Cutie Mark Crusaders Clubhouse.
Scootaloo groaned, rubbing her head.
"Discord still making your brain melt?" asked Apple Bloom.
"Ugh... Yeah... I just can't come up with a way to defeat him. No matter what I do, he counters it, then I counter his counter. Then he counters my counter to his counter. And so on, until one of us finally manages to catch the other off guard for one reason or another. But it isn't enough and it restarts. And because of it, at best, we're equals." She sighed. "I now understand it. I can't defeat him alone. I need help. Like Luna who fired a beam at him from behind." She sighed again. "But each time, everypony is too busy fighting, and they can't help me before a long time. So, by the time we force Discord to retreat, the battle is pretty much over. I want to be able to defeat Discord at the beginning of a battle so I can return to destroying robots!" She groaned. "And even the method I've been using, waiting for an opening and hit, doesn't work. He leaves a lot of openings, but he's so unpredictable and so powerful that nine times out of ten, it doesn't work."
"So the only time you really manage to hit him is when you catch him off guard?" asked Sweetie Belle. "How do you do it?"
"I do something he wasn't expecting. Or he becomes so arrogant that he starts acting stupidly, letting me get a hit. It's how he was defeated by Rainbow Dash and the others the first time, but they had the Elements. I don't have them."
"So you hit him by becoming unpredictable, then continue," said Sweetie Belle. "Become as unpredictable as him!"
Scootaloo laughed. "I try, but it's harder than it sounds! I'm not crazy enough!"
Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow. "You? Not crazy enough? Must I remind you of all the crazy ideas you gave for our crusades?"
Scootaloo gave her a deadpan look. "My ideas are not-"
"With most of them, we risk our lives and end up grounded for a week or two."
"Uuh... That's not the same kind of crazy," said Apple Bloom with a laugh. "Scootaloo's craziness is a reckless craziness, while Discord's craziness is a chaotic craziness. '2 and 2 equals apple' kind of craziness." She looked back at Scootaloo, who was pouting. "Maybe you should start thinking like that to defeat him. When you attack, just do something crazy and random."
"Yeah! Like, imagine... I'm Discord and I'm about to hit you with a... Er... With a rubber chicken! What will you do?"
"I would... Hum... I would... Well, first, I would dodge the hit just in case there's a brick in it, and then..."
"Too predictable! I would hit you with something else as a result!" shouted Sweetie Belle.
"Then... Then..."
Stop thinking about it, it wouldn't work, suddenly said Infinite.
"Huh?"
Trying to become like Discord won't work. At best, like you said, you would end up toe to toe with him. But he's clearly a master of unpredictability, so he could probably predict your unpredictability, or some of it, and you still wouldn't be able to predict him because you aren't used to predict something that can't be.
"But-"
I remarked that it wasn't because you were unpredictable that you hit him, but because you did something you never did before, taking him by surprise. You never turned the ground into lava before the previous battle, so when you did it, he fell in it. Before that, when you managed to hit him by turning your hand into a cannon, it was because you never did it before too. The reason is that you developed some kind of pattern with the power of the Phantom Ruby; you have a tendency to repeat the attacks you're most used to, only changing them a little, and each time you do something out of this pattern, you take him by surprise.
The gears turned in Scootaloo's head. "Waiiit... are you saying that I can defeat Discord... by becoming deceptively predictable?"
Exactly. But this won't be enough. You will need to create many layers of predictability, so once you break a layer, when Discord just understands and gets used to your new predictability, you break another, forcing him to learn again. Each layer breaking will be an occasion for you to seriously injure him before you have to pass to the next. You may only have 50% of the ruby's power in your disposition, but this is more than enough power for you to develop those layers, and a plan.
"So to defeat Discord, I must become like a boss from a video game... Okay.. This... could actually work. But I will need to talk to you once I'm asleep to get more in depth with this plan. Aaand I may have to talk to Button Mash."
"Err... Could you tell us what Infinite told you?" asked Sweetie Belle. "How could you defeat Discord by becoming as predictable as a boss from a video game?"
"Let me explain," said Scootaloo before she repeated what Infinite said.
Tonight, as Scootaloo said, once she fell asleep and appeared in the mindscape, she went to talk with Infinite. She looked at the jackal who stared back, waiting for her to start.
After a minute of silence, she eventually said, "I need your help."
She could clearly see him raise an eyebrow behind his mask. "Really now?"
