//------------------------------// // Episode 2: Conquer the Chaos Part 2 // Story: Elements of Heroism: Season 2 // by Bahamut0 //------------------------------// Everyone was silent as Burst and Discord stood across from each other. The air was thick with tension, and everyone was on edge. Twilight was the first one to find her voice. "Inferno? You said you and Burst can sense energy, right? So..." "I know what you're gonna ask Twilight.", Inferno answered. "And the answer is this: monstrous. Both of them have monstrous amounts of power coursing through them. Defense means nothing in a fight like this. Sheer power alone is what's going to determine who wins, and who loses. And I suggest we get clear. NOW." Everyone got to a safe distance as the clash of chaotic powers started to brew. Discord snapped his fingers, and a meteor was sent hurtling at Burst! But Burst smashed the meteor to bits with his fist before teleporting and punching Discord in the gut! Burst followed up with a series of rapid punches all over DIscord's upper body! Discord teleported as soon as he could and kept teleporting all around Burst! But while he hoped this would cause Burst to panic, Burst stayed where he was and hit Discord in the face the second he tried to teleport behind him! "AGHH!", Discord wailed in pain as he clutched his face! "What is it with you and punching my face?!" Burst shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe it's the fact you insulted my girlfriend, and turned the girls into polar opposites of their personalities. I'd say that gives me plenty of reason." Burst then got into a fighting stance. "Besides. I've gotta test out my new powers on someone who can take it!" Burst them fired a blast of energy from his hands! Knocking Discord to the ground! "Gotta say. This chaos energy you hit me with sure packs a punch. Can't wait to find out what else it can do!" Burst flew at Discord! Discord's eyes widened, and he put up a shield! Burst then shattered the shield with his fist, and Discord was sent flying into the ground from the force of the punch! "Huh. Looks like this new power lets me smash through defenses. And the more you try to bunker down, the farther you're sent flying!" Burst then got an idea. "I wonder what else my new powers can upgrade?" Burst got into a stance, and began chanelling magic into his hands. The same aura of his magic now crackled with light and dark energy as he charged his attack! "CHAOS....NEUTRON...." Discord got to his feet and fired his own blast of energy! "...BLAAAAST!" Burst fired a neutron blast crackling with both light and dark energy! The two beams clashed, but Burst's overpowered Didcord's! Once again, Discord landed in the crater where the labyrinth once stood! "Had enough yet?" Discord emerged from the crater and dusted himself off. "You know? I think you just ruined my suit. Time for some payback!" Discord summoned a flurry of missles from out of nowhere and targeted Burst with all of them! Burst noticed the glowing blue sections on his suit's wings, and fired out streams of lasers from them! Wiping out all the missles! "Well. So much for a high score.", Discord said with a frown. He then rained lightning down upon Burst! But when the smoke cleared, there wasn't a scratch on him! "What?! But...but that doesn't make sense!" Burst let out a chuckle. "You said it yourself Discord. Where's the fun in making sense?" Burst then teleported and kneed Discord in the stomach before crouching! "SHORYUKEN!" Burst launched an upper cut imbued with chaos energy right at Discord's head! Sending the lord of chaos flying into the air! Burst then teleported to where Discord was and brought his fists down! He kept hammering Discord by showing up and striking wherever he was sent flying! Burst then stopped his assault. "Y'know? I thought fighting you would be more epic. What a let down." Discord frowned. "So you want an epic fight do you? Then let's party!" Discord flew at Burst and unleashed a storm of magic blasts! Burst dodged them as they came at him! But he was surprised when Discord showed up right in front of him. "Bang!" Discord made an explosion go off point blank on Burst! Burst started to fall, but almost instantly recovered. "Hmph. I should've figured you'd gain the durability of the dragon lineage as well. Just means I need to hit harder!" Discord then summoned a gigantic hammer from out of nowhere! He then brought it down on Burst! Burst was knocked to the ground by the force of the hit! "Having fun now?", Discord asked in a mocking