//------------------------------// // Chapter 14: Revelations // Story: You Wouldn't Believe Me if I Told You // by PinkiePiedPiper //------------------------------// I don’t own MLP: FiM. That belongs to Lauren Faust and Hasbro. You Wouldn’t Believe Me if I Told You Chapter 14: Revelations “I never should have let you stay here!” Sauron glowed brighter red than usual for a second and unleashed a short concentrated beam of red energy from the center of his eye. It hurtled towards Discord, who was levitating at an equal height to him above the edge of the tower. Discord, calm and collected as ever, unworriedly raised his lion paw in defence. Once the beam was within a metre of his palm it appeared to collide with a circular force-shield. Red energy bolts scattered around him harmlessly. “Oh, you and I both know there wasn’t much keeping you from getting rid of me,” Discord retorted, his mischievous smile growing. “But now you have no choice in the matter. Even with my original powers mostly blocked, I now rival your full strength yet again!” Conjuring a palm-sized ball of chaotic energy in all four appendages, he spun himself in a rapid cartwheel and launched them at terrifying speeds. They, too, collided with a defensive force-shield, exploding on impact in a loud cloud of swirling darkness. They would have been showier, but in a clash of titanic powers, style points only serve to weaken the spells and the caster. Sauron had been so intent on watching his pony-centric death match that he had almost entirely forgotten Discord’s presence, and neglected to monitor his rising power levels. But as for why he had become so strong so fast, Sauron’s imagination which was shoddy at best could not help him figure it out. The signal had finally ventured into his mind around nightfall with Rainbow’s rainbow explosion. The power required to perform a spontaneous eruption of that force was far greater than he had allowed Discord to maintain. But at that point it was too late. A powerful being is only capable of negating the power of another up until the level of his own. The negator can still utilize his full strength after such a maneuver while the negated party can only use what is left of his after the negation. This is the First Law of Potent and Magical Combat. Sauron, who had managed to cast his negation first and technically had instigated the duel, had by then negated Discord’s power in equivalence of his own. But for some reason he had regained his strength to be equal again, and this meant that Discord’s uninhibited power was twice that of Sauron’s. Sauron charged his eye laser more this time and fired again. Despite the increased energy and duration of the projectile it was blocked with similar results. The Second Law is more of a courtesy gesture and states that in a duel, opponents must take turns exchanging blows. Failure to comply with this Law would result in a forfeit. Other potent beings would come from other realms to uphold the Law, and they would not be happy. These measures to enforce this law only exist among immortal beings, because a mortal’s lifespan is short enough as it is, and, frankly, they are relatively so insignificant it is not worth the time. Discord formed two larger orbs of chaos between his hands and his feet. Whipping himself around again, he fired them even faster than before. Again they impacted the shield and burst into light-absorbing flames. Defending from an attack in this form of combat is much easier than attacking, and such clashes have been known to last for days as a test of power, prowess, and sheer endurance. Mortal magicians have been known to emerge victorious from a duel because their opponent died from starvation or dehydration. “I’m sure you are dying to know how I became so powerful so quickly,” Discord teased. “Such information would be nice to remember you by,” he retorted as he fired another attack. This time it was much brighter and oddly ionized in an attempt to bypass the shield. Casually raising his griffon claw in defense, he closed his eyes and turned his head to the side. His other hand stifled a yawn as the beam was deflected in a dozen various streams. His display made Sauron blaze with fury, who was barely able to keep himself from immediately launching another one. Sauron immediately thought better of it, realizing that that was probably his strategy. Discord, who was no longer threatened by an attack until he made his own, lowered his force-shield to minimal levels so Sauron could view him clearly. “The secret to my success,” he said slowly, gesturing to his red, dragon-esque tail, “lies right here.” Sauron noticed that his tail was not entirely red as it had once been. It had become spotted with scales of varying colours, each with a unique symbol in the middle. One was yellow with a butterfly, one mint green with a lyre, one white with a diamond… “Those… those are the colours and marks of the ponies who perished in my game!” Sauron recalled aloud. “But why then-” Discord raised a hand to stop him. “Slow down there, baldy! I’m getting there.” “Now I have never liked killing, still don’t. My thing is manipulation and mind tricks,” he