//------------------------------// // Chapter 9: A Scavenging Hunt // Story: The Adventure of the Apex Legion // by DeffBwade //------------------------------// Previously on The Adventure of the Apex Legion "I said it's Hearts and Hooves Day," she said as she then started to hug herself, "You know, the day where you get all romantic with your special somepony and give them hugs and kisses, as well as chocolates! Ohh, I love chocolates. I'm hungry." Okay. So it is Valentine's Day. Good to know I guess. "So Legion, do you have anypony on your mind that you wanna ask to be your special somepony? Somepony with whom you want to give a good old smooch on the cheek or lip and let love blossom in the air?" she asked, which I admit, made me blush a bit, and by that I mean a lot. It's a good thing I have dark colored coat. "No," I simply answered, but she then leaned a bit closer to me, a huge grin on her face. "Are you sure~?" she asked, making me a little bit more nervous. "Yeah?" I said, to which she backed off after a few seconds of silence. "Okay then. Maybe love will blossom between you and your special somepony at a later date," she cheered before going into a whisper, "Spoiler alert, she lives here in Ponyville." "I am so not following you," I said with confusion, "What do you mean by that?" "You'll find out eventually, but right now you should head to class before you're late," she said before hopping off, "I'll see you in class and at work Legion!" "Thanks for the tour of Ponyville Mrs. Cake. It's such a lovely place," Sugar Belle said, confirming my thoughts as I recognized her voice as the one I heard earlier. "It was my pleasure," Mrs. Cake said before she turned her head to me, "Oh, Sugar Belle, I want you to meet Apex Legion. He also works here at Sugarcube Corner." "Eh, just 'Legion' is fine," I said before turning my attention to the pink mare, "Nice to meet you Sugar Belle." "Nice to meet you too Legion," she said with a smile. "Well Mrs. Cake, I'm off to surprise Big Mac with the news," Sugar Belle said. "Big Mac?" I asked. "We're breaking up," Big Mac said as he started lean against the door in a way that I consider cursed. "I...I don't understand. Why are you breaking up with me?" Sugar Belle asked sadly, "And why are you leaning like that?" "I...you...GAH!" Big Mac yelled before he stormed outside with tears forming in his eyes, "This is why I don't like talking! Words can hurt! Words hurt! Goodbye, Sugar Belle." And with that, he ran off. "I-I'm sorry Sugar Belle," I said to her. "Is that...Sugar Belle and Big Mac?" I said getting a closer look, "It is!" "And by the looks on their faces, I believe they worked things out," I said as looked over at Mrs. Cake, who was at the counter. "Oh thank goodness," Mrs. Cake said happily, "I was hoping that they'd get back together. Sugar Belle couldn't stop talking about how much she loves Big Mac during the tour. Not that I blame her or anything, what with it being Hearts and Hooves Day." "Do you have a special somepony for Hearts and Hooves Day?" she asked. "Oh, nah," I responded, "I'm not really in a rush right now to find my significant other." But at the same time, I wouldn't mind getting a girlfriend. I'm the kind of guy that just goes with the flow. If I'm single, then I'm fine with being single. If a girl has a crush on me and asks me out, and I think the girl is cool, then I guess I have a girlfriend. I chuckled a bit at that second thought though. "A girl having a crush on me. That'll be the day." As Ocellus walked through the halls of the school, she had a small blush on her face as her eyes shifted around. She noticed many ponies giving each cards or chocolates in honor of today's holiday. In her saddlebags, she had her own card, meant for somepony whom she believes is special. As she continued to walk around, she finally saw him. Apex Legion. All Ocellus had to do was talk to him. Just give him the card and ask him to be her special somepony for Hearts and Hooves Day. And if he says 'yes,' then he could be her very first coltfriend and she would be a very happy changeling. Easy peasy. ... But what if he said 'no?' What if instead of accepting her feelings, what if he says that he's not looking for a relationship right now? What if he says she has a marefriend already? What if this damages their friendship? What if...what if he laughs at her?! What if he says that he would never date a changeling because he thinks they're vile for trying to take over Equestria?! No. Ocellus has known Legion for quite a while. He's not the type to say something like that. Right? I mean, he did stand up for her when Chancellor Neighsay said those harsh words