tone. Burst rose from the crater and dusted himself off. "I'd continue this fight. But I've got some questions for you that I need answers for. Your riddle. It wasn't about the labyrinth, was it?" Discord smirked. "True. I never said the elements were in the labyrinth. It was priceless seeing Twilight get the wrong idea." Twilight's head sunk. "Since you don't seem to care about fighting me anymore, I've got chaos to spread!" And in a flash of light, Discord disappeared! Burst then walked over to his friends. "Dude, you were awesome back there!", Inferno cheered. "But why'd you end the fight?", Steel asked. Burst sighed. "Even if I could beat Discord, it wouldn't imprison him. He'd still be able to wreak chaos across Equestria even if I defeated him here. But thanks to his riddle, I know where the elements are." "WHAT?!", Twilight screamed as she ran over to Burst. "You mean you knew this whole time?!" Burst nodded. "Think about it Twilight. Where did all of our adventures start? Where did you meet the girls?" Twilight's eyes went wide with realization! "Ponyville! At my library!" "Bingo.", Burst said as he snapped his fingers. "Gather everyone you can. I wanna try something." Twilight and the guys, with much struggle, gathered the whole group save for Rainbow Dash. "Stay close everyone! I've got no idea what'll happen next!" Burst snapped his fingers and the whole group was teleported into Twilight's library! "Man. Looks like this new power's got all kinds of mileage!" Twilight nodded. "Burst? Do you mind if I scan you with my magic?" Burst shrugged. "Thanks." Twilight's hand glowed with the magenta aura of her magic. And when she read Burst's magic, she was knocked back! "This is crazy! The magic you've got is off the charts! It's like your body incorporated that chaos energy Discord zapped you with!" Burst smiled under his helmet. "Now if only I could figure out how to use it without the armor." Burst then looked outside the window and saw the chaos that Ponyville had turned into. "Hmm. If Discord can create chaos with this magic, maybe I can undo it." Burst flew out, and focused his new powers on the clouds. He managed to make them fade away slightly, but ultimately it was of no use. "What was I thinking? Discord represents chaos itself. Just because I have the same type of magic now doesn't mean I've got the same extent of his abilities." Burst sat down to think, and Discord showed up! "Do you like what I've done with the place? Just picture it! Ponyville: The Chaos Capitol of the World!", Discord said with glee. "You just keep giving me reasons to punch you in the face.", Burst muttered as he stared down Discord. "What do you want this time Discord?" "Hear me out.", Discord said with a smirk. "Listen. You've gotten a power boost from the chaos energy I zapped you with. And to boot, you're an alicorn! So here's the deal: Team up with me, and Equestria is all ours! I'll be sure to save a nice little orderly spot for you and Celestia. So what do you say?" Burst took a deep breath and stood up. "Like I said..." Burst once again punched Discord in the face! Nearly knockin loose his snaggle tooth this time! "..You just keep giving me reasons to punch you. I'd never be able to look Celestia in the eye if I did something like that. I do have great power. And because I do, I've got a responsibility to look out for the people who don't. That's why I'm the Element of Power." Discord frowned and teleported away. Burst went inside the library to find all the girls save for Twilight going crazy! Not only were their colors muted, but they had turned completely grey! Inferno was struggling to get Rarity away from her gigantic rock, and the other girls were just plain making a mess of things! "Any luck Twi?" "I got the book!" Twilight triumphantly raised The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide to the sky! Only for Fluttershy to start a game of keep-away with the book! Inferno had to keep Rarity from clawing at him when he got the book and tossed it as fast as he could in Twilight's direction! Tyrannus held down Fluttershy just in time so Twilight caught it! Twilight opened the book to find the elements inside! "The Elements!" "Now you can defeat Discord and put everything back to normal!", Spike cheered. "We did it! We found the elements together!" Twilight then looked at the uninterested faces of the girls. "None of you care do you?" "No.", they all answered. Twilight frowned as she used her magic to put the elements on each of their respective bearers. "Come on everyone! Let's