The Ultimate Element

by Akamaru01

Games Part 1

The Ultimate Element

Chapter 9

Games Part 1

“Hello, Equestria!” Ponies all over the kingdom looked around, searching for the voice that had suddenly appeared. “I would like you all to turn your attention to the eclipse.” Several ponies looked into the sky, and more followed suit. On the dark surface of the eclipse, a magical image had formed, showing the hideous monster that had taken control. “Today is first annual Discord Games. Here, the challengers must compete in six events, and only by winning them all can they hope to win fabulous prizes!” The image panned around to show the full arena, while Discord continued speaking. “Let’s see what they’re playing for!” Suddenly, two curtains appeared, and Discord stood between them. “For the first prize,” he pulled a cord, opening the first curtain. “The Elements of Harmony! The second prize,” he said, pulling another cord, “the return of their friend, Lightning!” Everypony could clearly see both the ancient relics, and the trapped stallion.

“Now then, the rules shall change depending on the event, and, without further ado, it is time for the first game!” The monster stuck out his hand, where a lever magically appeared. He pulled it, opening a trap door under the six ponies on the ground, causing them to fall on top of one another inside a dark, closed off area.

After picking themselves up off the floor, the ponies tried to get a sense of their surroundings, except that it was pitch black. “Where are we?” Twilight inquired, to nopony in particular.

Another magical image appeared before them, showing Discords face. “This is the first challenge, The Dungeon of Dangers!” Just then, Pinkie pushed all of her friends away from where they were previously standing, just before they heard a loud crack. The light of the magic allowed enough illumination to show that a boulder had fallen where the ponies had been standing moments before. “Very good Pinkie Pie.”

“What in the hay was that all about?” Applejack asked.

“This is the first challenge.” Discord replied. “The rules are simple. You must navigate this dungeon, and try to reach the treasure at the end, while avoiding all the special surprises I left you.” Back on the surface, the six ponies could be clearly seen on the eclipse, allowing others to watch what happens to them.

“Ugh. I do hope he allows us a bath after this one. I’m getting dirty.”

“Come on Rarity, we have to move quickly,” Twilight said, eyeing the other unicorn. “Pinkie, you take the front. Your Pinkie Sense could come in handy.”

“Okie dokie lokie!” The pink pony bounced up to the front, and kept going, smiling all the time. She led the ponies down a long corridor, Twilight using magic to shed a dim light, allowing them to see.

Although the dungeon rested underground, a strange, cold wind blew through from time to time. Pinkie suddenly stopped, causing the others to run into each other, and falling to the ground. “Pinkie, why’d yall stop?” Applejack asked, confused. The pink pony didn’t respond, but instead kicked a small rock in front of her, rolling it out further. The ground where the pebble had landed started to shake, and fell away, revealing a large hole that led on forever. “Phew. I guess that answers mah question.” The mares carefully trotted around the hole, not feeling safe until they left it long behind. Pinkie continue to avoid any traps they came upon. Spikes popped out of the floor, arrows shot from the walls, and boulders constantly tried to crush them, except Pinkie always knew what would happen ahead of time. She merrily skipped through the dungeon, weaving in, around, over, under and everything in between, her face never losing that Pinkie Pie smile.

---

“Well, Discord,” Lightning began, as he watched his friends. “It looks like they’re going to bypass the first challenge without a hitch.”

“Oh, I’m not worried about that,” the monster chuckled. “The first is supposed to be the easiest, and besides, the fun has only just begun.” He spoke the last line with a sinister tone, as he swirled a glass of milk in his hands, drinking the glass. “So, I suggest you watch closely, you never know what surprises might be waiting them.” Discord looked back the eclipse, watching the mares continue. Please be safe, Lightning thought to himself.

---

They had come to crossroads several times, but the party pony never even stopped, except for once. They had been wandering for a good thirty minutes by then, although it felt longer. There were only two choices, and Pinkie stood looking at each one. She began to stomp her hooves around nervously.

“What’s wrong Pinkie?” Fluttershy asked.

“Well, I’ve got three different senses going off at once.”

“A combo?” Rainbow Dash chimed.

“No. This is different. I have one telling me the left is the fastest way out, but another says it’s dangerous that way. I also have a sense telling me the right is safe. Oh, what should we do?” She did a little stomp in place out of nervousness.

“We should go the fastest route, even if it’s dangerous,” Rainbow Dash answered, preparing to move down the left corridor.

“I think Rainbow is right,” Twilight declared. “I’m sure we can handle whatever is down there.” The ponies walked carefully, unsure of what danger could be worse than what they have previously seen. As they walked, they could see a light in the far distance. They sped up, trying to reach what seemed to be the end of this challenge. They stopped suddenly, however, almost falling into the large chasm in front of them.

