open Strange Tales of the Equestrian Idiot RP Thread (See OOC to join!)

[Hypn0ticD 1,213]

@@Windbreaker, @@bronislav84, @, @@Derplight Sperkle, @@GeneralDirection, @@Taialin, @@Yoshi89, @,

 

No. This couldn't be happening. It simply wasn't supposed to happen! And yet Alex was now being accosted by the former Element Bearers... the pink one seemed to buy the story, but the others weren't so gullible. 'If only the human had come earlier! But so long as he stays quiet...'

 

"Um...c-could I have a glass of water please? I...I think I'm going to faint any moment now. It's, uh...It's my first time here..."

 

Inkwell facehoofed. 'Dammit, boy!' Inkwell thought. "There you are, dear," the white Unicorn offered, levitating a glass of water over to Alex. "Welcome to Equestria."

 

Princess Twilight Sparkle chimed in then, taking a quick bow to Alex before passing by. "It is nice to meet you."

 

It surprised Inkwell to see the Princess of Friendship be so uncharacteristically incurious, yet he decided against questioning it. "Well, the ambassador and I must be going now." Inkwell said with a nervous laugh. The scholar then turned to face the two remaining princesses, and bowed his head. "Please pardon us, your majesties." He then turned to Alex and nudged him slightly. "Come along now!"

 

"I could not help but take notice of your arrival ambassador. Greetings." The Night Princess began, causing Inkwell's heart to drop. "I am Princess Luna, Co-Ruler of Equestria, and Princess of the Night." Inkwell gulped nervously as Luna narrowed her eyes at Alex, as if she were sizing him up. "I believe my sister is occupied." Inkwell doubled back as the regal mare unfurled her wings in a seeming display of intimidation. "Perhaps there is something that I can help you with...ambassador?"

 

"A thousand pardons Princess, but the ambassador does not wish to keep you or the present company from preparing for our guests' arrival." Inkwell said, his barrel now in between the lunar deity and the human. "I will guide him to where he needs to go, since it's along my way."

 

"A tad on the defensive side, are we?" the princess asked, her attention now on the scholar. "It is quite rare for an ambassador not to be accompanied by security of their own kind, is it not?"

 

"The teacher pony's right, Princess Luna!" Applejack chimed in. "We gotta get that party ready, but just setten' 'round asking after other ponies' business is just burnin' daylight!" The cowpony then turned and bowed to the human, and winked upon lifting her head. "You go on ahead --'ambassador'. We'll take care a' Pinkie Pie!"

 

"Thank you so much --Applejack, was it? Thank you ever so much! Let's be off ambassador!"

 

Inkwell gave Alex no time to react as he cast his magic around him and dragged him down the corridor and off to the taxi...

[EcstaticWind 572]

Alex had absolutely no idea what was going on. His homesickness flared again as he tried to drink his water, growing increasingly fearful under the scrutinous eyes of the ponies. He looked away from them, just wanting it all to be over as soon as possible. As he went to take a sip, he was yanked away, spilling his water and dropping the glass by accident.

 

'Maybe I should've just asked to go home...' He thought to himself as he was dragged out to the taxi.

[Skycoaster 697]

Dark Wing rolled his eyes as attempted to wake up. "Ugh. It's morning...." as he pulled the pillow over his head to block out the sound of the alarm clock. "I'm a Lunar Guard I work at night," he grumbled. "Why in the name of Equestria do I even have an afternoon shif....." He sat straight up as he remembered what day it was. "Oh....," the bat pony would say as he began to fully wake up. Looking down to the lower bunk, he would notice his brothers bed being empty. Sigh. "I guess Her Highness was able to talk Paladin into a double as well..." It would not take the guard long to get himself ready. Splashing some water on his face to make sure he was fully awake, he would begin the process of putting his armor on.

 

The sound of grumbling could be heard emanating from the young stallion's stomach. He would give a quick glance over to the clock, taking note of the time. A small smile would form as it appeared that he would have time to get something to eat for breakfast before starting Princess Luna's task. Using his stealth, he would make his way to the castle kitchen unnoticed. He would open the cupboard where the night guards rations where kept, grabbing a muffin before closing it.

 

@@bronislav84, @,@@Yoshi89,

Closing the door to the ration cupboard, he would notice Princess Twilight, her dragon assistant, and Princess Cadance as he took a large bite of the muffin, hoping that he wasn't noticed.

[Zhooves 843]

@@Zhooves, "It is, but I'm very curious about what that music is," Clover replied. Her ears pricked up as she listened to the strange music, which seemed to get clearer all the time.

 

"Maybe it's the aliens making the music!" Clover exclaimed suddenly. "Let's go and see. I wonder, how can they make music without hooves and horns?"

"Who knows..." he begun, starting to walk at his pace towards the direction the music came from. "Dragons and minotaurs each have claws of some sort... I guess there is always a way."

He kept walking, though not for long, until they came upon the building the music clearly was coming from. "Comes from inside there somewhere it seems." he said, looking around.

"Whoever is therein, those beings or not, I am interested in these sounds... Should we knock?" North said in a slightly lower voice, raising an eyebrow at Clover.

@@Hypn0ticD, 

He approached the door, and did a couple of light knocks.

Edited December 25, 2015 by Zhooves

[Taialin 217]

@@Hypn0ticD, @@Windbreaker, @@bronislav84, @, @@GeneralDirection, @@Derplight Sperkle, @@Yoshi89, @
And there he goes, Rarity thought as the human and his attendant rushed off and away. So quickly that the human dropped his water seemingly on accident. Rarity sighed and gathered up the glass and water on the ground and returned them to the sink.
 
