Just Another Average Tuesday

Chapters

An Unusual Friend
The Everfree
Explanations and Life Stories
The Home of The Dragons
Welcome to Ponyville
Dragons vs. Ponies
Animals, Wild and Tame
Friend, Meet Friend
Sleepover 101
A New Home
Secret Revealed
Q&A's, and Why They Should Be Avoided
Brilliant Ideas
Arrival
Apples, Punch, and a Party

An Unusual Friend

A/N: This is my first fanfic, so please review. For those of you that have reviewed already, thanks for the support! I don't own My Little Pony, Hasbro does. Enjoy.

After reading the first couple chapters of A Guide to Dragons, I did have several of my questions answered. First of all, dragons apparently don't eat people. I was thankful for this, as it would have meant a pre-mature end to my social life, small as it was. In fact, they didn't even eat fruits and vegetables. I mean, they COULD, but the preferred diet for a dragon was, of all things, gemstones.

So that’s what all the gemstones were for...

Then I read the line again, fully comprehending it this time.

Wait, they EAT GEMSTONES!!??!!

I decided not to put this to the test. I wasn't hungry, and my teeth still felt the same as my human teeth. I had no doubt they had gotten stronger, but I wasn't prepared to lose one of them to find out.

I also discovered that, yes, dragons could indeed breathe fire. In fact, they could breathe two different kinds of fire: the normal kind that torches everything in front of you and is colored red, orange and yellow; and a special, green-colored flame that, after engulfing an object, would teleport it to the dragon's desired location with absolutely no damage to the object itself.

I experimented with both kinds of flame and succeeded not only in setting the grass around my bed on fire, but also in teleporting the bed itself 10 feet away from my position, where it appeared in a bright flash of green fire.

I walked over to the bed and examined it. There were no burn marks whatsoever.

Nice.

I almost continued reading, but the next chapter was all about dragon history. And the one thing I knew for sure about history was that I found it boring as hell.

So instead I thought about what to do. The safest plan seemed to be stay here, and yet I wasn't drawn to that idea. I was obviously in the middle of nowhere, and I wasn't too keen on the idea of surviving for the next couple of days on nothing but gemstones. That is, if I could get myself to try one.

The best and probably not safest plan would be to start looking for intelligent life somewhere in this place.

I immediately liked this idea, so I packed everything back into the satchel, slung it over my shoulder, said goodbye to my bed, and started walking off in the direction opposite of the forest.

As I walked, I wondered why I had been so quick to delve into unknown territory. I was never the adventurous type, and my geography skills were pretty terrible so I would never be able to retrace my steps. In fact, I was technically lost already, as I had no idea where I was.

I was contemplating my new frame of mind and thinking it was probably going to get me killed or worse, when I heard something.

I stopped.

Then I heard it again. A faint rumble, coming from over the next hill.

Ignoring the smart part of my mind that was telling me to get out of there, I immediately started up the hill, eager to see what was on the other side.

I was not expecting what I saw.

Lying in the small valley created by the hills, sleeping, was a creature. A REAL creature this time, not just a shadow. It had the body and head of a lion, huge bat wings, large ears, and a scorpion's tail. The noise I had been hearing was the creature's snoring.

Like an idiot, I immediately got closer.

I had two good reasons for this though. One was that in this new body, I wasn't really afraid of anything. I felt powerful, more powerful then I'd ever felt in my life, which I guess made sense, considering I had been transformed into a creature that was infinitely more lethal than a human.

The second, and bigger reason, was that the creature was covered with a large, steel net.

It obviously wasn't aware of it, because it was still sleeping peacefully, with a content look on its face.

I walked all the way to the edge of the net. It covered the creature's entire body and was nailed into the ground with spikes. Someone had put a lot of trouble into making sure this creature didn't move.

Well that proved it. I was most definitely not in Kansas anymore.

But if that was true, what could have done this?

As I was picturing green mutants with three heads nailing down the spikes in my mind, the creature woke up.

I backed up very fast.

The creature on the other hand took absolutely no notice of me. It instead focused all its attention on the steel net that was holding it in a prone position. Whoever had made that net had thought ahead though, because the beast's claws did absolutely nothing to the steel net. It did, however, succeed in making the beast very tired and extremely pissed off.

The beast eventually collapsed, exhausted, and said in perfect English: "Crap."

It had a rather gravelly voice, but I was more focused on the fact that a creature from a world that was definitely not Earth had spoken in a language that was definitely from Earth.

I slowly walked towards the creature until I was about five feet away from the edge of the net. Then I said "You can talk?"

The creature apparently hadn't even known I was there because it jumped about 10 feet in the air
and looked frantically around until it saw me.

"DON'T SNEAK UP ON ME LIKE THAT!!!"

"I've been here for the past 15 minutes."

The creature looked me up and down.

"You're not running away."

"No."

"And you can understand what I'm saying?"

I blinked. I hadn't expected that.

"Well...yes. Isn't that normal?"

"Of course not."

Greeaat. Another mystery. I couldn't really think of anything to say, so I just asked the first thing that came into my head.

"So, what are you?"

The creature gave me an "are-you-serious?" look. At least, that's what I thought it was. I was never good at reading emotions, even those of my same species.

"I'm a manticore, obviously."

It didn't look that obvious to me. I had heard of manticores and they were basically the same as dragons. That is to say, they were only supposed to exist in fairy tales.

Just where the hell am I?

I looked down at the net. "So what did this to you? I'm assuming you didn't put it up yourself, seeing as you were so eager to escape from it a few minutes ago."

The manticore sat down and uttered a single word. "Ponies."

I blinked again. "Ponies did this to you?"

"Yes."

"Ponies, as in four-legged creatures with manes and tails?"

"That's right."

"And no claws?"

"Of course not."

"And no wings?"

"A few of them might've been pegasi, but..."

"And no big spikes on said tails?"

"Why are you even asking me this?"

"And they did this to you, a manticore, who has all lethal body parts that I just mentioned?"

"I was asleep." he said defensively.

I sighed.

"Well, you obviously need some help getting out of there, so let me just-"

"NO. I can get out by myself."

"You sure about that?"

"Yes."

"Okay then."

I walked about 10 feet away and sat down to watch what was sure to be a very entertaining performance.

It was, but at the same time it was kinda sad. The poor guy tried absolutely everything he could think of to get out of there, from biting to kicking to clawing to slashing. Whoever made that net sure knew their stuff though. The damn thing didn't budge an inch.

The manticore eventually wore himself down to exhaustion again and just lay there, panting. I walked over and kneeled down next to him.

"You're sure you don't need any help?"

He coughed and then glared at me.

"What would you even do? You have claws, teeth, and wings, just like me, and you can probably only lift about half the weight I can."

"I can breathe fire."

"Oh yeah, that's a great idea. Pour open flames over the steel net with the manticore trapped inside. While you're at it, why don't you just, I dunno, BLOW UP THE ENTIRE FREAKING VALLEY!!!"

"Got any explosives?"

"Just lemme outta here, okay?"

There was a pleading note to his voice. I could tell he was actually scared.

"Righto."

I didn't let on that he was probably right. There wasn't much I COULD do that he hadn't already tried. I couldn't tell him that though, and besides I was feeling sorry for this guy. He was probably having the worst morning of his life.

I set about trying to get the net off of him. At first I tried just pulling the net out of the ground, but was met with miserable failure. The nails that held the net were in the ground, and they were going to stay there. I then tried to break the net itself, first with claws, then with teeth. Same miserable failure. My new teeth may have been able to cut through gemstones, but there was something about this net that made it impervious to natural penetration.

Finally, in a fit of rage, I slashed at the net with my claws, willing them to break, willing them to come apart.

What happened next was completely unexpected.

There was a flash of what I could only describe as darkness, pure darkness, and a faint sizzling sound.

When the darkness faded, the entire section of the net that I had just slashed at was neatly cut in two.

I stared. Then I looked down at my claws. They were smoking slightly.

"Whoa." I muttered. "Wasn't expecting that."

I looked up to see the manticore looking at me with a hint of admiration.

"I didn't know dragons could do that."

"Yeah, me neither."

He raised an eyebrow at this but didn't question me. Instead he crawled out through the newly-made hole in the net.

After stretching his limbs and romping around a bit to get all his joints working properly, he looked at me and sighed.

"Well, I guess some thanks is in order."

"That would be nice."

"Yeah, well...thanks. I guess I probably would have been screwed if you hadn't come along."

"Sure, anytime. However, there is one thing you can do for me."

"What?"

"Actually, make that two things. One, can you tell me where I am?"

He gave me a strange look but said "You are in Equestria, near the Everfree Forest to be exact."

Well that proved it. I was officially not on Earth anymore. As if me turning into a dragon and meeting a talking manticore wasn't clue enough.

"Thank you, and second, can you tell me if you've seen any other dragons in this area?"

This question had just occurred to me, and I couldn't believe I hadn't asked it yet.

He looked at me for a moment, then said slowly "Not in this area no, but there's a whole group of them living on a mountain a couple days walk into the Everfree. Don't know the name of it, but it's there."

"Could you take me there?"

He considered this.

"...yeah, I could take you there. Can't get very close to it, but I should be able to get you within sighting distance."

"That would be very helpful."

"Well then, let's get going."

"Sure, let me just grab my stuff."

I went over and retrieved my bag, which I had set down several feet away from the net.

"Okay, I'm ready. Let's go!"

We set off. After several minutes of walking, I realized something.

"Y'know, you never did tell me your name."

"Ha! You would never be able to pronounce it."

"Try me."

"Okay. My name is..." and here he made a noise that sounded like a cat having a very large hairball.

I stared at him for a second.

"Yeah, I'll just call you Manty." I decided.

"Oh? And what should I call you?"

I was about to answer when I realized I didn't know my name.

I mean, I remembered having one. I remembered people calling me by it and I remembered writing it down, but I had no idea what the name itself was. It was as if someone had gone through my mind and deleted all traces of it.

This was a startling revelation to say the least.

Manty noticed the look in my eye and asked "What is it?"

"Nothing." I shook my head and painted a smile on my face while going through a mental list of temporary names, finally settling on one that I thought would sound flashy for a dragon.

"Flamesinger." I said. "Call me Flamesinger."

-End of Chapter 2-

The Everfree

A/N: Sorry for the wait. I've been really busy being lazy, and school hasn't really been kind to me.

Also! The new OC in this chapter belongs to The Red blade from FanFiction.net. Thanks man! :)

I don't own MLP, Hasbro does. :( Enjoy! Please Read + Review!

As soon as we hit the woods, things got complicated.

First of all, these woods were dark. I mean unnaturally dark. It was broad daylight outside of the forest, but as soon as we stepped inside it became dusk.

Also, we weren't following a trail. In fact, there wasn't any trails that I could see. Just forest. This didn't seem like a problem for the first five minutes of walking, as Manty just demolished everything in front of us, but after those five minutes I heard an ominous creaking and shuffling sound behind us.

I immediately turned around, searching for the source of the noise. I didn't see any movement that would suggest a creature, but what I did see scared the crap outta me.

About nine feet away from us, the huge trail that Manty had blazed simply ended. The trees and bushes that he had destroyed not five minutes ago had all grown back, with absolutely no sign that they had recently been crushed. I couldn't even see through them to the outside, which shouldn't have been more then 15 feet away.

Yeah, that's not creepy or anything...

I jogged back up to Manty, who was still furiously blazing a trail as though his life depended on it.

Great choice of words Flame.

"Hey Manty!"

"Yeah?"

"Have you looked behind us recently?"

"No, why?"

"Maybe you should now."

He glanced behind us and gave the closest thing to a smile that a manticore can give.

"Don't worry, the forest always does that. Just one of its many little challenges."

"That doesn't exactly reassure me."

"Have you ever been to the Everfree before?"

"Can't say I have."

"Right, well then you should know that the Everfree Forest is probably the most abnormal forest you can find. It's usually dangerous for newcomers, as they are unfamiliar with the challenges they will face, but since you have me your lucky. I've been through this forest a thousand times, so I know how to navigate it."

"You talk about it as though it were alive."

"In a way, it is. The forest itself isn't alive of course, but the entire area is controlled by a kind of spirit that lives in the Everfree itself."

"A spirit you say?"

"I know you don't believe me, but its true. I've met her a few times. She's rather protective of her forest, hence the challenges I mentioned. If you pass them, you have earned the right to travel through her forest. If you don't, you're basicly screwed. The ignorant ponies don't know this of course. They think this place is just haunted, and few of them tread through it. She never reveals herself to the ones who do."

"Do you think she will reveal herself to us?"

"Possibly. She mainly shows herself to wild animals like me, but she has been known to contact dragons before. If we do meet her, you MUST be polite. Most dragons treat her forest with scorn, so she probably won't act friendly towards you."

"Greeeeeaaaaat..."

"Look on the bright side! Your with me, and we should only be in this forest for a couple of days."

I decided to take his word for it. I wasn't about to contradict a manticore, let alone the only intelligent being I'd seen so far. Plus, I was still comprehending everything he'd said. If I presumed he was telling the truth, that meant one of two things. Either manticores had a crazy religion, or this place was less like home then I thought.

We walked for several more hours, during which I became rather tired.I hated hikes back on Earth and apparently my new body hated them just as much. I was about to suggest we stop when Manty did just that, making me bump into him.

"What's happening?"

"Nothing, just getting my bearings."

"Bearings? Just how big is this forest?"

"It's big, but I'm just figuring out where we are. No big deal."\

Five minutes passed.

"Are we lost?"

"No, I just don't recognize this place."

"Yeah, we're lost."

"Well if you want to look at it that way, fine. All we have to do is keep going. I'll recognize something sooner or later."

We continued walking and kept at it for about an hour, during which I became increasingly nervous. The trail Manty was blazing continued to close up behind us, making retracing our steps impossible. Instead of thining out, the forest became denser and more oppressive the more we continued. More then once I thought we were being watched, but when I reported this to Manty he told me it was just the creatures of the forest.

"They will not bother us. They know not to mess with a manticore."

When the hour was up, I was positive that coming into the forest had been a bad idea.

"Recognize anything yet?"

"Nope. You were right, we are lost."

"Crap."

"However, I think I know why."

He turned around and I saw that for the first time, Manty looked genuinely worried.

"I think its the tree spirit. She's messing with the forest."

"...which means...?"

"Only one reason: she doesn't want us to leave."

"Is that good or bad?"

"I'm guessing bad. If she just wanted to talk to us she could have simply appeared..."

"So now we have the almighty spirit of the trees mad at us for an unknown reason."

"Pretty much."

"And this is all assuming that I believe in the existence of said tree spirit."

He glared at me for a moment, then smiled, revealing very large fangs.

"If you don't believe me, go ahead. Challenge the tree spirit! It would be rather entertaining to watch you try."

Now if there is one thing I know about myself, its that I am a hardcore atheist. I did not believe in any kind of higher power, and though I did believe in an afterlife, it was mostly for the reason that I couldn't stand the thought that we simply ended when we died. I most certainly did not believe in any kind of tree spirit, and I was itching to prove Manty wrong about this.

I walked a few feet away from Manty, put on my fierce face that I only used for special occasions, and began the art of dissing the great spirit of the trees.

"Hey! You there! My friend here thinks you exist, but you know what? I DON'T! This is just another creepy old forest to me. You wanna prove me wrong? The reveal yourself! Show me your so-called power, or are you too proud to prove that you exist?"

As I suspected, absolutely nothing happened.

Manty laughed. "She will not show herself if all you do is ask rather un-politely. You will have to get her attention for her to even talk to you."

The phrase 'get her attention' triggered an idea in my mind. A really, REALLY stupid idea, but an idea nonetheless.

I turned back to Manty and as I turned I called over my shoulder.

"Well if there is no great tree spirit, then I guess no one will mind if I test my flames out on one of these trees!"

The effect was instantaneous.

A branch-a very heavy branch I might add- near me sprang to life and bent sharply, catching me full in the face. The impact lifted me off my feet and I hit the ground hard, rolling over and over until I came to a stop right in front of Manty.

I looked up at him groggily. He was looking at me with amusement, a huge grin on his face.

"Well," I managed to crook."you were right about one thing. She's pissed at us."

"Yes." His face turned serious again. "And what you almost did probably made her TWICE as pissed."

-Was closing up your path not enough proof, creature of chaos?-

The voice sounded in my head. I didn't pay it much attention though, as my face was still hurting. Instead, I focused on slowly getting to my feet, using Manty as support. As soon as I got my basic senses back, I looked at the branch that had punched me. It was frozen in mid-blow, still and stiff as all the other trees around it.

-I can make it attack you again you know.-

"Please don't." Then I realized who I was talking to. "Hey! What the hell? Get outta my head!"

-You are in no position to make demands of me chaos-user. You are lucky I don't kill you where you stand.-

"She's right you know."

I glared at Manty, who had just spoken.

"Excuse me?"

"Well you DID just threaten to burn down part of her forest..."

"I was trying to get her attention! I didn't MEAN it! And also, it worked."I grinned slightly. "She's talking to us now."

Apparently the tree spirit didn't like being manipulated because she had another tree branch attack my face again. I dropped to the ground again and groaned, clutching my face.

That's gonna leave a mark...

-I'm not looking for a fight chaos-user.-

"Yeah." I growled. "Yeah, it really seems like it."

-Leave peacefully, and I might consider sparing your life.-

"YOU might CONSIDER SPARING my LIFE!?! How about I CONSIDER not burning the shit out of your precious trees?! I'm the one getting the crap beaten outta me for no reason!!! Screw you and you goddamn forest!!! I'm getting the hell outta here and I WILL burn and destroy ANY tree that tries to touch me!!!"

I got up and strode towards the edge of Manty's path. I got maybe five feet before a small branch whipped out and stopped me.

-Wait.-

Smoke blew out of my nostrils and my vision got a red tint to it. "WHAT DID I JUST SA-"

My raging was interrupted by a sharp pain in my skull that made me fall (again) and clutch my aching head, screaming in pain.

It felt as though my skull was being pried apart. A vast presence entered my mind and started searching, going through all my memories, feelings, thoughts, and emotions. I knew it was the tree spirit, but I couldn't do crap to stop her as the pain was taking all my immediate attention. Even if I hadn't been in pain I doubt I could've done anything to prevent her from invading my head. She probably would've crushed any kind of mental attack I threw at her.

After about five minutes of screaming my head off and having my mind invaded by a crazy tree spirit, my head finally stopped hurting and the presence of the tree spirit withdrew.

I lay there, panting, taking in gulps of air before staggering to my feet. I limped over to Manty and leaned on him, panting some more and trying to get my head to stop smarting.

-I...apologize. I was too quick to judge.-

My head nearly exploded again.

"You APOLOGIZE!!??!! You beat the living shit outta me and then set my head on fire!!!

-Yes, I...suppose I could've been friendlier...-

"You bet your ass you could've!"

She made a small growling noise. -You are simply ASKING for another branch to the face.-

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, cut the crap. Where are you anyway?"

-You think I will reveal myself to you simply because you asked? Has 'Manty' as you call him taught you nothing?-

"You invaded my head and apparently know everything there is to know about me now. All I'm asking is to be able to actually SEE you. Is that to much to ask?"

-Well...I suppose not...-

I heard a rustle in the bushes next to me and turned to see one of the weirdest creatures I had ever seen since coming here stepping out.

My first thought was a horse?, but I immediately dismissed that idea. The creature was too slim, too short to be a horse. The correct term sprang to mind. A pony. However it was unlike any kind of pony I had seen before.First of all were the colors. Its coat was a lightish blue, running all the way from its feet to its head. Its mane was long and flowing, acting more like hair then a mane, and was the color of butter. Oddly enough, on both of its flanks was a small, detailed picture of a willow tree.More odd then that though was the horn poking through its mane and the wings folded across its back, both the same color as its coat. The pony looked at me, and in that movement I realized she was also slightly transparent. I could see the trees through her.

Upon seeing her, Manty immediately sank into a bow, muttering "Spirit of the trees". I, however, did not. I had no intention of bowing to a spirit that had just assaulted me three different times in the space of 20 minutes, plus I was still absorbing her appearance.

-Not exactly what you expected, is it?- she asked, smiling slightly. Her mouth didn't move when she spoke, her voice still sounding in my head.

"No. No, definitely not."

-As you said before, I know you're memories. I know how different your world is from this one. I'm surpised your dealing with it so well, actually.-

I let out a faint laugh. "Yeah, well, I haven't really given myself time to dwell on it. I've been focused on...other things"

-Indeed.-

Manty had been looking back and forth between us, and he finally focused on me, a confused look on his face.

"What? Don't they have alicorns where your from?"

I laughed again, a full laugh this time.

"No. In fact, where I'm from doesn't have talking ponies at all. Or manticores, for that matter."

His eyes widened. "Really?"

"Yeah...its kinda hard to explain..."

-I believe, Strongjaw,- interrupted the tree spirit. -that it would be easier to SHOW you.-

Manty kept the confused face for a moment, then seemed to realize what she meant.

"Oh. Well I suppose that would be alright..."

The tree spirit's horn glowed a faint blue color, which made me step back, more then a little nervous. She, however, directed the horn at Manty. A thin tendril of the blue light extended from the tip of it and connected with Manty's forehead.

Manty's eyes immediately glazed over and he sat on his haunches, staring into space.

I got closer and waved a hand in front of his face. No reaction.

"What did you do to him?"

-I am simply showing him your memories of your world.-

"Oh, oka- wait, ALL my memories?!"

-No.- she giggled. -No, not ALL.-

I glared at her. "Was it really necessary to read my whole entire mind?"

-No.- she admitted. -But I have been bored these past few years. Hardly anything has happened, and your memories should provide some useful entertainment.-

I stared at her. "You're going to watch my memories for fun."

-Yes. Is there something wrong with that?-

"Where should I begin?"

Our conversation was cut short when the blue light vanished and Manty woke up.

"WHOA!!!" He sprang up, focused on me, stared at me wild-eyed for about 30 seconds, then seemed to calm down and said in a normal voice. "You said where you came from was different, but I didn't think it was...THAT different."

"You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm just...dealing with it..."

"You don't look okay."

"I'll be fine."

"If you say so. I hope you'll still accompany me to the dragon's mountain."

"Oh yes, I will. You still saved my life, and that is a debt that cannot be repaid easily. Its just that...well, holy crap man! Your world is WEIRD!"

"Yes. Yes, I suppose it is."

-Wait a minute, you plan to travel to the home of the dragons?-

"Yes."

-I'm not sure that's a good idea.-

"Why not? I woke up in this world as a dragon. Shouldn't I familiarize myself with my new species?"

-Yes, but most dragons are not like you. As a rule, dragons in this world are decidedly...violent.-

"...which means...?"

-Do not tell me you haven't felt it, because I know you have. When you woke up in this world, you did not panic when you realized you were in an unknown location and and you were only mildly surprised when you discovered you were a dragon. You were quick to travel into unknown territory and did not flee from Strongjaw when you saw him. When you understood his words you immediately tried to communicate. You are only mildly shocked at my appearance and you were quick to get angry when I attacked you. All of these mindsets, no fear, taking chances, and fighting back are all the instincts of a dragon. If you had been in your human form you would've felt intense fear and confusion, taken no chances, and probably never even entered my forest in the first place. These dragon instincts may have only changed you slightly, but normal dragons have them since the day they are born, so they basically shape their lives. When ponies raise a baby dragon as their own, which is not uncommon, They use a spell to erase those instincts and replace them with the instincts of a pony, or in your world, a human. Unaltered however, normal dragons are powerful and unpredictable, always fighting amongst themselves. That is why I think it would be a bad idea for you to go to them.-

As I absorbed what she said I realized she was right. I had changed. There was no way I would've acted the way I did back on Earth. One thing she had said though still bothered me.

"Okay, I just thought of two questions I need to ask you. First of all, why the hell did you attack us when you found us here?"

She bowed her head.

-I sensed an...unnatural...power within you, one that I haven't felt since Discord escaped his prison. Chaos. It is the same power that allowed you both to free Strongjaw and to talk to him. Despite what you think, manticores cannot speak your language. It is chaos magic that allows you to understand him. I assumed the worst, and for that I am sorry. Your power is your own, and I should not judge you because of it. I'm not certain, but if you wish to know more about it I would suggest reading more of that book you have. It should provide some answers.-

"Thank you, and now second question: Manty's real name is Strongjaw?"

She blinked. -Yes...-

I looked over at Manty. He was glaring at me, as if daring me to make fun of his name.

"I'll still call you Manty."

"Thank you."

I turned back to the tree spirit only to see her walking back into the trees.

-I will allow you passage through my forest Flamesinger, but be on your guard. If others know you're power, especially the ponies, they will most likely assume the worst as I did.-

"Hey wait!" I said. "You never told us your name!"

She stopped and looked back at us, her transparent eyes boring into mine for a moment.

A looooonnnnnng moment.

-My name...is Tienn- she finally said. -And something else before I leave you.-

A ball of blue light collected on the tip of her horn and then broke off, drifting through the air before landing in my out-stretched hand, where it was absorbed into my skin.

-The knowledge of flight, Flamesinger. Use it well.-

-End of Chapter 3-

Explanations and Life Stories

"I still can't belive she told you- YOU, a creature not even from this universe- her name."

Manty had been going on like this ever since we left Tienn, which was extremely annoying to say the least. We had made good time, Manty still blazing a path and me testing out my new flying ability. Turns out that even though manticores have wings they perfor to use them only when they have to. Manty was much more comfortable on the ground then he would ever be in the air.

I, on the other hand, was behaving very much like a kid with his first BB gun: very hyperactive and plagued by a desire to rest out his new toy on anything and everything around him. Tienn had basically filled my mind with the knowledge of how to fly and I was currently trying a few basic tricks. Even though I had only had it a couple of hours I was already addicted to the sense of freedom flying gave, and I couldn't understand why any creature with wings (hint hint Manty) wouldn't fly whenever it could.

"I think we could make much better time if we BOTH flew."

He waved me off. "Flying makes me nauseous, and besides you can fly about five times faster then I can. I have been paying attention to what you've been doing up there."

"Then you should know how bored I am waiting up for you."

"Yes, and YOU should know how much I care at the moment. I'm not flying, and this is good exercise for me."

"...except that you've been doing it for almost five hours straight, with the only rest you've had being when we talked to Tienn for about 20 minutes."

"I still can't believe she told you her name. She hardly EVER does that."

"*Sigh* Yes, you've made that clear."

"Then let me also make it clear that I AM. NOT. FLYING. Find ways to entertain yourself if your that bored. It will be nightfall in an hour or two and I will stop then, but for now I'm staying on the ground."

I could tell he wasn't going to change his mind, so I decided to take his advice and find ways to entertain myself. Flying in and of itself was exciting, but like everything else the excitement wares off after doing it for two hours straight. Not wanting to ignore my new body's abilities, I began to grab broken sticks left over Manty's rampage and toss them into the air, where I would try and burn them before they hit the ground.

This was met with limited success. I did manage to burn seven out of ten sticks, but on the eleventh stick I aimed my breathe a little too low and ended up setting one of the trees on fire.

The fire was quickly extinguished by a burst of Tienn's blue magic, but I earned a 15-minute lecture from Tienn as well as several rocks thrown at me, not all of which I managed to dodge.

As I rubbed the newly forming bump on my head I returned to what I had been doing, only this time I tried slashing the stick out of the air with my claws instead of burning it. This I utterly failed at, mostly because my claws weren't that long. I simply didn't have the range. As I continued to miss the stick again and again, my mind drifted back to what I had done in order to free Manty.

Tienn had called in 'chaos magic', and she obviously didn't like it. Hell, the way she acted before she read my mind was proof enough of that. It was like she expected me to be an evil overlord or something. She had also mentioned a name...Discord. At least, I think it was a name. If it was, then whoever it belonged to was probably a chaos-user. I just wish I had more details.

Maybe I SHOULD read more of that book...

As I was trying to figure out who Discord was and, more importantly, what he had done, it occured to me that if I was indeed a chaos-user then I could probably do that 'dark claw' thing again. It wouldn't hurt if I tried, right?

Right?

Ignoring the part of my mind that was telling me 'yes', I picked up the stick (which I had missed again) and began to try and break it with chaos magic.

At first, nothing happened. I would throw the stick up, slash at it, and miss it, same as before. After trying this about five times I could tell nothing was gonna change, so I stopped and tried to remember what the circumstances had been before.

I had been frustrated, thats for sure. Then again, I was frustrated now. Missing your target over 30 times in a row can do that to you. Was it anger? Nope, anger and frustration are practically the same thing. What else had I done? I'd tried everything else, I'd slashed at it in a fit of rage, I'd willed it to break...

Willed it to break.

I grabbed the stick and tossed it into the air. While it was in the air I focused on and willed it to snap in two, just like I'd done back at the net. Then I slashed at it.

One flash of darkness later and the stick was on the ground in two pieces, both of them smoking. My claws weren't smoking this time though.

Freaking finally!

Now that I knew how to do it, the next hour was spent practicing and experimenting. I got so that I could use my dark claw on command, and had great fun slashing sticks, branches, and even large rocks out of the air. Manty noticed my antics, but didn't say anything. The chaos magic didn't seem to bother him. Maybe that had something to do with why I could understand him.

It was getting dark and I was tired. Chaos magic was cool, but it took more outta me then I would like to admit. Combine that with flying for roughly three hours and I was ready to call it quits. Manty must have thought so too, because he had stopped and was currently clearing a large space about five times his size, using his tail to knock down trees and fling them to the side. I hovered just above the tree line and watched him.

"So...Tienn gets pissed off at me for threatening to burn down a FEW of her trees, and yet she has no problem with you clearing out a 50-foot wide clearing with your tail."

"Yes, and there are several reasons for that. First of all, the tre- I mean, Tienn- trusts me because I have lived in the Everfree for a good while, and in that time I have only ever taken what I needed. Second, Tienn HATES fire. It is her mortal enemy, and also one of the reasons she dislikes dragons. Lastly, it is a lot easier for her to simply put a tree back into the ground then it is for her to re-grow an entire burned-down tree. Now are you glad you asked that question?"

"I am so, so sorry that I said anything at all, and I technically didn't ask a question."

"Your welcome. Now give me a hand here, will ya?"

I helped him clear the rest of the space. Turns out dragons are, surprise surprise, stronger then humans, so I could lift a full-sized tree by myself. Well, more like 'drag', but at least I was able to help. Manty of course just tossed everything aside like so many sticks. One of the perks of being a manticore: immense strength.

I saved a good number of branches and when we were done clearing I broke them down into medium-sized pieces and clumped them together into what I hoped was the shape of a campfire. I was horrible at lighting (and making) these things back on Earth, but now that I could breathe fire I was fairly certain that wouldn't be a problem.

I took a deep breathe and was just about to bathe the pile in flames when I was rudely interrupted by Tienn.

-Flamesinger?-

"Yeah?"

-What are you doing?-

"Well Tienn, I don't know how it is for tree spirits, but us regular mortals have to worry about little things like 'comfort' and 'not freezing to death'. I've no doubt this body can take a helluva lot more heat then my old one, but I'm not willing to to freeze my ass off all night simply to see if it can withstand cold."

-That is...actually a good reason.-

"So can I light my fire?"

-Well, yes. If you must.-

"Thank you."

I managed to get my fire going without any more interruptions, and soon I was lying in my bedroll next to a blazing fire. To my surprise, the bedroll fit my size quit nicely, allowing full space for my my wings and tail, which I had actually just realized I had.

Really? It took me 12 hours to realize I had a tail? Geez, I'm stupid...

It was long, almost as tall as me. It was blue-scaled like the rest of my body and had several random spikes sticking out of the end. I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed it before now.

Manty had setteled down at the other end of the clearing, but upon seeing my warm fire and how comfy I was next to it, he slowly got up and made his way over, where he promptly layed down again on the side opposite from me.

"Where'd you get that bedroll? It fits you perfectly."

"Dunno. It was in a satchel underneath my bed when I woke up in this world, along with some other stuff. Almost like it was waiting for me."

"...why am I not surprised...?"

"Stuff like this doesn't happen to me every day y'know."

"It just might now that you've come here."

"Whats that supposed to mean?"

He fixed me with a stare. "Magic is a common occurrence here. So are dragons and monster. Y'know all those fantasy books I saw in your memories? Here, they're real. The only difference between your myths and this world is that humans are replaced with ponies."

"If you're trying to intimidate me, its working. Also, how come you know about the books I read, and yet you didn't know how I came by the bedroll? Didn't Tienn show you most of my memories?"

"She only showed me the ones that had to do with the culture of you're world. That included your myths. She also didn't show me any memories that had to do with your family."

I sensed this was a question he had been waiting to ask.

"Yeah, thats...kind've a touchy subject."

"Oh." He immediately stopped talking and instead stared into the fire. I could tell he was curious though, and since he knew almost everything else about me and was one of the only friends I had here, there was no reason he shouldn't know. I mean, its not like hes gonna tell anyone else, right?

"My parents were...young, when they had me. I mean like my age young. They probably met at some crazy party or another. I don't know. All I know is that my mother died while having me, and as soon as I was entrusted to my father he dumped me on the doorstep of the nearest orphanage and then dissapeared. I've been living at that same orphanage for my whole life. And that is my entire happy existence in a nutshell."

Manty was silent for a long time.

"Wow. That sucks."

"Meh, I don't even remember them. Sure it sucks to have no parents, but never having them helped me get over it. They were only my mom and dad in the technical sense. What about you? Where are you're parents?"

He stiffened. "That is ALSO a rather touchy subject."

"C'mon, you basically know everything there is to know about me. I promise I won't laugh."

"...very well..." He took a moment to gather his thoughts.

"Something you should know about manticores is that it is actually very rare to find one that travels alone, like I do. Mostly we travel in groups. Each group, or tribe, has a chiefton, or basically one manticore that is stronger then all the others. His offspring are supposed to be gifted with strength beyond normal manticores.

I was the son of a chiefton.

I was the son of Razor Claw, head of the Bloodletter tribe. Now, each manticore, once they reach a certain age, must pass a test of some kind before becoming an adult. Usually its something simple, like battling a timber wolf, but my father got it in his head that I, being the cheifton's son, should overcome something more. He just didn't know what.

His answer came in a rather unusual form. We were camped in the Everfree, near one of the slightly-used trails. On that particular night, a scout came and informed my father that six ponies, two unicorns, two pegasi, and two earth ponies, were travelling along that path. To my father, this was the perfect test of strength and loyalty. I was sent to kill the ponies and bring back their carcasses.

You have to understand that, like dragons, manticores are a violent species. Our culture is focused almost entirely on battle and conquest. What I had been sent to do was not unheard of and I was perfectly willing to do it.

However, things didn't go as planned.

I was in the middle of stalking them when it happened. I felt a sharp pain in my right forepaw, and suddenly I found myself right in front of the ponies, roaring my head off and trying to figure out what was wrong with my paw.

There was indeed six ponies, and one of them, a yellow pegasus with a light pink mane, seemed to understand I was in pain. All the others tried to attack me, but were extremely unsuccessful. Ponies are a peaceful race, not used to fighting, and so I was able to fend them off one by one quite easily. They were about to try a full-on charge, but the yellow pegasus stopped them. It was well she did, because I would have killed them had they tried such a direct tactic.

The yellow pegasus walked up to me, calm as can be, and asked me what was wrong. I was a bit dumbfounded, but I showed her my paw and it was then that I realized there was a foot-long spike of wood in it. I almost laughed out loud when she called it a 'splinter'.

She helped me get it out, and in that act I saw something that I had never seen before in my tribe. I saw kindness. This pegasus didn't care who or what I was, she saw I was in pain and she wanted to help. No one had ever done that for me before.

And so, I let them go.

Of course, my father was furious. To him, I had just shamed the entire tribe, and more importantly, its chiefton. He branded me with the name 'Strongjaw', a dishonaray title that basically means 'numbskull', and exiled me from the tribe. I have survived on my own in the Everfree ever since."

I mouthed the word 'wow'. "That is SO much more impressive then my story."

"Impressive? How is it impressive?"

"Dude! You stood up to your own father to defend what you thought was right! That takes guts man! How is it NOT impressive?"

He blinked. "Well when you say it like that, it sounds impressive."

"And thats all that matters. Now get some sleep. You've been destroying trees literally all day."

"What about you?"

I grinned. "I'm gonna do some research."

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Section 2d-Chaos Magic

Chaos magic is, at its most basic form, the magic of the dragons. It is the exact opposite of Harmony magic, the magic of the ponies, and focuses more on combat and the manipulation of the elements then healing and creating. Like ponies, not every dragon can use chaos magic, and yet there are no decernable physical differences between a chaos-user and a non-chaos-user. The only way to tell is to have another chaos-user examine the dragon for small signs of chaos magic. If they exist, then that dragon can learn chaos magic and become a chaos-user.

The only real rule, or 'golden rule' of chaos magic is this: NEVER FORCE CHAOS MAGIC ONTO ANOTHER LIVING BEING. This rule has been broken several times throughout history, most noticeably by the being known as Discord, who attempted to take over Equestria twice. On the flip side, Discord is also the only known dragon able to attain the form of a draconequus, a being completely in tune with chaos magic, very similar to an alicorn.

One of the main differences between Harmony and Chaos magic is that while harmony magic is bound by the use and creation of spells, chaos magic is more free-flowing, controlled entirely by the will of the user. This allows chaos-users to do things like preforming multiple feats of magic at once, and yet it also requires chaos-users to put more time into learning how to control their power.

Chaos and Harmony magic are not compatible, and neither are their users. With dragons it is simply the case that they cannot use harmony magic as their bodies cannot adapt to it. This is somewhat of the case with ponies, except on a higher level. If ponies attempt to use chaos magic it will corrupt them, causing their hates and fears to grow and their love and care to fade. The biggest example of this is when Princess Luna, alicorn princess of the night, secretly experimented with chaos magic. It corrupted her, eventually turning her into Nightmare Moon, an evil version of herself. She was only returned to normal by means of the Elements of Harmony, the ponies's only weapon against chaos magic.

Because of this, ponies consider chaos magic evil and dangerous. Discord's attempted take-over, followed by Nightmare Moon, followed by Discord again, all eventually convinced the ponies that all chaos magic was evil and had to be destroyed. And so, they took the Elements of Harmony, which no chaos-user can defend against, and used them to hunt down and destroy all the chaos-users. They believed they were doing the right thing, and yet they only succeeded in wiping out a non-existent threat.

Currently, there are no chaos-users left in Equestria. The few that have popped up over the years have been destroyed by the Elements of Harmony. It is rumored among the dragons that an extremely powerful chaos-user, an Element of Chaos, will someday appear and bring balance to the magic of Equestria, but so far these rumors have held no basis in fact.

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

The section ended there.

I closed the book, put it back in my satchel and laid down, trying to fall asleep.

As I starred into the slowly dying fire, one thought continuously crossed my mind: Was I that Element of Chaos? The one destined to bring balance?

...or was I yet another chaos-user about to be destroyed by the Elements of Harmony?

-End of Chapter 4-

The Home of The Dragons

A/N: Hello everyone! Sorry for the long-ass update, and once again I have no excuse other than being too damn distracted by other people's stories. In return, I made this chapter a bit longer than usual. Enjoy, and please remember to R&R!

Darkclaw1 to Bigcat5, do you read me, over?

“Quit with the mind speak Flame. I'm less than five feet away from you.”

Target sighted, requesting permission to breach, over.

“Flame.”

Bigcat5, do you read me?

“Flame.”

I repeat: Bigcat5, do you read me? Respond!

“FLAMESINGER!!!”

Alpha2, we have been compromised! Bigcat5 is down! Requesting back-

My mental transmission was interrupted by the feeling of a huge claw around my neck and the sight of a very angry manticore two inches from my face.

“Flame?”

“Sir?”

“Shut up and climb the goddamn mountain.”

“Yes sir.”

The mountain in question was actually our destination. We were at the very edge of the Everfree, staring up at what could only be the home of the dragons. It helped that there were dragons flying all around it.

The so-called 'mind speak' that I had been using was actually discovered on accident. I'd been trying to mind-control a bunny out of sheer boredom, like Tienn had done to me, and I might have accidentally targeted Manty's mind instead of the bunny's. After a furious mental fight (which pretty much consisted of Manty sending attack after attack until he realized it was me) and a good deal of apologizing and experimenting, we had found a semi-practical way of communicating over long distances. That, and annoying the crap out of Manty.

Manty gazed up at the mountain.“You sure you want to do this?”

“No. Let's do it before I change my mind.”

“Let's? That implies that there will be more than one of us. I'll wait for you out here, but there is no way I'm going near that place.”

“Why not? You're a manticore, what are you afraid of?”

“50 fire-breathing dragons that like to gang up on manticores for fun, that's what.”

“And I'm about to head straight into their home? Fan-fricking-tastic.”

“They might try to do the same to you. Ganging-up is a hobby for dragons.”

“Thanks for the huge vote of confidence. I feel much more terrified now.”

“This was YOUR idea.”

“That it was.”

I sat staring at the mountain for another minute or so. Then with a heavy sigh, and the feeling that this wasn't going to end well, I spread my wings and took off for the top of the mountain.

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

Long story short, I shouldn't have worried.

Dragons apparently don't really care about members of their own species, so I was able to fly around and observe in peace. What I found wasn't entirely disappointing either. The grown dragons, which were about one and a half times my size, where exactly what I had hoped for: majestic, big, wise-looking, and only interested in you if you annoyed them. I said hello to a few of them, just a simple greeting, and while they usually looked surprised at being addressed in a friendly matter by a complete stranger they would greet me as well. Just like your average-day human, except...not.

The teenagers though, leaved a lot to be desired.

They all seemed to be part of a gang, which was lead by a red and orange dragon who seemed to be sneering almost 90% of the time. They were gathered next to several huge piles of gems and were currently having a wrestling competition. The classic one-on-one-in-the-middle-while-everyone-yells-at-you kind of thing. I almost joined them, as they were the only teenage dragons I could see, but I had no intention of becoming part of a street gang. Even if it was the norm for dragons.

So I just sat there, observing, watching the leader beat dragon after dragon. If you looked closely, you could tell that the other dragons weren’t trying very hard. Apparently the boss had a fearsome reputation.

As much as I enjoyed watching the gang leader assert his position as head honcho, it become boring after one or two rounds. I wished something would happen, or, more importantly, that I would find the strength to get off my lazy ass and find some better form of entertainment.

As usual, I thought the wrong things at the wrong times.

About fifty feet away from me I spotted a small dragon. A really small dragon, as in kid-sized. This caught my attention because I hadn’t seen any little kid dragons anywhere since I had arrived, something I had thought was weird but didn’t question. So I took my chance now to examine what a baby dragon looked like.

He was only about half as tall as a teenage dragon, with green and purple scales. He had no wings and carried a classic handkerchief-tied-to-a-stick carrying bag slung over his shoulder. He had just climbed over the rim of the mountain and was panting, his eyes surveying the rocky valley. As soon as he saw the group of teenage dragons, his face brightened and he made straight for them, sliding down the side of the short cliff.

Now what does he think he’s doing?

I watched him reach the bottom of the hill, walk over to the group of teenagers, and start talking to them like nobody’s business.

I couldn’t hear what was being said, but the kid seemed to be introducing himself, while the teenagers all just stared at him.

A little kid trying to join a street gang? That...makes no sense whatsoever.

The teenagers must have been thinking along the same lines, except they handled it in a completely different manner. Instead of informing the kid of his mistake and telling him to back home to his own personal happy utopia known as childhood, they started making fun of him. Soon the kid found himself the center of jeers, name-calling, and pretty much anything that a five-year old would consider soul-crushing insults.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You guys just crossed a line. Making fun of kids ain’t nice.

I was about to head down there and give the group of knuckleheads a piece of my mind, but I was distracted when I noticed something watching the kid and the teenagers from a short distance away.

I use the term ‘something’ because it was most definitely not a living dragon. It fact, as I got closer, it appeared to be a very badly made costume of a dragon. It had all of it attention focused on the group of teenagers, so it didn’t notice me walking up behind it.

I was right on both parts. Yes, it was a costume, and yes, it was very bad. For one, it had eight pairs of legs, four white and four cyan, which were poking out of cut holes in the 'skin' of the costume. Sewn thread was clearly visible on the eyes and the body, and someone had seen fit to put gemstones all over it. Plus, it had tiny wings, though these seemed to be part of the cyan creature in the front part of the body.

Hmm...four legs four legs four legs four legs.... AHA! PONIES!

…

Wait, ponies? Why are they here?

What confused me more was how they weren't attracting any attention. Despite all the obvious evidence to the contrary, none of the other dragons seemed to notice anything different about the oddly shaped mass of fabric and thread that vaguely resembled a lizard with wings.

Hey Manty! I need your help here.

Ugh, what is it?! You've barely been gone ten minutes!

Are the dragons on friendly terms with the ponies?

Take a wild guess.

Well, there are two or three of them hiding in a dragon costume right in the middle of everything. A horrible costume, I might add. They might as well be wearing a t-shirt that says 'I'm not a dragon' in big red letters.

Then they ether have a death wish or are bored out of their skulls. What do you need my help for?

What should I do?

Do? I don't see the need to 'do' anything. Whatever you want, I guess.

You're grumpy, I can tell. Have you been sleeping the whole entire time I've been gone?

I've been trying to, but even I can't fall asleep in ten minutes. I'm going to attempt it again, so don't contact me unless someone I may or may not care about is dying.

Talking with you always cheers me up.

Goodnight Flame.

Well that got me nowhere. On the one hand, this was a group of ponies that wasn't supposed to be here and certainly didn't want to be discovered (I think). On the other hand, they seemed intensely interested in the kid-dragon that I had been about to protect, which was ether a good or a not-so-good thing.

Time for another one of my brilliant ideas.

I walked up to the costume and said “Hi there!” rather loudly.

All the ponies inhabiting the costume (there were three of them, I think) jumped at least five feet into the air and let out a very eloquent “AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!”, forgetting they were in a confined area. The result was a very good impersonation of a dragon doing the wave with its entire body while screaming.

Which, of course, ended with a crazy heap of fabric and limbs as they hit the ground. Yep, best idea ever.

It took about ten minutes, a hushed argument, and lots of tripping and falling before they were able to get themselves balanced again. They then turned on me, using a very deep voice that was obviously fake and yet succeeded in disguising the gender of the speaker.

“Hey! What do you think you doing?!”

I took this opportunity to take a look at the head. It's mouth had been left open, leaving a viewing port, and I could make out a shape inside. Again, I couldn't pinpoint the gender, but I could tell that one, it was a pony, and two, it had a horn on its forehead. Unicorn than.

“Scaring you. I should think that would be obvious.”

“Huh? Why?”

“Well, I can think of no other reason why I would suddenly-”

“Not that. Why were you trying to scare me?”

“Ummmmmmmm...for fun?”

“Well stop it! Or I'll...uh...I'll knock you halfway across the valley!”

“Might want to get outta that costume first. You can barely stand as it is.”

This completely threw the unicorn off track.

“C-costume? I d-don't know what you're t-talking about.”

I mentally smiled. Bulls-eye.

“You don't? Then let me tell you a new joke I just heard. You are in the home of the dragons dressed in a dragon costume along with two of your friends. A random dragon comes up and starts talking to you, and he knows who you really are. What do you do?”

“T-two of my what? I don't know what you mean...”

“Okay, think of it this way: since when do dragons have eight legs? Each ending with a hoof?” I put emphasize on the word 'hoof''.

The unicorn stuttered for a few seconds, trying to come up with a response, before eventually realizing that it was hopeless. When it spoke next, the fake voice was gone, replaced by a unmistakably female one that was trying to sound confident and utterly failing at it.

“Okay, dragon. You've caught us. But I feel it necessary to warn you that I am the prized student of Princess Celestia. If any harm were to befall me or my friends, the princess will be notified and I doubt she will be very happy.”

Ohhh, playing the 'big brother' card, are we? Well you're not the only one that can play mind games.

“You may inform the dear princess, in the most polite way possible, that I could really care less. Now here's something for you to think about. This valley is full of dragons unaware of your being here, a fact that I can change whenever I feel like it. However, I'd rather not, so why don't you just answer my questions and save yourself the trouble of outrunning 50 or so dragons? You seem to be making quite a big deal out of a friendly interrogation.”

Before the unicorn could answer, a much different yet still female voice spoke up from the group of cyan legs that made up the front half of the body.

“Hey bub! If you know whats good for you, back off! I ain't afraid to get tough with a dragon.”

I glanced downward and saw, very much to my surprise, a pair of violet eyes glaring back at me.

Wait, are those...?

I deadpanned. “Please tell me those aren't eye-holes.”

“Well, yeah.” The unicorn sounded a bit more sheepish now. “She was kind of adamant about being able to see where she was going...”

“And you actually thought this would work!? I can't even began to understand the reasoning behind that!”

“To be fair, it was working pretty well until you came along.”

“Yeah, and that has me rather worried. Are dragons here usually this unobservant?”

“I wouldn't know. This is...well...our first visit. Why, are you not from here?”

“You could say that. Which brings me to my first question: why are you guys here? You don't seem like the type to just wander into enemy territory. Except maybe your blue friend with the eye-holes.”

“I CAN hear you y'know!”

“Clearly. So what is it? Business? Pleasure? Tactical insertion?”

“I don't know what that last one is, but we are here to...help a friend, let us say.”

“A friend? You mean the kid over there?” I pointed to the little dragon I had been distracted from, who had managed to convince the teenagers to at least give him a chance and was now engaged in a belching contest. Which basically consisted of each dragon blowing huge fireballs into the air.

Hmm, he doesn't know when to quit does he? I'm gonna have to do something about that soon.

“Yes.” replied the unicorn. “How did you know?”

“You guys aren't exactly subtle when you spy on someone.”

“Oh...”

“What kind of 'help' are we talking about here?”

“We're keeping on eye on him, making sure things don't get out of hand.”

I resisted the urge to guffaw. “And what do you ponies think you're gonna do if things do indeed 'get out of hand'? Do I have to remind you yet again where you are?”

The cyan pony decided to speak up again. “We know our plan, and it ain't any of YOUR business! So I'm telling you again, BACK OFF! Unless you think you can take on the fastest mare in Equestria!”

“So you're just gonna wing it? Okay, I can respect that. Out of curiosity though, why this kid?”

“What?” It was back to the unicorn.

“Why would you go to the trouble to protect this particular kid, who isn't even the same species as you? And why do you refer to him as a 'friend'?”

“Because he is also not from here, and because he is.”

“...

I don't pretend to completely understand that, but it satisfies my curiosity anyway. Now, one last question before I depart to my earlier business: Where did you get that costume? To be quite frank, it sucks.”

The group of white legs that represented the back didn't really approve of this comment, and responded in an extremely posh voice that was, yet again, female.

“Why you ignorant ruffian! I'll have you know that this costume is entirely hoofmade, and could pass for a real dragon any-day! It certainly looks better than your ugly mug!”

“Ouch. That hurts.”

“GOOD!”

“Well, if your finished insulting my looks, then I must be off. There are a few dragons whose behavior I must...remedy. Feel free to enjoy the show. I'm sure it will be most entertaining to watch.”

“Wait, what are you...”

I didn't hear the rest of what she said, as I was by then halfway to the group of teenagers.

Now, you may think that I was being stupid, going all solo tough guy like that, but the truth was I actually had some idea of what I was doing. I had run into guys like this before, whether at school or at the orphanage, and the same thing always happened. I would mind my own business until A.) they tried to pick on me, or B.) they tried to pick on someone who couldn't fight back. Then I would go in no holds baring. It didn't always work (the last time I had challenged a group, I came away with a broken nose and a minor concussion, not enough to cause permanent damage but enough to spend the next week in the orphanage nurse's office), but this time I had a secret weapon.

Chaos magic, if you fail me now, I swear...

I must not have taken that long talking, because the teens were still doing their belching contest, blowing fireball after fireball into the air. A big fat brown dude had just placed the record, blowing a huge torrent of flame that engulfed the entire group of onlookers. When the flame ceased, the dragons were left without as much as a burn.

So dragons are immune to fire? Probably should've guessed that.

“Think you can beat that, peewee?” The leader growled at the kid.

The kid gulped audibly, and stood in front of the group. He looked like he was going to throw up for a few seconds, but then he burped and let out a tiny green fireball, which twisted and formed into a sealed scroll before floating to the ground.

The kid knows transportation fire-breath. Whoda thunk?

