//------------------------------// // 64 vs. Discord Part 2 // Story: 64 vs. The Underground // by Jman9877 //------------------------------// Chapter 18 3rd Person POV “You–You should see the looks on your faces. Priceless!” Discord laughed, making the entire group scowl. 64 felt his anger rising and felt magic surging through him, before he quickly suppressed it. He realized that even though Twilight and Rarity had lost their horns, he still had his magic. He just had to wait for the right time… “Give us our wings and horns back!” Twilight demanded, although the order fell on deaf ears. “You'll get them back in good time. I simply took them to ensure there's no cheating. You see, this is the first rule of our game: no flying, and no magic.” Discord said, swooping between each of the girls and getting bit too close for comfort with Twilight. “First Rule?” Rainbow Dash asked, as Discord began to explain. “The second rule is, everypony has to play, or I win…” Discord chuckled, tapping his fingers together calculatingly. “Good Luck everypony!” Discord then poofed out of existence, leaving the entire group confused. 64 stepped forward and looked at the space which once held Discord, before turning around and facing the girls. “Don’t let him get in your head. Remember, when we go in there, we’ll all be together, so stay calm.” 64 said, encouraging the girls. “Yeah, c’mon girls! We have each other!” Twilight added. “Yeah! Like Twilight said, there's nothing we can't overcome if we all stick together!” Rainbow Dash ended, as we all gained a large confidence boost. “All right girls! Let’s do this! Together!” The group all stepped in together, only to have 64 repelled from the entrance, and 5 walls made of Hedges grew in between the girls who were able to step inside. “AAHH! TWILIGHT!? RAINBOW DASH!? APPLEJACK!?” Fluttershy screamed out, obviously scared out of her mind. 64 pressed up against the hedge wall that grew in front of the entrance, and called out to Fluttershy. “Fluttershy! Don’t be afraid! You’ll have all your friends really soon! You just have to get to the center of the Maze! Remember, don’t fall for any of Discord’s tricks, and keep moving!” 64 yelled out to all of the girls that were stuck inside. “64’s right! Stay calm, girls! Everypony head to the middle as fast as you can, and we'll regroup there!” Twilight yelled out, as the responses of all of the other girls came back. “6-64?!” Fluttershy cried, obviously scared out of her wits. “Fluttershy, just keeping moving. If you stop moving, then you aren’t moving towards your friends, ok?” 64 heard the sounds of sobbing trying to be suppressed, as sniffles and hiccups filled the air. “O-Ok… I’ll go.” 64 heard hoofsteps going away from him and sighed, before looking around for another entrance. When he tried to set foot inside, it was like a force field held him back, and he needed to find its weak spot. 64 ran along the side of the maze as he tried to find a low enough hedge that he could climb over, but had no luck. 64 turned the corner of the maze, but found he was back at the front, when he should have been at the western side. He looked behind him to find that the entrance was there as well, before shaking his head to try and clear it. “Ok… don’t let him pull you into his mind games…” 64 told himself, as he heard a low chuckle from behind him. He quickly turned around with a long sword in his right hand, and magic charged in the other, to find that nothing was there. He quickly dispelled the magic in his hands and looked around him, only to find himself back in front of the entrance to the maze. 64 smacked himself in the head to try and get his senses back, knowing he had to stay focused. “This is just his tricks… use the logical absurdities to find his illusions…” 64 whispered to himself. “Oh, whoever needs logic?” 64 gasped and quickly turned around, finding himself face to face with Discord. Discord quickly spun around and whipped 64 in the chest with his tail, sending him flying backwards onto the ground. 64 got up and charged his hands with magic, looking around for the Spirit of Chaos who was nowhere to be seen. “So I was right… you do possess magic… unfortunately for me the only way to get rid of it is to completely obliterate your body, but now that I think about it, you aren’t really a threat to me anyways…” Discord taunted, causing 64 to growl. He was never considered ‘not a threat’ before. He was always a threat to someone. And now there was this Spirit of Chaos floating around, saying he wasn’t a threat!? “Show yourself then! Why are you scared of me?!” 64 yelled out angrily, as Discord obliged. He appeared flying as if he was sitting back on a chair. “Oh, I know for a fact, that you are the one who is scared here, not me. And as I said before… who needs logic?” Discord said, as he conjured a bouquet of flowers, before tossing them at 64’s feet. They instantly exploded in a large ball of light, causing 64 to shield his eyes. When the light disappeared, so did Discord, as 64 began to search the area once again. “Logic is a pony word, not