Overall, she couldn't say that their first encounter with the humans was anything like she expected it to be. Her worries about the humans' apparent penchant for violence and rashness were unfounded; it seemed like they did a better job of scaring the human than the other way around. Chalk it up to Pinkie's usual way of greeting ponies and the, frankly, rather jittery attendant of theirs who really should have taken a class or two in crew resource management.
 
"So . . . so what now?"
 

 
It was good to be without a schedule.
 
True, a schedule (and an assistant to keep her to it) was certainly necessary in her day to day life, but the occasional day when she didn't have to keep to within two-and-a-half minutes of the timetable was a rare one, and in Celestia's opinion, a boon. It seemed that a visit from otherworldly beings was enough to throw her usual schedule to the wayside. Naturally, she wouldn't tell anypony of this, but that freedom gave her the vested privilege of talking to ponies on her own terms, on her own time.
 
Yes, it was good to be without a schedule. And even when Pinkie interrupted her conversation and informed her that a minotaur ambassador required her audience, she still thought it was a good day. Of course, the wink was a bit suspicious (none of her advisors were anything but unambiguous), but Celestia thought nothing of it.
 
"Does somepony require your assistance, Princess?"
 
"I'm afraid so, Paladin. But it was lovely to talk with you after so long. You know how it is in the castle. Send my regards to Sweet Buttercup and your wife."
 
With her brief send-off, Princess Celestia sauntered off to the kitchen whereabouts, where Pinkie said the minotaur would be found.
 
"Oh! Excuse me," Celestia said as a pony accompanying a figure about as tall as herself brushed by her quickly and made their way down the hall she had just come up. How bizarre. It was uncommon that she ever saw anypony who wasn't a guard moving so quickly through the halls of the castle. Surely they just had somewhere urgent to be.
 
But Celestia thought that perhaps that figure was more consequential than she thought because when she made it back to the kitchen area where the rest of the ponies were waiting, they were all staring at the same hallway, various degrees of blank, confused, and suspicious looks on their faces.
 
"Did I miss anything?"

[Skycoaster 697]

@@Hypn0ticD, @@Taialin,
Luna would raise an eyebrow as the 'ambassador' was dragged away. The expression that filled her face was somewhere between shock and suspicion. Looking to AppleJack near by, she would sigh deeply. "Perhaps you are correct. The sooner that this welcome is prepared, the sooner that we all can move on with other tasks." Still looking a bit flustered, she would sit down and put a hoof to her forehead. 'What did I just witness?' she thought to herself as she tried to figure out just what had transpired before her.

"Something dose not feel right..." the Lunar Princess would being. "That twas one of the humans. Though I can not put my hoof on it, Something is amiss." Looking over to Rarity, she could tell that the unicorn may have felt the same way. "I do not admit to being wrong often, but he seemed to be petrified of us...of me..." Luna hung her head low as a feeling of sadness came over her. Their reaction was that of somepony that had run into Nightmare Moon, not her. Taking a few moments to collect herself, she would look around at those who remained in the room. Luna would sigh deeply. "If our first meeting with the humans is any indication, we may be in for a complicated visit." Luna's eyes would narrow as she continued to look down the hallway. "I do not take kindly to open deception.." The princess herself was having a conflict within her as she was angry, but yet felt sorry for the human that had been before them.

 

"Did I miss anything?"

Luna would glare at her sisters comment. "Do you mean other than one of the humans..than yes."

[Randimaxis 8,633]

@@Windbreaker, @@Hypn0ticD,

 

Inkwell and Alex made their way out to the street, attempting to get to the waiting taxi before any of the other ponies around them started putting two and two together. As they reached their ride, it was obvious this was going to be quite a long day - and it hadn't even truly gotten started yet! Already things were becoming overwhelming, and there was going to be a lot more of the same as this visit went on. Maybe this WAS a bad idea, after all... but it was happening, for better or for worse.

 

The closest available taxi looked like your everyday standard cab: yellow with a checkered stripe down each side, sturdy wheels, a well-oiled harness. The logo on the side was a golden apple, and the words 'Dodric's Taxi Service' emblazoned on it. There was a single stallion here, leaning against the side of the carriage and giving the two of them a passively interested look. He had a maroon coat with a stark white mane, mostly stuffed under a cabbie cap, and his observant eyes were yellowish, possibly jaundiced-looking orbs. As they approached, he made a sweeping gesture towards his cab and grinned kindly at them both.

 

"Gentlecolts, if you need the ride, then I'm here to provide! Easy rates, smooth travelling and some of the most interesting conversation this side of the Crystal Empire! And I'd hurry, were I you... it seems as if a scandalous vandal is making the rounds here..."

 

The pony nodded his head towards the curb behind him. From where they stood, every other cab there had some sort of malady: a wheel had fallen off of this one, the axle had snapped on that one, the straps had gotten hopelessly tangled on yet another, and a fourth was - for all intents and purposes - stuffed full of what appeared to be... chickens? Yes, there was a chaotic, muffled yammering of clucking hens, quite distressed at being inside the cab in the first place. It seemed as if, no matter how many chickens the driver pulled from his fowl-filled taxi, there were more and more still ensconced within. Many of the drivers were arguing loudly, some with each other and some with themselves... but it was clear that this taxi would be the only one available for the present duration, maybe even for quite some time.

 

The driver grinned. "Shall we be off?" He opened the door and made a sweeping bow, motioning to the plush-looking interior, smiling broadly and projecting a trustworthy aura over both Inkwell and Alex.

[Hypn0ticD 1,213]

@@Windbreaker, @@GeneralDirection, @, @@Derplight Sperkle, @@bronislav84, @@Taialin, @@RubyW32, @@Yoshi89,

@@Zhooves, @@Pripyat Pony,

@,

 

"Foolish boy!" Inkwell hissed in a hushed tone as he stopped trotting and released Alex from his magic. " What were you thinking? Now they all know..."