“Great,” the farm pony moaned. “Now what?”

“I vote for leave,” Fluttershy spoke softly, trying to back away.

“Don’t worry girls, I’m sure we can find some way across,” the purple unicorn reassured.

“Are you quite sure about that, Twilight Sparkle?” Discord had opened another magical image to talk with the mares. “I am sure you have already noticed the light at the end of the tunnel. Yes, you have almost completed the first event. However, there is one last thing for you to do.” The mares had no choice but to wait and listen. “Before you is bottomless chasm, and if you fall in, you never hit the bottom. Your task is to get across to the opposite side, where the treasure awaits.”

“Pfft. Easy peasy.” Rainbow Dash tried to fly to the other side, but hit something in mid air. “What the hay?” she wondered, rubbing a new bump on her head with a hoof.

Discord let out a long laugh. “I guess you didn’t let me finish. There is a path, however it is invisible to all but me. And to prevent you from flying, I’ve added an outer wall and ceiling, thus keeping you grounded, so to speak. Have fun.” The image disappeared, fading away like mist. Pinkie Pie walked along the edge for a minute, trying to decide where to start. She soon stopped, and took a tentative step forward. She had found solid ground, which is exactly how it felt. She carefully led the others through, taking multiple twists and turns, stopping many times to make sure everypony was going in the right direction. It had taken several minutes, but soon all six ponies had made it to the end, safe and sound. They ran towards the light, and found an empty opening, with an exit on the other side, and a treasure chest in the middle.

“What do ya’ll thinks in it?” Applejack asked. “Pinkie, do ya’ll think thar are any traps or somethin?”

“Nope. Everything's just fine.” The pink pony had regained her usual bounciness, and hopped up to the chest. She opened it without hesitation, but the look on her face was one of surprise, and then excitement. She reached in a pulled out a strange cube. It appeared to be made of pure diamond, though it seemed to be riddled with grooves, and markings, none of which seemed to match with any others.

“Well,” Rarity began, “That is a beautiful diamond, but what in Equestria is all this?” she wondered, pointing a hoof to the engravings. The ponies continued, and reached the surface, where the harsh light of the eclipse blinded them. They heard cheers from the crowd, and all over Equestria, ponies began to believe that the mares could pull it off, and defeat Discord once again.

“Congratulations, my little ponies! Now is time to explain that box you have, as well as the next challenge!”

“Bring it on!” Rainbow cried out. She was itching to win.

“Very well. The box you are holding is actually a puzzle of the highest degree.” He took a short pause. “Twilight Sparkle, I commend your efforts to try and think it out, but it won’t work.” The ponies all seemed shocked by his reading of the purple unicorns mind. “I will hold on to the box, while you six face the second challenge. The Cavern of Conundrums.”

“The cave of what now?” Applejack asked.

“Conundrums. It means puzzles, or problems.”

“Very good Twilight. Now, please enter the cavern, and I will explain the next challenge." A violent shaking drew the ponies attention behind them. They turned to see that a tunnel opening had sprouted from the ground, sloping downwards.

"We have to back underground?" Rarity complained. "I do hope we get a bath after this." Discord let out a short chuckle at his own thoughts, before blocking the opening to the cavern. The ponies continued without looking back on the now closed entrance. Unlike the dungeon, the cave held lit torches on the walls, allowing them to know exactly where they were going. Nothing had changed after walking for several minutes, until they had come upon a door which blocked their path.

"Great," said Rainbow Dash sarcastically. "Now what?"

"Simple, Rainbow Dash." Discord has once again made a connection. "Here are the rules, you must move through my cavern, answering riddles, puzzles, and questions on the way."

"Is that it?" Applejack wondered, her face turned in confusion.

"You wish, Applejack. If you answer incorrectly, then the pony who answered will be taken out of the cave, and will slowly turn to stone as she watches the others move through. The only way to return to normal is if the remaining ponies can complete the course before the transformation is complete. Good luck." The image disappeared with a flash, leaving the ponies alone.

"So what does the first question say?" Pinkie asked quickly, looking at Twilight.

The unicorn took a quick look at the stone wall, then put on a satisfied look. "The question says, 'What is the hypotenuse of a right triangle with sides of 3 and 4.' This is simple geometry, and the answer is 5." The others waited to see if their friend would vanish, but instead they felt the ground shuddering, and the wall began to rise up, causing a ghastly rock-on-rock screech.

"Good job Twilight," Fluttershy started. "Maybe this won't be so bad." The mares quickly came to a large opening, completely empty except for another door on the opposite side of the chamber, with three locks on each side, and a large button protruding from the ground in front. Twilight took a careful step onto the small pedestal, causing it to fall into the ground. One of the locks released, and all around the ground shook, and platforms and paths rose up, five more buttons appearing as well. Twilight reasoned that all six buttons had be activated at the same time and began to formulate a plan. Before the others could move to them, however, all around, more buttons appeared, covering the walls and ceiling in the stone contraptions.