about her. Nothing will go wrong. ... Right? Out of fear for what could happen, Ocellus started to slowly back up. Once she thought she was at a reasonable distance, she quickly turned and started to head to her first class. On the inside though, she slapped herself for being scared once again. The Adventure of the Apex Legion Written by DeffBwade Chapter 9: A Scavenging Hunt Let's have a quick recap on events that occurred this past week. Cause why not? So...one day my friends and I were in the library doing our homework (the Cakes gave me a day off that day) and minding our own business, when all of a sudden Spike came bursting in wearing a trench coat, fedora, and sunglasses, and screaming his balls out to a group of tourists. When we asked him to be quiet, he acted oblivious to his decibel level increasing. And then all of a sudden (again), Spike burped a huge pillar of fire and turned all of his clothes to ash (as well as the sunglasses but I don't think that's how chemistry works), revealing himself to have these red bumps all over his body. Yeesh. If that's the dragon equivalent to acne, then I don't really blame him for running away afterwards, I think. I mean, I don't really get as much acne cause I use this oil...cream...moisturizer? After Smolder ran off to speak to him, she soon explained to us that what Spike was going through was a part of growing up as dragon called 'the Molt.' She said that side effects include itchy scales, uncontrollable shifts in volume, constant fire burping, and a smell that attracts predators. Cool. Not really. That sounds like hell. I bet it was. I forgot to ask Smolder what the point of it was, or if it was pretty much puberty, but it doesn't matter now. Because the next day, Spike had fucking wings! Now that's cool. Now the little guy no longer has to do so much walking. Eh, hopefully Spike doesn't find out that I referred to him as little. No matter the size, I don't wanna be on the receiving end of a living flamethrower. That same day, during one of my classes, I swear that in the corner of my enlarged eye, I saw a filly spying on us through the window. I didn't even bother saying anything. During the next class, for some reason the same filly, as well as two others, were there as well. For a second I thought they were just new students, but based on the fact that Headmare Twilight took them out of the classroom to talk to them and that I didn't see the fillies the next day, it's safe to assume that they weren't supposed to be there. Again, not gonna question it. However, during Professor Dash's class, that same filly whom I saw spying (she was a pegasus by the way) was sitting next to me wearing...sigh...a pretty shitty disguise. Her "disguise" was literally just those comedic glasses with a fake nose and moustache. Unfortunately, she got caught when she spoiled a story that Professor Dash was telling us and was told afterwards to leave. Heh. Someone doesn't know how to blend in. Once again, not gonna question it. Anyway, today has been a weird day so far. It all yesterday when Headmare Twilight showed us these artifacts that represented the pony, changeling, griffon, hippogriff, dragon, and yak tribes. There was the Amulent of Aurora, the Talismen of Mirage, the Helm of (I'm not even gonna attempt it), the Crown of Grover, (I'm not even gonna attempt it)'s Shell, and Clover the Clever's Cloak. In the middle of the lecture, Headmare Twilight's cutie mark started to glow for some reason. I wish the same applied for the smile on my cutie mark. The next day, not only the Headmare, but also the professors had to leave for a "friendship mission," whatever that is, leaving Spike and Counselor Starlight in charge. The next day, classes were taught by some...I'm just gonna say interesting...teachers. Professor Fluttershy's class was taught by a minotaur named Iron Will, and I know because he kept saying stuff like "Iron Will this" and "Iron Will that." Let me tell you, this minotaur was the opposite of Professor Fluttershy. Not evil or anything, just...aggressive, or as he claims, assertive. He taught us that we had to be "assertive" in order to make people their friend. Yeah, I don't think he understands that's not what "making friends" means. He asked (more like told actually) Yona to demonstrate how to "make friends." At first Yona was her sweet, innocent self, but then Iron Will told her to act more convincing. She puffed air out of her nostrils and then yelled "be my friend" as if she's King Kong. Needless to say, everyone was intimidated by this teacher, while I did everything I could to hold in the liquid in the tank. You almost pissed yourself because a