 

"I don't know what I was thinking...I'm in a foreign land and suddenly I've got the eyes of every important pony in the land staring at me. I cracked under a lot of pressure and nearly fainted. And the dark blue one...I get the feeling she hates me, but I don't know what I've done to deserve it. Are you sure about this, Inkwell?" Alex asked, almost going limp where he stood. It was taking a lot of self-control to keep from breaking down.

 

"If you wish to go back, then I'm afraid you're going to have to wait. Unless, of course you want to run into the Princesses and the heroes again." Inkwell said, taking a step toward him; he furrowed his brow at the sight of the boy swooning. "As for Princess Luna, well... I must admit she's not very receptive to the idea of allowing humans into her kingdom. She sees both you and the girl as a threat. It's up to you to prove her wrong," Inkwell then turned to take a few steps forward. " Provided you stay. And as for your question? I don't know, Alex,"Inkwell turned his head to face him. "It was ultimately your decision to come, so you tell me."

 

"I didn't come here to be hated by royalty just because I breathe and exist, Inkwell. Whatever Luna's got against us, it's her problem. Not mine... I've got my own crisis right now. The only one on my side right now is you, and you don't give a whole lot of support." Alex said, starting to get angry before calming down again, due to his current turmoil sending him through a mix of emotions. "Sorry...I shouldn't say that to you after you've tried to help me this far..."

 

"Princess Luna is your problem!" Inkwell snapped, whirling on his hoof and storming back over to the human. "Spell Caster and I will do our best to keep her from you, but she's one of the most powerful ponies in Equestria. I think it'd be wise to start caring!"

 

That was it for Alex. The stress finally compounded and he broke down. "I'm s-sorry..." He choked out and pulled his hood lower to hide his expression, though the trembles running through his body gave it away that he'd finally broken under the insane amount of pressure mounted on his shoulders.

 

"I'm sorry as well," Inkwell responded, his voice markedly softer. "But you mustn't underestimate the significance of your presence in Equestria, nor the princess' concerns." Inkwell cast his magic around Alex's hood to pull it back just enough to look him in the eye. "But you have to be willing to accept that fact."

 

Alex gingerly reached out to Inkwell, unable to put his thoughts into words. His expression was scared, stressed, sad and confused. Nothing he'd read in the information had prepared him for this, and the only guide he had kept flip-flopping between whether he was focused on the job or trying to be supportive, which further added to Alex's confusion and frustration. All he could do right now was cry, after everything that happened so far.

 

Inkwell looked away as he pawed at the ground. "I want to help you Alex, I really do." looking back to him, he added, "But we can't stay here. We have to go to your hideout before anypony else sees you."

 

He nodded glumly. "Lead the way."

 

Inkwell smiled and lowered Alex's hood. "We've wasted enough time here. Stay close -- and quiet."

 

Alex nodded and followed Inkwell's lead. His first visit so far...had been pretty terrifying. Perhaps if he'd arrived sooner, maybe he'd have had time to adjust and this wouldn't be as much of a shock.

 

@@Randimaxis,

 

There were no further incidents nor breakdowns from the boy, which Inkwell was all too glad for; the boy's waffling had already cost them both time, secrecy and what little mental fortitude the human had. Any more delays would only -- what in the world??

 

"Gentlecolts, if you need the ride, then I'm here to provide! Easy rates, smooth travelling and some of the most interesting conversation this side of the Crystal Empire! And I'd hurry, were I you... it seems as if a scandalous vandal is making the rounds here..."

 

The taxi pony that greeted them was not the one he hired; . Inkwell looked to where the driver nodded, making the frown already on his muzzle only deepen.

 

Driver after driver was experiencing some sort of calamity that rendered them unable to drive. A tangled harness here, a broken axle there - and Inkwell spotted his hired driver pulling chickens from his cab. Just what in Tartarus was going on??

 

"Shall we be off?" the mysterious driver asked, flashing a large smile.

 

"Whoare you??"

[Randimaxis 8,633]

@@Windbreaker, @@Hypn0ticD

 

The stallion blinked at Inkwell, a poker face evident on his muzzle until he stood back up and eyeballed the guide.

 

"Me?  What does it look like I am?"  He turned his head and examined his cab innocently before turning back.  "This IS a cab, after all... and I'm wearing the hat, aren't I?"  

 

He turned to face Alex, speaking in a sotto voce whisper behind his hoof.  "You'd think he'd have seen a taxicab before, right?"  The stallion slipped the boy a wink before facing Inkwell again.

 

"To answer your question sir, I happen to be the ONLY buggy that will be available anytime soon... might not even be another cab here for the rest of the day; there was some sort of 'incident' earlier today, and I was the last one that made it out before it blocked the streets.  Lucky me, eh?"

 

He tapped a hoof against the sign on his door.  "See that?"  He motioned to the words 'Dodric's Taxi Service'.  "That is me, good sirs - and I have a reputation to uphold, so here I am!  Wouldn't want to see anypony getting stranded, especially with all this hubbub going on!"  Alex thought he caught the barest of glimmers in the stallion's eye, as if there had been some other, more personal term he'd wanted to utilize instead of 'hubbub'.

 

"Now, if you're ready to depart, simply step inside and allow me to whisk you away to your destination!"  His smile was full of bonhomie, yet he raised an eyebrow as he added, "Of course, you could always wait here with the chickens for a replacement cab, should you feel so inclined - seeing as I saw Princess Luna head inside earlier, who knows?  Maybe she'll be back out at any moment, and you could ask for her autograph, hmmmm?  Wouldn't meeting up with her be just a splendid thing?  That is, unless you're in a hurry..."