The leader immediately snatched up the letter and opened it. He read the first few lines, muttering to himself, before his eyes widened and he started laughing.

“Ha! Get this guys! Spike's pen pals with the namby pamby pony princess!” This was followed by torrents of laughter.

Namby pamby pony princess!? Oh, you have got to be shitting me.

I decided my time had come to interrupt the term of events and change them into my favor. And so, I made myself known.

“Namby pamby pony princess? Dude, if you're going to insult someone, at least make them good insults!”

He spun around, and his eyes fell on me, leaning against the rock wall and smirking at him.

“Hey! Watch it pal! Don't you know who you're talking to?”

I raised an eyebrow. “Dude, I've only been here four days. I don't know anybody.”

“Ah, a new guy huh? Well I guess I can let you off the hook this time. But here's some advice: I'm head honcho around here. Whatever I say goes, goes, got it?”

I pretended to consider. “And if I don't feel like it?”

He grinned. “Than you become our new punching bag.”

Not exactly subtle, is he?

“Oh, so its like that now, is it?”

“Yeah, pretty much. So, what do ya say?”

“ I say go to hell.”

All the other dragons gasped, and the leader became a little uncertain. I guess challenges to the leader were rarer than I thought.

The uncertainty vanished from the leader's face, and was replaced by his trademark sneer. “Well, I guess we'll have to remedy that, won't we?”

By now he was right in front of me, and he started off with a classic right hook to the face. I reached one arm up and blocked it, using the other fist to punch him in the jaw. As he was dazed, I grabbed his arm and in one fluid motion put him in an arm-lock. I banged his head against the rock wall a couple of times than threw him to the ground and resumed my earlier position, all the while with a bored expression on my face.

He slowly got up and shook his head, glaring at me. “How did you...?”

“What can I say? You suck at fighting dude.”

He growled and came at me again.

I didn't want to prolong this any longer than necessary, so I dodged his first blow and responded by punching him in the gut. This caused him to immediately bend over, winded, and I took the opportunity to fly up a few feet and kick him in the head. He stumbled back and I finished by grabbing his face and kneeing it. He fell to the ground and didn't get back up.

However, that is not to say he was unconscious. Far from it. He was down for the count, but that didn't stop him from looking at his cronies and yelling “Well? What are you waiting for? GET HIM!”

Which of course prompted all the other teens to surround me and close in.

“Well...fuck.” I muttered as the first guy got to me.

You see, I am pro at one-on-one fist fights. Having only one person to focus on makes it easy to predict the other guy's moves, not to mention the fact that the leader had been careless and hadn't really treated me with caution like he should have. However, ten-on-one fights are completely different. If you focus all your attention on one guy, your leaving yourself open for attack from any other direction. The trick is to broaden your focus to include everyone around you.

Suffice to say, I suck at that.

The first guy swung at me and I dodged it, sticking out one foot and tripping him. I swept my foot forward and kicked the next guy, who happened to be the fat brown dude. My foot met his stomach and he wheezed, stumbling backward into several other dragons. I forgot to watch my back though, and some blonde purple dude (yes, it was a guy) took advantage of this lack of defense to deliver a kick to my spine.

From then on, things went rather badly.

I spun around and thanked the blonde dude by punching him in the face, and in that brief moment some asshole decided to try and tackle me. Problem was, it worked, and I went down. I took care of the guy who had done it, a white guy with light red spines, but when I tried to get back up the leader (who had somehow regained his footing) kicked me in the chest, winding me. As I tried to regain my breath, I was beset upon be kicks from all sides.

Have you ever wondered how it feels to be the center of a bunch of gang-stomping? Let me tell you, it is not fun.

By the time they stopped, I had several large bruises forming and was coughing up small amounts of blood. The leader walked up and knelt down next to me.

“Not so cocky now, huh loser?”

“Actually, I'm remembering the expression you had on when I introduced your face to a rock wall.”

He responded by delivering a vicious kick to my chest, which made me cough up even more blood.

“So, have we learned a lesson today?”

“Yes.” My voice was barely audible.

“What was that again?”

“Yes!” I clenched my fist.

“I can't heeeeear you!”

“YES!” I bet everyone in the valley heard it.

“And what, pray tell, was that?” He was smiling this whole time.

I slowly raised my head and met his eyes, the very picture of defeat. All of the onlookers, including the kid, the disguised ponies, and several dragons had all gone silent.

Than I grinned and opened my fist, revealing the dark cloud that had been charging there, waiting to be released. “Chaos magic is awesome.”

“Wait, wha-”

I slammed my hand, palm downward, into the ground. A shockwave of dark energy blew outward from me, picking up all the teenagers and hurling them back about twenty feet. The leader, who was closest, got the brunt of it full in the face. It must have reignited my earlier punishments, because when he landed he clenched his head in both hands and started moaning.

I slowly got up, wincing whenever I disturbed one of my bruises, and made my way toward the moaning leader. One of the teens, the blonde dude, had gotten back up and attempted to charge me again. I flicked my hand, and another wave of darkness sent him flying all the way back to the rock wall, where he stayed for a few minutes before slowly sliding down. This discouraged any other would-be fighters.

When I finally came to the spot where the leader lay, he was still moaning. I used my magic to lift him up and slam him against the cliff face, where he stayed suspended.

“Alright, I'm not the kind of guy that holds grudges, so I'll just lay down a few ground rules. One, don't pick on kids. Two, learn some good insults. And three, don't. Ever. Fucking. Touch me. Again. Got it?”

He moaned in response.

“Yeah, I thought so.”

I released my magic and he slide down to rest on the floor, where he resumed holding his head.

I heard clapping, and turned to find the entire audience of dragons (about 15 of them had wandered over to watch the fight) applauding me. The kid and the disguised ponies, though, were staring at the group of teens, most of which were still on their backs or stomachs. They appeared utterly shocked at what they had just witnessed.

“Thank you, thank you! It's nice to know my work is appreciated!” I called out, before slowly making my way to the kid. He had managed to drag his eyes away from the fallen
teens and was watching me with a new sense of respect, though he was still quite nervous.

“Hey kid!” I said as I got close to him. “What's your name? I don't think I caught it before.”

“S-Spike.” He stuttered. He glanced back to the fallen dragons. “H-how did you do that?”

“Oh, that? Its just a cool little trick I've learned. It comes in handy quite often, actually. Are you new here? I don't think I've seen you before.”

“Y-yeah. I actually just got here today.”

“I was wondering why you were carrying a traveler's bag. Exactly what were you trying to accomplish by talking to these guys?” I gestured to the group, most of whom were still laying there.

He blushed. “I-I was trying to find out what it means to be a dragon.”

I snorted. “From these assholes? That's gotta be the stupidest thing I've ever heard in my life. Of all the dragons in this valley, why did you have to pick the group of bullies?”

“They were the youngest ones I could find!” He said defensively. “All the other ones were too big and scary!”

I glanced over at the nearest dragon. He was much taller than me, had huge wings, large teeth, and was entertaining himself by melting down rocks with his breath. It took him about ten seconds per rock.

“Okay, point taken. Why though?”

“Why what?”

“Why would you be trying to find out what it means to be a dragon when you already are one?”

“Well...I recently found out I'm not like most dragons.”

“How so?”

“I'm not fierce enough! All my friends call me cute and adorable! Dragons aren't cute or adorable! Dragons are fierce, dragons are powerful, dragons are cool, dragons are majestic. Like...like...” He paused. “Well, like you actually.”

I chuckled. “Majestic is hardly a word I would use to describe me.”

“But you're fierce! You're powerful! You're cool! I'm...I'm not any of those.”

“Hey, I think you're pretty cool. And about the fierce and powerful thing, you're a kid dude. Nobody expects you to be those things. I would understand if you were my age and still drinking milk out of a bottle, but you're not. You're a kid. And one of the advantages of being a kid is that you don't have to worry about stuff like that.”

He brightened. “You think so?”

“Absolutely. I assume these 'friends' you speak of are a helluva lot nicer than these guys, right?”

“Oh, yeah.”

“Good, than go back to them and don't worry about being fierce until you hit puberty.”

I stretched. “Well, I must be going. I have places to go and things to do. I'll see ya around Spike!”

As I walked away, He called out to me. “Wait!”

I looked back at him.”Yeah?”

He hesitated for a moment. “Can I come with you?”

“Why?”

“I know you said I don't really need to worry about those things, but I haven't really accomplished what I set out to do. I wanna see how a real dragon behaves. That, and you're the only dragon here who's not a big meanie, so...”

I thought about it for a minute.

“Okay sure, if you want. I gotta warn you though, I'm not staying here. I'll probably set off through the Everfree, cause I don't really have a destination in mind. Plus, I have a rather unusual traveling companion. And I don't mean you.”

“Wait, you don't have anywhere to go?”

“Not really. I just got here a few days ago and I'm mostly been trying to learn the landscape. Get my bearings and all that.”

“Well, I might have a place in mind, but you may not like it.”

“I'm always open for suggestions.”

“It's the place where I grew up. It's my home, the guys who live there are friendly, and its a nice place to go if you want to relax. There's only one thing.” And at this he paused.

“The place is called Ponyville. I think you can figure out the rest.”

“Ah, ponies. I have nothing against ponies, but are your sure they'll like me? I thought they weren't on very good terms with dragons.”

“I'm guessing some of them will be afraid of you, but if you're with me than I should be able to convince them to give you a chance.”

I thought about it. It was a good idea, but it would take some work for Spike to convince a group of ponies to let me stay in their town. And even if he did, they would all be nervous around me cause I was a teenage dragon, not a cute little dragon like Spike. My attitude was fine, but my looks just killed it.

Unless, of course, I didn't look like a dragon.

I grinned. “Maybe, Spike. Maybe. But I think I have a better idea...”

-End of Chapter 5-

A/N: For those of you who care, yes, that was the 'Dragon Quest' episode.

Welcome to Ponyville

A/N: Hello again fellow bronies! If this seems rather like a filler chapter, it's because it is. However, it is a necessary one to advance to story. Also, I will be gone all next week on vacation, so don't expect an update. However I will continue to write, and I will try to get a chapter up in the days when I get back. Enjoy!

On the way off the mountain, I learned several things about Spike: He's lived among the ponies all his life, he is the number one (and only) assistant to a pony he calls Twilight Sparkle (HAH!), and when he's excited, he loves to talk.

He gloated over how awesome I had been in my fight with the bullies (which I wholeheartedly agreed with), he questioned me as to who my 'unusual traveling companion' was (I responded nonchalantly 'a manticore'. I don't think he took me seriously), and he pestered me to tell him what my plan was for getting into Ponyville (apparently Spike hates the answer 'it's a secret').

Note to self: teach the kid how to shut up.

Luckily, I have perfected the art of ignoring people, so I was able to tune him out for most of my walk. A fact that he didn't seem to notice, because he kept right on talking.

A few of the dragons congratulated me as I walked by, saying that it was about time someone took care of 'that noisy and pompous asshole'. I would respond with something like 'he was literally on his knees begging for it' or 'I was bored', which instantly qualified me as a cool person in their book. After all, I didn't try to piss off everyone I met.

I didn't see any more of the disguised ponies. That meant they were ether hiding, or had taken a hint and left. I doubted that I had seen the last of them though, as I was currently heading towards their hometown accompanied by one of their 'friends'. I guess I can understand the 'friend' thing now.

When we got to the edge of the mountain, I immediately took the opportunity to interrupt Spike and point out a very obvious fact.

“You don't have wings.”

“So?”

“How will you get down?”

“Same why I got up.”

“Which is?”

“Climbing and sliding.”

“Doesn't sound that comfortable.”

“It isn't, but it'll be easier than getting up. Besides, do you have a better idea?”

“Yeah, this.”

I grabbed him around the waist and dropped off the side of the mountain.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!”

“Oh, hush. You act like you've never dropped off the side of a mountain before.”

“AND YOU HAVE!?!”

“Well...no.”

“THAN WHY WOULD YOU-”

“Because I have these.”

And with that, I opened my wings, slowing down our fall considerably. It also (finally) made Spike shut up. I drifted down towards the edge of the Everfree and tried to contact Manty.

Hey Manty! Where are you?

Near the edge of the Everfree.

Can you see us?

I can see you. Who's the little guy?

This young padawan wishes to learn the ways of the dragon.

From you?

Yeah, from me! Who else?!

You're not even technically a dragon.

Well I make a much better one than the other teens back there.

That, I believe.

Good. I'll meet you a little ways into the Everfree.

As my mental conversation ended, I made a graceful (if somewhat bumpy) landing right outside the line of trees. I let Spike go, who had a somewhat sheepish expression on his face.

“Sorry. I guess I kinda forgot that you had wings.”

“That's a pretty big thing to forgot. They aren't exactly hidden.”

“Yeah, well, I freaked okay? End of story. Where is this mysterious friend of yours?”

“He'll be meeting us deeper into the Everfree.”

“Than let's go. I want to actually meet this guy.”

We started off. After walking for two minutes, the forest had already closed in around us and sealed off any view of the remaining daylight.

Ahhhh, Tienn. You never change, do you?

Spike shivered. “Man, this place gives me the creeps.”

“Why? It's just a forest. A creepy, old, dangerous, and probably haunted forest, but still just a forest.”

He looked at me like I was stupid. “Haven't you heard the rumors surrounding this place? Ponies disappearing... strange monsters... that sort of thing?”

I laughed. “If all it takes is rumors to make you scared of a place, than maybe meeting my friend isn't such a good idea.”

“Again with this friend of yours! Really, who is he?”

“I told you.”

“Yeah right. Do you really expect me to believe that you befriended...a... a...”

Manty had stepped out from behind a bush and was now grinning at Spike, whose face had now turned a much lighter shade of green. He took a few steps forward, and in a friendly voice said “Hi!”.

I'm not sure what Spike heard, considering he can't understand manticores, but whatever it was caused his face to turn completely white and for him to faint dead away.

I sighed. “Well that could've gone better.”

“Actually, I think it went pretty good. At least he didn't run away.”

“No. He just lost consciousness.”

“That's the spirit. So, what's the next move? Or do you even have one?”

“Currently my plan is to wait for Spike to wake up. But in the meantime, I have a question for you.”

“Ask away.”

“Could I pass for a pony, attitude-wise?”

He didn't even hesitate. “Yes. Easily, in fact. All you would have to do is tone down the swearing a little bit. That, and somehow turn yourself into a pony.”

“Yeah, I'm working on that.”

“Just what do you have in mind?”

It was my turn to grin. “The dragons were honored by a visit from me. It's only fair that the ponies get the same.”

“I shudder at the implications of that.”

“Whatever.” I used my magic to levitate Spike at about head height and turned to go. “C'mon, I'll tell you my plan while we walk.”

3 Days Later

In the three days it took to get to Ponyville (God, that name still cracks me up) several things happened. One, I managed to introduce Spike to Manty without him fainting or trying to run away. However, I still don't think Spike believes that I can speak manticore (Meh, let him think what he wants), as he rolls his eyes whenever I talk to Manty. At least they're getting along. Two, Spike introduced me to gemstones. After some encouragement (and lots of hesitation), I managed to convince myself to try one. To my surprise, my teeth easily chewed through it (Just how sharp are these things!?!) and it actually tasted quite good. I will never look at a rock the same way again.

As of now, we were in the woods near the small town, discussing what we were going to do next.

“Are you sure you don't know where you got these?” Spike was examining the bag of coins in my satchel, which I had learned were called 'bits'. “There's a lot of them.”

“I told you, I found them in the satchel along with the rest of the stuff. I don't know who left them there, or where they came from.”

I had told Spike my story about waking up in the field, leaving out the part about me being human. I'm not quite sure how he would react to that. Probably badly.

“Besides, the bag isn't that big. There can't be that much money in there.”

“Think again.” Spike poured a small handful of them out onto the ground. “I've been counting them, and the grand total is about 2,000 bits.”

“You're kidding me. 2,000 bits all fit in there?! Just how much money is that?!”

“Well...that should be just enough to buy a house. And I'm not talking about a small one.”

A fricking HOUSE!?!

Having never really had much money to speak off in my life, this was a complete mind-screw. I just sat there for a few minutes, staring at Spike, before mouthing the word 'wow' and shaking my head to bring me back to reality.

“Okay, was not expecting that...”

“Hey Flame!” called Manty. “It's about noon! I think you can perform the spell now.”

“Remind me why we waited until noon to do this?”

“Because you only woke up an hour ago.”

“That wasn't my fault. Your guys’s snoring kept me up half the night. Again.”

“That wasn't me. That was the manticore.” Spike sounded rather indignant.

I sighed. “Can you use his real name for once? 'Manty' is not that hard to say.”

“Actually, you just call me Manty. That's not my real name.”

“Helluva lot better than a title that means 'numbskull'.”

“That's beside the point.”

“GUYS!” Spike gained both our attentions with a surprisingly loud yell.

He turned to Manty. “Look, I'm sorry. Its hard to think of a creature I can't understand as intelligent. No offense.”

Manty glanced at me. “Tell him that if he calls me 'the manticore' again, I will grind his bones into dust.”

“He says 'apology accepted' Spike.”

“Thanks. Now can you do the spell already? I'm getting bored just sitting here when we could already be in Ponyville.”

“Sure sure, just give me a sec. I don't wanna screw this up.”

I got to me feet and walked a little ways away from Manty and Spike. What I was about to do might have unexpected results, and I while I might not be the most careful person in the universe, I'm not stupid ether.

I gathered my mind, picturing what I wanted in my head. I had spent hours deciding what I would look like, and now that the time had come to actually do it, I wanted to stay as true as possible to my original plan. When I had everything just right, I started charging my magic in both my fists, much like I had done with the shockwave. It wasn't really necessary, but it made things much easier. Then I released my magic.

My body was encased in a dark cocoon, everything from my hands to my wings. A strange sensation ran through my entire body. Not pain, just... weird. I could actually feel my body shifting, and while it thankfully didn't hurt it was by no means pleasant. It only lasted a couple minutes though.

When the dark cloud dissipated, my body felt... different. Well, that means it should have worked, right?

“Spike?” My voice still sounded the same. Good. I didn't want that to change. “Mirror please.”

Spike, shaking slightly (uh-oh), fumbled around in my bag until he found the mirror. He held it up in front of me, tilting it so I could see my entire body.

My coat was blue, all the way from my wings to my legs. The wings themselves were a lot smaller than my dragon ones, only about as big as my head, and yet they still seemed usable. My mane and tail were dark blue, with white stripes running through them. My eyes were light blue. The tattoo on my ass (Spike says they're called 'cutie marks', and they appear when a pony discovers his or her special talent. Go figure.) was of a fireball, made of both flame and darkness. It looked pretty cool, actually. Oh, and I was a pony. A pegasus, to be precise. Probably should've mentioned that. I choose a pegasus because A.) I wanted to keep the ability to fly, and B.) I'm not sure how many ponies have magic made out of darkness, but I'm guessing the grand total was about zip. I didn't want to draw any undo attention to myself.

I grinned. “Wow. I can't believe that actually worked.”

I tried to stand up and immediately tripped and fell.

“Okay, first things first, I need to figure out how to use these legs...”

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

Rainbow Dash was sleeping.

She was supposed to be on guard duty. After all, Twilight wanted to be informed the moment Spike got back to town, so she could make sure he was okay. Also, she wanted news of the blue dragon as fast as possible. Rainbow had tried, but the cloud had been really comfortable, so...

It had been three days since their 'visit' to the dragons, one day since they had arrived in Ponyville. The short trip was thanks to Twilight's teleporting. It was short-range, but she had used it whenever she had the energy, and it had saved a lot of time. As soon as they arrived home, Twilight had roped Rainbow Dash into doing guard duty for her, so she could know the minute Spike arrived home. The last they had seen of him, he had been walking off with that strange blue dragon, but Twilight was certain that he would head home as soon as possible.

Thinking of that blue dragon filled Rainbow with unease. He had acted so different from the other dragons. In fact, he reminded Rainbow a lot more of Spike than of a huge, ferocious, fire-breathing dragon. Than again, he had acted pretty ferocious in that fight with the gang. And what was that thing he had used? It had looked like magic, and yet Twilight insisted that dragons weren't able to use magic.

So what was it?

Rainbow's peaceful slumber was interrupted by a familiar voice wafting up from below.

“'Welcome to Ponyville'. God, please tell me all pony names aren't like this.”

Her eyes shot open. No, it couldn't be him. He wouldn't be that stupid, would he?

Another voice. “I know it sounds stupid, just don't mention it to my friends. I've made tons of jokes about it, and whenever I do nopony seems to get it.”

That was Spike!

She peered over the edge of her cloud. Sure enough, Spike was there, standing next to the 'Welcome to Ponyville' sign. Standing next to him though, was another pony. A pegasus made entirely out of shades of blue. But she could've sworn...

The pegasus spoke again, looking towards the nearby town. “I still can't believe you convinced me to do this.”

“It'll be fine! Trust me, you look exactly like an everyday pony. Just act natural. You're good at that.”

“Maybe.” The pegasus sighed and muttered “I'm going to regret this...”

With that, the duo started down the path that led to town.

Rainbow withdrew her head. This didn't make any sense! That pegasus had sounded exactly like the blue dragon! Exactly like him! Was it a coincidence? Rainbow almost dismissed it as one, but the conversation she had overheard convinced her not to.

Twilight needs to know about this. Now.

With that thought, the fastest mare in Equestria made a beeline for the library.

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

It took two hours- TWO. FRICKING. HOURS.- for me to learn how to walk on four legs. It wasn't all my fault though. I had been a bipedal as a human, and I had been a bipedal as a dragon. I wasn't used to having to keep track of four different legs. Two was enough trouble as it was.

Luckily, I had finally managed to find a system where I didn't trip over my own feet. I was now walking down the path that lead to Ponyville, and for some reason all the doubts about this plan that should've surfaced when I was first considering it where only showing themselves now.

For once, I was right. I am going to regret this...

The first thing I noticed about the town (and, more accurately, it's residents), was how colorful everything was. It was like someone had taken the contrast meter and turned it all the way to 100. Everything was so bright, so colorful, that it literally hurt my eyes and I had to take a second to get used to it.

Have these people never heard of gray!?!

The ponies themselves were also colorful. Even the ponies that were a light color still managed to make it seem bright. It was almost unreal. And the trippiest thing you can imagine.

Spike seemed to have a destination in mind, so I just followed him and took the opportunity to observe. When you got over how colorful everything was, and the fact that the residents were all ponies, this actually seemed like a normal, everyday town. Ponies went about their business, talking and making idle chatter, basically living their daily lives. Everything seemed...normal.

The town was pretty big too. Spike lead me through a market, where I saw an orange mare with a cowboy hat selling apples. I was tempted to buy one, just for the hell of it, but Spike wasn't showing any signs of slowing down. In fact, he seemed in a hurry. It made me wonder where we were actually going.

We passed by several other interesting places: a life-sized gingerbread house which Spike called Sugar Cube Corner (Okay, I know where I'm going next); a dress shop named Carousel Boutique (Spike seemed particularity keen on showing me this one); and a tree.

No, seriously. A tree.

As we approached said tree (Which I now saw had a door and windows. Win.), a smile slowly grew on Spike's face.

“Hey Flamesinger. Do you like books?”

“Immensely. Why?”

“Than you're going to love this place.”

“Again, why? I don't really see what a tree has to do with...”

I sentence stopped short as I followed Spike through the door and saw, to my utter amazement, that the inside was filled with books.

“Welcome,” Spike said theatrically while spreading his arms, “To the Ponyville Library!”

Library was actually a perfect word for it. The place was pretty much room after room of shelves, each of them packed with books. For the second time that day, I found myself sitting there, completely lost for words. And than the balance of the universe was reunited.

“Oh my fricking god... THIS IS AMAZING!!!”

I flew about two feet off the ground and zoomed towards the nearest shelf, my eyes greedily sweeping across the titles.

Spike laughed and turned towards the stairs. “I'm gonna go get Twilight. She should be here. You gonna be okay there by yourself?”

“Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah.” I waved him off, five books already under my foreleg. “You go get your friend. I'll be right here.”

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

“Are you sure Rainbow?”

“I wouldn't be telling you guys if I wasn't sure!”

“I know, but you must realize how ridiculous this sounds! I mean, combat magic is one thing, but full body shape-shifting? That's really, really complex magic. I can barely even do it! And dragons aren't supposed to be able to use magic at ALL!”

“My dear Twilight, I think we've already established that this dragon, whoever he is, does indeed possess some kind of magic. How else can you explain what he did?”

“I...I...I don't KNOW! Ponies don't know much about dragons to begin with, but the fact that they can't use magic is supposed to be BASIC KNOWLEDGE!”

“Well than, basic knowledge won't help us. Rainbow, you're positive it was his voice?”

“Stop asking me that! I stood within a foot of him, I think I'd be able to recognize his voice!”

“I don't doubt your abilities Rainbow Dash, its just that-”

“Hey Twilight! I'm home!”

The three of them, Twilight, Rarity and Rainbow Dash, immediately grew quiet. Twilight looked at the others and whispered “Don't say anything.” before rushing out the door and embracing Spike.

“Spike! Thank goodness you're okay!”

“Uh...yeah.” Spike slowly returned the hug, looking confused. “Why wouldn't I be?”

Rarity emerged from behind Twilight. “Well we were worried, darling! You've been gone for almost a week! We thought something might have happened to you!”

Spike blushed. “You...were worried about me?”

“But of course! I didn't want those mean old dragons hurting one scale on my little Spiky Wicky's head!”

This caused Spike's blush to turn to one of embarrassment. Rainbow poked her head out form behind Rarity and snickered.

“So Spike, did you learn what it means to be a dragon? That was the whole reason you went over there, right?”

“Yeah...well, not exactly...” Than his face brightened. “But it wasn't a complete loss! I made a new friend, and I want you guys to meet him!”

In his temporary excitement, Spike didn't notice the look of unease that flashed across the ponies faces.

“C'mon! He's downstairs!”

Somewhat hesitantly, and sharing a reassuring glance, the three ponies followed Spike into the lobby of the library.

Wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

With a grunt, I set my stack of books on one of the reading tables, stepping back to admire my handy work.

Hmmmm... maybe I should've started with a number fewer than 20...

Shrugging off any doubts, I sat down and pulled the top book off the pile. Somehow, me having hoofs instead of hands didn't seem to matter.

'Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone'. Huh, Indiana Jones much?

I was just about to delve into the land of fantasy when I heard Spike calling.

“Hey Flame! Come into the lobby! There's somepony I want you to meet!”

Well don't that suck butt. I made a silent promise to the stack of books that I would be back, than got up and trotted into the lobby. Which was basically another shelve-filled room, except that this one contained the door. Inside I saw Spike standing next to a purple mare, who was looking at me curiously.

“Hey there. My name's Flamesinger, but please just call me Flame. It's my peer-imposed nick-name. Say, would you happen to know where the librarian is?”

The purple mare's eyes widened when she heard my voice, but she still managed to respond.

“Actually, I am the librarian. My name is Twilight Sparkle. How may I help you?”

Hey, wait a sec...I know that voice...

Two more mares entered the room and stood beside Twilight. A cyan one with a rainbow mane, and a white one with a purple mane. Both of them were glaring at me.

White, and cyan. The same colors as the legs in the costume.

Son of a bitch.

-End of Chapter 6-

Dragons vs. Ponies

A/N: YES! It is that time again! The time we all know and love: UPDATE TIME!!!

Yes, I am back from my week long vacation, and I m officially back on the grid. To my devoted readers (such as TV adict and Deadlight63. Thanks guys!), I give you the longest chapter yet, which coincidentally was also the hardest one to write. I will probably be going back to shorter chapters and quicker updates.

Oh, and as to not torture you guys, this one doesn't end on an infuriating cliffhanger :) Enjoy!

Okay Flamesinger, stay cool, stay cool. Maybe it's just a coincidence that the unicorn in front of you has the exact same voice as the unicorn in the costume, and that her friends are the exact same color as the legs, and that...

*Mind snap*

GOD! I AM SO STUPID! How could I not have foreseen this?! She told me herself that she was one of Spike's friends! Why didn't I consider that Spike might try and introduce me to them?! HE has no idea that I've met them before! And how the hell did they recognize me!?! Did I forget about something? There's no way they would've recognized my body, It's completely different! What was it?! Was it my face...my color...my cutie whatever...my eyes...my voice...MY VOICE!!! ARRGH!!! Flame, you stupid. Fricking. DUMBASS! HOW COULD YOU HAVE FORGOTTEN ABOUT SOMETHING AS OBVIOUS AS YOUR OWN VOICE!!??!!

During this whole mental rant (which took about five seconds), my eye only twitched once.

I mean C'MON! You use your voice only all the time! HOW COULD YOU JUST-

“Umm...Mr. Singer? I mean, Flame? Are you okay?”

SHIT! Gotta get back to the present!

I quickly reasserted where I was. I was still in the library. Miss Rainbow Hair and Miss Purple Hair were both still glaring at me. Spike was giving me a pleading look that said 'Don't screw this up', and the purple unicorn was looking at me with curiosity. It was her who had spoken.

“Sorry, I must have spaced out for a moment there. Could you repeat what you just said?”

“Are you okay?”

“No. I mean, yes, I'm okay, but the thing you said before that.”

“Um...my name is Twilight Sparkle and I'm the librarian. May I help you?”

So THIS is the all-knowing Twilight Sparkle. Who Spike is the assistant for. Who will probably hate my guts. Yeah, this isn't going to cause any problems at all.

“Ahh, good, that's what I thought you said. Yes you can, actually. I've got a few books that I wish to check out. Here, lemme get them. I left them in the room with all the tables...”

As I walked back into the reading room (I'm just gonna call it that) something that Twilight Sparkle said to me back at the mountain popped into my head.

“...I feel it necessary to warn you that I am the prized student of Princess Celestia...”

Ugh, why does shit have to be so complicated. Now if I do anything to piss her off, she'll go running back to her princess, and yadda yadda yadda yadda. Fuck.

My foul mood was banished when I remembered the twenty plus books I had yet to read. However, moving said books from the reading room to the lobby proved to be infuriating to no end. Once I had managed to balance all the books on my back (no small task) I was greeted by the fact that there was no way I would fit through the door back into the lobby. I ended up just taking them five books at a time, until I had a neat, tall pile of books right where I needed them.

Over the course of my labor, the ponies said nothing and just stared/glared at me. The ever-increasing pile of books though, quickly drew their attention. Twilight looked incredulous, the white and cyan ponies shifted their glares from me to the books (maybe they hate reading?), and Spike just burst out laughing after the fifteenth book.

Wiping away my sweat, I walked up to Twilight. “So, how do we do this? Do I need a library card? Or do they not use those here?”

Twilight stared at me, waiting for me to yell out 'NOT!' and show her the real books I wanted. When I didn't move, she finally spoke.

“You can take the books, just diminish the amount to a number lower than six.”

“SIX!?! But that will only last me about two hours! What, is there a borrowing limit or something?”

“Come now, you can't be serious about wanting to check out all of these.”

“And why not?”

“Because nopony ever wants to check out more than five at a time!”

“Hello? Earth to Twilight Sparkle? Forgive me, but the last time I checked, I was also a pony. And I wish to borrow these books. Doesn't that count for anything?”

“Flame...Flame...” Spike had finally stopped laughing and was gasping for air. “Quit with the sarcasm, you're gonna drive Twi crazy with it.”

“Sarcasm? The hell you talking about? Oh, wait, I see how it is. You guys all think I'm kidding. Well, let it be known that Flamesinger NEVER kids around when it comes to the subject of reading!” I refocused on Twi. “So, can I get the books?”

“Maybe...” I could tell she was trying not to laugh. “ But first, I would like to ask you a few question. Just to, y'know, learn a little bit more about you.”

Crap, I think she's on to me. Mental shields up!

Her horn glowed purple, and a piece of parchment and an ink quill appeared in front of her.

Seriously? It's like, the twenty-first century, and she's using a fricking ink quill? GET WITH THE TIMES LEONARDO!

“First off, a...er...completely random question suggested by my friends are as a sort of ...um...joke, are you perchance a dragon?”

She said the last part real fast, than seemed to tense up, as if preparing to be laughed at.

Well, I was never one to keep a lady waiting.

“BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”

And I didn't stop either. In fact, I went on for about five minutes, even going as far as to collapse to the ground in fits of laughter.

By the time I started to recover, Spike had once again burst into laughter and Twilight was giggling. Even the two pissed off ponies looked unsure of themselves.

Thank you, laughter, for being so damn contagious.

I regained enough breath to speak. “D-Do I seriously look like a dragon to you guys!?!”

Twi blushed. “No no, of course not. It's just that you...erm...sound a lot like a certain dragon we met. And you also have his bright blue eyes. And his basic color scheme. And your cutie mark...” Her happy expression was fading a little.

“Pretty cool, huh? I actually just got it today. Scared the shit outta me in the process, but yeah, still pretty cool.”

Behind the ponies, I saw Spike's happy expression fade also. Did I say something wrong?

“You just got it today?! That's pretty late, isn't it?”

I shrugged. “Meh, maybe, but I'm cool as long as I got it. Why? When did you get yours?”

“As a filly, about ten years ago.”

Flame, you just screwed yourself over.

Begone, rational mind! I'll take care of you later!

“Ten years ago? Seems kinda early to me.”

“Actually, that's the normal time for a pony to get his or her cutie mark.” Twilight looked suspicious now.

“Oh, well that explains it. I detest being 'normal'. I find it too...confining.”

Her eyes narrowed. “ You know, you never did answer my question.”

“Which one?”

“You know which one.”

“Do I? I don't think I do.”

“It was the only question I asked.”

“And I seem to have forgotten it. Terribly sorry. Now, If you'll excuse me-”

“Not so fast, answer the question. Are you, or are you not, a dragon?”

“Oh, that question. Your right, I didn't answer it.”

“Do you plan too?”

“Not particularly.”

“It will be easier on you if you do.”

“Y'know, you guys have a habit of making threats that you can't back up.”

“Except that's not the case here. You're in the middle of pony territory. I could call the guards whenever I want. However, I'd rather not, so why don't you just answer my questions and save yourself the trouble of fighting your way out of town? You seem to be making quite a big deal out of a friendly interrogation.” She smiled at that last part.

It was my turn to glare. “I don't appreciate shameless rip-offs of my lines.”

“Well, there isn't really a whole lot you can do about that, is there?”

“Whatever. And I doubt pony guards will be any more effective than a gang of dragons. I have the advantage of height here.”

“C'mon! Just answer my questions! Pleeeeeeeeeeease?”

I hadn't been expecting the 'please', so she kinda threw me off track for a few seconds. The other ponies, who had continued to glare at me the whole entire time I had been talking (talk about commitment), looked at Twilight as though she had just lost her mind. She didn't seem to notice though, because she was giving me puppy dog eyes.

“...well...sure...I guess...since you said please...”

“Twilight, are you crazy!?! He's a dragon!”

It came from the cyan pegasus, and was the same raspy, ego-filled voice that I remembered.

God, why does she hate me so much? I'm a likeable enough guy. I think.

“Oh, are you hating on dragons? HEY SPIKE! YOUR FRIEND HERE HATES DRAGONS!”

“Don't you DARE talk about my friend that way!”

I glanced at the white unicorn. Yep, same posh accent.

“I remember you. Are you here to insult my looks again?”

“I'm here to make sure you leave Ponyville at once! If insults are the way to do that, than insult I shall!”

“Than I'm afraid I must disappoint you, for I have no intention of leaving your little town. Not yet, anyway.”

“Rarity! Rainbow Dash! Stop it! You'll scare him away!”

This caused everyone to look at Twilight, surprised.

“I mean, ponies don't know hardly anything about dragons, and you girls are ruining my chance to talk to a living, breathing one! Think of how much knowledge we could gather! Think of the scientific implications!”

“My dear Twilight, this is serious! We have no time for 'scientific implications'!”

A heated argument broke out between Twilight and Rarity, leaving me in the dust. I caught Spike's eye and gave him a 'well this sucks' face. Unfortunately, Rarity saw me and followed my gaze back to Spike. This seemed to trigger something, and she immediately forgot about Twilight.

“Oh Spike, what did he do to you? Did he hurt you? DID he?!” She turned to me, her eyes ablaze. “If you've hurt one spine on my little Spikey-wikey's head, I WILL-”

Spike intervened. “Whoa, Rarity. Don't worry, he didn't hurt me.”

“Oh...” She looked uncertain for a moment, but than her fury reignited. “Than he threatened you! He threatened you, didn't he?!”

“No, he didn't threaten me either.”

“But than...how did he convince you to bring him here?”

“He didn't.”

Rarity was by now thoroughly confused. “But...”

Spike looked sheepish and shuffled his feet.

“He didn't anywhere else to go, and I just thought...”

“Okay, hold up.” The one named Rainbow Dash (MOTHERFU- y'know what? No. I'm just not even gonna say anything) decided to speak up. “You mean to say that this was all your idea?!”

“Well, not entirely. The disguise wasn't my idea, but-”

“Why Spike! I'm ashamed of you! Bringing a full-grown dragon right into the middle of Ponyville?!”

“Oh c'mon Rarity, he's hardly full-grown. And he's harmless!”

HEY! SHUT UP!

“I saw what he did to those dragons, Spike. I was there. Don't try and tell me he's harmless.”

“You did?! But how?!”

“In my defense, those guys really were asking for it.”

“QUIET YOU!”

“Yes ma'am.”

She returned her attention to Spike. “Really now, Spike, I should think you would have more sense! What would possess you to even think about something like this?!”

“Well, I never did learn what it means to be a dragon...”

“And so you brought one home with you!?!”

“We talked some, and he became my friend, and-”

“He became your friend?! Spike, you've seen what he's capable of! He's dangerous!”

“He's not dangerous! He's just-”

“I don't care what you think he is! He's a dragon, and not a cute, harmless, little dragon like you. A big, mean, scary dragon! And he is most certainly not staying here!”

I decided it was time to say something. “Listen, I'm not looking for a fight or anything, but just how do you ponies think you're gonna force me outta here?”

She glared at me. “I don't care what I have to do. But I will not have you roaming freely about the streets, causing damage wherever you go with that dark magic of yours.”

“You don't like what I'm capable of? Fine. I could care less whether you like it or not. However, you are sadly mistaken if you think I'm just gonna walk away without a fight. I didn't come here to kill ponies, I came here to relax, and that's what I'm gonna do. And I sure as hell ain't changing me plans just because you say so.”

“You are dangerous, evil, brutal, and most of all, rude! I will not have my little Spikey-wikey deal with the likes of you! Leave now, monster, before I summon the guards!”

“Okay, seriously, fuck off! I have had just about enough of listening to you bitch about shit you can't change! I'm a reasonable guy, but I don't have to take this!”

“I SHALL NOT BE SPOKEN TO THAT WAY!!!”

“Flamesinger! Rarity! Just calm down!”

“I am calm.”

“No Spike! Nopony talks to me like that!!!”

“He's just angry, and he has a good reason for it.”

“Stop defending him! Whose side are you on!?!”

“He's my friend too! Just stop yelling at him!”

“NO!!! I don't know how you managed to become friends with this filth, but I'll have none of it! If he is your friend, than so be it! I never wish to see your face again! I refuse to be associated with you if this is the kind of company you keep!!!”

“...”

A huge silence fell across the room. Everyone looked at Rarity, horrified. Even I was stunned. I mean, yeah, we were yelling at each other, but I never expected it to turn out like this.

I glanced at Spike. He looked hurt, but he also looked angry. REALLY angry. And his anger seemed to grow, until eventually it exploded.

“Y'know what!?! Fine! Go! Be that way! If this is how you're gonna treat every new friend I make, than just leave! You don't own me! I can be friends with whoever I want! I like you Rarity, but not enough to let you control my life! I don't know if you've noticed, but you guys are my only friends! I need someone besides mares to talk to! Someone like me, who actually understands the way I think! And I've found him! A guy dragons who isn't mean and scary! And what do you do!?! You yell at him! You get into a fight! You try and make him leave! All because he's a dragon! Well, newsflash Rarity: I'M A DRAGON TOO!!! I don't care if I'm not as big, or not as scary, I”M STILL A DRAGON!!! And if you can't except the friends I make...well, I hope I never see you again either!”

Rarity looked as though she had been slapped.

“...”

“...wow Spike...” Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her head with her hoof. “...I...never knew you felt that strongly about it...”

“You didn't? Well, now you do.”

I noticed Rarity's bottom lip began to tremble. Rainbow noticed it too.

Uh oh...

“Hey Rarity, are you oka-”

She suddenly burst into tears and fled, slamming the door behind her with a flash of blue magic.

Oh, SHIT.

Spike didn't react. He just sat there, staring at the door.

“Flame?” he said blankly.

“Yeah?”

“I'll be upstairs. I...need to be alone for a little while.”

“Yeah, sure man.”

He turned and slowly made his way up the stairs, disappearing near the top. Twilight watched him go, looking as though she was about to cry also.

“I'll see ya around, Twi.” Rainbow shot me a dirty look as she said this. “I have to go comfort Rarity.”

And so she left, leaving me alone with am extremely pissed off unicorn. I glanced nervously at her, and saw that she was giving me a death glare. I seem to be getting a lot of glares today.

“Okay, listen, I-”

“No, YOU listen! I don't know how, or why, but you just single-handedly made both my friend and my assistant feel TERRIBLE! You coming here has ruined EVERYTHING!!!”

“I'm pretty sure the term 'everything' would only apply to an event of much greater proportions-”

“SHUT UP!!! Just SHUT UP!!! I should called the guards the moment Rainbow Dash even hinted that you were here!!!”

“Wait, so-”

“YES! Rainbow Dash saw you with Spike! And I was an idiot, and decided to give you a chance! And NOW look what's happened! Two of my best friends are at each others throats! All because of YOU!!!”

I waited a couple of minutes for her to simmer down, than said quietly.

“Listen, I know you're pissed off, I would be too, but you have to understand that I had no idea this would happen! What I said before was true: I just came here to relax in a place that was supposed to be clam and accepting, according to Spike. I wasn't looking for a fight, I was trying to avoid one. And, well, you guys made that kinda difficult.”

“Are you saying this is OUR fault!?!”

“I'm saying that if Miss Rarity had kept her cool, none of this would've happened.”

She looked about ready to punch me, and I wondered whether I might have said the wrong things. Probably. Slowly though, her temper seemed to fade, until she just looked sad.

“...even if that was true, it doesn't really help the current situation, does it?”

“I was getting to that. If you'll excuse my saying so, I don't think that what happened between these two is really that big of a deal.”

Apparently, this WAS the wrong thing to say, as it got Twilight out of her depression and back into another awe-inspiring fury.

“WHAT!!??!! Two of my best friends practically HATE each other, and you don't think it's 'that big of a deal'!!??!!”

I laughed, which did nothing to improve her mood. I knew I had to say something quickly, so I did.

“Do you seriously think these guys hate each other?! C'mon, even I can see what's really going on here.”

She looked at me with a mixture of anger and confusion. “What are you talking about?”

“What I'm talking about is that these guys don't hate each other. Far from it. Oh sure, they're angry and sad, but that can be easily fixed.”

“FIXED!?! You don't just 'fix' something like this!”

“On the contrary, that's exactly what you do. If you don't, than this feud between them will last a lot longer.”

“And how, pray tell, do we go about 'fixing' this?” Her voice was heavy with sarcasm.

“It's simple. Both Spike and Rarity are probably up in their rooms, crying, feeling terrible about what happened, and wanting nothing more than to be friends again. In short, they both want to apologize. But they won't, for fear of being rejected by the other party. All I have to do is convince one of them to apologize to the other. Maybe even both. Preferably both.”

“Again, how?”

“By talking to them. Or is their another form of communication I should use?”

“Than you really are crazy. They won't listen to you!”

“Spike will. And as for Rarity...well, pack a shotgun and hope for the best, right?”

“What's a 'shotgun'?”

DAMMIT! Of all the lame metaphors...

“Oh...um...a device used for self-defense that I just made up?”

“A device you just made up? But why...”

“It was a figure of speech!”

“Whatever. And yes, now that I think about it, that plan would work. There's just one problem.”

“And that is?”

“You talking to Rarity is just an accident waiting to happen.”

“No shit. So why don't you?”

“Me?? But I'm no good at that sort of thing!”

“Oh, well in that case I'll just-”

“NO!!! I'll do it! It'll be much better than having you try.”

“I will choose to disregard that comment, as it is in all likelihood true. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go talk to Spike. The poor kid's probably feeling like shit right now.”

“I would appreciate it if you didn't use that kind of language around him.”

“Why? How old is he?”

“Eleven.”

“Than he should at least now how to swear by now. Okay, I'll try, but I'm not making any promises.”

“Thank you. And also, when you're done, meet me at the Carousel Boutique. It's on the outskirts of town, and should be pretty easy to find.”

“The whaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!”

“It's where Rarity lives.”

“Oh. In that case, I'll just have Spike lead me there. That's what he did last time.”

“Good.” Than she leaned in close, and gave me one final death glare. “You'd better not screw this up again, or I swear...”

Despite the apparent seriousness of the situation, I grinned.

“Have no fear Twilight Sparkle. I promise that I will fix the mess I made. Again.”

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

After navigating the stairs (which proved to be ny-on impossible on four legs. Thank God I can still fly) I found myself it what must have been Twilight’s room. Being the observant, ever-watchful person that I am, I took notice of absolutely nothing and instead headed for the quivering lump at the foot of Twilight's bed.

Spike didn't really have a bed of his own, per-say. What he did have was a makeshift sleeping area made of a basket, a pillow, and several blankets. Kind of degrading if you ask me, but to each his own I guess.

Spike was clearly hiding underneath the blankets, crying and shaking. I don't think he heard me enter.

Man, I really fucked things up, didn't I?

I sat down next to him, which seemed to alert him to my presence. When he spoke, his voice was thick with emotion. It was noticeable even through the blankets.

“Go away Twilight. I'm not in the mood.”

“I would comply, except the last time I checked, I wasn't Twilight.”

“Oh. Hey Flame.”

“Dude.”

“Could you leave please? I need to be alone.”

“Again, I would say yes, but I feel the need to apologize.”

“You have nothing to apologize for.”

“Bullshit. Because of me coming here, you lost a friend.”

“Well, she didn't turn out to be that good of a friend, did she?”

“Listen, I don't pretend to like her, but I think I should help you get her back. She obviously matters to you.”

“You have no idea.”

Wait, what? “What do you mean?”

“I...I...” He broke down crying. I sat there, patting his back (which did absolutely nothing) and feeling insanely awkward. After a few minutes, he regained enough breath to speak.

“I-I had a c-c-crush on her.”

Ah, fuck me.

“Well dude! You've gotta win her back!”

“A-And just how do I d-do that?”

“It's called apologizing.”

“Oh.” His face hardened and he turned away. “Thanks, but I'd rather not.”

“Now now, hear me out. I wouldn't suggest this if I didn't have a plan in mind.”

“Yeah right.”

“...

Okay, you may have a point there, but this time I do have a plan. Or at least, a mental image of how the situation will turn out that may or may not be legit.”

“Just tell me the plan already.”

“Ah, good, you're listening. Okay, here's how I see it: You're up in your bed, feeling terrible. You feel betrayed, alone, sad, angry, hurt, etc, etc. Now try and view things from Rarity's point of view. If you were Rarity, you would probably be doing the same thing your doing now. After all, one of your most-loved friends that had a crush on you now hates you.”

Spike looked shocked. “But I don't hate her! She hates me!”

“Exactly! You both think the other party hates you. But the truth is, they don't. They didn't want this any more than you did. Both of you feel terrible about what you did, and both of you want to be friends again. But neither of you will apologize because you think you'll get rejected. See, this is how most arguments escalate. Neither party wants to admit they were wrong. But in this case, you both were wrong. Her for not listening to you, and you for blowing your top. Actually, it was mostly her, but for the sake of friendship lets just say you were both at equal fault.”

“Wow. I...never thought of it that way before...”

“Most people never do. That's why I'm here. So, what do you say? Apologizing isn't as hard as it sounds. Mostly.”

“...yeah...yeah...I suppose I could...try, at least...”

“That's the spirit! Twilight's already talking with Rarity, so let's be off!

Oh yeah, by the way, I have absolutely no idea where Rarity lives, so...yeah. Lead on!”

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

Once Spike got the tears out his eyes (he refused to go into public with a teary face, which I can totally understand), he lead me to Carousel Boutique. I'm glad he did, because I never would have found it on my own. I had only just noticed how big the town actually was. There were plenty of alleyways, and a lot of the residential houses looked the same. I would have been lost within minutes.

When we got there, however, I was met with an unpleasant surprise.

“Seriously!?! Neither one of you managed to talk sense to her!?! Aren't you guys, like, her best friends or something?!”

Rainbow Dash was refusing to talk to me, so Twilight was speaking for them both.

“She won't listen to us! She keeps going on about how Spike hates her and would never except an apology for what she did!”

“Told you so, Spike.”

“Yeah yeah, so you were right. It still doesn't help us though. How can I apologize to her if she won't even listen to anypony?”

“Well, I guess I'll just have to talk to her.”

“YOU!?! Talk to HER!?!” Rainbow was finally speaking again. “Are you crazy!?! That'll only make things worst!”

“I beg to differ. If I can talk sense to Spike I sure as hell can talk sense to a fashion queen.”

“A fashion queen that HATES you!”

“She's right Flame.” Twilight looked sad. “Rarity probably blames you for all of this. I know Rainbow Dash does.”

“And I have a good reason too!”

“If you two mares are done with the support, than I can go in and get this over with.”

“YOU are NOT going NEAR her! You've caused enough damage already!”

“Rainbow...we should at least let him try...”

“And you too Twilight! Why are you siding with this guy!?! This entire thing is his fault!”

“Hey! Don't talk about my friend that way!”

“Spike, just don't start. And may I also say that us sitting here arguing isn't accomplishing crap. Now listen up.”

Surprisingly, everyone did.

“I'm going in there, and fixing the mess I made. If any of you have any objections to this, save them. I don't wanna hear it. Neither of you were able to comfort her, so don't talk.”

I turned and headed into the Boutique. “Now, if you'll excuse me, I have shit to do.”

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

How shall I describe the Carousel Boutique?

Dresses. Fricking. Everywhere.

Seriously. There were dresses on display, half-finished dresses next to sewing machines, written plans for dresses lying on tables, and overall a fashion designer's paradise.

One dress in particular caught my eye. It was covered, and I mean covered, in gemstones. From the legs, to the collar, to the decoration, to the what ever, every single surface had at least one gemstone on it.

Seems legit.

I found the stairs pretty easily. They led me to a hallway, with doors on either side. Light shown from underneath one of them, and when I got closer I could hear sobbing coming from the other side.

Y'know what? I'm sensing a trend here...

Hesitantly, I knocked.

“Go away Twilight! I told you it would never work!”

“Nah, it's me. The asshole.”

“Oh.” Her tone became much less friendly, which was saying something. “It's you.”

“Yeah, I...er...well, I came to talk.”

Silence.

“Listen, I just think we got off on the wrong foot...claw...hoof...thing. Whatever. I think we got off on the wrong one. Can we start over?”

Silence.

“Hello? Can I get at least some signal that my words are getting across to you?”

Silence.

“Okay, I'll be truthful here. I didn't come to apologize, because I'm not sorry for what I said. I came to fix things up between you and Spike.”

“You've done enough already, Now leave.”

Fricking finally...

“I know what you're thinking. You think Spike hates you. Would you believe me if I said Spike thinks the same thing?”

“No.”

“Well, than, we may have a slight problem here...”

“How would you know what my little Spikey-wikey thinks? You're just a dragon.”

“Again with the dragon thing. Why do you keep bringing that up? Just because I have scales, claws, sharp teeth, creepy wings and strange magic does not mean I don't know how shit works. Oh, and I know what he thinks because I talked to him before coming here.”

“...

You're lying.”

“Why would I lie? I only came up here in the first place because apparently Twi and Rainbow weren't able to make that much of an impression on you. You think I wanted to come up here? Despite what you think, I know exactly how you feel towards me. I know you hate my guts.”

Silence.

“Okay, I'll get to the point: Spike is downstairs, and he wants to apologize to you. Now, you can either-”

“WHAT!!??!”

“...

Jesus...I think you nearly blew my eardrums out...”

“Sorry, but...is that true?”

“About my eardrums? Yeah, I think so...”

“No no...is Spike really downstairs...wanting to apologize...to me??”

