" Nirkul looks to his to his brother.

"Yes Nirkul?" Virnuln responds.

"What do you think he's going to do?"

"No idea Nirkul. No idea."

Hermits and Royalty... How 'bout That. (Chapter Six)

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Chapter Six

Hermits and Royalty... How 'bout That.

Flying is awesome, you get to soar above the world below and give a one fingered salute to gravity. I don't see how anyone could not like it. Sure, there's the fear of falling but if you always let fear dictate your actions you'll never get anything done. Heck, my current plan is to find one of the rulers of one of the most powerful races in the world and there're so many ways that this could end terribly. Just around two days ago I would have never attempted a stupid stunt like this, but after staring down a very angry dragon, the other things in life just don't seem as scary as they used to.

With the flapping of my wings I propel myself across the night sky, my black wings blending with the starry night sky. I figure with the coloring of my wings as well as my clothing it'd be a good idea to travel at night, so if anyone saw me they wouldn't be able to make out what I was. They'd probably just think I was some kind of weird bird.

In the east however I'm beginning to see the sun's strangely fast ascent over the horizon. If Kurltmak was correct then the cycles of the sun and moon were controlled by the two princesses of Equestria.

I'll probably never get used to seeing it rise that fast.

From what I know of these ponies so far they don't react to strange creatures dropping out of the sky so it probably isn't a good idea to travel during the day where I'll stick out like a sore thumb. Off in the distance I see the edge of a forest, and if memory serves correctly the map said it was called The Everfree Forest. It looked like it was pretty close to a small town but hopefully that won't end up being a problem. I was getting tired anyway, and I really should get some rest, wouldn't want to be drowsy when I met royalty.

Tilting my wings I begin my descent downward and the ground begins to get closer, thankfully this time it was intentional. I once again marvel how quickly I seem to be picking up on the use of my wings. I hardly even need to think about it at this point, it's all just starting to feel so natural. The Canopy of the forest it very thick in most places, at it seems like I might have some difficulty finding a place to land. However, just as the thought passes through my mind, I start to notice what looks to be some old and dilapidated stone structure.

Getting closer to it I make out that it seems to have been a castle at one point a very long time ago. I can't find a reason why someone would build a castle of that size in the middle of a forest, it wouldn't serve any real purpose out here.

Maybe it was here before the forest?

If that really is the case, if the size of the trees was any indication, then this castle is much older than it at first appeared. Well, not that it mattered all that much, it looked like it was abandoned and it would be a relatively safe place to catch a few hours of sleep.

My feet touch the ground in front of the castle's main gate but nothing impedes my entrance. After I take a look around, to make sure anything hadn't been alerted by my landing, I proceed inside. The long, still mostly intact, stone walls welcome inside as my boots lightly thud against the floor. It doesn't look like this place really has much to it anymore, reinforcing my earlier assumption that it had been abandoned quite some time ago.

I explore a bit and don't find much of interest, I hadn't really expected to truth be told be told. The only thing of note that I saw was a room that housed some kind of altar, but there wasn't anything on it so I didn't even pay that much mind.

I head up a spiraling staircase and soon find myself on the top floor of the tallest tower in the castle. It's a fairly large room and part of the circular room was nothing but a gaping hole. It looks like it had been a balcony at one point but one thing or another had caused it to fall away. It appears that the hole faces the entrance of the castle as well.

Well, I guess this is as good a place as any other.

I set down the small pack slung over my shoulder that holds my map, gems, and a few other sundries useful for the traveling Half-Dragon. I lay out by the opening and let one leg hang out the side. I know this probably isn't the safest thing to do, but I'm fairly sure that if I fall off the edge I'd wake up before I hit that ground and be ale to pull up. Besides, even if I did hit the ground it wasn't like it was going to kill me, worse falls hadn't managed to pull that one off yet.

I feel weariness wash over my body as everything that has happened to me recently hits me like a wave. I don't even bother to set my halberd down and let it lean on my shoulder. Letting out a yawn I allow my eyelids to close and soon find myself in a deep dreamless sleep.

---

Zecora had seen a strange form in the skies above the Everfree, and while it wasn't uncommon for strange creatures to be roaming about this had looked different. It was early morning when she had been collecting herbs that were to be found throughout the forest that she had seen it, most of the creatures weren't out and about during the twilight hours and she took full advantage of that.. Zecora had been living in this forest for quite a while and seen much that it held in it's leafy arms, whatever it had been wasn't something from this forest.

She had only glimpsed it briefly through the canopy as it had soared overhead with the steady beat of it's wings. Most of it had appeared to be black and it had been gripping something in it's forelimb. It had been heading int he direction of the castle that once housed the Elements of Harmony, most creatures avoided that area and she found it peculiar that this foreign being would be heading towards it. It was the only place of interest in that direction of the forest.

She opts to follow it, she knows this forest well enough that she could traverse it even with the creatures that dwelled within moving about. While she certainly cannot keep up with the creature's flight but she knew the direction in which it was headed so she did not need rush herself.

After trotting down the twisting forest paths she emerges from the tree line as the sun's position in the sky indicated that the morning was on in full. She knew of the ravine that blocked the direct path to the castle so she had followed the indirect way in order to avoid it entirely. She finds herself looking out towards the crumbling stone walls that she knows the creature must have reached long before she had.

Making her way towards the entrance she sees something besides the sight of stone as she follows what she gad glimpsed upwards. If the coloring was any indication this was the creature she had seen earlier. It appears to be sleeping as it leans it's back against an opening in a tower's wall. It's fairly large and if the way it was resting was any indication it was bipedal. Possessing black dragon-like wings, but also has fur atop it's head of the same color. It's skin appeared to be a light color, and the black she had seen earlier covering most of it's body seemed to be clothing. It was covered almost head to hoof in it, in fact the only parts that seemed to be showing skin was it's head and the ends of it's forelimbs.

Looking more closely at it's forelimbs she saw that only one was the same color as it's skin while the other was a scaly claw gripping a metallic weapon of some kind. The weapon in question ended had the head of an axe, a spiky protrusion coming out the other side of it's shaft, and ending in a spear point.

All in all, the creature was one that under normal circumstances she'd leave well enough alone. It's claw and weapon put her a bit on edge. Something that perked her interest however was the fact it wore clothing and used tools which indicated that it was intelligent.

Some more curious and reckless mares in this situation would choose to investigate further. Zecora however knew better and while the creature was definitely an oddity in the Everfree it was better to be safe than sorry. The creature looked to be keeping to itself and Zecora wasn't about to risk provoking it.

Deciding that she'd inform the residents of Ponyvile of the creature's presence to see if the knowledgeable Twilight Sparkle had heard of anything like this creature before.

---

I start to groggily wake up, being greeted by the night sky as I apparently slept the entire day thanks to my fatigue. I also find that my head ended up lying on my shoulder as I slept and left a bad crick in my neck.

Man, I really miss beds.

Hey, if you had stayed with the Kobolds they'd have given you ten beds if you asked them to.

Why in the hell would I want ten beds?

Why wouldn't you want ten beds?

Stretching out my wings as I do my best to try and ignore the crick in my neck that I'm sure will be annoying me for the rest of the day. I pick up and take out a gem that I can eat while I fly. my pack and sling it back over my shoulder. Making sure that it won't impede the movement of my wings. With all of my things gathered, and having something to suffice for breakfast I launch myself out of the opening into the air and circle the tower before resuming my journey.

The stars, moon, and my own mind are my only company as I cut my way across the night sky. After flying for awhile and leaving the forest behind me I begin to see the lights of a populated area twinkle like stars upon the ground. The settlement seems to be built against the side of a mountain and I can tell that this is my destination, Canterlot.

I find the fact that just because these creatures are equines, they feel that they have to make horse puns kind of irritating.

I think it's kind of cute.

As I grow closer to the settlement I begin to ascend higher in hopes of avoiding someone noticing me. If memory serves there is a large number of pegasi who live in this land so they probably have guards watching the sky. I can only hope that Millennium of peace has instilled complacency among the ponies living here or else this might get tricky.

I actually manage to get pretty close to an elevation comparable to the mountain's height before I feel my wing beats start to become strained and find it harder to get a deep breath. I figure this is about the maximum height that I can safely fly at so it'll have to do, I don't want to pas out and land on some poor pony's house again after all.

I can clearly see the outline of what looks to be a palace built against the mountain above the rest of the city and at my current height I'm actually above it. It doesn't have the same architecture of the castle I had seen previously, this seemed to be built more for comfort and aesthetics than defense in case of an attack. I allow myself to silently glide downwards towards it as I try and keep my eyes open for any guards who might take notice of my descent. While there did appear to be a number of guards patrolling they don't seem to be watching the skies all that closely and fail to notice my humanoid form heading toward the palace.

As I near the palace it starts to come into greater detail and one of the tallest towers seems to have a law-railed balcony jutting out of the side. It looked like it'd have more than enough room for me to land and important people, and I assume ponies, tended to live in the places higher up to make themselves feel more important. It was as good a place as any to start.

I extend my wings further and allow myself to catch more air and slow my descent. My shoes hit the ground softly with little more than a tap on the stone balcony.

Who's getting good at flying? Me, that's who

If I had eyes I'd be rolling them right now.

Folding my wings up behind my back I find myself looking at a sturdy looking doorway that led into the tower. Now that might be a problem, if I make too much noise it'll alert anyone on the other side of the door. As I try and think of a way to get passed a locked door without causing a lot of noise I take the handle in my right hand.

And it isn't locked.

Oh no! An unlocked door, what're we gonna do!?

Shut up.

I slowly turn the knob and begin to open the door.

Boy am I glad they oil these hinges.

I decide to leave my Halberd outside, I'm not here for trouble and it would likely only bring me just that is I brought it. As the doorway opens further to reveal the inside of the tower room I find myself looking into a bedroom. Sleeping on the piece of furniture that gives a bedroom it's name I see the sleeping form of a brilliant white winged unicorn. Also known as an Alicorn as Kurltmak had informed me previously. From what he told me there were only two knwon Alicorns, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, and Luna has a blue coat, not white.

Well, this is far easier than expected.

I know right? It's like she's asking for something bad to happen.

Next to her sleeping form I see an unrolled scroll on top of a nightstand. It looked somewhat official and I can't resist taking a peek at it. Picking it up, he sees that it is a letter addressed to the Princess from a "Twilight Sparkle." Picking it up I walk over and quietly plop myself down on a pile of comfortable looking pillows and begin to read.

Dear Princess Celestia,

This letter in not being sent regarding my learning a lesson about friendship. My friend Zecora who lives in the Eveerfree forest says she saw something... Strange. I know strange is commonplace in a place like the Everfree forest., but this was something that Zecora who lives there found to be out of place.

While she was out picking herbs she saw a strange dark form fly overhead towards the ruins of the old capitol, and she thought it best to go see what it was exactly. From her description of it the creature is definitely not native to Equestria, and I couldn't find any reference to it in the library. I asked Zecora if she could draw a picture of what it looked like and she was more than happy to.

The creature seemed to not be bothering anypony from what Zecora could see, just resting in the ruins. Zecora said she'd come back tomorrow to see if it was doing anything else.

Looking down at the attached drawing he could see that it was a fairly decent drawing of myself. Apparently someone named "Zecora" had seen me while I was in the forest, and she had informed someone who knew the princess.

That's perfect, it'll be even more fun if shes heard of me already.

---

Princess Celestia's day had been going fairly well up until this evening. Normally, a letter from her prized pupil was something she thoroughly enjoyed. This time however, it's topic was distressing.

She had spoken of the creature that had been sighted in the southern city of Ironhoof and said that it had been within the Everfree forest, which was well within the boundaries of Equestria. The picture gave new reality to the creature's existence. when it had just been stories of it arriving in a city that wasn't even under her rule it could have been shrugged off as unimportant.

Now however she had a drawing of what it looked like, and it was within her lands. Celestia has handled many foes in her time, some of whom were beyond powerful. While this creature hadn't given any indication of that level of power, the real reason it bothered her so much was because she knew almost nothing about it.

Even the picture she had been given wasn't able to show her anything about it's eyes. The creature had been asleep so the Zebra had not been able to see it's eyes. Whenever she faced a problem she knew what she was facing, but when she didn't know it allowed her mind to make it a much bigger problem.

As she had set the letter down after reading it she imagined it's eyes to be the harsh eyes of a hungry lizard to match it's wings and claws. She even decided she would reply to Twilight in the morning, as she was to tired to deal with talk of this creature at the moment. So she decided to deal with it in the morning and went to sleep.

However, someone else had other plans and she was going to have to deal with it sooner than she had thought.

She felt herself being pulled from her sleep, something that was not common as her subjects knew she needed her rest in order to perform her duty of raising and setting the sun. Opening her eyes and stirring the blankets a bit she noticed a dark form sitting in the room.

It was nearly identical to the picture in her student's letter. In fact, it was reading her student's letter. Celestia bolts up from her bed and catches the creature's attention as it finishes reading the letter and looks up with it's dark blue eyes.

"Oh, so you're awake." It says in a masculine voice. I sets the letter down next to the cushions it had been resting on. Then contorting it's bipedal body so that it was lying on it's side and propping up it's head with a forelimb, it said to her in a singsong voice.

"Hee-eeey, how's it goin'?"

Celestia dimly noted that it's eyes weren't those of a vicious lizard. Imagine that.

An Early Morning Jog... Kinda. (Chapter Seven)

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Chapter Seven

An Early Morning Jog... Kinda.

Seeing her eyes widen like that totally makes up for how awkward my wings feel right now.

When I had seen her start to raise her head, just as I was finishing reading the letter, I had wasted no time in getting started. I had wracked my brain, trying to think of the best way to get a reaction out of a several thousand year old Alicorn. The way her eyes came into sudden focus as I acknowledged her, was the last bit of evidence I needed to know that she recognized me.

"Hee-eey, how's it goin'?" Were the words I chose to say to the ancient and powerful creature whose palace I had broken into.

Well, at least I'm making up for the whole "Winter is coming" fiasco.

"You..." She stars to say something, but her voice trails off. I kind of wish I had a tail right now so I could wag it back and forth a bit. Although that'd probably be overdoing it.

"Yes me. I have to say Miss Celestia, even jarred from sleep you have a regal air to you. It's very impressive." I intentionally use "Miss Celestia" the way Prometheus had in the letter to see if it would get any reaction.

"You!" She says with such intensity that some would consider it a low roar. "What are you doing here creature!?"

"Creature? Well that's rude, in polite society it's good manners to ask for someone's name you know." I say in a fake offended tone.

She scowls at me for a few moments but eventually she says, "Very well creature, I do not know your intentions but despite that I will ask. What is your name?"

"Well, everyone at this point calls me Coal, so lets go with that."

"Coal is it? Very well then." She says as she begins to get off of the bed and stand up. Oddly enough when she gets out of bed her mane beings to billow as if on some ghostly wind. At full height she'd probably be around roughly eye to eye with me in height, and I'm not counting her horn because it helps my ego. "What is your business here?"

"Business? Well, I hadn't thought about that, lets see..." I trail off, earning another scowl from the majestic Alicorn. "Well, I suppose I just couldn't resist coming to see the majestic mare who raised the sun everyday. It's a novel concept."

"If you had wanted to see me so badly you could have gone through the proper-" She pauses for a moment as she considers something. "What do you mean, 'A novel concept'?'"

"I mean I think the idea is rather interesting, the sun having to be pulled across the sky like a stubborn kid. Oh, and as to why I didn't come to see you through normal means, that is because the last time ponies got an eyeful of me they chased me with spears. Not very fun."

