//------------------------------// // Chapter 13: Attunement of Magic // Story: The Adventure of the Apex Legion // by DeffBwade //------------------------------// Previously on The Adventures of the Apex Legion I could barely think over the last few weeks. No, I wasn't ignoring my friends, and I was being as outgoing as I usually am, but I still felt...lost. Lost for words, I guess. Even though a small part of me is excited to basically have super powers, the rest of my brain is making me...how should I put it...adamant? But why? "The Tree of Harmony remains one of the most powerful sources of magic known to ponydom. And though it has been at the root of magic and friendship from the moment it was planted, its ways are mysterious. Almost as if it has a mind of its own," Headmare Twilight lectured. "No, the Pillar's grew the tree," Ocellus explained. "The Tree grew the Elements, and then the box with six locks," Sandbar continued. "And then eventually our teachers found the keys to the locks and unlocked the box," I said, but the Smolder and Gallus clearly didn't understand what the fuck we were talking about, based on their faces, "Okay, it is a bit confusing once you say it out loud." "I'm so gonna fail," Gallus facepalmed. "Ahem. Golly, it's so inspiring how relaxed you all are about studying friendship," she said, "Considering your disadvantage." We all ceased our laughter at that. "What cute pony mean?" Yona asked. "Just consider where you all came from," Cozy continued, "If Sandbar and Legion haven't sacrificed so much of their time to get you up to speed, who knows how behind you'd be." "Wait, wha-" I asked. "I mean," the kid interrupted, "Growing up as a love starved changeling? Or hiding underwater from an evil king all those years? Trusting any creature must be so hard for you. And griffons never wanna be around any creature. Even other griffons. And dragons are so fierce compared to us. There must be days you can't wait to get away from all us cute ponies. Everypony knows yaks think yaks are best. Making friends with any other creature must seem like a step down." I looked around to see the sad faces of my friends. "It's just so impressive how you keep trying to understand friendship," Cozy continued, "Even though it isn't in your nature." The others became even more dejected. Before anyone could answer, the reverberating sound of hoof steps caught our attention. We looked in the direction of the hoof steps and saw...Headmare Twilight? Is that her? Why was she all...astral looking? "We were studying friendship's effect on history, but then..." Ocellus started. "Since friendship just isn't in our nature, what's the point?" Gallus asked. "You do not believe friendship is in your nature? That is NOT ACCEPTABLE!" Headmare Twilight said in a disappointed tone as her wings flared and the wind in the environment started to become more intense. "The Storm King?! He's back?!" Silverstream asked out of fear as she began to shake. The cavern started to get smaller as the walls started to slowly close in on the griffon. The air around started to become crushing as Gallus quickly landed on the ground. "Not. Cool," Gallus said as he started to hyperventilate. "...Yona," she said with a panicked expression as she continued forward, unaware of the many glowing red eyes watching her from the ceiling. "No. On so many levels, no," she said before she flew out of the cavern. She made a few twists and turns, but then stopped in her tracks as she found herself in the same cavern with the same ponies, "Huh?" "Come sit by me and let's compliment each other," one of them said as patted a third seat. Smolder was first confused about how she got back to this cavern, but then groaned and flew away again. She turned around, and gasped once she saw her reflection. But, at the same time...it wasn't her. She saw the changeling that led the others before Thorax, and that orchestrated the attack on Canterlot all those years ago. The eyes with actual pupils, the long silky mane, and the crown. Queen Chrysalis. "NOOOOO!" Ocellus panicked. "My first friendship adventure!" he said proudly with sparkling eyes, "Yes! Count me in! Oh, I've been waiting for this-...wait, the others!" "We don't need them. We need you. Come on!" Professor Dash exclaimed as she and Professor Rarity ran off to...who knows where. The sounds of movement ceased and I turned towards the source of the voice. Well, specifically...my voice. There were sounds of footsteps, and I mean footsteps as in a bipedal instead of a quadruped. Slowly, out from behind a rock, came...me. Human me. Pretty soon, as the room was much smaller than it was at first, only one blue light and one pink light remained. Gallus