Dark as Chitin: Soul Theory

Chapter Music

Chimera

Cozy Glow's second first day at The School of Friendship is today and I can't help but feel worried. She's a...troubled filly, to say the least. I suppose foster care could do that to a pony though. She's apparently been in and out of nine different homes, struggling to adapt to the families she was assigned to. As horrible as it sounds, it's not surprising. Cozy's too ambitious to live a mundane pony life, especially with her level of intelligence. I've seen her records, she's brilliant, but she's also a high-functioning sociopath.

Dawn and I have spent a few months looking after her, bonding in our own way. Princess Twilight offered to look after Cozy personally, but we couldn't bring ourselves to part with her, strange as it might sound. Thus, we sought out legal guardianship over her, which we obtained fairly easily thanks to the princess pulling a few strings. We're not like a traditional family though. We don't force our roles on her, instead, acting as more of equals in our household.

Mother and Cozy seem to get along well, but I'm not sure if that's a good thing. Most of their time together is spent making fun of ponies and gossiping behind closed doors. I guess it's better than plotting to take over Equestria and it has helped my mother cope with her xenophobia for what it's worth.

I suppose that brings us to now.

"Cozy," I stated as we arrived outside The School of Friendship in a flash of light, "promise me you won't cause any trouble. If not for my sake, then for your own," I cautioned.

Cozy held a forehoof in the other in mock innocence. "Me? Cause trouble?"

I cocked an eyebrow at her, unamused. As much as I enjoyed our banter, now was not the time.

She dropped her shoulders before sighing. "Fine, I promise."

"Good," I said, smiling warmly before I apported a necklace with a dull grey gem in the middle of it. It was a reproduction of Chrysalis' Embrace. Its magic wasn't as strong as the original, but it came with a few added features.

Levitating the necklace around her neck, I watched as the gem came to life, taking on the color of moderate amaranth. Good, it bonded to her without issue.

She looked down at the necklace confused, inspecting it with her hooves. "Uh, thanks?"

I chuckled to myself a bit. "It'll protect you if you're ever in any danger. It should also allow you to use low-tier unicorn magic if you really focus."

Using a magical apparatus to enhance or support magic casting is apparently an old science, but for whatever reason, it isn't commonplace. I also left trace amounts of my magic in the gem, so I'll be able to sense any fluctuations in her magic, but I wasn't about to tell her that. She'd probably lose trust in me thinking I didn't trust her, but I didn't do this to spy on her. I'm doing it because even after all these months, I'm still...worried. There was something bigger going on under everypony's nose, yet we hardly found out until it was too late.

Cozy looked at the necklace with an expression that could only be described as confliction. With her personality, she was probably struggling to find the words, but I wasn't about to force anything out.

"Alright, get your flank moving," I nudged her forward with a hoof, "the princess herself made time to hold the opening ceremony, can't miss it. I'll pick you up as soon as school gets out."

Cozy nodded before walking off, "Yeah, yeah, I'm goin'."

I watched as Cozy made her way to the front doors with the rest of the students, a bit proud that she was even willing to return to the school with no problem. Now comes the hard part, waiting. Luckily, I called in a favor that eases the tension a bit.

Soul

I spent centuries inside Faust's domain, which was only a few months in Equestrian time, learning the ropes of divinity, yet it amounted to nothing. Literally. Every other interesting and important role had been filled: magic, love, chaos, dragons, demons, sun, moon, dreams, time, death, and so on. Thus, I became The Lord of Nothing.

I rule over nothing and do nothing...unless prompted to. It also means I'm not bound by a lot of the same rules as other lords. I've familiarized myself with many forms of magic and can tap into them, but I can never truly master any of them, all but one, void magic. Our roles empower us, but also limit us so that no being grows too powerful.

But, if you ask me, I think Faust made the role up just to make me feel better. Bless her heart. I mean, there's no way that's an actual position, right? Then again, she is the goddess of creation sooo.

So what does a being like me get up to in his spare time? Contrary to my title, I do quite a bit, but productivity isn't my strong suit. Raiding Twilight's royal pantry is one of my favorite pastimes. Still haven't been caught. When I'm not doing that, I'm either hanging out with Discord, visiting my bro, Chimera, watching random individuals that catch my interest, or serving as a therapist to Tirek.

But now, things have changed. I've been assigned a job that is possibly the most important one I've ever been assigned. I'm a babysitter. Alright, so maybe not a babysitter exactly, but that's pretty much was it amounts to. Luckily, I perfectly fit for the job. A little shapeshifting here and there and I'm in.

The target's name is Cozy Glow, allegedly between the ages of eight and ten, and has just entered the school of friendship for the second first time. Currently on standby awaiting further development.

Cozy Glow

I never thought I'd have to see this place again. Actually, I thought that I would never see anything ever again after being petrified. Guess I got lucky in that regard.

I stood amongst a crowd of various equestrian creatures. To my surprise, I wasn't being alienated. I suppose I either wasn't infamous enough to be feared or if too much time had passed since I was last here. At center stage was the princess herself, Twilight Sparkle, flaunting her royal heinie on all of us. Whatever, it's not I wanted to be the princess of Equestria or anything. Okay, maybe a little, but it doesn't bother me in the slightest.