teacher was intimidating? Well...when you put it that way, but in my defense, I drank a full bottle of water before the class. At least he didn't call the principal's son an ass. Wait, what? Long story. Professor Dash's class was taught by...how should I say it...a complete ass. Like literally and metaphorically. The teacher was a donkey and he was an ass. In fact, I think his name was Cranky Doodle Donkey. No joke. This guy made us make sure he was pampered, like fanning him and bringing him food and drinks. And guess who had the misfortune of rubbing his hind hooves? Did I mention that this guy was old. What really made me think that this guy was high on crack, or had dementia, was when Gallus brought him his tea...three times. First, he said it was "too hot," then he he said it was "too cold," then he said it was "too tea-flavored." Too tea-flavored! What the fuck does that even mean?! Damn bro. Feels bad. No amount of soap and water will make my hooves feel clean again. Bleach will have to do. Probably fire. You know what, I'm just gonna slice them off. Headmare Twilight's substitute teacher was just...what the fuck? Her class was taught by...a tree. A fucking tree was our substitute. I'm not even kidding around, a tree was behind the teacher's desk. At least Silverstream had the courtesy to leave an apple on its desk. That doesn't sound too bad. That's because you didn't let me finish. Apparently Smolder was allergic to whatever this tree was, because she started sneezing out fire blasts like crazy. Everything was on fire, the desks, the walls, the students...okay, I'm just exaggerating that last one because my coat was slightly singed afterwards. Okay. I take it back. That sounds bad. Apparently, there was a morning announcement this morning, but because I stayed up late doing homework, I missed it. One of the disadvantages of living at a school I guess. Apparently Counselor Starlight hired some new substitute teachers. Thank god. We were now in the amphitheater waiting for the substitute to arrive, a unicorn named Trixie Lulamoon. Nice name. The door suddenly opened and revealed...um...uh. I had no idea what I was looking at. The fuck is that thing? It was, in short, an amalgamation of creatures. A mismatch of randomness. Something you'd see from Harry Potter or Narnia. It had a right leg of a lizard, a left leg of a goat, a lion's paw for its right arm, an eagle's claw for its left arm, a snake-like body, a bat wing, a bird wing, a dragon-like tail, a deer horn, a goat horn, a head that looked equine in shape, and white eyebrows and a beard. Like I said, a mismatch of randomness. He (I'm assuming it's a he) was also wearing clothing a typical white teenager would wear. A red hoodie, red hat, a grey shirt with a lightning bolt on it, and blue jeans that are pulled down to show white underwear with red hearts on them (like seriously, don't ever have your pants pulled down in public because no one wants to see what your underwear looks like). "Yo! Greeting, fellow creatures," he said. He vanished suddenly (Houdini) before reappearing between me and Ocellus, "Is this seat taken?" Ocellus chuckled nervously as I gave him a questioning stare as we both backed away. He then gave this look, something I couldn't describe as much, as if he was telling me 'Hey, I know you,' but that could've just been my imagination though. A puff of smoke appeared on the stage, clearing away to who I assumed to be Trixie Lulamoon. She was a unicorn mare with a mane and tail that were pale cornflower blue with very pale cerulean stripes, a blue coat, and dark grayish violet eyes. I couldn't see her cutie mark though because of the magician's outfit she was wearing. "Holy shit. She just appeared in a smoke cloud. She's a fucking ninja! Teach me your ways senpai!" "Welcome class," she said, "You may call me the Great and Powerful Professor Trix-" RING "Wait, what?" "Shhh!" the...whatever this creature is...said, "Really, that's so inconsiderate." RING Uh, excuse me. Dafuq?! Are there cellphones here and I was just too dumb to notice?! The creature reached into a paper bag that had a drawing of a smiling sun and...Professor Fluttershy's face...on it and pulled out a banana that was...ringing? "Oh, I better take this," he said before leaning down on the seats forcing me and Smolder to move, "Hello...Ugh, he did not...And what did you say...Gasp. You did not..." "Is this guy seriously talking to a banana? I'm sorry to ask, but is he high? Is he gonna say 'I am the great Cornholio! I need TP for my bum hole!'" "Discord," the Great and Pow-...Professor Trixie said, pointing a hoof at the creature, "Why are you here?" This guy's