"I... apologize for that, but I cannot fault them for the way they reacted." She says with firmness in her tone.

"I agree completely," I say as I stand up to my full height. She seems a bit taken aback by my stature, my guess is she isn't to used to someone being at eye level with her. "Something like me, dropping out of the sky? I'd chase it with a spear too."

"So then... Coal." She says as if the name feels odd in her mouth. "What exactly are you?"

"Well, I'm a man in a very nice looking coat for starters. Do you like it? It's new." I say, grabbing my overcoat and showing it off a bit.

"Yes, it is fairly nice... What is a man exactly?"

"Well, it means I am a Human male. Although due to recent events I have some new additions." I extend me wings outward a bit and add, "Namely these."

She has a thoughtful look on her face as she casts her gaze toward one of my outstretched wings. "New additions?" She asks and casting her gaze back to my face.

"Yes, but I won't tell you about that just yet. Not until after our first date at least." I say with the cheesiest grin I can muster.

Her startled reaction is just what I had expected. The fact I was able to guess how she would react so accurately proved something to me. No matter your position, no matter what power you might hold. We're all still people... er-ponies in this case, on the inside. Everyone has things that can take them a bit by surprise, and trying to think the world has nothing left to surprise you won't end well. I'm living proof to that fact.

"E-excuse me?" She asks, looking just a tad bit flustered with her wings extending out a bit. 'Cause wings are sexy.

"What, turning me down? Oh well, I guess setting my eyes on royalty was a little much after all." I say making myself look dejected as I try and control the grin that wants to come to my face. The fact I was hitting on a princess is absolutely hilarious.

"I haven't said that, I'm just taken aback by the situation..."

...

Holy shit, is she actually considering it?

I think to myself, as a lump starts to form in my stomach about what the repercussions of that might end up being.

"But you'd have to show me a very wonderful time, I'm a picky mare."

Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit.

Ha, this is hilarious. Mission accomplished good sir.

Just then, her deadpan looks fades away and reveals a playful grin. If I didn't know any better I'd say she was fucking with me, and I slowly begin to realize she had noticed the game I was playing and had started to play it herself.

...

She caught me red-handed. Note to self: Do not underestimate ancient Alicon princesses.

"Aww, and here I was hoping you'd get a little bit more flustered than that." I say, dropping my earlier dejected tone and assuming my normal one again.

"Yes well, you did have me just a bit so at first. I simply hadn't expected you to say something like that. Truth be told, with the tangent my imagination has been taking I thought you would be quite a bit different."

"Oh don't worry, I'm not some big bad boogie monster." I say in a joking manner.

She chuckles a bit at this and responds, "Yes, I can see that now. Now then, you seem to be a perfectly reasonable...?" She trails off questioningly.

"Person." I answer.

"A perfectly reasonable person from what I have seen. even if your arrival was a bit... unorthodox."

Huh, for an immortal Alicorn Princess/Goddess whatever she isn't all that bad. I guess I had kind of been expecting someone more... High and mighty. Just goes to show you that assuming makes an ass out of you and me huh?

Hey, you made that assumption, leave me out of it.

"I have to admit Coal... for a time you distressed me a fair bit." She says in an honest tone. Although truth be told with a couple thousand years of practice she could probably lie through her teeth and make it sound honest.

"Really? I was getting to the one who raises the sun?" I ask, hearing the surprise evident in my own voice.

"Yes, even if I am somewhat reluctant to admit it. When I first received the letter telling me of your... arrival. It bothered me a great deal, and when rumors began to validate the letter-"

"Wait a second, he actually sent that letter?" I interrupt her, evidently forgetting the fact the one I was talking to was royalty.

"You... did not believe it was sent?"

"Well yeah... He kinda of set it on fire." I say with a deadpan look on my face.

"I see, well rest assured I received the letter. Actually, I would like to ask, what does 'Winter is coming' mean?"

Ah crap, and here I was hoping that the letter had actually been burned. That attempt at wit had been pitiful.

"It's nothing, really. I was on the spot and I just wrote something down." I reply honestly.

"I see." she says, not fully understanding but seeming to accept my statement that it wasn't important. "If you would not mind Coal, I have quite a few questions."

"Yeah, I suppose I would to if an alien showed up in my bedroom in the middle of the night."

"That actually leads me to what I wanted to ask you about in fact, where exactly are you from? What details can you tell me about your home and why you came here?"

I scratch my chin a bit as I consider how to answer that. It probably wouldn't go over too well if I told her that I was sent here by an immortal titan with the express purpose of disrupting the way things worked around here. Leaders who have been in power for a long time tend to react poorly to that sort of thing. While Celestia seems pretty decent so far, more than decent all things considered, I'm not exactly sure how she'll react if I tell her that.

Besides, if I let her know everything I won't seem as mysterious and where's the fun in that.

"How about this Celestia," I begin as I come to a decision. "I propose a little game."

"A game?" she asks as an eyebrow raises.

"Yes, a game. One where if you win I'll tell you everything you want to know, and if I lose you let me walk away scott free... Oh, and breakfast, I'm pretty hungry."

"I see, and what exactly would this game be?" She says giving me an inquisitive look.

"Oh it's a simple game, in fact you'll have a large advantage. I run and try to get out of the palace. You and all of your guards can attempt to catch me, if you pull it off I'll tell you what to know, but if you don't you owe me breakfast." I give a smirk as I add, "And I have very expensive tastes."

She seems to ponder this for a moment, it's easy to tell that she's considering this thoroughly. Truth be told, she really doesn't have any real reason to accept, heck the game itself would quickly turn real if she wanted to force me to tell her what she wanted to know. This is just a way to try and appeal to her more playful side, instead of the side that liked to shoot lasers from her horn.

Wait, can she shoot lasers?

Hmm, considering she can move the sun I'd say lasers is a pretty safe bet.

"Very well Coal," She says coming to a decision. I see the playful grin from earlier begin to show itself again as she continues. "I will try to catch you and if I succeed you will reveal the secrets of your origin, if not I will provide you with a meal."

"Sounds fair to me. Just one thing though."

"Oh? and what would that b-" She tries to say but is interrupted by a pillow hitting her face.

"It starts now!" I say with mirth in my voice as I run towards the door leading deeper into the tower.

Throwing the door open I startle two unicorn guards who had apparently been coming to investigate the yell. Looks like they aren't that terrible at their job that they'd ignore a yell coming from the princess' bed chambers.

...

Wow, that sounds really wrong.

Hey, you thought it.

"Hey guys hows the guarding going!?" I yell as I barrel past them, they appear to be stunned by my sudden appearance as they don't provide much resistance. Looking back over my shoulder I add, "Oh, and try to look up more!"

Going as quickly as I could down the spiraling staircase without tripping over my own feet I head downwards. From behind me I can hear Celestia's voice saying something along the lines of "Catch him but don't hurt him." Soon after, the sound of heavy hoof falls come from back up the staircase but with my two legs I could move down the stairs easier than they could. It's doubtful that they'll catch me before I reach the bottom of the stairs.

Now, despite what some might think, this was a calculated move. After my previous encounter with these ponies I thought it to be prudent to learn more about them. I figured the best place to try and learn a thing or two would be the capital, not only would I get a chance to see the more common kinds in action but I also might see the two Alicorns. I had never imagined that I would actually be able to stumble my way into the Princess' bedchambers as easily as I had, let alone have conversation with her.

Despite the odds, it had happened. Seeing as part of my reason had been to see if I could get a reaction out of her, which I did just not in the way I expected. The rest of the reason was to see them in action, and seeing as I had actually managed to get within some kind of good graces with the ruler of the land I didn't want to jeapordise that. So how does one go about seeing what another is capable of while staying within speaking terms? You challenge them to a game.

Well, now that the inner workings of my mind are clear. I should probably keep running.

Reaching the bottom of the staircase I look around and find myself in a long hallway leading off to the left and of to the right. From back up the stairs I could hear Celestia's voice still and can't help but notice a bit of mirth in her voice..

Well, at least she seems to be enjoying herself.

Looking up it seems as though the ceiling is high enough for a bit of flying and seeing as my wings can carry me faster than my legs I opted to take to the air. Kicking off from the ground I choose to head right. Considering I have no idea how to find my way around this place if I always take the right path I'd find the exit eventually.

The sound of running, or is it galloping, guards coming from the corner up ahead however remind me that I might not have the time for eventually. Luckily, the guards aren't expecting their quarry to be in the air and I stick my tongue out at them as I fly over their heads. Thankfully, most of the ones I've seen have been Unicorns. They quickly recover from their surprise however and begin to chase me.

A note on the Unicorns: They seem to be mentally capable and posses some kind of ability tied in with their horns. However, when it comes to physical endeavors they seem to come up just a bit lacking. They appear to be fairly intelligent and quick to adapt but lack brawn.

Taking my mental note about the Unicorns I keep flying, trying to gain as much of a lead as I can from my pursuers. My wings seem to win out over their hooves as I pull ahead, but unfortunately I'm unable to go full tilt considering I have to slow down for turns every now and again. Seeing a way to get outside coming up ahead I swoop low to take it outside and find myself in some sort of elaborate garden and labyrinth.

Well, I guess when you live for a couple thousand years you get a pretty impressive garden going huh?

It seems as though the sun is beginning to rise, considering who I'm playing a game against I can't be a hundred percent sure if this is the time it's supposed to rise or if Ol' Celly is trying to gain an advantage. I kind of doubt she'd risk throwing the world's ecosystem out of wack just to win a game but you can never know for sure.

My musings as to how far my opponent will actually go are interrupted as I hear the sound of feathery wings flapping and notice several pegasi guards seem to be taking to the air to chase me.

A note on the Pegasi: They seem to be agile and have the obvious ability of flight. However if the rules that apply to flying creatures still hold true here for the most part they're likely less durable than the other types. They are quick and mobile but unlikely able to sustain a heavy hit.

Pulling off some pretty fancy aerial maneuvers I manage to avoid their lunges to grab me. The taunts I'm adding in every now and again don't seem to be having much effect on them, but that's likely because even if they're complacent they still went through training.

Just then, as I was dodging the lunge of a particularly persistent pegasi that a booming voice sounded.

"HALT THY FLIGHT CREATURE!"

Holy hell in a hand basket that's loud!

If I had ears they'd be bleeding!

Looking in the direction of the shout I see a blue coated Alicorn with a flowing mane like the night sky. And she was barreling right towards me. My eyes go wide as I sear her seem to slice the air in front of her as I thrust with my wings and manage to get out of the way just in time.

Man, if I keep this up I'm going to need another set of clothes.

"Ah-ha! I commend the attempt O' Princess of the Night, but it will take more than that to to capture me!" I say in the best chivalric knight voice I can muster up while my ears are ringing.

After taunting a being powerful enough to raise and lower the moon, I turn my thoughts back to escape. The sun is rising in earnest now, and I can clearly tell from where I'm currently flying that the fastest way out of the Palace would to fly through the towers extending towards the sky. Unfortunately, at this point there seemed to be dozens of pegasi guards in the air over there, and I doubt that I'd be able to avoid all of them as well as Luna. The ground below me was seemed with Unicorn and even a few Earth Ponies in the mix. It looks like Celestia might just have caught me.

Hmm... What would Leeroy Jenkins do in a situation like this?

Well that question has an obvious answer.

Charge

Taking in a deep breath I pause for a moment as I look towards the skyline.

"Alright, time's up. Lets do this." I start flying as quickly as I can towards the pegasi guards attempting to bar my exit and finish my battle cry.

"LEEEROY JENKINS!"

I feel so awesome right now.

The pegasi guards seem to be taken aback by my sudden outburst that rivaled Luna's earlier shout. As I reach their line, only a few actually manage to keep it together enough to try and stop this crazed yelling creature, and not dive to the side for safety.

Among the few that remain two manage to grab an arm and leg each. For their lithe bodies these pegasi are surprisingly strong. While these two weren't enough to stop me they'd definitely be able to slow me down enough for Luna or the other guards to catch up and then it'd be all over.

So I did the only thing I could think to do in that situation.

I opened my mouth and let out a gout of flame, the accompanying roar surprised even me a little bit.

That seemed to do it for the guards who were hanging on to me, as they seemed to no longer wanted to have anything to do with me. With my limbs free and nothing slowing me down anymore I rocket towards the edge of the palace. It was then that Celestia decided to make her appearance, her form being framed by the circle of fire in the sky that was the sun, and she was directly in my path.

"So then, do you give up?" she asks me as I have to avert my eyes from the light of the sun behind her.

"Not quite, here's a question? Do you know the airspeed velocity of a swallow?"

"What? How in Equestria is that relev-"

I take advantage once again of the fact that people are never prepared for you to try and pull something when they're int he middle of a sentence, as I start my downward dive intending to go under her and use gravity to my advantage for once. The flapping of my wings combined with the force of gravity pulling m downward is enough to get me past Celestia, and before she has enough time to turn around I begin to hover.

Just on the other side of the Palace's outer wall.

"Well now Celestia, it looks like you owe me breakfast. I like my Gems sunny-side up."

---

As Celestia found herself looking at this being that called itself Coal she couldn't stop the grin that came to her face. The creature that had been causing her so much personal distress over the past few days had presented itself to her in a way she never would have expected. Not only that, it had proved most of her assumptions about it wrong.

At first, his actions were comparable to those that one might expect of Discord, but so far Coal has not made it start raining chocolate milk so Celestia couldn't assume the worst about him for that. Part of her thought that his way of acting when he had first met her was a way to try and set her somewhat at ease. Although she couldn't be entirely sure about that.

Then, he had challenged her to a game, one that if she won she'd have the chance to learn all that she wanted to learn from him. Or so he had said. His way of starting the competition hadn't given her all that much faith in his sense of honesty as she could still remember the feeling of the pillow hitting her face quite clearly. No matter what his intentions were however she couldn't pass up the chance to see what exactly this creature was capable of.

What she had never expected however was the roar, it had sounded as though it came from a creature ten times his size, and the display of fire breathing that accompanied it was impressive as well.

What she had expected the least however was for him to actually win their game. The strangest this about that is she isn't sure if she was entirely disappointed about that.

Breakfast with Ponies... How Quaint. (Chapter Eight)

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Chapter Eight

Breakfast with Ponies... How Quaint.

I've always found sitting at a large table to be just a bit awkward. Heck, it even felt weird siting at the school lunch tables. However, there is no awkward like being given the evil eye by a half a dozen or so equines. I sat at the far end of a long table, which in my opinion was too long to actually be practical but who cares what I think, and most of the others at the table evidently didn't like me very much.

Sitting next to one another at the other end of the table were my two favorite Princesses. Celestia on the right, and Luna on the left. On the right hand side sitting in the seat closest to Celestia is a pompous looking Unicorn who was announced as Prince Blueblood. I thought I had a pretty decent understanding of how their governmental system worked with the two Princesses running the shebang but I have no freaking idea where Blueblood fits in. I'm not entirely focused on that however as the mare sitting on Luna's side of the table throws me for an even bigger loop.

She has frigging bat wings... In my mind from this point forward she will be the Batmare.

And while I can't see them right now I know there are two guardponies stationed at the door behind me. At the moment, Celestia is the only one who isn't trying to murder me with their eyes. Normally this wouldn't be all that unnerving, but seeing as some of them are unicorns they might actually be able to pull it off.