“You really don't know how much he likes you, do you?”

“B-But...h-how...?”

“I talked to him and explained things a little bit. I guess you could consider it a payback for the 'fuck off ' from earlier.”

“W-Wait...so..”

“Yeah yeah, I felt guilty and decided to fix things. I gave him the whole 'both of you feel terrible', 'this is an unnecessary argument' speech. Convinced him to at last try and fix things.”

“T-thank y-you...”

“Don't mention it. Just go down there, and-”

“THANK YOU!!!”

The door was suddenly thrown open, and suddenly I found myself being hugged by Rarity.

“Ummmm...you're welcome?”

But she was already running down the stairs (how the hell do they do that on four legs?) calling for Spike.

I stood still for about a full minute before I was able to shake it off.

Okay....wasn't expecting that, but...

I made my way down the stairs (much slower than Rarity), and was greeted by a heart-warming (and somewhat creepy) sight. Spike and Rarity were hugging each other, repeatedly apologizing and saying how sorry they were. Twilight and Rainbow Dash were looking on happily, although I could tell they were shocked. Probably from Rarity's sudden appearance.

I joined them in watching Spike and Rarity. When they saw me, they both beamed, and Twilight even came over and gave me a peck on the cheek.

“Thanks.” she whispered.

“Anytime. But there's something I want to say to these two.”

I walked over to the happy couple. When they saw me, they immediately started to thank me, but I held up a hoof to stop them.

“You two have got to be the stupidest beings on the face of the fricking planet, and if anything like this happens again, I swear to God-”

Suddenly I was engulfed in a group hug by three ponies and a baby dragon.

“...

Y'know what? Forget it.”

They all laughed.

-End of Chapter 7-

Animals, Wild and Tame

A/N: Writer's block and school finals, I hate you both.

Now on with the story!

After a heart-warming group hug (Yay! Friends now!) and a great deal of apologizing (mostly to me, about time too), we all headed back to the library to try and have a peaceful discussion without anyone trying to kill each other.

Surprisingly enough, no one did.

As we all got situated, Twilight re-summoned her quill and parchment (got to learn how to do that) and cleared her throat. She looked kind of giddy, as though it were her birthday, Christmas, and the last day of school all at the same time.

“Well, now that we have all that unpleasant business out of the way, we can return to what we were doing before.”

“And that was?”

“You answering my questions.”

“Fair enough. What do you want to know?”

“Absolutely everything.”

“...

Wait, what?”

“You heard me. I want to know everything about you, and you personally.”

“...I'm afraid I'm gonna have to ask you to narrow it down a little bit.”

“Very well. Let's start off with the most obvious one, how are you a pony?”

“Magic. *Snort* *Snort*”

“Impossible. Dragons can't use magic.”

“Clearly you are an expert then, based on how much experience you've had with dragons.”

“But even if you could use magic, how could you possibly have enough power to shape-shift? And how are you holding it?”

I shrugged. “Dunno. It's not that hard really.”

“Aren't you feeling any stress by holding the spell?”

“Nope.”

“What?! None at all?!”

“Not really. I mean, I can feel it, but its not stressful or anything.”

Twi looked lost for words. “But...but...”

“Hey, I don't pretend to understand it. I just use it.”

“But to be able to hold a shape-shifting spell without any extra stress would require a huge amount of power, even more than I have! Just how powerful are you!?!”

“Again, I honestly don't know. I haven't had these powers for very long, so I'm still experimenting to see what I can do.”

“Well, if what you did on the mountain is anything to judge by...”

“You mean when I totally owned those guys? Now that was fun.”

She looked at me reproachfully. “Was it really necessary to resort to violence?”

“Probably not.” I admitted.

“Then why did you?”

“I didn't. If you recall, he threw the first punch. I just encouraged him. A lot.”

“Ugh, what is it with stallions?! Always so eager to fight!”

I grinned. “Assuming the term 'stallions' basically means 'guys', I blame hormones.”

“Anyway, we're getting off topic. How is it that you have so much power?!”

“I'm pretty sure I've answered that at least twice.”

“'I don't know' isn't an answer.”

“Well it's the truth! I literally don't know. Can we move this conversation along now please?”

She gave me a stare down. “Fine. But don't think I'm just gonna let this go.”

“Perish the thought.”

The next hour or so was spent answering question after question, most of which were about dragons. I answered them to the best of my ability, but sadly I didn't really know that much. My study of A Guide To Dragons had only progressed through stuff concerning abilities, and I still hadn't touched the history. I covered this up by saying that I had left the dragon community some time ago to become a traveler, so I wasn't very up-to-date. I also didn't tell them about A Guide To Dragons, preferring to keep that a secret. It was my book after all.

When the hour was up, Twilight had run out of questions (About fricking time too) and the ponies were now discussing what to do next. At least, Rarity and Twilight were. Rainbow Dash had fallen asleep (Kinda wish I could follow her example) and was now curled up on top of a book shelf. I was reading that Daring Doo book, and while it wasn't bad it was more or less what I expected. That is to say, an exact copy of Indiana Jones.

Okay, wait a sec. She was tied up, in a room with spiky walls that were slowly closing, there were spiders on the spikes, quicksand was slowly filling up the room, AND there were poisonous snakes. And she managed to escape everything using her HAT. Her FRICKING HAT.

And that is the biggest load of bullshit I ever heard.

“Rainbow Dash! Wake up! We're leaving!”

“Muh...five more minutes...”

“No Rainbow, now.”

“Ugh.” She rolled over. “Where are we going anyway?”

“I second the motion, where are we going? I'm at a good part here.”

“Well...” Twilight smiled. “Since you meeting us went over so well, I think I should introduce you to the rest of my friends.”

“Oh, well in that case-

...

Wait, the REST of your friends!?!”

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

“Okay, remind me who the hell talked me into this?!”

“That would be me.”

“I hate you Spike.”

“C'mon! It won't be that bad! These guys have no idea that you're a dragon. It'll be just like meeting another new pony! And trust me, we get those all the time. And besides, Fluttershy is the sweetest pony ever. She is a little timid though.”

“Oh, I just know this will go along perfectly.”

“Y'know, for a guy that can befriend a manticore you aren't very open to new friends.”

“Sorry, but when a guy's house looks like it's been pulled straight from Bambi, it makes me question as to whether or not we'll get along.”

After dragging me out of the library to go and meet the rest of her 'friends', Twilight, along with Rarity and Rainbow Dash, led me out of town to a small wooden cottage. The cottage itself looked inviting enough, but the fifty or so animals living practically right next to it killed the mood.

Now, I have nothing against animals, but you can learn a great deal about someone by looking at his home. The cottage had flowerpots in all the window sills, and a little bridge over a flowing creek lead to the front door. Oh, and there were animals literally everywhere. Birds in the trees, fish in the river, chickens in the coop, you name it, this place had it. I'm pretty sure I even saw a couple of flying squirrels.

It's like Snow White, except...more deranged.

Twilight and her friends were at the door already and were gesturing impatiently for me to join them.

I grimaced. “I dunno Twi. The town was bad enough, but this...”

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Flame, just get over here.”

“But-”

“No buts! Get your flank over here before I sic Rarity on you!”

“To clarify, I'm faster than her, so-”

“JUST GET OVER HERE!!!”

“Okay okay...”

I hesitantly started walking towards the door.

C'mon Flame, you can do this. Like Spike says, you're friends with a fricking manticore. If you can befriend that, than you can befriend whoever lives here. Just don't mention anything involving Dead Space.

Before I knew it, I was at the door and Twilight was knocking. The door opened, and in the doorway stood...

...a rabbit.

...

Well that completely ruined the suspense. Not that there was any.

I looked from the bunny, to Twilight, to the bunny. “Ummmmmm...soooo...Fluttershy?”

“Yeah, Fluttershy's here. And just who are you?”

It took me a moment to realize that it wasn't Twilight who had spoken. I looked around for anyone else, but there wasn't. Just tons of animals and the rabbit.

“Twilight, did you say something?”

“No, why?”

“Because I thought I heard...never mind. So, this is Fluttershy?”

“No.” She laughed. “This is Angel, one of Fluttershy's pets.”

“Angel?” I looked closer. “But this looks like a guy.”

“He is.”

“She named a boy rabbit Angel?”

“She thought it sounded cute.”

Said rabbit had his eyes fixed on me, made twice as creepy by the fact that rabbit's eyes are almost completely black. He was also glaring at me (I didn't know rabbits could do that) and looked as though he would like nothing better than to tear my head off and use it as a battering ram for the rest of my body.

“Yeah, because cute is totally a word I would use to describe this bunny.”

“Well nobody asked you.”

“Okay, I definitely heard something that time! Who said that?!”

“Said what?”

“That! The 'nobody asked you' thing!”

“What 'nobody asked you' thing?”

“You seriously didn't hear it?”

“Hear what?”

Okay, this conversation's getting old quickly.

I looked around. I saw nothing except animals. Big surprise.

“For the sake of my mental stability, will whoever just spoke please show themselves?”

“I'm right here. Look down.”

I looked down. I saw the rabbit.

“All I see is a bunny dude.”

“Good.” the bunny responded using the same voice I had heard. “At least your eyesight works.”

…

Ooooooooooooo-kaaaaaaaaaaay...

I rubbed my forehead. “Man, this day just keeps on getting better and better.”

“I don't know how you're understanding me, but lets get one thing clear: I will fight you if you piss me off.”

How the hell am I-oh. Right. Chaos magic. Got it.

“Hey man, I'm not looking for a fight. I just want to meet Fluttershy.”

“Well I'm afraid you won't get to her that easily. You'll have to come through me first.”

I blinked. “What? What are you-”

“What are you really planning? You just another one of those punks that comes here to make Fluttershy cry by making fun of her until she bursts into tears?”

“No, I just-”

“You figured she would be an easy target, just like everybody else.”

“What are you-”

“Well I've had enough of you guys. Thinking you can come here and make fun of her just because she's timid.”

“Dude, I just want to-

“I know what you wanna do! You guys are all the same. Stuck-up, pompous, assholes.”

“The hell do you think I-”

“I'll have none of it, you hear me!?! If you so much as touch Fluttershy-”

“DUDE, SERIOUSLY!!! FRICKING CHILL!!! I'M JUST HERE TO MEET HER FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!!”

…

“Oh.” If a bunny could look embarrassed, this one did. Only for a few seconds though. “In that case, I'll go get her. But only because your with Twilight Sparkle and her friends. I trust them. Not you.”

“Yeah yeah yeah, I love you too. Now PLEASE go get Fluttershy. I feel like I'm about to turn to stone here.”

During the whole exchange, Twilight, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash had all been looking at me with 'WTF' all over their faces. Spike looked shocked too, but since he had seen me talk to Manty the shock had worn off. Not so true for the ponies.

“Ummmmmm...Flame? Are you feeling okay?”

“Yeah. But that bunny needs some serious anger management.”

“Uh... you do know the bunny wasn't saying anything...right?”

“No. You just couldn't understand him. Me, on the other hand, being the awesome magic-wielding dragon that I am, could.”

When they still looked confused, I elaborated. “My magic allowed me to understand him.”

Twi's eyes widened. “You can do that?”

“Yeah, and-”

I was interrupted (Fricking AGAIN) by the arrival of a yellow pegasus with a pink mane. Her cutie mark was a picture of some butterflies, and as soon as she saw me, she let out a small *epp* and hid behind her mane.

Wait, a yellow pegasus? I remember this from somewhere...

“O-Oh...er...hello Twilight...”

Twilight managed to overcome her shock enough to realize she had been spoken too. “Hello Fluttershy. I just wanted you to meet the new colt in town. His name is Flamesinger.”

“H-h-h-hi...”

“Please, call me Flame. It sounds better. Now, can I ask as to what you feed your pet rabbit? I met him right when I got here.”

She looked surprised. “O-oh. Y-You mean Angel Bunny?”

Whatever God created this world must have been bored out of his mind when it was naming time.

“Yeah, that guy. Short little white furry dude.”

“J-Just fruits and vegetables. W-Why?”

“Because he seemed rather paranoid.”

Angel appeared next to Fluttershy. “I'm not paranoid.”

“Do you do what you did to me to every new guy in town?”

“Maybe.”

“Yeah, you're paranoid.”

“No, I'm not. Almost fifty percent of the guys that come here are like that.”

“Fifty percent? Really?”

“Yep.”

“Oh...well, I think I can see where you're coming from with that...”

He glared at me again. “I swear, if you try anything-”

“DUDE! Just get off my case already! You're acting like I have a fricking pipe bomb strapped to my chest!”

“What's a 'pipe bomb'?”

Fluttershy was looking at the two of us, wearing a confused expression. Then, as if what was happening finally caught up with her, her eyes widened and she stared at me.

C'mon, c'mon, think! Where have I heard of a yellow pegasus before?

“You can understand him?”

“*Sigh* Yes, I can understand the crazy bunny. Is he always like this?”

“Oh, no. He's in a very good mood today, actually.”

“...uh huh...”

Her eyes suddenly widened. “Oh my goodness, Twilight! I almost forgot! You remember the manticore we caught about a week ago?”

*Time stop*

Ah shit. Manticore...captured? Oh, PLEASE tell me this isn't what I think it is.

“Ah yes.” Twilight suddenly looked much happier. “The day before we left to...er...” She glanced at Spike, who rolled his eyes and urged her to continue. “...to follow Spike. I assume the guards have arrived and already shipped it off to Canterlot?”

“Um...well...not exactly...”

“Just think: a real live manticore to observe and study! I'll have to go there as soon as I ca- wait, what? What do you mean?”

Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit...

“Well...I was feeling horrible for the poor thing...being cooped up in that net and all...so I brought it some fish a couple days ago, and...it wasn't exactly...there.”

“WHAT!?! But that's impossible! What about the net?!”

“That was the strange part. There was a big...s-slash across it, making a hole big enough for a manticore.” She looked terrified just thinking about it. “I d-don't think a m-manticore could have done s-something like that.”

“But that net was enchanted by Princess Celestia herself! She only had it sent down here when I told her how much trouble I was having catching a manticore! It was supposed to be impenetrable!!!”

Shit shit shit shi- wait, what? Impenetrable? That means, like, really durable, right?

As in, very hard to break, right?

And I broke it, like, easily, right?

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

…

...I don't know what that means...

Twilight turned to us, looking frazzled. “Everypony, I'm sorry, but I have to go check this out! Rarity, Rainbow Dash, could you introduce Flame to Applejack and Pinkie Pie?”

“Of course Twilight.”

“Fluttershy, is the net still in the same place?”

“Y-Yes.”

“Thanks.” And with that, she galloped off, leaving a trail of dust behind her.

I blinked away the dust. “...huh. That girl doesn't screw around, does she?”

“Oh, it's probably nothing.” grumbled Rarity. “Beast probably got bored and started to put that tail of his to good use. She just gets so nervous whenever anything happens that she didn't anticipate.”

“Yeah, now we gotta-hey wait!” Rainbow looked at me, suddenly excited. “Flame, how good are you with those wings?”

“I can levitate myself off the ground and propel myself in any given direction.”

“That's good enough for me! Race you!”

She took off like a bullet, ruffling everybody's hair and scaring some of the animals. By the time I had finished blinking, she was gone.

I stared off in the direction she had disappeared. “Ummmmm...go?”

Rarity sighed. “Well, looks like you're walking with me. Come along Spike, let's show our new friend here Sweet Apple Acres.”

We said goodbye to Fluttershy (as well as to a very non-caring Angel) and set out for this 'Sweet Apple Acres'. As we walked, I managed to contact Manty.

Yo Manty!

Ah, good, you're still alive. I was wondering what kept you. How fairs life with the pony folk?

Crazy as all hell, but that's not what I'm here for. Did you ever get a good look at the guys who put who in that net?

No. I was asleep, remember?

Yeah, that's what I thought. Well I think I'm standing right next to them.

…what?

I heard these ponies talk about a manticore they captured about a week ago that had escaped. They described the same net, as well as the huge hole I put in it.

Rip their lungs out and shove them up their asses.

Sorry, no can do. It would blow my cover. But I do have some information that might interest you.

Go on.

One of the ponies, a purple unicorn by the name of Twilight Sparkle, is heading out to the net to get a good look at my handiwork. It would be the perfect spot for some light revenge.

'Light' revenge?

Just...try not to physically harm her, okay? She's kind of important. Princess Celestia's personal protegee or something like that.

And why are you hanging around her? I thought you were trying to avoid contact with the Princess.

I didn't really have a lot of choice in the matter, plus she's cute.

WHAT!?!

Nah, just kidding. Seriously though, if you want to do that, than you should head out there right now. She took of at a full gallop about five minutes ago.

Many thanks Flamesinger. My revenge shall be slow and painful.

Just...yeah y'know whatever. Do whatever you want.

Really?

NO!!!

You are Mr. No Fun. That's what I'm calling you now.

Goodbye Manty.

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

As Twilight raced across the field, her mind was in turmoil. Thoughts kept racing through her head, questions that she had no answers too. And if there's one thing Twilight Sparkle hates, it's not having the answer to something.

Princess Celestia assured me that this net was unbreakable. She placed about five different durability spells on it! How could it just break?!

Her thoughts stopped when she saw it. A huge metal net, laying in the middle of a valley, secured by metal spikes hammered about a foot into the ground and sealed with a locking spell. She slowed down and began to approach it at a more leisurely pace, scouting the area as she did so.

Seeing the big thing again reminded Twilight of how much of a pain this had been to set up. Simply moving the net had taken the work of Rainbow Dash and several other pegasi, and keeping it out of sight as they had followed the manticore was even worse. When the manticore had finally fallen asleep, the pegasi team had had to slowly and carefully maneuver the net over him, then drape the net over his whole body without waking him. That had been a nightmare. The simplest twitch from the sleeping beast was enough to make everypony's heart stop.

Then came the spikes. They couldn't use a hammer, for obvious noise reasons, and so they had to settle for slowly forcing each spike into the ground with either hoof power or magic. Rainbow had been a big help with that, as the athlete was able to handle a whole spike herself.

Come to think of it, Rainbow Dash helped out with nearly everything. And now look what's happened. All that work for nothing.

As she got closer, she saw that Fluttershy hadn't been joking. There was indeed a huge gash in the side of the net, every metal strand neatly cut by some sort of blade-like...thing.

Fluttershy was right, there's no way a manticore could have done this. It isn't strong enough. So what did?

She was also sensing something. Curious, she reach out with her magic and felt the surrounding area. Then immediately recoiled.

DISCORD!!!

But nothing was happening.

Hesitantly, wary for what well might be a trap, she reached out again. What she felt was traces of a power that felt similar, oh so similar to Discord's, and yet she knew it wasn't his. She knew what Discord's power felt like. Hay, she had spent a whole day in his messed-up upside-down version of Ponyville, and it had positively reeked of his energy.

No, this wasn't his power. But it was similar. VERY, VERY, similar. Similar enough that it might be a threat. Whatever it was was powerful enough to break through several warding spells with apparent ease, and that was reason enough to be careful.

Princess Celestia needs to know about this. Ohhh...if only Spike was here! He could-

A low, ominous growl sounded right behind her.

Oh, horseapples.

She slowly turned around, hoping against hope that what she suspected was there wasn't.

Sure enough, it was.

Standing right behind her, glaring at her, was the manticore. She recognized it immediately. It was the same manticore that she had coordinated the capture of not a week ago. What was it doing back here? Wouldn't it's instincts tell it not to come back, seeing as how sleeping here had ended in it's temporary imprisonment? What possible reason could it have for returning?

...R-Revenge?

She quickly batted aside those thoughts. This was a manticore. It didn't have a big enough brain capacity for complex concepts such as revenge. It had probably just returned because it had spotted her and dubbed her easy prey.

Not that that makes it any better...

The manticore suddenly raised its claw. Twilight tensed, preparing to threw up a force field or teleport away if need be.

It pointed at the net.

She blinked. Wait...

Then it began a series of motions. After the net, it pointed at itself. Then it pointed at her. Then it mimed a cut-throat gesture and bared its fangs.

Then it stopped and looked at her.

She stared right back, uncomprehendingly.

It rolled its eyes and repeated the series of gestures.

Inside, Twilight was going nuts. This was a manticore! A wild animal! It wasn't supposed to be capable of complex thought! HOW was it DOING this!?!

Unfortunately, when Twilight goes into deep thought, she kind of spaces out, so the manticore ended up performing the same set of motions five times in a row (which didn't seem to improve its mood) before Twilight was able to respond.

“Y-Y-You...d-don't like...t-the net?”

The manticore gave her a look that clearly said 'No, really, I've just been trying to tell you that for the past ten minutes', then bared its fangs again.

She shrank back, behaving very much like Fluttershy. “O-Okay...I-I get it...no more nets. I-I'm sorry I tried to capture you...just p-p-please don't hurt me...”

The manticore grinned, which combined with its barred teeth made quite a creepy image. Then it roared. Loudly.

The unexpectedness and volume of the roar was too much for Twilight's already battered nervous system. Her eyes rolled into her head, and she fainted dead away.

The manticore came over, sniffing and nudging her a few times. Satisfied that his work was complete, he turned and headed back into the forest, singing a low song under his breath that was neither from this world nor could be understood by it. Even he wasn't sure what the words meant. But it seemed fitting for this situation.

“Trollololololllllolololllllolololllll...”

End of Chapter 8 -

Friend, Meet Friend

A/N: Alright, so this chapter is both the moment you have been waiting for and a chance for me to test out my skill at writing emotional scenes. Tell me whether I suck or not.

Enough, let's do this.

The first thing I noticed when I awoke from my slumber was the bright light shining directly into my eyes.

I groaned and rolled over. “Go away sun... no one likes you.”

“On the contrary, I quite like the sun.”

“Then you can have it! I'm trying to sleep here!”

“You've been asleep for the past nine hours. Now get up before I throw you across the clearing.”

“Ugh... first The Grouch... then you... why does everyone except me think sleeping in till eleven is unhealthy?!”

“I don't. It's just that I want to talk to you, and I haven't figured out a way to do that while you're asleep.”

“Well I'm awake now. Talk away.”

“After long and hard consideration, I have deduced that revealing my presence to your pony friends will do nothing to negatively affect my situation.”

“In English. Please.”

“I'm okay with meeting your pony friends.”

“Thank you.”

I slowly sat up, stretched, and rubbed my eyes. Fumbling around for my pack, I rummaged inside and pulled out a few gems. They were my staple diet as of now.

Speaking of which, I need to find out where I can get some more.

As I munched, Manty came over and sat across from me, looking at me expectantly. When I didn't say anything, he cleared his throat.

“Sooooooooo how do you want to go about this?”

“Go about what?”

“Meeting the ponies.”

“Gee, I dunno. I was thinking somewhat along the lines of talking to them, but maybe I'm starting off too complicated.”

He sighed. “Can you take nothing seriously?”

“They're ponies, dude. You're a manticore. It's not like they can hurt you or anything.”

“What should I say?”

“Again, you're a manticore. You can say whatever the hell you want. Just keep in mind that I'm the one who's translating, and the last thing I want is a fight. That means swearing will be censored, threats will be degraded, and insults will be softened.”

“So I can't eat them?”

“Eating them counts as an insult, so no.”

“Great. Now I gotta go catch my own food.”

“It happens, man. It happens.”

Manty left the clearing, muttering something about unnecessary labor. I waved him off and finished my remaining gems. A quick check-up showed that I had about fifteen gems left, enough for the next couple of days. After that, I would have to get more, or find a new food source.

Maybe I can ask Rarity about that. I thought, recalling the gem-covered dress I had seen in the Carousel Boutique.

Packing away my remaining food, I set off for the edge of the Everfree. Sunlight streamed through the top branches, lending the slightly creepy (I'm sorry, mysterious) forest a nice glow. I had never taken the chance to really observe this place in daylight, as I had been either traveling or talking before, and I found that I quite liked it when it was all lit up like this.

Y'know, when you think about it, this place actually looks quite beautiful.

-Well, I'm glad you think so.-

GAH! Geez Tienn, gimme a little warning before you do that! I'm contemplating the scenery.

-Exactly. Not very many people appreciate this forest anymore, so it's always a pleasant surprise when I hear compliments.-

Oh. Well it's the least I can do for the spirit that taught me how to fly.

-I have come to the understanding that you plan to introduce six particular ponies to 'Manty', as he wishes to be called now. You are aware of the risks you are taking, yes?-

Yep. Just like I was aware of the risks when I visited the other dragons and when I visited Ponyville.

-From what I've heard, both of those instances went wrong.-

You're forgetting the part about me emerging victorious despite all opposing odds. What, are you trying to tell me this is a bad idea?

-You know this is a bad idea. At least, I hope you do.-

Every single decision I've made since coming here can be considered as 'bad', and every single one has had a happy ending. I see no cause for alarm.

-I'm not alarmed. This idea just seems so... ridiculous.-

And it isn't even my idea. It's Twilight's. Keep that in mind here.

-Ah yes, Twilight Sparkle, Celestia's protegee. She never was one for subtlety.-

You know her?

-Not only is she famous, but she has also entered my forest several times. I've never spoken to her of course, I've only observed her, but observing can tell you many things.-

Oh my God, you're a stalker.

-...

Your head is looking like a good target right now.-

Point taken. I'm outta here.

As I reached the edge of the forest, narrowly dodging a blow from a nearby tree (Touche), I activated my magic again. By the time I was out of the Everfree, the awesome figure of a dragon had been replaced by the boring form of a pegasus. Taking advantage of my ability to still fly without drawing unwanted attention to myself, I spread my wings and soared upward, lazily heading in the general direction of Ponyville.

Now when I say lazily, I mean like one mile an hour. Yeah yeah, call me a slacker. It was morning, I was tired, and the sun was doing nothing to raise my energy levels. All of this plus a nice panoramic view added up to a very slow pegasus. I saw wildlife (Oh look, a deer-oh. Damn. I didn't know Manty was that hungry.), some early morning risers (Dude, that guy just threw his alarm clock out the window!), and-

“HEY FLAMESINGER!!!”

… Rainbow Dash.

She flew over next to me. “Watcha doin?”

“Looking for Twilight.”

“Why?”

“You remember how she wanted to track down that manticore and talk with it?”

“Yeah.”

“Let's just say it has something to do with that.”

“You found the manticore?! Where?! Him and I have some unfinished business!”

Y'know, maybe Tienn had a point about the whole 'bad idea' thing...

“Dash, please, I'm trying to avoid a battle of majestic proportions here, m'kay? And as I recall, the last time you guys fought a manticore, you pretty much lost.”

She looked offended. “Hey! I don't care what Twilight told you, we beat that thing fair and square!”

“No, you didn't, and its not only Twi who says so. Where is she by the way?”

“At the library, where she always is. Now you listen here-”

“Thanks see ya.”

I made a beeline for the library. Dash yelled “HEY!” and shot after me.

Now that's a smart idea! Try and outrun Rainbow Dash!

Smart idea. Yeah.

…

Well as it turns out, that was not a smart idea, and she caught me about five minutes into the chase. Surprise, surprise. Actually, what she really did was mid-air tackle me and pin me onto the ground. As a pony, I was considerably less stronger then when I was a dragon. I just hoped she wouldn't make me change back.

“Oh hey there Dash! Haven't seen you in a while!”

“Now you listen here bud! We beat that manticore, and you'd better admit it before I... I...”

“Before you what? Dude, Dash, you seriously need to stop getting yourself into situations you can't win. I'm a dragon, remember? Just what are you going to do?”

“I... I...”

“I'll tell you what you're going to do: you're going to get off of me before I change back into a dragon. Deal?”

She quickly got off of me, a hint of fear on her face. I slowly stood up.

“Now let's get one thing straight, I have absolutely zip tolerance for sore losers. So the manticore beat you. Big deal, I could care less, but that doesn't make it any less true. Losing isn't a bad thing, it happens to literally everyone. If you don't lose now and then, you're weird. Now, I'm not gonna do anything because of what just happened, even though I could very easily, but please, please try and think it through the next time you attack someone like that. It's a very easy way to lose friends.”

I turned away and headed for the library. “And on that note, I need to see Twi. Catch ya later!”

As I neared the library, I mulled over what I had told Rainbow. Was I too hard on her? No, she needs to learn she can't just attack people like that. I'll let her stew.

I knocked. The door was opened by what looked like a very tired Spike.

“Oh, hey Flame.”

“Dude, what happened to you?! You look like you've been up all night!”

“I have. Ever since you agreed to talk to that manticore for Twilight, she's been turning the library upside down looking for books on manticores. She hasn't had much success though. Come on in, I'll show you.”

The library was a freaking mess. All the books that had been stacked neatly when I had come here earlier were now strewn across the floor, looking as though they had been tossed aside. In the center of the room was a makeshift fort made entirely of books, and inside I could hear the sound of scuffling and pages frantically being turned.

I eyes roamed the shelves. Not a single book remained in place.

“Ah... I see...”

“Yeah. She doesn't do this often, but when she does... its a nightmare.”

“Well maybe I can help you with that.”

I walked up to the fort and knocked on the side. “Yo Twi! You in there?”

“Ugh, I told you Spike! I'm not coming out until I finish 'The Complete Works of William Shaketail'! Now just leave me alone!”

I looked at Spike. “WHAT?!”

He shrugged. “She gets distracted easily.”

“Ah for the luvva... Twilight! Come outta there! It's me, Flamesinger, the dragon, remember? I need to talk to you!”

“Oh, its you Flame. I'm sorry, but I can't really talk right now-”

“Its about the manticore.”

There was a bright flash, and suddenly Twilight was calmly sitting in front of me.

“I'm listening.”

“Holy shit, did you just-

Her eyes darted at Spike. “Language!”

“Oh yeah, heh, sorry, but did you just teleport?!”

“Yes.”

Okay, as soon as we're done here, I'm finding a secluded spot and trying that.

“Well as I recall, you were interested in meeting the manticore that scared you, right?”

“Yes, but I don't have time to track down a manticore right now.”

“That won't be necessary. I happen to know this manticore very well, in fact he's my best friend. I talked with him a bit yesterday, and he agreed to meet you and your friends if you so wish.”

Her expression changed to one of utter bewilderment. “WHAT!?!”

“Yeah, probably should have simplified it. The basic message is that the manticore is willing to meet you, and I can lead you to him.”

“Your best friend is... a manticore?”

“I can talk to animals, remember? Manticores are actually pretty smart.”

I could practically see the gears moving in her head.

“Wait... so... you know where this manticore is... and you can lead us to him... where he would be willing to talk to us...”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“This... is... PERFECT!!! I'll get my notepad! Spike, I need you to send a letter to Rainbow, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie! Tell them to meet me and Flame at the edge of the Everfree as soon as they can!” And with that, she ran up the stairs.

I watched her go. “Man, she takes this stuff seriously, doesn't she? I was expecting a little more disbelief.”

“Nah.” Spike fumbled around in a nearby desk and pulled out some paper and a quill. “Stranger stuff has happened. Right now she's just excited.”

“You got that right.”

“So this manticore... he's Manty, right?”

“Yep. And yes, you're coming too.”

“Ah c'mon! Him and I don't get along, you know that! Don't you remember how many times we argued coming here? I didn't even know what he was saying and I still argued with him!”

“I've been meaning to ask you about that. Just what did you hear?”

“Mostly a bunch of grunts and growls.” He started writing the first letter. “But-”

“Good enough, you're coming.”

“Why?”

“You've met him before. You can vouch for him. He didn't eat you when he had the chance, correct?”

“No...” He finished the letter and breathed on it, teleporting it away in a flash of green fire. “... but I'm pretty sure he was thinking about it.”

“He thinks about eating everybody. But he DIDN'T, and that's the only thing that matters right now. C'mon, please?”

He rolled his eyes and started on the second letter. “Fine.”

As he finished sending the rest of the letters, Twilight came down the stairs wearing a saddlebag and we headed out. It was a twenty minute walk to the edge of the Everfree, and all the way Twilight would just not shut up. She kept on spouting question after question to herself, discarding the ones she didn't like and writing down the ones she did on her notepad. It got so much that Spike ended up riding on my back instead of Twi's. I'm not sure she noticed, either.

Seriously. Its called 'winging it', and trust me, it works.

The other five were already there when we arrived. Pinkie was jumping up and down (Whoa, wasn't expecting that.), Rainbow was avoiding eye contact with me (I feel guilty now.), Fluttershy and Rarity both looked confused (the plot thickens), and Applejack approached us as soon as she saw us.

“Twilaght, what's goin' on? Ah get some letter a yours raght in the middle of applebuckin', tellin' me ta meet you and Flame here at the edge of the Everfree of all places! What hair-brained scheme have ya come up with now?”

As Twilight happily began explaining to everyone (I refuse to say 'everypony'. That's just stupid.) as to why they were all here, me and Spike backed away and sat down to watch.

“Yeah, this is gonna go over well.”

“Tell me about it.”

“WHAT!?!”

“Bingo...”
“Bingo...”

Applejack came over to me. “Flame, is she serious? She wants us ta follow her, into the Everfree, ta meet a MANTACORE!?!”

“Well that's a morbid way of looking at it, but yeah, pretty much.”

“Ya both musta flipped ya lids!”

“Hey, I'm just the translator here. This is Twi's idea, not mine.”

“But ya agreed to it!”

“Yeah, because I trust the dude. For a manticore, he's pretty cool.”

“Cool?! Listen to yourself! We're talkin' about a mantacore here!”

“You don't have to come. No one's making you. In fact...” I called over Twilight. “Hey Twilight! Why did you gather everyone here? You're the only one who really wants to do this, you know that, right?”

“Actually...” mumbled Fluttershy. “...I would be fine with meeting a manticore... providing he didn't eat us or anything... but that's just my opinion... we don't have too...”

“No pony should miss out on this! It's a once-an-a-lifetime opportunity!”

“Not really. He would probably be fine with doing it tomorrow.”

“Then that settles it! We'll do this tomorrow! Now if you'll excuse me, I-”

“Hold it right there Rarity. You're not getting out of this that easily.”

Rarity pouted. “But Twilight, that place is a pigsty! It won't do my mane any good, I can tell you that.”

While Rarity, Applejack, and Twilight argued, Rainbow sat on the sidelines and sulked. I resolved to patch things up with her later. Pinkie continued to bounce around, looking extremely excited (Does she even know why we're here?), and I, having nothing to do, struck up a conversation with Fluttershy (No offense Flutters.).

“So you would be fine with meeting a manticore?”

She looked startled at being addressed and quickly hid behind her mane. “Oh... yes... if that's okay...”

“Sorry if I seem a bit surprised, but I was expecting you to be the most, y'know, scared one.”

“Well... I'm comfortable around animals... and you said this manticore was nice, so... no... I'm not really afraid. Is it true that you can talk to animals? I mean... if you don't want to answer, that's okay...”

I had to let out a short laugh. “No, it's okay. And yes, I can. I've known this manticore for a long time (eight days). He's a good guy. One of my best friends, probably.”

“You befriended... a manticore? How?” She didn't looked disbelieving. She looked more awe-struck, like I had told her I was lord and savior of the entire universe.

“Saved his life.”

“Oh...”

“Hey, he probably counts you among his friends as well. Or at least, he'll be a lot friendlier towards you. I believe you've met before.”

“But we've only seen one other manticore... and that was when Nightmare Moon attacked. That one was just a big softie.”

'Big softie' my ass.

“I'm not too sure about 'big softie', but yes, you were the only one that made a good impression on him.”

Her eyes widened. “You mean...”

“The one you met and the one we are about to meet are the same manticore. And he still remembers you, mark my words. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to see whats taken them so long.”

I left Fluttershy looking a lot happier.

I approached the girls. “Alright, what's taking so long? This is not a hard decision!”

“Speak for yaself! Ah'm not puttin' one hoof inside that forest!”

“I have to agree with Applejack here Flame. It's way out of my comfort level. I'll pass, thank you very much.”

I shrugged. “Okay, I can respect that. I'm just gonna say right now though, that Fluttershy is all for going in there.”

They both looked surprised. “Fluttershy!?!”

“Yep.”

They looked at each other. Then at Fluttershy (Who had engaged Pinkie in a very happy conversation.), then at me, then at each other, then back at me.

“Well Ah suppose Ah could...maybe just this once...”

“I can always wash my hair when I return...”

I smiled. “Glad to hear it! Now lets go, I'm pretty sure Rainbow is bored already.”

Twilight gathered everyone and we faced the forest. For some reason, the girls decided to stand in a line, while me with Spike on my back just went straight in. After about five feet, I turned my head and saw that not one mare had moved an inch.

“You girls coming?”

Applejack gulped. “How can ya be so calm about this? The Everfree... it ain't natural.”

“You said that yesterday, remember? And I told you, I disagree.”

Rainbow finally spoke up, albeit quietly. “The weather happens by itself.”

“Well to tell the truth, the fact that you guys control the weather here kinda freaks me out. It goes against nature, y'know?”

“The animals take care of themselves.”

“Yes, Fluttershy. That's what happens in the wild. Animals take care of themselves. C'mon girls, you got me around! What could possibly go wrong?”

Well thanks to that little comment of yours, probably everything.

Rational mind, there's the exit. Leave now.

Applejack, Pinkie, and Fluttershy laughed. Dash and Rarity looked legitimately relieved. Twilight looked... the same. Really freaking excited. But in the end, they all followed me into the Everfree, so I guess I can't complain.

The trip to Manty's clearing was mostly uneventful. I led, with Spike on my back because Twilight had gone back to thinking up questions. Applejack and Rarity followed, talking quietly with each other. Pinkie had finally stopped bouncing, and Fluttershy just observed everything.

-I see you have quite the little party going on here.-

Hey Tienn. I glanced at the others. They can't hear you, can they?

-I thought it best to keep the freaking out to a minimum.-

Good plan. How's Manty doing?

-Sleeping.-

Not for long.

When we emerged into the clearing, everyone except me and Spike tensed up. Thanks to Tienn's magic, the forest had already started to regrow, but Manty's land-clearing work was still very noticeable. They all took note of the broken branches and the trees that had been flung to the side.

Applejack stepped closer to me. “Did it... Ah mean, did 'he'... do that?”

“Yep. This is what he does when he needs some space. Very convenient actually.”

“But what about the forest?”

I gave her a weird look. “It grows back.”

Yeah, let her chew on that for a while.

Manty himself was at the far end of the space and, sure enough, was sound asleep. I walked right up to him with Spike on my back, who immediately looked nervous.

“Is this a good idea? I remember it was never a good idea to wake him up.”

“Not for you, but being his best friend, I have privileges. You don't still think he's gonna eat you, do you?”

“No...”

“Good. Because in all likelihood, he's not.”

“What do you mean, 'in all likelihood'?!”

“Just chill, okay? You were with him for three days, and he didn't eat you. I very much doubt he will now.”

I crouched down next to his head and poked him. “Yo. Hey. Manty. Time to wake up.”

He rolled over and groaned, which elected a string of gasps from the watching ponies. “Ugh... five more minutes...”

“No, not five more minutes. You woke me up, and now I'm returning the favor.”

He blinked and looked at me bleary-eyed. “Who the hell are... oh... it's you Flame... why aren't you a dragon... is something happening?”

“Yeah, the ponies are here. Y'know, the ones that wanted to talk to you? That you made such a big deal about?”

“Oh yeah... crap... here, gimme a sec...”

He got up and stretched, yawning. This probably wasn't the best plan, as it exposed all of his very sharp teeth. I glanced behind me and saw that the gang (with the exception of Fluttershy) was backing up and preparing for a fight.

“Guys, chill. He's yawning.”

They all relaxed.

He stopped stretching and glanced at Spike. “Hey Spike.”

“He says 'Hey Spike'.”

“H-Hey M-Manty...”

“Wait...” Twilight looked from Spike to Manty. “He knows Spike?”

“Yeah. He met him when Spike was leading me to Ponyville. I had Spike keep him a secret, for obvious reasons. So yell at me, not him.”

She considered this. “...I guess I can understand that...”

Manty glanced at everyone. “Quite the crowd I see. Didn't know I was this famous.”

“Don't flatter yourself. Now as you've probably guessed, these are my friends. I'll let them introduce themselves, as I am too lazy to.”

I walked to the sidelines and sat down. “Here, Twilight, you can start.”

“Oh... okay...” She stepped forward and took a deep breath. “My name is Twilight Sparkle, personal student of Princess Celestia. I have a few questions to ask you if you... don't mind...”

“Check, questions later.” He turned to Rarity. “Next- wait.” He narrowed his eyes. “I remember you. You kicked me in the face!”

I stared at Rarity. “You kicked him in the face!?!”

“What? No! I mean... I did kick that one manticore when Nightmare Moon attacked, but... oh...” If her cheeks weren't already pure white, I'm guessing they would've paled. “Well you see it was a desperate situation and I thought you were going to eat us and you were in our way and I didn't know what else to do and it was dark and I didn't see the thorn in your paw and you got out anyway so we're all good right? I was-”

He silenced her with a wave of his claw. “DO not care. Flamesinger, what's her name?”

“Rarity.”

“Good. I'll deal with you, RARITY,” He gave her a death glare, and she wilted. “...later.”

You're enjoying this aren't you?

Immensely.

Just... y'know... TRY and keep it low-key? I'd rather not have to order up six cases of therapy when we get back.

The yellow one and the pink one look fine. So that would only be four.

I am in no mood to do this right now. Do whatever.

Okey-dokey.

He moved over to Dash. “Name and occupation.”

“Time to introduce yourself Dashie.”

She shot me a look when I called her that, but didn't lose her cool. “I'm Rainbow Dash! Fastest flier in Equestria!”

He raised an eyebrow (Which probably freaked her out even more.) and continued on. “Okay...”

So what did Dash do to you?

Nothing, really. She flew circles around me. Literally.

And just what was the supposed to accomplish?

Beats me, ask her.

When he saw Fluttershy, he adopted a much lighter tone. “And what is your name, little one?”

Little one!?!

What?

God, will someone just please kill me now!

That can be arranged.

Just... just...AGH!

He was cut off from making a retort when Fluttershy spoke. “Um... should I say my name now?”

“Yeah. Yeah, go ahead.”

“Okay. My name is Fluttershy. I know my friends hurt you the last time we met... but could you not hurt them please?”

“Why does everyone think that I'm gonna eat you guys?!”

“They're ponies, dude. That's pretty much what they think manticores do.”

“*Sigh* Then tell her that unless I'm attacked, I will not, in any shape or form, harm anyone here.”

I relayed the message, and everypony present visibly relaxed. Fluttershy even went so far as to hug Manty, who looked as though he were about to push her away, then changed his mind and went with it.

Admit it, you like being hugged.

Admit it, you are jealous.

...so what if I am...

On to Applejack. “You tried to ride me.”

“BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”

What? It was funny.

After about five minutes of laughing my ass off, I managed to speak. “...W-What!?!”

“You're sick.”

“Oh, oh I'm sick. Who's the one making sexual innuendos over there?”

“I wasn't making an innuendo. I was telling the truth.”

“That's even worse!”

“No, I mean she literally took a rope and tried to ride me. You know, like a horse back in your world.”

“Oh...heh heh ... I think I get it now... carry on!”

Man, that was awkward.

Tell me about it.

YOUR help I do NOT need.

After Applejack introduced herself (Nobody died or laughed. 'Nuff said), it was Pinkie's turn. Honestly, this was the one I was least worried about, as Pinkie didn't really seem judgmental, and I was right. She spouted constant random phrases, some of which pertained to the conversation and most of which did not. She even went so far as to suggest that we throw a party for Manty, which while expected, was immediately put down. I'm not sure I even heard her mention her name, and yet somehow Manty caught it.

“Pinkie Pie, okay. Now that I (finally) know all of your names, the questions may proceed. Make 'em quick.”

Unfortunately, the word quick is misunderstood by the Twilicious Sparklelus, and so me and the rest of the girls had to sit through about three hours of Twi asking Manty about every single little thing about manticores. And since, of course, I was the translator, I wasn't given a moment's rest.

Twilight asked a ton. Everything from manticore culture (Kill things.), to manticore language (Yo. Dude. Get the HELL outta my hood.), to even manticore marriage (WHAT!?!). Manty answered everything as best he could, but like me he had never been the most attentive learner, and so there were many things he didn't know. He, in return, asked a few questions of his own, and was taken aback by some of the answers. I think the one that surprised him most was the fact that pony males don't kill each other over girlfriends.

It's a perfectly reasonable thing to do.

Dude, that's... that's just messed up.

Whatever.

By the end of three hours, I was tired, Manty was tired, and Twilight had FINALLY run out of questions.

“Okay, its getting dark out, and I'm ready to hit the hay. Spike, do you-oh. Nevermind. He's asleep. Come on, girls. I'll show you the way out.”

As I led them out of the forest, everypony was silent.

“Well, that was... different.” Rarity muttered.

“You DON'T say!”

She glared at me. “And I can tell you're just in the best of moods.”

“Sorry, but repeating my friends' answers for three hours straight doesn’t really make me the most caring person around.”

“I think it went great! Just look at all the new information I've discovered!” Twi held up a 50-page packet of the notes she had collected. “Princess Celestia will be thrilled! This trip has been deemed a success!”

She gave me a hug and kissed me on the cheek. “Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!!!”

“No prob, glad I could help. I am, however, ready to take a ten-hour nap, so if me showing you guys the exit and then leaving isn't a problem, that's what I'm gonna do.”

“Ah must say, that is the darnedest thing Ah've ever done in mah life.”

“Yeah, I figured as much. Not every day you meet a manticore face to face and talk with him.”

“I think he was really nice! I don't see why we shouldn't throw a party for him!”

“He's a manticore, Pinks. Parties aren't his style.”

As we reached the edge of the forest, Twi, Rars, Pinks, Apples, and Flutters all said their goodbyes. Dash hung around, looking a little downcast. I could tell what I had said earlier today had really gotten to her.

“Listen, Dash, about today, I-”

Suddenly, she was hugging me and crying. “I'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorry!”

Instinctively, I hugged her back. “Hey hey hey, it's okay, I'm not mad.”

She looked up at me. Tears were streaming down her face “Y-You're not?”

“No way. I can totally understand why you did that. I just got a little pissed off when you tackled me.”

She cringed and looked down. “I'm sorry about that. I-I j-just kind of l-lost my head. Just please don't h-hate m-me?”

“HATE you? Why?”

“F-For tackling you!”

“I've been tackled before. No, I don't hate you. I'm not that much of an asshole.”

“O-Oh.” She hugged me harder. “Then you'd better not tell anyone I broke out like this. I was just... afraid of losing you as a friend.”

“You seriously think I'd discount you as a friend because of one little mishap?”

She giggled. “Well when you say it like that, it makes me look like an idiot.”

I considered. “An idiot? No. An idiot wouldn't have apologized. You did.”

“You always know just what to say, don't you?”

“Maybe.”

“Heh.”

She pulled away. Her eyes were still red from crying. “You promise not to tell anypony about this?”

“Promise. Now go home and wipe your eyes. They look like crap.”

She throw a mock salute and flew off. “Yes sir.”

I re-entered the forest.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand I'm tired.

-End of Chapter 10-

A/N: So what do you think of my emotional writing? Good? Okay? Sucks? Comment and like.

Sleepover 101

A/N: Just wanted to give a shout-out to a few people. CORPORAL-CLEGG, DeadLight63, American-agent12, The Red Blade, Apollyon602, TV addict, Nevin Slate, munomana, VortexTalon, Radical Prescott, Violet Droplet, Magical Trevor, and all the other dedicated readers on FanFiction and FIMFiction! Thank you ALL, you have been a big help!

Now on with the story!

For once, I wasn't woken up by either the sun or Manty. I got a good hard night's sleep, and woke up only when I was fully recharged.

Which happened to be at around eleven-thirty.

Okay... fourteen hours of sleep... time to get up...

I opened my eyes, blinking as they adjusted to the light. My vision was slightly bleary, but I could still make out the general area, as well as what seemed to be a random pink blob that was moving up and down in the center of the clearing. Strange. Maybe I should check that out later.

“Wakey-wakey sleepyhead!”

Mystery solved. I rolled over. “Gimme a second Pinkie, I just need a few more...

Wait.

“Pinkie Pie!?!”

I immediately sat up and rubbed my eyes, sharpening everything around me into clear focus. Sure enough, the pink blob materialized into none other then Pinkie Pie, doing her trademark bounce and wearing that malicious grin of hers.

“Wha... how... when... who...” One of my eyes twitched. “How did you get here!?!”

“Silly, I just followed the way you went when we saw Manty! Did I ever tell you I have a supersupersuper good memory?” She paused and put a hoof to her chin. “At least, I think I do. I dunno! I haven't really tested it! What I DO know is that I was able to follow the path you led us through yesterday, so that must mean I have some kind of psychic powers! Maybe, path-a-way-nosis?” She looked at me seriously. “What do you think?”

“I... um... sure?”

“Great! Oh, I just remembered, Twilight wanted to talk to you! Something about another idea she's had! I don't know what it is, I just heard her talking about it and I thought *GASP* I should totally lend a helping hoof and tell you!”

“Oh... well... uh...okay, excuse me for a moment.”

I did a quick one-eighty and quickly organized my thoughts, shoving all the ones labeled 'WTF!?!' into the trash can and instead pulling up all the ones labeled 'Social Skills' and opening them for immediate use.

I turned around again. “There, that's better. So, Twilight wants to see me?”

She nodded enthusiastically. “Yep!”

“Cool. Don't know how you remembered the whole way here, but y'know, as long as I don't get ponies knocking on my imaginary door five times a day, whateeeeeeveeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrr...”

I had just realized something. Something very, very, very, important.

I wasn't standing on four legs.

My disguise wasn't active.

I did a quick check to make sure I was right. Yeah, blue scales, bipedal, fingers and claws. No doubt about it, I was a dragon.

I looked up at Pinkie Pie. “I can explain?”

She cocked her head. “Explain what?”

“Well...” I gestured at myself in general. “... all of this.”

“You just gestured at yourself.”

“No, I mean the fact that I'm a dragon.”

“Oh! I already know that!”

“Yeah.” I rubbed my forehead. “Yeah, that's kinda the point.”

“So what's the problem?”

“First of all, I'm hungry.” I reached for my bag, pulled out a few gems and munched on them. “There, that's better. Now second of all, why aren't you scared? Where's all the screaming, the hollering, 'get away from my friends', 'you're a monster', y'know, all that good stuff that Rarity and Rainbow did when they found out I was a dragon?”

Now she looked even more confused. “You're comparing me to Rarity? Are you loco in the coco or something?”

“No, its just...” I sighed. “... you're handling this very calmly. And I'm cool with that and all, but... why?”

“Weeellll... Dashie told me about how you fixed things up between Rarity and Spike, not to mention you both loved my party and have been nice to everypony since you got here! Twilight, Dashie, Rarity, Applejack, even Fluttershy all like you, so so do I! You're not a bad dragon, why should I be afraid?”

“No reason, just... y'know, forget it. I don't feel like questioning reality right now.”

I got up and stretched. “Manty, you up?”

Pinkie giggled. “He left hours ago. You really are a late sleeper!”

“Just because I get up three hours after everybody else, people call me that. I don't know why.”

She looked serious for a moment. “One of the great mysteries of the universe.” Then she broke into more giggles and started bouncing out of the clearing. “See ya later Flamey! I gotta get back to Sugar Cube Corner! My lunch break's almost over!”

I watched her leave. As she disappeared into the trees, I was encased once again in the black smokey cocoon of chaos magic that was my species' changing room.

“Lunch break... huh...” I spread my small pegasus wings and launched into the sky to do some exercises. “... maybe I do sleep too late...”

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

“Twilight, are you sure this is a good idea?”

“For the hundredth time, yes! Not only is this the perfect opportunity for the rest of the girls to really get to know Flame before they find out what he is, it also lets the rest of my friends experience what you and Applejack already have!”

“Yes... and we know how well that turned out...”

Twilight, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash were all gathered in the reading room of the library, sipping some mid-day coffee and discussing Twilight's latest idea. Or at least, Rarity and Twilight were. Rainbow Dash was more there for the free coffee. Twilight gave Rarity a stern look.

“I'm trusting you and Applejack not to argue this time. I think you've worked out your differences by now.”

“No no, we have. I'm just wondering how the whole thing will proceed with our dear Flamesinger there.”

“Okay, for those of us that may have been preoccupied with their coffee up until this point, what are we talking about?”

