Cobalt Masquerade And Star Struck's Tour Of Chaos

Cobalt Masquerade And Star Struck's Tour Of Chaos

Chapter Two

Catching Up

By Cobalt Masquerade

The Tour Of Chaos, Chapter 2

Catching Up

The next morning, Star Struck placed her things outside her home and shut and locked her door. Her life had been so boring lately, she was sure that going on tour with Cobalt Masquerade and his band would be just about the coolest thing ever.

Moments later, at precisely 9 am, 2 guards that looked like miniature Discords arrived in front of Star Struck’s home. One stepped forward and said, "Please, Miss Star Struck, let me take those bags. Please board the chariot, and we will be on our way."

She smiled excitedly at the creatures before her. “Oh thank you," she said and walked to the chariot and climbed aboard, sitting on the pedestal in the middle of the vehicle.

They took off immediately, flying at speeds that Star Struck could have only dreamed of, and moments later were outside the tour bus.

Cobalt, upon clearing his daze from the flash, realized that Discord had taken a picture of him in his achromatic state. Not only that, but Star Struck had not only seen him, but was laughing at him with along with the god of chaos. He immediately turned from orange to red from embarrassment and anger.

“Change. Me. Back. NOW!” he bellowed at Discord. “Before I lock you in stone for all of eternity.”

“Fine, fine,” the draconequis replied through fits of laughter, “But it serves you right for punching me in the side last night.” With a snap of his magical claws, Cobalt was back to his normal dark blue self. By now, Star Struck had stopped laughing.

“That’s... Better...” Cobalt said taking deep breaths, slowly regaining his composure. “I’m going to have some breakfast. I swear, Discord, if my cereal is purple or anything, you’re going back in the rock for the rest of the day. And I’ll let Dumb Bell drive the bus.”

This prospect seemed to greatly scare the draconequis, and he stopped laughing and immediately nodded his head, seemingly at a loss for words. Cobalt then went back into the bus, closing the door behind him.

Star Struck was seemingly confused by the god of chaos’s apparent fear. Discord saw this and explained, “I really wish Cobalt would get a new drummer. Dumb Bell always wrecks the bus with this stupid antics and his hard head. Even the thought of him in control of this bus has me seriously concerned for the safety of everyone in Equestria.” The draconequis shivered a little. “But everyone's probably up by now, so why don’t you go on in and say hi? I can handle the rest of the work out here on my own." And with a snap of his fingers, the chariot and small draconequii that powered it were gone. He then reviewed his take off checklist and got back to work preparing the bus.

Star then walked into the bus and was immediately greeted by Cobalt, who was over at the table on the opposite side of the bus, enjoying a bowl of cornflakes and some fresh apples. "How was your trip?" he asked, still a little flushed and his voice hoarse from yelling so much just a few moments ago.

She smiled at him, and replied “It was fun. And I’m sorry for laughing a few minutes ago,” she said sheepishly.

“It’s fine,” Cobalt replied through a mouthful of apple. He swallowed and said, “I’m sure I looked funny enough to laugh at because of Discord’s little prank.” He gave a small chuckle.

Star let out a little laugh, and said “Alright. Thanks again for letting me tag along. I’m really looking forward to this trip.”

"It's totally fine. Anything for an old friend. Plus, this will give us a lot of time to catch up.” Cobalt said with a smile. “By the way, I think Dumb Bell has something to say to you, isn't that right?" he said, looking over at Dumb Bell.

"Yeah," He said as he looked over at Star Struck. "I'm sorry I knocked those groceries out of your hooves yesterday. I was just so excited for the concert. It was my first with this band, and what's more amazing is that it was in Canterlot, in the Grand Hall no less! Anyway, I'm really sorry."

She smiled and extended a friendly hoof, "It’s perfectly alright. Past is in the past. It’s nice to meet you. Or at least, formally meet you.”

"Thanks. It's nice to meet you too. I'm pretty sure there's no need for more greetings, since you've already met everyone else here. Anyway, I'm gonna go check on Discord and the takeoff plans, see you later!" And with that, Dumb Bell was off and out the door of the bus.

"Sorry about him Star," Six String said from across the bus, still half asleep from his rude awakening. "He's a little scatterbrained, but he has a good heart."