needed by the likes of you and me. The reason you were not allowed to enter, because the rules clearly stated, ‘everypony has to play’, and you are clearly not a pony. You would simply get in their way, and we can’t have that can we?” “I don’t find myself any better or inferior to ponies! It is not just a pony word!” 64 taunted back, as Discord once again showed himself, reclining back onto a Cotton Candy Cloud. “Oh please. If anything you should see yourself as inferior. I mean, they did create you… that Knight character you so horribly mutilated was the one who created you, and that was how you repaid him? I am above such senseless violence…” 64 gritted his teeth together and growled softly, the red in his hands glowing brightly. Discord saw this and laughed. “Oh that’s good. You think your little fireballs can cook me? Oh that is rich!” Discord laughed, as 64 finally lost it. He started to launch magical blasts at Discord, who simply created a dozen little shields of yellow magic to block them. 64 didn’t let up as he slowly made his way forward, charging magic in his right fist as he continued blasting magic with his left. Discord sat there as he continued to smirk at 64, who continued making his way forwards towards the Chaos incarnate. Discord snaked a small tendril of magic under his shields, towards 64’s leg, and allowed to constrict his ankle. 64 looked down to see that he was now immobilized, as Discord lifted him up and hung him upside down. Discord dropped his shields as he walked over to the hanging human, smirking as he did so. “And you thought I should see you as a threat?” Discord told 64, who growled louder and continued to charge magic in his right fist. “You’re still trying with that? You can’t hurt me with your puny magic!” 64 shook and pulled with his left hand to try and get the tendril of magic to release his right ankle, as Discord pulled out a large paddle and began to hit him back and forth, like a paddleball. Discord was enjoying watching the human squirm immensely, seeing something with such a strong will to try and fight against an unstoppable force. “That’s enough!” 64 yelled, rearing his magically charged fist back and sending it towards Discord’s face. Discord smirked and put up a shield in front of his face, knowing the human wouldn’t be able to destroy it. 64’s fist collided with the shield, and it cracked. Discord looked at the shield he had put up, and saw that it had actually cracked. He stared at it in disbelief, before smirking and slowly starting to laugh. His laughing eventually grew into a booming cackle, as the Tendril of magic holding 64 threw him back, sending him crashing along the ground. 64 looked up to see Discord laughing maniacally, wiping tears out of his eyes and gasping for breath. “I-I CAN’T BELIEVE—HAHAHA! SHE-SHE ACTUALLY TURNED?! BWAHAHAHA!” Discord cackled, making 64 wonder just what the hell was going on. Discord’s laughing continued, until he finally disappeared in a flash of light. 64 got up to his feet and massaged his stinging ankle, checking all around him to make sure that he wasn’t trying to sneak around. He looked towards the entrance and saw it flash a bright yellow, indicating the shield was now down. 64 gasped and immediately ran to it, as Discord’s words repeated in his head. “Everypony has to play, and you are clearly not a pony.” 64 stopped one step before entering the Maze. What would happen if he broke the rules of Discord’s Game? Reluctantly, 64 took a few steps back, and didn’t enter. “What’s the matter little guy? Too scared to come inside and save your precious pony friends?” Discord said, suddenly reappearing behind 64, but keeping his distance. 64 noticed this, but didn’t spend too long wondering about it. “You want me to step inside… I’m not falling for it.” 64 growled, feeling the hatred start to bubble up inside him. Discord made him angry. Angrier that he had been on a long time. He had no reason to hate Discord before this, but now he felt as if taking his head clean off was the best way to go. He felt his magic start to leak out of his arms, but it felt as if it was acting on its own. “Looks like you still haven’t fully developed. I should have guessed when you were unable to fully shatter my shield.” Discord said, filing his nails. “It isn’t my magic… of course I haven’t developed.” 64 replied, simply letting the magic pour out of his arms and gather together, making it look like 64 had two large sleeves made of magic. “Well it’s also obvious that you don’t know the extent of the power in your magic… observe…” Discord conjured a large wave of the cotton candy clouds to attack 64, whose eyes widened at the display. Discord sent the wave at 64 who spun around the first assailant, before bring the back of his fist to the next. He channeled magic into his eyes and started to take out the clouds one by one, dodging and bending backwards to avoid the attacks. At last 64 managed to destroy the last cloud, and was now covered from head to toe in chocolate milk. He was panting heavily and glared at Discord, who at some point managed to conjure a bucket of popcorn and a lawn chair. He dispelled them both and began to clap slowly, but with each clap, golems made of dirt began to form from the ground, each wielding a wooden club. The 5 Earth Golems rushed at 64, swinging wildly to try and hit him. 64 backed up with each swing bobbing and weaving underneath each of the attacks. 