//------------------------------// // Chapter 10: ...To Watch You Die // Story: Mega Man: Operation Ponyville // by Captain L //------------------------------// Chapter 10: …To Watch You Die Seeing what Discord was capable of, Mega Stallion was expecting chaos when he entered the portal. But what he saw wasn’t even comprehendible. Pies flew up through the sky, buffalos tap danced, and ponies were ignoring the laws of gravity. Nothing less from the God of Chaos, I suppose. “So boy, do you like my home dimension?” A large boulder turned around, revealing Discord sitting in it as a throne. “Thank you Tom, now as for you, Mega Stallion. This is where I live, and I must say, I’ve made the place quite cozy. Don’t you agree?” “This isn’t a place any sort of sane being would want to live, I can say that.” “No no, of course not. That would be too boring. Although, to tell the truth, this isn’t quite my real home. When Celestia banished me all those years ago, I took refuge here and called it my own. Ponies tell legends of this place, so perhaps you’ve heard one of its many names. Some call it Hell, I’ve heard it called the Dark World, it’s been identified as the Cyber Maze. Myself, I prefer the name Shivering Isles. Gives it a fancy vibe, and makes me proud to be its king.” “Well then, perhaps its time for a government overthrow.” Discord laughed. “You’ve got quite a heart, robot. I’ll be on the other side of this rift. To get to me, you’ll have to fight through the many obstacles I’ll be throwing at you. Think of it as a test, a final exam to see what skills you’ve learned. Better hurry! Because of the dimensional hole that brought you here, time and space are falling apart at the seams. If you survive, I’ll be waiting for you. Don’t disappoint me, Mega Stallion!” Discord faded away, leaving only the sight of the challenges to come. This is it. One final gauntlet. One final fortress. My determination is at a high, and I can guarantee myself that I will make it through. Mega Stallion went off, ready to face whatever Discord could throw at him. When Discord had said that he was going to be testing Mega Stallion, he wasn’t exaggerating in any way. Swarms of each type of enemy were barraging him, pinning him, and kicking him when he’s down. But this time, he had an advantage. He began to take full reign of each Master Weapon, deflecting every shot and cutting them all to pieces. Finally, I get to feel the full power of my rewards. So satisfying. Waves of enemies weren’t the only obstacle he had to worry about. Small platforms floated in the air, where he had to make precision jumps to make it across safely. One misstep, and all his work would be lost. The pits that weren’t bottomless were filled with deadly spikes. The floating platforms only made up a small portion of the stage. There were also parts that were underwater, where the water was above him, and the waves were on the bottom. Jumping up into the water let him jump higher, instead of sinking. Nothing makes any sort of sense, anything can happen. A row of spikes adorned the next stretch, and it seemed impossible to traverse. I might have to make a leap of faith, and hope for the best. He stepped back and started running, jumping at the very edge of the safe rock and flew through the air. His descent started only halfway across the spiky area. Gravity reversed only for him, and he landed on the perfectly safe ceiling. Hard to admit through the sheer terror of near death, but this is kinda cool. At last, in the middle of a small platform, was a tunnel leading down, appearing to curve on its downward fall. So it’s like the Diamond Dogs again. Main difference this time was the many spikes covering all walls of the tunnel. Better maneuver myself carefully. He jumped down, shooting his buster to control his momentum and make it through carefully. Once the tunnel had ended, he fell for a few more yards before landing on a platform with eight smaller platforms. Discord’s voice began speaking through the air. “Excellent job! I see why Doctor Light counted on you! You’ve made it to what I call the ‘Dr. Discord Teleport System’. Each one of those platforms will take you to a refight against the Robot Masters. Now don’t worry, they aren’t real ponies, so you can fulfill your sadistic tendencies and kill them. This message will self destruct in five seconds.” “Alright, first off, I highly doubt you’re a doctor in any sense of the word. Even that time pony, I could believe he was a doctor. And how does a spoken message self destruct?” He looked up as a spot in the dark sky exploded. So that’s how. He chose a platform at random, and walked on top