name is Discord? Makes sense I guess since "discord" means a state of chaos and disharmony. But who exactly is this guy? "Why, I'm a student of friendship of course. Unless you don't think you're good enough to teach me," he said. That's not what she meant by that question. "Of course I am," she said offended, "No fruit calls in my class." Please don't tell me you can actually call people in this world with fruit. Discord shrugged before peeling the banana, revealing an actual telephone (the old school type) and eating it. I gave him a wtf look, but he didn't seem to notice. I shrugged it off and turned back to the professor. "Magic is the most important element of friendship. So today, I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, will put on a magic show," the professor said. "Talk about being boastful. Still, she said 'magic show.' Worth it!" Professor Trixie placed her hat on the ground and reached into it, pulling out...a pig with wings. When pigs fly, am I right? The professor pushed the pig back into her hat before pulling out...a grey pegasus with a blonde mane and mismatched eyes. "Wasn't that the mail pony? What was her name again? Derpy? Actually, you know what? Never mind." Again, she pushed the Pegasus back before pulling out- HOLY FUCKING SHIT! WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT THING?! A BEAR THAT WAS THE SIZE OF GODZILLA AND LOOKED LIKE IT WAS MADE OF STARS?! Me, as well as every other student, screamed in a panic, and ran out the door, but not before casting one last glance at Discord, who just remained in place. Professor Fluttershy's class was taught by the grey earth pony with a purple mane and tail and a blue dress (I decided to not be so specific with colors because fuck you), named Maud, and let me tell you something. She sounded so bland and emotionless, you could fall asleep having a conversation with her, so I'm not gonna talk about her class. Legit everybody fell asleep, or at least Gallus did, but mainly because her lesson was on rocks. I would've fallen asleep as well if it wasn't for...well... "Minerals are classified as naturally occurring substances formed in a geological process. They feature a crystalline structure in addition to specific additional properties and chemical composition," the professor explained in her emotionless voice with several drawings of rocks displayed on the board, "Now for something fun. I will point to the sedimentary rocks. There. And there. There. That one. There." "Please kill me." As I sat at my desk with my head resting on my hoof, I noticed a few students around me falling asleep, including Gallus. As I tried my best to stay awake, I saw Professor Maud slowly raise her hoof in the air before- SLAM -she slammed her hoof on the desk, jolting everyone awake from the sheer force of it. The noise was so loud someone billions of light years could've heard it, and I'm pretty sure I even saw cracks start to form in the desk. "Please don't sleep," she said in the same emotionless tone before casually continuing with lesson. She scares me more than Professor Pinkie. Speaking of Professor Pinkie, there is one question I have on my mind. "HOW THE FUCK IS SHE PROFESSOR PINKIE'S SISTER?!" Professor Dash's class was taught by the yellow pegasus with a fire color mane and tail named Spitfire (cool name). When I heard that name, I swear to God, my first thought was Skylanders Superchargers. Apparently, she's the captain of an aerial team called the Wonderbolts, as evident by the commanders uniform and sunglasses she was wearing. I recall Professor Dash telling a story about that, about how she was nicknamed 'Crash' and she tried everything she can to be renamed, including acting like the other professors. God, I feel bad to whom ever she acted like Professor Rarity towards. Professor Rarity seems like the type that can easily charm others, if you know what I mean. I'd...rather not. Professor Spitfire had us run laps around the buckball field. It was a great workout. We were now resting on the bleachers when, in a flash, Discird appeared in a gym coach uniform. "Take a lap team," he told us. "Uh, actually...we just finished Professor Spitfire's workout," Sandbar said, but Discord didn't seem convinced, or he just didn't care. "Sound like somepony needs a little motivation," he blew his whistle before behind us came- "AW COME ON!" A MIX BETWEEN A BEAR AND A BEE?! It roared and tried to take a bite at us before we all ran and sprinted around the field. "I've never run so fast in my life!" Silverstream cheered, even with a smile on her face. "Not the time to act all cheery Silverstream!" I yelled. If only my wing wasn't still