stated, tapping his head. Stretching his arms out in a wide gesture, he continued, rotating himself on the spot slowly as he talked. “Everypony here has been duped into thinking they had been brought here for the sole purpose of killing each other. This is what I told them, and you, for that matter.” He paused dramatically, grinning widely and pacing to and fro in the air. “But that is not entirely true, it only looks like it is. Every time a pony ‘dies’ out there, I am actually siphoning their essence into my scales to contribute to my power! The dissolving bodies adds their physical magic to me to further increase the pool!” He gave a hearty cackle. “I've been growing stronger this entire game of yours! Well, I suppose it’s my game now, isn’t it?” Sauron mentally took a step back, as doing so physically was wholly impossible. He berated himself for neglecting to monitor his guest. He had become utterly absorbed in watching ponies, forgetting most else; a common problem for beings in a number of dimensions. “So that means, when the final players eventually clash…” he voiced his thoughts in somber revelation. “Exactly right, my friend!” He gave a slow clap in derision. “With the power of whichever ponies fall next, I am sure to defeat you. You had best look out if the next one is Twilight Sparkle! She’s a real magical powerhouse! I doubt it matters who it is in the end; you look like you need a breather already!” Sauron was weakening slightly, as he had not needed to duel in some hundreds of years. Even if no other ponies were added to Discord, he was not certain he could hold out for more than a few days. They would merely be nails in his coffin. He blocked a few sneakily thrown chaos projectiles that curved and twisted as they approached. Before he charged up another laser, he thought to the Ring on its way through Mordor at this very moment in the hands of a hobbit, hopeful to regain it before it was too late. * * * * * “Wow, that sure made finding them easy!” Pinkie burst out suddenly. Celestia jumped, badly startled. It was early morning. She and Luna had stayed out in the garden with Pinkie all night as she had searched the dimensions, mentally probing for Discord’s signature of chaos. Celestia had been sitting quietly on the picnic blanket and munching on some carrot cake. Now she was sprawled on her back, mysteriously and disappointingly devoid of her cake. Luna was the exact opposite, because she had been fast asleep. Now she was sitting upright, mysteriously and annoyingly having acquired a half-eaten piece of carrot cake in between her eyes. She gave Celestia an evil glare. Celestia, upon the discovery of her missing delicacy, developed a large grin. Between giggles, she managed to ask Pinkie what she meant. “What I mean is I found them!” she clarified, not even pausing for a moment when she saw the cake on Luna’s face. Cake face was a perfectly acceptable style in her mind, having used it often enough. “Well done, Pinkie!” congratulated Luna as she wiped the cake off with a napkin. Celestia got up and nodded in agreement. “I had been getting closer and closer all night, I just wasn’t sure how much farther it was until I found him. Luckily for me, Discord popped out of hiding and began to rain chaos. It was like a huge neon sign if you know what to look for!” she said, emphatically reaching her forelegs out to simulate the sign size. “Are we ready to depart then, Pinkie?” inquired Celestia. “We should leave as soon as possible, and hope we aren’t too late to stop him.” “That’s the thing,” Pinkie puzzled. “I had an idea while I was out there. I followed up some leads and contacted a few old friends, and I think I know what we have to do. And,” she continued, “I don’t know if stopping him is in our best interest right now.” Celestia and Luna gave her questioning looks. “Why ever not?” Luna asked. “Because he’s in Potent Combat with another guy; a far more evil bad guy and Discord appears to be winning. But we do have a problem with your ‘defeat him’ idea.” She let it linger for a minute. Celestia bit. “What problem now?” “He has control of four of the Elements of Harmony. How or why isn’t important, just know that I have a plan and trust everything I say. Everything. To. The. Letter.” She emphasized each point with a pause and a stomp. The princesses were shocked by both the news and by Pinkie’s cryptic knowledge. Celestia broke the silence. “We… we trust you, Pinkie.” “Yes, Pinkie my friend, we both do. Now what is it we need to trust you in doing?” “Don’t follow me.” And she was gone. * * * * * A dull explosion echoed in the distance. Ditzy and Bon Bon had woken up at dawn and gathered some flowers and berries for breakfast. Steve, still mostly asleep, tried to shut out the noise and light by curling into a tighter ball under his sheet. As he curled, his muzzle bumped into something soft and warm. Ditzy gave a giggle. Steve slowly eased his eyes open to see Twilight opening her own eyes. He had connected with her muzzle. Steve blushed immediately. Grabbing the sheet, she jumped up shrieking, and gave him a reflexive clop to the side of his jaw. Instantly, he was unconscious again.