immediately touched the last blue one, making the opening just big enough for him to crawl through. "Just this once," she said before going into a more calm and sophisticated tone, "May I have some tea, please? "Oh, but you can't have tea if you aren't dressed for it." Her eyes widened at this. "Okay, but let's keep this between us," Smolder pleaded. "Yona...no mean to scream. Yona loves making friends. Spiders...friends?" she smiled at her question as she held a hoof out. The spider crawled onto Yona's hoof and chittered some more. "Wait...what little spider say?" she asked. "Wait," Sandbar said as he skidded to a stop, "I really should find my friends." "Darling," Professor Rarity said, "It was so generous of you to take the time to teach those other creatures about friendship." "But..." Professor Dash continued, "If you're going to do something that really makes a difference, we need to know where your loyalty lies." "Point is...I would've thrilled at the thought saving the world from darkness, but instead...I'm not. I just feel stressed and...maybe a little scared." "I see," human said before he crouched down to my level, "Look man, I'm no psychologist, but I think I know what's wrong." "You do? But how?" I asked. "I'm like...a deeper part of you, so to speak," he said, "Anyway, I think the reason for your whole dilemma is that you're scared of failure." "Failure?" "Yeah. And you know what?" he said, before he gave a look of high definition sternness, "You will fail." "W-what are you doing?!" I asked. "Hm? Oh, I'm just opening your eyes to the truth." "Yeah. I was stuck in a room that kept shrinking but I realized that I had to face my fear and I found my way out. This is your test. He isn't really here." "But what if he is?" Silverstream asked as she looked back at the shadows. "Then tell him exactly what you think of him." "Haha! I did it! I told him!" Gallus then suddenly found himself in an almost bone-crushing hug by the hippogriff before he gently shoved her off, "Okay! Hug time later. We still have to get back to the library." "If a dragon like me can admit she likes...tea parties, that's proof we can change. I was gonna invite you to a top secret tea party with me, but if you wanna stay down here..." Smolder trailed off. "Oh no. I wanna come," Ocellus said before a flash of light changed her back to her normal self. "I thought that might work. Come on, let's go." "Did you just tell our professors you were disappointed in them?!" Silverstream asked. "Something tells me those weren't actually our professors," Sandbar said, "Besides, they were trying to get between me and my friends." "Do you understand now?" human me whispered, "Failure to be a good friend, failure to help those close to you, and just a failure in life in general? That is all that you are dude. A failure. This is why you'll fail in protecting this world, as well as your friends." "..." "And in the end, you'll just end up all alone. Because nobody, not even the princesses, your professors, nor your friends, would want to hang out with a failure like you." "No. You're wrong," I said firmly, causing human me to stop in his tracks and turn back to me. "Hmm?" he asked. "I won't be alone," I said, "My friends won't abandon me." "Seriously?" he sighed, "I thought I got through to you. Let me spell it out in a way that you'd understand. You're a loser. A failure. And nobody would want to be around a failure." "And that's where you're wrong!" I shouted, "I may be a loser, and there are times where I may be a failure. But you know what? None of that matters! To me and my friends!" ...honesty "You wanted me to open my eyes to the truth? Well, guess what? Here's the truth!" I said as my hooves started to emit a blue fiery aura as the chains pinning me down started to shake, "No matter how many times I fail or fall down on my ass...I'll always have my friends by my side!" And with that, I managed to break free from my bindings, causing human me to slowly back off. I got up and started to slowly approach in response. "So do me a favor..." I said before I started to full on sprint towards human me, "...and just SHUT! THE HELL! UP!" With a burst of wind from my wings, I leapt towards human me and straight falcon punched him in the gut! The human me was launched backwards as if he was shot out of a cannon. The moment human me impacted the wall, he disappeared in a puff of smoke. I got up and proceeded to turn around...only to see all of my friends with hanging jaws. "Um...h-hey guys," I said, "How much of that did you see?" "E-everything?" Ocellus stammered. "Yes, it like Starswirl has envisioned," the Tree said, "Apex Legion. You have an incredible gift. You possess the