"Yes. I thought about this all day since you told your idea, and the truth is that even with your idea, it probably won't be enough to defeat Discord by myself. Because, yes, I can create new patterns to take Discord by surprise, but there is one problem: I am limited. I'm not talking about the power of the ruby, but about my imagination, my style... About me! I am not somepony like Discord, who can come up with an infinite number of ideas at once! I am just... somepony normal with more power than I know how to use because of my normal brain."
She pointed at Infinite. "I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. Or else you wouldn't have lost to Sonic. You had infinite power, but because you were just a normal guy, with a normal mind, a normal imagination, a style, and all, you were limited. We aren't Gods or Spirits or whatever! We are just mortals with godly powers!"
She flew to Infinite's face, or mask, making sure to not touch it (she wasn't sure if touching the mask would cause the merging) as she glared at him. "You understand, Infinite? We are strong, powerful, and everything you can think of, but in the end... We. Are. Still. Weak! That's why I need your help to defeat Discord! Our minds are as opposite as they can be! Your ideas of attacks are different of mines! Your manner of using the Phantom Ruby is not the same as me! If the two of us work together and fight Discord together, then I'm sure that we can win”
“And don't talk about you killing everypony and taking over or destroying the world once you have control of my body! I'm sure you aren't that dense! If you turn against us, we will defeat you one way or another! If not by us, then by Eggman and his allies! And look where it already led you to act like you did! You joined Eggman, and you lost your squad, your friends, as a result, before being defeated! Then you helped Eggman by conquering the world, and you were defeated again! You lost your body, and your mind merged with the Phantom Ruby, getting yourself trapped in it! What will it be next time? Getting sealed for eternity? Becoming a power source for Eggman? How about you stop being a bastard?! Trust me, it will be better for your health! And it will make everything much easier! For you, for me, and for everypony! So you listen! You will join me! We will buck the teeth out of Discord's mouth! We will end this war! We will become heroes! And we will use those awesome powers we have to show any villains that will try their luck that we mean business! UNDERSTOOD?!!”
By the time she was finished, Scootaloo's muzzle was almost touching Infinite's mask, her right eye facing his left eye. Her body and the surrounding space were glitching, and she felt as if she could breathe fire at him.
Infinite stared back at her, silent and not moving.
"You're done? You emptied your bag?" he eventually said. "You finally said all you had in your mind?"
"Not really. I also want to thank you for helping me despite yourself. That advice you gave. I know you're doing it only because you hate Discord and you want to see him defeated, but it's still nice." She sighed. "But like I said, unless we work together, I don't think I can defeat him, no matter how helpful your advice is. I really need you, Infinite. Please... Help... Eggman's robots are becoming more powerful, Tirek too. I can't just continue to fight Discord. They will need my help. Our help."
Infinite stared again at Scootaloo for a few seconds. Then he closed his eyes, turned his back to her, and took a few steps away, arms crossed. "I'm no hero..." he then said. "I don't want to be one." His hands tightened on his arms. "I hate heroes. They come, save the day, and leave, making it look like everything is alright. Well, if everything was alright, then why did I have to live by myself since I was as tall as you? Why didn't the heroes come to save me from the starvation, the loneliness, the violence? Answer: because they're just people. They can't be everywhere to save everyone. And yet, they still think that they make a difference. And reassured by their presence, the 'good people' just forget about the rest. They forget about the ones who, like me, have to fight to survive, and who don't have a hero to make the pain end. They forget what it is to suffer."
Scootaloo, who stopped flying, looked at Infinite, thinking. "Is this why..." She waved at the burning buildings. "You want to see the world destroyed? Why you want everyone to suffer? You want them to understand what you went through?"
Infinite didn't answer, so Scootaloo sighed.
"You are right, we can't stop the suffering. I can't even think of what must be going on out there. We have it easy in Equestria, with our magic, with the princesses. Many probably hate us for this, like you. And... I'm sorry for this. And now that you said it, it sounded... Uh... Pre... Presomp... Presimp..."
"Presumptuous."