On the ground in front of the lavender unicorn laid an inscription. 6 buttons you want, each leading to the next. Follow the path, or you shall face my wrath.

"Well that's helpful," Rainbow Dash commented sarcastically. "What do we do now? There must be hundreds of buttons."

Twilight pondered for a few minutes, looking all around. The buttons had a small surface, barely large enough for her to stand on, and were covered in scratches. She looked carefully, and noticed that the stone she stood on contained a small version of her cutie mark on the top. Directly below it was what appeared to be an arrow made from the scratches, pointing to her left. She let out a small gasp, as she stumbled on an idea. She pointed a hoof to match the arrow. "Rainbow Dash, fly in that direction and search the buttons. Look closely at the marks, and see if you can find anything."

"Um, alright." She floated above the buttons, checking each one individually, until she stopped above one several yards away. "Hey, this one has Applejack cutie mark, and an arrow on it." The farm pony maneuvered herself between the buttons, trotting carefully to where the pegasus hovered. As soon as she stepped on top of the button, it sank into the ground, releasing another lock. Afterwards, Twilight could easily get each mare to the correct spot, opening the door ahead of them. However, as soon as the unicorn moved from her own, the ground moved violently, and the floor began to crumble, revealing a pool of lava deep below.

"RUN!" she screamed. The others did not need to be told twice. They galloped out just before the ground had completely vanished, panting hard as they tried to catch their breath, continuing a minute later.

---

"Well that was certainly amusing, wasn't it?" Discord chuckled to Lightning as they looked on.

"No," he responded sternly.

"No matter. You shall see it my way soon enough."

The pegasus looked at him quizzically. "What makes you so sure?"

"In due time, young protege, in due time."

I have a bad feeling about this. What could he have planned for me? Wait a minute. "If you know what's going to happen, can you see the future?" It seemed impossible, but then again, Discord was a master of the impossible.

"Well, since you asked, yes. Although, I don't generally use that ability. It spoils the fun of uncertainty. However, my dreams used to sometimes show the future without my wanting them too, but I learned to control that eons ago." The more Lightning knew about the monster, the less he understood. Seeing the future should be impossible, and yet here was a being who said his dreams could tell the future. He turned his attention back to eclipse, watching his friends from afar.

---

The mares had easily bypassed any challenge that came their way. Most were questions a pony might see in school, covering subjects such as physics, history, calculus, biology, and anything in between. Twilight answered each question mere moments after reading them, and solved riddles in seconds. They had come to more chambers such as the earlier one, but those seemed like simplicity itself in her eyes. They soon came upon a smaller opening, the inside holding a pedestal with a colorful cube resting on the top.

"Is that ah Ponyx Cube?" asked Applejack.

Twilight cantered to the cube to get a better look. It didn't take long to see that this was no ordinary Ponyx Cube. A normal version of the toy contained a 3x3 grid on each face, but this one was much larger than others and the faces contained an 18x18 grid of small blocks. "Don't worry girls, I'll have this done in no time." She lifted the toy with her magic, which released a small burst of power, slowly turning the other ponies behind her into stone.

"What in tarnation!"

"Twilight, would you be so kind as to finish that quickly?"

"Um, help please. That is, if you wouldn't mind? "The purple unicorn worked furiously, but each time she had one or two sides, the other four would be far from done. Her friends had almost completely turned to stone, everything but their snouts covered in rock, before she finished. The others fell from their prisons, and ahead of them an inscription magically appeared on the wall.

Twilight read it aloud, "Congratulations." How mocking. "The box found in the dungeon can only be activated by using a magic key, which rests at the bottom of the ‘Sea of Suffering’."

"Well that doesn't sound too good," remarked Pinkie Pie. A door opened next to them, and they followed the path back into the arena.

"Which is exactly why they are going to win," Lightning chimed with a smile.

"We shall see about that. Anyhow, you have obtained the answer you sought, and it’s time to move on to the last event of the day."

"Can we get a bath first?" Rarity complained. "I am positively filthy."

Discord snapped his fingers, and one side of the arena split open, showing a large body of water beyond. The ponies had no idea how such a thing could appear in the middle of Ponyville, but they thought it better not to ask. "You don't expect us to bathe here, do you?"

"No. This is the setting of the next game. The Sea of Suffering. You must locate the key, which is made of pure sapphire, somewhere at the bottom of this ocean. Don't worry though, it's not as large as it seems."

"And ya'll expect us to jus be able to breath underwater?" The beast pointed in their direction, and their heads became covered in a bubble of air, which never seemed to deflate or be filled with bad air.