Twilight sighed. She really needed to work on Dash's attention span. “We're discussing the idea of a slumber party with all six of us and Flame.”

“Count me in, sounds awesome.” She finished off the last of her coffee. “Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta go to work.”

“It's Saturday.”

“Is it?” She glanced at the calendar. “Oh. Nice. In that case, I gotta go take a nap.”

In a multicolored flash, she was out the door before either of the other ponies could say a word.

Now it was Rarity's turn to sigh. “ Well, I can see she's open to it.”

“Rainbow was never one for planning, and we know that. The only reason I told her to come here in the first place was because she is the only one, besides Spike and us, who knows who Flame really is. I didn't actually expect her to DO anything. Now where's Pinkie Pie? I need her to hand out invitations if we're really going to-”

“Hey Twilight!”

“GAH!!!”

Twilight jerked her head backward and dropped her coffee, spilling it all over the floor. Rarity just calmly sat there, sipping her mug and raising an eyebrow at the purple unicorn.

“Twilight, you really must do something about those nerves of yours. They aren't good for you.”

“Pinkie Pie!?! How did you get in?!”

“Silly, I used the door!” The party pony pointed towards the only way of entrance in the room, which was clearly open. “What else?”

“I... I just... oh, never mind. Pinkie, how would you feel about a slumber party with all six of us and Flame?”

Pinkie's eyes widened. “Oh, that would be GREAT! I'll bring balloons and games and cupcakes and cookies and-”

Twi silenced her. “Relax Pinkie, you don’t have to do anything. I'll set it all up, you just need to get the word out to Applejack and Fluttershy.”

“Okey-dokey-lokie!”

“But who's going to inform dear Flamesinger of our plans?”

“Don't worry about that! He should be arriving at the library soon!”

Twilight would have been surprised, except this was Pinkie Pie we were talking about. End of story. “How can you be sure, Pinkie?”

“I told him to!” She started back towards the door, then suddenly remembered something and zoomed back. “Oh, and I am officially claiming him as one of the BEST dragons I've ever met!”

Everypony sat in shocked silence as Pinkie happily left the building, completely unaware of the brain damage her last sentence had just caused.

Twilight shook her head slowly. That had surprised her. She looked forlornly at the empty mug lying on the floor, right next to a big brown stain where the coffee had spilled.

“Spike!”

“Yeah?” he called from the kitchen.

“I think I'm gonna need more coffee...”

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

After my short exercise period (i.e. fly about randomly for ten seconds. 'Kay, I'm good), I headed out towards the library. I was more awake this time around, so instead of flying slow, I decided to see just how fast these pegasi wings could go.

Apparently not that fast.

Flying at max speed, it took me about, meh, ten minutes to get from the edge of the Everfree to the library. It wouldn't have taken that long, except that the world seemed intent on putting obstacles in my way (I don't remember that house being there), and it was slightly cold out (What? It makes a difference).

Well at least there's no one throwing their alarm clock out the window today- OW!!! Dammit man, WATCH WHERE YOU'RE CHUCKIN' THOSE THINGS!!!

I gave the alarm-clock-throwing-guy a severe telling-off (How does the fact that it's Saturday have anything to do with this?!), after which he promised to watch where he was tossing his bedside tormenter in the future. To make a point, I picked up the offending machine (Vintage 1989 Clock Radio. Nice.) and brutally smashed it against a nearby tree. Though honestly, I think that just made him happier. That, and creep out everyone around me.

Rubbing the bump on my head (Fricking OUCH.) I knocked on the library door, which was opened by a significantly more awake looking Spike.

“Hey Spike. You look better.”

“I feel better.”

“Cool. Where's Twi? Pinkie said she wanted to talk to me.”

“In the reading room with Rarity. You want some coffee?”

“Nah, can't stand the stuff.”

“Neither can I.”

I entered the reading room to find Rarity, looking extremely proper as always, delicately sipping her coffee, and Twilight, looking the opposite and gulping down her coffee like there was no tomorrow.

I approached. “Listen, Twi, I enjoy caffeine as much as the next male, but seriously? It's like, noon.”

No, I did not just contradict myself. I said caffeine, not coffee. Those are two different things.

“Hey Flame. I just had a little run-in with Pinkie Pie today.” She set down her mug and composed herself. “So is it true she knows you're a dragon now?”

“Yep. And I must say, I think the two of you could take some pointers from her. Hint hint and all that.”

She sighed. “Yes, I suppose we could. But that's not why I wanted to talk to you. I was wondering if you would like to come to a slumber party with me and me friends tonight.”

“A slumber party? Hmmmm...” I pretended to think. “Here, at the library?”

“Yep.”

“With the six of you girls?”

“Uh-huh.”

Yeah, that doesn't sound extremely creepy or anything.

“Will Spike be there?”

“Of course. We wouldn't want you to be bored now would we?”

“Hmmm...” I looked at them suspiciously. “You girls aren't planning to jump me or anything, are you?”

“What!?!” They both blushed. “No! W-We... No!”

“Just checking. 'Kay, I'll be there. What time?”

“Seven.”

“Got it.”

When I left, they were both still blushing furiously.

Huh. Maybe I should have told them I wasn't serious...

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

I would tell you about the rest of my afternoon, except that absolutely NOTHING happened.

Just kidding.

Actually, I finally got around to teleporting. That is to say, attempting to teleport. Manty served as my assistant guy-who-sits-there-and-laughs-at-you, though he did much better at the second job then the first one.

Teleporting was... harder... then I expected. The trick was you had to stay focused on the point you wanted to appear at. And I mean really focused. Like you couldn't think of anything else until the spell is over, otherwise you ended up in some pretty random places.

Now, knowing me, this was a bit difficult. I get distracted at the drop of a hat and trying to clear my mind almost never works. This led to many instances of me appearing in places I didn't want to be, such as, oh, I dunno, 5000 feet up in the air.

I had been focusing (trying to anyway) and Rainbow Dash suddenly popped into my mind right when I released my magic. Maybe the chaos magic associated her with flying, whatever. All I know is after the usual dark flash, I was way higher above the Everfree then I was supposed to be. I'm just glad I had wings, otherwise I would be lacking a face right now.

Manty, of course, did what was expected and laughed his ass off.

Some other places I ended up in: a tree (DID not feel good), some random cave in the middle of nowhere (reminds me of when I play Minecraft), and the Ponyville library (Hi Twi. Bye Twi). On all three instances, I was able to either teleport back immediately or enlist my friends' help (yeah Tienn, I apologize for the big hole in your precious tree that's shaped like me), so none of them were life-threatening. Though Tienn did threaten me with death-by-heavy-stick if I ruined another one of her trees.

“You're the spirit of the forest and all that! It can't be that hard to fix!”

-No, it really isn't. I just feel like hitting something.-

“Then hit Manty.”

-Manty isn't as annoying as you.-

“See there? I have the Everfree spirit on my side. That means I win.”

“Shut it Manty.”

Long story short, I suck at teleporting. Joy.

As it neared seven o'clock, I began to prepare for my night of fun, games, and more than likely embarrassment. And by that, I mean I talked with Manty because I was bored.

“So, got any good advice for this slumber party thing?”

“Incapacitate everyone, and take their money.”

“No, I meant advice that I can actually use without becoming a wanted thief.”

“Oh. In that case, I got nothin'.”

“Your advice sucks.”

“Says the guy who just jumps into everything without a plan.”

“I do that because it works.”

“My advice works. You just choose not to follow it.”

“Yeah, because I'm actually concerned about little things like life.”

“Life is overrated.”

“Tell me about it.”

At quarter to seven, I set out for the library. After a quick ten minute flight, I was knocking on the door and let inside.

What I met can only be described as a mad Twilight.

“Hey Twi.”

“May I ask WHAT you were doing flashing in and out of the room like that!?!”

“I tried teleporting, didn't really work. Chill, okay? It won't happen again.”

“It better not, and I mean it.”

“Yeah yeah yeah, I got ya. I'll just wait for the rest of the gang then.”

Come seven o'clock, and we were joined by Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash. Twilight spread out some pillows for us all to sit on, and once everyone had gathered, she addressed the crowd.

“Now, I would personally like to welcome everypony to my very first all-friends slumber party! I've already had one with Applejack and Rarity, but since that one didn't go so well, I decided to do another one! And we'll be doing it all according to this!”

She pulled out a book and showed it to me, Pinks, Flutters, and Dashie. Spike peeked over my shoulder and read the title aloud.

“Slumber Party 101: Everything you've ever wanted to know about slumber parties but were afraid to ask.”

“A how-to guide? For slumber parties?” I looked at Applejack and Rarity. “...is she serious?”

They both nodded.

I face-hoofed and shook my head. “Twi Twi Twi Twi Twi...”

She didn't seem to hear me. “It's a fantastic reference guide, you should see the table of contents! I used it with Applejack and Rarity and it worked great!”

I turned to Spike. “Really?”

“What can I say? She loves her books.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I can see that.”

“Just try and roll with it, okay?”

“No no, it's cool. Just... fricking weird.”

Twi was already flipping through the book. “We'll run the same thing we did last time, that one worked well! And that means the first item on the list is...”

It better not be makeovers.

“… makeovers!”

“I am outta here.”

“Nononowait!” She looked slightly embarrassed. “Maybe we can... skip that one?”

She was using her eyes to send me a constant message: Pleasedon'tleavepleasedon'tleavepleasedon'tleave!

I sighed. “Nah, you girls go ahead. Yo Spike, you gotta deck of cards around here?”

“Yeah, why?”

“I am going to show you how to play poker.”

Twilight looked a little put off by this (U mad bro?), but she let it go. So while the girls were putting mud masks on each other and having curls in their hair (beats me how they enjoy that stuff, but whatever), I was in the corner trying to explain the concept of poker to Spike (which was kind of like someone trying to explain to me the concept of Scrabble. Lots of blank stares).

As we started our first game, Rainbow came over. “Hey guys, can I play too? Or is this a 'guys only' thing?”

I looked up. “Did I hear right? Does the great Rainbow Dash wish to join our little game? What, afraid of getting a little mud on your face?”

She plopped herself down. “If that's a different way of saying 'I hate makeovers', yeah.”

“Good enough, I'll deal you in.”

Dashie was a big help, as she actually knew how to play poker and was able to give Spike a few pointers. It pretty much devolved into a Dash-and-Spike vs. me, which resulted in me losing. A lot.

The rest of the girls finally finished with their makeovers, which promptly disappeared in a flash of Twilight's magic. Me, Dash and Spike came over just as Twi was about to announce the next event.

“Sooooooo... you guys give each other makeovers... which take about thirty minutes... you then take them away... leaving absolutely no discernible difference in your features?”

Twi gave me a weird look. “What's your point?”

“Nothin'. So what's next?”

“Well, as I was about to say, next up is...” She double-checked the book. “... ghost stories!”

“Now this one I understand.” I took a seat on one of the pillows. “Gimme your best shot.”

Of all ponies, Rarity was the one who volunteered to go first. She dimmed the lights (cliché), gathered all of us in the center of the room where we couldn't see anything but each other (amateur), then started speaking in this low, creepy voice (HOLY SHIT!!!).

She began to tell the ultra-terrifying story of 'The Wolf-Pony', which, to those of you that have been living under a rock for the past fifty years, was basically a ponyized version of the wolf-man. No offense to Rarity or anything, but the story honestly was not that scary. Or maybe I'm just tough. Nah, it really wasn't that scary.

However, it should be noted that I was the only one of this mindset. Translation? Everyone else, including Rainbow, was scared. Fricking. Shit-less.

Now, you know how at all-girl slumber parties, if the girls are scared, they'll usually cling to someone? Like one of their best friends or something? Well if there's one guy (ONE guy) in the room, all of the girls will cling to him. Especially if he's the only one that isn't scared. Don't ask me why. Is it sexist? Yes it is. Also rather annoying as hell. Don't tell Spike that though.

So let's do a recap, shall we? I'm sitting there, with five terrified girls clinging to me, and Rarity telling this not-so-scary story in a creepy voice with the lights turned off.

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwkwaaaaaaaaaaard.

Spike was scared too. But one, he wasn't clinging to me and two, he was still sane enough to notice my position (Me, being hugged by five girls, with a huge grin on my face).

He leaned over and whispered to me. “You think you're so cool.”

“I do, actually.”

For extra effect, I put my forelegs around the two closest ponies, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, and whispered: “Don't worry, it'll be alright.” They both clung to me even tighter.

After a few more minutes, Rarity had finished. She then noticed how all the girls were clinging to me looking terrified, and I was happily sitting there hugging two of them.

“You can keep on going y'know. I'm fine.”

She rolled her eyes. “I can tell.”

With a flash from her horn, the lights came back on, which immediately snapped the rest of the girls out of their trance. They all blushed and quickly retreated back to their own respective pillows. Fluttershy looked as though she were about to curl up and die.

I decided to break the mood. “Well, that was fun! What's next?”

Smooth, Flame. Real smooth.

Twilight's blush deepened and she quickly focused on the book. “W-Well, the next item on the list is s'mores.”

“S'mores?” Wait, what? “Don't you need a fire to do that?”

“Yes, but I have a fireplace we can use.”

“A fireplace? Inside a tree? Y'know Twi, the last time I checked, trees were made out of wood. Now I may not be the smartest guy in the world, but doesn't wood burn? I remember reading that somewhere.”

She laughed, which was enough to bring her out of her embarrassed state. “It isn't a problem when you have a magically protected fireproof house like I do.”

“Ah yes, magic. Shoulda figured.”

Fun fact: S'mores (or any other kind of concentrated sugar) are a great way to break the ice among your pals. Twi led us to an adjacent room, which did indeed have a fireplace with a roaring fire going in it (Who just leaves a fire going!?!). Spike, being the assistant (as in the guy who knows where shit is), broke out the sticks and marshmallows, and soon everyone was happily chatting away while roasting them.

There was, however, some difference in opinion over how the roasting should commence.

“See, you have to carefully turn the marshmallow so that each side receives an equal amount of heat, no too much and not too little.” Rarity was educating Fluttershy in the art of marshmallowing. “...Leave it there... turn it... turn it... and... done! There we have it. Perfect!”

I decided to add in my two cents. “Meh, I just do it like this.”

I thrust my marshmallow into the fire, where it promptly burst into flames. I pulled it out and let it burn for a few more seconds, then blew it out. What was left only vaguely resembled a marshmallow. More like a chunk of coal.

“Eww!” Rarity backed away. “You're not really going to eat that, are you?”

“Now I know it doesn't look the best, but it's good! Trust me!” I pulled it off the stick, stuck it in my mouth and chewed it.

“...okay, maybe not that good, but still. It's not bad.”

“Yeah.” Spike chuckled. “Sure.”

“I'm serious. Try one!”

“No.”

“Suit yourself.”

As soon as their backs were turned, I spat the marshmallow into the garbage and smacked my lips, trying to get the taste out of my mouth.

Y'know, I remember those tasting a lot better. Damn you pony taste-buds!

So yeah, s'mores were fun. Mostly because when you didn't burn them, they tasted great. All sugary and chocolatey and stuff. The next event though, I was... less enthusiastic about.

“So Twi, what's next?” Rainbow asked, finishing off her last s'more. Pinkie, who had somehow managed to cram one hundred and thirty-seven s'mores into her mouth, swallowed them all whole and looked to Twilight as well.

Note to self: do not mess with Pinkie Pie.

“Well...” Twi skimmed the book. “... next on the list is Truth or Dare!”

Aw crap.

“Yeah!” Apparently Dash (as well as everyone else in the room) was in whole-hearted agreement of this idea. “Finally!”

I stepped forward. “Now, no offense meant to you Twilight, or anypony else in this room, which includes Spike, but to this I'm gonna have to say... HELL. FRICKING. NO”

Everyone was silent.

“Sorry and all that, but there is NO way I'm playing that game. Shit always happens.”

“Awwwww.” Pinkie Pie started giving me puppy dog eyes. “Please play!?!”

“Yeah, c'mon Flame!” Now Rainbow was in on it too. “It'll be no fun without you!”

“I'll bet.”

They both blushed, but continued begging. Rarity looked quite affronted by my use of language (Seriously? Get a life already), Spike was nodding like he understood, Twi was leafing though the book ('How to get Guys to Play Truth or Dare with You: Ten Easy Tips'), Fluttershy wasn't saying anything, and Applejack-

Crap. Now Applejack was begging too. Must... look... away... from those eyes...

“Well...” Twi said eventually, looking up from the book. “...we shouldn't really make him play if he doesn't want too...”

Yeah, tell that to the three mares giving my puppy dog eyes. Ugggghh... okay, y'know what? Screw it. SCREW IT! Fine, I'll play!

“No...” I sighed and turned around. “No... I'll play... if I don't, Rainbow'll kill me...”

“Yaayyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!” Rainbow suddenly shut her mouth and looked around to see everyone staring at her. “I mean, uh, yeah! You bet I will!”

“Are you sure?” Twi asked me.

“No, but let's do it anyway. This is a party, right? Personal safety goes out the window.” I settled down on my pillow and stretched my forelegs. “'Kay, I'm good. Let's do this.”

The pillows were gathered into a circle, and the game of Truth or Dare commenced.

This is going to go badly.

“So who wants to go first?”

“Me!” Applejack was the first to raise her hoof. She then pointed it at me. “Flame, truth or dare?”

I'm screwed. “Truth.”

“Okay then” She grinned. Uh-oh. “Name y'all of us you've got ah crush on.”

Oh, starting with the good stuff, are we? Very well then, challenge accepted.

“Okay.” I surveyed the room. “Everypony here except Spike.”

They looked taken aback. “All of us?!”

“Yep. You girls have got to be the cutest bunch of mares I've ever seen” PLEASE let 'cute' be a compliment...

It was, as every female in the room blushed and tried to hide her face behind something. I grinned. “Now then, since I've successfully diverted the embarrassment from me to you, I do believe it is my turn. Applejack! Truth or dare?”

She had some difficulty regaining her voice. “T-Truth.”

“Excellent! Do you, or do you not have a sexual fantasy involving moi?”

Now she looked about ready to die. “D-d Ah h-have ta answer that one?”

“Yeah. Plus, I want to know too.” Dash chimed in. Damn, Dash, you are evil.

She cringed, then said in a small voice. “...y-yep...”

“Knew it! Called it! 'Kay, it's your turn now.”

Dash was on the receiving end of the next one. She choose truth (copycat), which proved to be a big mistake.

“Are yah a filly-fooler?”

At least, I think it was a mistake. What's a filly-fooler?

Judging by Dash's expression, it was bad. Very, very bad. “Ahem, could somepony enlighten me as to what that is?”

“A mare that likes other mares.” explained Twilight. “Also known as a lesbian.”

“Oh.” I looked around. “... is that a bad thing here?”

“No, it's just embarrassing to admit.”

“Ah.” I joined the rest of them in staring at Dash, who had began to sweat.

“W-Well... n-not really...”

“Not really? Is that even possible?”

“N-No... it's j-just...” God, this game turns everyone into Fluttershy! “... C-C-Can I pass?”

“Nope. I want to know too.”

She glared at everyone gathered. “I really don't feel comfortable talking about this.”

Fluttershy immediately wilted. “Well if you don't want to answer, that's okay...”

“Hey, whoa whoa whoa, didn't we just confirm that being a lesbian isn't a bad thing?”

There were murmurs of agreement all around. “Good, that's settled. Now Dashie, I promise nopony will laugh at you if you admit you're a lesbian, which you kind of already have.”

“Have not!”

“Hey hey, calm down sugarcube.” Applejack soothed. “We just wanna know the truth.”

“Well you're not getting it!”

“Will bribes work?”

She looked at me, confused. “What?”

“Y'know, bribes. Money, power, stuff like that-”

“NO! I WON'T TELL ANY OF YOU!!!” She flew about five feet above us to accent her point.

I cringed. “Okay okay, fine. You don't have to tell us.”

Again, her attention was drawn to me. I could see her eyes were slightly wet.“... Really?”

“If you feel that strongly about it, no.”

The rest of the six silently agreed. When Dash looked at them, they made sure to put on a guilty-looking face.

“AGH!” She flew even higher, her wet eyes turning into tears. “FINE! I'm a filly-fooler! I go both ways! I have my whole life! HAPPY!?!”

There was silence for the second time that night.

“... no...” Fluttershy murmured quietly.

“Everypony!” Pinkie announced. “Rainbow needs a hug!”

This prompted Twilight to use her magic to pull Rainbow to the ground, who was then beset by a huge group hug from everyone present.

“W-What? So... none of you have a problem with me being a filly-fooler?”

“Silly filly, you're our friend! Of course we don't care!”

“Yeah, what Pinks said.”

“Ah'm awfully sorry, Rainbow. Ah didn't know ya felt that strongly about it.”

“My dear Rainbow Dash, I should think you would know me well enough by now to know that I don't judge ponies for how they live.” Rarity smiled. “I judge them on how they look!”

“Oh Dash, please don't cry... it's okay...” Yeah, that was Fluttershy.

I think I liked Twi's statement best though. “I could never hate you Dash. Not now, not ever.”

Dash looked at all of us. She had stopped crying. “T-Thanks you guys. That... means a lot.”

…

Okay, this emotional stuff is getting boring.

“So Twi, what’s next?”

“Next is...” She checked the book and grinned. “... pillow fight!”

“Sweet!”

I grabbed my pillow, yelled “FREE-FOR-ALL!!!” and unceremoniously smacked Spike’s head.

The next ten minutes can only be described as pure awesomeness.

Everyone went nuts. Spike immediately snatched up his own pillow and engaged me in a one-one duel. Dash began to get her revenge against Applejack for that truth or dare thing, Fluttershy hid (no surprise there), Twilight was being utterly destroyed by Pinkie Pie, and Rarity tried to distance herself as much as she could from the fighting.

I managed to beat Spike enough that he surrendered. “HA! YOU PUNY FOOLS ARE NO MATCH FOR THE KING OF PILLOW FIGH-“

I received two pillows to the face by Applejack and Rainbow.

“Rainbow, Ah think this colt’s getting’ a little too cocky. What do ya say?”

“I say we put him in his place!”

I backed up very fast. “Hey girls… how’s it goin…?”

“GET ‘EM!”

I soon found myself the subject of a pillow beat-down.

“Y’know, can we call a truce or something?”

“Shut up and take it like a stallion!”

“Spike? Little help here?”

Spike came to my rescue, giving Dash a full blow to the face and distracting Applejack from her intended target (me). Even though he was little, that dude was hell a fast.

Once I was up, me and him dispatched Applejack, who backed up to where Dash had recovered and called to the rest of the girls. “Hey y’all! How do ya feel about a little gang-up? Mares versus stallions!”

The girls stopped fighting/hiding/staying out of the way and surrounded us rather quickly.

“Aw c’mon. That’s just not fair.”

Dash winked. “Who said anything about being fair?”

“Woo-hoo!” Pinkie was jumping up and down. “We get to beat down on colts!”

“Twilight…” Spike tried playing the sad face game. “… you wouldn’t really turn against your number one assistant, would you?”

“Normally no, but tonight I have absolutely no problem with it!”

“I’m not really one for fighting, I’m more into fashion, but I believe I can allow myself this bit of fun.”

“Go Spike!” I stepped forward. “I’ll hold them off!”

“Really? Okay!” He happily back away, leaving me alone.”I can do that.”

Shit. That probably wasn’t the best idea. Maybe I-

“CHARGE!!!”

Now, being beat down by two mares is one thing, but SIX is another thing entirely. I managed to hit Twi once in the face before I went down. Actually, they were really soft pillows, so it didn’t really feel uncomfortable. More like a massage. And it went on for about five minutes.

When they were done, they just left the pillows on me and collapsed, laughing. Spike walked up and tapped the side of my little pillow enclosure. “Hey Flame, you okay in there?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Y’know, it’s actually kind of nice in here. All soft and everything.”

“Sorry mister.” Twi used her magic to lift all the pillows off me at once. “But it’s bedtime now.”

“Oh really? What time is it?”

She checked the clock. “Eleven-thirty.”

“Oh. Didn't realize it was that late. Okay, so where am I sleeping?”

“I've got sleeping bags.”

“Cool. Where are they?”

Twilight got out eight sleeping bags and handed them out. As soon as I got mine, I flew to the top of one of the bookshelves and laid it out. “I'm calling up here!”

Spike laughed. “You're about nine feet off the ground. You sure you want to be up there?”

“Yep. I see all and know all up here.”

“Fine. Well I'm taking the ground.”

“And you can have fun with that.”

I turned back to my bag to see that Dash had set hers up right next to mine.

I raised an eyebrow at her. “...Any particular reason you're sleeping right next to me when you could have any one of the other colt-free bookshelves that are left?”

“Yep, I want to. Deal with it.”

“M'kay.”

As we all settled in, Twi used her magic to turn off the lights. “Goodnight everypony!”

There was a chorus of “Goodnight Twilight!”.

Once everything was pitch black, I heard Dash snuggle up to me from the side. I looked at her again, but she waved me off. Whatever. I wasn't going to complain.

I fell asleep to the sound of six ponies and a dragon breathing.

-End of Chapter 11-

A/N: So, should I have a Dash/Flame ship? I can do it easily, or I could just let it go. You're choice. I 'm fine with either.

Leave your answer in the comments below. :)

A New Home

A/N: For those of you that want progress on the shipping, tough shit, I ain't telling you.

But for those of you that want more story, I happily present to you the longest chapter yet! Again! Please note that this chapter was an absolute bitch to write, so feedback is appreciated as always. Read on and enjoy!

Today I learned something new: Twilight likes to get up... early. As in really early. As in like, seven thirty kind of early.

Naturally, me and her had a slight disagreement on this.

“Flame... it's time to get up...”

“Mhf... go away...”

“C'mon, bright and early is a great way to start the day!”

I groggily opened my eyes and saw that the ceiling was four feet from my face. “Wha... where am I …?”

“The library, remember? We had a sleepover last night.”

“Oh...yeah... ugh... alright, what time is it?”

“Seven-thirty.”

“And you are waking me up... why?”

“To get up! Why else?”

I looked to my side. Rainbow was gone, along with her bag. “Where'd Dash go?”

“She's down here, along with the rest of us. You're the only one who hasn't gotten up yet. Well, besides Spike.”

You'd think the fact that the ceiling was so close would remind me where I was, but no. I rolled over, forgetting I was on top of a bookshelf, and I may have accidentally rolled over the edge. It was a good, well-made, wooden floor too.

Well that takes care of my headache for the day. And to think I would have a normal morning for once. Silly me.

The spot where I had landed was conveniently right next to Spike who, true to Twilight's word, was still in bed. He cracked one eye open and looked at me. “See? Told ya the floor was better.”

“Shut it Spike.”

He grinned and turned over.

Fluttershy was the first to arrive at the scene. “Oh my goodness, are you okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Head hurts a little bit, but-”

“Your head hurts? Do you need any ice? Oh, I hope nothing's broken...”

“Fluttershy, I'm fine. Trust me. Anyway...” I turned over and my eyes focused on Twilight, who was standing right next to me. “... why did you wake me up again?”

“It's time to get up.”

“Then get Spike up.”

“Spike's a baby dragon, he needs his rest. You, on the other hoof, are an adult. Get up.”

I looked over Twi's shoulder at the rest of the girls. Pinkie was full of her usual amount of energy (It's over 9000!), Applejack was looking wide awake and ready to tackle the day (That doesn't count, she lives on a farm. Don't they get up early on farms?), Rarity was fixing her hair (mane, whatever) with a mirror and comb, and Dash looked... actually, she kind of looked like she was recovering from a hangover or something. She must be tired too.

“So... let me get this straight...” I re-focused on Twi. “... you want me to get up... at seven thirty... seven-thirty... on a Sunday?”

“Yep.”

I stared at her for a little while longer. She looked back with a completely straight face.

“You're serious.”

She cocked her head, looking confused. “Um... yes? Why wouldn't I be?”

Without another word I collapsed back into my sleeping bag and buried my face in the pillow. “Wake me up in another three hours.”

“Three hours!?!” She looked at the rest of the girls. “Is he serious?!”

“Well... let's face it Twi...” Rainbow mumbled. “... you do get up kind of early compared with the rest of civilization...”

“I must agree with Rainbow Dash Twilight. I've pulled all-nighters before, but getting up this early does absolute horrors to my mane. Just look at all these knots!” A distressed Rarity showed Twilight her mane, which was apparently full of invisible knots that only she could see. “It's an abomination when it's like this!”

“Well AH think that Flame here is just bein' silly. There's nothing wrong with getting' up a bit before everypony else! It gives ya a good head-start on the day!”

I turned my head to look at Applejack. “And just how early are you used to getting up?”

“Ah get up at six o'clock sharp everyday. Have since Ah was a filly.”

“Yeah, see, there's the thing. I get up at around ten-thirty or eleven normally. If there's anything important happening today that I must attend to, please, by all means, wake me up, but you'll excuse me if I don't change my sleeping schedule just to suit you guys. Now if we're done here, I have an appointment with Mr. Sandman.”

“Eleven! Now that's outrageous!”

“I request a definition of the term 'outrageous'.”

“Nopony gets up that late!”

“Then I obviously don't count as a pony in this society. Thank you for the huge boost of self-esteem.”

“I mean... I just... oh, never-mind. Sleep as late as you want.”

“Thank you.”

“But you'll miss breakfast!”

“Uh-huh. Don't care.”

As it turns out, I did end up caring. Spike got up at around eight and went into the kitchen to prepare said breakfast. Apparently the job of 'assistant' also included cooking. After about twenty minutes, he came out with a plate stacked about two feet high with pancakes, no joke. They also (annoyingly) smelled really good. I tried to resist them for as long as possible, but I only made it about three minutes before my stomach started growling. And when that happens, it's basically me admitting defeat.

I forced myself out of bed and lazily made my way to the table, which was more of a reading table with a sheet on it then anything else. As I sat down, Spike grinned at me.

“Nopony can resist my pancakes.”

“I hate you Spike.”

“You won't once you've tried one.”

This proved to be correct, which still infuriates me to no end. As soon as I tired my first pancake, any thoughts of sleeping vanished and I happily sat there and ate any that were put in front of me. Sort of like a brainwashed person.

Note to self: I hate it when Spike is right.

When I finished, Twilight immediately suggested a game of 'I Have Never', which I declined. I had had enough crazy shit for one party. I instead elected to leave, on the grounds that I had to 'go do something somewhere', which I'm pretty sure clued everyone in on to what state of mind I was of. Sorry and all that, but I was done with the slumber party.

After promising that yes, I would visit soon, I was allowed to leave. Stepping outside, I noticed that it was slightly colder at this time then when I would usually get up. Just another reason to sleep in. I should note that to Twilight sometime.

I opted to walk rather then fly, as I was feeling particularly lazy this morning due to the six or so pancakes that I ate (What? Those things were good). I headed toward the market place, as that was the biggest open area I could find. Surprisingly (at least to me), most of the stands had already been set up and there were already at least ten shoppers going about (barbarians), buying random things (Like food. Seriously, who buys that in the morning?), carrying their goods in saddle bags and yelling at each other when one bought something the other one had wanted (which was, quite frankly, hilarious). I mean, I know the sun was out already but c'mon! It's like, nine or something! WHY IS EVERYONE AWAKE!?!

Great, five minutes into the morning and I'm already losing my mind. Ya happy now Twi?

I noticed three girls near a set of crates by one of the houses. I identified them as the so-called 'Cutie Mark Crusaders', the group of girls that went about doing random stuff in order to get magical tattoos on their asses once they discovered their special talent.

When you think about it, it translates into something along the lines of 'Best Club Ever'.

They were apparently trying to gain forceful entry to one of the crates by prying one of the sides off. The crate must have been empty too, as none of the passersby seemed to care. The yellow one (Okay let's see here... uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh... Apple Bloom. Got it.) had somehow gained possession of a crowbar (Ponyville is screwed) and was using it to help in the prying. She had gotten a corner free, and now the other two girls (No, I don't remember their names. Sue me.) were helping out using their forelegs. At this point, I decided I'd better find out what they were planning.

What I want to know is why nobody thinks its strange for three kids to be prying open random boxes with a crowbar at 9 AM in a public place. Is this normal or something? Or should I be scared?

I trotted over. “Hey girls. Watcha doin'?”

The orange one with the purple mane (Scoota-something?) looked up. “Oh, hey mister! We're just trying to get our cutie marks by being 'Crate-Fort Designers'!” She heaved once again, but the side of the crate didn't budge. “We haven't had much success though.”

The white gave me a closer look. “Say... aren't you that one guy that gave us the idea for... 'free-running' or something like that?”

“Ah remember that! That was fun!” Apple Bloom toke a moment from using the crowbar to give a huge smile. Then her face fell. “Too bad we didn't get our cutie marks though.”

I blinked. “You mean you girls actually tried that?”

They all looked surprised. “Sure.”

Okay, I'm officially claiming these three girls as badasses.

“No offense or anything, but just why are you three so obsessed with getting your cutie marks?”

“Because everypony else has one!”

“So?”

“Rainbow Dash has one!”

“So?”

At least the white one (Yes! I remember now! Sweetie Bell!) was truthful about it. “We're the only ones in our class who don't have them yet.” Though this didn't really help.

“So?”

“Whatdoyamean so?”

“How does you being the only ones without magical tattoos make a difference?”

They all looked at me like I was stupid. “Y'know! We're all blank flanks!”

Is it too much to ask for someone to give me a SINGLE. FRICKING. STRAIGHT. ANSWER?

“So is that a bad thing or something?”

“Yes! The other kids make fun of us cause of it!”

“Seems to me you shouldn't really be caring about what some kid who's most likely a troll thinks about you.”

“They aren't trolls. They're ponies, like us.”

“No, I mean-” I resisted the urge to facepalm. “Y'know, trolls. Trolling. That kinda thing.”

“Trolling?” Apple Bloom was suddenly looking interested, which probably should of tipped me off to stop talking, but it didn't. “What's that?”

I sighed. “Basically, it's irritating and provoking people to get a reaction, mostly for fun.”

She thought about this for a second. “Sooooo... like... pranks?”

“Yeah, a little. But its more-”

“Hey guys!” Scootaloo seemed to have caught on to Apple Bloom's train of thought, which I had yet to grasp. “Maybe we can get our cutie marks in trolling!”

Time stopped. Oh dear God, what did I just do?

“Yeah!” Now Sweetie Bell was in on it too. “That's something we haven't tried before!”

“And it would be much easier then doin' this.” Apple Bloom gave the crowbar another tug. No luck. “Ah don't think this crate is gonna break anytime soon.”

“It's settled then!” Scootaloo shot me a huge smile, which do to my state of shock, I missed. “Thanks for the idea mister!”

I just stood there, stuck between a state of immense hilarity and utter horror.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders skipped away. As they left, they let out a collective shout: “CUTIE MARK CRUASDERS, EXPERT TROLLS!!! YAAAAHHH!!!” If it weren't for my current state of mind, I probably would've died of laughter right then and there.

I stayed there for a while, the two sides of my mind battling it out. Finally, I sighed and turned back down my route to the Everfree.

“Yay.” I muttered, rubbing my forehead. “Now Ponyville is double-screwed.”

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

I would tell you about my walk back, except that absolutely NOTHING happened.

Seriously this time.

So, skipping ahead to me in the Everfree. I had changed back into a dragon (Ahhhhh, it feels great to be able to smash stuff again.) and was reminiscing on my encounter with the Cutie Mark Crusaders. I just could not get the image of Apple Bloom with a trollface cutie mark out of my head.

I should really stop going into public so often...

I entered the clearing and found exactly what I had expected to find: Manty lounging in a patch of sun created by the clearing.

He opened one eye. “Have fun?”

“Yeah. May have also caused the destruction of Ponyville, but meh.”

“Cool.” And he went right back to lounging.

Seeing as how Manty wasn't in a talkative mood, I located my pack and did a quick once-over of it to remind myself of what I had. I still had my mirror (Ah, reminds of the good old days when I had no fricking clue what I was doing. Not that I do now.), my bedroll, A Guide To Dragons (Which had gotten a liiiittle bit dusty in my travels. At least I can still make out the title.), about ten remaining gemstones (food supplies low), and my bag of bits (LOL).

I took out the bag and poured a small handful of coins into my hand, shifting though them with my claws. I remembered back when Spike had first seen the amount of money in there, and how big his eyes had gotten. I also remembered what he had said about it.

“You're kidding me. 2,000 bits all fit in there?! Just how much money is that?!”

“Well...that should be just enough to buy a house. And I'm not talking about a small one.”

A house... I mused. A full-sized... all to myself... mine and mine only... free to do what I want with... house.

Slowly, ever so slowly, a grin began to form on my face.

Everybody, hold your shit. I'm about to be brilliant.

“Hey Manty.”

“Yeah?”

“I just had another one of my brilliant ideas.”

“I'll be sure to alert the media.”

I gave him a look. “It really creeps me out when you say stuff like that.”

“Say stuff like what?”

“Y'know... Earthy stuff.”

“Fine. Then I'll translate: Shut up and let me sleep.”

“Oh yes, because me talking is interrupting your nap.”

“Exactly. All I'm gonna say is that whatever it is, do it far away from here.”

“Are you implying that my ideas tend to get out of hand?”

“Very much so.”

“Whatever. I'm outta here.” I got up and headed back in the direction of Ponyville, making sure to take my money bag with me. “It's spending time.”

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

Okay, now that I think about it, Manty's right. My ideas do have a tendency to get out of hand. But don't tell him I said that.

Let's review the last hour, shall we? After changing into a pegasus and flying back to Ponyville, I got directions from some random dude and then set out for the mayor's office. Apparently that's where you buy houses. I made a point not to tell Twi, Dash, or the rest of the girls what I was doing, as I was pretty sure most of them would say it was a bad idea. Except for Dash. She would probably think it was hilarious.

Upon entering the building, I had to go through the whole 'talk with the receptionist' thing, which lucky didn't take that long. It was Sunday after all. I was surprised the place was even open, but hey, I'm not complaining. After informing the receptionist that yes, I was here to buy a house, and yes, I was indeed serious, she pointed me in the direction of the office.

The mayor herself looked bored out her fricking mind. She was sitting at a desk, holding a pencil in her mouth and doodling on some random scrap of paper. It took her a full ten seconds to react from when I entered the room, and when she did she quickly slipped the paper out of sight and attempted to look like she was doing something important. Hard to do when you have absolutely nothing on you desk except for a mug full of pencils.

“Greetings sir. I am Mayor Mare. How may I help you?”

Mayor Mare. Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhh... this is gonna be a long day...

“Hey, call me Flame, full name is Flamesinger, and I'm here to buy a house.”

She looked a little surprised at my bluntness. “Oh, well in that case...” She looked at me closely. “Do you have enough money to purchase a house?”

“I believe so. Are there any available?”

“I don't know, let me check...” She opened one of the drawers in her desk and took out a file filled with important looking papers, half of which I suspected were probably more doodles. “You'll have to forgive me if there isn't one available... it isn't very often that ponies here sell their homes... or that new ones move in, for that matter...”

She began to leaf through the file, looking at edge page for a few seconds before nodding and moving on. It really just increased my suspicion that there was practically nothing in there.

After about thirty pages, she closed the file and set it down. “I'm sorry, but it doesn't seem like there are any available right now.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Oh really? It took you thirty pages to figure that out?”

She hesitated. “Well, there is one... but I'm not sure it's in the condition you're looking for.”

“Lay it on me.”

She snorted. “Very well. It's a manor, a very very old manor, situated a little ways into the Everfree forest. The pony who once owned it liked to live there, though he was always a bit... creepy. He never fixed up his house, and since he's died no one has claimed it. The thing is literally falling apart, with bordered up windows and a roof that could collapse at any moment. It is most likely also home to more then one kind of animal.”

“Perfect, I'll take it.”

She stared at me. “What?!”

“I said, I'll take it. Where do I sign?”

“But...but...” She took a deep breathe. “Mister, I don't think you realize just how old this place is.”

“Old means broken which means a fixer-upper which means I can make changes to it without feeling guilty. Trust me, it's perfect. Now where do I sign?”

“You would need an army to fix that place up!”

I gave her a look. “I'm willing to give you money to get this house. Why are you so against that?”

“I just...” She sighed. “... I don't think you know what you're getting yourself into.”

“Well you're right, I don't. I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing, and in all probability I will be returning to you in the next couple of days, demanding to know why you sold me such a degraded establishment. There will be a fight, a heated argument, a lawsuit, and you will most likely lose your job and spend the next few years of your life in a financial crisis. Now...” I took my eyes off the file on the table and looked at her. “... where do I sign?”

She looked back for a minute or so. Then she sighed again, rummaged through one of her drawers and pulled out several forms. “Sign here.”

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

I think that went rather well.

I pocketed my newly-acquired deed into my significantly lighter money bag, which actually wasn't completely empty. The house had only ended up costing 1500 bits, which still struck me as insanely cheap but that the mayor had assured me was a hefty amount. Whatever. I still had money left, and that's what mattered. Now to do some shopping.

Seeing as how the dear mayor had made such a point telling me how crappy this place was, I invested in a box of assorted tools, more then half of which I didn't know how to use but looked cool. It was only ten bits so I wasn't that stingy. I mean, the place was called 'Ponyville Hardware', so the tools should at least work, right?

The next store I visited had a rather odd name, 'Quills and Sofas' (Seriously, WTF?). Apparently that was because the place only sold two things (just guess), and on a whim I decided I wanted some quills. Y'know, to write with. And because I could.

The place also sold ink and parchment (God, I feel like I'm in Harry Potter.) which made about zip sense to me. I asked the dude that worked there why the place was called 'Quills and Sofas' if that was not in fact all they sold. He said that they were 'accessories', so they didn't count as actual items. I told him that was bullshit. He agreed with me (I like this guy).

“I just work here.” He sounded tired. “The more I manage to sell, the more I get paid, so it's kind of an effort thing.” He glanced at the selection of couches, then looked at me hopefully. “Need a sofa?”

I stared at him for a couple seconds. “Y'know, actually...”

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

50 bits for a sofa. Wow. And I am fricking rich.

So yeah, out of pity for the poor guy (and again, because I could) I ended up buying a sofa. It turned out to be pretty easy. You choose the sofa (I picked the limited edition one with flames all over it. Win!), pay for it (self-explanatory), then give them your address and have them deliver it to your house. The dude (I don't know his name, so I'll just call him that) said that since I was the only one who had bought a sofa today, I could expect it later in the afternoon. Awesome.

With a tool box, my money bag with the deed in it, and another bag filled with quills, ink and parchment all balanced on my back (Pain in the ass, I'm tellin' ya), I set out to take my first look at my new home. The mayor had made sure I knew where it was, so by following her directions I got there pretty easily. It was only about five minutes into the Everfree, not as far as Manty's clearing but far enough for some privacy.

I started having second thoughts when I saw the house.

Mayor was right, this place is old.

The word 'manor' was a bit strong. It was more like a... well, just a big house. It had three stories as far as I could tell, and the whole thing looked like it was built five hundred years ago. The windows were indeed boarded up, and the walls looked worn, with any traces of paint gone. The shape of it wasn't imposing or anything; it looked like any other house in Ponyville, just bigger. It definitely wasn't some creepy old mansion. It was just... really, really, old.

Yo Manty.

Sng... umph...

Wake up dude.

… no...

C'mon. I got something to show you.

Ugh... what is it!?!

I wanna show you my brilliant idea.

Well I don't wanna see it.

Pleeeeeeeeeaseeeeeeee?

For the love of Luna... can't you just let me sleep?

Pleeeeeeeee-

FINE! Where are you anyway?

I'm over here.

Where's 'over here'?

I thought about that for a second. Then I set my stuff down and changed back into a dragon. I then blew a huge torrent of flame into the air, enough so that it went above the tree line.

Okay, did you see that?

See what?

Ugh, get your head above the tree line and I'll do it again.

Okay... there. Commence with whatever you were doing.

I did it again. Now you see it?

Geez, why don't you just burn down the whole forest while you're at it?

Tienn.

Good point. 'Kay, I'll be right over.

After about five minutes, Manty came crashing through the underbrush, the vegetation regrowing behind him like it always did. I don't care what Tienn says, that aspect of the forest is still creepy.

-No, mysterious.-

“Creepy Tienn. As was you reading my mind right there.”

-And just why do you think I do it in the first place?-

I didn't give her the satisfaction of a response.

Manty walked up beside me and looked at the house. Then he looked at me. Then at the house. Then at me. “So...”

“It's a house.”

“Yeah, I know that, I've seen this thing before, but what does it have to do with your brilliant idea?”

“I bought it.”

“You bought...” He looked at the house again. “... this?”

“Yeah.”

“You paid money for this?”

“Yep.”

-I must admit Flamesinger...- Tienn stepped out of the trees. In the sunlight, her transparent form was rather hard to see. -... that is the stupidest thing I've ever heard of.-

“Now, I know it's a bit of a fixer-upper, but that's where we come in. Manty and me are going to this place up.”

“Whoa whoa whoa.” Manty shook his head. “Since when did I say I was gonna do anything?”

“It'll be fun! C'mon!”

Tienn stepped closer to the house. -I remember the pony that used to live here. I liked him. He was one of those that truly understood my forest.-

“The mayor said he was a creepy old man.”

-Well... yes, but he also liked my forest.- She looked me in the eye. -I ask that you don't desecrate his house too much.-

I put on an offended face. “What? I would never dream of hurting this place! I'm trying to fix it!”

She laughed. -If you and Manty are both working on it, I'm sure that by the time I return half of it will be burned down.-

“She's got a point Flame.” He nudged my box of tools. “Do you even know what half this stuff does?”

“Not really. But I do know that this thing...” I rummaged around in it and brought out a sledgehammer. “... is pretty damn heavy.”

Manty facepalmed.

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

As soon as I touched the door, it fell inward.

I looked at Manty, who was giving me a deadpan. “What? All I did was fricking touch it!”

He sighed. “Let's just get this over with.”

I had to fold my wings in to enter, but at least I didn't have to crouch. The door led to what seemed to be a huge living room, with a few torn couches and a tea table that was missing a leg. It was dark due to the boarded up windows. The floor was covered with a moth-eaten rug, and a grandfather clock stood in the corner, obviously broken. On the wall hung a huge portrait of some random old pony with a wig.

Yeah, that thing's going in the garbage.

Manty looked through the door, which was way too small for him. “And just how am I gonna get in?”

“Hmmm... gimme a sec, lemme check out the other rooms.”

I walked across the room, the floor creaking beneath my feet, to another door on the far side. It opened up to a large room that didn't seem to have been used for anything, as it was completely empty. It too was dark. I walked over to one of the walls.

“Okay, here's a wall that doesn't have anything on it. Maybe we can devise a large door, or a removable wall or something. It would be pretty easy, all I would have to do would be to cut out a section with my magic and-”

Manty came crashing through the wall, sending wood and glass everywhere.

“... or you could just do that.”

He calmly brushed himself off, leaving a good manticore-sized hole in the wall, before walking past me. “The walls are a bit flimsy.”

“Yeah.” I sighed. “Yeah, I know.”

He walked over to the doorway I had just came through, then backed up a little bit. “Step one...” He then sprang forward, smashing through the wall and making another manticore-sized hole where the door used to be. “... enlarge the doorways.”

He walked back into the empty room. “You're right, this is fun.”

“Look, just try not to bring the whole place crashing down on top of us, okay?”

“You got it. Oh look, another door!” And he was off.

Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh... house, I would prepare for a major shit-storm if I were you.

“Hey Flame, I think I found the kitchen!”

“Good for you, I'm going upstairs.”

After navigating through a couple more doorways, I found the stairs and climbed them. Each and every one creaked when I stepped on it, which made me freeze, fearing I was about to became more familiar with the ground then I wanted to be. So yeah, climbing the stairs took a while.

When I actually got there, the upstairs was nothing special. All of the rooms were bedrooms, except for one which was (gasp) the master bedroom. Even the master bedroom didn't have much that was different about it. Just a bigger room with a fancier bed.

Okay, moving on...

The third floor turned out to be the attic, which was unsurprisingly full of a ton of nothing. The whole thing was just one large room with two boarded up windows and a staircase leading back down to the second floor.

Hey wait a sec, if I move a bed up here...

I approached one of the walls and felt it. Solid. I backed up a few feet and stared charging a ball of chaos magic in my hands. After a few minutes, I threw it at the wall, making the whole side of the room explode. The roof creaked ominously.

I cringed. Shit. Pleasedon'tfallpleasedon'tfallpleasedon'tfall.

It didn't fall.

I let out a breath. Thank you.

I admired my handy work. I had a good view of the forest from here, as well as a convenient spot to land when I was flying about. Nice. I went back down the stairs and called to Manty. “I found my room! What have you found?”

“A tasty family of mice.”

I winced. “Dude... you are brutal.”

“What? It's not like they suffered or anything.”

“But seriously though, what have you found?”

“I found a kitchen with nothing in it, a basement with nothing in it, and a closet with nothing in it.”

“Yeah, finding nothing is starting to become a trend here.”

“So what have you found?”

“About...” I counted the number of bedrooms. “... four bedrooms, a master bedroom, and an empty attic, which I am claiming as my room.”

“You're gonna sleep in the attic?”

“Yep. Plus, I just took out a wall, so...”

“M'kay. Then I claim the big empty room down here.”

“Cool. I'm gonna have to buy some more mattresses though, because the ones up here suck.”

“Noted.”

I then proceeded to move the mattress from the master bed to the attic, via chaos magic. It may have been crappy, but it was better then sleeping on the floor. I left the bed frame, it had served it's purpose.

After situating the mattress in a comfortable place and making a mental note to go back and get my stuff from the clearing, I met up with Manty in front of the house. I found that if I just jumped out of the hole I had made in the attic, I would land just in front of the front door. I had to use my wings a little to avoid breaking my legs, but yeah.

We both stared at the house for a while. Tienn, who hadn't left her spot since we began, joined us in staring.

Well that was fun, we're done now, yes?

“Well, I'm gonna have to buy some new mattresses, as well as fix up the walls a little bit, but other then that it's great.”

“Yeah.”

“Cool.”

“Okay.”

…

Awkward silence.

Tienn looked between the two of us. -Whatever happened to 'fixing the place up'?-

“Meh, got lazy.”

“What he said.”

She gave us both a deadpan.

“Okay, the real reason is I don't have the materials yet. Give me until I can buy some lumber or something. Then we can expect to see results.”

She raised an eyebrow. -Oh really?-

“Yeah. Just gimme time.”

…

-Well this is taking far too long for my tastes.- She approached the house and her horn began to glow. -Allow me to speed the process up a little.-

The blue light expanded, slowly covering the house until the entire thing was shining light blue. After a few minutes, the light faded.

My mind was fricking blown.

The house was the same, except... AWESOME. The whole thing was now covered in vines and thin trees that had grown up around it, hugging the wall and yet avoiding windows and doors. The windows were no longer boarded up, and each one had fresh glass. The wood was the same, except it looked a lot healthier, and definitely less dusty. I noticed that roots were now running from the bottom of the house into the ground, so that it looked like the whole thing was just straight-up growing. The roof was now covered in tiny branches that were growing out from between the tiles, and each branch had numerous leaves growing from it, making it look kind of like a tree. I wanted to compare it to the library, except that there was one major difference: you could still easily tell that it was a house. It looked overgrown, but it was still a house. The new wood and windows gave everything a feel of newness, but didn't take away the 'nature-y' aspect of it.

I stood there, my eyes popping out of my head and my jaw hanging open. I probably looked like a total idiot.

Manty was in awe to. “Hol...ey...SHIT.”

Tienn walked back to us, smiling. -That was fun.-

I managed to regain my sense of motion long enough to look at her. “I think I love you.”

That actually managed to bring a small blush to her cheeks, but she also grinned even wider. -Oh, but you haven't seen what I've done to the inside yet.-

“The in... the in...” I was once again unable to utter full sentences. Thanks a lot Tienn.

-Now now, no need to thank me all at onc- She was interrupted by me giving her a huge bear hug.

“THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU oh my God I FRICKING LOVE YOU!!!”

She was rendered speechless. Even when I let go and strode over to the house she still remained still.

“This...” I gestured at the house “...This is fricking awesome! I now have literally the coolest house in the fricking universe! AND I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHY!!!”

I turned back to Tienn. “Don't get me wrong, I'm probably the happiest guy in the world right now, but WHAT did I do to deserve this?!”