"Thank you all for coming. Today's a special day, as it is the day we welcome the next generation of first-years who will grow to contribute to Equestria's future. That's all of you promising individuals. Each and every one of you has something to give and a chance at success regardless of past accomplishments and failures. Most importantly, remember to embrace the magic of friendship, for it is that which really makes all the difference in the world," Twilight said before smiling, waving, and vanishing in a flash of light.

That's it? I mean, I wasn't expecting much, but I at least thought it'd be more than that. Leave it Twilight to subvert your expectations.

Shortly after Twilight left, Starlight Glimmer walked up to the microphone, comically adjusting it to her level.

"Excuse me," someone whispered from behind me.

I craned my neck to look over my shoulders. What now?

It was a tired-eyed apathetic colt with a black mane, grey coat, and silver irises. From what she could tell, he was a unicorn, but he lacked a cutie mark. "Are you, perhaps, Cozy Glow?" He said in a somewhat deep monotone voice.

Why is this blank flank talking to me? I could feel my wings raise ever so slightly, attempting to spread out defensively, but I fought the urge. He's giving me weird vibes. "What's it to you?" Anypony else and I would have put on my cutesy facade but I just can't with this guy.

He flipped open a saddlebag, revealing a black leatherback book with monochromatic tabs sticking out of the sides. "I've heard a lot about you, I'm Private Eye, Pry for short."

Great, I should have known they'd keep a close eye on me. Could they have made it any more obvious?

"Okay, so what do you want from me?"

He levitated the book from his bag in pale blue magic, opening it to a page full of scribbles that vaguely resembled words. This guy's weird for sure.

"Your autograph, please."

What?

Contrary to the ridiculousness of what he had just said, his expression remained dead serious.

"My...autograph?" I felt my wings lower, the tension replaced by confusion and disbelief.

"Precisely," he confirmed as a pre-inked quill appeared in front of me.

Odd, that didn't look like teleportation. It's like it just suddenly existed.

I looked around myself, wondering if anyone else noticed this strange pony. To my surprise, it was like we were invisible to the rest of the world. Actually, it seemed a lot quieter than it should have been; Starlight sounded almost muffled despite me being able to hear her clearly only moments before.

I turned my attention back to him reaching out with my right wing to grab the pen, then I remembered that I could use magic.

Well, now's a better time than any to test it out.

Concentrating on the pen, a faint veil of amaranth magic surrounded it. Still got it. I levitated the pen to a blank space on the open pages, signing my name more messily than I would have preferred.

The pen then vanished, the colt turning the book over to look over the pages. He stared down at the pages for a moment before slowly lifting the book up to cover his face.

"Pfft."

Stiffled laughter, is he laughing at me?

He abruptly closed the book before placing it back in his bag, "Thank you."

"So why'd you want my autograph?"

"I'm somewhat of a collector. I've made it a point to collect the trinkets and signatures of important figures, infamous or otherwise."

I guess that makes sense. Despite his odd demeanor, he came off as uncharacteristically charismatic.

Suddenly, as if my encounter with this individual was just a daydream, the world around me became audible once more. I returned my attention to the stage just as Starlight finished up her little speech.

"If you'll turn your attention to the east and west walls of the room, you'll find several stands ready to hand out welcoming bags. You'll also find that these bags come equipped with your schedules, please make sure to take care of them."

"You'd think they'd give us our schedules before hoof, right Pry?" I said as I turned around to address him, but he was gone.

I flew just high enough to see over the crowd of students, yet he was nowhere in sight.

Could that colt have been any weirder?

Sometime Later...

"Okay class, today's lesson is in kindness. First, I want everybody to find a partner within one seat near you," Mrs. Flutterbutt said from the front of the classroom.

I see; the classes were organized in such a way so that an even amount of races would be present and strategically placed so that interaction would be forced. Not a bad approach. My only issue is that I'm in the left corner of the room, the student in front of me already found somepony, and the seat to the right of me is vacant. Great.

I'll just wait until Flutterbutt notices and either tells me to join a group or embarrassingly partners with me. I rested my cheek on a hoof, staring at nothing particular when a familiar voice came from the right of me, causing me to sit upright and rigid.

"To see a world in a grain of sand, and a heaven in a wild flower," I heard the sound of a book closing before the voice addressed me, "we meet again Ms. Glow. I've encountered quite the plight. You see, I arrived late, thus I cannot fulfill Ms. Fluttershy's instructions. Would you do me the favor of being my partner?"

You know what? Fine. Figuring this guy out probably won't get me anywhere. Might as well take advantage of the situation.

"Now that everyone has a partner, I want each partner to first compliment the other on at least one trait of theirs. It could be anything. Remember, look at your partner directly when speaking to them. Direct communication is essential," Flutterbutt instructed.

Pry stood opposite to me, smiling softly with those same tired eyes. "I'll go first," he stated, pointing a hoof at himself then pointing it at me, "I like your mane, very curly. And the color compliments your coat nicely."

Huh, I actually didn't expect that.

"I like your...uh," I paused mid-sentence, realizing that I wasn't sure what to compliment about him, "your saddlebag. It's...nice?"

Way to blow it, Cozy.

"Yeah? I spent a lot of time picking it out, thanks," he smiled as he looked it over with pride.

Or, maybe not.