 

His smile was charming, and he seemed full of a decent basic goodwill, a sense of adventure... and a streak of mischief.

[Skycoaster 697]

@@bronislav84, @,@@Yoshi89,

The bat pony would finish his rations and look to the clock, waiting for his early shift to begin. He would take his orders that Princess Luna herself had written out of his armor and begin reading them over. DarkWing would would draw a blank as all that was on the piece of paper was written 'surveillance.' With all the stress that Princess Luna had been going through the past few weeks, he dared not interrupt what activity that she or Celestia where up to. Seeing the Princess of Friendship in front of him, perhaps she may be able to help decipher the cryptic orders.

 

Putting on his helmet, he would approach the princesses in the kitchen. "Excuse me your highness," as he salutied Twilight. I have a bit of a conundrum. May I speak to you in private for a moment. It is of top secrete priority."

[EcstaticWind 572]

@@Randimaxis,

 

Alex raised an eyebrow at the seemingly excitable pony. "Uh, well, we are in a hurry, I guess." He said softly, trying not to make himself stand out too much and just wanting a break from all of this terror. He was slowly starting to regret his choice, but it was a little late to pull out now. He was in this for the long haul, but he'd have to try and adapt before his cynical mind overloaded and broke. But first...he needed some peace and quiet and time to think about things. Though...the one thing that bothered him most was Luna. He still couldn't quite fathom how it was his problem that she hated humans. Whatever the reason, he was certain he had nothing to do with it.

[Hypn0ticD 1,213]

@@Zhooves, @@Pripyat Pony,

 

Colette wiped away the beads of sweat as she finished playing the song. "This room seriously needs some soundproofing. There's flanking everywhere!" she mused aloud with a thoughtful frown "There's music friggin' everywhere, right??" She asked no one in particular "There's gotta be a local who's gotta know a thing or two about soundproofing."

 

Colette continued to strum a few chords in preparation for the next song she would play, but stopped at until she heard the soft yet distinct sound of someone, or rather, some pony knocking on the front door.

 

"Shit, shit, SHIT!" she hissed. "I just had to get carried away! Son of a bitch!"

 

Colette quickly closed the curtains before racing up the stairs for her cloak. She practically jumped the stairs three at a time as she put the cloak on. "Alright... you can do this," she told herself. "Just see what they want, then get them outta here!"

 

With one final adjustment of the cloak's hood and a deep breath, opened the door just enough to peer out. "Yes... may I help you?"

[Pripyat Pony 2,608]

@@Zhooves, @@Hypn0ticD, Clover was about to answer North, when suddenly, the door opened. The white unicorn mare let out a gasp; the alien that they had been discussing was standing right there in front of them! It did look very strange; the creature stood on two legs instead of four and had funny appendages instead of hooves, that looked a bit like dog or bear paws.

 

"Yes, may I help you?"

 

"You're the alien, aren't you?" Clover replied, even in her amazement at seeing the alien in the flesh, not forgetting her manners. "We're sorry to interrupt, but we heard the most wonderful music. Was it you making it?"

[Lektra Bolt 2,336]

@, @,@@Yoshi89,

 

Twilight was eagerly awaiting Cadence's response and had even sat down to wait, but there were other things going on. What seemed to be a castle guard came up to her. "You are a night guard, yes? Don't see many of you out during the day. One second please." She turned back for a moment to Cadence and the others.

 

"I'm sorry Cadence, but I'm needed. Maybe we can talk later?" It was at this point Spike showed up. Twilight had been wondering where he had gone off to.

 

The cooks had been doing good following the books she brought in. She turned to Spike first. "Oh, yes of course Spike. You are my number one assistant, after all." Levitating three cookbooks with her magic, she placed them in Spike's claws gently. "Please try to make sure the recipes are followed. 'Exotic Meals' page 24, 'Feasts for Visiting Dignitaries' page 37, and 'Foods from around Equestria' page 83 should be a nice start." She said with a grin as she stood up and moved around each group preparing parts of the feast to give them pointers from the other books she was levitating. She then placed the books on a free table neatly, away from the food of course, by name, color of the cover, size of the book, author, and possible relevance.

 

Finally returning to the night guard after about 5 minutes she spoke to him. "Sorry for making you wait. I'm delegating a feast for the visiting humans, but it seems to be progressing well so we should be ok for a while." Twilight was now ready to follow him to the location he chose for the secret talk.

Edited January 8, 2016 by bronislav84

[Taialin 217]

@@Hypn0ticD, @
"Something is amiss. I do not admit to being wrong often, but he seemed to be petrified of us. Of me."
 
Princess Luna drew Rarity's attention with that statement, and she looked back at her, just soon enough to catch her hang her head in despair of her conclusion. Goodness, Rarity thought. Luna can't be the only one whom that human was apprehensive of. Come to think of it, he seemed to be apprehensive of . . . well, everything. She knew about Luna's tendency to blame herself for things. So she raised a hoof in preparation to comfort Luna, but she hesitated. How did one go about comforting the Princess of the Night?
 
And then there was the fact that despite improving significantly since her return, Princess Luna still could have something of a more . . . intimidating countenance than the average pony. That plus a jittery alien in an unfamiliar world seemed like it would just result in poor results every single time. Rarity certainly didn't want to be pony to tell her that it was in her nature that she scare alien beings.
 

 
"Oh! Did I?" Celestia looked behind her at the empty hallway. So that was why everypony was so agitated by those two. The tall one was one of the humans she had heard so much about.
 
One of the humans who had, apparently, in whatever way, unbalanced her sister. Celestia heard Luna's comments, and she caught the undertones of what she was saying. It was something that was a touchy subject for both her and her sister. She was thinking about Nightmare Moon, wasn't she? The human's contact with her had her start thinking about that. And whoever reminded her sister of that was not a friend.
 