"Sister, you mean to tell us that the Palace was thrown in an uproar for a game?" Luna asks her fellow Alicorn with undisguised annoyance in her voice.

"Yes Luna, Coal suggested it and I agreed." Celestia replies evenly.

"Then why did you not tell us!? The entire guard and I thought we were under attack by some unknown creature!"

"I had planned to, but our guest decided to start the game before I was able to."

I sheepishly hold up my hand and say, "In my defense she had a distinct advantage in the game, seeing as she basically had an army. I was just trying to even things out a bit."

"Creature, do not speak to royalty in such an offhoofed manner!" Blueblood says in the most annoying tone of voice I have ever had the displeasure of hearing.

Can we murder him please?

No.

Oh come on why not? I know you want to.

It'd be poor table manners, that's why.

"Blueblood," Celestia addresses him in a soothing voice, "Coal has a name, and you should not treat a guest that way."

"Of course Princess, I apologize." He says bowing his head so low I thought he'd stab the table with his horn.

Heh... He's horny.

Grow up.

"Yeah, the Princess was the one who was so offended." I say as I lean my head on my claw, while twirling my fork in the fancy looking grass on my plate.

Apparently, that is not how the high and mighty Blueblood likes to be treated as he gives me another glare, but this time he doesn't say anything. To which I respond by giving him a one fingered salute with my claw, and the best part about that is from the look on his face he has no idea what it means.

Oh I am going to have so much fun with this.

"Oh, and by the by Celestia, I don't eat grass." I inform her as I hold up a forkful of it to accentuate my point. "I did specifically ask for gems you know."

"I apologize... when I informed the cooks to prepare breakfast for a guest I don't think they realized it wasn't for a pony. And ever since Spike, a baby dragon, left with my student to live in Ponyvile the Palace hasn't restocked on gems."

"Fair enough I guess, it's just that I'm an omnivore so I can eat quite a few things, but grass is not one of them."

"I... see. I'm sure the chef can come up with something to suit your palette." Celestia replies, apparently omnivores aren't too welcome among herbivores seeing as the glares intensify across the room.

"Thanks, I'd appreciate it. Heck, I'd settle for a couple of apples at this point." I take a slow look around the room and don't find too many friendly eyes. "So... This is awkward huh?"

"You come here in the middle of the night and throw the castle into an uproar, and you expect to be welcomed with a smile?" The Batmare speaks up for the first time.

"Yeah, kinda. I thought that was entailed with the deal I made with Celly."

Holy fuck, wrong move.

Every single pony in the room, excluding Celly of course, looks like they want to beat me to death with my own skull.

"Oookay... Um, sorry? I don't exactly have a concept of 'royalty' where I'm from. So I'm not used to the whole 'Princess' and 'Your majesty' thing."

"I assure you, I am not offended Coal." Celly says, seeming to ignore the death glares I'm still getting. "Although I am interested in what you mentioned. If you do not have a Monarchy, what government system do your people employ?"

"So, trying to find out more about me despite having lost our game are we? Alright I'll go with it for now, even if I still haven't gotten my breakfast."

She actually has the gall to give an innocent smile.

"Well, believe it or not my race is the only sapient one, as far as I know, living on our planet. I know, crazy right? Seeing as we don't have other races to focus our collective ire at like you do we have a lot of different countries. The one I was born and raised in is considered a constitutional republic and representative democracy."

"To be a bit more specific as to the not much respect for royalty thing, my country originally started as a series of colonies by a country whose ruling body was a parliamentary monarchy. The colonies were set up several thousand miles across an ocean so they weren't exactly able to communicate all that much. One thing led to another and after being oppressed by said mother country the colonists revolted and won their freedom. Long story short, royalty isn't exactly held in high regard where I'm from."

"Ah, I see, your race sounds very interesting."

"Yeah, I guess if anything you could call them that." I take a moment to look at the other ponies at the table and add, "Although I don't think the others here have the same opinion."

"Honestly, I cannot see why you tolerate him your highness." The Batmare says to Celestia.

Okay, we can just ignore what I said. That's cool I guess.

"I do not tolerate him Captain Nightshroud, I enjoy his company, if I disliked him I would not have agreed to provide him breakfast at the Palace."

"Aww Celly, you're a sweet talker. I still want my food though."

"Sister, how do you enjoy his company? I mean... not even taking into account what he did earlier during your 'game' his manner of acting is extremely uncouth."

"Luna, he is more than he at first appears."

"She's right, I can cook a damn good souffle."

"For starters he has a sense of humor." Celestia says with a light chuckle in her voice.

I look towards the ceiling and muse out loud, "Ya know, the ironic thing about all of this is that I had expected to get along better with the Princess of the night. I've always been a night owl after all, but I guess the universe has a sense of humor huh?"

Luna looks a bit surprised by my statement and I add, "Heck, the night sky was the first thing I saw when I got here. It was a sight to behold, a night sky that was not my own spanning before me."

"You... enjoy my night sky?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I? I mean, the night sky has always been something I've enjoyed."

"I... see." She says as she pauses and a thoughtful look comes to her face.

"And besides, it was pretty sexy when you yelled at the top of your lungs and tried to tackle me."

Huh, I wouldn't have thought her blue coat could get that red... In fact, how do you blush through hair like that anyway?

"Y-You uncouth creature! You have no respect for royalty, if it were up to me I would call the guard and have you thrown in the dungeon!" Blueblood says in obvious indignation.

"You know, if I was really as 'uncouth' as you claim me to be I would probably point out that the guard wasn't exactly able to catch me the first time." Truth be told, I might be having a bit too much fun jerking this guy's chain than I should.

What can I say? His voice is really getting to me, and I'm a petty person sometimes.

"Blueblood, that was uncalled for." Cele-

Wait a second, for once it isn't Celestia defending me, Luna is!

"He is a guest, and my sister gave her word that he would be welcome in the Palace." Luna says to Blueblood with a bit of anger in her voice.

"B-but Princess, he has been nothing but rude and barbaric since he arrived. Why are you defending him?" Blueblood says, the look on his face changing from one of anger to one of confusion comically fast.

"Because, I have realized something, and that is I have been extremely unfair to him."

Wait what?

What, is this chick bipolar?

"Unfair?" I ask, just as surprised as everyone else in the room.

"Yes, before we came to the table my sister told me of what happened with your arrival. You have been more than generous with us, if I were to be attacked by a a species I have never met before I would likely not be as forgiving as you have been. Not only have you not sought any revenge for what occurred, you have even tried to befriend my sister and I." looking away from me and shifting her gaze to Blueblood she adds, "If anything, I have only not liked him because he bested me during the chase."

Wait, I've been doing that? I've just been trying to mess with them... Well, not like I'm about to correct her.

"Well... Thank you Luna, I appreciate the understanding." I say with genuine gratitude in my voice. I've been getting tired of being on the receiving end of glares.

"... You are right Princess, now that you point it out, I have been a bit put out at how he was managing to outfly me earlier as well." The Batmare speaks up.

I know her name is Nightshroud, but still gonna call her the Batmare in my mind.

"Wait a second, I think I would have remembered if I was being chased by a pegasus with bat wings earlier." I say, trying to remember if I had seen her at some point.

"Yes, actually I don't normally have bat wings."

"What, are they clip-ons or something?"

"No, I'm not entirely sure what 'clip-ons' are, but for formal or public matters, members of the night guard have an illusion spell cast on them to give them a more fearsome appearance."

"Why exactly? It seems kind of pointless."

"Well, having bat wings and dark armor makes you quite a bit more intimidating." She says in a deadpan tone.

"Fair enough I suppose." I say as I look around my breakfast companions, evidently having enjoyed their fancy grass. The overall mood of the table, besides Blueblood, seems to have improved as well.

What can I say, I'm a charming guy.

However, as I'm reminded of the fact I haven't been able to actually eat anything my stomach lets out a growl to remind me. Looking to Celestia I ask, "So... about me getting something edible, how's that going exactly?"

She's about to answer me, probably with a 'it's on it's way', when I hear the door burst open behind me.

"Princess, are you alright! What happened!?"

Who in the fuck?

I turn my body to look around behind me and I see a purple unicorn mare drenched in sweat an out of breath. The two guards at the door seem to be surprised by her sudden entrance. Something I notice however is that she has some kind of tattoo... on her... flank? It looks like a series of stars sparkling.

Oookay?

Her gaze first seems to go towards Celestia and Luna, before she seems to notice the hairless and winged monkey sitting in a chair and looking at her.

"Y-you! What're you doing here, in the Palace, eating breakfast with the Princesses!?" She apparently recognizes me and seems to be having some sort of conniption trying to figure out what's going on.

Being the smart ass that I am I of course respond with, "Well, technically I'm not eating. Fancy grass might be appetizing to you but it doesn't exactly suit me as much."

"What!?" She yells at the top of her lungs before her coherent thought seems to disintegrate as she begins babbling.

This is fun to watch.

"Twilight." Celestia's calm voice caries across the room, and the effect on the unicorn is almost instantaneous. the unicorn seems to get snapped out of her hysterics and looks to Celestia with undivided attention, "Twilight, this is Coal, he is a guest at the Palace. Now then, what exactly are you doing in Canterlot?"

"Well Princess, it was early morning and nopony was awake yet, well besides the apple family, when we heard a dragon roar coming from Canterlot. When you didn't respond to my letter I was worried, and with the roar I thought something terrible had happened!"

Awhoops, my bad.

"Twilight, while I appreciate your concern there is no dragon threatening Canterlot."

"Yeah... That was me actually, I kind of got carried away." I admit as I rub the back of my head.

"What, you? That doesn't make sense, how could you make a roar that loud. Only a fully grown dragon can roar like that." She says, disbelief evident in her voice.

"Yeah, it surprised even me a little bit. Although, if you could hear it from all the way out of the city I can't help but feel a bit of pride. I mean, little old me, roaring loud enough to be heard clear across the countryside? That's impressive."

"Yes, I would have to agree, it was quite fearsome." Celestia intones, and Luna nods in agreement.

"In truth, I was about to give chase, but I was so surprised by it I paused mid-flight." Luna admits, if a bit reluctantly.

"Princess Celestia, Princess Luna! How are you so calm about this, there's a strange creature sitting at the table and you're complimenting it on how well it can roar!?" She says, as she seems to begin having another episode.

"I'm a 'he' by the way, just sayin'." I add, but I'm evidently ignored as Twilight begins to take another breath to continue speaking.

However, just as she is about to do so I hear the sound of galloping hooves coming from the open doorway.

"Twilight, hold up fer just a second!" I hear a distinctly southern accent call out to Twilight from the direction of the galloping hooves.

Soon after, five more mares of varying races and appearance appear next to Twilight. The one who had evidently been speaking is an earth pony with an orange coat, blonde mane, and is wearing a stetson hat. She also seems to have some kind of picture of three apples on her flank.

Wait a second, the hat is awesome, but what is with these ass tattoos?

My gaze shifts toward the others and my gaze falls upon a cyan pegasus with a rainbow colored mane and a picture of a cloud with a blot of rainbow lightning shooting from it. The next one down the line is a bright pink coated earth pony whose mane seems to be made out of cotton candy, she has some kind of picture of balloons on her flank. After her there is a unicorn with a white coat and stylized purple mane who seems to have a set of three diamonds on her flank.

Okay, what the hell is with these pictures. Do like, all of them have them? If so, how the hell am I just noticing this now... Wait a second, there were five, where's the last one?

Craning my head a bit I see a pink tail peeking out from behind the orange pony with the stetson hat.

"Now Twilight, we were tryin' ta tell ya that the city looks fine. If somethin' was wrong everypony wouldn't be goin' 'bout their business like they are." The stetson apple pony says.

"Yes darling, and besides I doubt any old dragon could just waltz into Canterlot and attack the Palace." The Diamond pony says in an elegant voice.

...

Oh my god, I so want to make a Borderlands joke about this.

"Yeah, I mean and besides, even if there were a dragon I'm sure he'd be happy if we just threw him a party! Oh, wait! What if it's a lady dragon, if it was then we'd have to throw a party for a lady dragon instead! In fact, I don't think I've ever met a lady dragon before. Oooh, I wonder if they're like Rarity, lady dragons I mean, not the guy dragons. That'd be silly!" The Pink one says in such a flurry, that I think that her mouth shouldn't be physically able to keep up.

Holy sugar rush batman, maybe her mane really is made of cotton candy. She seems hyper enough for it.

"And besides, if some big ol' dragon decided to attack Canterlot I'd just soar in and show it who's boss." The rainbow maned pegasus says, her voice dripping with confidence.

Oh yeah? Wanna test that biatch!?

Brain, shut it.

"So then ladies, care to take a seat? I'm sure we have a lot to talk about." I say in my best evil villain voice.

All of them seem to take notice of me for the first time, their attention having been focused on Twilight. They all turn their heads to look at me and they all share a look of surprise as they notice my black wings reaching around the back of the chair.

I have an awesome evil voice if I do say so myself.

---

As Coal the Half-Dragon sat there at the table with two ancient Alicorn Princesses within a Palace on a world not his own. He has found secrets that have been unknown for millennium, and has had many encounters with many beings not of his own kind.

Most people at this point at time would find themselves trying to wrap their minds around all that has happened to them over the course of just a few days.

He however found his thoughts drawn to one very important question.

What the hell is with these damn tattoos!?

Within Chaos... How Deep. (Chapter Nine)

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Chapter Nine

Within Chaos... How Deep.

Okay seriously, how in the hell did I not notice this before.

The six ponies who had arrived in a most unexpected manner are now seated along the length of the table. Everyone present seems to be staring at me expectantly as I scratch at my head with my hand.

Okay... All six of them have them and no one seems to think much of it besides me. Is this normal?

"Coal, is something the matter?" Clestia's voice speaks up, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Well, no. Not really, just thinking about something." I let out a sigh at this and continue, "Well, it isn't important."

Looking around I take full notice at how everyone at the table is looking at me expecting something and I ask, "What're you all looking at me like that for?"

"Oh come on! He wasn't even listening!" The Cyan coated pegasus says irritably.

"Yeah... sorry about that, kind of got lost in thought." I admit sheepishly.

"Very well then, I will repeat myself, how long do you wish to stay here at the Palace?" Celestia asks, "If you are going to be staying for long we can have arrangements made."

"Oh oh! We could have a party too! There'd be streamers and games like pin the tail on the pony. Oh! Do you like cupcakes, I know everypony likes cupcakes but you're not a pony after all so I don't know if you do." The bubbly pink one says in her flurry that I now think is her default way of speaking.

"Yeah... I don't think I'll be staying for all that long." I say as I turn my head to look out the window. Out of the corner of my eye I can almost swear that the Pink one's mane deflated a bit.

"If it is something that we might have said to offend you I apologize..." Luna says looking a bit guilty.

"Oh no that's not it. I had originally planned to just make this a quick visit to begin with. There's a world out there, and I'm interested in seeing it for myself." I pause a moment and look down at my plate of grass and add, "Besides, if I stay here I might starve to death."

"Yes, that seems to be the case. I do not know what is taking the chefs so long to make something." The Batmare chimes in.

"There is one thing that's kind of bothering me though." I say looking to what would appear to most to be an empty chair.

"Oh, and what exactly would that be dear?" The white coated unicorn asks me.

"Well, there seems to be some kind of shivering creature with a pink tail sitting under the table." As soon as the statement is finished the pink tail sticking out from under the table stiffens and shoots out of sight.