64 reached out and grabbed the club of a swinging Golem, and pulled it towards him, causing the Golem to get pulled with it. 64 used its body to block other attacks coming from its comrades, until the golem in his arms feel back into a pile of earth. 64 sent out a massive right towards a golem who was rearing his club backwards, causing it to explode back into earth. He then was caught in the back of the head with the wooden club, causing him to quickly turn around and block another one of the oncoming attacks. Discord was enjoying watching the human fight his cronies, watching as he fought so hard to try and survive. Discord saw something in 64, something he could possibly use in the future. 64 was working on dispatching the last of the Golems, grabbing it in a headlock in an attempt to rip its head off. 64 felt magic gathering behind him, and immediately spun around with the Golem still in his arms, using it to block the blast of magic Discord had sent at 64’s back. The Earth Golem fell into a pile of dirt, as 64 felt Discord’s eyes boring into him. “C’mon! Stop sending your lackeys and come at me yourself!” 64 challenged, making Discord laugh. “Oh you truly do possess the power of Chaos! You challenge me, the Spirit of Disharmony itself, and expect to win!? Oh you are just as priceless as the ponies stumbling through my labyrinth!” Discord bellowed, making 64 growl. “What the fuck are you talking about?!” “Oh, it’s nothing. If you’ll excuse me, I have some Chaos to wreak on those little ponies you call friends. Oh but don’t worry, I’ll let you sleep until this is all over!” “Wait, what?!” 64 yelled, as a flash of light illuminated his vision. He suddenly felt incredibly dizzy, and fell to his knees. He realized he was falling unconscious, and fought hard to keep his eyes open. He felt himself vomit onto the ground, before his vision finally failed him. He felt himself fall onto his side, as consciousness finally left him. The last thing he saw was Discord waving nonchalantly behind him as he flew away. 64 POV Where…where am I? Discord… where did he go? I opened my eyes blearily, only seeing one large blotch of blur. I brought my arms up and tried to push myself up, but I felt my head suddenly incredibly fuzzy and I fell back onto the ground, panting heavily. I felt my head fall back onto the floor, but felt liquid instead on top of solid ground. I opened my eyes slowly and tried to blink away the blurriness, until I was able to see clearly. I saw the color red, and slowly brought my head up off of the ground again. It was a puddle of liquid redness, and its smell and consistency immediately told me what it was. I shot up to my arms and legs at the sight of blood, as another wave of nausea swept over me. I looked up and looked around me, now smelling thick putrid smoke in the air. There were thick clouds of smoke through the air, fogging my vision farther than a few feet. “Discord……” I growled, stumbling up back onto my feet. From what I could see, it was obvious that I wasn’t in Canterlot anymore. Instead of the concrete floor I was on before losing consciousness, I was now on a dirt road. I stumbled forward at a slow rate, feeling weak in my entire body. The thick smoke in the air filled my lungs with every breath, making me wheeze and cough while I moved forward. It was burning my eyes when I blinked, making me use one of my hands to shield them. “HELLO!? ANYPONY OUT THERE!?” I yelled out, praying to get a response. I still didn’t know where I was, but I needed to find out soon. The blood I had been laying in wasn’t mine, so there had to be somepony out here who was injured, or worse. As I walked, I felt myself start to step over splintered wood, as if it had come from a tree which had exploded. I walked toward the wreckage, and began to break into a run. I got nervous as I came across paper strewn all over the place, and I knew where I had to be. I began to sprint as I found hardcovers to books littering the area, not caring that the smoke was burning my lungs and eyes. The wreckage of the Golden Oaks Library laid before me, a smoldering pile of char was all that was left. Embers still burned brightly in the large pit, so it was obviously a recent explosion. In a fit of panic I slid down the hole, desperate to find out what happened. “ANYPONY?! PLEASE ANSWER ME! HELLO!?” I screamed, terrified. What did Discord do? How long was I out? WHERE THE FUCK WAS DISCORD!? I flung around the smoldering ashes in the pit, praying to find anything. The search was in vain, and I immediately climbed out of the pit. “TWILIGHT!? SPIKE?!” I called out, yielding no response from anywhere. I began a sprint in the direction towards Town Square, wanting to find out what the fuck was