"These will give you fresh air to breath while searching in the water. Be careful now, you never know what dangers you'll find." He laughed at them as they cautiously swam below the surface.

"So how are we going to find this key?" Dash wondered aloud. "We don't even know where to start looking."

"Simple Rainbow Dash," started Rarity. Her horn glowed a pale blue, almost invisible in the water. "He said the key was made of sapphire, right? That means I can use my gem tracking spell to find it. Follow me." She swam off, the others following close behind.

Things moved smoothly, as nothing abnormal had happened. No obstacles had come in their path, and the ponies began to silently hope that this would be a simple and uneventful challenge.

Or not. The water got darker as they swam deeper, and a shadow passed behind them. They turned but saw nothing. More soon appeared, but it was impossible to tell what the figures were that swam with the mares. Pinkie's back right knee began to itch, and she turned around, her mouth hung open in fright. The others turned as well, and saw a pack of large sharks looking over them. Everything remained silent for a moment, until Fluttershy let out a muffled scream.

Knocked out of their stupor, the ponies tried to swim away as fast as possible, but the sharks kept them trapped in a circle. "Well ya'll," the farm pony began, removing her hat from on top of her bubble, “guess this is the end. It was nice knowing you girls." The ponies agreed and drew together in a circle, waiting for the end. The sharks moved forward, and everything went black.

---

"NO!" Lightning screamed, looking into the darkness of the eclipse. Most ponies in the crowd looked away, several small ones crying at the loss. He could distinctly hear Applebloom and her friends amongst the crowd, calling for the return of the mares.

"Quite a turn of events." Discord kept the same emotion in his face as before, possibly more sinister.

Lightning snapped, turning toward his captor. "You did this! This is all your fault! When I get out of here you're going to wish you were still a statue! Because of you, Twilight, and Pinkie, and Rainbow Dash-" He couldn't hold it in any longer. He fell to his stomach, feeling about to vomit at the thought of his friend's fate. His body was a mix of emotions, his powers threatening to tear him apart from the inside.

He nearly broke into tears, until he heard somepony scream "Look! They're OK!" For a moment, the stallion thought it to be another joke by Discord, but he risked looking up anyways, and saw that the mares were still safe, the sharks trapped by a coil of purple scales.

---

"Steve Magnet?" Rarity asked, looking at the serpent. "How in Equestria did you get here!?"

"Well, one minute I was swimming merrily in my river, and the next thing I know some other river connects right next to me. I follow it down and lo and behold I should find some poor ponies in danger. I already knew what was happening thanks to the strange eclipse, but I didn't think something like this would happen."

"Well, thank you for your help. By the way, I see your moustache has grown back. It looks lovely."

"Oh thank you. You know, I-"

"Can we do this later please!" Rainbow interrupted. "We have a friend to save and a villain to stop."

"Oh. Yes. Very well then. I would love to talk to you later Steve. Au revoir." The ponies swam on, the purple sea serpent waving good bye.

Back on the surface, everypony in Equestria cheered the mares on. Lightning had regained his cool and sat silently watching. This was the scariest thing that has ever happened to him, not knowing whether his friends were alive or dead. The stress was too much.

Rarity had continued to lead the others, deeper into the water, and what felt like several miles away from where they had started. "The key should be just around this next bend." They made the final turn, and saw a field full of identical blue keys. "Oh my. This might be tricky." The ponies searched every key, but they could see no differences in any of them. Rarity focused on a single key with her magic. After a few seconds, she made a realization. "Hold on everypony. I think that these keys are made of something combined with sapphire."

"And that means what now?" the farm pony responded.

"Remember what Discord said? The key is made of pure sapphire. It may take a minute, but should be able to find it." She held true to her promise, and soon held a sheet of metal, in a pattern that resembled the grooves on the diamond box. In an instant, the water had drained and the mares appeared back in the arena.

"Good job, my little ponies. It looks like that is the end of the first day. Tomorrow marks the conclusion of the Discord Games. Have a good nights sleep." He took the key and teleported all the ponies back to their homes, and placed the mares into their quarters, leaving only himself and his captive. "As for you," he said, looking at the blue pegasus, "how about we have a chat?" The monster walked around the floating orb, Lightning remained still, following with his eyes.

“What do you want to chat about?” His face remained serious and calm. He didn’t want to show any weakness to this monster of a being.

“You might not have noticed, but all day I have peeking into your mind.” The pegasus tried not to change his expression, although on the inside he was worried about what Discord was doing. “I did a little research into both your memories, and your powers. Upon finding a memory of Twilight doing her own research, I decided to take a look as well. I think I know exactly where your power came from.” His eyes sparked with energy, and Lightning’s own eyes grew wide with fear, as he released a scream of desperation.

End Chapter 9