"Ah come now Fluttershy, he's alright by the Princesses I don't think ya'll should be so scared ah him." The pony with the Stetson hat on her head says, apparently addressing the pink tailed creature.

"Am I really that scary? I mean sure I'm a bit weird looking and all but... Well, seeing someone react that way makes me feel a little bad."

"Well... Fluttershy is just a bit timid dear, if anything I'd think your claw and wings were putting her on edge. While I think they match your outfit perfectly, they do bear a resemblance to ones a dragon would have." The white coated unicorn assures me.

"Rarity is right, Fluttershy has a bit of a problem with dragons older than babies." Twilight adds, addressing the white coated unicorn mare as Rarity.

"Oh is that all? Well that really isn't a problem." I say with my patented mischievous grin coming to my face. I will my claw to return to being a hand and my wings to vanish, as I feel the familiar feeling of the cool black mist.

Eyes across the room widen a bit and a few mouths even hang open at the spectacle. After a few moments they're left sitting there looking at an ordinary everyday human.

You have conversations with your own brain, you're not normal.

"See? Not a problem, oh and before any of you ask, no I'm not going to explain how or why I can do that."

"B-but that was shape-shifting magic! The wings manifested from nowhere, that is a high tier spell that few unicorns could even think about pulling off." Twilight says, her voice brimming with surprise and disbelief.

"Yeah, it's a neat trick huh? But if you think that's impressive just wait until you see what I can do with these babies." I say as I waggle my fingers in the air in front of me. To which I receive several confused glances but I let it slide. "But yeah, I'm not one for overstaying my welcome so I won't be staying for all that long. Probably going to be leaving around nightfall."

"I see, that's unfortunate. I was not lying earlier when I said I enjoyed your company Coal. You're... interesting to have around." Celestia says giving me a a downcast look.

Aww, I feel so loved... Not gonna get me to spill anything, nice try though Celly.

"Well, I'm glad I made a good impression." I say to Celestia as I begin to see a pink maned head start to slowly rise up from under the table, the pony's hooves resting on it.

After several moments of me trying my best to ignore it and continue making small talk with Celestia across this long ass table the pegasus finally brings her upper body into view as she seems to be staring at me with a bit of trepidation in her eyes.

"Y-you're a lot less scary without the claw... I mean, I know if the Princesses trust you, you can't be mean but..." She says in a almost silent voice.

"Yeah, don't feel bad. I'd say hiding is a better reaction than chasing me around with spears so there's always that." I say with a grin, making sure that I don't bring my canines into view.

'Cause I'm just such a gentleman.

"Oh, um... Yeah, that would be bad." She says, her voice rising just a bit in volume. Now it's only slightly above a whispering mouse's voice.

"Yeah, it was. Oh well, water under the bridge and all that."

"Oh, so the big shape shifting dragon thing is a big wimp huh?" The cyan pegasus speaks up with a derogatory tone in her voice.

"Well, this was before I could well, fly, breath fire, and discovered my general all around awesomeness." I reply in a joking manner.

"Yeah, well, you must be a pretty good flier if you out flew one of the Princesses. Not as good as me of course but then again who is?"

"Well, you're probably better at it than Sparkle butt over here." I say gesturing towards Twilight.

Twilight's eyes widen in response and everyone, excluding Blueblood the unicorn with a stick up his ass bigger than his horn, seems to find my observation about Twilight's flank tattoo very funny. In fact, the rainbow maned pegasus I had been speaking to chortles with laughter and all but falls out of her chair.

"S-sparkle... butt..." Twilight says evidently at a loss for words.

Abruptly getting up from my sitting position I say, "Well, I'd best get out of here before she gets her senses back together, and decides to shoot lightning at my face." From there I promptly open a window and dive out as I will my wings into existence, and while I didn't get a good look at most of their faces it was either a look of shock or humor as I departed.

I startle a few guards patrolling outside and I give them a wave as I soar past. It's still only around noon despite everything that has happened so I decide it isn't time to leave just yet. Looking over to the Palace gardens I spy the labyrinth I noticed earlier. Deciding it's as good a place as any to spend an afternoon I fly in lower and come to a landing. As I land I get a glance at my hands and I realize I had made my left hand turn back into a claw without even realizing it. At this point the claw feels just as much a part of me as my right hand does.

Oh well, it looks kind of awesome anyway, so I guess I'll just keep it like this most of the time.

With that decision made I begin to casually stroll my way through the garden and labyrinth. The sun continues it's trek across the sky for a time while I do this and it appears to be around four in the afternoon. I'm admiring a statue that evidently symbolizes victory as I hear the clop of hooves hitting a hard surface coming from behind me. Turning around, I see Celestia walking calmly towards me.

"You do know that my student was fairly flustered with you calling her 'Sparkle butt' correct?"

"Yeah, that was the point. Besides, a good student has to know how to expect the unexpected right?"

"I suppose so. Admiring the garden are we?"

"Yeah, that and contemplating how empty my stomach feels right about now."

"Ah yes, on that note I actually do have something here for you." She says as a golden glow makes it's way over towards me and seems to be encasing a small fruit platter. "The reason it was taking the chefs so long to prepare was that they couldn't decide what would suit your palette best. Eventually I made my way down there and informed them that fruit should be fine."

Taking the platter from the glow wrapping around it I grab an apple slice and take a bite out of it before saying, "You know, this technically doesn't count as breakfast anymore, so you still owe me that."

"Very well, I can accept that reasoning. Does that mean you'll be staying longer?"

"Nah, I still have a lot to see, and besides I think having me around for just one day has been stressing enough on your guards already."

"Yes I suppose you are right, most of them are still a bit shaken up from the chase this morning."

"Good, they should be. Maybe now they won't be as complacent as they were. Heck, I managed to get in your room by flying straight in, and no one saw a thing. There's definitely some room for improvement there"

"Very well then, I'll make sure to keep that in mind." she says as we stand there together, admiring the scenery as I munch on my delicious fruit. "Would you care to take a walk around the garden Coal? I know you've likely been doing that already but it's relaxing when you walk with someone else."

"Sure, why not. But only because you're considerate enough to use 'someone' instead of somepony. Truth be told, all of the pony related phrases are just a little bit grating." And with that we began to walk around the garden and labyrinth. This time with Celestia with me I got lost a lot less often than when I had been wandering aimlessly on my own.

Eventually, as we walked into one particular area within the labyrinth Celestia's expression grew dour, and the look intensified as her eyes came to rest upon a particular statue. It was definitely an... odd statue. It looked to be a jumbled mess of all sorts of different creatures.

Although, with my own current state of jumbled parts I guess I'm not exactly one to talk.

"Is something bothering you Celestia?" I ask as she comes to a stop in front of the statue in question.

"Yes... but it is not because of you Coal... It's simply an old enemy of mine."

"You know, if I didn't know any better I'd think you were talking about this statue." I say come to a stop next to her.

"I am, while he might not look like much in his current petrified state, this statue is Discord. Spirit of chaos and disharmony." When she says chaos she has has obvious distaste for the concept in question. "Not too long ago he threatened all of Equestria, his powers being enough to alter the very rules by which the land is governed."

"So what, he flipped a bunch of stop signs upside down?" I ask, not fully understanding her meaning.

"No, he did far more than that. He has the power to change the laws of nature and sow eternal chaos if he is left to his own devices."

"Okay, but why does he do it?"

"He is the spirit of chaos, what else would he do?" She asks, giving me an inquisitive look.

"Well, even within chaos there is logic. It's kind of circular logic if you think about it too hard but it's there. I mean think about this, if he causes chaos because he is the spirit of chaos doesn't that make sense?"

"I suppose so, in a convoluted way."

"Yeah, it is isn't it? Well, putting that aside for a moment ask yourself this. Is the reason he causes so much suffering because that is his nature, or does he do so because that is the only way others view him?"

Celestia seems to consider my words but does not say anything in response so I continue, "I am a firm believer in that we act according to the way others perceive and treat us. If one is treated harshly they tend to respond in kind, and in the other sense if they are treated with kindness they are likely to reciprocate. We're beings capable of thought, not simply forces of nature that have no emotions or consciousness. Just take that into consideration."

So, getting philosophical are we? I'm ashamed of even being associated with you now.

Celestia and I share a moment of silence as we both regard the statue within which resides Discord, malevolent spirit of chaos and disharmony. The moment seems to stretch for nearly an eternity before Celestia finally breaks the silence.

"You are right, perhaps I have been too scornful towards him, even if he does deserve it. I will... consider your words, but I cannot promise anything."

"Never asked you to." I say as I finish the last of my food platter. "Although I have to imagine being stuck in stone like that would be incredibly boring. Heck, if the two o us having a philosophical conversation is the most excitement he gets, I feel kind of sorry for the guy."

Just then, an idea comes to mind and I turn to Celestia and ask, "There wouldn't happen to be any spells that can play a song from memory would there?"

She seems a bit confused by my seemingly random question and responds, "Yes, I suppose there are a few, why?"

"Just an idea I have, there wouldn't happen to be any that are simple to learn would there?"

"Yes, I suppose there is a simple memory spell that could work. Do you want me to teach you it?"

"If I could learn it in just a few minutes, yeah."

"I... suppose I could impart the knowledge with a brief sharing of minds."

"Alright, perfect, just make sure you don't go too deep in my noggin' there. There's a lot of stuff in there that might not suit your pony princess sensibilities."

"I do not see where you are going with this, but I'll indulge you for now." She says as she begins to point her horn towards my forehead and the familiar glow begins to envelop it. It's an... odd feeling. It's kind of like there's someone else inside my head.

Like that's out of the ordinary for you.

---

Someone who's not normally inside my head.

"Coal... who exactly are you talking to?" I hear Celestia's voice intone in my mind.

Wait a second, you can hear me? Haha, finally! You wouldn't believe how annoying it is to be this bozo's brain without anyone else to talk to.

Gee, thanks.

"Is this... normal?"

For humans? No. For me? Yeah, pretty much.

---

With that the brief three-way conversation inside my own head come to an end, and once she comes back to herself Celestia gives me a very odd look.

"Yeah, I guess I'm just a little bit crazy, but I act sane enough most of the time so it really isn't all that bad. You did give me the spell thing though right?"

"Yes, I'm not exactly how you'll focus it without a horn, but you evidently have some magical attributes if you can change your form the way you do."

"Alright, perfect." I say as I crack my fingers. "This is gonna be fun."

I look up towards the looming, evidently fear stricken, statue and say, "Hey, Discord! If you're in there how about I show you just a little example of just how crazy we humans can get?" With that, I snap my fingers with a specific song in mind.

Soon after I feel a slight drain as a techno beat begins to fill the garden.

"Oppan Gangnam Style."

Then, I proceed to break out into a dance along with the song. The dance had been a painstaking effort to learn, but on the rare occasions when I had left my home it was always a crowd favorite at parties. Celestia's eyes go wide at my seemingly nonsensical dance, and I could swear I see a glint come from the statue's eyes.

Look at me now, dancing to a Korean song in front of the Princess of the sun and the spirit of chaos. I'm having a blast.

---

Within his stony prison Discord had watched the entire exchange between Celestia and this strange creature. It reminded him just a little bit of himself, but then it went into a conversation with Celestia about philosophy of all things. If Discord could have moved he'd have gagged.

Then however it made a request to Celestia regarding... music? This was definitely more interesting than their earlier conversation. It didn't even make him want to tear his own fang out. Then however the creature disengaged from it's exchange with Celestia and addressed Discord.

"Hey, Discord! If you're in there how about I show you just a little example of just how crazy we humans can get?" and then it snapped it's fingers in a manner similar to Discord when he spreads chaos.

And oh did this creature demonstrate chaos at it's finest when it wanted to.

It was the first true moment of unadulterated joy that Discord had felt since being turned back to stone.

Oh Celestia, I do hope you keep this 'Human' around. He's a keeper. He briefly manages to think before disolving back into hysterics.

All Roads Lead to Rome... Not Really. (Chapter Ten)

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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.

So a Human, a Pony, and Two Kobolds Walk into an Empire... Funny. (Chapter Eleven)

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Chapter Eleven

So a Human, a Pony, and Two Kobolds Walk into an Empire... Funny.

Oh night sky, sometimes I think you're my only friend~.

So what, I don't count?

No, no you don't.

I wasn't lying to Luna when I told her that I like the night, because I really do. I don't know what it is exactly that makes me like it so much. Maybe it's the relative calm it brings when compared to the hustle and bustle of the day, or it could be I find the night sky to be soothing. Whatever the reason though, I've always been more of a night owl. add flying into the equation and you can't get much closer to perfect.

I fly across the sky, every once in a while spotting the lights coming from a settlement, but I just continue past them. Although, what appeared to be a city in the sky almost made me reconsider my current destination.

Man, this place is probably never going to stop surprising me.

Flying past the city of clouds I continue on my way. It's smooth sailing for most of the trip, but for the oddest reason I keep feeling my pack shift around. I might have left the strap too loose the last time I took it off because I keep having to push it back into place. Eventually, I see the sun beginning to peek it's way over the horizon and I decide it's probably a good idea to get some rest. It looks like there's a small mountain not too far off from where I am now, so I start heading towards it.

It doesn't take nearly as long to get there as I had thought it would have, while it was close it was still a ways out towards the horizon. Thinking about it a bit more I realize that the map had placed Canterlot and Crimson waters a fair distance apart, but I managed to cover the distance in a relatively short amount of time.

How fast am I flying when I'm traveling?

It's odd that I'm just noticing this now, but I suppose it's understandable considering I've been flying at night, and distances are a little hard to judge in the dark. The times I've really been flying during the day I wasn't trying to cover distance, just get somewhere close by. Now that I'm really paying attention to it I'm actually going pretty damn fast.

I just keep getting more and more awesome.

Yeah, keep telling yourself that.

As I approach the mountain side I find an outcropping that looks fairly flat, and I begin to descend towards it. By the time I arrive the sun has almost broken free of the grasp of the horizon, and I stretch my stiff non-flying limbs. I let my bag slide off of my shoulder and lower it to the ground. For some reason it feels heavier than before but that can't be right, I must be more tired than I realized.

With a delicious and crunchy gem in mind I open up the bag and-

"Hiya!" A grey coated filly cheerfully greets me. Her forehooves wrapping around the lip of the bag as she looks up at me with those big magenta eyes.

...

If she didn't look so fucking adorable right now I'd be pissed.

"Fiery, why are you in my bag?" I ask, trying to keep my voice sounding calmer than I felt.

"Oh yeah, that, well when Teacher brought me back to the class I asked her if I could go and see you again. I mean, you're nice and know the Princesses and all, but she still said no. So I decided I'd at least go and see the gardens again, and when I went to the place where we met earlier I found your bag." She gets a guilty look on her face as she continues, "And I uh... well... poked around a bit." She looks up at me, probably to see if I'm angry.

Pinching the bridge of my nose I sigh and say, "Okay, I don't care if you poked around in my bag, it's my fault for leaving it there. What I do care about is why you're in my bag."

"Oh that, yeah. Well, when I was poking around I heard somepony flying and thought it was a guard, so I hid in the bag."

"But it wasn't a guard, it was me. So when you hid in the bag, you were inside when I picked it up." I fill in the pieces, and rub my forehead in exasperation.

"Yeah mister Coal, that's right." She confirms as she tries to pull herself out of the bag, but only manages in toppling it over and sliding out.

This thing is like diabetes in a can.

"Well Fiery, why didn't you say something while I was flying?"