"And he definitely has a hard head," Octavia said, pointing to a hole in a nearby wall. "He did that getting out of bed this morning. This is why I don’t sleep on the bus. It's too dangerous."

She looked at the dent and blinked twice in a mix of shock and fear. “Whoa. That’s um.. Kinda scary actually. Remind me to avoid bumping into him again" she said jokingly.

"Noted." Cobalt said, finishing his breakfast. "Anyway, let's get this show on the road. DISCORD!!!!!"

"What?" came Discords voice from outside.

"Are we ready to go?"

"One second!" There was a magical flash, and then Discord was in the bus. "Now we're ready to go."

"What about Dumb Bell?" Six asked.

"I was hoping you had forgotten about him," Discord said with a growl. With a snap of his fingers and a bit of magic, Dumb Bell was dropped onto the floor of the the bus on his back.

“Alright, now we're ready to go,” said Cobalt. “Lets get this show on the road! The Tour Of Chaos continues!"

Discord started the buses engine, and with that, they were off to Ponyville.

Star Struck used all of her self control to keep her from jumping for joy when she heard Cobalt say that. The thought of traveling with a band on tour was just so exciting!

"Ever been on a cross country trip before?" Cobalt asked.

She shook her head, "I’ve never left Canterlot before!"

“Well this is gonna be fun for you then. We’re going on a pretty much Equestria wide tour. This was only our 1st stop. Discord planned the route. Expect chaos at every turn."

"Hey, came Discord's voice from the drivers seat, "Not every turn. I have to give you guys a break every now and then. Plus, with your threats of turning me into stone and letting Dumb Bell drive the bus, I can’t keep you ponies perpetually pissed off at me."

Star could do nothing but laugh at his comment regardless of how unfunny it was. Her excitement was really beginning to show itself. “Well, sounds like fun either way. A little chaos never hurt anypony," she said nodding at them, her laughter dying out as she started to regain her composure.

"True, but too much chaos can make somepony a little crazy, isn't that right Discord? Or have you forgotten that the last time you vented to much of your chaotic energy at once, you were almost trapped in stone for another 5000 years?"

"Yeah yeah, I get it, take it easy on the chaos blah blah blah. It's just so boooring sometimes."

"We know you get bored easily Discord," the entire band said in unison. "At least go easy on Ink, she's new to the bus," Cobalt said. "Fine," Discord replied..

Ink raised an eyebrow and looked around at everypony before making a nervous smile. “Should i be worried?"

"Maybe a little," said Six, who shivered a little. "Yesterday, he put spiders in the cereal. I don't trust cereal anymore,” he said, eyeing the half empty bowl in front of Cobalt.

"Don't mind Six, he's paranoid by nature." Cobalt said reassuringly, "But you should be careful. He won't hurt you, but his pranks can be a little out there. He turned the floor into Jelly beneath us once. And as Six pointed out, he has a sick sense of humor with food. Always check your food before you eat it, especially if he's the one cooking. Being around him long enough will keep you on your toes."

“Always, check the food, got it.” Star said, making a mental note. “Oh, this is going to be sooo much fun!” she said with an excited squeal.

"Oh don't you worry, it's going to be. As long as Six String doesn't sleep all the time, and Dumb Bell doesn't kill us all doing something stupid."

"Hey!" Dumb Bell yelled, then tripped and fell on his head as the bus hit a bump in the road.

"Exactly," Cobalt said with a laugh.

Star winced and looked at Cobalt. “Ooohh... That looked like it hurt.” she said with a small giggle. “Will he be alright?"

"He'll be fine, he’s had worse." Cobalt said with a chuckle. “I swear his head's made from the same metal we play on stage, and is twice as hard."

She could only laugh at what Cobalt said. "That’s impressive. I hope I never end up in the path of that."

"Don't worry, I'll do my best to keep you out of his path. So far, the only casualties caused by Dumb Bell have been a few holes in the walls, an emptied fridge, and some broken drum sticks. Hopefully, it'll stay that way for the rest of the tour. Then again, this is only the first stop," Cobalt said with a sigh.

“Yeah, we can only hope,” Octavia said, opening the door to the buses built in practice room. “I’m gonna practice my bass. Call me if anything happens, or if I need to evacuate the bus because of something stupid that Dumb Bell does.”