She stood there for a moment, then shook her head and smiled again. -Well, I can't have you sleeping in a degraded house can I? After all, you've provided me with some of the best entertainment I've had in years.- She turned and started walking back into the forest. -That, and I just can't stand a messy room. Do please try not to blow it up, will you?-

“Try. Okay, I can do that!” I turned to Manty. “C'mon! Let's check out the inside!”

As I raced indoors to observe my new home from the inside (again), Manty just stood there and stared at the house, completely lost for words. After about five minutes, he slapped himself and shook his head to regain his senses. “Huh.” He muttered, started towards the house. “Wasn't expecting that.”

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

Derpy Hooves wasn't in the best of moods.

In fact, she was in a decidedly bad mood.

It was four o'clock in the afternoon. She should be home now. Her route was done and over with, and any extra last-minute letters had been delivered to the right people. What more could you want from a mailmare? But no, just as she had been about to go home and relax, maybe have a muffin or two, she had gotten this. A little extra assignment, a 'special delivery' that they wanted her to help out with. That sounded great on paper right? 'Special deliveries' were usually important, which meant a higher pay. And guess what this one had turned out to be:

A couch. A Celestia-damned couch.

Important. Yeah.

Flying next to the box-carriers, she wondered as to why she was even here. She wasn't actually doing anything. She wasn't even leading them. The box-carriers know where they were supposed to go, and they certainly didn't need her help. She was just there for the ride, the one that did that whole 'here's a package, sign here please' thing. It was easy, and at least she was getting paid extra, but still. Why did it have to be in the Everfree Forest of all places? The only pony- er, zebra- that lived here was Zecora, and she definitely had no need of a couch.

The carriers, however, seemed to know where they were going, so she just followed and tried to look nonchalant. Not that it mattered. None of the box-carriers talked to her, all attention focused on their precious cargo. It was like saying a word would make them drop it.

Which would be pretty funny, actually. She grinned.

They walked in silence for a few more minutes, her becoming more bored with each step. It said something for how bored she was when she wasn't even creeped out by the forest around her. She was in the Everfree after all. That creepy, old, dark place that parents told their fillies and colts about to make them go to bed. Heh, as if. It wasn't even that scary. Just a bunch of old trees and-

“We're here.” One of the box-carriers had finally spoke.

She looked up and stopped. “Whoa...”

It was a house, a big house, but it looked overgrown. The whole thing was covered in vines and thin trees, and the roof was a sea of leaves created by tiny branches. The windows and wood was new though, so it had probably been built recently.

Somepony needs a gardener...

She flew ahead to the front door while the box-carriers shuffled along with their load. Coming right up to the front door, she could see that there was a message scrawled across it. It was a rather long message, reaching about half-way down the door, and looked as though it had been carved with something sharp. A knife perhaps, or a claw. Maybe whoever lived here was a griffin. She took a moment to read the whole thing It said:

The ghastly, dark, horrible lair of
Mr. Flamesinger.

Visitors, please use front door. You don't have to knock, but doing so will increase your chances of survival by about 99%, so I would suggest it. Please note that any and all burglars/thieves/serial killers will be eaten by-

The word 'pet' was scratched out, and there was a huge indent next to it, as though something had punched the door.

-best friend forever manticore. Salesmen of any species, if you would be so kind as to use the back door (the one with the hidden spike pit), I would be most grateful. Also, if you're a hater, screw off. I don't wanna deal with you.

Have a nice day.

P. S. No, seriously, there actually is a manticore in there. So when you see him, don't lose your shit. He responds to the name 'Manty'. Don't piss him off, bad things will happen.

P. S. S. If your name is Twilight Sparkle, then I'm not home.

By the time she had gotten to the last sentence, Derpy was thoroughly creeped out. What kind of pony lived here? Whoever it was sounded insane at the very least. And what was this about a manticore? Derpy would be the first to admit that she wasn't the smartest pony around, but even she knew that you couldn't tame manticores. That just didn't happen.

The carriers had made their way to the door and were now reading the message as well. When they were done the looked at each other, then at Derpy.

“So, uhh...” She hesitated. “Should I knock?”

One of the leaders nodded. Did these guys ever say anything?

Composing herself, she got out her clipboard from her saddle bags had tried to act as though this was just another package she was delivering. Which it was, but these circumstances were more then a bit odd. She knocked on the door.

She was not expecting what happened next.

The door opened, and there stood... a dragon. Not a huge one, but still a dragon. It was as tall as the doorway, and covered in blue scales. Two wings were spread out behind it, and when it glanced down at her, she saw that it's eyes were also blue. It's eyes rested on her miss-matched ones for a couple seconds, before blinking and looking away. “Yeah?”

Now, while it was true that Derpy was more then likely scared out of her mind right now, and that every one of her instincts was telling her to get out of there, she was a mailmare. She did this stuff for a living, and the fact that it was a dragon that answered the door didn't change that. Okay, well maybe it changed it a little, but still. She had a job to do. It was time for instincts to take over.

“I-I have a p-package here for a M-Mr. F-Flamesinger?”

“Yeah, that's me.” He looked at the box and grinned, which made Derpy cringe. “Hey, is that my couch?”

She nodded, albeit very shakily.

“Great! Come on in, I'll show you where to put that.” And he disappeared into the house.

She looked at the carriers, who looked back at her, as if waiting for her to make the first move. Sighing, and bracing herself for whatever she would find, she entered.

The next room was breath-taking. The walls were designed just like the outside ones, with vines and trees snaking along them and avoiding the windows. The floor was wooden, but it was smooth and looked brand new. There were already two couches in the center of the room, next to a a stump that seemed to be growing out of the floor, which functioned as a small table. There was a grandfather clock in the corner, was also new and was ticking away. On the wall was a huge portrait of an old pony with a wig, but somepony had drawn a goatee, mustache, top hat, and spectacles on him with the same sharp thing that had written the message on the door. Looking at the dragon's sharp claws, Derpy had a feeling she knew who had drawn both things.

“Wow...” She muttered “...you have a... nice house.”

“Why thank you. I owe it all to magic and a friend of mine that hates dirty houses.” He spread his arms, which again made Derpy cringe. He didn't seem to notice. “So yeah, welcome and everything. That couch can go...uh...” He had a blank look for a second, then shrugged. “... anywhere.”

As the carriers set down the box, the dragon approached Derpy. “Also, is there anything I need to sign? Or am I good?”

“W-well... there i-is something, but...” She took a breath. “N-No offense meant sir, but I was under the i-impression that Mr. F-Flamesinger was a pony.”

“What?” He looked confused for a second, then looked down at himself and seemed to realize something. “Oh shit. Yeah, here, gimme a sec...”

He darted through what seemed to be a large hole in the wall, and then ducked into a side room so nopony could see him. She heard a slight humming noise issue from it. She recognized that sound, she had heard it plenty of times before when she saw unicorns using magic. But dragons couldn't use magic, right?

After a few seconds, the humming stopped and a pony emerged. A pegasus with a blue coat and a dark blue mane with white stripes running through it. When he spoke, it was in the same voice as the dragon's.

“Well yes, ahem, I am Mr. Flamesinger, though you should really just call me Flame. Everypony does. You have something for me to sign?”

In a state of complete shock, Derpy dumbly handed over the clipboard. “... sign right here...”

While the pony-er, Flame- signed, Derpy took a look at his cutie mark. It was a fireball, made of both normal and dark fire. She shook her head a little and looked back at his head. It was then that she recognized him. He was the new pony in town, the one that Pinkie Pie had thrown a party for a few days ago. She always went to those parties (free muffins), and the 'surprise' thing always meant she got a good look at whoever the party was for. She hadn't talked to him of course, but she knew it was the same guy. And now that her instincts weren't telling her to run away anymore, she wanted a few answers. Number one being what the hay a dragon was doing here.

“Er, excuse me sir, but are you the same pony who had the surprise party a few days ago?”

He looked up, carefully avoiding looking at her eyes. “Yeah, came here about five days ago. Bought this house so I had a place to stay. That... that dragon you saw earlier... would it be possible for you to forget you saw that?”

She shook her head. “Nope. Definitely not.” She looked at him suspiciously. “Mind telling me why you have the same voice as him though?”

“Yes. Yes I would, actually.” He finished signing and handed back the clipboard. “Now if that's all, you know where the door is. Please don't let me keep you from anything you must do.”

The carriers were all too happy to oblige, and quickly made their way out the door. Derpy, however, stayed put.

Flame switched his gaze between her and the door. “Y'know, I hear there's a big sale going on at that one bakery... thing... Sugercube Corner. Yeah. Wouldn't want to miss it.”

“Not until you answer my question.”

“I don't wanna.”

“Listen pal, I may not look that smart...” She gestured at her crazy eyes. “… but even I can do basic logic.”

“Then figure it out. I didn't really make it that hard, did I?”

“No. No you didn't.” She paused for a second, then made her way to the door. When she got there, she looked over her shoulder. “Sooo... you're a dragon... who lives in a weird house.”

“Pretty much.”

“Alright then.” She left and closed the door behind her.

As she flew back to the office to report the 'special delivery' a success, she rubbed her forehead with her hooves. “I need a muffin.”

-End of Chapter 12-

A/N: Like and comment. Especially the comment. Praise lifts my spirits and makes me eager to write more, and critique informs me of what I'm doing wrong so I can fix it.

Secret Revealed

A/N: Oh my God, over ten thousand words!?! How did this chapter get to be that long!?!

I really do spoil you guys.

So anyway, I'm not gonna apologize for the short delay, because A.) this chapter was yet again a total pain in the ass to write and B.) my life doesn't revolve around getting chapters out as fast as possible.

I mean, c'mon guys. I was late a DAY AND A HALF. Deal with it.

Anyway, enjoy and all that. This chapter has a bit more plot in it, so a few questions will be answered, and quite a few new ones brought up. Hope you like it.

Man, today should go on my calendar. The one day I managed to wake up and not have something strange, stressful, or even mildly annoying happen. Nope, this morning was just that: a morning. A normal, everyday, run-of-the-mill, morning.

Wait, what am I saying? OF COURSE IT WASN'T.

To start off the non-normal morning, let me fill you in on what Tienn had done to the rest of the house besides the outside and the living room. First and foremost, the whole house had received a major cleaning, so instead of being dusty and rotting everything looked brand new. This included the beds and mattresses, so now I had about four bedrooms with perfectly useable beds in them that I had no idea what to do with (Indoor jacuzzi?). She had also transported the master bed up into the attic, so I was sleeping in full luxury up there. And of course, the walls were covered with the usual assortment of vegetation that seemed to have become Tienn's trademark.

So anyway, moving on to what was becoming my average morning in Equestria. I got up, ate a few gems, went back to sleep. The end.

Thirty seconds later, Manty threatened me via mindspeech with slow and extremely painful death by decapitation if I didn't move my lazy ass and come down. We really are the best of pals, him and I.

“Listen...” I informed him as I descended the stairs. “... I don't know who hired you, but you are henceforth fired from your position as my personal alarm clock.”

“Har har. Check the real clock.”

I did. It was eleven-twenty.

I looked at him questioningly. “Can you even read this?”

“Kinda. I know that when both stick-things are near the top, it's wakey-wakey time.”

“But both hands aren't near the top.”

“I know. That's because I didn't use it.” He turned and headed out through the huge hole he had made in the wall. “Tienn gave me permission to yell at you, so I did. Simple as that.”

I watched him go for a few seconds, then addressed the room in general. “Now don't you start!”

-Problem?-

“Yes, BIG problem! Sleeping in was one of the main reasons I even bought this thing!”

-And I have no problem with that. Sleep as late as you want. Just make sure that when you do, you are awake.-

“May I inquire as to what the hell that means?”

-I draw the line at going right back to bed. You want the fancy house, you get up when you get up.-

I considered this. “... Could you repeat that, except make it sound a lot less fair so I can complain about it more easily?”

-Why certainly.- She was silent for a minute. -Basically, you do what I say, or I take away everything you hold dear.-

“Thanks.”

-Anytime.-

“Now, on to this complaining...”

-You do realize that I can command any one of these branches to punch you, correct?- All of the thin tree branches on the walls came alive and pointed at me, as if to prove her point.

“Is that your answer to everything? Beat it with tree branches? That doesn't seem like a healthy life choice to me.”

-You really don't understand how annoying you are, do you?-

“Oh trust me, I do. And I like myself all the more because of it.” I noticed all the branches in the room start to tense. “Aaaaaaaaaaaaand I'm out.”

Not a single branch managed to get me. Thank God for teleporting.

Now I just need to find a way out of this cave...

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Ah... *snort* heh heh... oh my... that one never ceases to crack me up... Flamesinger, my dear boy, you are truly a dragon after my own heart.

That house though... ugh, really Tienn? You never did like change, but it's been over a thousand years! I would assume you would have gained another obsession by now. Then again, you can't really do that, can you? Forever bound to the forest and all that. Not that you seem to mind...

Now where was I? Ah yes, the house! Tienn, my dear girl, you really must learn to expand your horizons a little. Vines? Tree branches? SO old school. Now, If I was the designer... let's see... get rid of all the plant life, we certainly don't need that... and instead of the tree branch roof... balloons! Yes! The roof would be made out of balloons... and the whole house would be suspended in midair about ten feet off the ground... the beds would be on the ceiling... it would be snowing in the living room... maybe have a little homemade desert in the kitchen, complete with cacti... a cotton candy cloud in each of the bedrooms, spewing chocolate milk 24/7...

…

*Sigh*

Cotton candy clouds. Now that's one thing I truly miss.

Do you even remember me Tienn? Have you spent so much time copped up in that little forest of yours that you've forgotten about little old me? Oh of course you haven't. That would be to much to ask wouldn't it? No, EVERYPONY remembers me. Discord, Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony! Not in the technical sense of course, but it does sound pretty flashy, does it not? Practically the entirety of Equestria knows my name, and what do they do when they here it?

They tremble. They shake. They fear. They fear the very mention of my name, and for good reason! I was so... SO close... to being ruler of my kingdom once again... but no. Celestia wouldn't have it. Her and those damn Elements of Harmony!

Well I say let them them tremble! Let them shake! Let them fear my power! This land was once mine, and it shall be mine again! I vow that soon, oh VERY soon, EQUESTRIA SHALL KNOW MY RULE ONCE AGAIN!!!

*pant*... *pant*...

Well... I admit... I may have got myself a bit worked up there... but no matter. What I say doesn't count... no one will hear me anyway...not while I'm like this... weak, turned to stone, with only a fraction of my power remaining... and I am getting ahead of myself a tad... after all, before takeover... before world domination comes... the plan.

The plan... the plan... what was the plan...Ugh, damn this stone form! It muddles my thinking!

Ah yes, now I remember! The plan. The plan that actually WORKS... not like my last one. I got too full of myself last time... let my ego get the best of me... but not this time! This time it's all shadows... tricks in the dark... little slip-ups that nopony will notice... and it all revolves around HIM. Our dear little human-turned dragon.

Bringing him here... well I'll admit it was no easy task. It took a while... I don't even know how long, there's no way of keeping the time when you're a statue... First I had to peer into the human world... find a suitable subject that no one would miss... that was the easy part... the hard part was transporting him here, to Equestria, and giving him chaos magic.

Changing his form wasn't that hard... I changed ponies into all sorts of things back when I ruled... a human wasn't much different... neither were the little toys I left him... matter is easy for me to create... but the transport spell. Now THAT was, in human terms, a real pisser (I quite like these humans). It left me with barely any energy, only enough to give him the powers I needed him to have. After giving him the remainder of my magic, it took me two-and-a-half days in a near-death state to gather the energy I required to survive.

Since then I've been slowly trickling energy into him... making him stronger... using him as a sort of storehouse for my power, so that when the time comes, I'll have enough to do what I need to do.

But power won't be enough. Oh no, Celestia made sure of that.

The book. The book was key. Part of the little bag of toys I left him. He wonders who put them there... he'll have to wonder for a little while more...

A Guide To Dragons... a book lost in time... oh, how Celestia would be sore if she know I had it... she's been hunting for it for years... But you know something?

Back in the day... when this book was a famous wealth of knowledge... and scholars young and old studied it every day... if you had asked to see Section 2d of it, they would give you a strange look.

“There is no Section 2d. It ends at 2c, then continues on to Section 3. Perhaps you meant one of those?”

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” questioned Scootaloo.

“Well Ah didn't see you suggestin' somethin' better.” Apple Bloom shot back.

“I know, but... a library?” She shuffled her hooves. “Doesn't that kind of make us eggheads?”

Apple Bloom shrugged. “Maybe. But where else are we gonna find this stuff?”

“Stop arguing you two. This can be solved easily.” Sweetie Bell trotted up to the door and knocked before either of her friends could stop her.

The door was opened by Spike, who immediately started reciting a basic welcome verse in a voice that pretty much screamed 'I don't care about your life, please go away and leave me in peace'. “Welcome to the Books and Branches Library, how may I-oh.” He noticed the white filly in front of him, and the level of caring in his voice increased somewhat. “Hey Sweetie Bell.”

“Hey Spike. We're here to check out a book. Can we come in?”

He blinked. Then he peeked over the filly's shoulder and saw her friends, one looking normal and the other looking bored. He returned his attention to Sweetie and raised an eyebrow. “You want to check out a book?”

“Yep!” Apple Bloom's face was the picture of pure innocence. “Isn't that okay?”

“Yeah, it's just that you girls... don't really seem like the reading type.”

“It's a special occasion.” Scootaloo muttered. “Crusading business.”

He shrugged and turned, as if that explained everything. Which it kind of did. “Oh, okay then. C'mon in.”

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Bell high-five'd each other as they walked through the door. Scootaloo sighed and did a quick look-around, making sure nopony was watching, then quickly followed her friends into the library. Books were not her strong point. More like her phobia.

“Hey Twilight” Spike called up the stairs. “You got some customers!”

“Really!?!”

There was a bright flash, and suddenly a very excited Twilight was occupying the room. A very excited Twilight.

“Hello and welcome to the Books and Branches library thank you so much for coming I assure you that you will find whatever you're looking for here we have-” She stopped mid-sentence as soon as she caught sight of the girls, and her face fell considerably. “Oh. It's just you then?”

Sweetie Bell choose to ignore this comment. “Hello Twilight. We want to check out a book.”

Twi perked up. “A book?” She looked closely at the trio. “Really?”

“Funny, Spike was like that also.” muttered Apple Bloom.

“Sorry, it's just that you fillies didn't strike me as readers...” She furrowed her eyebrows. “... though there was that one time on Hearts and Hooves Day-”

“Mooooving on...” Scootaloo quickly tried to regain control of the conversation before it pealed out and died in an explosive ball of fire. “... can you help us?”

“What? Oh yes.” Twi shook her head and smiled down at the trio. “What kind of book do you want? Is it for a school assignment? The geography and science textbooks are right over there, though I think they might be a little advanced for you.”

“No no, nothing like that.” Sweetie Bell adopted a innocent look. “We want a book about PRANKS!”

Twilight's face went blank. “Pranks?”

“Yea!” Apple Bloom squeezed in between her two friends. “Y'know, like a book that lists out different pranks, with steps on how to do 'em, that kinda thing!”

“It's for our cutie marks!” Scootaloo added to the barrage. “Pleaaaaaaaase?”

Now, let's pause time and take a moment to do a brief overview on a certain purple unicorn named Twilight Sparkle. What would be a few words to describe her? Magical? Yes. Logical? Yes. Smart? Now that one's a biggie. Twilight Sparkle is very smart. She could see right away that a book of pranks in the hands of the Cutie Mark Crusaders was basically a one-way ticket to eternal damnation. And as soon as she figured that out (which took about one-point-five seconds of 'no shit' logic), she started frantically thinking of a way to distract the Crusaders from their intended target.

“Oh... uh...”

C'mon, think! THINK!

“Well... er... you see...”

Think or Equestria is doomed!

Then, all of a sudden, mind flash! Great idea! Twi immediately grabbed hold of it without caring where it came from and proceeded to fix the situation that had rapidly went downhill.

Composing herself, she smiled. “Oh come now, pranks? Haven't you girls tried that before?”

“Ummmm...” Apple Bloom scratched her head. “Ah don't think so.”

“Besides, it's not technically pranks.” Scootaloo pointed out. “That one guy told us it was-”

“I can't help you out with pranks, but if you're looking for something to do in order to earn your cutie marks, I think I can help you there.”

Sweetie Bell perked up. “Really? What?”

“Well... I just happen to have an old beginner chemistry set down in the basement left over from when I was a filly. It's a bit old, but if you three want to use it, you're more then welcome to.”

At the thought of being able to freely experiment with random chemicals, all the members of the CMC grew large grins and any thoughts of the so-called 'pranks' they were going to do went out the window. They jumped into the air and did a three-way-high-five. “CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS, CHEMICAL MIXERS!!! YAAAHH!!!”

Twilight tried to hide her grin. “I take it that's a yes?” The fillies bobbed their heads in enthusiastic agreement. “Alright then. Let me go get it and we'll set you up.”

As she retrieved the old box from the basement, Spike shook his head. It was apparent to him that this was an even worse idea, but Twilight seemed to know what she was doing, so he didn't question it. Then again, Twi's plans only worked about fifty percent of the time. Maybe he should be worried.

Nah. He went back to sorting books. Let her figure this one out.

She returned levitating a slightly dusty box over her head, which the fillies tried to grab. She moved it out of their reach, chuckling. “Oh no you don't. You're not working with this in here. I'd rather not have to clean up a huge mess, and this stuff gets everywhere.”

“You mean me have to clean up a huge mess.” grumbled Spike. She shot him a dirty look.

“Then where do we do it?” Sweetie Bell wanted to know.

“Hmmm...” Twi hadn't thought this part out. Then she brightened and turned to Apple Bloom. “Apple Bloom, does your family still have that old shed near the edge of the orchard?”

“Yeah.” Then she seemed to understand what Twi was saying. “Hey yeah! We could do it there! That thing hasn't been used in ages! We could make as big a mess as we want!”

“Exactly.” Twi levitated the box over to Scootaloo and set it on her back. “Why don't you go over to Applejack and ask her if you can use it? I'm sure she'll say yes.”

“That's a great idea! C'mon girls!” Apple Bloom galloped out the door, followed closely by her two friends. They were so excited that anypony in their way was shoved aside by the onslaught. Twi just chuckled and shut the door behind them. Problem solved.

Spike waited a few moments before finally speaking his mind. “I'm gonna be honest here, just what are you thinking entrusting a chemical set to the Cutie Mark Crusaders? That won't end well y'know.”

She laughed. “Oh trust me Spike, I've used that set hundreds of times. It was built for kids, with absolutely no dangerous chemicals in it. There's even an instruction manual. The most they'll be able to make will be a explosion of goo, and that's only if they put the correct chemicals in the correct order, which I doubt will happen. We have nothing to worry about.”

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

Yes. Yes, this is PERFECT!

The right time to strike... all I need is a little magic... a few matter changes... maybe some more work once it really gets going... then... yes. Yes, this will work.

Nothing to worry about, hmm Twilight Sparkle?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!!

If you say so...

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

After getting Applejack's permission to use the shed, the very happy group of fillies set out through the orchard in order to get their cutie marks and generally cause as much destruction as they possibly could. On accident, of course.

The shed itself was actually pretty big, with room enough inside to fit about ten ponies. It was positioned near a thin part of the orchard, and was within calling distance of the barn. It had been built with the idea of a storehouse in mind, but the Apple family never seemed to need it. In fact, they were never short on storage. The barn provided all the room they required. And so, it had fell out of use.

As they opened the door and trotted inside, the place was suddenly filled with sunlight. Scootaloo headed for the nearest table and brushed it off, creating a cloud of dust before dissipating. Dropping the box onto the table, the eager children quickly opened it and dumped out all the contents.

The first thing that fell out was a well-used instruction manual, which Scootaloo took one look at before promptly picking it up and tossing it over her shoulder. It was caught by Sweetie Bell, who looked disapprovingly at her friend before returning it to the table. “We might need that.”

Scootaloo rolled her eyes but didn't comment.

Also in the box was a beaker, about fifteen smaller vials half-filled with colorful liquids, and four pairs of safety goggles (which were all thrown in the trash, no argument from anypony).

“Sooo...” Apple Bloom looked in between her two friends. “What should we make first?”

“I'll look through this thing.” Sweetie Bell opened the manual and started cruising, immediately skipping over anything labeled 'Safety'. “Maybe I'll find something.”

Scootaloo peeked over her friends shoulder and saw labels such as 'Miniature Volcano' and 'Glow-in-the-Dark Liquid'. She rolled her eyes and made a face. “Skip all that and get to the cool stuff.”

“Cool stuff?”

“Yeah, y'know! Bombs, liquid fire, potions that give you super powers or that change you into manticores or dragons! The cool stuff!”

“Ohhhh...” Sweetie flipped through a couple more pages. “I'm not sure it has that stuff in here.”

“Well then forget the book. We'll do this the same way we do everything.” Scootaloo returned her attention to the vials and grabbed the nearest one, which was light blue. “Guess and check.”

The idea was agreed upon anonymously, and soon all three fillies were pouring vial after vial of colorful liquid into the beaker. It wasn't long before they ran out. The end result was a full beaker of muddy brown liquid that swirled when ever you touched it...

… and other then that did absolutely nothing.

“Maybe we have ta drink it.” suggested Apple Bloom.

Sweetie Bell made a face. “Eww. I'm not drinking that.”

“I will.” declared Scootaloo, who promptly grabbed the beaker and took a quick sip. She sat there, savoring the taste, before turning around and spitting it halfway across the shed.

“Belch!” She kept on spitting, trying to get the taste out of her mouth. “I think you may have had a point there Sweetie Bell!”

“Feel any different? Stronger or anything?” asked Apple Bloom.

Scoots, after dispelling as much of the liquid as she could from her mouth, stood up and walked around. She stopped at a wall and looked at for a few seconds, then punched it as hard as she could. The result was a unaffected wall and a smarting hoof. She limped back to the table. “Nope.”

“Hmmm...” Apple Bloom thought about it for a few more seconds. “Hey, maybe you have to charge it with magic or somethin'. Sweetie Bell, how good are you with magic?”

“Not that good.” admitted Sweetie Bell. “But I'll try. Just give me room.”

Her friends backed away and Sweetie Bell positioned herself in front of the beaker. She lowered her horn and began to strain, trying to summon some magic. After thirty seconds, there was still nothing, but she kept on trying, determined to get out at least a spark. Scoots and Bloom sat in the background, encouraging her with shouts of 'You can do it!' and 'C'mon, just a little more!'.

Just as she was about to give up, she felt something. A tiny seed of magic. She seized it and strained even harder, managing to get it into her horn and out into the world. At last, she had performed magic!

Now just what was it gonna do?

Sweetie Bell sat in front of the beaker, panting. It looked no different then when she had first started. Scoots came up from behind her. “I thought I saw a spark flash, but nothing's happening.”

“I... know...” panted Sweetie. “Well... so much... for that...”

“Wait girls.” Apple Bloom looked closely at the beaker. “Are you seein' this?”

The other two returned their attention to the glass. A small light was forming in the middle of it, shining through the brown, and it was growing brighter by the minute.

“Ah think ya did it!” yelled Apple Bloom. “Sweetie Bell, Ah think ya really-”

The beaker exploded.

It was away from the girls, so none of them were hurt, but that was the least of their problems. The beaker had exploded in a ball of fire, which had impacted with the side of the wall, setting it ablaze. The three fillies started at it for a few seconds.

“Huh.” muttered Scootaloo.

“Ummm... girls?” Sweetie Bell had regained a bit of her breath. “I'm not sure what I did, but maybe we should leave.”

“Yep.” decided Apple Bloom. “Maybe we should.”

They quickly set down any vials they had and dashed for the exit, but then the impossible happened.

The door closed.

Just like that.

This was enough to freeze the fillies in their tracks. While logic would say to get away from the fire that was now spreading over one side of the shed, one of the most primal instincts of the young is to not go near anything out of the ordinary. Such as a door that closes by itself. This was all the fire needed.

The fire had been spreading at a normal rate, consuming what it touched and behaving like a normal fire, but here's where that ended. The fire began to flow, spreading over the walls at an abnormal pace, surrounding the girls before finally making reaching the other wall and consuming the door. The only exit.

And now the girls were completely surrounded, no way out.

Scootaloo looked frantically at her friends. “What's happening!?!”

“Ah don't know!” shouted Apple Bloom. “But Ah think it's time to panic!!!”

It was times like this when the CMC were grateful for their loud voice.

“HEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!”

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

Applejack was having a good day.

All the harvesting had been done, all the chores had been completed, she had the rest of the day free, and her little sister and her friends had found a way to entertain themselves thanks to Twilight. You couldn't ask for much more.

Speakin' a which, Ah should probably see how they're comin' along. Wouldn't want them ta make too much of a mess.

Chuckling to herself, she left the barn and started down the short trek to the shed. On the way there, her nose caught a small whiff of something. She sniffed some more, trying to figure out what it was.

Is that smoke? she wondered. She quickened her pace.

Then she heard a sound which made her blood run cold. “HEEEEEEEELLLLLPPPPPPP!!!!!”

Rounding a bend, she caught sight of the shed... and the flame and smoke coming from it.

“Oh dear Celestia.” She broke into a gallop. “Ah'm comin' Apple Bloom!”

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

The fire was raging.

Upon hearing the frantic shouts from both Applejack and the CMC, Big Mac had run into town to get Twilight. He sure could run fast if he wanted too. When Twi heard the news, she had teleported over and was currently using her magic to protect the fillies from the worst of the flame and heat. Rainbow had been dispatched to alert everypony to the situation, and now the shed was surrounded by a crowd comprised of the Elements of Harmony, Spike, the Apple family and most of Ponyville in general.

It goes without saying that the general atmosphere was complete pandemonium.

Applejack and Rarity were the worst. It was like they had complete switched personalities. Applejack was hysterical, begging everypony to help and yelling to the fillies that they were gonna be alright. Rarity just sat there, staring into the shed, eyes searching for her little sister. She called out to them whenever she heard them, but other then that stayed silent. Both her and Applejack were crying.

Fluttershy and a couple of the other townsfolk had fainted, and the rest were either helping to put out the fire or yelling encouragement to the fillies.

The fire though, was proving to be a problem.

It just wouldn't. Go. Out.

Twilight was a master magician, and most everypony knew it. She knew tons of spells for putting out fires, whether by simply getting rid of it, or smothering it, or starving it of it's fuel, such as wood or oxygen. This was basic science. She should have been able to put out this fire ten minutes ago.

But that wasn't the case.

You see, the fire simply wouldn't go out. No matter what she tried, summoning a monsoon of water or removing all the oxygen from a space around the wood, it just continued to burn. In fact, she suspected that if she were to pull of a piece of flaming timber and submerge it in a bucket of water, it would still burn bright and steady. Dash and some other pegasi had gathered some rain clouds and dumped their whole contents onto the shed, to no avail. This wood was doing the impossible.

Twilight was running out of options. Actually, she had run out of them quite a while ago and was now making them up on the spot, but the rate at which she was able to so was steadily decreasing. Her ideas were running short.

Dash landed beside her and looked at her. She looked back hopelessly. “Nothing works! I've tried everything I know and more! Whatever this is, it is not normal fire!”

“So do you have any more ideas?”

At this Twi collapsed, burying her head in her fore hooves. “NO!”

“Well I do.”

Twi looked up. She was close to crying, but unlike Applejack and Rarity had not subsumed to them yet. “What?”

“Flame.” The normally upbeat pegasus, second in personality only to Pinkie Pie, was dead serious. “One of us has to go get Flamesinger. He's a you-know-what, he can help with this.”

Twilight's head shot up.

She stood up very quickly, a smile forming on her face despite the situation. “Yes.... yes, yes, YES! THAT'S A PERFECT IDEA!” She turned to Rainbow. “I can't believe I didn't think of it, but yes, that's perfect!” Her face fell. “Except... we don't know where he is. Can you retrace the path back to the clearing?”

Before Rainbow could answer, Twilight felt a tapping on her shoulder. “Excuse me?”

She turned to see a familiar wall-eyed gray pegasus. “Oh, hey Derpy. Sorry but this isn't really the time-”

“I overheard you, I know what you're talking about. This Flamesinger... he's the you-know-what, right?”

“What?” Twilight immediately tried to act innocent, convinced that she had just revealed Flame's secret. “I-I don't what you mean...”

You wouldn't think a pegasus whose eye's point two different directions would be able to roll them, but Derpy managed it. “The dragon. He's the dragon, right?”

Twi, lost for words, was quickly shoved aside by Rainbow Dash. “Yes. Do you know where he is?”

“Follow me.”

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

*Pant*.... *pant*....

Wow...*pant*... didn't think that...*pant*... keeping a fire going... *pant*... would cost so much energy... *wheeze*... but it was worth it.

Heh heh... they're playing right into my hands... and they don't even know it...not that it will matter much to them now, but in the long run...

I may have asserted myself too much... that closing the door... it was a desperate move on my part, the whole plan would have fallen apart otherwise... set me back weeks...

But what am I saying? They'll never guess it was me. No, to them I'm safely imprisoned up here in Canterlot... just another statue that can't hurt anyone...

Well, we'll see just 'harmless' I can be... won't we?

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

Now, I may have been lying when I said it was a boring morning, what with Tienn's threats and me teleporting into some random cave (again) that may or may not have been home to a pack of scorpions (fricking BIG ones too), but I kid you not when I say that come the afternoon, I was in full boredom mode.

For the uneducated of you out there, let me give you a quick definition. Boredom mode: a mental state in which the person has been bored out of his mind for at least an hour and has resorted to doing the most random shit in order to become un-bored, which is normally met with negative results.

So yeah. Pretty much me until three o'clock.

In my defense though, I actually thought of some pretty cool stuff to do. Currently, I was attempting parkour on the outside of my house, which was actually easier then it sounded. I should know, I suck at climbing in general. But all the newly-acquired vines and tree branches on the walls made it super easy. Too easy in fact. I had already been up and down about four times, and was beginning to feel the affects of boredom wash over me again.

No! Quick, think of something fun to do!

You could do what I'm doing.

Manty, you're sleeping.

Exactly.

I paused for a moment. Good point.

I returned to the inside of my house and stretched out on my new sofa. I'll admit the flame design didn't really work with the rest of the house, but then again, I wasn't one for fashion. The couch looked cool, I bought it. End of story.

As I relaxed and tried to calm my mind enough to at least take a nap, the tranquility of my living room was shattered. Literally.

Rainbow Dash came crashing through one of the windows, throwing glass everywhere and scaring me half out of my mind. I jumped, screamed, and quickly hid behind the couch before my mind registered the rainbow mane and connected it with Dashie. Yeah, thanks a lot dragon instincts. No fear, my ass.

Once my mind had come to terms with the fact that it was Dash who had come crashing into my living room, I calmly stood, brushed myself off and strolled over to her. “That, my dear Dash, was a new window.”

“Ugh...” She shook her head to try and clear it. Then she looked up at me and her mind seemed to come together. Her eyes widened, and she shot up and started blabbering. “Quick, you gotta come with me, there's a thing- something went wrong- the shed- you gotta-”

I held up a clawed hand in the universal sign for 'hold up, I don't know what the hell you're talking about'. “Whoa whoa whoa, slow down, who killed who?”

She took a few seconds to regain her breath, then managed to from a coherent sentence. “Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell are trapped in a shed and it's on fire and we can't put it out and we need your help!”

I blinked. “Wait, WHAT?”

“Exactly! Quick, you gotta come with me!”

“Sure sure, but wait a sec.” I did some quick thinking. “Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell... aren't those the three that call themselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders?”

“Yes! Now c'mon!”

“I'm comin', I'm comin'.” I quickly activated my magic and was surrounded in the usual dark aura. Stepping out as a pegasus, I headed towards the window, rather then use the door. It was quicker and cooler. Don't ask why. “Yo Manty! Crisis imminent, be back in an hour!”

“Got it!”

I flew out the window, then turned back to Dash who was still sitting there. “So you were in a hurry, yes?”

“Oh, yeah!” She shot after me through the window. “Follow me! It's not that far!”

As I started after her, I heard another voice beside me. “So she knows you too?”

I looked to the side. It was that gray pegasus that had delivered my couch from yesterday. The one with the creepy eyes. She was flying right along side me. “Yeah. More or less.” I looked back ahead. “So, you led her here I suppose?”

“Yeah. It's pretty bad. Twilight’s tried everything.”

“Has she tried cursing at it and yelling it into submission?”

She looked surprised. Wonder why. “No.”

“Then she hasn't tried everything.”

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

I swear to God, I leave for five minutes and all hell breaks loose around here.

Skipping the journey across the Everfree, I was now approaching the shed and was within viewing distance. I was able to see the fire, Applejack and Rarity crying, Twilight sitting there probably doing something important, and of course, the huge group of townsfolk.

Oh great, there's an audience. That means if Twi asks me to do something and I screw up, I screw up in front of EVERYONE. Joy.

Rainbow led me to Twilight's side, which brought everyone's attention to yours truly. Everyone's attention except Twilight's. I decided to make me presence known through a smart remark, naturally.

“Really Twi? I was gone for a DAY.”

Yeah, I gotta be me. Even when there's three little kids trapped in a burning building.

Speaking of which, I should probably do something about that.

“Oh Flame! Thank Celestia you're here!” For the record, Twi looked fricking horrible, with bags under her eyes and a messed up mane. Just thought you should know. “This fire is just out of control!”

“Yep, noticed. And while I'm all for getting them out of there as fast as possible...” I looked sideways at her. “... exactly what do you think I can do about it?”

“Well, the floor is dirt, so we can be thankful for that, but my magic isn't working on the walls or the ceiling, so-”

“Wait, back up. Your magic doesn’t work?”

“Nothing works! This fire just keeps on going! Here, I'll show you!”

She stepped forward and called out a warning. “Stand back everypony! I'm gonna try it again!” She closed her eyes and her horn glowed. The door glowed as well, and while the fire dimmed a little, it didn't go out. Not even close. The glow vanished from both the door and Twi's horn and she stepped back, panting a little.

“I just removed every ounce of oxygen from the air around that door. Again.” She turned to me. “See what I mean? Nothing works!”

My mouth was hanging open a little. “'Kay, I'm gonna save the general WTF of what just happened for a later time. So what do you want me to do?”

“Well...” She gave a look that told me it should be obvious. “... you're a...” She noticed that we were the center of attention from pretty much everyone there, so she changed what she was about to say. “... you're a you-know-what!”

“I literally have no idea how that pertains to this current situation.”

“Ugh!” She stomped her hoof in frustration. “THINK Flame! You're a you-know-what! You're fire-proof!”

My mouth made a silent 'oh'. Then I facehoofed and rubbed my forehead. “Wait, stop, I think I know where this is going...”

“Exactly! You have to go in there and get them!”

“Spike's one too! Why not him?”

She looked horrified. “He's just a baby! I'm not sending him in there! It could be dangerous!”

I deadpanned. “Well thanks for the huge vote of confidence.”

“It's just... It's just...” She was starting to cry now. “Please!”

“Hey, whoa, I never said I wouldn't do it.” Then I frowned. “Wait a sec, for me to be fire-proof, won't I have to...”

“Yes, you will have to transform!”

“Twi, are you fricking crazy!?! Practically the whole town's here!!!”

“I know... and I know you don't want to give away your secret... but it's for a good cause!”

“Aw, for the luvva-”

It was then that I felt a hoof on my shoulder. I turned to see Rarity, tears silently streaming down her face, and Applejack, who was crying into her shoulder.

“Please.” Rarity whispered. “You can save them. Just... please. Without my Sweetie Bell...” Her grip tightened and her tears increased.

I stared back at her for a few seconds. Then sighed.

“Eh, I was looking for something to do anyway...”

I turned away and took a few steps forward. “Okay, everypony back away! This shit's gettin' heavy and I need some space! Also!” I turned my head to the crowd. “Two things! One, I'll need Spike's help!” Twilight looked like she wanted to protest, but I waved her off. “He'll be fine. He's fireproof too, right?” Spike ran up beside me, looking nervous. “And two!” I grimaced. “Please, PLEASE don't freak out? Please?”

“What are you gonna do?” a random stallion called out.

“I'm gonna save the kids!”

“Fair enough.” The general crowd mumbled in agreement.

“Right on.” I turned forward and leaned down to talk to Spike. “Okay, Spike, you cool with this? If you wanna back out, that's fine.”

“N-No... just a l-little nervous is all... b-but I'll go with you.” He gave a shaky smile. “Can't leave a fellow dragon hanging, right?”

“Good. And don't worry. You're fireproof. No danger whatsoever. Well, unless something collapses, but try not to think about that.”

I straightened up. “Let's do this.” I then activated my magic. My body was once again encased in a dark, smokey cocoon of magic, only this time it was in front of everyone. And I mean literally everyone.

'Kay, remind me why I'm doing this? Oh yeah. Sad Rarity and Applejack. Got it.

The gasps surprisingly didn't start until the magic dissipated. Thankfully though, there were no screams of terror. Just a ton of gasps. Good.

I strode forward. “Now Spike, I feel I should tell you that I'm not completely sure if this fireproof thing works...”

“Oh, it does. At least, it has the few times I've been in fire. Still though... let's not stay in there longer then we have too.”

“Good plan.”

I reached to door and hesitantly reached out toward it. I could feel the heat from the flames, but it wasn't uncomfortable like it should have been this close. I slowly reached out a palm and took a deep breath. “Well, here goes.” I pressed my palm against the flaming door.

Nothing. No pain. Aw, thank Christ.

I wiggled my claws. “This is so weird.”

“Tell me about it.”

Now, knowing that I was indeed fireproof, I tried the door. Wouldn't budge. Great. “Hey Apple Bloom! Can you hear me?!”

“Y-y-yes...” The voice was shaky.

“Good. Are you anywhere near the door?!”

“N-n-no...” The voice was still shaky. “T-the door's t-too hot...”

“Yeah, that's usually a side effect of fire. Now, in a few seconds this door is going to burst open. Be prepared for that, okay?”

“O-o-okay.”

“And don't worry. You'll be fine. Trust me.”

I backed away from the door slightly. “Hey Spike, have you ever kicked down a door before?”

“No.”

“Me neither.” And I let lose a good one at it.

Dragon muscles must be stronger then human muscles of the same size, because I broke open the door no problem. It brought a few more gasps from the crowd, and a few screams, but whatever. I waved me hand at Spike. “After you.”

“Why me?”

“Because I'd rather not have to deal with three kids that are terrified of me. You'll make a good impression.”

He went without another word. I followed him.

Inside, everything was both very smokey and on fire. Both the walls and the ceiling were covered in flame, and looked about ready to collapse any minute. There was a table near the far wall, which was also ablaze. The floor was dirt, like Twi said, which was the only reason the three girls were still alive. Said girls were huddled in the center of the room, hugging each other and looking sacred out of their minds. Spike immediately ran over to them, and when they saw him they leaped up and hugged him, all of them crying.

I walked over. “While this is very touching, and I'm more then happy to see it continue, might I suggest we do it outside?”

The white one, Sweetie Bell (Yes! I remember it this time!), looked up at me, and her eyes grew wide. “Who are you?”

“I wish I could say nobody of importance, but since I'm saving your lives, I really can't. But before you ask anymore questions, let me just say that I will answer nothing until I'm out of this burning building. Just cause I'm fireproof doesn’t mean I like it as much as you do.” I turned towards the exit. “Hey Twi! We got em', safe and sound! We're just gonna leave and this'll all be-”

Then again, things are never that simple. At least not for me.

The front of the shed collapsed. I scrabbled back with a loud exclamation of “HOLY SHIT!!!”.The door was completely caved in, and when the dust cleared we could see that the space of no fire had been cut in half. We were now trapped, along with the fillies, with no exit.

“... over.” I rubbed my forehead. “Of. Fucking. Course.”

“Flame! Spike!” I looked up when I heard Twi's voice. “Are you alright!?!”

“Yeah, we're fine!” I examined our situation. “Relatively speaking!”

“I'll move this wreckage! Just give me a minute!”

“That would be great!”

There was a faint purple glow through the fire, and one of the pieces of timber started to shift on its own. Then the whole building creaked.

“STOP!!!” I threw out my hands and froze. The flames shifted a little, but everything remained stable.

“Yeah, hey Twi?! Uh, DON'T do that again!”

“But what will you guys do!?!”

“Don't worry! I'll think of something!” I lowered my voice and turned around. “I always do.”

I crouched in front of Spike and the fillies, who were looking even more terrified then usual, whether from me or the fact that we were basically screwed. “So Spike, got any bright ideas?”

He was trying to remain cool, like me, but he wasn't doing it very well. “N-not really...”

“Cool. Same here.” I rubbed my forehead. “Naturally.”

“Wait. Actually...” His face brightened and he looked at me, suddenly eager. “You have magic, right?”

I paused for a moment. “Hmmm...” I held up a finger, then lowered it. “Yes. Yes I do. I just need to think of a way to use it.” I glanced nervously outside, or what I could see of it. Which wasn't much. “And there's also the matter that my magic might not be generally excepted...”

Spike gave me a deadpan. “Everypony already knows you're a dragon, plus you're helping to save three fillies. I don't think you need to worry about that.”

“Good point.” I scratched my chin. “Well, I could-”

“Oh for the love of Celestia!!!” Scootaloo burst out. “Will you two just THINK of something already!?!”

“Okay okay, geez, chill.” I looked at Spike. “See? There's gratitude for ya.”

I stood up and called out to Twilight. “I got an idea! You can relax now!”

“Oh really!?!” Twi sounded sarcastic, even when she was shouting. “That doesn’t reassure me in the least!!!”

“I love you too!” I spread out my arms. “Spike, do you see any holes in the wreckage that you could exit through as long as the fire's gone?”

He quickly scanned the area, then pointed to an opening. “There! But you can't put out the fire!”

Both of my hands turned were surrounded by darkness as I activated my magic. “Who said anything about putting it out?”

I focused. I wasn't even sure if what I wanted to do was possible, even with chaos magic, but I had to try. I reached with my magic, feeling the fire around me. Dark tendrils extended from both my hands and weaved about the room. I felt the fire and tried to sort of grab it, which obviously didn't work. You can't just grab fire. So forget that, new idea. Maybe I could create a sort of vacuum, maybe suck all the fire into one place...

The tendrils vanished and instead of extending my hands I focused them, bringing them together like I was about to form a fireball in one of those cheesy fantasy movies. A small sphere of dark energy appeared in between them, and as I focused, the fire around me began to lean.

As all of this was going on, Spike, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo all watched in fascination.

The fire was leaning, bending, being drawn towards the black sphere in my hand. Soon, tendrils of flame began to extend from the wood and collect in the sphere, creating a tiny ball of compressed fire. More tendrils extended, the fire moving off the timber and being gathered in between my claws. The tendrils weren't part of the fire, they were the fire, so when all the flame had been collected from a spot, the tendril disappeared.

After about five minutes, all of the flame that had been licking away at the wood was now compressed into a ball between my hands. All of the tendrils were gone.

Or, in other words, the building was no longer on fire.

“Whoa...” muttered Spike.

I relaxed my hands. The ball continued to levitate between them. I let my left arm drop and turned my right palm skyward, and the ball stayed solid above my hand. Or, as solid as a fireball can get.

I examined it. “Huh. Didn't expect that to work.”

I looked back and saw both Spike and the girls staring at me with open mouths.

“That... was...” Apple Bloom stuttered.

“AWESOME!!!” Scootaloo shouted.

“Why thank you.” I twirled my fingers, and the ball spun in midair. “Now I just need to find a place to put this.”

“Yeah, wait until we're outside to do that.” Spike had finally found his normal speaking voice.

“Gotcha. Hey, speaking of outside, where should you guys be right now?”

That seemed to remind them where they were. “Oh yeah!” They jumped up and sprinted around me, disappearing into the hole one by one. As Sweetie Bell was about to leave, she turned around. “Thanks mister dragon!”

“No prob. Now go calm down Rarity, the poor girl's practically in a living coma.”

As she left, I sat down in the middle of the half-burned-down shed. I took notice that there were no holes big enough that I could fit through. Great.

Mister Dragon. I scratched my chin with my free claw. Catchy.

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

It would be safe to say that Rainbow Dash was probably more relieved then she had been in her entire life, though that should not be confused with happiness. The happiest moment in her life went to when she had performed the Sonic Rainboom at the Best Young Flyer's Competition. But this came very close to that.

Everything had pretty much been doing downhill. Flame and Spike and went into the building, and not thirty seconds later the whole front had collapsed. When that happened, Rarity had joined Applejack in her state of hysterics, and it was all Big Mac could do to keep the two of them from jumping into the flaming building themselves. Twilight was the only one who was keeping a level head, conversing with Flame through the fire and trying to figure out what to do. Flame, of course, was his usual witty self and didn't seem worried about the fire in the least, though that may have been because he was a dragon and didn't really need to worry. Still, it was weird to hear him sound so calm from in the middle of a burning building.

Then, the fire had slowly stopped. It seemed to have been drawn towards a source in the building, and even when the fire was completely out a light still shown between the cracks.

A few minutes later, Spike crawled out of a small hole in what was once the front of the shed, soon followed by Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell. This brought a big cheer from the crowd, and Apple Bloom and Sweetie Bell were immediately engulfed in hugs from each of their respective big sisters. Rainbow flew down next to Scootaloo and gave her a bug hug as well. “Hey squirt! Thank Celestia you're alive!”

“Yeah!” The filly seemed rather energetic for somepony that had been crying her eyes out and scared half to death not ten minutes ago. “It was AWESOME! The dragon, he like, kicked down the door, then the whole front just collapsed! Then, he did some kind of magic thing, and he sucked all the fire into a ball! It was SO COOL!!!”

Rainbow chuckled and ruffled her hair. “Yeah, well just see that you don't get yourself into anymore burning buildings! Can't have my number one fan becoming a cooked crisp!”

“Yes sir!” Then she remembered something. “Oh hey! The dragon! He's still in there!”

“Aw, I'm sure he's fine.”

“Can we go check on him? Pleaaaaase?”

“Well, since you asked so nicely...” Rainbow presented her back to the filly. “Hop aboard squirt!”

“Yeah!” Scootaloo scrambled onto her back and sat down. “SO COOL!!!”

With Scoots in tow, Dash flapped her wings and headed back towards the shed. The thing was basically demolished. The whole front was caved in, and there were tons of holes in the walls and ceiling. Rainbow took advantage of one of these holes to peer inside. Scootaloo hoped onto her head and peered too.

Sure enough, inside was Flamesinger, sitting down with his wings folded. On of his arms was raised, and in his hand floated a ball of what looked like fire. He was tapping the ground and staring at the wall.

“Hey Flame! You okay?”

He looked up and noticed them at the hole. He smiled. “I will be as soon as I get out of here. Do you have any idea how stuffy this place is?”

She laughed. “I swear to Celestia, nothing fazes you. How are you so calm about this!?!”

He raised an eyebrow. “Calm? Calm!? I'm sitting here in a mostly burnt-down shed with a diminishing air supply thanks to the smoke and a fireball that if I stop concentrating on it, will more then likely explode. HOW am I calm?”

“I mean about the fire.”

“Oh. That.” He shrugged. “Meh. Wasn't that big. Now how about letting me outta here?”

Dash studied the shed. It was absolutely totaled, no doubt about it. “Well...” she said sarcastically. “... you could run blindly screaming at the top of you lungs through one of the walls!”

“Hmmm...” He thought about it. Then slowly stood up and stretched. “I've had worse ideas.” Bracing one shoulder in front of him and holding the fireball out behind him, he backed up a few steps and then ran full tilt at the wall, screaming at the top of his lungs.

Flawless logic.

The wall gave away almost instantly, which also spelled the end for the rest of the building. Without the support of one wall, the ceiling collapsed, leaving two standing walls and a completely annihilated interior. The loud yell and the thunderous boom drew everypony's attention to the side of the wall, so they all had a full view of Flamesinger groaning a little from his position on the ground, then slowly sitting up, shaking any excess pieces of wood off of him.

As he rose to a kneeling position, he took notice of all the stares. “What? Rainbow suggested it, don't look at me. And I needed some way out of there, right?”

This brought a few laughs, but mostly just stares. No screams or gasps though.

He managed to get to his feet, though he was still a little shaky. “Ugh... I do NOT want to do that again...” His eyes blinked a little before resting on Rainbow. “Hey Dashie, do you have any lakes or something that I can dip this into?” He held up the fireball. “Because my house is kind of also made out of wood.”