"Oh, I tried to, a little, but the wind drowned it out I guess." She explains as she gets to her hooves, "Besides, it was really fun flying like that." A growl escapes her stomach and she adds, "Oh, and I'm hungry."

"Fiery, this isn't the time for that. Isn't someo- somepony going to be worried about you?"

"Oh no, they shouldn't be. I left a note and everything!" She says like it's the most obvious thing in the world.

"I don't think a note can cover you hitching a ride with an alien." I deadpan back at her.

"Oh, you're an alien!? I just thought you were from some really far away place. There's so many things I want to ask about!" she says, shuffling around on her little legs and grinning like a madmare.

"Fiery, you have to go back home you know that right?"

"Awww, but why?" She says, giving me the same puppy dog look from before. This time I'm ready for it, so I only have a mild heart attack.

"Well, for one I'm going to be traveling a lot.-"

"I can just ride in your pack like I did before."

"I also don't have any food for a pony with me-"

"We're still in Equestria right? You can just go to a town and buy some."

"I don't know the first thing about looking after a filly-"

"I take care of myself all the time. You wouldn't need to worry about it."

"Well, ponies back home are going to miss you."

"Nopony will miss me, everypony says I'm a very 'brave filly' whatever that means."

"I'm going to probably be heading to some dangerous places and-"

"I've always wanted to see new places, and if something happens I can just hide in your pack."

...

Fuck, I'm running out of reasons to send her back. She's too damn smart for her own good.

"Well, I'm pretty sure Celestia wouldn't be too happy with me kidnapping somepony. So unless you have some magic way to contact her I don't see how-" My thought is interrupted by a belch accompanied by fire, and I cover my mouth in surprise.

When the black colored fire fizzles out I see that there's a small scroll sitting on the ground. Next to it, there is a quill, inkwell, and several sheets of parchment.

No no no. Oh come on, the universe doesn't hate me this much does it?

I slowly bend over and tentatively pick it up, breaking the seal and allowing it to unroll itself. I look at the flowing script on the page and begin to read.

---

Dear Coal,

I am sure you are surprised by the manner in which this letter arrived so allow me to explain. When I awoke this morning I was greeted by Luna, and she told me about the conversation the two of you shared. She evidently still wishes to hear more about you, but she knows it would be unfair to ask you to stay in Canterlot.

For a time I was perplexed, I couldn't think of a way that we could keep in touch despite your penchant for travel. However, when my student Twilight and her friends gave their farewells I remembered something. Some time ago I discovered that dragon's fire is by it's nature magical, this was largely in part due to the time young Spike spent in Canterlot. With a little experimenting I had discovered that the fire could be used as a medium to carry messages between my student and myself.

While your earlier display of fire-breathing was far greater than young Spike's and it took a bit of doing, I did manage to attune the sending spell to your fire. I am not a hundred percent sure if it has even in fact worked, so as soon as you are able I would appreciate if you send a reply. While certain aspects about you are very similar to a dragon I cannot be sure how deep it goes.

To send a reply simply think of how you want the letter to be sent and ignite it with your fire.

Sincerely, "Miss Celestia"

---

Well, there goes my last argument. Someone should really shut that window.

I look past the scroll and see Fiery staring up at me expectantly. Part of me wants to tell her Celestia's asking for her to be sent back, but I just can't bring myself to lie to those eyes.

"Well, I've just been informed that I can contact the Princesses. If you want, I'll ask if they're alright with you tagging along." I sigh in defeat.

"Yes! Okay, do it, do it, do it!" She says in an excited voice as she literally bounces around me in circles.

I shake my head, unable to be completely unfazed by her exuberance. I reach down and pick up the writing materials that had been sent with the letter.

Well, I've never used a quill before, but it can't be that hard right?

The world simply loves to prove me wrong. After wasting over half of the sheets trying to simply get the ink to flow in a line, and not just blotch up because I've pressed to hard or left it in one place for too long. I then move on to try and get the lines I'm scratching onto the sheet to actually look like letters. I eventually get down to one usable sheet by the time I actually get my penmanship to an acceptable level. And by acceptable I mean to a level that I wouldn't feel bad about having on the fridge.

It likely didn't help that Fiery was still in the throes of her elation, as she always seems to keep wanting to bounce on the sheet I'm writing on. I make sure to shift my position away from her bouncing form as I write on the last good sheet.

---

Dear Miss 'Makes me burp fire in the middle of a sentence',

While I'm pleasantly surprised by the new found ability to communicate with you during my travels, your timing was tragically perfect. And no, I won't explain why it was like that, just is.

N-e-who. It seems I picked up a hitchhiker back in Canterlot. And no, that's gross. Get your mind out of the gutter. Fiery apparently wasn't satisfied with the terms she left on yesterday and decided to go exploring a bit more. Unfortunately I had left my bag unattended and she stumbled across it. When I came back to grab it she got scared and hid inside it, so I effectively kidnapped her.

On accident, be quiet.

She's bugging me on if she can come with, she says she's fine with it and that no one will miss her. A bit depressing but oh well. Seeing as I'm technically not even attached to your country I think this is something better left up to you.

Oh, and you will regret telling me about this ability. Now you will never be free of my ramblings! Mwahahahaha!

Sincerely, Coal

P.S: Send more parchment and ink.

---

Once my work of magnificent writing is completed I roll it up and toss it up into the air. I think of how I want it to be sent to Celestia as I shoot a small jet of fire at it. I take not that instead of the normal fire that comes out, this time it seems to be a black flame. The letter is soon engulfed and is gone without a trace.

Is it too much to hope for that she'll burp it up too?

Yup.

"Alright, I sent it asking Celestia if you can come with. Still no promises but if she says okay then I can't say no." To which I'm greeted with a smile that shouldn't be anatomically possible.

"Oh that's great, I'm sure the Princess will say yes, I mean, it's every filly's dream to tag along with an alien as they travel the world."

"That sounds too specific to be true."

"Well, maybe it isn't, but I still really want to come."

"Yeah, I got it the first hundred times." I say as I rub my wrist, it's feeling sore from getting used to writing with the quill.

"Oooh, and those things at the end of your front legs are really cool! Can I see!?" She squeaks out excitedly, and in a moment she's next to me excitedly watching me rub my wrist. To be honest, her horn is just a little too close for comfort.

"That it, can't take it any longer! Get away from Half-Dragon!" I hear a strangely familiar voice yell out from behind me. Strangely enough it sounds reminiscent of a yipping dog.

...

Wait a second.

I turn around to see a three foot tall humanoid lizard, it's scales are muddy brown mixed with black. It's Nirkul. He seems to have jumped out from behind a large boulder, evidently until recently he had been hiding.

What the hell is he doing here.

"Nirkul, stop! Hide!" I hear Virnuln's voice fail at whispering to his fellow Kobold.

"What the hell are you two doing here?" I ask, legitimately surprised by their being here.

At my voice Nirkul seems to calm down from his previous outrage and look at me sheepishly. Virnuln also slinks out from behind the rock, looking like I had just caught him with a claw in the cookie jar.

"I'm sorry about not telling you Half-Dragon." Virnuln says in a dejected tone. "We just wanted to follow and make sure you were safe."

"Uh... yeah, what Virnuln said." Nirkul intones.

Very eloquently said there little guy.

"Okay, it's fine guys. I'm not upset, just surprised with the fact you're here." I say, which seems to get them to perk up a bit, then a question comes to mind, "Wait, how in the hell have you two been keeping up?"

"We Kobolds have tunnels everywhere, and we build trams long before ponies make trains." Virnuln explains.

Okay, I guess that makes sense... Wait a second, the ponies have trains? Well paint me white and call me Celestia.

"Okay, alright then. I kind of wish the two of you would have just asked me about it. I probably wouldn't have had a problem with it." To which the two of them respond with looking guilty again.

Oh come on, the filly seeming adorable is understandable. But Kobolds? The hell is wrong with me.

Well, you were hitting on winged unicorn Princesses yesterday, if that's any indicator.

The thought is a bit perturbing with the D&D mindset of Kobolds being creepy little bastards that are, well, monsters. However, I'd like to point out that they seem a lot less so. They're more... well, not cute, but their size makes them seem like lizard kids. It's weird I know, but that's just the feeling I get from these two.

My thoughts are interrupted when I feel something pushing up against my back. Looking over my shoulder I find Fiery Thought hiding behind me and peeking out at the two Kobolds. She seems to be having a mixture of fear and curiosity going on.

"Well, I guess we should get introductions out of the way. I'm not going to have the two of you slinking around in the shadows all of the time, now that I know you're here." I reach around and push fiery out from behind me and say, "This is Fiery Thought, a unicorn filly who has guilt tripped me into coming along." She gives a shy little wave to the two of them as I introduce her.

Looking to Fiery and pointing towards the two Kobolds I say, "And those two over there are Kobolds named Virnuln and Nirkul." Virnuln gives a smile and waves back, while Nirkul just looks a little grumpy.

"Well, now that is out of the way, how about we get something for the little filly over here to eat? If I'm going to be taking her with me she's going to have to be fed."

"Oh yes Half-Dragon, of course." Virnuln says as he starts rooting around in his little backpack before pulling out some dried fruit. "This work right?"

I look to Fiery and receive a nod, "Yeah, that'll be fine Virnuln."

Virnuln happily makes his way over to the filly and hands her the fruit, within a few moments she's munching contentedly on it. Nirkul however doesn't seem as enthused about the little filly as he sits down in our little circle with a huff.

Well, at least this trip isn't going to be boring.

---

In the frosty north an armored griffin stands vigil on the old and worn battlements. He is a warrior of the republic, he is a legionary. the legions have been idle for a very long time. The Emperor grows fat and lazy on his throne while the senate is trapped in their endless petty squabbles. The Legionnaire often finds a bit of humor in comparing the Senate to a chicken coop, the way they all bluster and make fuss over nothing.

He stands guard over the fort that marks the southern boundary between the Republic and Equestria. In ages past the fort was once a critical defense against those who would threaten the Republic, and it had served well during it's time. Now however it is a post for those who have been so unfortunate as to receive the ire of those in power.

Little does this legionnaire know, but his lazy and dishonorable post is about to get quite a bit more lively.

What was that Saying about Hubris... Well Crap. (Chapter Twelve)

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Chapter Twelve

What was that Saying about Hubris... Well Crap.

"So... you're Kobolds?" Fiery Thought asks the less grumpy of the two lizards.

"Yes, we are. Kobolds once very common long long time ago. Now though we rarely seen." Virnuln replies, taking the situation far better than his fellow.

"I don't know why you want to talk to this unicorn. She used guilt on the Half-Dragon." Nirkul says with a huff.

"Half-Dragon?" Fiery says with a quizzical look on her face, not understanding what Nirkul means. "What's a Half-Dragon? I've never heard of those before."

I raise a claw from where I'm laying and say, "That would be me. Remember when I said I was a bit of something besides human? Well, I was referring to my being the Half-Dragon."

"The Half-Dragon? So that means you're the only Half-Dragon?"

"Currently, yeah. From what I've been told I'm the only one to show up in thousands of years at least."

"Woah... So how do you know Kobolds?"

"Well, it was an accident that I ran into them. I won't tell you more about the how or where, but they were the ones to tell me about my being a Half-Dragon. Also, they gave me these awesome clothes."

"Half-Dragon, why are you telling her so much?" Nirkul asks, not seeming too happy with how open I'm being with the filly.

"Well, if you know anything about kids, she won't stop asking until I give her something to chew on for a bit. So that's what I did."

"Alright Half-Dragon, I'm sure you know best."

"Really? Because I sure as heck don't think that. I'm wrong all the time." I say with a grin.

I get up to go stroke the fire I started, apparently unicorns found the winds at this altitude chilly.. Not too difficult when you're mouth is better than flint and steel will ever be, even if it's just a few twigs. just then however I feel a burp coming. In a few moments black fire deposits a letter in front of me. Looking at it I say, "Well, unless someone else has figured out how to make me burp on command, that'll be the Princesses."

Picking it up and breaking it's seal I begin to read.

---

Dear Coal,

I am very glad the letter was able to reach you, my Sister was worried that it wouldn't work. I apologize if this letter interrupts something, there just isn't any way to tell if the time is right to send them. I asked my Sister to wake me if you replied, which is why I am responding to you at the moment. Do not feel rushed to reply, for I am going back to rest after I am finished with this letter.

On the matter of the filly who stowed away in your pack, my Sister and I spoke about it before coming to a decision. We decided that due to Fiery Thought's lack of parental guidance, as well as you seem more than capable of looking after her, we will allow her to accompany you.

Now then, while the topic is brought up, how does your kind raise your foals? I'm curious, and it will also be helpful during your travels with Fiery Thought if you understand how our species might differ in the raising of our young... That must have sounded very odd, I apologize I am not as good at carrying my thoughts as my Sister, I apologize.

Sincerely, Luna

---

Well, I guess the kid's coming with. It seems I lucked out a bit with Virnuln being here, I can probably ask him to look after her if need be.

Looking up from the letter, I see the others around our impromptu campfire looking at me expectantly. With a defeated sigh I say, "Alright, the Princesses say it's okay Fiery."

"Yes!" She says, getting a good three feet in the air with a jump. "Oh this will be so much fun, I mean I'm th first filly to meet a Half-Dragon in well... forever!"

"Yeah... just... don't hurt yourself." I say, watching her bounce around again.

It's pretty impressive how much vertical she can get with those tiny legs.

"Well, seeing as we're evidently going to all be traveling together now, I should probably tell you where I'm headed." I say as I pull out and spread the map on the ground for all to see." I quickly find and point out the Griffin Republic, "That's where I'm planning on going, see if these Griffins are any fun."

"Oooh, I've always wanted to meet a Griffin." Fiery Thought intones.

"Whatever it is you wish Half-Dragon." The two Kobolds say.

Okay, the synchronized talking was just a little creep there.

"Alright, it's decided then. I will fly there, Fiery Thought you will go with Virnuln and Nirkul." Fiery looks dejected at this while Nirkul seems to loath the idea.

"B-but why?" she says giving me the puppy dog eyes, "I really liked flying."

"I do not like the idea of having a unicorn in the tunnels Half-Dragon." Nirkul objects.

Adressing Fiery I say, "It's safer than traveling with me, no one besides the Kobolds know about the tunnels and no Kobold as far as I know will attack someone under my care. It's safer than going into an unfamiliar land on my back." Turning to Nirkul I continue, "She already knows that both you and the tunnels exist, Having her down there won't make all that much of a difference."

They both look as though they understand my reasoning, but neither seems to happy with the situation.

"This is not open to discussion. If you wish to continue on with me, you will agree to this or I take you all home right now." I say, with authority I didn't realize I had in my voice.

"Alright mister Coal." Fiery mutters.

"Yes Half-Dragon, we will do as you will." Nirkul says, in much the same fashion as Fiery.

Ya know, for as much Nirkul doesn't like the filly he sure can act a lot like her at times.

"Glad we've all come to an agreement. Alright, well everyone rest up because I'm setting out at nightfall." I say as I lay back down, and try to get comfortable enough to sleep.

"But everypony goes to sleep at night? Why are you doing it backwards."

"Because it's safer for me to fly at night, less chance of me getting spotted. Now go to sleep."

"Oh alright, I guess I am kind of tired." She says as she curls up in a little ball.

Huh, I thought I was going to have to fight her on that one.

Really, have you seen yourself recently? I'd listen to you too if I thought you'd breathe fire at me if I didn't.