“Alright,” Cobalt said. “Any plans for you Six?” he asked, turning to his friend.

“I think I’m going back to sleep, wake me up when it’s lunch time, alright Coby?” he said with a devious grin.

“Fine, whatever. And don’t call me that,” he yelled after his friend, who only let out a small chuckle as a reply.

Star Struck looked at Cobalt quizzically. “Coby?”

“Yeah,” he said. “When I first got into Stalliongrad, back when I was little, I was pretty much hated by everyone except for Six String. Just because I was different and the new kid. That’s the name they called me. It’s not that Coby is a bad name, it just brings back bad memories. I really don’t care any more, but Six just does it to annoy me. It just gets on my nerves a little.”

“I’m sorry, Cobalt.” Star said.

“It’s fine, Cobalt replied, “Like you said earlier, what’s past is past. Anyway, since there’s nothing better to do, why don’t we do some catching up? We never did yesterday.”

“Alright, fine by me,” Star Struck said. “Why don’t you start? Why did you move to Stalliongrad?”

“That’s a story in itself. When i was little, my dad worked as an assistant manager for a mining company. The jewels his company mined were bought and sold world wide. He had just moved to Canterlot the month before I was born, and since the mine he worked at was close, there was no problem. The reason we had to move out of Canterlot was because the mine was depleted. My dad did a little research, and found out that there was a huge abundance of gems in Stalliongrad that had been untapped. My dad really didn’t want to move, because he knew I was super excited about just getting into Magic Kindergarten. But we had to move, otherwise he would have to find a new job. So we moved.”

“Oh Cobalt, I’m sorry.” Star Struck said.

“It’s fine,” Cobalt said. “If I hadn’t moved to Stalliongrad, I wouldn’t have formed this band, and probably wouldn’t have gotten my Cutie Mark.”

“I never did get a good look at your Cutie Mark,” Star said, looking around Cobalt at his flank. “What is it?”

Cobalt covered his Cutie Mark with his hoof. “Nope, not yet. It’s your turn. What exactly is your Cutie Mark for?” he asked Star Struck.

“Well if you want to know,” she said looking back at her flank, which was adorned by a blue shooting star, “My Cutie Mark represents my profession, and my obsession. When I was little, I was walking through the park one night when a very small meteor hit the ground next to me, and threw me back against a tree. I hit my head and i was knocked unconsious. I’m pretty sure that’s where my poor memory comes from. You can say that I really was ‘star struck’.” Cobalt and Star both shared a good laugh at this. “Once I came to, and realized what happened, I immediately wanted to learn more about this rock that had just fallen from the sky. I did some research, and learned a lot. I realized i wanted to be an astronomer. That’s when my Cutie Mark appeared. Right now, I work for the Canterlot Astronomical Research Foundation.”

“Wow,” Cobalt said, a little stunned. “That’s really cool.”

"Thanks,” she said. “Now, about your mark,” Star said, moving Cobalt’s hoof from his flank. She gasped a little at how cool it was. Cobalt’s Cutie Mark pictured a mahagony Flying V guitar laid over a crescent moon. Within the moon, there were two five-pointed stars. “Wow,” she said to the stallion before her, who was grinning with pride, “That’s really cool.”

“Thanks,” he said. “The story behind my Cutie Mark goes a little like this. I’ve played the guitar for as long as I can remember, and I’d always hoped I was going to get famous by playing it. Once I met Six and we formed the band all those years ago, I knew my dreams were coming true. I got my mark during our first concert at this little place in Stalliongrad. The stars and moon represent how I knew was going to be famous. You know the old saying, ‘Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.’ The guitar of course represents my love of playing guitar.” Cobalt Masquerade smiled as he finished his story, enjoying the look of awe he had inspired on Star Struck’s face.

“That’s so cool!”

“Thanks,” Cobalt said.

“Is there anything else you want to know?” Star asked.

“Oh yeah, tons,” Cobalt said with a smile.

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Thanks again for reading everyone!
I’d once again like to thank my friend Ink Heart for helping me develop the idea and concept of the story so far. You’re a huge help! :)
Go ahead and point out any mistakes i make in the comments! And I’d love to hear everyone’s input!