Celestia's opinion of the humans soured just slightly. It was true that Luna was not the most inviting pony, but a human had still offended her. Celestia sidled up to Luna and said, "Perhaps we just need to be a bit more welcoming of their presence." And in a lower undertone, audible only to her sister, she murmured, "And if they still decide to be frightened of you, that is not your fault."

[Randimaxis 8,633]

@@Windbreaker

@@Hypn0ticD

 

"Excellent!  Simply take a seat, gentlecolts, and we'll be off!"  He ushered them both into the taxi hurriedly, then turned back to face down the cab-lined street.  

 

All around them, utter chaos had taken over - two of the drivers had started pushing each other, which inadvertently knocked another wheel loose from the nearby cab, which went careening across the road and bumped over the curb, crashing through a store window.  The sound frightened the chickens, which then began a squawking, pecking stampede that started chasing the terrified drivers.  It was pandemonium...

 

The pony with the cabbie cap on smiled broadly.  "And such a beautiful day, isn't it fellows?"

 

The cabbie pony leaned down like he was preparing to run a sprint, then took a deep breath, lifted his flank, and took off like a speeding Parasprite...

 

... GOING IN FULL REVERSE.

 

Alex and Inkwell saw the world speeding away from them, directly ahead of their view - and worse, they had NO way to see behind them, so all they had to judge their location with was whatever was zipping away from them at somewhat alarming speeds.  The cabbie pony, by the way, had turned over and was now belly-up in the harness, and was not even touching the ground.  

 

"Ah, so good to partake in the occasional travel, isn't it?  To stretch the legs, so to speak... whether seventeen, or four... or even TWO... feels good to simply enjoy the fresh air, the sunshine, the joys of getting that heart pumping - am I right?  You two certainly seem to be experiencing something similar to that right now, I assume?"

 

A tea set on a winged tray flapped up beside him, and as they watched, his form seemed to start... s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g... and his limbs began twisting into what seemed to be completely random shapes; a lion's paw, a dragon's tail, two different horns (YOU know the rest)... until the 'pony' had shifted into something the likes of which Alex had never before seen up close and personal like this!

 

He reached over and took a teacup from the flying tray, delicately with his pinkie out.  "Thank you; go see if our guests would like any."  The tray smoothly flapped and flew its way over to them both.  It remained where it was, eerily seeming to stay still as the rest of the world went zooming off in front of their faces... then, a cliffside zoomed away, meaning that they should have been falling - but they were flying instead, and rather smoothly.

 

"Please... allow me to introduce myself..."

 

The tip of his tail lifted into view, and the tuft of fur on the end made a makeshift hand, which snapped it's fingers.  The left side door of the cab flew off, spun around the taxi and stopped in front of their view, hovering there.  As they watched, the "c" in "Dodric's Taxi Service" stretched up and gobbled up the apostrophe, then started wriggling around with the other letters in "Dodrics" until they lined up differently and became still.

 

The door now read, "Discord Taxi Service".

 

The Lord Of Chaos smiled and made a little bow in front of them as the door simply flew out and away into the wind.

 

"It is an absolute honor to meet the first human invited into Equestria, Alex - shall we have a little chat while we head to... well, wherever you were wanting to go; what do you say?" 

[GeneralDirection 965]

@@Hypn0ticD,

 

“I’m bored.” Rainbow announced to nopony in particular.

 

Of course, nopony was really listening to her. But, she felt that her boredom was justified based on everything she had been through today. First, she had woken up way too early this morning, only to have to take a train to Canterlot, even though she could’ve flown there a whole lot faster. Then there was the slow walk to the castle, and now, they were all standing around, waiting. Again. She didn’t really even know exactly what they were waiting for. All she knew was that it wasn’t fun, and that meant it was boring. Being tired and bored at the same time was a bad combination. The blue pegasus started to get restless, feeling the need to ditch this place and take to the skies.

 

While the rest of her friends proceeded to concern themselves with the supposed minotaur and the other pony who accompanied him, Rainbow Dash had decided that there wasn’t anything to hold her attention here. Instead, she waited until she thought no one was watching, and took off in the opposite direction. Within a few moments, the castle was far behind her, as she sped to a seemingly nondescript building situated on the outskirts of Canterlot. She soon landed at the front door, and knocked loudly.

 

Can’t believe how obvious that guy was. Sure hope the rest of my friends caught onto that human’s act. She thought to herself as waited for the building’s occupant to answer. Moments passed, but nopony came to the door. Rainbow resumed her knocking, and shouted “Ah come on, you gonna tell me ya can’t hear me? Open up!” She continued for a while longer until, finally, the pony she was looking for came to the door.

 

“Oh, hey Rainbow, what’s up?” Vinyl asked casually.

 

Dash stared at Vinyl for a moment before responding, taking note of the headphones around her neck. “What’s up? I’ve been standing here knocking for hours!”

 

Vinyl shook her head at Rainbow’s exaggerated response and replied “Sorry, Rainbow. Didn’t hear ya down here, I’ve been working on some new tracks for an upcoming album. Did you need somethin’?”

 

“Nah,” she replied, “my friends are at the castle right now. I think we were supposed to be going to meet those humans, and we ended up running into him and some other pony. He was pretending to be an ambassador for the Minotaurs, but it was pretty obvious that he wasn’t. So I got bored, and figured I’d come hang out with you for a bit.”

 

“Woah, you’ve seen one of those humans they’ve been talking about in the paper? Come on in then, man! You gotta tell me about ‘em!”

 

The two ponies went upstairs to Vinyl’s studio, and sat down on what few chairs were in the room. Most of the space was filled with Vinyl’s DJing equipment. There were also a couple small windows, but they both had blinds blocking any sunlight from entering the room. A few lightbulbs on the ceiling and a desk lamp were the only light sources.