a few days away from recovering completely. "Yona...can't run...faster," I heard Yona say. I looked back just in time to see Yona trip over. The bug bear pointed its stinger and dive bombed towards her...before a blue laser impacted it. "Discord, that's enough! Endangering students crosses the line! I don't know why you're trying to ruin this school, but it stops now!" Counselor Starlight yelled. "I wouldn't be so sure," Discord said winking. "This is your last warning!" she said making her horn glow brightly. "Hey, take it easy Starlight! Discord's your friend, remember?" Spike intervened. "Well he's not acting like it. The students could've been seriously hurt because of him," Counselor Starlight. "Sigh. She's right Discord. What's your problem?" Spike asked. "My problem? How is the fact that Twilight decided that putting an incompetent, power hungry unicorn in charge of her school my problem?!" Discord asked. "Welp. He's fucked." Counselor Starlight gasped before shooting out a laser that could rival the Death Star. Guess what? Laser beam! "Imma firing my laser! BOOM!" When the laser dissipated, Discord was no where to be found. My inner smirk diminished at this. "Holy shit! Did she just kill him?!" Another name to add to the list of ponies not to piss off I guess. "Heh heh. Don't worry. I just banished him from the school grounds forever. He's fine," Counselor Starlight said. "Is he?" "For this afternoon's Spell-Venger Hunt, you'll need to use the artifacts' history to find where they're hidden in the school. When you spot one, touch it with a magic shield to keep track of your score," Counselor Starlight said. Me and all of the other students were gathered up in the main lobby of the school for this so-called Spell-Venger (these puns are starting to become lame and unoriginal at this point). Like Counselor Starlight, hidden throughout the school are the several artifacts that I mentioned earlier. The goal of the game is to find these artifacts using the knowledge we received from history class. So it's safe to say that I'm gonna find none of them because history is boring as fuck (at least in my opinion). That and because history just isn't my strong suit. I don't know why, but I find it easier to work for an answer, like in math or physics, than remember specific facts. Ok now that I think about I'm quite surprised I had A's in my previous history classes. "Twilight left out a list of your hunt partners before she left. I'll pass out the shields," Spike said as he displayed a list of partners. After I received my shield (although it was more like a watch, a bit weird to have on as a quadruped by the way), I checked the list so see who my partner was, and it appeared to be Ocellus. "Okay, never mind. Ocellus is probably the smartest person...er...changeling I know." I approached Ocellus and stood by her side. I glanced in her direction through my peripheral vision and saw that she seemed nervous. Her hooves were fidgeting a bit and...I swear I saw a blush. Eh, it's whatever. I mean she is a shy girl, isn't she? Yeah. "Ready. Set. Spell-veneer hunt!" Counselor Starlight yelled out as she hit a gong. Everyone then started to spread out with their partners, with me following Ocellus. With her as my partner, we got this...probably. "So what's first Ocellus?" I asked her. "To the Helm of (once again, not even gonna attempt to spell)," she responded to which I nodded. "Alright. Sorry you had to be paired with me though," I said, "History isn't exactly my forte." "O-oh. Don't apologize. I-I'm...I'm g-g-glad that you're my partner," she stammered, while I remained oblivious to the blush that started to form on her face, "N-not that I didn't want any of the others. I...I just really wanted to be partnered with you...I mean! O-oh jeez." "You alright?" I asked. "I'm fine!" she yelled, but I just raised an eyebrow at this. I knew she wasn't fine. I don't know if it was just me, but lately she's been acting...odd. Shy. Like more shyer than when I met her. Was she nervous about something? Well...Professor Rarity recently assigned us a project where we have to give a presentation in front of the class. Due to how Ocellus is, I couldn't blame her if she was nervous about that. Oh well. I'm not the type to continue prodding people about their problems and invade their privacy. But just to be safe... "You nervous about the upcoming presentation in Professor Rarity's class?" I asked her, "Can't blame you. I tend to stutter whenever I give a presentation." "T-to me, b-b-being l-loyal to y-y-your friends means b-being by t-their side and...and..." I continued to stammer, even with a notecard in my hoof. "And I mean