Caverns & Cutie Marks

by TheColtTrio

Chapter 75: Angsty Ponies are Angsty

“I must say, you ponies have done a marvelous job of playing my little game,” Discord mused. He clapped his paw and claw together. “I applaud you. Well done.” No pony responded while Discord looked around at the party. Light Patch looked critically at the draconequus for a few seconds. He opened his mouth to ask a question but was cut off by Discords words.

“You all seem to be in one piece as well.” He smiled, eyeing each of the ponies in turn, only to have that smile disappear upon seeing the duct tape swathed Purple Heart.

“Oh,” he grunted, pacing over to where the purple earth pony lay. “Looks like you went all ‘Ace in the hole’, hum? Not to worry. I have enough juice left to de-hollow you.” The draconequus snapped his fingers and poked Purple Heart’s nose with a claw. The purple earth pony jerked awake and bellowed a pained roar, causing Fluttershy to squeak in surprise due to proximity and hide behind Light Patch. The duct tape was ripped from Purple Heart’s torso to reveal an unblemished purple coat.

“Ah,” Discord hummed. “He’s awake now.” Again Light Patch opened his mouth to ask a question before a sudden blow from behind stopped him.

“WHO’S BEEN DANCING ON MY CHEST?!” Purple Heart shouted, body contorted with pain and surprise. “WAS THERE TAPE HERE?! I CAN’T FEEL MY NIP-” A paw shot out and clamped the Purple Barbarian’s jaw shut.

“Tsk tsk,” Discord sighed. “Keep it PG-13, boyo.” Purple Heart’s cobalt eyes blinked and widened when they caught Discord’s grinning visage.

“Miph-mord?” Purple Heart’s voice was muffled by Discord’s paw.

“In the flesh!” Discord grinned widely, hoping that he was hiding his fear well enough.

Purple Heart’s eyes narrowed and rage sparked within them. He reached up with a hoof and tore Discord’s paw away. “YOU!” he roared. He tried to get up, intending to give the draconequus a thorough hiding only to fall drunkenly off the rock when his limbs disagreed to do as told.

“Hold up, you just got back from being mostly dead,” Light Patch said, moving to force the stallion to stay in place.

Wits nodded. “You shouldn’t go draconequus-bashing for at least an hour.” He turned around, glaring at Discord. “The rest of us, on the other hoof…” Light Patch placed a hoof on the mint unicorn to hold him back.

“Calm down, we have plenty of time. Besides, I’ve got a question and he can’t answer it very well with his teeth knocked out.” The pegasus turned to address Discord. “What was that you said while the bad tape trio was busy screaming our ears off? I thought I heard you say something about ‘knowing’ and ‘time’?”

Discord blanched. “Oh,” he mumbled, his exuberance dimming. “You heard that, did you? Great.”

Twilight scrutinized the flustered draconequus. “Discord?” She prompted. “Is something wrong?”

“Maybe,” Discord replied, a touch too quickly. “It’s probably nothing, nothing to worry about whatsoever.” His grin returned but the Mane Six could see fear flickering in his eyes. “Congratulations! You successfully completed my little game! Props to you all! Now to get us all back home!” He snapped his fingers, leaving no room for the ponies to respond.

Nothing happened.

He snapped again.

“Is somethin’ supposed ta happen?” Applejack asked, frowning critically at Discord when again nothing about the situation changed.

“Er...” Discord’s blanched look returned.

“Perfect,” Purple Heart sighed from where he lay beside the rock he’d previously been occupying. “Ya dun goofed, Discord. Well done.”

Wits looked down. “Am I home? Is this home? Did somepony reset my spawn point?” He turned back to Discord, tapping his hoof on the ground. “You wanna ‘splain some things, buddy?”

Discord shifted uncomfortably under the glares of ten ponies. “Not really?” He said.

“Tell us,” Purple Heart growled. “What. Did. You. Do?”

With a sigh, Discord sat.

On the ground.

“Oh carp, I’m not gonna like this, am I?” the grey pegasus asked before his mouth was zipped shut by a snap of Discords claw. The Mane Six ignored Light Patch’s silencing in favor of gaping at Discord’s lack of conjuration for personal seating.

“Remember Holdfast, Just Duty, and Bael?” The Draconequus asked, directing his question towards the six mares. When they nodded slowly in confirmation, Discord continued. “I created them specifically to antagonize or hinder them.” He jerked a clawed thumb at Purple Heart, Light Patch, and Wits End.

“So?” Rainbow Dash scoffed. “Why should we be worried?”