Not much else really happens while we rest, besides a bit of talking between the filly and the Kobolds. Then again, I was asleep for most of it so I can;t really say if something interesting did happen or not. and considering I hadn't slept since that castle in the forest, I slept like a rock.

Waking up I find the fire long since died out, Fiery curled up next to me and the two Kobolds resting on a rock. Part of me doesn't want to wake Fiery up because she looks so damn cute lying there, but I do it anyway.

"Hey Fiery, get up it's time to get going."

"Uuuuh, but it's still dark out." She says groggily.

"Yeah, that's the point. Now come on." I look over to the Kobolds and call out, "Hey you two, up and adam. We've got ground to cover."

Getting used to giving orders are we? All hail the Half-Dragon!

Shut up, it's too early to argue with myself.

It's nighttime smart guy.

You know what I mean.

After the quick conversation with myself I find that the other, hopefully sane, members of my little impromptu group are up. "Alright you guys, we're doing this like we talked about earlier. Fiery you go with Virnuln and Nirkul, you'll be safer down there with them if anything goes wrong."

"Why would something go wrong?" She asks, with her gigantic innocent eyes.

"Well there's a saying I've found to be true, 'If anything can go wrong, it will.' If you go by that then you'll never be surprised when things go south." I spout my little piece of philosophical wisdom.

"Oh... that sounds really smart." She praises, stroking my already inflated ego.

"Yeah, I guess I can be smart at times. Well, when I'm not accidently kidnapping fillies that is." I say as I begin to flap my wings and prepare to take off. "Virnuln, Nirkul, you take care of her got it?"

"Yes Half-Dragon, of course we will!" Virnuln says with fervor.

"Yes Half-Dragon, whatever you say." Nirkul says with significantly less fervor.

With that quick farewell to my traveling companions I take to the sky. While I doubt flying will ever get old for me, not much really changes from each time I travel. In fact, if it weren't for the fact flying was just all around awesome it'd probably start feeling monotonous.

Not much happens throughout the day, it goes much like the one before it. I see a few settlements in the distance and a few interesting landmarks here and there. If I didn't know any better, I would swear I saw something that resembled the pony version of the Colossus of Rhodes.

The Colossus of Reigns?

Oh don't you start with the puns now too.

Hey, I'm not the one who came up with "The Batmare."

Touche.

The day comes and goes, banter is exchanged between Human, Unicorn, and Kobold alike. I have to say, it's a bit more entertaining with others around compared to me just, flying, eating, and sleeping. Even if that meant we now had an energetic and excited filly, who wouldn't stop talking about how amazing the tunnels were. We sleep through the day like the vampires we are, and soon I'm flying once again.

Looking out at the crescent moon as I fly, I'm reminded of the fact that I still haven't replied to Luna's letter. I decide to do so the next time I land, but right now I can see the beginnings of the northern mountains come into view.

I have to say, the map's illustrations don't do these bad boys justice.

The mountains dwarf even the one Canterlot had been built on, and I hadn't been able to get higher than it before air became a problem. It probably serves as a good way to control the traffic flow among the flight enabled species, that way an empire could form stable trade paths. It isn't too long before I find myself coming up to them, and they almost form a complete wall, blocking all entrance from the south. They rise and pierce the sky with a natural majestic beauty that no man-made structure can ever achieve. Their peaks are lost in the clouds forming a blanket around them.

Ah, the admiring of nature! It burns us~!

However, some ways off to my left I see a path between the mountains . Even from this altitude and distance I can see the signs of some kind of structure lying smack dab in the middle. I set the pass as my destination, cutting through the cool night air towards the mountains. As I approach I can see that the structure I saw is some kind of fortress, and boy what a fortress it is.

It forms a wall spanning the gap between the opening of the mountains, it's circular towers lining the way and protecting the keep nestled off to the side. For most these high curtain walls would be a deterrent, but for me and my wings they were just something to admire as I flew past. While it must have looked something fierce in it's heyday it now lies neglected. It's now rounded battlements showing the effects of time on it's worn down the stone.

In fact, I'm distracted enough by the old fort's charms, that I completely fail to react the the sight of a figure standing out on the walls.

I hear a startled gasp as the figure takes notice of me, and I hear the wind whistle as something flies past me dangerously close. If I had to take a guess it would be that some kind of spear almost took my head off. I'm startled by the attack, but I try to gain altitude, in hopes of making it harder to throw things at me.

I hear some kind of battle cry, and all around me the once sleepy fortress starts to sputter with life again. I see griffins begin to run outside, and despite their surprise I can see them take notice of me and take to the air. There seem to be about twenty in total coming after me, which seems surprisingly few considering the size of the fortress, so I count my blessings there.

However, twenty or so is more than enough to constitute a threat to a lone Half-Dragon with a halberd. I take note that their armor seems oddly familiar, but I can't really take the time to try and figure out why while they're chasing me with swords and bows. In fact, that particular train of thought is interrupted by the sight of an arrow passing by my now vulnerable feeling wings.

These guys, despite their surprise at my late night arrival, seem to be shouting at one another and moving as a group. I seem to be moving quite a bit faster than them as we begin to leave the fort behind, and very I'm glad that bows are hard to aim while you and the target are flying. Unfortunately I can't go at a dead sprint, due to the may that whenever I try to a rocky outcropping seems to get in my way, and forces me to slow down.

They're steadily catching up, and while I'm sure that if I went all out on them I'd be able to take a few, I doubt I'd get them all while they're working together the way they are. I'm trying to make my way around a particularly obtrusive rock when I feel pain lance throughout my left wing. My head whips towards it and I see a hole in my wings, and I find it hard to keep myself aloft with it now.

If I wasn't going to outrun them before, there was no way I was going to keep out of stabbing range for long now. I try my best to focus through the pain in my wings, and I can swear I feel it tear a little with every flap. I spot a cave not too far off about twenty meters down and I try and make my way towards it. While I'm trying to get to the cave, an arrow gets close enough to my head that it leaves a long cut on my cheek.

I hit the ground and immediately fold up my injured wing and try to make my way into the cave, hoping that somewhere inside is a way out. My hopes are dashed across the wall however as I see that it goes back only about ten feet before ending in a merciless stone wall. I know I don't have much time, hearing the talons of the griffins hit the stone outside as they land.

I take in a deep breath as I turn around to face them. I see half of them have landed outside and have formed a semi-circle, and the other half are still in the air as they cut off any possible escape from that method, even if my wing wasn't injured. Now that I have a moment where I'm not flying for my life I take a good look at them. I find myself staring at a score of griffins in what I can only call roman armor. The red that would normally adorn a legionnaires' armor is replaced with a deep blue, but otherwise it looks just like that which an ancient roman would have worn.

With this sight an idea comes into my mind, the odds this'll work are pretty damn low but it's worth a shot. I calm my panicking nerves down as best I can as I lean on my halberd and look towards the one in charge. I then ask him a question as nonchalantly as possible.

"Hey there pal, you guys have a Colosseum? 'Cause I've always kind of wanted to be a gladiator."

Redenar stood bewildered as the creature addressed him in such a calm manner, and that wasn't even taking into account the question it had asked him. How did it know about the Colosseum? That was something only griffins ever saw, and even then it was difficult to get a seat. The sight of the caged fight was something that got a griffin's blood pumping better than most anything else within the Republic.

Redenar was a griffin of the Republic, and he joined the legion to raise himself up the social ladder. However, thanks to an unfortunate incident involving a training dummy and fire, he ended up receiving an influential senator's ire. As such, he had been assigned to guard The Republic-Equestria border. Once you ended up there you usually never made it back to any sense of status in the Republic.

Usually.

Redenar however already had the gears turning in his head at the creature's words. Something like this was one of a kind and would put on quite a show. Those in power would have to reward him if he delivered it to them to fight.

And after all, it was asking to be sent there. Who was Redenar to refuse?

Thrown to the Hounds... More or Less. (Chapter Thirteen)

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Chapter Thirteen

Thrown to the Hounds... More or Less.

Well, most people can't say that they've been inside a flying cage being pulled by griffins, but I can now. Although most people also don't meet Titan, get dragon powers, and meet princesses that can raise the sun and moon, either. So I suppose it's par for the course at this point.

Well, on the upside, I don't have to fly with my injured wing.

Breaking my gaze away from the armored griffins in front of me, I take a look at the wing in question. The hole seems to have widened a bit from when I was flying, much as I had assumed from the way it felt earlier. I'm actually moderately surprised by how much it had hurt, I wouldn't have thought the thin air catching portions of my wings would have that much feel to them. Rubbing my thumb along my uninjured wing I can definitely feel it, and when it isn't an arrow shooting through it, it felt pretty good to have my wings touched.

Well, this is a fetish just waiting to happen.

Shut up.

The guards flanking the cage's sides seem to cast a glance to me as they see me touching my wing. I decide it's not the best time to arouse suspicion, considering the whole "captured" thing. I take my hand away from my wing and simply lie back and pretend like this is some kind of magical griffin taxi service. Although admittedly, that's pretty difficult considering I can feel the chains clamped around my limbs. They were starting to chafe a bit considering that we've been flying long enough for the sun to completely clear the mountains, the guards seemed to be taking shifts on who's pulling the cage.

Part of me wants to try and make my wings disappear to see if that'll fix my injury, but I'd rather keep as many cards tucked up my sleeves as I can. You never know what might come in handy after all, this is the same reason I haven't demonstrated my fire-breathing to these guys, as much fun as it would be to see the looks on their faces if I did.

It's a bit serene as I look out into the mountains that tower over me on all sides, if it weren't for the fact these flying chickens were taking me to fight for their amusement it might actually even be nice. Unfortunately, the context of my travel does in fact dampen the mood a bit.

Well, on the upside I get to be a gladiator.

How the hell is that an upside? Gladiators die gruesome deaths like every other day. Heck, most were convicted criminals sentenced to death, that's how dangerous that crap is.

Buzz kill.

With these pleasant thoughts running through my mind I allow myself to drift off to sleep, not out of being tired. More so that the ride was long, and uneventful. Well, besides all the griffins that seemed to be flying around me and gawking, we seemed to be passing by some settlements while we're flying. I was especially unnerved when one griffin female, at least I hope it's female, wondered out loud how much I'd cost.

I do not want to know what she wants to buy me for. I'm going to assume manual labor... fuck... damn, I just keep digging myself deeper into this hole huh?

Yup.

Putting aside the griffin female who wants me for things, I see the beginnings of a large city built along the upper reaches of a mountain.

Being cramped up in this cage I'm feeling a little stiff and, I take the opportunity to crack my neck. The sound gets the attention of those around me, and most of them give me one degree or another of the stink eye.

"Geez, calm down. I'm just stiff."

"Whatever you are creature, feeling stiff will be the least of your worries." The one I assume to be an officer of some kind says.

"Well, being stiff also isn't my only complaint. My wing still hurts from when I was shot." He say, pointing towards the wing in question.

"Do you even know what you asked for when you said you'd fight in the Colosseum?" He says, bewildered by the way I'm acting.

"A very likely and very gruesome death? Yeah, I'm expecting that, but hopefully it'll be the other guy and not me."

"You are one strange creature." He responds, shaking his head and looking forward again.

"Buddy, you have no idea." I chuckle.

And so my luxury flight continues, complete with flat, uncomfortable floors and bars. It isn't much longer before we've reached the city in full. From the size of it, as well as the obvious palace towards the center, this is evidently the capital. I can't remember the name of it seeing as I never really investigated it that thoroughly on the map when I had the chance. The griffins guarding me took everything but the clothes on my back when they captured me.

Hopefully, I'll be able to get my things back.

Hopefully, you won't die.

Flying over the outer wall of the city I see the hustle and bustle one would expect of a major city. For once, I was even seeing it during the day and no one was even trying to stab me! Well, even if that's only because I'm already sentenced for the chopping block right now.

Eh, I'll take my victories where I can get 'em.

Among the griffins it seems as though flying above the city streets was as much of a normal means of conveyance as walking on them is. The odd dragon-winged monkey thing managed to garner even more attention as we flew, our destination was clearly the large circular building that was undoubtedly the Colosseum, and I could already hear those around us making personal wagers. The ones regarding maiming or dismemberment unnerved me the most.

Hey, at lest your 'member' will likely not be dis-membered by the end of this!

I fucking hate you.

Oh come on, that was funny.

"Well well, Tesserārius Redenar, what brings you back to Gryphos?" A regal looking griffin, wearing only what I can describe as a toga, rudely interrupts me mentally berating myself as we land on a circular platform. "I was under the impression you were assigned to the border."

"Senator Winvidar," The officer who had been escorting my entourage and myself responds, I can note a slight strain in his voice as he speaks to the Senator. Obviously, there is little love lost between the two of them, "We captured this creature attempting to cross the border, when it was cornered it offered to fight in the Colosseum."

The griffin senator known as Winvidar takes a good look at me for the first time, his expression showing mild interest and some degree of surprise. "Well now, I've never seen something like this before. It kind of looks like somefeather took a strange monkey and threw dragon bits on it." Looking back towards the Tesserārius he asks, "You said it volunteered for the Colosseum, so that means it can speak?"

"Yes your grace, it spoke very fluently in fact."

"Well, get it to say something."

"Pardon me your grace?" Redanar says, looking fairly surprised at the request.

"Get it to talk, it has peaked my curiosity."

Oh I'm going to milk this for all it's worth.

You're going to get us killed.

Redanar moves up to the bars of my cage as the Senator, and the other guards watch with interest. "Creature, speak."

Oh he's going to have to try harder than that.

In response to his command, I adopt a bewildered expression and tilt my head in false confusion. I even go so far as to raise an eyebrow, because I'm a cheeky bastard.

In response to my playful antics Redanar scowls and says, "Creature I don't know what you're playing at, but say something before I put a hole in your good wing."

While normally I'd avoid calling him on his bluff, for my current charade to work I have to play the ignorant dimwit. So in keeping with that role I looking around uneasily to the rest off those gathered and give a little shrug.

"Redanar, I sincerely hope you aren't foolish enough to try lying to me." Winvidar says with irritation growing in his voice.

"I'm not, it talked when we caught it, it was talking just before we reached the city!" He says, growing uncomfortable with the situation I'm putting him in. I decide the poor guy... er, griffin, has had enough and drop my confused look and clear my throat.

I put on my best old timey Englishman voice and say, "My sincerest apologies, I simply find it terribly rude to be addressed as an 'it' when I am most certainly a dashingly handsome male. Furthermore, I do not speak on command in a way one would expect from a dog,"

Man, I wish I could pull a monocle and top hat out of thin air right now.

I really wish you'd stop pulling this stupid crap, ya crazy bastard.

"Ah, so it can speak." Winvidar says, completely disregarding my claim to dashingly handsome male-hood, "Well, either it's a very good mimic, or it's somewhat intelligent. It should prove to be interesting to watch it fight, even if it does only have one claw and an injured wing."

"It had a weapon as well your grace, should we provide it when it fights?" Redanar asks, continuing with the new trend of calling me an 'it.'

"Yes yes, it would hardly be sporting to throw this creature in with no hope of surviving now wouldn't it?" Winvidar says to no one in particular, his tone letting everyone know he could care less about being sporting to the monkey thing in the cage. "Take it away to the pens, it can fight later today." The regal griffin says with finality, and begins to stroll away from my chariot.

With that, I'm finally let out of my luxury ride, at the end of pointy objects of course.

It wouldn't be fun if I wasn't being given new holes to leak from after all.