go!" Twilight and the girls marched off to find Discord. Burst sighed. "It's not gonna work. Discord's made the girls polar opposites of their elements." "Burst? You've got chaos powers now, right?", Inferno asked. "Please..tell me there's some way to get the girls back to normal! I can't stand to see Rarity the way she is!" "I'm sorry Inferno. I don't think I can.", Burst said sadly. "All the chaos energy did is boost my strength and magic. It doesn't let me pull off the same feats as Discord. All I can really do now is beat Discord in a fight. But even then, he'll still be able to roam freely. And I still can't take this armor off." Burst sighed. "I just hope Twilight doesn't lose hope." Back with the girls, Twilight had just assembled the elements. Discord smirked down at the girls. "Well, well, well. I see you've found the Elements of Harmony How terrifying!", Discord mocked. "Burst helped me figure out your lame riddle Discord!", Twilight spat. "You're in for it now!" "I certainly am. You've clearly out-dueled me, and now it's time to meet my fate." Discord slipped on a pair of sunglasses, and stood with open arms. "I'm prepared to be defeated now ladies." Discord then put a bullseye on himself. "Fire when ready." Twilight and the girls got into formation, and activated the elements! But when it looked like the magic would be unleashed, the elements' glow died out! "What's going on?" Twilight asked. The girls then started discarding their elements. "Bravo people! Bravo!", Discord said with a slow clap. "Harmony in Equestria is officially dead. Discord rules, Celestia drools." Discord let out a triumphant laugh as he strolled about. Twilight's friends then left her. "Fine! With friends like you who needs..enemies." Twilight hung her head in sorrow as she turned grey like all her friends. She then returned to the library. On her way, Discord showed up to rub things in her face. And he took great joy in seeing Twilight give it all up. Burst and the guys were sitting around the library when Twilight returned. "Pack your things Spike. We're leaving." Spike just lay on the floor cradling his stomach.. A mess of scrolls were everywhere. "And don't ask where we're going because...I don't know yet. Just not here." "So that's it Twilight?", Burst asked as he entered her room. "This isn't like you." Burst then looked to Spike. "Aren't you even going to read your mail? Spike's stomach's been crazy from all the letters Princess Celestia's sent you." Spike then belched up another letter. "Make it stop!", Spike wailed. Burst took one of the letters, and handed it to Twilight. "I think you'll find what you need in them." Twilight looked over the huge pile of letters that had bee flooding in. "These are all the letters I wrote to the princess since I've lived in Ponyville.", Twilight said as she opened the letter Burst had given her. "But why would she send them back?" Twilight then began to read each of the letters. Burst looked on, and smiled as he saw Twilight's color return to her. "It's all so clear!" Burst smiled under his helmet and put a hand on Twilight's shoulder. "Discord tried to distract you all from what's important. I noticed that since the labyrinth. He knows how strong your friendships are, and he tried to keep you from seeing it. Equestria's future DOES depend on you having friends Twilight. And you've made some of the best friends possible. I'm honored to be among them. Now that you know what's important, all you've gotta do is remind the other girls. But you won't be facing Discord alone." Burst led Twilight to the guys. "Discord split us up last time. I'd like to see how he can handle two sets of elements working together! Let's fight for our friendships!" The guys cheered! "We're behind you every step of the way Twilight!" Twilight smiled. "Thank you. All of you. It's fitting you're called the Elements of Heroism. Let's go!" Twilight and the guys then set about finding their friends. Their first stop was Sweet Apple Acres. Twilight tackled Applejack to the ground! "This isn't you! You're not a liar!" Twilight's hand glowed with her magic, and she put it to Applejack's head. Memories about her true nature and her friendship with the girls began to flow into her. Color returned to Applejack's body. "Wh-what happened?" Applejack asked. "Twilight! Ah saw a vision of us feudin' and fightin'. Ah couldn't face the truth so, I started tellin' lies. Can ya ever forgive me?" Twilight smiled. "I already have." Applejack smiled and looked at Ice. "Ice? Ah'm sorry fer not going