I don’t realize what time it is until Celestia excuses herself to lower the sun. I don’t really understand it, but I guess in magic ponyland, all kinds of science stops working. Won’t stop me from applying it though. After all, it’s official that my powers aren’t based on magic.

I decide to give myself a tour of the castle. It’s not long before I get lost. This place is huge. Then I see a pony guard. I figure I can ask for direc- That’s not a pony!

It’s pony shaped, but the eyes are reptilian, noticeable fangs, and it’s wings aren’t feathered, they have a visible membrane like a bat. That is awesome!

I’m approached by the unusual ungulate, and so I address him. “Hiya, what’s up?” He studies me for a moment before speaking. “I assume you are Anthony?”

“You would be correct.”

“I have been ordered to take you to the Princess of the Night, she wishes an audience with you.”

As girly as a princess position is, Luna has got to have the coolest title I have ever heard. “Alright.”

I follow him through the hallways. “So... what does Luna want with me?”

“She did not relay that information to me. I was only instructed to retrieve you.”

“Ah.”

We walk in silence until we come to an ornate door, stylized with blacks and dark shades of blue, highlighted by specks of white for stars. The doorknob is a crescent moon. Fancy.

The guard opens the door and ushers me inside, closing the door behind me. Luna is standing in the middle of the room. “Just the person I wanted to see.”

“I’m the only person to see, the rest of y’all are horses of some kind.”

“Yes, quite.”

I notice she’s still wearing the diamond moon I made. “Heh, liking my little creation, are we?”

“Yes. It is very beautiful. That makes it a very interesting product when one considers the source...”

“So did you bring me here just to throw me a few backhanded compliments, or did you just miss the wonderful sound of my voice?”

“Neither. I want to talk with you.”

“About what?”

“You.” I give a cocky smirk. “And your potential to be a dangerous threat that should be stopped.” Smirk is gone, serious business now.

“What.”

“Celestia shared the results of your... performance exam.”

“The one the guards take?”

“Exactly. With even your basic abilities, you are capable of causing a bit of trouble, but with your powers, and the ability to defuse magic at times...”

“I’m pretty much the toughest guy in town.”

“And possibly Equestria. With each new ability you develop, the more of a potential threat you become. If you chose to rampage, I’m not sure how much damage you could cause before you were finally stopped.”

“Probably a good portion of Equestria.”

“Exactly my point. My sister may disagree, but I believe that with just how powerful you are, you could become a serious problem for the populace. Without a leash, that is.”

That pushed a button.

“Leash? Leash!? You want to tie me down? Lock me up like a beast!?”

“Well I-”

“Like a common animal? I don’t think so. I don’t care how you insult me or hurt me, because you’re a princess, I should respect you. But anyone and I mean anyone who tries to lock me up? They will not be spared my rage.”

“Are you saying you are superior to me, mortal?”

“I’m saying you should watch what you threaten me with.”

“If you oppose me, I will make sure you rot in a dungeon!” She tries to push me to my knees with her magic. I fight back, but with words.

“I know why you really did it.”

“Did what?”

“I know why you locked up Discord. The real reason.”

“What? You may have heard our stories, but you know nothing of Discord!”

“Do I? You made him sound rather powerful. Dangerously powerful. So you imprisoned him in stone. You didn’t do it because he was evil, you did it because he opposed your positions as rulers, because he could potentially beat you.”

“You dare imply-”

“You don’t care about your subjects, you just want anyone stronger than you out of your way. You’re tyrants!”

“We are not! That is not why we imprisoned Discord!”

“But it’s why you want to imprison me. If you try it now, what’s to say you didn’t do it before?”

“If you knew Discord, you wouldn’t say that.”

“I don’t know him.” An idea flashes into my mind. “But I intend to.”

“What!?”

“I’m going to release Discord. I want his story!”

“Everyone experiences things differently, he will make himself sound like the victim!”

“Just like the eight of you did earlier?”

“Th- that’s different!”

“Says you.”

“You believe you can fairly judge us?”

“I’m not judging you, I’m telling you what I see from your actions, and right now, I see power-hungry dictators using the guise of kind protectors!”

“To think I considered you a friend! You will not release Discord, I forbid it!”

I Spark up and ignite, Luna becoming shocked at my new form. “I. Obey. Nobody.”

I grab her horn and charge my flames into it. I hear her scream in pain as I burn what I had learned was the most sensitive part of a unicorn or Alicorn’s body. Thank you Twilight, your books are very helpful.

I squeeze harder and she screams. The bat-pony guard rushes in. I let go of Luna’s horn and watch her slump to the floor. The guard charges at me, but my intangibility makes him phase right through me. I spin around, grab him by the neck, and smash his face into the floor of Luna’s room. Still holding by the neck, I carry him out of the room and stare into his eyes with my red starbursts. “Take me to the gardens. Show me where Discord is.” I then drop him to the ground. He begins walking weakly down the hall.

Now we are outside, and he is leading me around a corner. We come to a medium-sized wooden building that definitely looks rather well-reinforced, and it’s unguarded.

I Power down, and access the sack of coal in my pocket. I fashion a lump of coal into a dagger and hold it to the guard’s neck. “You think I’m stupid?” I whisper harshly. “You think I don’t know what a barracks looks like? I walk in there with a wounded guard, and I’m swarmed by whatever members of the platoon aren’t on-duty. That’s your game?” I coat the dagger in flames. “Well, playtime’s over, you have one more chance. Try and play me for a fool again, and your corpse won’t even be solid.” He nods, sweating either from fear, or the heat of my dagger. Like I actually give a shit.

Finally, we come up to a bunch of statues. A lot of them are of ponies in various poses. Then, there’s a special one. It certainly looked like what Discord was described as looking, though a lot less dangerous. He actually looked scared. I knew that the princesses were just spewing propaganda. Well, let’s see what they think of imprisoning others once their prisoners are broken loose...

Next Chapter: C̶͟h̕͟a̴̶͟͢p̷̶̡̡͘t͘͢͡͝e͢͡ŕ̡͘̕̕ ̵̡̕͘͞1̸̷̧̨7̸̡͞ Estimated time remaining: 32 Hours, 27 Minutes