And so I find myself being escorted towards a side entrance of the looming structure, unfortunately, I can note that the large door had no small amount of blood staining it. At least I assume it's all blood, some of it has some... interesting coloration.

I definitely don't want to meet the thing that has green blood.

Hell it'd probably be more normal than you are at this point.

Oh come on, I'm not that weird.

You're an alien that has wings and a claw that doesn't match the rest of it's body, can make said body parts fade into mist, and is moderately insane. You're pretty fucking weird.

You're a figment of my imagination, what do you know anyway?

Just as much as you do in fact, if not more so because I tell you about the crap about yourself that you don't accept.

So what, you're my conscience?

Oh no, far from it in fact. You've been correct on several occasions by calling me an asshole, because I most definitely am.

I dimly note during my mental conversation that I'm being led underground past a large number of cages, some occupied, some not, all of them having some kind of blood stain. I feel as though I'm beginning to notice a pattern here. I notice all manner of griffins in many of the cells, even a pony here or there...

Was that a dragon? Oh no, it doesn't have wings, so not a dragon but still as big as a house, awesome.

Eventually I'm taken to a surprisingly blood stain free cell and roughly thrown inside. If I wasn't sturdier thanks to my magic-dragon-whatever powers, courtesy of my favorite Titan, it might have actually hurt a bit. I eventually get off of my hindquarters and look around the cell I'm currently residing in. Evidently, while I'm interesting, I'm not interesting enough to be given my own personal cell, because looking around the cell I see three hunched over bi-pedal dogs.

They seem to be decently built, and if what I'm told of their diet is any indication their teeth could probably bite my arm clean off. All three of them regard me with interest, one of them was even sniffing the air around me. Thankfully though, he didn't seem inclined to investigate my behind as some dogs tend to do.

As I look at them I remember two important things about diamond dogs, for that was what they most certainly are. Is that the last half-dragon waged a bloody revolution against their kind, and two is that they tend to hold grudges.

Well, I hope that these guys aren't avid enthusiasts of ancient history.

Oh please, I don't think the universe can hate anyone that much. I mean it happened thousands of years ago and most don't even remember it happened. There's no way in hell one of these guys knows about it.

Just then, the universe, never one to be outdone, decides to remind me how thoroughly it can screw my life over on a whim. For a light of understanding develops in the place of one dog's previously thoughtful expression.

... You just fucking had to go and jinx it.

---

Greysnout was a smart dog, he knew he was a smart dog, his whole clan knew he was a smart dog. Unfortunately, that meant the bigger dogs always liked to pick on the runt. So he had to get stronger, because his brain couldn't save him from an angry dog all of the time.

He grew as strong as he could, and he was able to take care of himself. However, the alpha did not like him, "Too smart for his own good" he'd say. he left the clan a long time ago, and most dogs didn't care for him much after that. It didn't matter much because most seemed to not care much for him either way.

While other dogs were annoying to deal with, he loved books. There were precious few in the diamond labyrinth to be sure, but that just made them all the more special to Greysnout.

When this strange thing was thrown in the cell by the griffins he was reminded of a book, but at first he couldn't remember why. Most of it was unlike anydog had ever seen, it wore clothes over most of it and it's face had no fur. What caught his attention though was the claw and wing, but why did they? There was more to it, and it was nagging at the back of his skull.

Greysnout felt his eyes widen when it came to him. The claws and wings caught his attention because they looked out of place, like it was part dragon and part something else. Something not anything entirely whole, but it had once been.

It was a Half-Dragon.

And they said books weren't good for anything.

Fighting for a crowd... So Scandalous. (Chapter Fourteen)

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Chapter Fourteen

Fighting for a crowd... So Scandalous.

Well now, this is just peachy isn't it?

You just sitting there with that nervous smile plastered on your face isn't helping the matter at hand you know.

Shut up, I'm shunning you.

What?

I'm shunning you, I blame you for jinxing it.

And how was I suppos-

SHUN!

And with that my treacherous brain decided to keep his big mouth shut for once. Now that he was dealt with for the moment, I only have to deal with three possibly hostile diamond dogs. The one who seemed to recognize me was almost completely covered in grown fur save for his snout, which was a light grey. He seemed to be thinking on something and as of yet has not said anything, his two compatriots however are another story.

"What it be?" The shortest of the three asked, his floppy ears, well, flopping to the side as he cocked his head inquisitively.

"Ask it stupid." The tallest of the three said to the smaller diamond Dog, adding in a bop to said Dog's head with it's brown furred paw for good measure.

"Ow! Why you do that? We not even know it can talk, it just sit there, must be stupid." The recently bopped Dog said derisively.

"Well, I can definitely talk, so there Fido." Once again, I find myself wanting to punch myself, as I have yet again allowed my big mouth to run the show.

"How it know my name?" The Dog, whose name is evidently Fido, asks.

"I'm a 'he' by the way." I inform Fido, hoping that I could break the apparent trend in calling me an "it".

In response to my completely justified complaint the Dog with the grey snout speaks up for the first time, "Yes Fido, we have been rude enough to him."

Finally, it's about damn time someone has decided to not call me an it, after all, I'm obviously a strapping young man.

Can I talk now?

No, now shut up.

"Rude? What that matter for Grey?" Fido asked the grey-snout ed dog. Evidently, they weren't all that inspired in the name making department.

"We are in the presence of royalty, it is only proper to be on our best manners."

What?

What?

"What?" The still unnamed Dog asks, voicing both my thoughts and the thoughts of the Shunned-One, "What you mean 'royalty?'"

"It means exactly what I said Rover, our new cellmate is a Half-Dragon, a ruler of the lost race of Kobolds." Grey stated as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. Looking away from his two doggy brethren and towards me, going into a low bow, he continues, "I apologize on behalf of my fellow dogs your Majesty, they can be rather gruff at times."

In response to his deference toward my station I respond with all the intelligence and poise that I could muster, and sit there dumbstruck. This is most certainly not how I had expected this situation to end up, when Grey seemed to recognize me I thought I would be assaulted by three canines with the jaw strength to chew through gems, and while I can do the same my teeth aren't exactly developed for it the same way theirs are. To say that I had no idea how to react right now would be an enormous understatement.

After a few moments of sitting there staring incredulously Grey still hasn't come up from his bow, and I finally managed to get some of my wits back together as I stand. I now stand quite a bit higher than the tallest dog in the cell, and the ceiling barely manages to accommodate my standing height. Not that I am no longer sitting sprawled out on the floor confused, Fido and Rover seem to have lost quite a bit of the confidence they had just a moment ago, as I quite literally tower over them now.

Looking toward Grey, who still held his low bow, I say, "Thank you for your... deference Grey. Although I must say, the way you're acting is surprising."

"Yes, I understand your confusion your Majesty," He says as he stands up straight once again, "Most Dogs aren't as interested in the past as I am, so it's quite the coincidence that we should meet."

"Yes, that it is." I reply, trying to keep my voice sounding confident despite my current predicament, "I am curious, where did you hear of Half-Dragons? There have not been any out in the world for millenium."

"I learned of the Half-Dragon Starclaw long ago your Majesty, and I also found out about how the Half-Dragons led the Kobolds around the same time."

"Well... that's certainly convenient." I mumble to myself.

"Your Majesty?" Grey says in a questioning tone after a few moments.

Man, it feels good to have someone say "your Majesty" all the time.

"Yes, what is it?"

"If I might be so bold as to ask, what are you doing here at the Gryphos Colosseum? In a cell at that."

"Well... that's a long and mildly embarrassing story involving a lesson about hubris, care to hear it?" I ask, somewhat glad that I have someone to talk to, as it's taking my mind off of the impending life threatening fight in the Colosseum above. Well, at least it was.

Grey nods in response, and I find a moderately comfortable rock to sit on as I start story time. Grey sits down in front of me, and after a few moments and exchanged glances Fido and Rover do as well. I go into the story starting from my decision to leave the Kobolds and see the world, up until I was captured by the Griffins. Fido and Rover get a looks of surprise, bewilderment, and even awe at certain points throughout my story while Grey simply sits there quietly, taking all of it in While it's hard to tell what time of day it is underground, judging from how parched my throat is starting to feel I must have been talking for a while.

Around the time I finish I begin to hear the increasingly familiar sound of an armored creature walking, the repetitive and incessant clinking made me wonder how in the world anyone could ever put up with wearing metal armor for most of their day. My considerations on the practicality of wearing armor for any situation other than a life and death fight, are uninterrupted by a pair of Griffins wearing said armor in question as they precede to cause even more metallic noises with the jingling of keys.

After a few moments of irritating noise making, the cell's door swings open on rusty hinges and one of the Griffins addresses me in a gruff authoritative voice, "You there, the one with the wings, you have been selected to fight in the next match. Come with us."

"Well, sorry my dawgs," I say as I get up and stretch my legs, "But how could I say no to an invitation like that?" I give one last nod to the three of them before I look to the Griffin and say, "Well, lets get going then shall we?"

---

I can hear the raised voices of the amassed Griffins outside. Not even the thick oak door that separates us can completely drown out the noise they're causing. When the Griffins guarding me had left and closed the door behind me, I took the opportunity to reform my wings, and I was grateful that they were healed when they came back it was bad enough that I wouldn't know who, or what, I'd be up against. I take a small amount of comfort from the cold metal of my halberd, it's familiar weight gives me some confidence, but not all that much.

Thinking about it, this will be the first time I've actually used it in a fight. Lets hope I have an ample dose of beginner's luck.

Hey, can I talk again now, or are you still doing the whole shunning me thing?

Eh, go ahead, I'd hate to risk my life without your pleasant voice screaming in my mind's ear.

Haha, very funny. I'd just like to point out that there's a way you can get out of this scott-free.

Wait what?

Yeah, there's a way that you can survive this little adventure if you play your cards right. Remember how Grey treated you like royalty? If you can convince the Griffin Emperor that you're royalty, you might be able to get out of the, surprisingly literal, dog house.

How in the hell didn't I think of that?

Technically, you did. You're just crazy.

And with that supportive remark, I begin to hear the steady crank of the large doors before me being pulled open by their hidden mechanisms. The Sun is low in the sky, I'd give it another hour or so before it's hidden by the mountains, under the assumption that Celly isn't on her period of course.

The sound of the crowd, no longer muffled and increased by the sight of the fight beginning, hits me like a solid force as I look out on the massive stands. It looks like it's a full house or so, and the small vain part of me takes an equally small amount of probably misplaced pride in that. If I'm going to risk my life for entertainment, these Roman imitating chickens better frigging enjoy it.

I set across the threshold and enter the Spacious Arena floor. Looking toward the other side of the arena as I move towards the center, I see that my opponent hasn't moved through the opening door yet. Stuck up bastard is probably pausing for dramatic effect.

We'll see how much dramatic buildup helps him when I put my boot on his throat.

Or the opposite could happen and the dramatic buildup would be very justified.

Shut up brain.

Seeing as I'm waiting for the other prick to get over his own ego before we start, I take the opportunity to scan the stands for anywhere that the Emperor could be watching from. After only a few moments of looking I easily find a very regal looking viewing box, and I could also easily see that it was very empty.

"Griffonesses and Gentletalons," I hear an amplified voice boom out across the Colosseum, "It is my sincerest regret to inform you all that his Eminence, Emperor Sanguinem, will not be joining us this fine evening, as he is busy attending to the affairs of state."

Well shit.

The announcer ruining my only real hope of getting out of here, is interrupted by booming roar coming from the door at the other end of the floor. Turning towards the sound in surprise I see that the door has fully opened to reveal... an enormous Reptilian creature,at first glance it would appear to most to be a dragon, but there are two dead give-aways that it is not. The first being the lack of wings, this creature is definitely land bound, and two were the eyes. Whereas Cobalt's eyes, while fierce and intimidating, possessed a sentience behind them. This creature's savage eyes lacked that, and there was only a bestial furry behind the stilted orbs I found myself transfixed by.

Well double shit.

"To make up for his absence however, we here at the Colosseum have arranged for a fight we're sure you'll enjoy. Our forces on the borders of our glorious realm captured an oddity. We here at the Colosseum felt our crowd favorite could could use a bit of an exotic meal. You all know him, that monstrous beast of a Land Wyrm, Os Conterat!"

The crowd lets out a huge cheer and Conterat lets out another roar before his powerful limbs launch him into the air and into the Arena. The ground beneath my feet shakes when he reunites with it, and I flare my wings out to help keep my balance. The look in the Land Wyrm's eye as he stares me down leaves absolutely no doubt that he won't be content until I'm a bloody pulp in his maw.

Well triple shit.

I barely have the time to get the thought out of my head before Conterat is bounding his way towards me, my wings push me out of the way quickly enough to avoid being crushed by his initial attack. Unfortunately however, I did not foresee his tail sweeping around. It gets a solid hit on my side, sending me on a short lived trip through the air.

Winded, I prop myself up on my halberd, trying to shake off the daze that the blow put me in. I've never had a broken rib before, but from the pain in my side I don't think I can claim that any more. I know that I can't spend any more time on the ground, or else Conterat will take advantage of it and pounce on me.

Forcing the air beneath my wings down, I take to the sky. Despite the pain in my side, my wings still feel strong, and easily launch me into the air above Conterat. He bares his teeth at me after seeing his prey trying to escape into the sky, and a moment later he opens his mouth, with a green substance rising from the back of his throat.

I barely have enough time to recognize the danger posed by the action before my instincts take over, and the green projectile just misses me as I evade. Sparing a moment to look over my shoulder at it, I see that it hit one of the walls surrounding the combat floor, and it's sizzling and bubbling away at the stone.

Acid spit, just freaking perfect. He can smash me into a bloody pulp if I get close, and he can spit acid at me if I stay at a distance. But surprise surprise asshole, two can play at that game.

This time around, it's my turn to open my, admittedly smaller, maw and watch as his eyes widen in surprise. Contera is surprisingly nimble considering his size, but my fire-breath hits him dead on despite that, and I can hear a collective gasp come from the stands surrounding me.

The smell of Contera's seared hide fills the air, and he lets out a howl of pain and rage. I take his distraction as an opportunity and fly in closer to him, letting out another blast of fire as I go, it hits him square on again and it causes him to stagger a bit this time around. When I get close to him, he takes a swing at me with a claw before trying to chomp down on me with his razor sharp teeth.

The claw manages to nick my wing, and the force of it even a grazing blow causes me to fall to the ground, and I'm forced to roll out of the way to avoid the gnashing maw intent on devouring me. Coming out of the roll I find myself looking at Contera's exposed underbelly, taking advantage of the opportunity I grasp my halberd in both hands and take a swing with the axe-head.

I feel a rewarding resistance as the sharpened blade cuts his underside deeply, and I actually make the beast stumble back a step. Contera is far from down and out however, and he reminds me of this with another powerful tail whip, this time however I'm prepared for it, and I go into another roll under it to avoid being hit. But it seems Contera learns his opponent's tactics the same way I have, because when I come up from the roll, I find that Contera has already spun around to face me, and his maw is opened wide as I saw the green glow from the back of his throat once again. This close, there's no way I'll be able to dodge to the side, and my wing is still off from when he clipped me.

Staring death in the face I did the only thing I could think of, besides scream a very manly scream of course, and brought up my hands to try and provide some kind of defense, even if it was a futile gesture.

Is it just me, or does this situation seem familiar?

I hear Contera shoot his deadly missile, well, normally deadly missile. After a moment of having my flesh not being eaten away by a deadly acid, I crack open my eyes and see the glowing green substance being drawn into my claw. at the sight of it, I'm reminded of my first night on this world, when a unicorn tried to kill me with a magical attack, and somehow I absorbed it, and it gave me my wings.