going on. As I ran through the thick smoke, I saw a form ahead, lying flat on its side. Once I was next to it, I nearly vomited. The body of Mayor Mare was lying in front of me, charred and burnt. The only way I could identify it was through the ruffled collar on her neck, which was still partially intact. “Mother of Celestia… DISCORD!!” I screamed, backing away from the corpse and backpedaling a little bit. As I stepped backwards, I tripped over something, landed on my back with a grunt. I moved my legs and looked underneath me, to find another burnt corpse of a pony. I didn’t have time to identify this one, because I was already backing away on the ground. I backed up onto another obstruction, and saw a pony’s decapitated, charred head right next to mine. I screamed and scrambled up to my feet, to find a massacre of deceased ponies. Their bodies were all burnt and scorched, some still burning. Blood stained the floor around me, and the world began to start spinning. The smell that invaded my nostrils was now identified as ponies being burned, so I immediately expelled the contents of my stomach. Bile and blood combined on the floor in a grotesque stew, as I fought to stay on my feet and turn around. I walked a few feet before falling to my knees, splashing in the small puddles of blood underneath me… Blood… Blood… Blood… Is… is it mine…? No… no it’s not… I… where… he…? I smelled the smoke… heard the flames… saw destruction… Ponyville… “dis…cord…” “discord…” “Discord…" “DISCORD!!” I felt my anger and rage bubbling to the surface, but didn’t feel the magic surge through me. I didn’t acknowledge it, so I simply stayed on my knees, yelling at the sky for Discord. I was going to make him pay for this. I was going to burn him alive like he did to these innocent ponies. “Ah… breath it all in…” A voice said behind me. I stood and turned towards the voice, but the figure standing there was not who I expected. “Burning, smoldering, and fire… All the great things…” She said, towering over me. I backed away from the figure, not wanting to acknowledge its existence. She was accompanied by another, who stood shorter to her, my size. “Y-you… aren’t supposed to be alive…” I whispered to the figure standing next to her, shaking in fear at her appearance. Vi stood behind me, smoking tears of lava streaking down her face. Her burning hair glowed with the brightness of 100 suns, and she wore flames throughout her body. She looked like she wanted to say something, but couldn't. Next to her, Super Nova stood, an evil grin plastered all over her face. “LOOKS LIKE YOU HAVE FINALLY CALLED THE NEED FOR MY POWER! I THOUGHT I WOULD NEVER SEE THE DAY, WHAT WITH YOUR NOBILITY AND DIGNITY! BUT IT SEEMS THE NEED FOR THE DEFEAT OF A FOE HAS OUTWEIGHED YOUR MORALS!” Super Nova screamed at me, as tried to not quake in fear. She wasn’t supposed to be here, neither of them were. Vi was dead. She sacrificed herself to get me out of the Stone Imprisonment. “What do you mean…” I whispered, stuck to the ground where I stood. “DISCORD HAS FINALLY RETURNED! YOU AND THE MOCKERY YOU CALL MY POWER WILL NOT BE ENOUGH TO STOP HIM FROM HURTING THOSE WRETCHED PONIES WHO IMPRISONED ME IN STONE! THE LAST LIVING PIECE OF ME AND PROJECT 1 LIVE WITHIN YOU THROUGH MY MAGIC, AND I WILL NOT ALLOW US TO DIE!” Super Nova explained, making me a bit less frightened. We were in my mind? She was here to help? I had no time to reevaluate my morals, I needed it now. “What do I need to do?” I asked, fear slowly leaving my body. Vi walked forward, tears still streaming down her cheeks. She held out her hand towards me, flames burning off of it. “IF YOU CAN REMEMBER, PART OF MY MAGIC WAS IMPLEMENTED INTO PROJECT 1. USE THIS MAGIC TO UNLOCK THE ABILITIES YOUR BODY ONCE WAS UNABLE TO USE!” I looked at the burning arm of Vi, her eyes closed and her head turned away from me. “Vi… please look at me.” She did, and I looked into the burning orbs which were her eyes. I gave her a gentle smile. “It was nice to see you again. I’m glad knowing that you are still alive in me somewhere.” I whispered. She smiled back at me, and threw her arms around my shoulders. I returned the hug and allowed tears to flow down my face, feeling happy. I felt Vi finally fade away, making me frightened and scream at Super Nova. “Where did she go!?” I yelled, as Super Nova merely chuckled. “DO NOT WORRY, YOUR PRECIOUS COMPANION STILL LIVES WITHIN YOU, FOR AS LONG AS YOU HAVE MAGIC, SHE WILL EXIST. NOW, USE YOUR MAGIC. AND WE WILL BEGIN YOUR TRAINING.” I allowed magic to flow into my arms, but this time it felt like there were no barriers I needed to break through to use it, no blockage. A red glow shined over my arms, and I formed two Swords into my hands. “WITH THE FULL EXTENT OF MY MAGIC FLOWING THROUGH YOU, YOU WILL NOW HAVE THE ABILITY TO ACTUALLY STAND THE SLIGHTEST CHANCE AGAINST DISCORD! WE HAVE LITTLE TIME, SO I WILL TRAIN YOU IN TWO OF MY MOST USEFUL TECHNIQUES, THE MOLTEN ARMOR, AND THE FLAME SPEW.” Super Nova instructed, as power like I had never felt before coursed through me. “NOW, LET US BEGIN.”