 

“So, what’ve you learned about the humans?” Vinyl asked with an excited look on her face.

 

“Well…I haven’t exactly learned anything about them yet…”

 

“Oh.” The excitement drained from the unicorn’s face. “Well, what are your thoughts on them, then?”

 

“They seem like a strange bunch. Their society is better at technology and stuff, yet they don’t really understand friendship like we do. They fight a lot with each other. But the weirdest thing of all is that they actually know about us! They have these groups of people that are, like, obsessed over us. I’m not sure how I feel about that.”

 

“I would’ve thought you’d be all over that, Dash. A race that practically worships you.” She grinned.

 

“Ha ha, very funny.” The pegasus rolled her eyes. “I’m being serious here. Would you really want the attention of an alien race you’ve never met before, yet somehow knows all about you? That doesn’t creep you out?”
 

“I guess when you put it that way, yea; it does sound a bit odd. I guess you’ll just have to wait until you actually meet them and take it from there.”

 

“Yep.” Rainbow replied nonchalantly.  

 

The two friends idly chatted for several minutes before Vinyl decided that she should get back to her music, and said goodbye before putting her headphones back on. Dash exited the studio and made her way back to the castle. She raced down the hallways until she returned to her friends, who had just been joined by Princess Celestia.

[Skycoaster 697]

@@bronislav84,
DarkWing would smile at the Princess of Friendship. "Um, no problem at all," he would say in response to her comment. "If you would fallow me. Should only need a moment of your time your highness." The batpony guard would make his way to a little used room nearby. It was one of the many small areas designated for guards to take their brakes. He would shut the door behind them.

"Princess Luna has us worried," he would say as he removed his helmet. Concern would begin to show in his face. "This hole situation has her on edge. I know that she is not sleeping, and when she dose, we can hear through her chamber door that she is having nightmares." DarkWing would hand Twilight the cryptic orders. "She had asked us all to pick up an extra shift, and I am having trouble figuring out just what she wants of me. Dose she want me to spy on the humans?"

[Hypn0ticD 1,213]

@@Windbreaker, @@Randimaxis,

 

Inkwell eyed the suspicious driver in return before the latter spoke. "Me? What does it look like I am?" He then made the effort of giving his cab a good once over, as if to tell them both that what was before them was indeed just a cab.

 

It made little difference, as a strange feeling came over the scholar.

 

"This IS a cab, after all... and I'm wearing the hat, aren't I?"

 

"Well, yes, but--" the driver had whispered something to the boy before his attention was back on him.

 

"To answer your question sir, I happen to be the ONLY buggy that will be available anytime soon... might not even be another cab here for the rest of the day; there was some sort of 'incident' earlier today, and I was the last one that made it out before it blocked the streets. Lucky me, eh?"

 

'Too lucky.' Inkwell thought as the driver tapped his hoof against the carriage. "See that?" he asked as he gestured toward his name - 'Dodric's Taxi Service'. " That is me, good sirs - and I have a reputation to uphold, so here I am! Wouldn't want to see anypony getting stranded, especially with all this hubbub going on!"

 

The feeling that Inkwell became stronger as he caught Dodric looking over to Alex. Something very strange was afoot...

 

"Now, if you're ready to depart, simply step inside and allow me to whisk you away to your destination!" Inkwell frowned again and narrowed his eyes a little. "Of course, you could always wait here with the chickens for a replacement cab, should you feel so inclined - seeing as I saw Princess Luna head inside earlier, who knows? Maybe she'll be back out at any moment, and you could ask for her autograph, hmmmm? Wouldn't meeting up with her be just a splendid thing? That is, unless you're in a hurry..."

 

The Unicorn looked over to other drivers, back to Dodric, and sighed. There was no way in Tartarus that Alex could take another meeting with anypony, let alone Luna! To make things worse, the other drivers' cabs were in no shape to take anypony anywhere... Just how did those chickens even get there to begin with??

 

"Uh, well, we are in a hurry, I guess." Alex answered, surprising Inkwell, yet all the same they had no other choice. "Yes, let's go..." he added in soft resignation.

 

"Excellent! Simply take a seat, gentlecolts, and we'll be off!"

 

It was all he could do to keep his hoofing as he was packed into the cab alongside Alex into the cab, and was immediately the strange feeling he had flourished, almost to the point it was overwhelming him. "Alex, something is very, very wrong," he whispered to the boy, "this Dodric fellow isn't--"

 

Inkwell was cut off by the cacophony of dozens of chickens stampeding down the street behind them. Before Inkwell could pull both himself and Alex out however, Dodric had taken off at a speed no pony was capable of-- and BACKWARDS.

 

"Ah, so good to partake in the occasional travel, isn't it? To stretch the legs, so to speak... whether seventeen, or four... or even TWO... feels good to simply enjoy the fresh air, the sunshine, the joys of getting that heart pumping - am I right? You two certainly seem to be experiencing something similar to that right now, I assume?" Dodric practically sang as the world blurred by and the taxi screamed past ponies and buildings and picked up more and more speed, to the point of leaving the driver seemed completely unperturbed as his two passengers were pressed against the seats in equal parts blinding speeds and terror. In fact, he was even levitating back contentedly in his harness as a winged teaset appeared out of nowhere and floated up to Dodric, whose form was now twisting, stretching and shifting into the being that instilled in Inkwell a most primal fear.

 

"Thank you; go see if our guests would like any." the Draconequus said as he daintily grabbed a cup of tea once he finished transforming. "Please... allow me to introduce myself..." he said as his tail came into their view, making a makeshift hand and snapping its fingers.