ability to wield my magic, harmony magic. For you are able to display each of the components of harmony. Laughter, kindness, loyalty, generosity, honesty, and magic." "So...I really am the pony that Starswirl envisioned?" I asked, "And I'm the one that's destined to protect this world?" "You see, harmony encompasses all of Equestria. It's how its inhabitants have been able to live peacefully for centuries," the Tree explained, "But at the same time, there are those who seek to cover it in darkness and disrupt the peace. It is only when the Elements of Harmony are united that it can truly snuff it out and keep Equestria in the light." "But...the element of magic," I said, "How do I unlock it? How can I display magic enough to unite the other elements?" "Magic can take form in various ways. You do not need to be proficient in magic in order to bear its element. All you have to do is follow what's in here," the Tree said as it held a hoof against its heart, before it began to glow brighter, "Remember that young one, for it will be the only way you can achieve your destiny." "Okay buddy, we're out. Now spill the beans!" she demanded, "What was all that back there?" And so I explained everything to them. After a 10 minute explanation, a small part of me was worried that my fears would become a reality. That my friends would leave me in just the snap of a finger. But it seemed like majority rules, for Ocellus almost immediately wrapped me up in a hug, followed by everyone else. Like I mentioned before, I'm not much of a hugger, but I gladly accepted it with a smile. Because I was right. They'll still be by my side no matter what. As every creature let go of me, I felt a tear threaten to shed, but I stood strong. "Thanks guys," I said, looking at all of them with a smile, "So...you really don't care that I'm from another world?" "Alien or not, you're still the same Legion we know and lo-..." Ocellus stopped herself with a squeak and a blush. She really is the cutest creature I've ever met, "Like! That we know and like!" "Yeah," I chuckled, "And...I don't suppose you all can keep this a secret?" "Our lips are sealed!" Silverstream exclaimed, followed by everybody nodding in agreement. And with that, I drifted off into dream land and let my imagination take control, but not before one last thought crossed my mind. "I think it's time I finally have a little chat with the princesses." The Adventure of the Apex Legion Written by DeffBwade Chapter 13: Attunement of Magic You might be thinking that I should use this opportunity to talk to the princess as an excuse to skip the history test, but unfortunately, I have a little something called honor. It's both a blessing and a curse. At least Cozy pulled through and got us that extension. I'd say I got a C+ at the minimum. You also might be thinking that I could be skipping a day of school, but...you know...honor. Like I said, a blessing and a curse. It was now Saturday and I have asked the Cakes if I could have the day off. I felt bad about lying that it was a family issue back in Canterlot because they're such sweet (no pun intended) people. Pon- You know what I mean. I had enough (and by that I mean a lot) bits to buy a train ticket to Canterlot. Now that I think about it, this is the first time I've used the train here. In fact, this is the first time I've used the train in years. The place that I lived in back on Earth didn't really have trains nearby, so means of transportation were always by car. The train ride took a few hours (most of which were spent sleeping), but I eventually arrived in Canterlot. I've never actually took the time to explore the town, and let me tell you, it's definitely Equestria's capital. A good majority of the ponies I saw around me were unicorns and looked...what's the word...sophisticated. Fancy looking clothing, noses up in the air as they walked around (how the fuck do they not bump into obstacles?), stuff like that. Even the buildings around me looked fancy. You'd think that Professor Rarity would actually be living here, based on the kind of pony she is. Anyways, I'm going off tangent. Long story short, there was one thing I didn't account for. How do I even get to the princesses? It wasn't like the guards were just gonna let some random kid into a castle where Equestria's princesses reside. And it wasn't like I was gonna break in. Fortunately, a certain...whatever Discord was...appeared at my side and teleported me to the throne room. So here I am now. Standing in front of the princesses and Discord after so long. "So I know it's been...a while...since we've last talked," I said. "It's been exactly four weeks, thirteen hours, twenty-six minutes, and two seconds