"Thanks. It sounded presumptuous to tell that I would be a hero without really thinking about it. You see, since I first saw Rainbow Dash, I always dreamed to become like her, even if I knew that I couldn't because of my wings. So yeah... A dream..." She looked at her hooves. "But with the powers of the Phantom Ruby..." She looked back at Infinite, then teleported in front of him so she could look at him in the eyes. "I could become a hero, but this would be a waste. You're right, I would be stopping Eggman, Tirek, and Discord from conquering the world, but then what? I would use it only to fight villains? To play games with my friends? To become a Wonderbolt? No. I will use it to help others. Like I did, back in Manehattan. And not just ponies. I will explore the world and try to help as many people as I can. Of course, I won't be able to help everyone and to stop the suffering, but I will do my darn best! And you could help me!" She gave a soft smile. "You lived through this, so I'm sure there's nopony better than you to understand them, and help them."
"Do you really think that just by giving a smile and some nice words, you will convince me to become a benefactor?"
"Worth a try. Right, you want people to suffer, not not suffer. Everyone will feel my pain yada yada." Scootaloo rubbed her face. "But, again, can't you think about it? Is it worth it to continue to try to make everyone suffer? To make the world burn? Look where it led you! And this won't stop the pain and the loneliness."
They stared at each other again before Infinite huffed. "Right now, all I want is to see Discord get what he deserves. If it means that I must work with you and not attack your allies, then fine. I can accept those terms."
"Thank you, Infinite. That's all I ask for now."
"Anyway, I have an idea of how we will proceed against Discord. If it works, then in a few battles, Discord will be defeated."
The days following the double battle at Dodge Outpost and in the jungle, a good deal of good news came to Celestia. She was able to convince the griffons to join them... in exchange of some thousands of bits. Hopefully, some weeks passed among the ponies will make them less greedy, like it was making the changelings more friendly (despite Chrysalis remaining cold with the ponies).
Cadance also convinced, really easily like they thought, the Yaks. They now had to make sure that they won't get killed by charging heads lowered toward the enemy's ranks. They will probably equip them with heavy armors with gem-powered front shields.
They then got news front Mount Aris: the Hipogriffs, as Celestia thought, left the mountain to hide in the ocean to escape the Storm King. Queen Novo used the Pearl of Transformation to turn all of them into seaponies, and created a new, hidden kingdom: Seaquestria. Now, they needed to open back communication with them to convince them to help. Celestia admitted that it will probably be difficult. Queen Novo probably felt betrayed that the ponies never came to their help against the Storm Empire.
Chrysalis was right, Celestia had really been blind to what happened outside of the borders of Equestria.
But the threat of Eggman's empire helped a lot there, so Novo agreed to reopen relations between their kingdoms, and to join.
Luna went to the Dragonlands to try her luck with the dragons. It was hard, and Luna had to do a few fights, but she was able to convince Torch, the Dragon Lord, to fight Eggman. She then had to convince him to not immediately start an assault, judging preferable to wait for news of the zebras, minotaurs, and Saddle Arabians while she went to Abyssinia to free them from the Storm King and see if they would join the Alliance too. Behind her back, the dragons still attacked Eggman's troops, only to suffer a serious defeat. Apparently, when you have dragons face heavily armed and advanced airships, the airships win. This definitively convinced Torch to see Eggman as an actual threat and to join the Alliance.
While this happened, Luna convinced Abyssinia too. Apparently, Eggman defeated the Storm King (bad news), so Abyssinia was able to rebel and to regain its freedom from the storm troops that hadn't given up following their king's orders. The remaining storm creatures joined the kingdom's army, Storm Empire technology included. Between the dragons and the storm airships, it was a big bonus for the East!
West was also very good. The zebras, minotaurs, and Saddle Arabians took Eggman's threat very seriously and immediately accepted to join the ponies to fight him.
But now came the hardest part: making sure that all those peoples would work together. They all had a common enemy, but it didn't mean that they will accept to form a single army. Not with such colorful personalities. Celestia informed all of them of who else joined the Alliance and asked all of them to bring a leader with some troops to Canterlot so they could discuss together and truly form the Anti-Eggman Alliance (AEA).
The griffons were the hardest because they didn't have any leader. Since it was for a war, in the end, they sent a group of griffons that knew some stuff about it. For the dragons, because of his size (close to a small mountain), Torch couldn't come and sent instead his daughter, Ember.
This went as well as Celestia thought it would go...
But then, in the middle of this, very bad news came: Ponyville was attacked.
It was almost immediately followed by more bad news: Eggman began a general assault all over the frontline from the West to the East.
The reports talked of hundreds of thousands of robots and hundreds of airships, and thousands of those Mecha Alicorns.
If Celestia's fur wasn't already white, it would be now.