a lot," I finished. "Y-yeah! That's it! Just nervous about the presentation! Yeah," she said laughing nervously. "Is it weird that I think it's kind of cute whenever she gets like this?" After a little more running, Ocellus and I finally arrived at a hallway filled with all of these sets of armor. Not gonna lie, I'm kind of tempted to put one of them on right here and now. "If I recall from the book...um...Lick...Shire...was a yak warrior whose enemies would surrender just at the sight of him. It's possible that his helmet is hidden in one of these suits of armor. But which one?" I said. I saw it immediately. It was literally resting on the head of one of the suits of armor, "Huh. That was easy." I don't know whether to say it was clever for hiding it in plain sight, or just being lazy. I'm gonna go with the former. And also, I thought you said you were bad at history. I said I found it boring and that it wasn't my forte. "One down, five to go," I said as we scanned the helmet with our shields. As we turned and started to walk away, we heard the sound of clanging metal behind us. We turned and saw that the suit of armor was...moving? Let me guess. Magic? Definitely magic. "What the..." I trailed off as the suit continued to slowly approach us, to which Ocellus and I slowly backed away, "Okay, no need to be scared. It's just a suit of armor. It can't harm us too much. Right?" The suit then stopped its approach and then went to where an axe laid on the wall, and proceeded to pick it up. "There's no way that axe is real," I chuckled. The suit then let the axe head fall to the ground and- CRACK -caused a few large cracks to form on the ground. Y-you were saying? "Ah fan," I said as Ocellus and I hastened our pace, "W-well...at least it's slow. We can easily outrun it." It then proceeded to full on sprint at us, the axe dragging behind it. "RUN!" I screamed as Ocellus and I turned and sprinted through the hallways, the former whom, while scared, was still giving me a bit of a deadpan stare, "OKAY! OKAY! I GET IT! I'LL STOP TALKING!" "T-the school is haunted!" Ocellus yelled. We ran through the halls trying to shake the cursed suit of armor, but we unfortunately couldn't, if the constant dragging of an axe on the ground was any indication. It didn't help that I was still grounded to the...the ground due to my healing wing. I even tried throwing a vase at it, only for it to not even be deterred. And now I'm gonna have to pay for a new vase. Cool. We did manage to gain some distance, but I could hear that it was still following us. God, this thing does not give up. I then thought of a 900 IQ play of the game idea. "Ocellus, you fly away and I'll continue running," I said. "What?! That's a horrible idea!" Ocellus exclaimed. Yeah! What the fuck, man?! "Can't blame me for coming up with an idea!" I said. "Well, forget it! I'm not leaving you!" she responded...before we hit a dead end. "Jenjang (Damn it)," I muttered as we tried to turn back, only to hear the approaching footsteps. I tried to look for a door, a window, or literally anything to escape. I then saw at the end of the hall, at the corner, was another axe hanging there. "I would question why there are even axes...real axes...just hanging around this school, but right now I would like one right now." I was about to run over the grab it, but the cursed armor slowly turned the corner and saw us. I immediately got in front of Ocellus and shielded her. "Ocellus," I whispered as the armor slowly started to approach us, "Stay behind me." It's kind of like that field trip through the woods all over again. Something that will probably kill me is slowly approaching, and I had no where to run. But this time, I had to be strong. Put on a brave face for my friend's sake. I had a plan in mind. Let the armor approach, but before it could strike us, I simply grab Ocellus and move out of the way and around it. Yeah. Easier said then done, but it's all I've got at the moment. I just have to wait- "L-Legion..." I heard Ocellus whisper. "Yeah?" I asked without even turning to her. "Y-your body..." she said. "What? What about it?" I asked as I shot a quick glance at her. "It's disappearing!" she exclaimed. "Um...what?" I took a quick glance at my hooves once...twice...three times...before I looked once again and continued to stare as my hooves were slowly disappearing. "W-what the fuck?" Are we disappearing as if Thanos snapped his fingers with the Infinity Gauntlet? It was weird though, even though I couldn't see them, I could still feel them, as well as something...familiar. It was the warm feeling I felt about a week ago in the woods. Instead of a split second, however, it