since we've last seen each other," Discord said as he was looking at a calendar before tossing it away, "But who's counting?" Not even gonna ask. "Okay, I know it's weeks and that sure gave me a lot of time to think," I said, "First off, I apologize princesses if I stayed away from you and ignored your letters, but...it was just fear holding me back. I mean, it's not everyday that a human is given awesome magical powers and a destiny to save the world. But regardless, I'm so-" "Legion," Princess Celestia chuckled, "There's no need to apologize. While I do admit that time is a bit of the essence, I can understand your plight. Fear can hold any pony back. It is only by facing your fear that you can truly rise to victory. I faced that kind of fear when I was deciding to send Twilight off." "Um...what?" I asked. "A tale for another time," Princess Luna said, "Like my sister said, time could be of the essence. We are unsure when the darkness shall arise." "True, which is why I'm ready to embrace the magic," I said with confidence, "I'm no longer gonna let fear hold me back from protecting this world, as well as my friends. Plus, if this whole thing was a TV show, it would make a sick anime." "And what is this 'anime?'" Princess Luna asked. "I'll tell you another time. Right now..." I said as I turned my hoof invisible, "...I need to get a grasp on my harmony magic. Do you think you can help me?" The princesses glanced at each other before Princess Celestia spoke up. "We might not," she said, "But there might be some pony who can?" "Who?" I asked. "How the fuck could this guy still be alive?!" I thought in shock as I stared at the pony version Gandalf in front of me. The pony in front of me was a unicorn with dark violetish gray eyes, a light gray mane, tail, and beard, and a light gray coat. He also had on blue wizard hat and cloak, which covered his cutie mark, with stars and bells. I was still in disbelief, however. "You...how could you be Starswirl the Bearded?!" I asked, "Didn't he live like...centuries ago?!" Unless either this guy's an imposter or Starswirl is immortal like the princesses. "Oh? Did Twilight not tell you?" Princess Celestia asked, "Starswirl and the rest of Pillars have only been trapped in limbo all this time. It wasn't until a little over a year ago that Twilight and the rest of her friends freed them." Or...we could go with that. "To the Pillars and I, however, it only felt like a few seconds since time is irrelevant in limbo," Starswirl said. He even had a Gandalf-like voice. I shook out of my state of shock. "So the princesses said that you could help me with my magic," I said as I held an invisible hoof to him, "I mean it would make sense since you were the one that researched harmony magic." "So you've read my journal then?" Starswirl asked, to which I nodded, "It's true. I did do research on harmony magic. Ever since the Pillars and I planted the seed for the Tree of Harmony. When the Elements of the Tree are united, they form a magic powerful enough to bring light into the darkness. But even on their own, the Elements can still be a strong force to reckon with." "That's cool, but how do I utilize them properly?" I asked. "Like a pegasus learning to fly, or a unicorn learning to use their horn, as long as your heart stays true to each dedicated Element, all it takes is practice and perseverance to hone your skills," he responded. "So...in other words, I just have to train," I said simply. "More or less," he said, "It could be tough though. I don't believe any pony has ever been trained on harmony magic before. Not to mention that a pegasus can't normally perform magic like a unicorn. It will take some time, but I believe that with the right training, you will learn how to use your magic with ease." "Oh shit, this guy's gonna be my sensei, my Sensei Wu, my Obi-Wan Kenobi, my Gandalf, my Hagrid. You get the idea." I don't think Hagrid was a teacher. I don't recall giving a shit. I never had a teacher outside of school before. Actually, never mind. I think I had a swim teacher when I was young. Other than that, no other teacher. And I'm not counting when my mom forced me to be a part of the school choir or Breakfast with Santa. If I'm being honest, I wish I took some sort of self defense class, like karate for example. I'll be like the Karate Kid (never watched it if that's what you're wondering). It's all about wax on and wax off. "Right. Your training shall begin first thing tomorrow morning," Starswirl said, "For now, rest up and get settled in." "Right," I said before I realized something, "Wait, how often are we gonna be training exactly?" "Everyday," he responded. "That might be an issue. I have school on the