 

Just like that, the taxi's door flew off the chassis and in front of the taxi's passengers to show that the letters of the sign rearranging themselves into "Discord Taxi Service".

 

All the while, the taxi had sailed over a cliff, and the trio were now flying through the air.

 

"It is an absolute honor to meet the first human invited into Equestria, Alex.” Discord said with a bow. "Shall we have a little chat while we head to... well, wherever you were wanting to go; what do you say?"

 

“DAMN YOU TO TARTARUS, YOU VILE DEMON!” Inkwell screamed. “RELEASE US NOW!”

[Randimaxis 8,633]

@@Hypn0ticD

@@Windbreaker

 

Discord dropped his teacup as Inkwell cursed him, and a look of hurt crossed his features.  The poor teacup went POOF! and became a parasprite, which flapped off into the air.

 

"Why, you WOUND me, Inkwell - is it NOT a known fact that I have reformed?  Are you not even willing to give me the benefit of a doubt that I might not be so... vile?  Honestly, if the idea is to make me feel like being..." he cringed as he spoke the word, "... GOOD... then shouldn't you try a little tenderness?  Besides, I absolutely HAD to meet you, Alex!"

 

He slithered through the air until he was directly in front of them both.  Smiling, he reached out and cupped Alex's face in his hand, gently turning the boy to face him.

 

"After all, your appearance here is generating SO MUCH LOVELY CHAOS... and I don't have to lift a single claw!"

 

He let Alex's cheeks go, and cackled loudly, a random lightning bolt adding an exclamation point to it.  Once that was done, however, he simply curled into a sitting position on top of the harness up front and folded his hands under his chin, looking at the both of them calmly.

 

"But never let it be said that I don't appreciate chaos-generators; in fact, I have the utmost BEST interests at heart for you, my boy!  I want to see you happy with being here in big old Equestria!  I want you to have fun here - after all, I have an absolute BALL!"

 

He snapped his tail-fingers again, and with a puff of smoke, he was now a Discord-eyed basketball.  He bounced up and down on the harness, a crooked grin sliding across the ball directly beneath his yellow eyes.

 

"It'll be so much fun with you a-ROUND... as long as you PASS the ponies standards, then you'll SHOOT to the top of the popularity polls, I'll bet!  A whole world full of ponies and griffons and zebras... just waiting to meet you!  And where does Discord come in, I hear you cry?"

 

The basketball dribbled a bit more, then simply shot forward, aimed for the seat directly between Inkwell and Alex.  Upon hitting said seat, there was another POOF of smoke, and Discord was seated between them both, giving Alex a bit of breathing room, while Inkwell was squashed against the door.

 

"Well, between you and I, two-legs, it's a personal stake I have in you.  You see, humans are an excellent source of BOTH chaos AND harmony - they're 'on the fence', so to speak.  And Equestria has been absolutely OBSESSED with maintaining Harmony all the time... they don't even think about chaos, these ponies - and that is where YOU come in, my boy."

 

He wrapped a single coil of his tail around Alex, pulling him closer.

 

"You see, there should be a little more fun in this world - and YOU are the catalyst for it!  With your help, we can show these ponies that humanity may be somewhat flawed... but they hold the key to keeping things from stagnating and becoming... dull."

 

The color drained from Discord, starting at his head and rolling down his serpentine figure until he was completely devoid of any sort of coloration; to Alex, it was like he was a character from an old black-and-white cartoon.

 

"No fun.  No surprises, even happy ones.  Nothing to shake others from their doldrums.  Do you understand what I'm getting at?  If things are always 'hunky-dory', then how can there ever be adventure?  Excitement?  What would life offer?"

 

He reached up and touched the front wall of the cab, and the color drained out of it as well, while Discord seemed to be filling up with color once again.

 

"So, if we are to be successful in showing all of Equestria that one doesn't have to abide SOLELY by Harmony alone... if you can show them all that one can exist BETWEEN the two... well, that will mean that a little CHAOS can have an active purpose in their lives, after all!  It would make me feel... useful again."

 

His eyes grew wide, and quivered at the edge of crying, tears growing and wobbling at his bottom lids.

 

"I'm not certain if you know what it's like to actually BE useless... but wouldn't you want to help make an old Draconequus feel useful again?"

 

He stared into Alex's eyes pleadingly.

[EcstaticWind 572]

@@Randimaxis,

 

Alex could barely believe the strange stuff going on before him, but he was starting to get the feeling that he was never going to see this place he was meant to live in. But right now...he'd just had enough. He came full circle from being worn down to now just wanting a break from the insanity going on around him. He sighed and stared back at Discord.

 

"I think I understand, but Dodric...Discord...whatever your name is, I haven't had a moment to sit down and think about where I am. I just got here a few hours ago and I haven't had a breather since then. So, if you'd be kind enough to take me and Inkwell to my temporary place of residence while I'm here in Equestria, I'll think about your request. But please...please take me home so I can get a break from this craziness..."

 

Maybe pleading with some kind of cosmic horror (Or...that's what Alex thought he was by now) wasn't the greatest plan, but Alex was too tired and stressed to really be afraid now. Once he got a rest, then he could think about the rational sides of his actions.

[Randimaxis 8,633]

@@Windbreaker

@@Hypn0ticD

 

Discord raised an eyebrow at Alex.

 

"Not a moment's rest since arriving?  Oh, such a shame... I'll bet you feel SO worn out - here, allow me..."

 

With a puff of smoke, Alex was now sitting forward in the seat while, behind him, sat what looked like another Discord in a flowery kimono wearing white face paint with a little red blot on his lips, and his white mane done up with Oriental hairpins sticking out.  This Discord-double put hands on Alex's shoulders and gripped...

 

It was a professional level massage, and the boy could feel the tension simply melt from his shoulders.  The other Discord, seated between himself and Inkwell, smiled.