was slowly crawling up my hooves and around my body. It felt...calming. I continued to stare as my hooves completely disappeared, and my torso also began to as well. In a matter of seconds, the warm feeling finally reached my face. and then stopped. I inspected my entire body, only to see nothing. "L-legion?" Ocellus asked, but I was too dumbfounded to respond. I looked back and saw that the armor stopped and tilted its head in confusion, before it set its sights on Ocellus and continued to approach. Snapping out of my stupor, I quickly ran forward around the suit and towards the axe. The armor didn't seem to notice me though. Needless to say, it was heavy when I grabbed it and almost dropped it on the ground, but I managed to get a good grip on it. With all my strength, I quickly ran over, just as the armor was just a few yards from Ocellus, brought the axe up and... SMASH ...smashed the armor to pieces. Amazing. Another thing I'll to pay for I guess. But at least Ocellus was safe. I then felt the warmth quickly envelope my body, and I immediately saw that my hooves were now no longer invisible, as well as the rest of my body when I inspected it. W-what just happened? "D-did I actually turn invisible? How did I do that?" "Legion!" Ocellus said as I looked up and saw her approaching me, "Are you alright?!" "I...I honestly don't even know...I think I am," I stammered, "What about you?" "I-I'm fine," she answered, "But...what was that? How did you use magic like that?" If only I had an answer. I had no idea. "I-I..." I trailed off, before the sound of more screaming from down the hallway interrupted us, "We'll worry about that later. Come on! Let's go!" We ran and entered the lobby to see more suits of armor running around, random paintings, flying after students, and Silverstream and Gallus pulling Sandbar and Yona out of a sandpit. "What the fuck is going on?!" "Every creature stop!" Counselor Starlight yelled as she entered the lobby. "B-b-but the school is haunted!" Silverstream said. "It's not haunted. It's Discord," Counselor Starlight said. In a flash of light, everything turned back to normal. No moving suits of armor, no flying paintings, no sand pit. There was though Discord's ghost carrying all the artifacts. "Headmare Starlight, look at me! Look! I won the Spell-Venger Hunt," he said, "Well done me. Now what's my prize?" "Detention," Spike said sternly. "Ooh. Somebody's in trouble," I whispered mockingly to Ocellus. "Well, that's disappointing," Discord said he threw the artifacts into the air to which Spike caught. Jesus Christ Discord, aren't those ancient artifacts? "Discord, you can't keep messing up the school," Counselor Starlight said. "On the contrary, I think I rather can, and will," he said. "Then I have just one thing to say to you," she said. "Well do go on," he said. "I'm sorry," she said. "What?" Discord said confused. "Excuse me?" The counselor fired a beam at Discord and he suddenly became tangible again. "I had to stop thinking like a headmare and start thinking like a guidance counselor to finally understand. You felt left out." "E-erm u-u-um, I-I don't know what you're getting at." "Nopony ever invited you to the school, and when you offered to help, I didn't listen. I was so worried about doing things Twilight's way, I didn't stop to think about being a good friend. I'd like to apologize for that, and offer you the job of vice-headmare." "Huh?!" "Huh?"/"Really?!"/"What?"/"Why?"/"No."/"Him?!"/"Totally confused," everyone else said. How about we don't? "I accept!" Discord exclaimed as he started shaking Counselor Starlight's hoof. "Fuck." "I mean-I...I suppose I could find some time in my busy schedule to help you out. But I will need my own office, my own expense account, parking space..." "You're new to the world of education, aren't you?" Spike asked. We are so screwed, aren't we? "Yep. Also, what the fuck does he mean by parking space? There's no cars in this world. At least to my knowledge." "Next time you want something, just ask for it alright?" Counselor Starlight said. "Well then we'd miss out on those delightful misadventures," Discord said as he picked up Spike and started hugging him. "H-hey!" Spike exclaimed as he got out of Discord's grasp, "W-watch the wings!" "Now, Vice-Headmare Discord, if you'll help put the Spell-Venger Hunt back in order," Counselor Starlight said. With a snap of a finger, the artifacts disappeared. "Holy crap, this guy's a literal god." "Everything is rehidden," Discord said, before a painting flew off the wall, "Oh well, with a few surprises." "I'm honestly not sure whether or not I'm gonna like this guy." ... "I will. I like