with yer advice to leave." "I can't blame you for that." Ice said with a shrug. "With my track record, I really can't blame you." The group then made their way to Fluttershy and restored her memory as well. Fluttersh gasped in horror and flew over to Tyrannus! Hugging him tightly! "Ty! I'm so, so sorry I acted so mean!" Fluttershy sobbed. Tyrannus smiled. "Easy there Fluttershy. I know that wasn't the real you. All that matters is you're back to your old self." The two shared a hug before moving on to Rarity. Rarity rolled the gigantic rock she'd been lugging around out of her boutique, and looked to Inferno. "Darling. I'm dreadfully sorry." Rarity said with a sad look on her face. "Hey. I'm sorry too." Inferno said with a small smile. "I should've just smashed that rock the second you started calling it a name." Rarity blushed before regaining her composure. "Let us never speak of this again." The group then moved on to Pinkie Pie, and she was soon back to her old, cheerful self. They then looked for Rainbow Dash, but she wasn't at her cloud house. They soon found her resting on a cloud. "Hey guys.", Rainbow Dash called out absentmindedly. "We've been looking everywhere for you!", Twilight called out. Rainbow Dash waved. "That's nice." "Dash, Discord's still on the loose!", Steel cried out! "We need you to help us beat him!" "Have you guys seen Ponyville? It's a disaster! I'm staying here in Cloudsdale where everything's awesome!" Steel took a deep breath. "Twilight? Leave this to me." Steel flew up to Rainbow Dash and hovered in the air in front of her. "Sure is awesome up here, right?" Rainbow Dash smiled. "Heck yeah! Nothing's goin' wrong, and Discord's out of sight!" "So you don't think he's coming up here?", Steel asked. "Could you imagine if he did? People would be flying away in terror! Everyone would lose the place they call home!" Steel then looked at Rainbow Dash. "And it'll be all your fault." Rainbow Dash jolted up! "What?! What're you talking about?!" "The Elements of Harmony prepared to make their last stand against Discord. Everything seemed to be going well. But sadly, one was missing.", Steel said with a mocking tone. "Someone who decided she should just stay because it wasn't worth it, letting Discord ruin all of Equestria. His first stop being Cloudsdale. All because of you." Steel pointed at Rainbow Dash. "Because you decided it wasn't your problem. Cloudsdale would fall apart all because of you." Rainbow Dash's eyes went wide with horror. "But..there IS a way to avoic that." "Really? What is it?! Name it!" Steel smiled. "Aj! Rope her!" Applejack tossed a rope around Rainbow Dash, and brought her to the ground while Twilight cast the memory spell! "Welcome back Rainbow Dash." "Man...I feel so low for ditching everyone.", Rainbow Dash groaned. "What matters is you learn from your mistakes.", Steel said with a smile. "Now let's go beat Discord!" "Before we do that, I'd like to say a few words." Burst said. "Is that alright with you Twilight?" Twilight nodded. "Go ahead Burst. You've been with me every step of the way." Burst smiled under his helmet before addressing the group. "Well everyone. Here we stand. Our final battle against Discord. A foe who puts Night Terror to shame with his strength. But that doesn't matter! What does matter is that today, we stand tall in the face of evil! Today, we fight for all that we love! Today we ride the storm that rages in front of us! Today we show Discord how strong we are together! TODAY WE'RE CONQUERING THE CHAOS!" Burst raised his fist in the air in triumph! "HEROES TO THE CORE!" The others raised their fists as well. "HEROES TO THE CORE!" The group made thier way to Discord's throne at the center of town. Discord laughed at the chaos that surrounded him! "Chaos is a wonderful, wonderful thing!" Discord smugly drank his chocolate milk. "Not as wonderful as friendship!" Burst and Twilight said together. "Ugh! This again?" Discord asked with an unamused look on his face. "Oh it's more than that." Burst said as he stepped forward. "I still owe you round 2. But this time? I've got my friends by me!" The other Elements of Heroism stepped forward and readied their Duelist Arms! "Six heroes against one chaos spirit. Sound fair?" Discord smirked. "For you." He then summoned out a flurry of lasers! The guys scattered, and each attacked Discord separately! Ace slahed at Discord with his sword, but Discord countered with a wall he summoned! He then fired a barrage of fireworks that Ace blocked with his shield! Inferno managed to