as he felt a very different teleport process start. When he came back into whatever existence he was living, he was in a small, completely boxed-in room. Also standing in the room was Fluttershy, wearing her tree armor. But something was different about her. Her coat and mane were all grayscale, and her face was harsh, instead of her usual kindness. The fake Fluttershy looked at him, smiled evilly, and began taunting him. “Ooh, look at you! You think you’re so tough, that you could defeat us! Well, try it!” I already know this routine. For her polar opposite change in personality, her fighting pattern didn’t change in the slightest. He was still just as able to beat her down just as easily, even easier now that he not only understood her pattern and fighting in general, he had the Quick Boomerang, cutting her wood to pieces. As the fake fell, he teleported out of the room, ready to face the other seven. The others fell without too much of a hassle, now that he knew how to counter them with their weaknesses. Twilight’s magic was reflected by Jewel Satellite, Derpy’s bubbles were popped by Magic Card, Rainbow Dash slowed to a halt by Time Slow, Applejack’s plants were poisoned by Bubble Lead, Pinkie Pie’s electrics couldn’t conduct through Plant Barrier, and Rarity got her jewels scratched by Leaf Shield. That just left one Robot Master left. I’m guessing I’m going to have to have a real fight against the Doctor. Let’s see how well that goes. He stepped on the final teleport platform, and he saw the Time Pony standing there, in utter madness. “Do you hear them? They never stop, they just keep beating. Tap-tap-tap-tap. All the time!” Mega Stallion held out a hoof. “Doctor, what are you talking about? What sounds?” “The sounds of drums! I hear them in my head all the time. It’s driving me insane!” The bells on his head began ringing, and time slowed down as he ran forward. All of these Robot Masters seem to work on a weakness system. One’s weapon is another’s weakness, weaknesses never repeat. Therefore, his weakness should be…Mega Stallion mentally ran through all the weapons he had. “Thunder Claw!” He grabbed the Doctor with his electric whip, wrapping it around his neck. The voltage increased as time began to move at normal speed. Just as he thought the fight would be over easy, the Discorded Doctor pointed a hoof at Mega Stallion, firing out the Clock Laser. Why didn’t I get that weapon? It looks more useful. He decided to use the Thunder Claw the same way Pinkie did to get an advantage. He slammed his hooves into the rock ground, and saw them pop up halfway across the room to wrap around Time Stallion’s legs. He sent the electricity through, ending the battle. Now back in the main teleport hub, Mega Stallion noticed a now ninth teleport platform. This one must lead to Discord. He mentally prepared himself for his true final battle, and stepped in. He reappeared in an open room, a large throne sitting in front of him. Discord was sitting in it, stroking a pink pony with screwy eyes and a propeller cap in his lap. When he saw that Mega Stallion had arrived, he picked the pony up. “Alright Screwball, time for you to go. Be sure to come back once I’ve won!” The pony began flying off, despite not having wings. “Alright daddy! Beat that tin can down!” Mega Stallion waited a few seconds for Screwball to leave. “So, you really think you can win this? Because I’ve got a very specific set of skills, perfect for beating you.” “You really think you can beat a god? I control everything, all the universe is a playtoy between my fingers. A small metal block like you wouldn’t stand a chance!” “You want to try it? Then let’s get started! Let the final battle begin!” He decided to start the fight in a way to give himself something to work with. Time Slow now active, he ran towards Discord, who moved out of the way. “Attempting to give yourself an advantage by slowing down time! Excellent in theory, but I’ve just accelerated my personal time flow. So, you’ve done nothing. I hope you’re proud of yourself.” So, he’s taunting me. He’s hoping that I’ll lose my focus. Then he’s got a surprise coming. He activated Thunder Claw and attacked. Discord moved one of his legs apart, and lifted his arms upwards, removing a boulder sized chunk of rock from the ground. He hovered it in front of him, blocking the electricity. “I thought a lab assistant would understand that rock doesn’t conduct electricity very well!” “No, but metal sure does!” He pulled out Quick Boomerangs, charged them all with Thunder Claw, and fired them at the boulder. The boomerangs were sharp enough to cut through the earth and slice their