him, even though he most likely put Ocellus and I at ri-" Wait. yeah! Now that I think about it, he did put Ocellus and I at risk! What the fuck?! I mean, who else could've done it?! The doors to the school suddenly burst opened, revealing the professors looking like shit. Their manes were ragged, their coats were covered in dirt, and they all looked pissed. "Discord," Headmare Twilight sternly said, "I can't believe you tricked us into going on a friendship quest that wasn't real!" "Oh, back so soon?" Discord groaned. "A glamour spell on our cutie marks?!" Professor Rarity asked. "A fake summons on the map?!" Professor Dash asked. "Hey. At least we got to go spelunking in that really creepy cave with all those eyeless worm creatures chasing us," Professor Pinkie said with too much happi-...you know what? Who am I kidding? This is Professor Pinkie. "Oh, Yona so glad ponies back!" Yona said as she hugged Professor Applejack. "Uh. Y'all get the feeling we missed something?" the professor asked. Later that day, I asked Ocellus if we can talk in private about...you know. We were currently in the library in a corner section that nobody usually goes to. "I just don't get it. I've done some research, and I've never read anything about pegasi being able to utilize magic other than flight and controlling the weather. The only creatures I know that's capable of invisibility are those with magical inducing horns. I shouldn't be able to do this," I sighed, "Don't suppose you're capable of invisibility spells, aren't you Ocellus?" "I'm afraid not. Changelings aren't so diverse in magic like unicorns are," Ocellus sighed, "I'm just as confused about this as you are Legion." I concentrated a bit and tried to turn myself invisible again, but the most I got was my hoof. God, magic can be such a fickle little thing. I'm not sure I'll ever understand it. "I just don't know what to think. Maybe Headmare Twilight knows what's going on with me? I mean she is the Element of Magic, right?" I suggested. "Yeah, she is," Ocellus said, "Do you think we should tell the other professors as well, and our friends?" "I wouldn't recommend it." We yelped at the sudden voice and turned to see Discord leaning against one of the bookshelves. "Twilight or any of her friends wouldn't know anything about what's going on with you," he said as I looked back at my still invisible hoof. "And how do you know that?" I asked. "Because you two are right," he answered, making us confused, "No pegasus in the history of Equestria has been able to use magic like you did. And I should know because I've lived for thousands of years." "Holy shit." "Well...then again, I've been trapped in stone hundreds of years, so I could be wrong," he continued. "I-is...is there a point to all this?" I asked. "Now, now Legion, it's rather rude to interrupt someone when they're speaking," Discord said with a smile, before I realized something he just said. "W-wait, I didn't tell you my name," I said. "You didn't have to. I know all about you Apex Legion. Raised in the city of Canterlot, didn't have much friends growing up," Discord said as he floated around me before he whispered to make ensure that Ocellus didn't hear, "And how you're not even from this world to begin with." My eyes widened when he said this. "H-how did you..." I trailed off. "What?" Ocellus asked before Discord looked at her. "Ocellus? Was it?" Discord asked, to which she nodded, "Could you do me a solid and tell Twilight that me and the royal sisters needed to talk to our pegasus friend here?" "You mean...Princesses Celestia and Luna?" I asked. "What for?" Ocellus asked. "About his...condition," Discord answered, "Oh...and also, make it a double solid and don't tell any creature what you saw. Not even those friends of yours. Not yet at least." "U-um...I..." Ocellus stammered before she looked at me, expecting an answer. Does Discord know about what's going on with me? And if he mentioned the princesses, do they know as well? Should I...trust Discord? I mean, he claims no pegasus could perform magic, and I couldn't find anything in the various books Ocellus and I have read. Then again, I mostly just skimmed through the pages since I hate reading. I looked back at my hoof to see it reappear. You know what? Fuck it. If Discord has the answers, then what have I got to lose? "Ocellus, I think we should trust Discord on this," I said before I turned to the chaotic creature, "I won't be gone for too long, right?" "Oh, don't worry. I'll be sure to bring you back before you can even say 'kumquat,'" Discord said before he snapped his finger, making him and I disappear, and possibly leaving Ocellus as confused as me.