“Yeah, there's a lake not to far from here, just head that way. But first, I think Twi might want to have a look at it...” She glanced around, then frowned. “Strange. I don't see her.”

“Then she's missed her chance. I ain't carrying this thing around longer then I have to.” He spread his wings. “Now, I bid you all-”

“JUST WAIT ONE DARN PICKIN” MINUTE!!!”

The crowd parted to reveal Applejack, face tear-stained, who strode right up to Flame. He winced. “Crap.”

She just stood there looking at him. Not saying anything.

“Uhhhhh....” He held up a claw, then lowered it. “I'llllllll... explain tomorrow! 'Kay?”

Silence.

“I can tell you might be a bit angry about something, but I can't read minds yet, so-”

Suddenly, She stood back on both hind legs and gave him a big hug, carefully avoiding the fireball in his hand. “Thanks fer saving my sis.”

“Oh. You're happy. Good.” He let out a breath. “My pleasure.”

She released the hug and returned to all-fours. “But Ah'm expectin' an explanation tomorrow, ya hear?”

“Yeah yeah yeah, I'll worry about that later.” He spread his wings again and toke off towards the lake. “I gotta get rid of this thing first.”

The crowd stayed silent as he winged off. Rainbow landed and dropped off Scootaloo before trotting over to Applejack.

“So...” Applejack muttered. “... he's been a dragon... this entire time?”

“Yep.”

“Huh.” She sighed. Then she turned around to face the crowd, looking a little sad. “Well ain't that the darndest thing.”

“Hey, he's still our friend. Just bigger.”

Upon seeing the two mares returning, the crowd was suddenly in an uproar of questions, all focused on them.

Looking up, Rainbow facehoofed. Ugh. Just where is Twilight when you need her?

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

Perfectly.

Everything, went, perfectly.

Just the right amount of involvement, just the right amount of tricks, the exact desired outcome.

His secret is revealed, and in a good light as well. Now all I have to do is wait... and hope they won't hate him for it.

Acceptance is necessary. It keeps suspicion off of him... and off of me.

As for the remaining five... the manticore... yes, I can use him... and four others... all I have to do is find them... and lead them to him.

The six will come together... no one will be expecting it... not even Celestia... it's such a hair-brained scheme that none would even consider it...

None except me.

Heh heh heh heh heh...

My return to power... will be most glamorous indeed.

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

Twilight Sparkle was having a bad day.

She had slipped away as soon as it was obvious the fillies were fine, and then teleported back to the library once she was fair enough away from the crowd. She couldn't believe what she had just witnessed... or more importantly, felt.

Of course, it all makes sense! But why him?

The source of her anxiety was magic.

You see, when Flamesinger had done his little chaos magic trick, Twi had gotten curious and decided a little observing couldn't hurt. She had extended a bit of her magic, just enough to feel any power around her, and used it to study Flame's magic.

What she found didn't exactly make her a happy pony.

His power felt... like Discord's. Almost exactly like Discord's, with only a faint few differences that only a skilled unicorn such as her could detect. It matched up perfectly with the traces of magic she had felt at the ruined manticore cage, and now the pieces were all coming together.

The captured manticore... was Manty! Flame freed him, which is probably how he ended up becoming his friend! But HOW!?! Celestia assured me that the net was invulnerable to all kinds of physical attack and most magical ones? How powerful is Flame!?!

This question had been bugging her for a good while, and now that she had discovered this she was overwhelmed.

That's it. I'm writing a letter to the Princess. She need's to know about this.

Using her magic, she quickly summoned a quill and parchment and began to write. As she wrote, she began to feel rather guilty. She should have written to Princess Celestia long before this. The only reason she hadn't was because she wasn't sure how the Princess would react if she knew there was a dragon living near Ponyville, and she didn't want to get Flame in trouble. But this was too much for her to deal with by herself.

As she wrote the last word, double and triple checking it for spelling errors, she realized Spike wasn't there with her. She couldn't send it.

Drat! Of all the things-

“Hey Twi! Are you in here?!”

Silently thanking Celestia, Twilight rolled up the letter and sealed it before trotting down the stairs. “Yes Spike! Sorry for leaving, I just had... er... a few... things... I needed to do!”

Spike looked up at her incredulously. “Well c'mon! Flame and I saved the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and now the whole town's going crazy about Flame! We need your help to calm things down!”

“Certainly. But first...” She levitated the letter over to him. “Could you please send this? It's for Princess Celestia. A... er... friendship report.”

“A friendship report?” Spike scratched his head. “At a time like this?”

“C'mon, just send it.”

He shrugged. “Whatever you say.” It wasn't the weirdest time she had chosen to send a letter to the princess.

As he plucked it out of the air and sent it away in a burst of green fire, Twilight watched it go.

Oh, I hope Flame will be alright.

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

Dear Princess Celestia,

I am sorry I haven't written to you in a while. Things have been really crazy down here, and I wanted to be sure of the outcome of recent events before I did. I am writing because of a new friend of mine I have recently made. His name is Flamesinger. He's very nice, if a little carefree. He's always funny and willing to help out when he can. I've only known him for about two weeks, but I can tell we are going to be great friends. Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy all like him as well. There's only one thing: he's... a dragon.

You remember me telling you about Spike's little journey to the home of the dragons to discover who he really is? We met him there. He protected Spike from a group of bullies and became very good friends with him. I and the other Elements were obviously a little more hesitant, after all dragons have a reputation for being mean and scary, but Flame isn't like other dragons. He's a teenager, so he isn't a huge colossal being yet. And he has visited Ponyville quite a few times since we've met him. And here's were the strange things began.

Flame has magic. I haven't had time to question him thoroughly about it, but from the little I've gathered he gained it fairly recently. I've seen it a few times, and I can only describe it as normal magic, albeit dark and smokey in coloration. However, I managed to study him using it a bit more today, and I discovered something rather startling.

First off, let me tell you more of recent events, particularly about a certain manticore. About three weeks ago I received your net, which I thank you for yet again, and with it we managed to capture a manticore. I had intended to use it for study, but Spike's little adventure happened and me and my friends had to leave for a few days. When we returned, the manticore was gone, and the net had a huge gash in it. I examined the remains of it, and I detected a few traces of magic. These traces of magic felt like Discord's power, except they weren't quite his. I know what Discord's power feels like, and this was slightly different, if only slightly.

A few days ago, I had a small run-in with the same manticore, during which it displayed above-average intelligence for such a creature. Please note that it didn't hurt me in any way, merely made it known to me that he was displeased with being captured in a net. The same day, Flame overheard me saying that I wanted to meet this manticore again, and he volunteered to lead me to him. The next day, He 'introduced' me to the manticore, and acted like he could communicate with it. I'm inclined to believe he can, as the manticore responded to him with grunts and growls that Flame seemed to understand.

Today, we had something of an incident. Three fillies, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell were caught in a burning building, and it was only thanks to Flame that they were saved. When he saved them, he used his magic, and I was able to feel it. It matched the traces of magic at the manticore's net, inclining me to conclude that it was Flame who freed him, meaning that he had the power to break your enchantments.

What worries me most is the similarity his magic has to Discord's power, and whether that may pose any danger to us. Please understand that I am not suggesting Flame would intentionally hurt us, or anypony for that matter. I trust him completely, maybe even with my life, though that would depend on the situation. I am merely concerned about his magic, and am wondering whether you can pose any insight on this situation.

Again, I fully believe nopony in Ponyville is in danger. Me and my friends think of Flame as a friend, and while I don't expect you to, I hope you will take this into account.

Your most faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle

As Princess Celestia's eyes scanned the parchment in front of her, they began to narrow. Halfway through it, they were almost slits. At the bottom of the page, they were beginning to glint. A spark of anger flashed in her eyes, followed quickly by another one... this time one of hate. Deep, ancient, well-rooted, hate.

The letter levitated in front of her, before slowly lowering, giving her a good view of Canterlot through her window.

“So...” she muttered slowly, her eyes boring through the glass. “... it seems we have a chaos-user in Ponyville.”

-End of Chapter 13-

A/N: For those of you that didn't get the 'Section 2d' thing, check back at the end of Chapter 4, when Flame's reading the book.

Sneaky sneaky Discord. XD

Q&A's, and Why They Should Be Avoided

A/N: I'm back!

Yes, after a much longer then normal wait, I have returned with Chapter 14. I do apologize for the long wait, and I wish I had some sort of excuse but... I don't.

What? Writing can be hard sometimes.

To all of FimFiction and most of FanFiction: Thank you so much for being patient and waiting while I muscled my way through my laziness phase. Having patient readers is always great, and it really means a lot to me. Thank you all.

To a certain Jimmy and UnFitDinosaur: Really? REALLY? I leave for three weeks and suddenly everyone thinks I'm dead? *facepalms* Guys guys guys guys guys...

The drill is the same. Read, enjoy, comment/like (please). Now ONWARD!

“Attention everypony!”

It was the day after the fire, and everything was proceeding more or less as expected. Flame was still the talk of the town, and you couldn't have a conversation with anypony without the subject of 'that dragon that saved those three fillies' coming up. Despite how near-disastrous it had been, the burning of the shed was nonetheless the most exciting thing that had happened in Ponyville for a long time. Which of course translated into gossip paradise.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders were the stars of the school, and come lunchtime all the students were crowded around a single table. Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle were all asked to repeat the story of their miraculous escape many times, which they did with great amounts of enthusiasm. The only filly that wasn't happy was Diamond Tiara, who sulked at a nearby table by herself. Silver Spoon had already left to hear the story, and without her lackey around Diamond had nopony to rant to about how 'unfair' this was. It took a full twenty minutes of listening to the 'oh's and 'ah's coming from the adjacent table for her to get up and walk over, figuring that she might as well see WHY everypony was centered around three blank flanks.

To her credit, she didn't leave until she had heard the whole story three times.

Combine lunchtime at school and the conversations of at least 500 ponies, and you had a rather interesting day. For the adults, it was exciting. For the children, it was very exciting.

But for a certain purple unicorn, it was aggravating as all hell.

Twilight was worried. But then again, as we all know, this wasn't exactly earth-shattering news. Twilight worried about something every other day. It was practically part of her schedule. The only thing different about this time was that she actually had a good reason for it.

Mostly. Kind of. Not really.

…

Okay, it was a shit reason based entirely upon unspecific facts and jumped-to conclusions, but don't tell Twilight that.

Several things were bothering her. First and foremost was the possibility that Flamesinger might be an evil overlord with the intention of taking over the universe and causing the end of the world as we know it, no matter how unlikely it seemed. She liked Flame. She really did. He was funny, always ready to help, and didn't seem to be fazed by anything. But one thing Twilight Sparkle was incapable of doing was arguing against facts. Well... er... 'fact', but it was a big one. A really big one.

Second was that she had yet to receive a response from Princess Celestia. This shook her almost as much as Flame's powers, simply because it had never happened before. In all her years as Celestia's student, the longest she had ever had to wait for a response letter was one hour and forty-six minutes (she had counted), and that was because Celestia had been attending a rather important meeting and couldn't be disturbed. The letters were never very long, and always contained either orders on how to proceed or a message saying she was worrying over nothing (usually the later), but here it had been over twelve hours and still no response. Odd.

And third, she worried over how all of her friends would react to this information. Case in point: now.

Earlier today she had had Spike send letters to each of her friends, telling them to meet her at the library. The purpose, she stated, was to 'discuss Flamesinger's situation and decide how best to approach it', which was a really complicated way of saying 'I'm stuck, help me'. She hoped that this gathering (or as she had dubbed it, an 'Emergency Protocol Meeting') would be the perfect opportunity to tell everypony about Flame's powers without causing widespread panic, as well as to find out her friend's opinions on the matter.

It probably should have tipped her off when none of her friends knew what the word 'protocol' meant.

Looking around, Twilight mentally sighed. She was the only one here who was acting even the least bit worried. Rainbow and Pinkie Pie (whose hair had gone straight during the entire disaster yesterday) were engaged in a heated conversation of just how awesome Flame had been when he saved the kids. Dash, despite being great friends with the dragon, wasn't about to let herself get outdone and was claiming that Flame's dive through the wall had been a few inches off from a perfect ten, thus qualifying him as just a tiny bit less awesome then her. Pinkie on the other hoof was stating, quite flatly, that there was no way in hay Dash could have done what he did and that she should just accept that and move on. Dash was fighting, but she was quickly subsuming to Pinkie's logic.

Applejack and Rarity were, despite recent events, fine. Part of the punishment for Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle was that they could not step out of their big sister's sight, except for school. This meant that when the two came to the meeting, they brought the fillies with them. Even Scootaloo was here, for without her two friends she could never think of anything to do. Twilight noted that she would have to somehow distract the fillies when she mentioned Flame's powers. Maybe she could use Spike for that...

Oh yeah, Fluttershy did look a bit more nervous then usual. She had (thankfully) been unconscious due to fainting when Flame had revealed his true form, and upon hearing the news from her friends had taken it a lot better then Twilight had expected. She was still apprehensive, but Twilight thought that as long as Flame stayed in pony form, there wouldn't be a problem.

So anyway, back to the beginning of the Emergency Protocol Meeting.

“Attention everypony!”

At the sound of her voice, all of her friends stopped talking and focused on her. She gulped, hoping this wouldn't go too badly.

“Now, I'm sure you girls are wondering why I called you here today, so-”

“Yeah.” Rainbow interrupted. “Just why did you have to call us at ten-thirty in the morning?” She yawned. “I moved a lot of clouds yesterday.”

Twi shot her a quick glare. “Because this is important.”

“Oh. Okay. Important. Got it.” She yawned again. “Continue.”

“Anyway...” Twilight shook herself. “... I called you here to talk about Flamesinger.”

This actually managed to gain most of their attention, particularly Applejack's and Rarity's. Dash however, remained bored.

“What about him?”

Twilight shot another glare her way. “I'm getting to that. It concerns his and Spike's little episode yesterday.”

“Ah yes! My dear Spike, I never did thank him!” Rarity spoke up. “How is our little hero?”

“Sleeping.” Twilight gestured upstairs. “I gave him the day off, and apparently this is how he wants to spend it.”

“Good idea...” mumbled Rainbow. “... I should follow his example...”

“Rainbow Dash, focus! And this isn't so much about Spike as it is about Flame!” She sighed. “Just what are we going to do about him?”

She was met with eight blank stares.

“...Do? I don't really see the need to do anything. He saved my Sweetie Belle and both her friends Twilight. Are suggesting that was a bad thing to do? That dragon deserves a medal!”

She almost facehoofed. Were her friends really this naive? “No Rarity, I'm not. But he revealed what he really was right in front of the whole town! Don't you think that might cause some problems?”

“Speakin' a which...” Applejack butted into the conversation. “... Ah think it's about time Ah heard the full version of just how Flame got here.”

“Oh yes, that's right.” Twilight looked sheepish for a second. She had truthfully forgotten about that. “You don't know, do you? In fact...” She looked at two ponies in particular. “... I don't think Fluttershy or Pinkie Pie know either.”

They both nodded, one with a slight shake of her head and the other looking as though she were trying to rip her face off using sheer force of physics.

“Right. Well let's see... it all began when...”

The next half-hour was spent informing the three ignorant ponies just how Flame had ended up in Ponyville in the first place. Repeating the story (with an interruption every thirty seconds by Dash to add details such as 'this part was boring') served to remind Twilight of how mistrustful they had been of Flame when they had first met him, which in turn did nothing to help the amount of guilt that was building up inside her. The listeners, for the most part, just sat there and... well... listened.

The fillies listened too. And after noticing their rapt attention, Rarity and Applejack looked at each other and shrugged. No harm done if they knew his story as well.

“... and then, Rarity came flying down the stairs, and she and Spike hugged. They were both crying, and saying they were sorry over and over again.” Twilight giggled. “It was actually kind of cute.”

This successfully destroyed any interest the Cutie Mark Crusaders had had in the story. They each made a grossed-out face and voiced their opinion through a loud eloquent 'EWWWW!!!'. Sweetie Belle in particular made a point of looking at her sister with evident horror. “You didn't kiss him, did you?!”

Rarity blushed slightly. “Now Sweetie Belle, I was caught up in the moment. I didn't want to lose Spike as a friend, and at the time I-”

“Ewww! That means you did!” The white filly clutched her throat and made several fake chocking noises. “Gross!”

“Oh do stop that. It is most unladylike.”

“You kissed him!”

“No, I didn't.”

“Yes you did! I know you did!”

Rarity just rolled her eyes.

“... Anyway...” Twilight tried to move the conversation along for Rarity's sake. “... after that, I asked him a few more questions, mainly about dragon culture, and after that we decided to introduce him to the three of you. So we headed off to Fluttershy's house.” She surveyed her three friends. “I'm pretty sure you know the rest from there.”

Silence.

All-consuming... ominous... crushing... silence.

Which was promptly broken by Pinkie Pie. “Ooohhh, I just remembered, I haven't thrown a Flamesinger-Rescues-the-Cutie-Mark-Crusaders-And-Looks-Totally-Awesome-While-Doing-It party yet!” This time, Twilight really did facehoof. “I have to get started on that right away! We're going to need balloons and cupcakes and streamers and more balloons and music and-”

“PINKIE!”

“Yes Twilight?”

“Did anything I just say impact you at ALL?”

She blinked a few times. Then resumed grinning. “Nope!”

“Okaaaay... well it that case, could you stay here for a moment please? There's something else I have to tell you girls.”

As Pinkie happily complied, Twi eyed the Cutie Mark Crusaders. She would have to get rid of them somehow. Oh, if only Spike were here! He could easily-

“Hey Twilight... I'm finally up...”

She turned towards the stairs. Spike was slowly coming down them, bleary-eyed and looking as though he had just risen from the dead. As he descended, he rubbed his eyes. “Man, I just don't see why Flame likes sleeping in that late.” He yawned. “I feel more tired then when I normally get up.”

“Oh Spike!” His head jerked up at the sound of Rarity's voice. “I never did thank you for helping save Sweetie Belle!”

“Whatdoyamean?” He lifted one eyebrow in the classic 'huh?' face. “Both you and Applejack thanked me like twenty times each yesterday.”

“What?” She blinked. Then she turned to Applejack. “Is this true?”

“Well Ah know Ah did.” The farmer winked at Spike. “But Ah think you were too busy makin' sure Sweetie Belle was okay.”

“You were totally awesome yesterday Spike!” Scootaloo had finally noticed the young dragon coming down the stairs. “The way you helped save us from that burning building was totally SWEET!”

“Aw... thanks Scoots...” He shuffled his feet. “... But I didn't really do that much...”

Rainbow thought about this. “That's true.” And earned yet another glare from Twilight.

“Nevertheless Spike, you were brave and acted like a true gentlecolt. You are part of the reason I still have my little sister.” Rarity trotted over and kissed him on the cheek. “And I cannot thank you enough for that.”

Spike blushed heavily. In the background, Sweetie Belle made a show of pretending to die on the spot, which Rarity pointedly ignored. The time for a very loud lecture could come later.

“Now Spike...” Twilight grimaced. “I know I gave you the day off, but...”

Spike shook himself and looked back at her, the thought of working on a free day destroying the happy mood brought on by the kiss. Way to go Twi. “Whaaaaaaaaaat is it?

“It's nothing much really. All I need you to is to take the Cutie Mark Crusaders into the lobby for a little while and watch over them.” She hoped her expression was saying 'I need you to do this for me' and not 'I don't trust you at ALL'. “Please? We just have some... important things to talk about.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Important things?”

“Please?”

“*Sigh* Okay... I guess I can do that...”

“Thanks!” She turned to Applejack, who took the hint and began herding the young ones into the lobby. “Y'all heard the mare! C'mon!” This was met by a chorus of 'Awww's from the fillies. As the four headed in, Twi closed the door behind them and quietly made sure it was locked before turning to the group and breathing a sigh of relief. “Whew... good. Now we can talk.”

“Ah don't mean to be rude.” Applejack was suddenly looking apprehensive. “And Ah can understand why ya might not want the Cutie Mark Crusaders to hear somethin', but what could be so important that ya would send Spike out?”

“And what's with the locked doors?” Dash was finally paying attention, and it was clear Twilight was creeping her out. A lot.

“Sorry if this seems weird, but we can't risk anypony walking in on us. That last thing I want is for somepony to hear this and cause a widespread panic.”

This definitely caught the entire room's attention. Pinkie Pie even stopped jumping up and down. And when that happens, you know that whatever's going on is some serious shit.

Twi took a deep breath for what felt like the hundredth time that day. “As I said before, I called you girls hear to talk about Flamesinger. And before any of you say anything, no, this isn't about what he did yesterday. Well kind of, but not really.” She paused. “What I'm trying to say is that Flame... he... you see he...”

“Yeeeeeess...?” Dash was becoming bored again.

“Flame may be an evil spirit of chaos that's in league with Discord!”

Silence.

Again.

Then a snort. Her head shot up to see Rarity with a very unamused frown on her face. “Really Twilight, if you wanted to tell jokes, you could have just said so. You actually had me worried there for a second!”

“No...” They didn't believe her. Gee, hmm, wonder why. “... No no, I'm being serious!”

“Yeah.” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Sure you are.”

“I am!”

“Twilaght, if ya just called us over here to mess with us, then-”

“LISTEN!!!” All the stress that had built up over the past twelve hours finally broke loose. Which, in Twilight's case, was a lot. “I'M TELLING THE TRUTH!!!”

This sudden outburst succeeded not only in regaining everypony's focus, but also in scaring Dash half out of her mind. She shot out her chair and hid behind it for a few seconds before realizing it was just her. Even then, she was startled enough that she didn't try and mask the fact that she had been hiding like a little filly. She slowly replaced herself in the chair, all the while staring at Twilight. “Whoa... okay... calm down...”

Twi collapsed her face into her hooves. “I'm sorry girls, but this has been really bugging me for the past day. I only found out about it last night!”

“Well... you obviously think it's serious.” Rarity trotted over and tentatively put a hoof on her friends shoulder. She wasn't looking unamused anymore. “May I ask though, just why do you think that Flame, a witty outgoing dragon that befriended a manticore, defended Spike from bullies, fixed my relationship with Spike when he accidentally destroyed it and personally saved three innocent fillies, could possibly be in league with Discord?!”

“Rarity, let me ask you something. Yesterday, when Flame used his magic to absorb the fire, did you by any chance feel it? With your own magic?”

She frowned. “Darling, my sister had nearly died. Magic wasn't exactly the biggest thing on my mind.”

“Yes, I thought so, and I don't blame you. But I did. I was curious after hearing so much about it, how he can shapeshift with almost no trouble and can communicate with animals. There are spells for those things of course, but they're powerful, difficult ones! I can barely do them myself! I was hoping by studying his magic I could figure out how he could use such powerful spells so easily. So I used my magic to feel his magic, to sort of get a basic sense of it.”

“A perfectly logical thing to do.” Rarity wasn't getting it. In fact, if Twilight looked around, she would notice that all of her friends either looked confused as to why she was acting this way or confused as to what she was talking about. Simple explanations were not what she did best. “Just what has you so worried?”

“Rarity... his magic... it's like Discord's.”

She got it this time. Only her though. Everypony else was still in a state of obscure cluelessness.

“Ummmmmm... what?” Applejack ventured.

“I don't know what that means...” mumbled Fluttershy.

“Like Discord's? How does that work? Ohh, maybe him and Discord are like second cousins or something! He does kind of act a little like Dissy, but without all the mean meanie-pants part, which is good because that part about Dissy wasn't fun at all. He made all those balloons laugh at me!” Pinkie shuddered, remembering the mental tortures of the smiley-faced balloons.

“Are you... sure? I mean, magic isn't everything.”

“I'm positive! It's almost identical to his!”

“Well.” Rarity was deep in thought. “That is most odd.”

“Exactly!”

“Hey, Twilight? Rarity? I know what your saying probably makes perfect sense to a unicorn, but...” Rainbow raised her forelegs and then let them drop. “... you lost me at around 'Discord'.”

“His magic! It's like Discord's!”

“Yeah, repeating yourself doesn't help.”

“HOW ELSE CAN I-”

“Twilight, please. Allow me.” Rarity cleared her throat. “What our dear friend Twilight is trying to say is that apparently, our dear Flamesinger uses the same kind of magic that Discord does.”

Looks of understanding dawned on all their faces, even Dash's for a change. “Ohhh...” Then she frowned. “Wait, so?”

“So?” Twi stared back at her blankly. “What do you mean?”

“So what?”

“So what? SO WHAT? Dash, Flame is using the same magic as a draconequus that tried to take over Equestria twice! How could you possibly say SO WHAT?”

“Uh, Twilaght?” Applejack intervened. “We're talkin' about Flamesinger here. Flamesinger. Y'know, the dragon that just saved mah little sister's LIFE? Not Discord.”

“For once, I feel I must agree with Applejack. Are you forgetting that he saved three fillies, including both our sisters, only yesterday?” She made a 'tut-tut' noise. “Really Twilight, I thought your memory was better then that.”

“Don't be silly, I couldn't just forget something like that! But that's what makes it all so confusing!” Twilight was nearing one of her mental breakdowns, which was a clue for everypony else to sit down and shut up. “Flame is a good guy! Er, dragon! He's helped us out on several occasions since he came here! He's funny, trustworthy, honest and all around a great friend to have! So WHY is he using evil magic?!”

All congrats goes to Twi. She finally made her friends actually think about what she was saying.

“Weeeeellll...” Rarity mulled it over. “I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for it...”

“But what is it? And how do we find it out? I mean...” She threw her forelegs above her head. “... it's not like we can just go up and ask him about it!”

This was met with five thoughtful stares.

Check that, four thoughtful stares. Pinkie doesn't count. You're not thoughtful if you're grinning like a complete lunatic.

“... Right?”

…

...

Mind click.

“Oh no. NO.”

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

Now, it might interest some of you to know, what were Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Spike doing this whole time? Were they playing together like little kids should? Were they being mischievous and getting into trouble? Or were they plotting to take over the world using giant titanium robots and magical nukes?

I'll give you a hint: It's not number one, and I'm pretty sure it's not number three. We're still calculating some figures on that one. The magical nukes are out of the picture but the titanium robots are still in the gray area. Those things are actually pretty cheap these days.

So anyway, they were getting into trouble. Yeah, I know, not exactly the biggest shock of your life, but still. Trouble is trouble, and the CMC are known for it. But what KIND of trouble? Ah, now that's a different question.

Let's recap on the situation, from the kids point of view. Spike had come downstairs, fully expecting to have a free day to do whatever he wanted, and had immediately gotten roped into supervising the three fillies. From the fillies perspective, they had inexplicably and suddenly been ejected from the meeting hall because the adults had to talk about something 'important'. All four of them were slightly annoyed, and that annoyance was increased by the fact that they didn't know what the grown-ups were talking about (kids hate that). So they did the only logical thing that four kids would do in this current situation.

No, they did not break out the C4. Good guess though. Actually, they were eavesdropping.

What? What would you have done?

So yeah, every word that was said amongst the adults was heard by the kids. It really wasn't that hard. Twilight kept on raising her voice, so it was difficult not to hear it. Spike had felt a little guilty at first (for some reason none of the fillies had), but that had changed quickly once they had heard the first few sentences. Also, it should be noted that all of them were of the same opinion on what Twilight was saying:

Bull. SHIT.

“I can't believe Twilight has the nerve to blame him for plotting to take over Equestria!” Scootaloo whispered. “That guy just saved our lives!”

“Ah know!” Apple Bloom muttered. “At least mah sister's got her head in the right place. Spake, you know Flame, right?”

“Yeah. Yeah I do.” Spike was torn. He was friends with both Flame and Twilight, and he knew that Twi wouldn't make an accusation like that unless she believed it. Then again, he also know that whoever thought Flame was evil should seriously get their head looked at. “I don't know what Twilight's thinking...”

“Shhh! Quiet down you three!” Sweetie Belle had her ear pressed to the door. “They're saying something else!”

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

“So that's it then. THAT'S your plan.”

“Twa, you're makin' this a lot harder then it needs ta be.”

“It would never work!”

“Darling, it would not only work, but it would also save us a great deal of trouble. There is such a thing as a simple solution you know.”

“Let me get this straight.” Twilight sighed. “You want me to just go up and ask Flame why he uses evil magic.”

“Well... yes.”

“Actually...” Rainbow raised a hoof to gain some attention. “... why don't we just ask him to come over here? That would save me the trouble of moving.”

“An excellent suggestion!” Rarity beamed at Dash. “ All we have to do would be to send him a letter, asking him to meet us at the library. He'll come, you and him will have your little chit-chat, and this whole fiasco will be over and dealt with.”

“But wait... him... coming over here?” Fluttershy shivered a bit. “Maybe that's not the best idea...”

“Aw, don't worry Fluttershy!” Pinkie bounced over and gave her a reassuring hug. “Flamey would never hurt any of us!”

“But... but...” Twilight was quickly running out of arguments. “He's... we could... it would be... maybe not... something?”

All of her friends stared at her uncomprehendingly.

“Ugh... FINE!!!” Cue the gasps of relief and exasperation, mostly the later. “But if he gets mad, don't blame me! Now where's Spike... SPIKE!”

There was a faint scuffling sound from behind the door, before it was opened by Spike wearing a 'I totally wasn't doing anything' face. “Yeah Twi?”

“Take a letter! And...uh...*Sigh*” She let her face drop into her hooves again. “... get me a cup of coffee.”

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

We both stood there. Unmoving. Neither of us saying a word.

The sunlight glinted off our swords, both of them raised up in front of us, ready in case the other should try to attack.

Slowly, barely moving any other part of her body, Tienn leveled her sword at me. Her eyes were glowing bright blue, so that you couldn't see the irises.

-I give you this one chance. Back away, and I will stay my blade from your throat.-

I imitated her, pointing my sword. My eyes were black, and smoke issued off of them at frequent intervals.

Then I cocked my head.

“...

You mean surrender?”

She rolled her eyes. -Yes.-

“Then no.”

And with that, I charged.

She just stood there, waiting for me. When I reached her, I brought down my blade, intending to slice her in two. She side-stepped and used her leg to trip me, sending me into the dirt. I rolled away as her sword imbedded the ground I had just been lying on. Scrambling to my feet, I faced her, my black eyes narrowing.

She laughed. -You were a fool to challenge me.-

“Whatever.” My heroic response.

This time, she attacked. She imitated what I had done, bringing her sword down upon my head. I raised mine, intending to block it, but too late realized it was a faint. She had somehow managed to change directions mid-air, and instead of blocking her blade I ended up with a quick gash along my left arm.

I stumbled, then quickly got back up to face Tienn. She was grinning.

“Nice move, but...” I readied my sword. “... it'll take a lot more then that to keep me down.”

Her grin widened. -Okay!-

Shit.

I went at her, this time swinging in with a sideways chop. She flicked her blade to the side, blocking it. I disengaged and charged again, intending to cut her head off. This one was blocked as well.

It continued on like this for several minutes, me trying to hit he with increasing frustration, and her just blocking everything I threw at her. It was almost like she could sense what my next move would be right before I did it.

After roughly my thirteen-hundredth attempt, I stopped and glared at her.

“Are you going to actually try and attack me, by any chance?”

-Well, I was going to, but you started looked so funny trying to hit me repeatedly that I just couldn't bring myself to end it.-

“Then I'm afraid you'll have to, for the sake that if you continue to block me I'll probably suffer some kind of mental breakdown due to rage quitting.”

She sighed and put on a sad face. -Oh, very well.-

She came at me like a bullet. Seriously. I couldn't even see her movements, let alone block any of them. All I know is that what felt like five seconds later, I was on my knees with gashes all over my body. I was amazed I even still had my sword.

“Whoa, how did you...?”

-Unlike you, I actually know how to use a sword.-

“Humph. Knowledge is overrated.”

-Says the guy whose about to lose his head.-

“You were moving like forty freaking thousand miles an hour! I can't just just block crap like that!”

-I can.-

“That doesn't count. You're like... a goddess or something.”

-You're a dragon that can use chaos magic.-

“Who has no experience whatsoever with a sword.”

-See? My point from the very beginning.-

“Yeah yeah...” I struggled to my feet. “Now let's finish this.”

I charged- er, jogged- towards her with my eyes shut, my sword slashing blindly in front of me. My theory was that by doing this, anything in my path would be cut down, including Tienn. Genius plan, right?

Yep. Up until the point when Tienn ruined it.

In a quick secession of moves, she first shoved my blade aside with her own, then used her free hand to punch my in the face. While I was dazed, she did a full three-sixty with her blade and aimed low. It cut through both of my legs like they were made of butter. This caused me to fall over backwards, and when I landed she deftly stomped my sword arm, making me drop my weapon. Quickly, she snatched it up, flipped both blades so they were pointing down, and stabbed both of them into my exposed face.

The fight was over.

Color drained from the world. The grass, the trees, the dirt, my new house in the distance, all of it faded from view. The sensation of the wind on my face disappeared as well. Sound faded, until the only thing that remained was my slowing heartbeat. My entire vision was filled with the image of my dead body, both mine and Tienn's swords sticking out of my face, my legs half gone. The eyes weren't pure black anymore, and smoke no longer drifted from them.

My new body... was dead.

Faintly, I could Manty saying something. He might as well have been saying it underwater. I would have understood him more. But gradually, it became clearer. Soon I could make out a few words. What was he saying? Something about me, I could definitely hear my name somewhere in-

“FLAMESINGER!!!”

“WHOA!!!” I jumped slightly and turned around. There was Manty, looking rather annoyed. I sighed.

“What is it man? I'm trying to sulk in the atmosphere of my defeat here.”

“Which I wholeheartedly support. Just please...” He smiled, showing his teeth. “... don't space out. It's aggravating.”

“Uh-huh.” I turned back to staring at my dead body. “I'll keep that in mind.”

“You lost, by the way.”

“No shit.”

Staring at the little dead figure, I sighed again. Next to mine, Tienn was making hers do a little victory dance. I glared at her.

“You could have just cut my head off, or stabbed me, but no. You HAD to brutally execute me.”

-Of course.- She giggled. -That's the fun part.-

Reaching down, I picked up the remains of my little 'fighter'. Assembled mostly of sticks and twigs, wielding a miniature stone sword sharpened by Tienn, and completely controlled and animated by magic, it was theoretically the source of hours of fake battles. That is, until Tienn killed it.

“Aw Bob...” I cradled the thing in my hands. “... you had so much spirit.”

Manty guffawed. “Bob!?! You named it 'Bob'!?!”

“Yeah, I did. And you can shut up now.”

I set 'Bob' down. Tienn had already released her magic from her own figure, and it was now lying peacefully alongside mine. She was grinning rather widely.

-That was by the far the most fun I've had in a long time! Let's do it again!-

“No.”

She pouted. -And why not?-

“I have to regain my self-esteem first.”

-It was you that came up with this idea. You should have anticipated losing.-

“Yeah.” I looked at her. “But how does a tree spirit know how to use a sword anyway?!”

-Sword fighting was a basic skill back in my day, one that everypony should learn. And so I did.- She snorted. -Can't say I used it too much though. Not a lot of reason to use swords when you have magic powerful enough to crush entire cities to dust.-

Both me and Manty stared at her.

She looked back, confused. -What?-

“Okaaaaay...” I turned “Let's get back to that second round.”

This managed to distract her long enough for me to share a look with Manty.

Damn.

Yeah.

…

Let's not piss her off.

Agreed.

As I readied up Bob, I noticed a couple problems. Namely, the two big holes in Bob's head and the fact that both his legs were gone.

“Hey yeah, uh, Tienn? Little problem here.” I held up the limp figure. “Bob's dead.”

-Then fix him.-

“How?”

-*Sigh* Must I do everything for you?-

“Sorry, but while I'd love to fight you again and get my ass kicked for a second time, I can't with a half-dead fighter. So you'll just have to be patient while I conjure up a little magic here and-”

There was a flash of light as Tienn shot a bolt of magic at Bob, causing me to jump away and drop him. When the light faded, his legs were reattached and the holes in his head were filled up. Perfect to go for another round.

-There.- She looked at me expectantly. -You can fight now, yes?-

“Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhh...” I resignedly picked him up and moved him back towards the designated fight zone. “Okay Bob... back to the killey circle...”

-Yay!- Tienn clapped her hooves.

With Bob laid out on the ground, I moved back a couple of feet and concentrated. This was a basic manipulation spell, not that hard to do, but moving every part of the body at once still took a lot of concentration. Exciting and mentally exerting at the same time. Whoopty-fricking-doo.

Bob was surrounded by a dark glow (how does that even work?) and his eyes turned black again. He stood up and faced Tienn's fighter, who of course had been standing there for the past five minutes. He walked over and picked up his sword, which he then pointed at his opponent.

“I'm going to win blah blah blah you don't stand a chance blah blah blah it's clear who's the better one blah blah blah.” You could practically hear the enthusiasm in my voice. “Now let's fight and be done with it.”

I took one step forward, and exploded.

Check that, Bob exploded. And he didn't technically explode either. Y'know how whenever an object (a letter, for example) gets moved by transportation fire breathe, it appears in a flash of green fire? That's actually what happened. The only problem was that said letter appeared right in the airspace that Bob had just walked into.

The flash was enough to thoroughly destroy my concentration, so I had a nice clean view of Bob, his head blown off and the rest of him on fire, fall first to his knees, then to the ground, where he slowly continued to burn.

Daintily, the letter drifted over and landed beside him.

…

“Whoa.” Manty muttered.

I realized my jaw was open and quickly closed it. I looked at Manty, then to Tienn (who was wearing a half-open-mouth expression), then back to Bob. The sudden demise of my fighter had been enough to shatter Tienn's concentration as well, and her fighter was also laying on the ground. I sighed.

“Nobody. Say. ANYTHING.”

I carefully reached out and picked up the letter. Breaking the seal with a claw, I unfurled it and read aloud.

Dear Flamesinger,

Please join me and my friends in the library as soon as possible. There is something very important we wish to discuss with you.

Sincerely,

Twilight Sparkle

“Important.” I glanced back at Bob's dead body. “Yeah.”

Tienn was still in a state of shock. I looked at her, then at Manty. He shrugged. I turned back to Tienn.

“Whelp, looks like you won. Congrats and all that.” I got up and headed into the forest. “I'm out.”

I left to the sound of Manty laughing his head off.

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

'Kay, let me fill you in on a few details about what happened yesterday after the incident. Namely, the fireball that I had had to dispense with that was supposedly un-put-out-able.

Yeah, I, uh... put it out.

It wasn't actually a problem. I found the lake that Dash had directed me towards quite easily, dunked the thing under the water, and got greeted by a faceful of steam. When I pulled it out, fire was gone. I didn't really get the chance to tell Twilight, because as soon as I had gotten home I had collapsed into bed. And the next morning, I was also in bed, and this afternoon we had had the little fighter tournament with Bob...full schedule if I ever saw one.

Oh don't look at me like that. I was going to tell her. Eventually.

I had other things on my mind, okay? Besides, I was mostly worried about a bigger problem: the town.

You see, I wasn't sure how many people had been at the fire. In fact, I wasn't sure how many people got a good look at me in pony form. Or how many had seen me change. Or whether those who had had told those who hadn't. All in all, I simply didn't know how many townsfolk knew that I, Flamesinger, was a dragon. So when I entered Ponyville (walking in full sight of everyone like a idiot), I wasn't sure what the general reaction was going to be.

Simply put?

Literally EVERYONE stared.

I kid you not on this. You'd think there would be at least a few people who either hadn't heard, or just didn't care (yeah right), but no. EVERY. SINGLE. FRICKING. PONY that was there, could not take their eyes off me.

It was almost instantaneous. First a couple ponies caught sight of me, and those few immediately stopped talking and stared. This alerted those beside them, and they stopped talking and stared as well. And it spread, until everypony in the immediate vicinity had his/her eyes trained on me.

And then the muttering started.

It was the usual stuff. A lot of 'is that him?'s, a few 'what's his name?'s, and a good bundle of 'that's the dragon!'s. A few of the onlookers pointedly took a few steps back, but the majority of them didn't seem worried. More... curious. As if that made fifty million people staring at me any better.

As for me, myself, and I? After a great amount of hesitation seeing my new-found (and highly unwanted) fame, I decided upon the course of action known as 'screw it' and just stared walking towards the library like nobody's business. People moved out of the way (some a little farther then necessary), but didn't seem to realize I could hear them and kept right on muttering.

The most annoying part was that it moved along with me. The library is near the middle of town, and to get there I have to go down several streets and pass through the marketplace. And of course, everypony there figured that since everyone around them was staring, they should too.

This... really... sucks.

After a grand total of 23 seconds, I was already aggravated. Having four hundred pairs of eyes on you can do that. By the time I was in the market place, it was just steadily getting worse I was nearing the breaking point (also known as the 'get-mad-and-yell-at-life-in-general' point), which would not end well for me. So I did the logical thing.

“Okay!!!” I yelled, surprising everyone. “Can everybody PLEASE stop staring!?! I feel like I'm about to spontaneously combust!!!”

This seemed to remind the ponies of the immediate situation, and most of them turned back to what they had been doing, muttering 'sorry' only to continue to sneak peaks at me through the corner of their eye. A few kept full-front staring, but they were mostly kids.

What?

Whatdoyamean that wasn't the logical thing to do? Of course it was!

Just ignore them? Heh, good luck with that. I'm guessing you've never had a whole town stare at you like you were a freak.

Anyway, with that obstacle out of the way, I was able to proceed to the library without hindrance.

“Hey...”

Okay, without a LOT of hindrance.

I turned around. It was some random stallion, dark red mane and tail, light brown coat, cutie mark of a book, thick glasses. He looked nervous, shuffling his hooves. I noticed that a lot of townsfolk now had their eye on him.

“Yeah?”

“You're the... “ He coughed. “You're the... dragon right?”

“Yeah.”

I love messing with people's minds. “O-Oh... w-well... u-uh...”

I looked at him closely. “Dude, are you okay? You're hyperventilating.”

“Y-Yeah... I'm just...” He took a deep breath. “I just wanted to...uh... to thank you... for uh... for saving the kids... and... yeah.”

“Oh.” Awkward. “Well, it wasn't really that big a deal... naturally fireproof and all that... I wasn't exactly risking my life or anything...”

“Yeah, but... when you did that absorb thing with your magic? That was awesome!!!” He then assumed a 'what the hell did I just say' face and quickly lowered his head.

I looked at him, surprised. “Well when you say it like that, it's like I conquered the Nine Realms and developed a cure for cancer.”

He looked confused. “What?”

“Nothing. Say, what's your name anyway?”

“B-B-Blank...” He shook himself. “Blank Page.”

“Cool. Flamesinger.” I reached out a hoof and he (very hesitantly) bumped it. “So what, do you write books or something?”

“Y-Yeah. That's my goal anyway. I'm in the middle of my first one now...” He took a good look at me. “I think you may have g-given me the inspiration for the next chapter actually...”

“Really? Me, being inspiration for someone?” I scratched my head with one wing. “Never thought that would happen.”

“Y-You're... You're not like what I though a d-dragon would be like.” He suddenly wilted. “No offense.”

“Naw, trust me, most everyone I've met has said that. I'm by no means a template for my species.” I thought about it. “That would be kind of scary, actually...”

He laughed. “Yeah... I think I could see why...”

“Anyway, it was cool to meet you, but I sadly must leave due to a summons by a certain Twilight Sparkle.” I gestured over towards the library. “Something about something important.”

“Twilight Sparkle?” He looked startled. “THE Twilight Sparkle?”

“What, is she famous here?”

“No, not really, it's just that...” His cheeks turned very red. “Nothing. Are you friends with her?”

“Yep. Are you?”

“No.” He looked kind of sad at this fact.

“Have you even talked with her?”

“No. Well sometimes... when I check out books...”

“Then you should. You DO know she is obsessed with books, right?”

“Yeah...”

“Just checking.” I turned. “Look me up sometime. I live a short ways into the Everfree, just ask Derpy Hooves for directions. Oh, and pro tip: mind the signs. See ya!”

As I said farewell to Blank Page, I took note that most of the stares directed his way were now stares of admiration. But I didn't really have time for that right now.

Hmmmmm... likes books... shows signs of interest whenever Twi is mentioned... possible crush? I grinned. Requires farther investigation.

Luckily, nopony else bothered me on my way to the library, though the muttering and sidelong stares were still up and running. I practically bolted for the library door when it was in view and shut it behind me as quickly as I could, breathing heavily. It was then that something caught my attention.

First of all, I was in the lobby. Second, I could hear voices coming from behind the door that led to the reading room. Third, both Spike and the designated Cutie Mark Crusaders had their ears pressed against said door.

I casually strode over, to which none of them reacted to. In fact, they didn't notice my presence until I squatted down beside them and whispered: “Man, Twi said it was important, but I didn't think it was this important.”

“AAAAHHH!!!”

They jumped away from the door, conveniently right into me. This knocked me over, and we all went sprawling across the floor (wooden floors are not comfortable to do this on). I ended up lying on my back with Spike draped across one arm (leg, whatever) and the CMC on my stomach. Apple Bloom blinked her eyes open and found herself face to face with me.

“Hey! Who're you?”

“Oh me? Just the ruler of the universe, nothing too special.” I grunted. “... Don't suppose you could get off my stomach, could you?”

“Oh yea, sorry.” She quickly slide off, as did the other two. “Y'all just surprised us, we didn't mean to-” Then my voice registered.

“Hey... hey wait, you're him! You're the guy!”

“You have successfully named my gender. But can you guess my name?”

“You're him!” Scootaloo quickly butted aside Apple Bloom. “You're the dragon that rescued us yesterday! You're Flamesinger!”

I chuckled. “Call me whatever you want. I especially liked the 'Mister Dragon' one.”

“What you did yesterday was AWESOME!!!” Cue Scootaloo fangirl mode. “You were all WOOSH and then all ROAR and then when you did that fireball thing and all the fire rushed to your hands and then you jumped through the side of the shed...” She let out an extremely adorable 'squee' “AWESOME!!!”

“Well, I hate to brag, but I am pretty awesome.” I saw Spike slowly standing up. “Hey Spike, you alright?”

“Yeah... yeah I am... we were just... uh...” He cringed. “Doing something.”

“Eavesdropping. Yeah, I noticed. And I have to say...” I laid a hoof on his shoulder. “... I'm very proud of you.”

“Uh, Mr. Flamesinger?” I turned to see Apple Bloom staring at me. “Yup?”

“Ah just wanted ta say... er...” Suddenly, she hugged me. “Thanks for rescuing us. If y'all hadn't put out the fire...” She was beginning to tear up. Man, these kids get sad quickly.

“Hey hey hey.” I hugged her back. “Your safe now, and that's what matters. And besides, if I had let you die, Applejack and Rarity would have made sure I joined you in being dead.”

Sweetie Belle hugged me as well. “I don't care if you're a dragon. You're still nice.”

“Awwwww, thanks. I love you too.” I hugged her back as well.

Scootaloo, rather then thank me, choose to go for more of a flying hug approach, “Yeah, you're the awesomest dragon EVER! I don't care what Twilight says!”

“Well your awesome too- wait what?” That last part had caught up with me. “What did Twi say about me?”

“Oh... well uh...” She shifted her hooves nervously. “You see...”

“Twilaght thinks you're evil.” Apple Bloom stated flatly.

“...

…

Huh.” Perplexed wouldn't even began to describe the expression that was forming on my face. “Ooooooo-kaaaaaay...”

“But don't worry!” Sweetie spoke up. “My sister doesn't!”

“Yeah, Rainbow Dash doesn't either.” Scootaloo said reassuringly. “Twilight was going on and on about how your magic was evil and something about Discord though...”

Shit. They found out. I'm screwed. I tried not to let my emotions show. How the hell did they find out?! At least the others don't seem to care... but damn, Twi? Of all ponies? *Sigh* PLEASE let this not screw up my life...

“Well, uh...” I shook my head to clear it. “Sounds... uh... important! I'd better go... check some stuff... be right back...”

I immediately headed towards the reading room. As I passed Spike, he shot a look at the girls and whispered to me. “What's got Twilight so worried? What's evil about your magic?”

“Nothing, I just...” I sighed. “Just don't worry. I got this.” I continued on. “You can either eavesdrop some more, or just let me give you a full rundown when I'm outta here. Either way, Twi's probably not gonna let you in, so it's a choice of information now or later.” I reached the door and took a deep breathe. “Wish me luck.”

“Okay...” Spike sounded worried as I opened said door and closed it behind me. “... good luck.”

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

When I entered, Twi was yelling at everyone.

Sadly, I didn't get to hear exactly what she was yelling about, because as soon as she saw me she shut up. The sudden absence of her voice also served to alert the entire room to my presence, so my hopes of sneaking in quietly were dashed and destroyed.

Okay Flame, stay cool and act natural. Twi seems to be the only one accusing you, so freaking out and running won't accomplish anything. I just gotta act natural... act natural... act natural... how do I act natural again? NO! Stop thinking like that!

“Hey gang!” I really really really really really hoped I wasn't looking nervous. Which I probably was. “How's it goin'?”

Two of their little sisters almost died yesterday and you walked in on Twi raging at everyone. YEAH, IT'S ALL GOIN' FINE!!!

I mentally told my brain to shut it and walked over to Dash, who was... sleeping.

I looked at her. Then at everyone else.

Sighing (for only the millionth time that day) I sat down next to her. “Okay, what happened THIS time?”

This seemed to shake them all out of their state of mental shock. Pinkie immediately bounced over and engulfed me in a bear hug. “Flamey! You're here!”

“Yep, one dragon, reporting for duty as requested.” Note to self: Pinkie's hugs are painful. “Though said dragon kind of needs air to breathe, so if you wouldn't mind...”

After surviving Pinkie's bear hug (Ugh... my ribs...), I looked over to where Rarity was seated next to Applejack. “You: it's good to see you out of that living coma, and you: Uhhhhhhhhh... explanation! Right! Well you see I-”

“There's no need for any a' that, sugarcube. Twilaght already explained it all. But still...” She looked me straight in the eye. Not sure if that means anything. “... why didn't yah tell us before?”

I raised an eyebrow. “Would YOU?”

She thought about this. “Good point.”

Rarity got up and walked over to me. “Flamesinger, as with Spike I simply cannot thank you enough for what you did, and as I neglected to give my thanks to you yesterday, allow me to do so now.”

She stopped in front of me. Then suddenly, she gripped in a vice-like hug, not as painful as Pinkie's but still enough to ensure that I couldn't budge an inch. “THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!”

She then let go of me and walked calmly back to her spot beside Applejack, ignoring all the 'WTF' looks her friends were giving her.

And that, my friends, is how you say 'thank you' in Equestria.

I grinned. “You are most welcome. And now...” Why is Applejack glaring at Rarity? “... there was something you guys wanted to 'discuss' with me, yes?”

“Yes, we-”

“Hold on a second there Twilaght.” Applejack got up and strode over to me as well. “Ah do believe Ah haven't properly thanked Flame either.”

“What?” What? “Yeah you did. I remember from yesterday, when I thought you were pissed at me, but instead of murdering me on the spot, you hugged me. It wasn't that big a deal, I was happy to do it and-”

She interrupted me by kissing me on the lips.

It wasn't a huge kiss, just a small peck really that didn't last that long, but try telling that to my brain. My general thought process was basically along the lines of '…..................', so not a lot of activity was going on up there.

She broke the kiss after a few seconds and, like Rarity, calmly trotted back to her seat. She wasn't even blushing. As opposed to myself, whose cheeks were now a lovely shade of crimson. Luckily, everyone was staring at Applejack in complete shock, so I was saved the embarrassment of public blushing. Manty would never let it rest if that happened.

“Well... uh... maybe... just... wait...” C'mon brain! Move your ass already! “Hold... 'kay, gimme a sec...” I proceeded to repeatedly shake my head back and forth, which only succeeded in giving me a quick headache. Groaning, I clutched my forehead. “... That did not help...”

“Er... Applejack...” Rarity was also attempting to escape the confines of her mind. “Did you just...?”

“Yep.” Applejack replied smugly.

“Stop... way... what... who... ugh, dammit Applejack! How am I supposed to THINK now!?!”

She chuckled. “That's your problem.”

“You just fricking KISSED me! I don't even...I mean... just...” I looked at her helplessly. “WHAT!?!”

Her face softened. “Jus' consider mah 'thank you' for savin' mah little sister.”