weekdays," I said. "Hmm. That is an issue. Education is important for such a young pony," he said while stroking his beard. "Why do I feel like he's implying that I'm nine years old?" "And I wouldn't want to get in the way of your homework. Heh. I sure didn't let anything get in the way of Celestia's and Luna's education, and look at them now," he chuckled before he turned towards the princesses, "By the way, you two still owe me a lot of essays. I'm curious..." "E-erm..." I head Princess Luna say. I turned back towards the princesses and started to chuckle as they had nervous expressions, the type you would have if one of your parents found a report card filled with Fs in the trash can, and either they call for you by your full name or you hear their footsteps with the sound of a jingling belt. Or the face you make when you shit your pants. Wait...You would shit your pants anyway if you heard your full name being called or a jingling belt. Heh. It's a good thing my parents never used a belt whenever they spanked me as a child. It's pretty much akin to a whip, just not as sharp. ... Why do parents spank their children with a belt? ... What was I talking about again? Oh right. "I also have work during the weekends," I said, "I mean, I guess I can take a leave of absence (I actually have no idea what that means), but then it would be a slow of process if I only trained during the weekends." "Well shit." "Psst," I heard Discord whisper next to my ear, to which I turned to him, "I can make it so you don't have to worry about missing anything important." "How? A clone?" I asked. "Oh no. That wouldn't be as fun or entertaining," Discord chuckled, "No no, dear boy. You know those scenes in action movies where the main protagonist of the story goes through some epic montage where he turns into the hero? With some epic music playing? Well young one, this is that scene." "A montage scene?" I asked. "Of course! And the best part, you don't have to actually go through the weeks of rigorous training!" he said happily, "My word, imagine if you actually went down that path. That would be so monotonous and boring. And I know you can be the impatient type. So what do you say?" "You're right. I mean, I wouldn't say I'm impatient, but rather lazy," I corrected him, "Screw it! Montage time it is!" "Um...Legion?" Princess Celestia asked, "Don't you think you should be patient in your training? It could do you some good." "Oh of course he wouldn't want to do that Celly," Discord chuckled before I could respond, "And besides, the viewers would get so bored if they read a long chapter where the hero just trained," he then turned his head towards...somewhere (I stopped questioning his antics seeing he's literally a god of chaos), "Isn't that right viewer?" "I'm not even gonna ask," I deadpanned, "Anyway...MONTAGE! Work your magic Discord!" "With pleasure!" he said before he snapped his finger. Starswirl and I were now in the Whitetail Woods (pretty much a safe version of the Everfree Forest) while I was wearing a blindfold (don't take this out of context). Before I was blindfolded, Starswirl hanged up various objects (stuff like bottles and all that) on the trees around me. I told him about my other powers, and for my training in enhanced hearing, he said something about focusing on the disturbances in the wind in order to dodge or block the objects as they swung towards me. I got hit by the first object. For my power of invisible, the training was simple. Turn my whole body invisible. I only managed to do that once, back during the Spell-veneer Hunt. Any other times I tried to do it, I only managed to do my hoof. Right now during training was no exception. Teleportation was also simple. Teleport as far and as often as I can. In short, I was only able to teleport like one or two meters. And only when I really focused to do it. I even took a few leaps forward for...stylish points I guess. That only ended with me landing on my face. For my shield power, I had to make a big and strong shield. Like Violet from the Incredibles had a hard time doing so, every time I tried to make one, it would fizzle out almost immediately. For my falcon punch...or venom sting...I'll think of a name for it soon, do I really need to say what went wrong when I tried to punch a tree? I've been improving with my powers. I was able to dodge or block most of the objects flung at me with ease, although sometimes I got hit in the back of the head. I'd say I was able to turn half of my body invisible, although it looked like I was trying to take a shit whenever I was trying to do the rest of my body. Thankfully, I didn't, but I did let out a fart. I didn't improve much on the distance of my