get in a hit with his blaster on Discord's rear! "HOOOT!" Discord had to blow on his tail to stop the flames! Leaving him vulnerable to attacks from Ice and Steel! Ice fired a power force shot while Steel let loose a beam of energy from his blade! Discord didn't suffer any major damage, but he was certainly annoyed now! "Looks like I'll have to step things up!" Discord summoned a ball of light that began to glow ominously! Suddenly, lasers, flames, lightning, and rockets shot out frome the light! They went everywhere! "AH HAHAHA HAHHAHAHHAHAHAHA! Good luck trying to hit me now!" Burst and the guys dodged like crazy! But for every evasion they made, another attack was waiting for them! Most of the guys were knocked to the ground! Burst decided now would be as good a time as any to try a new move! Burst began to channel chaos energy into his fist as he dodged! Some missles hit him, but he didn't let that stop him! Once the energy reached its peak, Burst flew right at Discord! Discord directed every attack he could at Burst! Lasers, missles, flames, lightning, and magic! But despite the storm of attacks raging against him, Burst kept on course! "CHAOS BURST KNUCKLE!" Burst screamed as his fist made contact with Discord's body! A powerful explosion rocked the battlefield! When the dust cleared, Discord was on his knees! Twilight and the girls then powered up the Elements of Harmony and began to power them up! Discord's eyes went wide with horror, and he tried to unleash an attack on them! But Burst snuck up from behing and held him in place! The other Elements of Heroism also stumbled over and established a hold on Discord! "Are all of you insane?!" Discord screamed! "Burst, you'd lose your new powers! You'd be weaker!" "What makes you think I care?" Burst shot back. "Besides. I was getting sick of this suit anyway!" "We know the risk of what's gonna happen!" Inferno added. "But that's part of the job!" Steel continued! "Putting the needs of other over our own!" Ace chimed in! "And making sure we save as many people as we can!" Tyrannus called out! "No matter the cost, or how dangerous!" Ice finished! "THAT'S WHAT MAKES US HEROES!" The whole group cried out as the magic of friendship was unleashed! "NOOOOOOO!!" Discord screamed as he was turned to stone once again! His chaotic influence over Ponyville purified as he returned to being a statue! Everyone cheered, but froze when they saw Burst's armor cracking and shattering! Burst stretched. "Man. Second time I've tanked a rainbow of friendship. Feels pretty refreshing." Burst smiled as he looked at what was once his armor. "But at least the armor's off now." Burst then noticed some of the armor shards hovering around his left arm. The shards joined together, and a new Duelist Arm was forged! It was an arm cannon that looked like the armor Burst had worn. "Think I'll call this one..the Chaos MAX Cannon!" Burst then tried to see if he had any lingering chaos abilities. "Hm. Looks like I can still break down barriers and shields. Other than that, I'm back to normal!" Burst then lifted Discord's statue. "Let's get back to Celestia. I think she'll be happy to see us!" The group returned to Canterlot, and were soon honored for their heroic actions. "We are gathered here today to once again honor the heroism of these twelve friends." Celestia announced with a proud smile. "Who stood up to the villain Discord and saved Equestria from eternal chaos!" The whole crowd cheered! Celestia unveiled a new stained glass window that depicted the Elements of Harmony and Heroism defeating Discord! As soon as the ceremony ended, Burst spent some time with Celestia. "You know, I bet you looked handsome in that armor Rainbow Dash was going on about." Burst smiled. "Yeah. But I wouldn't be able to do this if I kept it." Burst and Celestia shared a kiss as his friends looked on. Twilight had a look of slight shock while the others looked on with approval. Twilight and the girls then noticed six lights shoot towards them from the Elements of Harmony, and saw that they had gained their own weapons. Rarity had a steel fan, Applejack gained twin crossbolts that shot magic stun bolts, Pinkie got a razor yoyo, Fluttershy had a staff, Rainbow Dash got a boomerang that left a wind trail when thrown, and Twilight received a magician's rod with an ornament shaped like her cutie mark at the top. "This. Is. So. COOL!" Rainbow Dash screamed! "Um, I don't suppose you and the guys could help us get some practice in?" Twilight asked Burst. Burst smiled. "It'd be our pleasure."