 

"THERE now... a little help for my newest and most valued friend!  That and a personal promise that you'll be home before you know it, and I suppose we can call this particular meeting a success, shall we?  You have to admit - I certainly promised you the conversation would be interesting, did I not?"

 

He leaned in closely, speaking softly enough for the words to be just between himself and Alex, his white goatee tickling softly at Alex's ear as he spoke.

 

"I'll even allow you a special 'favor', so to speak - as we're working together here, I would be happy to lend you a claw,"  he reached over with his lion's paw and removed his other arm, holding it out to Alex for a moment before the arm simply slithered back into its proper place, "should you require one; simply remember this little ditty -  If you ever need help, no need to despair..."

 

The taxicab began to glow, growing brighter and brighter rather rapidly.  Discord's smile grew as he spoke.

 

"... just whisper my name..."

 

The glow was now so bright, neither Alex nor Inkwell could see a thing. 

 

"... and I'll be right..."

 

Amidst the searing light, there was the clear and audible sound of a fingersnap.

 

"... THERE..."

 

The word seemed to echo in Alex's mind as the light dimmed and the world came back into view.  They were no longer seated in a taxicab zooming along through the air, but were right outside the exact building that Inkwell had intended on going to in the first place, where the human's quarters were.  There was a slight residual scent of tea in the air, but otherwise there was not a single trace of either the Draconequus, nor the flying cab.

 

Alex may have been nervous and exhausted, but his muscles were sighing with relief.  Inkwell, on the other hoof, was feeling a little motion sickness.  Otherwise, they showed absolutely no signs of having been in the presence of the Lord of Chaos... except the feeling that this wouldn't be he last time they would see him.

[Zhooves 843]

@@Zhooves, @@Hypn0ticD, Clover was about to answer North, when suddenly, the door opened. The white unicorn mare let out a gasp; the alien that they had been discussing was standing right there in front of them! It did look very strange; the creature stood on two legs instead of four and had funny appendages instead of hooves, that looked a bit like dog or bear paws.

 

"Yes, may I help you?"

 

"You're the alien, aren't you?" Clover replied, even in her amazement at seeing the alien in the flesh, not forgetting her manners. "We're sorry to interrupt, but we heard the most wonderful music. Was it you making it?"

@@Pripyat Pony

North had to take a step back as soon as the door opened and he noticed something at least as tall as he, if not taller, standing in the small opening in the doorway.

"That was a bit quick to judge, could be something else." North responded upon hearing Clover claiming it was the foreign creature they had been discussing standing in the door. "Though it is very possible." he continued, taking a quick look at the creature in the door.

@@Hypn0ticD

"As she said, we heard unfamiliar tones coming from 'ere; we came out of curiosity." He gave the creature a quick nod, almost seemingly as if it was of high formality to him.

Edited January 27, 2016 by Zhooves

[Lektra Bolt 2,336]

Twilight didn't really like the formalities, but she was never bothered by it either. She followed the guardpony and was not at all concerned when the door was closed for privacy.

 

It couldn't be the Tantabus. She had come to terms with it. "This is concerning, but seems to line up with how she's been acting lately. Princess Luna is concerned for the well-being of Equestria. Maybe a little too much though. It's not healthy for her. From how she's been acting lately she seems to want the guards on high alert. She doesn't trust the humans and wants to be ready." Twilight said this while raising a hoof to her chin to think, then started to pace while thinking out loud.

 

"Princess Luna trusts me and my friends, but if we bring up our concern to her in this state there is still a chance she might react negatively. She loves her sister though." Twilight had an expression on her face like Aha, and jerked her neck a bit. "I think we should bring our concern to Princess Celestia and ask her to talk to her sister. Maybe a talk won't necessarily alleviate the worry, but the least she could do is convince her sister to relax. Luna would sleep better. This would lessen the strain on the guardsponies as well." Twilight stopped pacing.

 

"If you'd like, I could accompany you to speak with Princess Celestia." This she said with a grin as she headed toward the door to unlock it, sticking her neck out to look left and right to see if anypony was around.

[Hypn0ticD 1,213]

@@Taialin,@@GeneralDirection, @,@@Windbreaker,@@Derplight Sperkle, @@bronislav84, @,

 

Applejack blinked dumbly as the human was dragged off by the scholar. “Does anypony else have the feeling that inviting the Humans to Equestria was maybe a bad idea? The way that human acted 'round us got me thinking he ain't gonna last too long ‘fore Equestria does 'im in…”

 

"So . . . so what now?" Rarity asked. “Ah say we press on and get ready. If we have some time left, we track down that scholar pony and see where he sent that human, then check on 'im ta see how he's holdin' up.”

 

"Something does not feel right..." Applejack heard Princess Luna say. "That was one of the humans. Though I can not put my hoof on it, something is amiss. I do not admit to being wrong often, but he seemed to be petrified of us...of me..."

 

Applejack frowned as she caught the lunar Princess' dejected expression. “That's all in the past, Princess Luna," Applejack said as she made her way over to the Alicorn and placing a hoof on her shoulder. “Ah bet we can show 'im that yer not scary! In fact, we cin show both a' 'em at the party tonight!"

 

"The pony with him on the other hoof..." Luna's face had darkened somewhat then. "Does anypony else feel that he may be using that human for his own purpose?"

 

“Ah... Don't don't think so, Princess Luna," Applejack replied. “Ah think he was just tryin' ta keep the human a surprise..." the cowpony snickered a little at that. “That certainly didn't work out!"

 

"Did I miss anything?"

 

Applejack turned and gasped a little; the voice she heard belonged to none other than the Solar Deity. She removed her Stetson and bowed as Luna replied. "Do you mean other than one of the humans... then yes."