“Well you could have just... I dunno...” I blinked. “Crap, uh... why did I come here again?”

Twilight coughed. “That would be to answer a few questions.”

“Questions! Yes! Distraction, sweet distraction!” I shot Applejack a look. “You and I are going to have words after this.”

“Ah look forward to it.” She grinned. Damn, it's creepy when she does that.

“Whatever.” I turned back to Twi. “So, now that I have re-gained access to my thoughts and memories, what is it you girls wish to 'discuss' with me?”

“A-Are you sure?” She glanced nervously at Applejack. “Maybe this isn't the best time.”

“On the contrary, this is the perfect time, for if I don't have anything to occupy my mind right now I will more then likely go insane.” My straight face seemed to unnerve her.

“N-No, that's fine, we can just-”

“Twi, I'm begging you, on my knees, to please do SOMETHING to get my mind off of what just happened.”

“Oh, alright.” She rubbed her temples. Five minutes in, and everything was already falling apart. This was NOT how she had hoped it to go. “I suppose now's a good a time as any, seeing as how-wait.” She peered over my shoulder, then frowned. “Is Rainbow Dash still asleep!?!”

We all turned to see Dash snoring away in her seat, which for some reason really pissed off Twi. She scrunched up her face and yelled at the top of her lungs: “RAINBOW DASH!!!!!!!!”

Dash yelled and jumped about five feet into the air before realizing where she was. She glared at Twi. “What the hay Twilight!?! I was in the middle of something!!!”

Twi deadpanned. “You were sleeping.”

“Exactly!!!”

“Y'know, no offense to Dash or anything, but why did you wake her up?” I snorted. “I'm assuming that the reason she was asleep in the first place was due to your lecture?”

“You're a mind-reader.” She yawned and steadied herself against my shoulder. “So what'd I miss?”

“Uhhhhhhh...” I glanced at Applejack, then quickly looked away. “Nuthin'.”

“Cool.” She yawned again. “Then why am I awake?”

I pondered this. “I don't know.”

“You're awake because I was just about to start questioning Flame here.” Twi said rather pointedly.

“Are you still on about that? I told you, he's not gonna care.” She looked at me. “Are you?”

“Depends. What are we caring about?”

“Your-”

“ANY-way...” Twi was looking daggers at Rainbow. “I was just about to ask him.”

“Good.” She shook herself and blinked a few times. “Man, I'm tired. How long was I out?”

“Silly, you weren't out! You were asleep!” Pinkie said happily. She was surprisingly the only one who wasn't moving about, instead choosing to remain by Fluttershy, who was watching me warily. She hadn't said anything during the entire proceedings.

“You were out when I got here, which was about ten minutes ago. Dunno much more then that.” I turned back to Twilight. “Now let's got on to these questions.”

“Thank you.” Twi shot me a relieved look. “It won't take long, trust me.”

Everyone promptly sat down and shut up, with me in the middle being the focus of attention. It served to remind we just why I was here in the first place, though thankfully my nervousness didn't crop up again. Hard to be nervous when you've just been kissed not two seconds ago.

Twilight summoned her usual ink and parchment and took a moment to collect her thoughts before facing me again. She had turned serious, which told me that I'd better prepare to deflect some pretty tough questions.

Shields up.

“Before we start, I would just like to say that the meaning of my questions are not to offend, but to inform. I'd appreciate it if each question were answered thoroughly...” She gave me a stare-down. “... and honestly.”

Yeah, that doesn't sound like high school at all. “Okay.”

“Good. Number one...” She cleared her throat, looking nervous. The next came out really fast. “... isittrueyouusethesamemagicasDiscord?”

“Y'know, I'll answer any question you got, but in order to do so I have to physically understand them.”

“Sorry. Is it... is it true that you... that you...” Spit it out already, c'mon. “... that you use the same magic as Discord?”

“Two things: One, it's called 'chaos magic', and two, who the hell's Discord?”

Did I mention that it's annoying when everyone stares at you and goes silent?

“What?”

“Are you serious?” Dash choked out. It looked like she was trying very hard to guffaw.

“What!?!”

“You... don't know who Discord is?!” Twi stared at me incredulously.

“Should I?”

“Everypony does!”

“I'm not a pony. I thought we were all aware of this fact.”

She suddenly looked suspicious. “Are you SURE?”

“Pretty sure. I mean, I might of heard of him... let me think...” I stroked an imaginary beard. “Hmmmm... Discord Discord Discord... aha!” I brightened. “Come to think of it, I may of read of him someplace. Wasn't he that one bad guy that did something bad?”

Twilight facehooved. “Yes, but it's a bit bigger then that.”

“You only know of him from a book?” Rarity shook her head. “Darling, he tried to take over Equestria only about a year ago!”

“Take over Equestria... wait!” All the details from 'A Guide to Dragons' came rushing back in an instant. “Discord. Draconequus, very powerful chaos-user. Attempted to take over Equestria twice, was stopped both times by the Elements of Harmony.” I sat back, rather proud of myself. “See? Remembered.”

“Well... yes. Yes, that's pretty much it. So you DO know who he is.”

“Vaguely, but enough to follow your logic. What about him?”

“Why do you use his magic?”

“You mean chaos magic?”

“What's 'chaos magic'?

“The stuff he uses.”

“Then yes.”

“To be honest... I don't really know.” I held up a hoof to stop what was undoubtedly going to be a loud exclamation along the lines of 'bullshit'. “Now now, hear me out. I've only had these powers for about... eh, three weeks. I'm still learning a bit about how they work, but I know the basics. It's called chaos magic, and certain dragons (like me) have it. It's just a different branch of magic, nothing special.”

“Discord's not a dragon.”

“Draconequus, dragon, whatever. They're the same thing.”

“No, they're not.”

“A draconequus is just a really, really powerful form gained by experienced chaos-users.” Man, look at me go. If you didn't know better, you might say I actually knew what I was talking about. “Discord was probably a dragon once.”

“But that's-”

“I can see you're confused, so allow me to simplify it: Woke up, had powers. The end.”

It was then that Applejack did something weird. Well, more weird then kissing me that is. She walked up to me in the same fashion as before (which may have freaked me out. A lot), except this time she just stared at me. Not into my eyes or anything, just me in general. She took note of my stance, my wings, my expression, my eyes, and basically every facial feature that moved. When she was satisfied, she went back to her seat. “He's tellin' the truth Twilaght.”

Twi looked surprised, while I just stood there stupidly. “He is?”

“Yep.” She raised an eyebrow. “What, yah don't believe me?”

“No no, of course I believe you. Why wouldn't I?” Twilight seemed to be going into 'I'll deal with this shit later' mode, which was good as I really wasn't in the mood for any mental breakdowns.

“Whoa...” I blinked out of my trance and looked at Applejack. “So... you're some kind of pony lie detector or something?”

“Ah can tell when somepony's tellin' the truth, so yeah, Ah guess yah could say that.”

“Yeah, she's also the-” Pinkie was quickly interrupted by Applejack shoving her hoof into her mouth.

She chuckled nervously. “Don't mind her. She's just bein' Pinkie Pie. That's all. Yep, nuthin' else.”

I stared at her for a few seconds.

“You suck at lying.” I noted. “But whatever.”

I turned back to Twilight. “So is that it? Can I go now?”

“No. I still have a few more questions. Do you intend harm to Ponyville in any way?”

I deadpanned. “Yeah. I'm secretly planning to betray all of you and murder everyone. That's why I became your friend, rescued your children, and fixed your relationships with each other. Seriously, is this what you've been worrying about the whole time?”

Twi just sat there, slack-jawed.

“He's lying.” Applejack said rather unnecessarily.

“Yeah...” She put her head in her hooves and sighed. Then she straightened and looked at all of us rather sheepishly. “Well I... I guess I was kind of worried over... nothing... huh?”

“NOW she gets it!” Rainbow Dash applauded.

“Sorry girls, it's just... Discord was bad news... I really didn't want a repeat of that...”

“Aw, don't worry Twilight!” Pinkie gave her a big hug. I noted that is was nowhere near as bone-crushing as the one she gave me. “We don't blame you!”

All the girls decided that it was group hug time and went in to join Pinkie, while I was left on the sidelines. Which was fine by me. As Fluttershy trotted by, I gave her a small smile, which she returned (Yes!). As she was being hugged, Twi peered at and looked at me apologetically.

“Listen, sorry for... uh... for the whole 'blaming you for being evil' thing. I just didn't any problems, it was really bothering me, and-”

I held up a hoof. “Really, it's fine. You dealt with it in a good matter, and I am by no means offended. Just next time... please... come to my house, okay?”

She grinned. “Deal.”

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

Princess Celestia strode down the hallway, accompanied by her usual Honor Guard. They were mostly for decoration, and none of them would be of any actual use in a real fight, but she kept them around. They were impressive, and intimidating too if she wanted them to be. They were also rather fun to talk to. That was a quality she looked for in all of her guards, as being the ruler of a peaceful kingdom tended to get quite boring at times.

But today, she was in no mood to chit-chat.

She reached the end of the hall and emerged into the outdoors. Several bridges branched off from here, one leading to the ballroom, one to the gardens, one to the maze, etc. She ignored all of these and instead turned down the one that lead to the barracks.

After a short walk, she began walking past small fields, were the daily drills were taking place. When she saw them, Celestia rolled her eyes. The standard training offered by the army paled in comparison to most she had seen, such as the Griffon Kingdom. But it was, again, a peaceful time, so she supposed it didn't matter.

She made for one building in particular, the Captains office. Upon entering, she was greeted with the aggravating sight of everyone looking at her, then quickly bowing. Most people don't realize just how annoying this gets after more then a thousand years of ruling, and it did nothing to improve Celestia's mood. Which was already quite low.

“At ease.” she said rather crisply, not even bothering to slow down. She marched straight up to the Captain, who was looking rather startled but nonetheless came to attention. “Captain Shining Armor.”

“Yes your majesty?” Shining Armor, Captain of the Guard and Twilight Sparkle's big brother, had done a fantastic job in his time as a soldier and had earned the respect of the princesses. That was the only reason Celestia was trusting him with this.

“Gather a squad of your finest men and have them ready to depart for Ponyville at a moment's notice. Also, prepare my carriage. I will be riding with you as well.”

“Yes your majesty.” This was why she liked him. No-nonsense, no pointless questions, no dilly-dawdling. “May I ask as to the nature of this sudden trip?”

“A threat has sprung up in Ponyville, one that requires my attention. Also, inform your guards we will be taking the Elements of Harmony with us. That should get them moving.”

“The Elements of Harmony?” Shining raised an eyebrow at this, if only for a second. You didn't just 'bring' six all-powerful magical items with you without a reason.

“Yes, the Elements of Harmony. It is unknown how powerful this threat is.”

“Yes your majesty.”

Without another word she turned and swept away from the building, leaving Shining Armor to gather the troops and get ready to move out.

I'm coming for you, chaos-user...

-End of Chapter 14-

A/N: I'm thinking about adding Blank Page as a sidelong character. Y'know, not have any affect on the plot, but still... there. Thoughts?

Brilliant Ideas

A/N: Well this took fucking forever.

Have you ever made someone feel guilty? As in really guilty? Has that someone ever tried to make whatever he or she did up to you by apologizing? Multiple times, in fact? So many times that you finally accept their apology? And then you and that someone continue your relationship as if nothing ever happened, the incident gone from your memory and lost among the strands of time? Have you ever been faced with an apology you just can't turn down? An apology that, in and of itself, is truly a work of art that should be cherished forever? An apology that if turned away, threatens to turn back upon its host, and destroy them from the inside? An apology that comes from the deepest, deepest depths of one's heart?

Then you, my friend, are one lucky bastard.

Let's recap on the situation. I had just come from what was probably the most traumatic Q&A of my life and was now standing in the Books and Branches with absolutely no idea what to do next. Twi, having just recently accused me of being an evil dude who planned to murder everyone, was now making it up to me by apologizing more times than any earthly being should be allowed to. Which was 500 times too many.

Me? I was taking rather drastic steps to avoid said apologies.

Don't listen... don't think... just focus on bunnies... cute, little bunnies... no, not Angel...just cute, little-

“Listen Flame, I'm just really sorry about what happened. Is there any way I can-”

NO! DON'T LISTEN!!! YOU'LL BECOME ONE OF THEM!!! BLOCK IT OUT!!! BLOCK IT OUT!!!

“- maybe I could teach you something about magic, or even-”

BUNNIES!!! FOCUS BACK ON THE BUNNIES!!! DO IT BEFORE SHE GETS YOU!!!

“- history! That's a good idea, I could catch you up on pony history! It would be-”

ACK!!! IT'S GOT ME!!!

“-a book! You like books, right? I have so many that I could recommend-”

GAAACCCKCKKKAKERWHERLEhegaughgashkalawerkle.... glurg...

Twi rudely interrupted my mental episode by tapping me on the shoulder. “Flame?”

I calmly looked at her. “Yes Twilight?”

“Are you even listening to me?”

“No Twilight.”

She glared at me. “Well I'm trying to apologize to you!”

“Which you have already done much more times than necessary. What part of 'I forgive you' do you not understand?”

She stomped her hoof. “But I'm just really-”

“No. Stop.” I held up a hoof. “I said I forgive you. End of story.”

“But-”

“No.”

“But-”

“No.”

“But-”

“I'm not having this conversation, Twi. This line is broken, come back tomorrow.”

She stared at me for a couple seconds before closing her mouth. “Fine.”

“About time.” I turned away. “For a second there I thought I was gonna have to splash you with a bucket of water or something.”

“In a way, he's right darling.” Rarity put a hoof over Twi's shoulder. “One apology is quite sufficient.”

“Yeah. And when you're going on, and on, and on like that, it gets annoying.” This earned Rainbow a glare from Rarity. “What? It does!”

While the girls talked, I made my way over to the corner of the room, next to Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Spike. Each of them had various stages of emotion plastered on their face. Spike looked okay, Sweetie Belle looked grossed out, Apple Bloom looked like me after a math test (completely zoned out with no sense of reality), and Scootaloo looked like she was trying to decide whether to laugh or cry.

I leaned down and whispered to Spike. “ So did you guys get all that?”

“Yeah. Yeah we did.” He stifled a laugh. “Did Applejack really just KISS you?”

“That's classified information.”

“Thought so.” He grinned. “You know what's gonna happen if Rainbow Dash finds out, right?”

“Oh.” My heart stopped. “Well... uh...

…

… Shit.”

At this, Spike just burst out laughing. “Exactly.”

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo seemed to realize we were here, and immediately they were both on me.

“You kissed her?! Gross!”

“Why didn't you kiss Rainbow Dash? She's cooler!”

“I can't believe you actually DID that!!!”

“Oh, Rainbow Dash is gonna be SO mad...”

I held up my hoof. “To clarify, she kissed me. It was an unavoidable circumstance.”

Spike snorted. “Right.”

I glared at him. “The point being that if you're going to yell at someone, yell at her, not me.”

Man, I was just ASKING for what came next.

Sweets and Scoots, being the little demons that they are, took that as an invitation to immediately run over to Applejack and begin voicing their displeasure about her kissing me. The problem? Dashie was kind of standing two feet away from Applejack. And the kids weren't exactly quiet about what they heard.

“Did you really kiss him?!”

“What did Rainbow Dash do?!”

“That's so GROSS!”

“He LET you?!”

I gotta say, Dash took it pretty well. And by that, I mean she just stood there looking confused. Applejack, being smart, took one look at Dash and immediately tried to shush the fillies. Annnnnd... well, you can guess how well that turned out. I just stood next to Spike with my mouth half-open. Spike himself was rolling around on the floor laughing his head off.

“BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA... oh my Celestia.... I can't believe you actually just DID that!”

“Shut up.”

“Rainbow's gonna kill you.”

“SHUT UP.”

“Hey Flame?”

I turned. Dash had sidled up next to me. Over her shoulder, I could see Applejack and the girls talking with Sweets and Scoots, completely unaware of the danger I was in. Great. What are friends for, anyway?

“Yeah?”

“What are they talking about?” She pointed behind her.

“Oh. Well that is... uh....”

“They're saying you kissed Applejack.” She frowned a little. Crap. This is bad, bad, very bad.

“Well... you see, it went like this, she-”

“Is that true?” she interrupted me. I could began to see something in her eyes.

“Umm... no. Well yes, but no.”

“Yes or no?” Her face got very close to mine. “Which one is it?”

I backed away quickly. “Now Dashie, I know you're probably pissed, but-”

“Well?” Her eyes. I could see the flame. It was getting closer.

“It was an unavoidable circumstance! I was just-”

“Flame, seriously.” Suddenly she wasn't right up close to me. She was sitting there, looking annoyed. “I'm not gonna kill you or anything. I just want an answer.”

I blinked. “Oh.” Looking over her shoulder, I could still see Applejack talking with the girls. “Well in that case, she kissed me. Not visa-versa. There is a difference.”

“I know.” Grinning, she turned. “This is great!”

“Great?” Huh? “What's great?”

She turned and looked me slyly. “Well... she kissed you, right?”

“Uhhh...” I dunno. Did she? “... yeah...”

“Great. She did it, which means I now have to get even with her. Which makes you...” Turning, she walked away. “... fair game.”

I blinked again. Wait... Then I jumped up and followed her. “Hey! Just so you know, I have a lawyer! You'd better not kidnap me or anything!”

“No promises!” she shouted back.

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

After re-joining the rest of the girls, Rainbow drew Applejack aside to have some 'polite conversation', which I knew was just an excuse for the two of them to either argue or share strategies. Probably both. Did I stop them? No. First of all, because a little arguing is healthy, and second, because I value the well-being of my face. And... well, pretty much my whole body in general.

While they did their thing, I talked with the rest of the girls. Twilight in particular wanted to know what my plan for the rest of the day was (None of your damn business, that's what).

I shrugged. “Probably just gonna go home. I have some things to attend to-wait.” I had remembered something. “Gimme a sec, I got to check something.”

They all looked confused as I slowly creeped towards the door, trying to be as stealthy as possible. I went into an army crawl (which is surprisingly much more comfortable when you have four legs) and made my way across the floor, until I was right at the foot of the door. I was trying to avoid being seen through the little window on the face of it, or as I like to call it, the 'who-the-hell-are-you' window. Because, y'know, you always look through it to find out who the hell wants into your house. Kind of like a peephole, except I can never see anything with those.

Situating myself underneath the handle, I rubbed my hooves together. I was just about to open it when I was rudely interrupted once again. “Flame?”

I looked up. Twilight and Rarity were looking at me like one of my eyes had turned pink. Couldn't they see I was doing something important? “Yeah?”

“Ummmmmm...” Rarity shook her head. “What are you doing?”

“I'm checking on somethin'.” I turned back to the doorknob.

“And what exactly is that something?”

“Well, you see...” I slowly turned the knob. The door creaked open. “... I had some slight trouble in town this morning, and I wanted to see if it'll happen again.”

“Trouble?!” Twi looked alarmed. “What kind of trouble?!”

I had opened the door just enough for me to poke my head outside. As soon as I did, the nearest pony saw me and gasped. She poked her friend in the shoulder and pointed at me. He in turn poked the next guy, who poked someone else, who poked someone else, who poked someone else; who got the shit scared out of him and sent his ice cream flying halfway towards the moon.

I sighed. Well, so much for that plan.

As I pulled my head back in and shut the door, I could hear the muttering start up. Most of it was probably about why my head was at the bottom of the door instead of at the top, but at the moment I didn't really care. Staring was staring, and the last thing I wanted was to become another freak show.

“That kind of trouble.” I informed Twilight. Dusting myself off, I turned to face her. “Do you have like, an underground tunnel to the Everfree or something?”

“Uhhhhh...” She blinked. “...No.”

Crap. “Well then give me a second to figure something out, because I do not want to go out there again.”

“Why in Equestria not?!” Rarity was looking through the window at the masses of muttering people with a look that said 'WANT'. “The entire town seems to know you!”

I deadpanned. “No, really, I didn't notice. Think we should go out and ask them just to make sure?”

“I think it's great!” Twi said happily. She had joined Rarity at the window. “Everypony seems to be talking about you.”

“Annnnnnnd... remind me how that's a good thing?” I scratched my head. “What, were you expecting something different?”

“Oh yes.” She nodded vigorously. “Normally when they meet something new, they all run away screaming.”

This phrase served to temporarily rob me of speech. When I got it back, I wasn't too happy. “So you just decided to write me a letter, telling me to come to you, knowing full well that there was about a fifty percent chance that I would become the next fricking Godzilla?!” I shook my head incredulously. “What kind of sense does that even make?!”

Twi was unfazed. “Well I was only really worried about three ponies.”

“Lily, Daisy, and Roseluck.” Rarity clarified. “The Flower Fillies.”

“Exactly.” Twi turned to face me. “Let's just say they aren't the bravest of ponies.”

I looked at her suspiciously. “Just how 'un-brave' are we talking about?”

“They caused a wide-spread panic when a group of bunnies ate their gardens.” Rarity answered matter-of-factly.

I stared at both of them, then proceeded to facehoof. “Why does that not surprise me in the least?”

“Look on the bright side! Nopony's screaming.”

“Nope. They just stare at me like I'm the damn Pope.” I waved my hooves in front of my face, nearly falling over in the process. “It's like they expect me to transform into a dragon at any moment!”

“Would you?”

“Probably.”

“Then stop complaining.”

I glared at her. “Can you stop saying logical things? They're interrupting my thought process.”

She giggled. “I'll take that as a compliment.”

“Whatever.” I looked around the library for anything that could help me escape. Dashie and Apples were still battling it out in the corner, Spike and the fillies had gotten bored and had probably left to go destroy something (What? It's something to do), and Pinkie and Fluttershy...

“Hey...” I turned in a circle, surveying the area. “Where'd Pinkie and Flutters go off too?”

Rarity had finally drawn herself away from the hordes of flesh-eating townsfolk. “I'm not sure. Knowing Pinkie Pie, she probably left to go celebrate the fact that you forgave Twilight and Fluttershy... well...” She smiled sheepishly. “... she probably feels mortified for being terrified of you, but is too scared to apologize.”

“Another addition to my glorious afternoon.” I snorted. “I knew I shouldn't have gotten up today.”

“One cannot be a couch potato all the time.”

“I know many people who would argue with that.”

“I'VE GOT IT!!!” Wait, what?

I blinked at Rarity. “Did you say something?”

She blinked back. “No.”

We both looked at Twilight, who was wearing the most freakishly happy expression that I almost mistook her for Ace Ventura.

What?

No. It's a movie.

Well then stop reading this, and go watch it. No, NOT in a couple of hours, RIGHT NOW.

“Ummm... Yes Twilight?” I ventured.

“I've got the answer to your problem!” She said it the same way you would say 'I've obtained Elysium'.

“So you DO have a secret escape tunnel.”

“Nope. Better!” Her grin never wavered. “I can't believe I didn't think of this before!”

“Please, enlighten us.” I sat down, tried to look interested, and instead decided to focus on her smile. My expression probably turned out something along the lines of 'terrified'.

“I agree with Flamesinger. What is your... er... solution, Twilight?” Rarity didn't look any less nervous than I felt, which meant Twi's smile wasn't normal. Great. Now we're all gonna die.

“Well you see, we've always been looking for a way to get Flame accepted, right?” Have we? “The problem was that we just couldn't think of a way to introduce him to everypony at once. My plan is just that: we introduce him to the whole town!”

“I love how you're talking about me in the third person. It's not like I'm right here or anything.”

“Introduce him to the whole town? How?”

“Simply! We'll use the outdoor theater and tell everyone that an important event is happening there!”

“Hello? Anyone? Am I alone in this conversation?”

“So... we would be introducing him publicly.”

“Exactly! We'll even have him talk about himself for a little while so everypony sees he's not dangerous!”

“Is there a way that I can express my immense dislike of this plan? Because I immensely dislike it.”

“That... could work. No, that could not only work, it could work FABULOSLY! An excellent idea Twilight!”

“I know! I can't believe I didn't think of it sooner!”

“WELL SOMEBODY FRICKING LISTEN TO ME ALREADY!?! I FEEL LIKE A DAMN ROCK!!!”

This particular outburst, while probably psyching out the neighbors, did get me the attention I wanted. Both Twi and Rarity immediately stopped talking and looked at me in shock.

“Thank you.” I pointed at Twilight. “Now let me know if I understand you correctly: You.” I pointed at myself. “Want me.” I pointed outside. “To give a speech.”

It took a few seconds for her to answer. “Well... not necessarily a speech, but-”

“No.”

“What!?!”

“No.”

“It's perfect!”

“I shun publicity.”

“It'll be an hour at most!”

“An hour is 3,600 seconds, A.K.A. a long time.”

She groaned. “But why not?!”

“Two reasons: One, because I don't want to accidentally start a cult, and two, because it's stupid.”

She glared at me. “Those are horrible reasons.”

“Maybe, but believe when I say that neither money nor power nor sports cars will put me on that stage. I'm not talking to anyone, and that's FINAL.”

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

And that is the story of how I ended up here, in the mayor's office, waiting to talk to said mare about a plan that, if I had anything to say about it, would spend the rest of its miserable existence begging it's jailor for an extra scrap of raw meat.

… what? It was a stupid plan.

Now, I'm not so sure what the duties of a mayor are, but you know how last time I was able to just skip the waiting period entirely and talk to her right away?

Well that didn't really happen this time.

“So....... fricking........ bored.......” Each word was punctuated by me banging my head against the wall. “Need....... enter........ tainment.......”

Twi looked up and huffed. “Are you ever patient?”

I turned to her. “I am patient for things that I think are worthy of being patient for.” I resumed my head-banging. “This isn't.”

“Well at least stop that continuous noise. Find something to do that doesn't involve injuring yourself. It can't be that much longer.”

“You said that an hour ago.”

She frowned. “No I didn't.”

“You said that an hour ago too.”

“We haven't been waiting here for-”

“We have been waiting here for 2 hours, 14 minutes, 17 seconds and counting.” I looked up. “And I know that because the clock is being reflected in this wall I'm banging my head against.”

“Ugh.” Twi disappeared back into her magazine. “Conversations with you are so.... anachronistic.”

“What?”

“Anachronistic. It means... nevermind.”

“My conversations are nevermind?”

“Just find something to do, okay?”

“Righto.”

But as it turns out, finding stuff to do inside a lobby is rather difficult. Both Twi and Rares were reading fashion magazines, and had been ever since we got here, so I couldn't rely on them for company. Other than that there was several chairs, a side table, a stack of magazines, a desk complete with receptionist who was pounding away at her typewriter (still have no idea how they do that), a painting of the most depressing house in existence, and a window.

Whoever made this lobby needs to seriously revisit their childhood.

Sighing, I made my way over to one of the chairs and collapsed into it, settling down so that it looked like I was gonna try and take a nap. Closing my eyes, I tried to clear my head.

Manty? Mannnnty? Hey man, you there?

Ugh... grborenssom....burzzum..... mumbles...

I frowned. Wait, what?

Grzzz..... mumborldjhf....achgomberdon...

Uhhh... dude? Are you okay? You aren't dying or anything, are you?

Zzzzzz... ummumumubumble....

Oh. Oh HELL no. You are NOT asleep. Not when I actually need to talk to you!

Hurmmm.... morwha....?

God, I want to throw a rock at you so much right now.... WAKE UP!!!

Ugh... who is it...?

In real life, I sighed and rubbed my forehead. Who the hell do you think it is!?!

Mmph... Flame, this better be really important. You just interrupted a three-hour nap.

Uh-huh, that's cool. Are you awake now?

No. I'm still asleep.

Even better. Listen, I desperately need someone to talk to right now. Think you can fill in for the job?

Do I have a choice?

What do I look like, Janus? Of course not.

Ugh... I'm gonna kill you when you get home... what do you want to talk about?

I dunno... cupcakes?

… You're kidding me.

What? I've spent the last two hours banging my head against a wall, what'd you expect me to think of?

Just... where are you anyway!?!

In the mayor's office. Twi has this idea that she wants to test out.

And that idea is...?

I should introduce myself to the town and let them know I'm not mean.

That's a horrible idea.

I know. Try telling her that though.

Do you need an escape route? I could bust open the side of the building.

Yeah... no. No, that's fine.

You sure? It's no trouble.

You have a really shitty definition of trouble.

Yeah, well-

“The mayor will see you now.”

I was snapped back to reality by the receptionist's voice. Shaking my head slightly, I quickly told Manty I had to go and then got up and followed Twilight and Rarity. I sincerely heard both of them heave a sigh of relief as they closed their magazines.

The mayor's office was in total disarray. Her desk was covered in crumpled pieces of paper, empty bottles of ink, quills, and scrolls. Lots and lots of scrolls. The mayor herself didn't look much better either. She had that tired look of someone who has been doing the same thing over and over and over and over again until they eventually want to either quit their job or move to a different planet.

When we entered, she looked up and immediately spotted Twi. “Ah yes, Twilight Sparkle! Just the pony I wanted to see! Sorry I had to keep you waiting like that, but I've just been up to my mane in letters ever since that little incident with the...” Her eyes alighted on me, and her smile turned rather sour. “... dragon.”

“Well good goddamn morning to you too.” I grumbled. “Anyone else here wanna express their joy at my presence?”

“Flammmmme...” Twi muttered, nudging me with her hoof. I guess she was trying to get me to shut up, but The Double M beat her to it.

“YOU!” Mare's smile wasn't even sour now. It was more... dead. “YOU are the reason for...” She gestured wildly at the desk full of paper. “... ALL OF THIS!!!”

I eyed the mess. “And this would be...?”

She settled back in her chair, glaring at me. “Letters.” she said crisply. “About you.”

“Oh! Fan mail!” I snatched the nearest scroll and unfurled it. It was kind of wrinkled, but I could still make it out.

Dear Mayor Mare,

It has come to my attention that there is a so-called 'dragon' running

around town that is disguising itself as a pony and interacting with the population.

Several individuals I know have claimed to have spoken with him, and many are

surprised at the level of, for lack of a better term, 'likableness' that he has shown.

However, following the events of his public appearance and subsequent rescue of the

children at the fire yesterday, some of those same ponies are now having doubts about

whether or not he can be trusted.

So, without farther ado, let me be the first to state that this is absolute bullshit.

What the hay are we, tyrants?! Is it considered normal around here that a perfectly

normal and sentient creature is being shunned because of its abilities and the way it

looks?! I'll have you know that I've been places, and by being in those places I've found

that our species is, like, the ONLY species that does this anymore! Why is that? Is it because

our education system sucks?! Is because our government is entirely based around two

asshats that call themselves princesses?! Hay if I know, I'm just a Celestia-damned kid!

How the hay am I supposed to know this stuff!?! It's not like I get taught it! All we learn in

school these days is how to add 5 to 6! WHO THE BUCK WANTS TO LEARN THAT!?! And

furthermore, I-

The page ended there.

“Huh.” I muttered. “Deep.” Looking back up at the glaring Mayor, I held up the paper. “Is there a second page to this?”

She snatched the paper away and starting furling it up. “ANYWAY...” Turning to Twilight and Rarity, she pasted a smile on her face. “What can I do for you two?”

“Oh... well, uh...” Twi glanced nervously between me and the Mayor. “Actually, I wanted to discuss an idea I had with you.”

“Marvelous!” She propped her head up on her hoofs, still acting way too damn happy. “Do continue!”

“Well... you've been having problems with ponies thinking that Flame isn't safe right?”

With that, the Mayor dropped all pretenses and resumed her annoyed look. “You see these?” She pointed towards the pile of letters. “These are all letters from the residents of Ponyville and they are all...” She moved her hoof so it was pointing at me. “... about our dear dragon. And while most of them have contradicted my expectations and have not been over negative...” I grinned. She shot me a glare, then relented. “... I would appreciate it if ponies stopped sending them.”

“Exactly! Nopony's certain of anything about him! Which is why...” Twi trotted over next to me and put a hoof over my shoulder. “... I suggest that he tells them himself.”

The Double M knit her eyebrows. “What are we talking about here?”

“Simple. A town meeting. We call everypony into one place and have Flamesinger speak to them all!”

“I see... so basically giving everypony a good impression of him?”

“Yes. It would erase most of the worries and make these letters stop arriving.” I could tell Twi was getting stoked about it. Even worse, she seemed to be brainwashing the Mayor.

“I suppose that would work...” She glanced at me. “I would have to have a word with him though. In private, if you don't mind.”

“I love how everyone's referring to me as an object today.” I grumbled. “Really boosts the self-image, y'know?”

Everyone ignored me. Huzzah.

“Of course!” Twilight signaled Rarity (who had wondered off to read more fashion magazines) and they both left the room. Leaving me alone, in the company of The Double M. Great. Now all we need is an interrogation lamp.

The mare in question leaned back in her chair, staring at me. She didn't seem very eager to do anything else, and after a couple minutes I got fidgety.

“Sooooo...” I said, attempting to start some sort of conversation. “This is the part when you call them back in, tell them it's a horrible plan, and to come back when they'd thought of something that doesn't involve me doing a cosplay of The King's Speech.”

She blinked. “Wait, what?”

When was I gonna learn to stop making references like that? “Nevermind. It's a dragon thing.” I rubbed my forehooves together. “But you should still tell them it's a horrible plan.”

“Well that's just the thing.” She leaned forward a little. “It's not.”

I stared at her. “You think me trying to reassure a bunch of ponies that I'm not a threat is a good idea.”

“In theory, yes.” She sighed. “Really, you're the only one who can. I'll admit these ponies are not the most accepting of anything they haven't seen before, and most of them have a habit of not listening to each other when they really need to. You're little heroic act yesterday was commendable, but just me or Twilight going up there and saying you're a great guy still won't help. You need to do it.”

“Of course.” I grunted and rubbed my forehead. “Because apparently I gotta do everything myself.”

“You're a dragon.” She gave a small smile. “What did you expect?”

The Thu'um and a growth spurt. “This, except a lot less inconvenient and difficult.” I sighed. “Do I at least get a microphone?”

She grinned. “I'll take that as a confirmation that you'll do it?”

“Ugh...” I tapped the desk a couple of times. “Well, screw it, why not?”

I mean, what could possibly go wrong?

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

And so... we did it.

Twi and the Mayor set it all up. They had Dashie, Apples, Pinks, Flutters, and Rares all go around the town to tell people that there was gonna be a town meeting, which is apparently something that freaking everybody wants to attend. Maybe it's cause they give out free candy or something.

In the meantime, Double M and her sidekick Twily-Twil got to work. And by work I mean Twi went off to do God-knows-what while the Mayor decided to give me a pep-talk. A.K.A, a list of things I wasn't allowed to do.

“First of all, no death jokes. I'd rather avoid a village panic because of some half-witted quip you think off. Second, don't try and scare anypony, because trust me, you will. Third, don't bare your teeth, Fourth no insults. And five...” She grimaced. “... I'm gonna have to ask you to cut down on the swearing.”

I glared at her. “What? No swearing? Are you shitting me?”

“It's rare enough to have a pony do it.” She gave a wry smile. “I can't have you go about teaching kids new words.”

“Great. So not only am I supposed to make a public appearance, I'm also supposed to do it without any source material.”

“Oh don't worry about that.” She turned away from me and started messing with something that I guessed was the sound system. “What do you think Twilight's doing anyway?”

I shrugged. “I dunno. Peacing out? Probably what I should be doing.”

She laughed. “As a matter of fact, no. She's making you some note cards.”

“Note cards?” I blinked. “Uhhhh... she knows that there's absolutely no chance in hell I'm actually gonna use them, right?”

“Oh she knows that.” She hummed as she turned a knob. “She just loves making note cards.”

“Riiiiiiiiight.” I looked around. We were backstage, and it looked pretty similar to other backstages I'd seen. Not that I'd seen a lot. There were boxes overflowing with costumes, lighting equipment, and pretty much any drama-like thing you could think of. I guess this place had an active performance system going. “So when's this thing gonna start anyway?”

“We're waiting for when your friends get back, but really we can start anytime. Everypony's probably out there already.”

I trotted up the curtain and pulled it back a little bit. As it turns out, she was right. The place was packed, with everyone from children to old people to mares to stallions to that guy who had hit me in the head with his alarm clock. I spotted Blank Page lurking near the edge of the crowd, and also the guy from 'Quills and Sofas' who had sold me my couch. It was nice to know that I'd gathered such a crowd of ~~minions~~ friends in my few short weeks here.

“Okay, it's all set!” I heard Dashie's voice and turned to see that the girls had returned. “All Flame has to do is introduce himself, right?”

“Yes, just as soon as Twilight returns.” The Mayor looked over the group's shoulders. “Where is she anyway?”

“I'm right here!” Twi came running in after the rest of the girls with what had to be the BIGGEST FRICKING STACK OF NOTE CARDS IN EXISTENCE clutched in her magic. Seriously, she didn't expect me to carry all those cards out with me, did she? I'd look like an idiot! More than I already do!

“Here you go!” Panting, she dropped all the note cards onto my back. “Just follow them from the top and you'll be fine!”

“Uhhhh...” I picked the top one off with the tip of my wing and held it in front of my face. The script was tiny. The singular card probably held over a thousand words. “... I'm pretty sure it'll take several days to do all of these. Maybe just a couple?”

She look disappointed, so I reiterated. “Okay okay, I'll do as much as I can. No promises though.” Her face brightened.

“Well I do believe everything is in place.” The Mayor smiled. “Me and Twilight will go introduce you Flame, you just transform and prepare to-”

“Wait, wait?!” I jumped, almost dropping the pile of note cards on my back. “Transform?! You want to do this as a dragon?!”

“Well...” The Mayor and Twilight looked at each other, then at me. “... yes. Why not?”

“Uh...” I stared at them both as if they were crazy. “... oh I dunno, sharp teeth?! Big claws?! Three feet taller than anyone in the vicinity?! Any of that ring any bells?!”

They both just laughed. “That won't be a problem. You aren't actually that scary to look at.”

This kind of deflated my ego a bit. “I'm not?”

“I’m afraid not, dearie.” Rarity put a hoof on my shoulder. “If it's any consolation, you're much more intimidating than Spike is. Don't tell him I said that though.”

“Yeah! You're still a big scary monster! You're just...” Pinkie stopped jumping for a moment to think about it. “... not that big and scary.”

Trying to salvage a bit of my pride, I trotted a few feet away from the girls and activated my magic. Once again the black cocoon of smoke-like black tendrils surrounded me, and after a few seconds I emerged, back in my dragon form. I turned to smirk at all the awe-struck faces. They had seen me transform at the fire, but not up close. “Well I can still do that.” I stuck out my tongue, completely ruining the effect. “So hah.”

After a couple seconds, the girls all burst out laughing.

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

Standing next the curtain, I heard Twilight and the Mayor began to address the crowd. I couldn't really make out what they were saying, and I did manage to catch my name a couple times.

Well of course stupid, the whole MEETING is about you. So don't screw it up.

However, based on past experiences, I can attest that this much easier to say than to do. So as Twilight poked her head through the curtain and informed me I was on, my heart was beating about four thousand times per minute.

As I passed, the girls whispered words of encouragement. “Good luck!” (Yeah, haven't heard that one before), “Break a leg!” (Why? Why would I do that?), “Look your best!” (I find that offensive), “Don't do anything I wouldn't do!” (Got it. Don't kill anybody), “Eat lots of cupcakes!” (Eh, how 'bout punch? Ya got any punch?).

Balancing the note cards in one hand, I pushed open the curtain and was greeted by a sea of faces. Before then, I'd never really understood why they used that term, but now I understand that it's really the only one that fits. Faces. Faces everywhere. They filled up about 80% of my vision, and guess what each one was starting fixedly at?

That's right. Moi.

Mentally grimacing, I completed the two feet to the podium and placed my ridiculous stake of note cards on the side of it. Twilight and Double M were on either side of me, and both of them smiled encouragingly. Yeah. That means they think I'm gonna mess up.

Sighing, I picked the first card off the pile, took a breath, and began to read. “Greetings, O’ equines of the village titled Ponyville. I am, as you see, a member of the 'draconis occidentalis' species, but I am sure we can still continue to be great friends. Be rest assured, I intend no harm to any of you...” Except a certain purple unicorn. “... and I hope that my appearance will not be enough to scare any of you into unnecessary panic. I possess the ability the breath fire, which...” I held the paper close to my face and squinted. The writing was really small here. “... is apparently illegal in six states, but I promise to never use this ability on you or your homes. I come in peace, and only wish to live amongst you as a normal civilian.”

As I continued reading, I glanced over at Twilight. Her face was beat red, and she looked like she was about ready to curl up and die.

“... though I do possess claws, they are unbreakable and thus confirm to law #57 in accordance with The Equestrian Book Of Laws, which can be found in the Royal Canterlot Library under shelf 2B.”
I was desperately trying not to burst out laughing at this point, and my face probably showed it. “I don't eat ponies, even though my teeth are strong to break through solid diamond.” I was only about halfway through the card at this point. “I'm aware that I am taller than everyone else, but...”

It went on and on. The whole time, all the ponies did was stare at me blankly. Nobody laughed. Nobody cried. Heck, nobody even left. They just sat there. I began to wonder whether they really were minions. I mean, only minions could listen to this kind of crap and not react in any way, right?

Maybe they're just zombies.

Taking a short pause I glanced at Twi and the Mayor. They were still smiling, but by now both of their faces were completely red. I decided to take that as a cue to stop screwing around and actually do something. Which mainly translated into 'stop the reading the pile of shit in your hands'.

“Alright.” I stated, tossing the note card over my shoulder. “Let's do this the easy way.” Putting both claws on the podium, I raised one and gave the two finger peace sign. “My name's Flamesinger, and I'm not here to kill anybody. Who wants to ask me a question?”

Every single hoof went up.

“Yeah.” I muttered, deflating a little. “Thought so.”

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

The carriage soared through the skies, pulled by two pegasi. Both of them wore the simple golden armor signifying them as part of Celestia's Royal Guard, as did everypony else in the carriage.

Differing from the Honor Guard in several ways, the main thing about these ponies was that they weren't just for decoration. Their armor was fancy. Instead it was practical, lean or large, depending on the style that guard favored. Yes, these guards actually knew how to fight, which was the main reason they'd been chosen for this mission.

In the front of the carriage rode Princess Celestia, who was currently gazing ahead, thinking. Mainly about what she was about to do, but also about her student's letter. Truthfully, she hadn't given it much thought, but now that she did she realized she would sooner or later have to deal with her naive little student. It was time she learned the facts of life, and one of those facts was that there were some things that were simply too dangerous to have around.

As Ponyville emerged in the distance, she turned to her troops. It was a standard squad, 9 ponies including Shining Armor with three each of earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns. Each of them carried a spear, or in the unicorn's case, nothing, and in the corner of the carriage stood the chest that contained the Elements of Harmony.

Her gaze lingered on that chest for a minute. She hoped she wouldn't have to use what was inside, if she even could use it. She wasn't an Element-Bearer anymore, and from the sound of Twilight's letter, her and her friends would most likely refuse to use them. Really, she'd just brought them along for intimidation purposes.

“The plan is simple.” Shining told everypony. “Find the threat and surround it. Be ready to attack if necessary. Princess Celestia is gonna be handling all of the talking, so try not to say too much.” He glanced at at her, and she nodded. “Alright, get ready! We're gonna be landing soon!”

Turning back to the front, she took a deep breath. Hopefully this would go off without a hitch.

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

“Okay... uhhhhh...” I played an invisible game of eenie-meenie-miny-moe with all the raised hoofs before settling on one. “You.”

The guy lowered his hoof. “Can dragons really move mountains using their minds?”

I stared at him for a couple seconds. “No.” I decided.

“Dang.” he muttered, and passed some bits to the guy next to him, who grinned.

“Okaaaaaay... next.” I pointed in some random direction, not really watching my arm. When I looked up, I realized I'd pointed at a thin colt. He was a pegasus, very light brown with the cutie mark of a feather. He had a camera slung over his neck, and looked really excited. “Can I get some pictures of you roaring?”

Now that was more like it. “Sure. Just catch me after this, I'm free all day.” The kid's grin widened and he immediately stared messing with his camera.

I pointed to a peculiar stallion in the middle with his hoof in the air, waving it as if his life depended on it. He had brown fur, a lightning style mane with a toxic green and yellow colour scheme, and a microphone cutie mark.

"Um, you, over there."

"Hi, Munomana here. Have you ever considered writing a story about yourself?”

“Uhhh...” A story? Yeah, that's a great idea. Terrorize the population, why not? “Well, first of all, my life is insanely boring and uninteresting, something which no one in their right mind would ever want to read (Yeah... that's not a load of bullshit or anything...). And second of all, I have zip writing skills. It would be like if Ferris Bueller decided to re-write 'War and Peace'.”

Everyone stared at me blankly.

I sighed. “... of course nobody got that...” Surveying the crowd, I again picked one. I felt I was gonna be doing a lot of picking in the near future. “Okay, you.”

It was a mare this time. “What's your favorite color?”

I thought about this. My eyes were blue. My scales were blue. My wings were blue. Even the few horns I had on my head were blue.

“Green.” I decided. “Why?”

She shrugged. “Just curious.”

“Alright then.” I moved on to the next guy. “How ‘bout you?”

“That thing you did... when you transformed... and when you absorbed all the fire... what was that?”

Well it's about time someone asked that. “Ah. That...” I tapped the side of my nose. “... was magic.”

The dude frowned. “Magic? But dragons can't use magic.”

“Well you obviously know a lot more about dragons than I do, so why don't you explain it?”

“But... well I... it's just...”

“Yep. Exactly. And you're actually kinda half-right. Not all dragons can use magic.” Holding out one of my hands, I activated my magic. My hand became encased in black, smoky aura., which elected a gasp from the crowd. “This, my friends...” I flexed my fingers, creating a small orb in the palm of my hand. “... is chaos magic. It's basically our kind of magic. Like yours, except creepier.” Noting that some of the ponies up front were edging away from me, I clenched my fist, destroying the orb and extinguishing the aura. “Now I know it looks weird, but trust me when I say that it's harmless. It's dark, it's smoky, it's scary, but really it's just like the magic that any of you unicorns have. It just...” I thought about it, then shrugged. “... looks freaking creepy.”

“You got that right.” I heard a pony up front mutter.

“It looks evil!” a mare in the back shouted.

I raised my hands in the 'surrender' position. “Have I done anything even remotely evil in the past week or so I've been here?”

She had to think about it. “You destroyed my husband’s alarm clock.”

I waved her off. “Please, he throw that at my head. I had a right to do that.” Addressing the whole crowd, I raised my voice. “Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is that even if I had done something evil or mean or whatever, it would've been me...” I tapped the podium. “... and not the magic. The point of that, is of course that no matter how weird my magic looks, it's harmless. You have my word. I'll even sign it in ink if you want.”

Sighing, I rubbed my forehead. “Now can we please move on?! I've got like fifty questions to answer here!”

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

Okay, wait.

Now it was true that Celestia hadn't really known what to expect when she met the chaos-user. After all, dragons came in all shapes and sizes and Twilight's letter hadn't really specified any physical aspects of him. However, she'd at least had a pretty good idea. And for the most part, the chaos-user met that idea.

However, something she had not expected was to find the chaos-user in the center of town, on the stage, answering questions from what appeared to be every single resident of Ponyville.

Sighing, she began re-arranging the plan. She would have to go about this a little bit differently if she was to do it in front of the whole town.

“Alright, listen up.” She turned to her squad. “Slight change of plans. Half of the squad will approach in full view, acting as my guards. The other half will sneak around back. Both halves be prepared to surround him when I give the signal. Everypony got it?” They all nodded. “Good. Try and avoid attacking unprovoked.”

As the team split up, Celestia slowly began approaching the stage. The guards that were staying with her lined up on either side, doing much the same thing that her Honor Guards would normally do.

Soon this whole problem would be done and dealt with.

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

“The meaning of life?” I stared incredulously at a green pegasus with purple hair. “Do I seriously look like I know what the meaning of life is?! I'm just a teenager, I don't know this stuff!”

“Oh.” He looked disappointed. “So dragons haven't figured it out either?”

“No! Well... maybe, but... I don't know!” I mentally groaned. This whole question seminar was just getting weirder and weirder. “I just... can you think of something simpler? Like what color the sky is? I can answer that.”

As the guy opened his mouth to speak, something made him stop and turn around. Blinking, I looked up. There was some kind of disturbance going on in the back of the crowd. It looked like the ponies were... bowing?

I frowned. Why the hell were they bowing? I was giving a speech here, dammit!

As the disturbance got closer, I could make out a white figure amongst all the other colorful ones. This pony was tall, almost twice as tall as everyone else, and seemed to be wearing some kind of golden... tiara? Yeah that was it, a golden tiara and chest piece. Not sure what those were called. Whoever it was had a horn, and as it got closer I could see that it also had wings. Horn and wings, like Tienn. What had she called herself? An alicorn or something?

The figure was also surrounded by four guards, two pegasi and two unicorns. All of them were white, and they were all wearing golden armor. They stayed close to the tall dude, and gently tried to ease everyone out of the way.

“Princess Celestia!” Twilight's sudden voice made me jump. I turned to see that she looked excited, and also a little nervous. Jumping off the stage, she approached the tall figure.

“My most faithful student.” The tall figure, which I guess was Princess Celestia, smiled at Twilight. “How have you been?”

“I've been great, but...” she looked up nervously. “... why are you here? Why didn't you write ahead? We would've prepared a celebration if we'd known you were planning on coming!”

“Which is precisely why I didn't tell you ahead of time.” She chuckled. “You live in a wonderful town Twilight. You most certainly don't need to throw a celebration every time I come visiting.”

“But... but... you're the princess!” Twi looked around frantically. “Ohhhhhh... we don't have anything prepared! No cake, no festivities, no-”

“Twilight.” the princess said rather firmly. “Really, it's quite alright. Just because I'm a princess doesn't mean you always have to throw parties in my honor. And really...” She looked over Twilight to stare at me. “... I'm afraid the reason I'm here doesn't really deserve a celebration.”

Uh oh.

“Wha... what do you mean?” Twi asked.

“I have something I must attend to here. Something that involves your friend Mr. Flamesinger.” Crap.

“Oh! Oh, of course!” Twilight stood aside, completely oblivious to the impending danger that my dragon sense was picking up. As she walked past Twi and approached me, I desperately tried to remember everything I knew about Princess Celestia. Unfortunately, I didn't really know a whole lot. All Twi had really told me was that she was A.) her mentor and B.) royalty. Not a bunch to go on there.

As she drew level with me, her expression was blank. I noticed her guards take up positions at both ends of the stage.

Guessing I should probably say something, I gave a polite little nod. “Sup.”

Behind her, I saw Twilight facehoof. The Princess however, remained blank.

“Are you the dragon that goes by the name 'Flamesinger'?” she inquired.

“Present and accounted for.” I gave a bow this time. “What can I do for you?”

“Yes... well, that's the thing now, isn't it?”

Uh... O-kaaaaaay, didn't mean that literally, but... “I beg your pardon?”

“There is, in fact something you can do for me. But you won't like it.”

I raised an eyebrow at this. Well at least she was forward. “And what would this something be?”

She raised her eyes a little so that they were staring directly into mine.

“I want you to leave Ponyville.” she stated. “Forever.”

This caused a muttering outburst among the crowd, and I distinctly heard a filly's voice (I think it was Scootaloo's) yell “WHAT!?!”. Twi looked alarmed and quickly trotted up next to her mentor. “Leave Ponyville?! Princess Celestia, this is unfair! Flame has done nothing-”

“Please.” She held up a hoof, somehow making the whole crowd go silent. “Let him speak.” She looked at me, as if expecting an answer.

I pretended to think about it. “Yeeeeeeeeeeeaahhhhhhno.”

She frowned a little. “Will you least listen to why?”

I looked at her for a couple of seconds. Her eyes were hard, and were sending the classic message of 'don't screw with me, and I won't screw with you'. Which was, in this situation, kind of a load of crap, but I relented anyway.

“... Fine.” I propped my elbows on the podium and rested my head on my fists. “But this better be a damn good 'why'.”

“Thank you.” She turned around and addressed Twilight. “He has told everypony about his brand of magic, correct?”

“Y-yes...” Twi said uncertainly.

“He admitted that it's the same magic that Discord wields, correct?”

“Yes, but Princess just because-”

“Just because Discord wields the same magic, does not mean that he is Discord himself?” The whole crowd was listening in on the conversation as she turned back to me. “I would agree.”