teleports, but I did improve on the frequency of them. I was now able to do around five teleports in a row before I felt exhausted. Maintaining a shield around myself? Check. Maintaining a shield that's strong? Needs work. I was now able to break a tree with my super punch (that name sounds lame and unoriginal), but it took a lot out of me in order to do so and it still left my hoof sore a bit. A disturbance in the wind to my left. I stepped back to dodge the bottle. A swinging rope to my right. I caught the bottle in my hoof. A whistling noise from right behind me. I tilted my head a bit to the side and then held my hoof out to catch the bottle as it swung back towards me. I smiled as I didn't hear anything else. I managed to dodge all of the bottles. It's all about focus. My whole body was now invisible. Just like the Wraith from Dead by Daylight, whenever I move swiftly you can notice the slight shimmer of my body if you payed close attention. According to Starswirl, the magic around my body is like the fire on a lit match that seems to lag a bit behind as you wave the match back and forth rapidly. Otherwise, if I stood still or moved slowly, it would be like I wasn't even there. Seven or eight. That's how many times I can blink (what I'm calling my teleports since the farthest I was able to go with each one is around four meters) in a row before exhausting myself. Needless to say, Starswirl was impressed. For the average unicorn, teleportation took a lot out of them, especially if they did it either rapidly or over long distances. I guess it was because of the short distance I was able to blink that I can do it rapidly. Maintaining a strong shield wasn't so hard to do now. Again, it was all about focus. Discord even tried to test out my shield's strength by shooting a few lasers at it. At least I know now that my shield isn't indestructible, but at least very strong, for every laser formed a small crack on my shield, until it finally broke down, leaving me exhausted. Needless to say, he got scolded the hell out of them by the princesses, and even Starswirl. Thank you and fuck you, Discord. Up to four trees stood no chance to my venom strike (I'm calling it that because I gave up on coming up with a creative name). I know now that that power is what exhausts me the fastest, which makes sense. I'm not exactly One Punch Man. I smiled as I was catching my breath. "Wow! That was an epic montage!" I said with a smile, "You were right Discord. Thanks to you, I managed to do a lot without missing any school or work." "Don't mention mention it, my friend," Discord responded, "It was rather entertaining to watch, especially at the beginning. Oh, I think I busted a gut during that section of the montage." "I'm still rather shocked that it only felt like a few minutes, but really it's been almost four weeks," Princess Luna said. "I know, right?!" I exclaimed. I'm not gonna question the logic about that because that really was an epic montage. "You have improved a lot young one," Starswirl said, "It impresses me as much as when I mentored Celestia and Luna. Sure brings back a lot of memories." "Indeed," Princess Celestia said, "But as Starswirl taught my sister and I, there's always room to improve. After all, Twilight didn't become adept in magic as she is now after just four weeks of practice." I became dejected a bit at the mention of that. Not that I still had room to improve. No. I knew you can always improve your skills. This isn't an RPG with a max level. Rather, I became dejected at the though of the Element of Magic. I still have yet to find the so called spark in order to unlock what I like to refer to as "perfect harmony." During my training, I asked Starswirl about it and he said pretty much the same answer that Princess Celestia gave. That it will just come to me and that I have to be patient. I also need to take into account that the Tree of Harmony said to follow my heart. What did it mean by that exactly? Does it mean to pretty much do what's right? I know I said that I'm not impatient, but...holy shit. Cryptic much? "It is almost time to switch from day to night. Thou should head home young one," Princess Luna suggested. "Indeed. You deserve the rest after weeks of training," Starswirl said. "I'll teleport you back to Ponyville," Princess Celestia said as her horn began to glow. "Thank you," I said as I looked around the room, "All of you, I mean. For helping me hone my skills." "It's no problem," Princess Celestia said with a smile. "Just remember," Discord said before was suddenly in a Spider-Man costume (what the fuck?), "With great power, comes great responsibility." "Heh. Nice one," I said before a flash of light filled my vision.