target. Discord cried out in pain. Not only did the boomerangs cut him, the charge shocked him, electrocuting hair onto his head, spread out to the sides, looking even more insane. He began laughing maniacally. “You’ve been doing quite well! Now it’s my turn!” He pulled out a glass, filled it from the top down with chocolate milk, drank the glass, and threw the milk. Anticipating that this attack would actually be dangerous, he slid out of the way, watching the milk land, explode, and combust. I’m actually starting to think chaotic. That should help me out. Discord countered his dodge by throwing a pie, which Mega Stallion countered one step further with Jewel Satellite. “You always use Jewel Satellite! Why don’t you ever give love to good old Leaf Shield! Or Plant Barrier! I’ve always liked Plant Barrier.” “Hey, it’s not my fault some of the shield weapons are inherently better than others. Jewel Satellite is made of the strongest materials, so it blocks better.” “You dare insult my opinion? I won’t hold back any longer! You’re going to die, right now!” He’s really going insane. That hair makes him look like a mad scientist. I’m dealing with a true god here, I’m going to need to be more creative with my weapon usage. He pulled out the Magic Card and began firing at Discord, who just yawned as they hit him, cut into him, and boomeranged back, each carrying an orb of purple energy. “You know how the Magic Card works, correct? It strikes the enemy, and returns carrying their weapon or life energy.” “Thanks for the information, Discord. So I can assume that this is your life energy?” He had the retuned Magic Card in his magic, examining the purple energy it had stolen. “It makes sense that it would be shaped like a skull.” The skull started moving, expanding, and engulfed Mega Stallion in its power. Discord laughed and called out. “My lifeblood is made entirely of what I like to call ‘Evil Energy’. You’ve been trapped by it. You have no escape! You’ve failed! Equestria is mine!” Mega Stallion struggled to look up at the God of Chaos, who was ready to deliver the final strike. I’ve only got one shot left before I’m done with. But any direct shot I do wouldn’t be enough to beat him. I’m going to need to think…different. He looked up at the stalactites hanging above them, and knew what to do. He switched back to his normal buster. He charged and fired at the ceiling. Discord noticed his shot. “You had one chance! You had one chance to stop me, and you failed! What kind of self-proclaimed hero are you?” In his insanity and anger, Discord failed to realize Mega Stallion’s plan. One of the rocks was hit at the base by his plasma shot, and began shaking and cracking. Discord began charging up his own final blow. He put both of his arms behind him to the side, a blue energy ball forming between them. It kept getting larger as the stalactite on the ceiling was getting looser. As the energy was reaching its maximum size, the rock broke off the ceiling and fell straight on a collision course with Discord. “I hope you like this little move I learned! Kame…” His battle cry was cut short by the big and heavy rock hitting his head directly. The weight made him fall to the ground, nearly unconscious. His sudden lack of focus was enough to let Mega Stallion break free from the Evil Energy that was binding him. He walked over to Discord, who was now on his hands and knees. Discord looked up at the blue robot standing next to him, ready to deliver the killing blow. Discord began begging for mercy. “Please Mega Stallion, don’t! I’m sorry for what I’ve done! Please, I know it’s not you to do something like this! Spare my life, and I promise I won’t bother you again!” “Why should I trust you? I know about your history, Discord! You’re all about tricks and games, turning ponies against one another! You’ve got no credibility. And I’m under orders from Princess Celestia to make sure you don’t make it out of here alive.” His shot was charged, ready to fire, both so in the moment that they were unaware the rest of the ceiling was collapsing. A large chunk fell, crushing Discord. Before he could take it in, Mega Stallion was also crushed by another rock, leaving only his head free. His power system damaged, all he could was watch for a brief few seconds before he passed out. Both completely out of it, neither was able to notice a pony in the shadows come in. “Where’s Discord?” He noticed the two boulders, and Mega Stallion’s head sticking out. Fearing the worst, he broke the boulder crushing him, looking at his unconscious body. “Oh no, too late.” He grabbed Mega Stallion, and teleported the two of them out.