I blinked. Wait, what?

“Have you told them everything about chaos magic?” she inquired.

“Uh...” I shook my head a little. “Well yeah. I mean, there's not a whole lot to tell, right? It's weird, and can look a little creepy, but other than that it's just-”

“So you claim to have told them everything?” She raised an eyebrow.

I gave her a weird look. “Yeah.”

She returned the weird look with a hard one. “Everything?”

I released a breath, exasperated. “Yes! I've told them everything! Everything I know!”

She nodded. “Just making sure.”

Turning again, she faced the whole crowd. The next phrase was projected for all to hear.

“Has he told you all that chaos magic corrupts ponies?!”

Silence.

Everyone looked at each other. There was some slight muttering. Everyone seemed to be asking each other “Did you know that? I didn't.”

“Now hold on a sec!” I shouted, trying to get everyone's attention. “That's bullshit right there! Chaos magic doesn't corrupt ponies! It just... “

Suddenly, I had a flashback. It was a while ago, on one of my nights in the Everfree forest, after I'd met Tienn. I'd been reading the section about chaos magic in A Guide To Dragons. One of the excerpts...

'If ponies attempt to use chaos magic it will corrupt them, causing their hates and fears to grow and their love and care to fade. The biggest example of this is when Princess Luna, alicorn princess of the night, secretly experimented with chaos magic. It corrupted her, eventually turning her into Nightmare Moon, an evil version of herself.'

Shit.

Celestia turned away from the still-mostly silent crown and looked at me accusingly. “You said you'd told them everything.”

“Yeah...” I said quietly. “I... may have forgotten about that part...”

“Wait, WHAT!?!” Suddenly Twilight was right next to Celestia, looking at me disbelievingly. “You KNEW about this!?!”

“Now everyone just calm down!” Crap, think Flame. THINK! You gotta salvage this somehow! “Um...” C'mon, remember the book! If ponies attempt to use chaos magic it will corrupt them, causing their hates and fears to grow... If ponies attempt to use chaos magic... attempt to use... “... attempttouse THAT'S IT!”

I snapped my fingers and pointed at Celestia. “It has to be direct!”

She looked surprised. “What?”

“Direct! It has to be direct!” I waved my hand around. “A pony has to actually attempt to use chaos magic for it to corrupt them!”

“Oh.” Her expression went back to normal. “In that case you would be wrong. My student and her friends can tell you they know that first-handed, as each of them was a victim of Discord's corruption.”

“What?” I glanced at Twi, who nodded sadly. “Oh...” My face fell for a few seconds, then brightened. “But that doesn't really change anything! You say that Discord corrupted them, but that was deliberate! That's the thing! It has to be deliberate, doesn't it?” I looked at Twi. “C'mon Twi, you know I wouldn't deliberately corrupt anyone, right?!”

“I... I don't...” She looked between me and Celestia. “No, but-”

Celestia cut in. “Whether it has to be deliberate or not, I refuse to endanger the well-being of my little ponies! And that is why I'm asking you...” She glared at me. “...politely, to leave.”

I glared right back. “And I'm telling you, politely, to piss off. I ain't leaving until you give me a good reason too.”

She sighed. “Okay, then as a princess, I order you to leave.”

“Cool.” I folded my hands and rested my head on them. “And what makes you think I'll follow this order?”

“Oh, I very much doubt you'll follow it.” She eyes hardened a little. “But the thing about orders is that if you don't follow them, then I'll have to use force.”

I snorted. “Force? What force?! You don't HAVE any force! You got four little spear-waving shit-nuggets and a golden tiara that looks like it was pulled out of a little girls playhouse! How does that qualify as a-”

Suddenly, she stomped her hoof. At the sound, five guards burst out of the stage and surrounded me, holding spears to my throat.

“...force.” Sighing, I raised my hands. “Goddammit.”

“No!” Twilight cried. “Don't hurt him!”

“My student is quite right, I don't wish to hurt you.” Celestia's eyes narrowed. “But you will-”

“Hey, whoa whoa whoa!” Suddenly, the rest of the girls burst out, right behind the guards. Rainbow immediately started trying to pry one them away from me. “You said you guys were here on Princess Celestia's orders!”

“And they are.” Celestia stepped forward a little bit. “Do please stop attacking my guard, Rainbow Dash.”

“What?” She looked up, then immediately flew up into the sky a few feet. “But...” She looked confused, looking back and forth. “What's going on?”

“Chaos magic...” Twi looked up at her, a tear running down her cheek. “...remember Dash? Discord... it corrupts ponies...” She sniffed. “Princess Celestia is ordering him to leave Ponyville... forever.”

“Wait, WHAT!?!” Appejack looked shocked. “But... Flame's mahgic...”

“Is still chaos magic, even if he's nearly the complete opposite of Discord. And that means there is still the danger of it corrupting ponies.” Celesta stared at me solidly. “Something I will not allow.”

“It has to be deliberate!” The spears were about two inches away from my throat, so I couldn't really move, but I could still yell. Loudly. “I told you, it can't be an accident, it has to be deliberate! You guys know I wouldn't corrupt anybody!”

“He's telling the truth!” Rarity looked absolutely terrified. “Get those spears away from him!”

Celestia sighed again. “Those spears are made of iron. His neck is covered in dragon scales.” she said irritably. “I doubt they could even hurt him.” She looked at Dashie. “Rainbow Dash, you and the rest of the Elements of Harmony know the corrupting powers of chaos magic. He cannot be allowed to simply use his magic freely.”

I was in the middle of shoving away one of the guards when I paused. “Wait, Elements of Harmony? What are-”

“But Princess, this is Flame we're talking about here!” She gestured at me as if to emphasis that yes, we were talking about about the crazy blue dragon. “He didn't even remember who Discord was until we reminded him! He can't possibly be in league with-”

“Whether or not his is in league with Discord is beside the point. Right now, all I'm concerned about is the safety of this town. So I'll ask you again...” She took a step forward. “... will you leave peacefully?”

“Peacefully?! PEACEFULLY?!” My eye twitched. “I'LL FRICKING GIVE YOU PEACEFU-”

“Princess Celestia?”

We both turned to look at Twi. “Yes?”

Surprisingly, she was smiling. “Could I and the rest of the Elements talk to Flame in private for a few seconds?”

Celestia nodded. “Certainly.”

“Thank you.” Turning, she headed backstage. “Flame, follow me.”

“Yes mother.” Receiving yet another glare, I sighed. “Okay, fine.”

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

As soon as we were all backstage, I wasted no time in informing Twilight exactly what I thought of her all-powerful-and-knowing mentor.

“Bitch.” I tapped the table. “All knowing... smug-ass... two-toed... bitch.”

Twi bristled. “She is not! She's a kind, caring teacher that has been ruling Equestria wisely for over a thousand years! She's just worried about everypony's safety, that's all!”

I deadpanned. “Uh-huh.”

She stared at me for a couple seconds before sighing and rubbing her forehead. “Listen... I know your upset, but... well, for all we know she could be right! I doubt you know any more about chaos magic then we do, so maybe you should just consider-”

“Consider what? Leaving? Yeah, screw that.” I jabbed a finger towards the curtain leading back to the podium. “I'm telling you, she's wrong!”

“Let's be honest for a moment here, sugarcube.” Applejack put a hoof on my shoulder. “Ya’ don't really know that.”

“I know, but...” I tried to think of an example. “I've used magic around you guys plenty of times. Heck, I use it around Manty every day! He sure as hell hasn't changed!”

“First of all, he's a manticore. He has no inner magic of his own, so naturally the magic wouldn't affect him.” Twilight appeared to be thinking hard. “And second, think about it Flame. You haven't actually used your magic near us much at all, or near anypony other than Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. So really, we have no idea whether she's right or not.”

I glared at her. “So what? I should just take her word for it and leave?”

“Not at all.” She met my gaze calmly. “If you'd let me finish what I was about to say before, you should consider leaving temporarily. I'm sure we can convince her to let you stay, but it may take some time and now is really not the best place to talk to her.”

I stared at her for a couple seconds. Then I leaned back, looking at the ceiling. “Okay... okay, that makes sense...”

“Exactly. It would just be for a little while, though I'm not sure how long. And remember, don't-”

“Wait.” I held up a hand. “Wait, I just remembered something. What did she call you guys?”

They looked at each other. “Uhh... what?”

“Her. Celestia. She called you guys something. 'Elements of Harmony'. What was that all about?”

“Oh. That.” Rarity looked uncomfortable. “Well...”

“... we'll explain that later, okay?” Twi had one of those smiles pasted on her face. The kind of smile that said 'I really, really don't want to talk about this right now'. Looking around, I saw that the rest of the group had similar expressions. Except for Pinkie, who was off rummaging through one of the prop boxes.

“Fine.” I relented. “So what do I do?”

Twi let out a breath. “For now? Just go out there and accept her request.”

I stared at her. “What, you mean like... publicly?”

Now it was her turn to deadpan. “Yes.”

“Why? I could just send her a letter, that would be a whole lot easier plus a lot less stress-free and-”

“FLAME!!!”

“Okay, okay.”

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

As I emerged back onto the stage, all the whispering stopped.

Walking up to the podium, I made a point of crossing my arms and glaring at Celestia. She just sat there, with that smug-ass blank expression she seemed to have all the time. The entire crowd sat breathless, waiting for my answer to her demand.

Sighing, I uncrossed my arms and rested them both on the podium. “I accept your bullshit.”

Have you ever been right next to a crowd that's gone from completely silent to rock-concert level shouting in fewer than 30 milliseconds? Well that's kinda what happened here. The ponies just fricking erupted. Thinking back on it, I'm guessing that most of the noise was actually coming from the Cutie Mark Crusaders, but right then I was more concerned with the fact that I was standing two feet from what was about to become a full-blown riot. Or at least a very big shouting match.

Calmly, I held out one hand the Mayor. “Mic please.”

Without a word, she pasted it to me. Holding it up to my mouth, I toke a very deep breath.

“FUCKING QUIET!!!”

Now, a note should be made here to clarify that while I was attempting to get everyone to shut up, I was not attempting to destroy everyone's eardrums within a 20-mile radius. Just sayin'. Twi may say otherwise, but you know what, she wasn't there. Not really.

“Ow.” I muttered, rubbing my ear. “Kay, when I say 'hand me the mic', I don't mean 'hand me the mic that's turned up to full volume', okay?”

“Sorry,” muttered the Mayor, who was also rubbing her ears. “Forgot about that.”

“Now then...” I surveyed the crowd. Everyone was doing the same thing: checking their ears for damage or checking their friend's ears to see if they were the lucky ones. Giving a slight cough, I made sure to put the mic as far away from my mouth as possible before I spoke.

“Sorry about that. Slight... uh... technical issue. But anyway yeah, I'm going. Adios and all that.” I frowned at the Princess, who of course was unaffected by the sound-blast. “Am I missing anything, Prissy?”

“No.” Aggravatingly, she smiled. “Thank you for complying. I'm sure this was a hard choice to make, and I'll be sure to make up for it anyway I can in the future.”

I rolled my eyes. “Please. Spare me the political bullshit.”

“Aw.” She made a sad face. “But this is my favorite part.”

Glaring, I cocked a finger at her. “Bitch.” Then, before she could say anything, I teleported.

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

“Bitch.”

Without farther ado, the chaos-user teleported. Spectacularly, too. Celestia had to admit that the thin strands of chaos magic exploding from his body really added to the effect. He also made sure to blast most of the excess power directly into her face, so that she was forced to take a step back. Under cover of the dissipating blackness, she grinned. Mission accomplished.

When the air cleared, she was all business. As most of the ponies around her began talking, she leaned down and whispered to one of the guards next to her.

“Shining, talk the guards and secure this area. Make sure he didn't just teleport into one of the houses. Also, I would advise against letting Twilight know you're here. I know you haven't seen her in a long time, but these might not be the best circumstances for speaking with her.”

Hesitatingly slightly, he nodded and signaled the rest of the squad. As they ran off, Celestia reflected. It had indeed been a good idea to make all of her guards wear masked helmets.

“Now then...” She turned and headed back towards the stage. “... where has my student gone off to?”

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

“Ugh.”

Sighing, I punched another tree. Yep, it was official. I was lost.

Remember how I told you how bad I was at teleporting? Well that had come back to haunt me. In my haste to perform a grand exit, I hadn't put much effort into pinpointing where my drop-off location would be. Now here I was, somewhere in the middle of the Everfree, with absolutely no idea which way to go or what path to follow. Not that there were any paths.

Sighing, I continued walking, punching trees as I went. As much as I hated to admit it, that Celestia person had really gotten to me. Maybe it was the fact that she had basically called my magic evil, or the fact that she's just been so damn smug about the whole thing, but at the moment the very thought of her was enough to piss me off. Hence the tree-punching.

Growling, I snapped a twig off a branch. And now I was lost. Great.

Continuing on, I snapped off another passing twig. This one was bigger. Methodically, I began to snap it. Two pieces. Four pieces. It was easy with dragon claws, as they pretty much just allowed me to slice-

-What are you doing?-

Looking up, I saw Tienn standing there. The shadow of the trees made her ethereal form easy to make out. It occurred to me that maybe that was why she made it like that.

Conveniently, it also occurred to me that I was standing in front of the Spirit of the Trees, holding a twig that I had methodically been breaking.

“Oh... uh... hey Tienn.”

-Hello Flame.- She eyed the twigs in my hand. -Rough day?-

“Yeah. Listen, uh, sorry about these. I was kinda angry and...” I looked back and forth. “... arrrrrrre you gonna hit me now?”

-Flame?-

“Yes?”

-They're twigs. I don't care.-

“Ah.”

An awkward silence followed. Well, awkward for me anyway. Tienn just continued staring at me. Rubbing the back of my neck, I gestured towards the foliage.

“So... could you, like... show me the way or something? I'm kinda lost here.”

She blinked. -Oh. Yes, sorry about that.- Closing her eyes, her horn glowed blue for a few seconds. When it faded, she opened her eyes, look pleased with herself. -There. Push aside the top of that bush.-

Going over to the indicated plant, I brushed it aside. There, in the distance, was my house.

I glanced at her. “Oh, so I'm guessing you want me to believe you did that?”

She grinned. -Believe what you like. You're the one that was lost.-

“Fair enough.” Pushing aside the bush, I stepped through and continued walking. Tienn followed, preferring to pass through the bush as if it didn't even exist.

I grunted. “Lazy.”

-Look who's talking.- Maintaining the grin, she walked along next to me. -So, what's new?-

“Hmmm...” I pretended to think. “Have you ever heard of a pony called Princess Celestia?”

She snorted. -I should hope so. She's been the ruler of Equestria for a good three thousand years. I'm not completely blind to the outside world, you know.-

“Well if anyone asks, she's a bitch.”

-Is she now?- She raised an eyebrow. -How so?-

Sighing, I began to tell her the whole story starting from the moment I got the letter that had killed Bob. She listened intently, never interrupting. In fact, I got so absorbed into telling the story that I didn't really realize where I was until I was standing before my front door.

“... and then I teleported. I wasn't really thinking about where I'd end up, so the next thing I know I'm in the middle of the Everfree with absolutely no clue which way to go to get to my house. And, well, you know the rest.” Opening the door, I stepped inside and turned to look at her. “You coming in?”

-I would love to, but...- She appeared to be thinking very hard about something. -Yes... yes, I'm afraid I have some business to attend to first. It might take a little while, so whatever crazy plan you invent to cheer yourself up, don't wait for me to start it.-

I frowned. “Crazy plan? What do you mean?”

She laughed. -I think you know exactly what I mean.- Turning, she began to trot towards the tree line, her body fading as she did do. By the time she reached the first bush, she was completely gone.

Closing the door, I headed towards the living room, thinking about what she'd said. A crazy plan? Cheer myself up?

Collapsing onto the couch, I grabbed my traveler's bag and rummaged through it. Everything I had found it with was still in there, albeit with a lighter coin bag and a diminished supply of gems. Munching on a few, I reflected that I really had to find a source for these things. I'd been running low for a while now.

As I snacked, I brainstormed. What would be a crazy plan? One that was exciting and guaranteed to cheer me up? Well, I'd really liked traveling with Manty. Those nights spent around the campfire during my first few nights in Equestria had certainly been exciting. And really, while a bed was comfortable, it didn't really compare that well.

So where would we go? Last time I'd gone to the dragons, though that hadn't really turned out the way I'd expected.

Yo Manty!

Yeah?

How many interesting places are there close by?

Interesting places?

You know... not boring places. A.K.A. any place other than here.

Oh, okay, I gotcha...well, there's always the dragons, they're only a few days away... not sure if you'll want to go back there again though.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking.

Hmm... the thing is, there's a ton of places that can be classified as interesting, but not a lot that are close by. You could visit Gryphondale... explore this cool cave that I found in one of the cliffs near Gem Fido... travel to the Arctic North and see what you could find... it's kind of cold there, you may not like it...

All of those places sound awesome.

Yeah... except for the fact that they're each at least a week away, some of them even two weeks. I don't think we're prepared for a journey that long.

Damn... you're right. I would need to find some more gems before attempting something like that.

So really... the only option I see, if you really wanted to get out of here, would be the dragons.

I bit my lip. The dragons hadn't really gone so well the first time. I mean, true, I'd only really spent about forty minutes there, but in that chunk of time I hadn't really gotten a good impression. Going there wouldn't be a good idea. It would be crazy, unpredictable, and most likely dangerous.

Hey, Manty?

Yeah?

You wanna go visit the dragons?

Sure.

In real life, I grinned. “Then let the cheering up begin.”

-End of Chapter 15-

A/N: NO, I'm NOT DEAD! I was just... preoccupied.

On a completely unrelated subject, how many people here watch Doctor Who?

Arrival

When I woke up, all was darkness.

I wasn't worried though. The fact was, I was simply face-down on my pillow, caught in that blissful state between sleep and wakefulness.

In other words, I had absolutely no interest in getting up.

As I was in this befuddled state, it took me a couple minutes to realize something.

Where was my alarm?

This may seem like a stupid thing to worry about when you're lying peacefully on a nice, fluffy bed, but I had recently (and in-voluntarily) come into the possession of a very annoying alarm which I nick-named “The Grouch”. In reality she was simply the caretaker of the orphanage I lived at, but she performed all the basic functions of an alarm: she was really loud, always on time, and would never shut up unless you turned her off. And the only way to turn her off was to get up.

The part that actually had me worried was the fact that I couldn't hear her. This was not normal. The Grouch had her schedule burned into the very filaments of her being: if it was a school day, she woke you up at 6 AM; if it was any other day, and you where out of bed by 10 AM, she didn't have any quarrel with you. If you where still in bed by 10 AM, she went into the basement, got a big bucket, filled it with ice-cold water, and poured over your head with no warning whatsoever. And she would do it again if you stayed. I learned this lesson the hard way, in the first few weeks I was at the orphanage.

As I was contemplating this, I tried to remember what day it was. While I couldn't recall the name, I was fairly certain that yesterday had been a school day, and the day before had been the weekend. That made it Tuesday, a school day. But that didn't make any sense.

If its a school day, why am I still asleep?

The Grouch had only been here a couple of years, but in those years she had never missed her wake-up call. Even if she was sick, she would still drag herself out of bed and started yelling at us like any other day.

She woke me up on my freaking birthday. Why wouldn't she wake me up today?

Whatever the reason was, it had to be big. Maybe she got fired I thought hopefully.

As I was thinking up reasons for the absence of the Grouch, it occurred to me that I didn't feel tired anymore, which was weird to say the least. It usually took me over half an hour to drag myself out of bed, and yet here I was, awake for barely five minutes, and already I was itching to get up.

I lazily turned over and opened my eyes.

What I saw got me fully awake in no time.

I was lying on my usual lumpy bed, but the rest of the orphanage was completely gone. Instead, my bed and myself were planted smack in the middle of what looked like a huge field, with rolling, grassy hills.
I slowly sat up and looked to my left: more grassy hills. On my right, a forest stretched almost as far as the eye could see.

One thing was certain: there were no buildings.

As I tried to grasp where I was, I noticed something else: It was warm, and the sun was out. That shouldn't be happening. It was the middle of January and freezing cold outside. Plus, there wasn't any forest within 50 miles of the orphanage.

And yet here I was.

I looked around for other signs of life, but saw none. That didn't mean anything though. With all the hills in this place you could easily hide anything car-sized or smaller in one of the many little dip-like valleys created by said hills.

Well, I may have been transported half-way around the world in one night without me even noticing, but I still felt okay. So naturally I tried to get out out of bed.

The effect was immediate. As soon as my body left the bed, all my joints stiffened up. I groaned and fell back onto the bed. My entire body felt as if I hadn't moved it in ages.

Okay, so maybe I don't feel fine.

It took me 15 minutes to be able to stand up without falling back onto the bed and another 10 minutes to get all of my joints working properly again. I then turned back to my bed and started walking a circle around it, trying to see if I could figure out how I got here.

If anything, the search yielded more questions. There were no drag marks or footprints in the grass surrounding the bed. It was as if it had simply popped into existence with me on it.

As I sat there, wondering what to do, I happened to glance down at the grass in front of me.

My heart skipped a beat.

According to a large and dangerous-looking shadow on the ground right in front of me, there was a creature about my size with a ton of spikes adorning its head and two bat-like wings standing right behind me.

Perfect. Just perfect.

I slowly turned around to face this creature, hoping against hope that it was not hostile, or, if it was hostile, it had very short legs.

There was nothing there.

Perplexed, I turned around and looked at the shadow again. Other then some faint movement, it was still there.

What, is it invisible?
If that was true, and with my luck it probably was, then my chances of survival had just decreased dramatically.

But it couldn't be true. Even if this creature somehow possessed the ability to turn invisible, when I looked done at the spot where its feet should have been, there were no depressions in the grass that would suggest a pair of invisible feet.

The only reasonable explanation was that there was simply nothing there.

Okay...

As I turned back to the shadow, an explanation clicked into my mind. I immediately dismissed it as impossible, but upon farther study I realized it was the only explanation I had that made any kind of sense.

If the shadow is still there, and yet there is nothing behind me and no other living being in sight, then the shadow must belong to...

I looked at the shadow again. It had two arms and two legs, like a human, but there were spikes poking out of its head and the two bat-like wings were almost as big as its body.

I cocked my head and the shadow mimicked me.

I raised my arm and the shadow raised a clawed hand in response.

Crap.

I didn't want to look at my arm, or any other part of my body for that matter, but I had to find out if this was true or not.

I took a deep breath and looked at my arm.

The first thing I noticed was that my pajamas were gone. The second thing was the arm itself: it was covered with blue scales and at the end of each finger was a claw at least an inch long.

I flexed my new arm. The weirdest thing was that it felt familiar, as if I'd used the same arm all my life. I of course know that wasn't true. My old arm had been human, like the rest of my body.

So has my body changed too?

Swift inspection raised an affirmative to that question.

As I studied my new body, one thing became apparent: I was covered in blue scales. They ran all the way up both my arms and down both my legs, which had also received some changes. They were more muscular, with a clawed foot at the bottom of each.

I couldn't get a very good look at my head, and since my entire body felt as if I had used it since the day I was born I couldn't tell if anything was different. It felt as if my body hadn't changed at all.

And yet I knew it had.

As I resolved to find a stream, pool, or some other mirror-like surface, I glanced down at the shadow- my shadow I guess-and again noticed the two bat-like wings on it.

No way.

I turned around again-just my head this time-and starred at the two appendages sticking out of my once-smooth back.

Yep, they were wings alright. Blue, like the rest of my body,with a single claw on the end of each and scales along the edges.

My first thought was: Can I flap them?

As they didn't feel out of place and I didn't know how to use them, I had to manually try and move every body part I could. Sure enough, I came to a pair of appendages that felt perfectly natural, and yet I knew I had never possessed before.

I flapped them a few times, buffeting the grass in front of my with a blast of wind.

I then thought: Can I fly?

The very idea filled my with excitement, but after a few failed attempts, I realized I simply did not know how.

Note to self: learn how to fly.

As I became familiar with the look of my new body (except for my head, which I still had no way of looking at), I returned to my bed, which looked very out of place among the grass and sunshine. I settled on the bed and began to think.

So, I have been transported away from the orphanage, into a place that may or may not be earth, been transformed into a lizard-like thing with wings that I don't know how to use, and still I am not panicking. I thought in wonder. Certainly not one of my average days.

As I thought about a course of action I decided the best thing to do would be to search the bed to see if I could find anything useful inside. I could, of course, make the covers and sheets into clothes, but for some reason I discarded that idea. I was warm enough, and I had just been turned into a lizard creature that somehow had wings, so I saw no use for clothes.

My search did yield something unexpected however: a satchel, tucked away underneath my bed, as if waiting for me.

The satchel contained several items: a little bag that jingled when I shook it and turned out to be full of coins; a bedroll; a good portion of assorted gemstones (I had no idea what those were for, as I already had coins); a small mirror; and a book.

The book was old and incredibly expensive-looking, with jewel-encrusted bindings and a leather lock to to hold it shut. What caught me eye was the title:

A Guide to Dragons

My eyes riveted themselves on the word “Dragons”.

I reached one hand-er, claw- behind me and fumbled for the mirror, which I had tossed onto the bed along with the other stuff. Finding it, I pulled it in front of my face and took a good look at myself.

Staring back at me was... a dragon.

There was no other word for it. My face had taken on all the aspects of a dragon. My eyes were still the same, but other then that everything was different.

My entire face was covered in scales, even my muzzle, and there were several spikes poking out of the back of my head. My hair was gone, leaving a smooth head. I smiled and the dragon smiled back at me through the mirror, somehow mixing a warm smile with a bunch of very sharp-looking teeth.

I let my hand drop and the front-row view of my new face vanished.

I sat down on my bed again, harder this time, and tried to come to terms with what I had just seen.

I was a dragon. That much was obvious. I didn't know how, and I didn't know why, but I had been inexplicably and undoubtedly transformed into a beast that was only supposed to exist in fairy tales.

Upon comprehending that fact, however, I was immediately besieged by a million other questions:Why me? Is this real? Am I even on earth? What can dragons do? What do they eat? Can they breathe fire? Can they do magic?

And most importantly: How did this happen?

I glanced down at the jewel-encrusted book again.

A Guide to Dragons

Sighing, I picked up the book and prepared to do some research, hoping I would have at least some of my questions answered.

-End of Chapter 1-

Apples, Punch, and a Party

A/N: Now, I would make an excuse for being so late, but I know that no matter what I say, you guys will still be pissed. So instead, I give you yet another chapter in the exciting saga of Flamesinger!

Oh yeah, and me no own MLP. Hasbro do. :( Me own Flamesinger and Manty. :)

And Tienn belongs to the Red Blade! READ ON!!!

As we continued on towards this 'Sweet Apple Acres' (Gee, wonder what they grow there?), my mind had turned back to when I first saw Fluttershy. Or more accurately, when I first realized she was a yellow pegasus.

Yellow pegasus... yellow pegasus... yellow pegasus... ugh, why does this seem so familiar? I've heard this before, I know I have. I just can't place it... *Sigh* and that conversation about Manty didn't help. Heh, Manty getting captured by a bunch of multicolored ponies. I'll have to remember to bug him about that later-

Wait.

Manty... yellow pegasus... something he told me before I met Spike... YES! I remember now! Manty's whole coming-of-age test thing! But Fluttershy can't be the same pegasus. Can she? Arrgh, I don't know. MAAAANTYYYYYYYYY!!!!!

If this is about that purple unicorn, she was still alive last time I checked.

What are you...oh yeah. That.

Did you seriously forget? You talked to me all of ten minutes ago.

My mind is elsewhere right now, okay? And I'm only sixteen. You can't expect me to remember everything.

Yeah, but I thought even you would remember a conversation that literally just happened.

Look, we can talk about this later. Right now I need to know what the six ponies in your coming-of-age test looked like. Y'know, the whole fiasco that got you banished and everything.

Annnnnnnnnnnnnd you would want to know this why?

Just a hunch. Oh, and I think I might be standing right next to them.

Well, like I said, there were two earth ponies, two unicorn, and two pegasi. One of the earth ponies was orange, with a blonde mane and what you humans would call a 'cowboy' hat. The other was light pink, with a bright pink mane. There was the yellow pegasus, who had a light pink mane and a cutie mark of some butterflies. The other one was blue, with a rainbow-colored mane and tail. One unicorn was white, with a purple mane and tail. And finally, the last unicorn was purple, with a indigo mane that had a pink stripe running through it. Come to think of it, that purple unicorn back there, what was her name?

Twilight Sparkle.

Yeah, she looked a lot like her. Could be twins or something.

Or, she could be the exact same pony.

Maybe, but the chances of that being true are tiny.

If you say so. But you should know that I'm walking right next to two ponies that match your description. The purple-maned one and the rainbow-maned one. Names are Rarity and Rainbow Dash. We just came back from visiting one of their friends, a certain yellow pegasus with a butterfly cutie mark that goes by the name of Fluttershy. Just throwin' it out there.

Well...I didn't look too closely at the unicorn...but I'll check. It could just be one huge coincidence.

Meh. Don't think so. I'll see what I can find out over on this end.

M'kay. Just try not to tell them about me.

Hey, I'm not that stupid.

Flamesinger...

Alright alright! I won't say anything.

Good.

I ended the link and was just about to say something when Rarity intervened.

“Oh look, There she is. Pinkie Pie darling! Over here!”

We were at the edge of town, on a trail that led out into the fields. The pony that Rarity had called over was pink, with a bright pink mane, and was bouncing (No, seriously. Fricking five feet up in the air.) her way towards us. She had bright blue eyes that seemed to take in everything at once, which was VERY creepy to say the least.

“Ohhhhh, Rarity! Rainbow Dash! Watcha doin? I-”

Then she saw me.

In a flash she was two inches from my face, her eyes boring into mine and grinning like a lunatic. I instinctively jumped back.

“WHOA!!! DON'T-”

She jumped into the air and stayed there for five seconds, letting out a huge gasp. Then she streaked away, leaving a weird smell of cotton candy in the air.

“...do that?”

WWHHHHHHAAAAAAATTTTTT!!!!????!!!!

Rarity sighed. “I suppose I must apologize for her. She's always like that when she meets somepony new. And don't worry, it's not because she doesn't like you. She's just...excited.”

“Excited? Why?”

Rainbow smirked. “Oh, you'll see.”

“Strangely, that doesn't comfort me in the least.”

“Hey, I'd tell you, but if I did Pinkie would cry her eyes out. She's kinda sensitive about this stuff.”

“And I don't suppose any of you will give me a hint as to what 'this stuff' is?”

“Nope.”

“Spike?”

“Well...”

“Dear, if you tell him, I shall refer to you as Spike-wikey wherever and whenever I might be.”

“Sorry man. I have to side with Rarity on this one.”

“M'kay.” I fell back a little and so did Spike. “Kiss-ass.” I muttered.

“Oh c'mon! What would you do?”

“Side with Rarity. Duh.”

“Then why...?”

“Those who oppose me deserve punishment.”

“Ugh. You're impossible.”

“I try.”

“By the way, there's been something I've been meaning to ask you.” He fixed his eye on me. “It involves your friend 'Manty'.”

“Oh? And since when have you been acknowledging his intelligence?”

“I didn't say that.”

“Very well then. Speak your peace.”

“Why?”

“Well I'm not forcing you or anything...”

“Not that. Why did you free him?”

“My my my Spike. I underestimated you. It seems you are cleverer then you let on.”

“Just answer the question.”

“I couldn't just leave him there. I'm not that cruel.”

“Flame, he's a manticore! Y'know, dangerous!”

“I got him under control. Just ask Twilight when she comes back.”

“Twilight? What does she have to do with this?”

“Manty paid her a little visit in the woods a few minutes ago.”

Spike's eyes widened in horror. “...is she...?”

“What? No! She's fine. Manty just wanted to have a few words with her.”

“YOU LET A MANTICORE LOOSE ON TWILIGHT!!??!!”

“Calm down, I said she's fine didn't I?”

“HOW DO YOU KNOW!?!”

“Well, I don't know for certain, but-”

“WHHAAATTT!!??!!”

“Dude, calm down! This is Manty we're talking about here! I know him well enough to know that he would never physically harm Twilight. Scare her shit-less, maybe, but she was asking for it.”

Spike slowly calmed down, but he was still glaring at me. “If she's hurt at all, I swear I will-”

“For the last fricking time, SHE'S FINE. Honestly Spike, I should think you would know me by now. Would I ever let one of my friends hurt one of your friends?”

“I guess not...”

“Hey you two! We're here!”

“What? Again? We just- OH. MY. GOD.”

We had arrived at what had to be the BIGGEST apple orchard I had ever seen. Apple trees stretched out for miles, each one filled with some of the juiciest pieces of fruit that I had laid eyes on. This wasn't saying much, as I was a city boy and had never seen fresh fruit in all my life, but still. These were some pretty good-looking apples.

I was led through the front gate ('Sweet Apple Acres'- originality at it's finest) and towards a small, country-style house and barn. On the way there, I spotted a tall, broad looking red dude (Stallion, whatever) with a yoke around his neck. Rarity made straight for him.

“Ah, Big Macintosh! Could you please tell us where Applejack is? We have somepony here we’d like her to meet.”

Standing right next to him, I realized just how tall he was. He stood a head higher than me, which made the stare-down he was giving all the more imposing.

“Howdy Miss Rarity. Howdy Miss Dash.” He narrowed his eyes at me. “No funny business, y'hear?”

First Angel, now this guy. God, do all of the chicks here have bodyguards?!

I raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me? And just who are you to tell me who I can and cannot hit on? I'll have you know that if I like her, then yes, I will hit on her, and you will just sit there and watch me do it. Are you really that immature to beat up a guy who flirts with a mare that you also find attractive? Grow up man. You're a fricking adult, act your age.”

“Ummm...Flamesinger? Big Mac here is Applejack's big brother.”

“Oh.” Awkward silence. “Coooould you forget everything I just said?”

His expression had changed to a glare, and I tensed, preparing to dodge a punch. Then he cracked a smile and turned, walking towards the orchard.

“She's out back.” he called over his shoulder.

I let out a breath. “Whew. Thought for sure he was gonna punch me or something.”

“What in Equestria were you thinking?! I don't know what your mother taught you, but that is most certainly not the way you make new friends!”

“I thought he was just another buff jealous boyfriend. It's a perfectly reasonable thing to conclude. And...” I added a bit of venom to my voice. “... I would appreciate it if you left my mother out of this.”

That shut Rarity up, and without another word she led me to the back of the barn.

Applejack, just as I suspected, fit the last of Manty's descriptions perfectly. She was orange, with a blonde mane and tail that were both tied at the end. Her cutie mark was of three apples, and she wore a classic western-themed cowboy hat. She was in the back orchard, bucking the apple trees one by one. Every time her back legs connected with a tree, every single apple on it would fall down and land neatly in one of the baskets below.

Geez, you can't just pick 'em, can you? Gotta do it the hardcore way.

As we approached, I leaned down and whispered to Spike. “So, this is pretty much what she does all day?”

“Yeah. Pretty much.”

“Huh.”

She noticed us coming and took a break, wiping the sweat from her brow with one hoof. When she spoke, she had a thick southern accent, which completed the image I was forming in my mind of a redneck cowgirl.

“Howdy there Rarity, Rainbow Dash! Whose yah good-lookin' friend here?”

Good-looking? Okay, I want my mirror...

“Hello Applejack. This here is Flamesinger, the new colt in town. Twilight had a few problems come up concerning the manticore she caught, and so she assigned me and Rainbow Dash to introduce him to everyone. Although...” She glanced at Dash. “...Rainbow here hasn't really done much of the talking.”

“Can you blame me? I should be napping right now. It's way past one o'clock.”

While Rarity gave Rainbow Dash a quick lecture on the ethics of communication and attention span (Yeah, you can have fun with that), Applejack approached me and gave me the mother of all hoofshakes.

“So, Flamesinger, was it? Pleased ta meet-cha, I'm Applejack!”

“Likewise. Hey, offhand question, is Big Mac really your big bro?”

“Big Macintosh? Why yes, yes he is. Have you already met him?”

“Yeah, you could say that...”

She sighed. “Ah no, did somethin' happen? Did he give yah a hard time? Ah'm sorry if he did. He's really protective, and-”

“No no no no, it wasn't that. I just made a fool of myself, that's all. Nothing interesting.”

“Let's hear it.”

“And aren't you the compassionate one. Okay, I may have accidentally assumed that he was your big, dumb, jealous boyfriend instead of your big brother, which may have led to me giving him a lecture on all the reasons I'm allowed to hit on you if I find you attractive. Happy?”

She stared at me for a moment. Then burst out laughing.

“Gods, I can't believe you just said that.”

“Shut it Spike.”

After a few minutes, she managed to recover. “Heh heh... oh mah... that's gotta be the funniest thing Ah've heard in a long time...”

“It wasn't that funny, I thought he was gonna punch me.”

“Well, do yah?”

“Do I... what?”

“Do yah find me attractive?”

No. You're ugly.

“Maybe.”

“That's a yes.”

“No, that's me declining to give an answer. It could mean yes or no. I'm not gonna say no because I don't want to hurt your feelings, and I'm not gonna say yes because that might give you the wrong impression. Wait until I've known you a week, then ask me again. I mean, c'mon, I just got here, like, today. Gimme some time.”

“He's right Applejack.” Rarity had apparently concluded her lecture, as she was suddenly right next to me and Rainbow Dash was on the ground snoring. “Give the poor stallion a break. He only just got here.”

“Geez Rarity, I know Dash's values aren't the best, but don't you think killing her was a bit extreme?”

“Har har. Now Applejack, Pinkie Pie's having one of her you-know-what's today, for obvious reasons.” She gestured towards me. “Would you like to come?”

“Hmm...reckon I've done a pretty good chunk of the orchard today. Sure, Ah'd be glad to. It's his first time, right?”

“Yes.”

“Will somepony please tell me what this 'thing' is?! I think I'm about to break something!”

“I told you, it's a surprise.”

“Screw surprises. I need solid info.”

“Well you'll never get it with that attitude. Now come along, it should be starting soon.”

“What? But it's only been-”

“Pinkie can accomplish things very quickly. You'll learn this sooner or later.”

After waking up Rainbow Dash (Took. Fricking. FOREVER.) we headed back to town, aiming towards the library. I pestered everyone constantly about what this thing was, but all anyone would tell me was 'it's a surprise'.

Ugggghhhhhhhhh...I hate surprises.

When we got to the library, everything was dark. Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Spike all went in without hesitation.

I, however, did not.

Spike poked his head out. “Well? You coming?”

“No.”

“Why not? You made such a big deal about this, don't you want to find out what it is?”

“Because I know better then to walk into a dark room with only one entrance and all the windows covered. What is this, an ambush? Spike I'm ashamed of you.”

“No, it's not an ambush. I promise.”

I slowly entered. I couldn't see anything. “Alright, but if this is what I think it is, I-”

“SURPRISE!!!!!”

“HOLY SHIT!!!”

It took all my willpower not to end my shape-shifting spell and start blasting everything in sight. As it was, I shot five up into the air, screamed, fumbled with my wings for a few seconds, then realized where I was and slowly lowered myself to the ground.

The place was fricking packed. Every surface was covered in either balloons or streamers. Someone had set up a table loaded with cupcakes, donuts, ice cream, cake, and punch (PUNCH!!!). About fifty ponies were there, most of them wearing party hats. And at the center of it all was that crazy pink pony.

“Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie! Were you surprised? Were you? Were you? Were you? You see, I throw a 'Welcome to Ponyville' party for EVERY new pony in Ponyville and since I know everypony when I saw you I knew you must be a new pony because I had never seen you before and I know everypony! So I was all *GASP* and I ran away to throw you this awesome party! Do you like it? Doyoudoyoudoyoudoyou?”

WWWWHHHHHHAAAAAATTTTT!!!!????!!!!

Luckily, Rarity intervened. “Now now, Pinkie, give him some room to breath. This is all very sudden for him.”

“Ohhhhh sorry! I just get sooooooo carried away sometimes because I'm REALLY excited because there's somepony new in town and I need to throw a party for them and then I remember that I already threw the party and that I'm in the middle of it right now! I'll just let you enjoy the party then. BYE!” And she went bouncing away as though she were wearing springs.

I blinked. Then I looked at Rarity. “What just happened?!”

“You just met Pinkie Pie. And yes, she's always like that.”

“Oh.

…

...I need something to drink.”

“Punch is right over there. And remember, have fun! This is your party after all.”

And so I did. First things first, I tried the punch (a personal favorite of mine) and found it to be, for lack of a better phrase, the best punch I had ever tasted. I had about ten glasses of the stuff, and then went about trying everything else (Good, good, good, good, good, go-AHHHH!!!! BLECHH!!! HOT! HOT!), with mixed results.

After rinsing out the taste of red-hot chili peppers from my mouth (Who the hell puts those in cupcakes anyway?!), I was approached by a white unicorn with electric-blue spiky hair. She was wearing huge purple goggles and was accompanied by a light gray earth pony with dark gray hair and a pink bow around her neck.

“I see you've tried Pinkie's new recipe.”

“Worst. Cupcake. Ever.”

“Aww, is the big stallion afraid of a little hot sauce?”

“'A little hot sauce' my ass. That was a fricking chili-pepper death trap right there.”

They both looked a little startled at my language. “Well...that's one way of putting it.”

“So whom do I have the pleasure of meeting? My name is Flamesinger.”

“Vinyl Scratch and Octavia, at your service. Master musicians and roommates.”

“Musicians, huh? Haven't seen a lot of those so far. Lemme guess...” I eyed Octavia. “...something instrumental, probably violin or cello, and...” I turned back to Vinyl Scratch. “...something electronic. Dubstep maybe?”

“What's dubstep?”

They don't have dubstep here? Figures...

“Just a style of music where I'm from. Similar to techno, kind of.”

“I do techno. Octavia here does cello.”

“Aha! I was right!”

“Half right.”

“Mostly right.”

“One-quarter right.”

“Whatever. You'll have to excuse me, I need some more punch after that cupcake.”

I left the two looking rather bewildered and had some more punch. As I sipped my glass (I decided not to question how I was holding it. Magic, I guess) I heard some gasps from behind me.

“Whoa!”

“It looks so cool!”

“What does it mean?”

I turned and found three young ponies about half my size staring at my cutie mark. One was yellow, with red hair and a red bow in said hair. Another was orange, with bright purple hair and tiny wings. The last was white, with extremely light gray hair and a small horn poking out of her forehead. And they were all female.

“And just what do you girls think you're doing?”

They shrank back. “Oh...sorry mister, it's just that we saw your cutie mark and we were wondering what it meant.”

I grinned. “Oh, is that all? Well this thing here symbolizes my skill with fire. Even though I'm not a unicorn, I can still control fire pretty well. I've even had times when I don't get burned by sticking my hoof into a fire.”

“Whoaaaaaa. And why is it all black?”

“Meh, dunno. Haven't figured that part out yet.”

And that totally wasn't a big fat lie right there.

“How'd you get it?”

Crap.

“... I think I'm gonna keep that a secret for right now. Why are you so interested anyways? And what are your names?”

“Ah'm Applebloom! Sister of Applejack and soon to be apple-bucker!”

“I'm Scootaloo! And as soon as I learn how to fly, I'm gonna be just as fast as Rainbow Dash!”

“I'm Sweetie Bell! I'm Rarity's sister!”

“AND WE'RE THE CUITE MARK CRUSADERS!!!!”

Damn... and I thought Rarity was loud...

“We've devoted our lives to trying to discover what our special talents are!”

“We haven't had much success though.”

I rubbed my chin. “Well, what have you tried?”

“Yesterday we tried hang-gliding, but we crashed into a tree.”

“Or five.”

Man, talk about hardcore!

“Well, I'm sure you girls will find them eventually. Have you tried free-running yet?”

My sarcasm didn't seem to reach the girls' minds. “Hey, yeah, that's a great idea! Thanks for the tip mister!” And they dashed off.

Yeah, I'd make a great parent. Now Rarity's gonna be pissed at me again.

I found a quiet corner and contacted Manty.

Hey Manty. You there?

...Yeah.

You seem somber. What is it?

Well...it's just that you were right. Twilight Sparkle is the mirror image of one of those six ponies. I'm starting to doubt this is just a coincidence.

Then let me put your fears to rest! I'll just ask them.

What?! But that's a stupid idea!

How is it a stupid idea? They have no idea I know you, Spike hasn't told them yet. And trust me, I'm an expert at being subtle.

Bull. Shit.

I said I was an expert. I didn't say I do it that often.

Fine. Do what you want, but if they mistrust you because of this then don't blame me.

I will. You can count on it.

I got up and looked around for one of the six. I spotted all of them nearby, talking in hushed whispers. Apparently Twilight had returned and was now telling her story about how Manty had traumatized her.

“...and then, he roared! Real sudden and right in my face! I fainted and when I woke up he was gone! I came back as quick as I could and found this party going on! How long was I out?”

“Well, judging from your story, Ah'd say only about an hour. Manticore must not have scared yah as much as he thought he did.”

“Oh Twilight, are you sure you're okay? I'm glad that manticore didn't eat you, he must have really hated that net...”

“Yes Fluttershy, I'm fine, just a little freaked out. He didn't even touch me.”

“Good! Then maybe I won't have to hunt him down and kick his flank!”

“*Sigh* Rainbow, 'kicking his flank' is not our top priority right now. He had plenty of chances to kill or eat me and he didn't take them. Right now I'm more concerned with tracking it down and attempting to communicate with it.”

“Hey girls! What's this I hear about a manticore?”

Instantly, Twilight was in front of me. “Flamesinger! Just the dragon I wanted to see! You can communicate with animals, correct?”

“Well yeah, but-”

“Great! I'll need your help then! If we can find this manticore, could you talk to it? Convey our messages to it?”

I pretended to consider. “...Maybe. But first, I need you to answer a question.”

“Oh...well...uh...sure! What is it?”

“Have you six ever faced down a manticore before? Y'know, before this one?”

Twilight looked thoughtful. “...Now that you mention it, we have. It was when Nightmare Moon attacked. The only reason it didn't eat us was because of Fluttershy.”

Check... “And what did Fluttershy do?”

“She showed it a little kindness. Turns out the only reason it was mad was because of a huge splinter in its paw, if you can believe it.” She chuckled.

Check... “And then what did the manticore do?”

“After giving Fluttershy a few grateful licks, it just left.”

And check! We have a winner here folks!

She looked at me curiously. “Why do you want to know, anyway?”

“Oh, one of my close friends was curious. He isn't in the best of shape to ask you personally, so he had me do it.”

Fluttershy gasped. “What's the matter with him?”

I laughed. “Nothing's the matter with him. He's just rather... intimidating, I guess you could say. Completely harmless, but intimidating. And with that happy thought, I want more punch. See ya!”

I left them all looking rather suspicious. Yeah Flame, you're really subtle.

Unfortunately, the punch was all gone (WHO DARES!!??!!), so I had to settle with telling Manty the news right away. I found my corner again and settled down.

Darkclaw1 to Bigcat5.

Call me that again, and I will rip your face off.

...Touchy touchy. Don't you like your codename?

Not when I'm this anxious.

Well then let me fix that. I did some spying, and yes, these six ponies are indeed the same ponies that you met earlier.

Really? You're sure?

Positive.

Then... what do I do?

I'm getting to that. Apparently the not-so-animal-like characteristics you showed when you paid her a visit intrigued her. She wants to track you down and try to talk with you. She even asked me to be the translator.

Huh. How about that.

So do you want to?

I dunno. I'll have to think about it. Gimme a couple of days.

You got it. Oh, and one more thing. I heard you're quite the player.

What?

You licked Fluttershy. You LICKED Fluttershy.

Don't judge me. I'm a manticore, I can do whatever the hell I want. Plus, that splinter fricking hurt.

Whatever. I glanced out the window to see that it was getting dark. I'll be heading your way soon. It's getting pretty late.

I'll see you then.

I got up and stretched. The party was winding down, and now there was only about twenty ponies left. I headed back to Twilight and her friends to inform them I was leaving.

“Hey gang, it's getting late, I'm tired, and I'll be heading back home soon. Pinkie Pie, thanks for the party, and the rest of you, thanks for the awesome welcome. This has got to have been one of the most exciting days of my life.”

Rarity spoke up. “And where exactly is 'home'? Not to be intrusive, but you never did tell us.”

“Well as I said before, I like to travel, but right now I would say the Everfree Forest.”

Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity looked surprised. Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie looked horrified.

“The Everfree Forest?! But Flame, yah can't go in there! Its dangerous!”

“Honestly Applejack...” Rainbow muttered. “... I wouldn't be that worried about him.”

“I agree with Rainbow Dash, Flame here isn't helpless. But still, wouldn't you be more comfortable in a house and bed?” Twilight asked.

“First off, whoever said I didn't have a bed? I didn't bring all my stuff with me y'know. And second, you are right, I am far from helpless. Not only am I a pretty good fighter myself, but I have powerful friends. Trust me, I'll be fine.”

“But... Flame... think about it... the Everfree Forest is really dangerous... I should know, I live closer to it then anypony...”

“Your concern is appreciated, Fluttershy, but unnecessary. I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”

Applejack stomped her hoof. “Darn stubborn stallions, stop tryin' to be brave! Aren't you concerned at all for yah own safety? That place ain't natural!”

“On the contrary, it is the most natural place you'll find. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be going. Be back tomorrow, maybe. Dunno. Have to think about it.”

And I left before any of them could voice any more complaints.

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

As soon as I was out of sight of the village, I released my magic. I was surrounded by a cocoon of dark energy, and when it cleared I was a dragon again. Stretching my wings and arms and blowing a few puffs of flame into the air, I set off into the Everfree.

Ahhhhhh, it feels great to be back. Where are you Manty?

Just keep heading forward.

Got it.

As I walked, I levitated a few rocks into the air and dark-clawed them in half for fun. It was amazing how much you can miss something when you've only not had it a day.

After about five minutes, I emerged into one of Manty's hand-made clearings. He was curled up on one side and lifted his head when he saw me.

“So, how was your first day among the ponyfolk?”

-Yes, I wish to know that as well.- The clearing was suddenly lit by a blue glow as Tienn emerged from the trees.

“Tienn! Haven't seen you in a while! And how has the almighty spirit of the trees been?”

-In a word, bored.-

“Aw, that's too bad. I've been having the time of my life!”

-Yes, so I've heard.- She eyed me. -You went into the home of both the dragons and the ponies, both of which I warned you not to do, and emerged not only alive, but with a few new friends. That is... admirable.-

“Hey, I'm just that awesome. Now where's some sticks? I'm freezing.”

In a flash of Tienn's magic, a good-sized pile of sticks was standing in front of me, waiting to be set ablaze.

“Huh. Most be useful being the spirit of the Everfree.”

She smiled. -You have no idea.-

Soon I had a warm fire going. Manty and Tienn gathered around it, and I proceeded to tell them about my adventures in Ponyville. Tienn was interested in how I brought Spike and Rarity back together after my arrival had gone haywire (Yeah, I just got complimented by the spirit of the trees. U jelly?), and Manty laughed his head off when I told them about my encounter with Big Mac (Oh my God, I just realized what his name sounds like. Win!). I ended with me leaving the party after all the ponies expressed concerns about me staying in the Everfree.

“I gotta say Tienn, your forest is not the most popular of places. Have you ever considered making it a bit less creepy?”

-Ponies fear what they cannot understand, nothing more. You of all people should know this. My forest is not 'creepy', it is simply mysterious, and for that reason alone is it feared.-

“So... in other words you don't care?”

-Not in the slightest.-

“Okay good. I can understand that.”

She got up from her sitting position and moved towards the edge of the clearing. -It has been a pleasure talking with you Flamesinger, but I must go. There seems to be a band of Timberwolves nearby that is getting rather rowdy. Farewell.- And she disappeared into the trees, taking the blue glow with her.

I sighed. “Well at least she's grown tired of hitting me with branches. I think we're making progress!”

“Maybe, but it's dark, and I'm tired. What about you?”

“Same. You still have my stuff, right?”

He tossed me the bag with his mouth. “Here you go.”

“Thanks.”

I took out my bedroll and laid it out next to the fire. Snuggled in, I stared into the flames, thinking about this past week.

Best week of my life, no contest. Thank you, whoever sent me here. I owe you a great deal.

Do you take credit cards?

-End of Chapter 9-