Well, looks like it wasn't just a fluke.

Yeah, apparently.

I feel a maniacal grin coming forcing it's way onto my face, a combination of the relief of not being, well dead, and the rush of power I felt from the green energy swirling around my forearm. Looking up at Contera, I can see his eyes wide in surprise.

"Sorry pal, you almost had me, but I'm a King, what the hell did you expect!?"

Woah, where in the hell is this coming from?

I feel the burning flames welling up in my chest, more intense and powerful than they ever have been before, I open my mouth and take a step forward to release them. The sight is beautiful, the flames explode outward in an arc big enough to completely encompass Contera, and I hear him give off one last roar as he succumbs to the flames. It takes a moment before I finally come back to my normal state of mind, and I find myself standing with one foot on the charred head of the once great Land Wyrm Contera.

I... I did it. I freaking did it! Holy shit, I can't believe I pulled that one off!

"I can't believe this Griffonesses and Gentletalons! Contera has fallen to the creature from the sout!1 I've never seen an upset like this and-" In the middle of his sentence, the announcer is cut off by another roar, and it sounded like it was coming from behind me.

Quadruple shi-

As I turn around my jaw drops in the middle of my thought, because riding in on the setting rays of the sun are a few familiar faces. on the back of an orange Lady Dragon is a fiery maned filly and a pair of familiar Kobolds.

C-c-c-combo breaker!

---

Almost the entire population of the city had been drawn to the Colosseum that evening, eager to see the fight of the Land Wyrm. They were a rare breed, and Contera's live capture as an egg had been an unbelievable stroke of luck, and he had been the centerpiece of the arena for many years. Perhaps not because he was the most dangerous creature that Gryphos could offer for it's people, but it was the creature's rarity, and brutal grace in a fight that awed the masses so.

Now however, a strange creature that was captured by the rejects of the Legion, a creature all in attendance felt was going to put up an interesting show before dying, had killed Contera. To say they were shocked would be an understatement.

And now a filly and two strange lizards, riding on an adolescent dragon are in the city. Today has been interesting for Gryphos, that's for sure.

An Important Event... Best not to be Tardy. (Chapter Fifteen)

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Chapter Fifteen

An Important Event... Best not to be Tardy.

A week ago, if you had said that I'd be in a world where magical ponies, ladylike dragons, savvy Kobolds, Roman Griffins, and dogs who ate gems lived, I would have just nodded very slowly and thought you were crazy. If you had told me I would have a race to escape the Pretty Pony Princesses' Palace, I probably would have called the police. If you had told me that I would be standing over the smoking corpse of a Land Worm while a filly riding a dragon waved to me, I probably would have found to nearest exit to whatever insane asylum we were in.

Now however, all three of those things have happened to me, and seeing as there aren't any insane asylums where I am right now, I'm not entirely sure as to how to respond to this situation. But who knows, maybe I really am in an insane asylum.

It's more likely than you might think.

Shut up.

Hey, all I'm saying is that you do kind of have conversations with yourself.

No I don't.

You're doing it right now.

You're not me, just a voice in my head. I'm not nearly as big of an asshole as you are.

You do realize that even if I'm not you, a voice in your head that talks to you is still pretty crazy right?

Shut up.

And at least I don't tell you to shut up, now who's the asshole?

Shut up.

And at least I respond to you quickly, making people wait is kind of a dick move.

Alright, I'm just ignoring you until after we deal with the dragon.

Thinking of Dragons, the one is question was quite a bit closer now that I had that little argument with that asshole. Cobalt was still just as contradictory as I remembered, her scales a stark contrast in color to what her name would imply. A noticeably odd addition to what I remember of her was the filly and pair of Kobolds on her back. I'm certain that there's a story there that I'm going to find implausible, but hell, why not roll with it.

"Well, you have certainly made a mess of things, haven't you?" The Dragoness said, looking down her nose at me. Although with how she towered above me, that's somewhat unavoidable. "You just cause trouble wherever you do, don't you? It is a very uncouth thing to do. First you break into my home, throw a chair at my face, cause a veritable riot in the capitol of Equestria, and now this."

"Hey, in my defense, this last bit here wasn't my fault, they made me do it."

"Oh yes, the boasting about how you're royalty now was certainly necessary." She said rather sarcastically, and showing me that evidently Dragons can roll their eyes surprisingly well.

"I... actually didn't intend to do that. I just got kind of caught up in the moment." I meekly responded.

"Oh, I hold no issue with the boast, if you had no such actual claim it might have gotten under my scales, but after meeting these three." She said as she nodded her head towards Fiery Thought and two Kobolds who had just finished dismounting her. "I can see you are quite a bit more than I originally thought when I met you. Half-Dragon."

"Oh, so they told you about that?" I said, suddenly feeling nervous, which considering the fact the most famous Half-Dragon had personally killed quite a few dragons, I think I'm justified with feeling a bit on edge.

"Why yes, they informed me of how you strode into their home and proclaimed yourself the Half-Dragon, and set out upon your noble quest to spread the word of your arrival across the world."

Wait, we did what?

I quickly turned to look towards Virnuln and Nirkul, who promptly proceeded to find the stunned crowd around us very interesting. Virnuln actually whistled innocently.

Oh come on, let them have their hero complex. Besides, Cobalt looks impressed, and I mean, you're halfway to dragon already so.

And just what are you implying?

Oh nothing, just that you might enjoy playing "tag" with her a bit more than Celestia or Luna.

I... didn't realize we were into that kind of thing.

Eh, I don't really think we are either, but it doesn't hurt to... explore new options.

With my inner thoughts making the situation far more uncomfortable than it had been just a moment ago, I struggle to find a way to continue the conversation. Cobalt's appreciative gaze of me was certainly not helping matters. Luckily however, I appear to be in luck, as a flight of armor clad and heavily armed Griffons were making their way towards us. Thank God.

As they come closer, I find my gaze drawn towards the odd one out of the bunch, a purple robed Griffon with a rather odd expression on its face. I don't know about anyone else, but it's rather hard to see what a bird if feeling from the expression on its face, sapient or not. However, from my merely tangential knowledge of the Roman Empire, which these Bird Lions emulate, purple was a color reserved specifically for the Empire. So I might just be in luck, my old plan to get out of this by talking with him might just work. The only difference is now I have a Dragon, and an Doomsday weapon Cuteness, with me to back me up.

Oh yes, I'm sure we could give Cobalt some, Incentive to "back us up".

You're really enjoying making me uncomfortable with that aren't you?

Why yes, yes I am.

As the Griffons finally set down, several of the armored Griffon, with very distinct plumes on their helmets stepped forwards to form a pair of lines that the purple Griffon proceeded to walk between. The display was surely meant to inspire a sense of awe or respect in the Purple People Eater, but all I can think of is how amusing it must be getting plumage for helmets when you're part bird. My musing are unfortunately interrupted however when the Purple one spoke up.

"I am Emperor Sanguinem, ruler of the Griffon Empire, and I extend my sincerest apologies to you honored Paragon, for this unforgivable crime perpetrated by those who claim fealty to me." He said as he bowed his head low, much to those in the audience, while certainly not the spectacle they had come to see, this day at the area was shaping up to be a very interesting one. "I had intended to come right away when I had been informed a strange creature that appeared to be part Dragon was to fight to the death in the arena. I would have arrived sooner if not for the City Watch being sent into a panic by the appearance of a Dragon, I hope you understand the need to see to my subjects' safety Paragon."

"It is not my fault they did not believe me when I was simply coming to watch the match." cobalt replied, her tone certainly expressing how she felt she was in no way at fault.

Oh my, she wanted to watch us sweat and fight in the arena, she must be into the idea too. The idea of our body exerting itself and showcasing our physique must be a very enticing thought.

I am getting very close to shunning you again.

"Ah, yeah... of course, I take to offense." I say, feeling mildly thrown off with the situation at hand. Ever since I've arrived in this world I've been surprised and left clueless, but this is certainly one of the stranger occurrences. "I am very sorry your Eminence, but I find myself at a loss, how exactly is it that you know of me, and why do you keep referring to me as 'Paragon'?"

"Ah, I had thought you knew and that was why you came to the Empire. I apologize for presuming." He says before taking a look at one of the guards with him and saying, "Head back to the Palace and instruct the servants to prepare accommodations for the Paragon and his... acquaintances." At the last bit of his sentence I could hear Cobalt give a slight snot, which earned her a wary glance from the Emperor. with a quick nod and what I presume to be some form of salute, the Griffon took off into the air, towards the biggest and fanciest building in the city.

"I am very sorry Paragon, but this is not the place to answer the questions you pose, if you will accompany me to the Palace, I will gladly explain."

"Well, although I /am/ very attached to the place I nearly died, I suppose I could go." I said, a bit of sarcasm in my voice. Unfortunately however, for the quick pained look that flashed across his face, I'm getting better at reading the expressions, it seems he took it seriously.

Good job dick, make him feel bad. See if that'll make you any friends in school young man.

I graduated from college with a Bachelors three years ago, I think I'm done with school for a little while

The next half hour or so was not that interesting, the Emperor seemed too wrapped in his thoughts to talk while we headed towards the Palace, the Guard just didn't seem like the most social of Bird Lions, and while Cobalt allowed Fiery Thought and the Kobolds to mount here, I was strictly forbidden from doing that,

Hey, that's fair. You haven't even taken her out for dinner yet.

Okay, that's it, not talking to you anymore.

Oh come on, don't get your panties in a bunch.

...

Ugh, fine, I'll stop.

Good.

It took some time to find a place where Cobalt could fit that wouldn't unduly insult her, and she eventually ended up in a large courtyard, where she crushed more than one flower bush. Fiery and the Kobolds were both tired, and very worried. In fact, once we had landed Fiery gave me a tearful hug to the leg, it nearly made my heart explode, but I managed to survive. During this hug, the Emperor spoke up.

"I am sorry to interrupt the moment, but young pony, the Paragon and I must discuss in private."

It takes a little bit of doing to get Firey Thought off of my leg, for such small legs she has quite the gripping power in them. After making a promise to spend some time with her doing whatever she wanted though, she finally lets go of my leg.

The Emperor nods with his head towards a door, a pair of guards stand on either side of it, and I assume he wants me to follow him inside, so I do. The door revels a father lavish room, with all manner of rather comfortable looking pieces of furniture, as well as what appears to be a exquisitely worked wooden table in the center. The Emperor pulls up a cushion to sit at one side of the table, and I do the same to sit on the opposite side. He looks at me a moment, evidently considering where to start, as he finally begins, he speaks in a surprising manner.

"Ahhh, I can't tell you enough how good it is to be behind closed doors." He says as he reclines back on the cushion, which is rather odd to observe something with the back legs of a lion doing. After he leans back he takes a moment to unfasten his purple robe and tosses it off to lay at rest on another nearby cushion.

"Sorry Paragaon, it's just rather stressful for me to appear so formal all the time, I've never really enjoyed all the pomp and ceremony. Now that I'm settled in a bit however, I suppose I can answer some of your questions, where would you like me to start?" He inquires rather casually, as though we've known each other for quite some time.

In all honesty, it makes things a little easier, for a minute there I had thought I was going to have to walk on eggshells, hah bird joke, around the Emperor but he seems surprisingly laid back.

"Well, I suppose the whole 'Paragon' thing would be a nice place to start." I say as I take the opportunity to sprawl out on the rather bean bag like cushion.

"Fair enough I suppose. The term Paragon has existed among the Griffons since ages long past. It is a title reserved for those who exemplify the best among Griffon kind, and it is a title implying only the utmost respect for the one who bears it."

"Oookay then. How exactly am I a Paragon then? I'm sorry, but last I checked I was king of a Ape Dragon thing, unless now I've started to grow a beak too." I say as I somewhat seriously, somewhat jokingly put my human hand to my face to check for a beak.

"The way the title of Paragon woks is that not only is the Individual the bearer of the title, but for so long as no descendant of theirs commits some great atrocity, any who bear the blood of the Paragon are thus a Paragon as well."

"Okay, makes a bit more sense, but the major issue is that I still don't have any Griffon blood in my, I mean I'm kind of a mutt, but I don't think any of my ancestors did to do with a Griffon."

"Ah, but it is not the mammalian part of you that gives you the title of Paragon, but the Draconic part. You see, one of the Paragons of the past was the Great Griffoness Crimson Tide. She was what the Kobolds call a Half-Dragon, and for some time it was thought that she would be the only Half-Dragon to ever exist, until the appearance of Starclaw. At the time of his appearance, it was decided, that with Crimson tide bearing no Griffon offspring due to her untimely end, that hose who bore the title Half-Dragon would bear the honor of being regarded as a Paragon instead." He takes a moment to play idly with an unruly feather on his head before he adds, "Honestly, I've never really had that much interest in the Paragons, none are actually alive in this day in age. That was before I saw you in the arena however. I only caught the end of the fight, but what you did... it was truly terrifying."

Well great, now I feel bad, I probably scared the living crap out of everyone present and scarred some children for life from te way people keep going on about when I lost control at the end.

"And it was inspiring."

Wait what?

The look of surprise at his statement must be plastered plainly on my face, because he quickly explains by saying, "For so long the status Quo has remained unchanged, certainly there have been times of panic or danger, but it has not really changed much. However, when I witnessed you, standing there in your victory, it sent a chill down my spine and then I realized what you were. you were, and are, change incarnate. Now forgive me for my selfishness, but I wish to make a request of you, Paragon of Change."

"And what might the request be?" I ask, feeling rather overloaded by what he's saying, and more than little of it might just be going to my ego.

It indeed is, I feel myself growing stronger by the second.

"Paragon, I am going to call a summit, a gathering of all the rulers of the known lands of Equis, to announce your ruler ship of, and the existence of the Kobolds. I have grown so very bored of the Status Quo, and I know that you are going to shred it to pieces."

"Why not? I already declared myself a King in the stadium, why not make it official."

While I might not have every expression nailed down yet, it wasn't hard to understand the almost manic smile on the Emperor's face and he then said, "Good, I shall call the summit immediately, I would suggest you prepare yourself, we wouldn't want to be late for our own party, and the meeting place is very far away. It never makes a good first impression to be tardy."

On Black Wings Unfurled, A Half-Dragon's Roar to be Heard

by Coal

A Friendly Chat with a Titan... What fun. (Prologue)

Falling into a Mare's Bed... Kinky. (Chapter One)

Folding Chair the Dragonslayer is Best Pony... Awesome. (Chapter Two)

Kobolds and an Ancient City... Why not. (Chapter Three)

Exposition... Interesting. (Chapter Four)

Gems, Halberds, and Farewells... Onward we Go. (Chapter Five)

Hermits and Royalty... How 'bout That. (Chapter Six)

An Early Morning Jog... Kinda. (Chapter Seven)

Breakfast with Ponies... How Quaint. (Chapter Eight)

Within Chaos... How Deep. (Chapter Nine)

All Roads Lead to Rome... Not Really. (Chapter Ten)

So a Human, a Pony, and Two Kobolds Walk into an Empire... Funny. (Chapter Eleven)

What was that Saying about Hubris... Well Crap. (Chapter Twelve)

Thrown to the Hounds... More or Less. (Chapter Thirteen)

Fighting for a crowd... So Scandalous. (Chapter Fourteen)

An Important Event... Best not to be Tardy. (Chapter Fifteen)