“Yeah,” Pinkie Pie chimed. “You made them for funnies. What’s so scary about that?”

“It’s not the fact that I created them that’s worrisome,” Discord denied. “It’s how.”

“And how,” Twilight asked, “did you create them?”

Light Patch frowned as he mulled over Discord’s words. Not that he created them so much as how. With the power like Discord, how would I create villains meant to be tailored to specific people... Light Patch pondered for a few moments before it clicked in his head. It’s simple: I’d read their mind to tailor the villain to their likes so they’d take them seriously and weaknesses to make them… dangerous. His eyes widened in fear.

“Mughmuh.” He mumbled, pawing at his mouth trying to unzip it. After a few seconds of trying he stopped and punched Wits End in the side to get his attention.

The unicorn stallion turned to glare at his friend but the moment he locked eyes with Light Patch, the pegasus’ hooves latched onto the sides of his head. “Muh mund ooh or mund, muh oughts ooh or oughts,” the pegasus mumbled through his zipped lips, almost like he was chanting.

“What in the world do you think you’re doing?” Wits asked. “Some sort of Vulcan mind mel-” The mint unicorn cut off as he realized what the pegasus was trying to tell him. With a growl, the unicorn whipped around to glare at Discord, actual rage in his eyes. “YOU PULLED THEM OUT OF OUR BRAINS? ARE YOU ABSOLUTELY INSANE?”

“Entirely possible,” Purple Heart moaned, eyes bright with terror. “We aren’t exactly known for reading fluffy, nice things. I mean, he based Bael off of a daemonhost from carping GRIM DARK of all places and threw in a dash of Enel and Doffy for seasoning!”

“What are you three talking about?” Twilight asked, eyes narrowed at the three colts. “Grim dark, vulcan mind melds, daemonhosts? What kind of ponies are you?” The colt’s babbling ceased instantly and they blanched, matching Discord’s expression.

“Now isn’t that an interesting question,” Discord mused. “What do you three think? Should we spoil the secret?”

Wits End shook his head, his lips pressed tightly together. “Mmm mn,” he muttered; a vaguely negative sound.

“Nope,” Purple Heart denied, heaving himself to his hooves. “I like being not being a bruise personified. Someone else do the-” He blinked and arched an eyebrow at Discord. “Huh. Looks like the voice ban is off. Joy.”

“Mmph!” Light Patch screamed through his zipped lips. A snap of the claws cleared them away. “Finally! Anyway, question: who’s gonna spill the beans?”

“Nose goes!” Purple Heart called, jerking a hoof to his nose. He then darted behind the rock he’d vacated.

“I’d love to,” Wits started, “buuuuut I gotta go... iron my... dinner. See ya!” With that, he took off to join Purple Heart behind the large rock. “Good luck!”

Light Patch nervously looked up at Discord only to find a dust cloud in his general shape. “I hope the lot of you cowards rot!” He glanced behind him before quickly muttering the Spathi prayer. He then fixed a nervous grin to his face before slowly turning to face the six angry mares. “Heh heh, so, uh... There might be something. A small, fairly inconsequential piece of information that we colts—and I would hasten to note that we didn’t exactly have a say in the matter of sharing this information for the record—haven’t exactly been in a hurry to try and bring up.”

Applejack’s eyes narrowed. Her Honesty senses were tingling slightly, signalling to the orange earth pony that Light Patch was dancing around the truth.

“Ah take it Discord did somethin’ that prevented ya from speakin’ of it?” She asked shortly.

“Something like that,” Light Patch said as he nervously chuckled. “Funny thing, huh? He made so that we were unable to talk or accidentally say something that would likely cause the suspicious of it to be brought up. He’s even kind of kept us from using our real names. Isn’t that something? I mean, magic like that has to be fairly powerful and you know it’s kind of lik-”

“Oh, get on with it!” Rainbow Dash shouted.

“Yeah, get on with it!” Purple Heart parroted from his hiding place.

“Hey, shut up! If you're not gonna help me explain this so I don’t get turned into a pinata at a Pinkie party, then leave me to it, you blighted rotters!” he shouted, waving a hoof angrily. He turned around to look at the mares again, all of the bravado he’d had fading instantly. “Ah... Heh...anyway, um... We aren’t exactly, I mean to say we’re not, we weren’t.”

“Yes?” Twilight and the mares leaned in.

“We weren’t born as ponies.” Light Patch squeaked.

“So what then, Gryphons?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Or were you buffalos?”

“Oooh what about a Flursering-Fluttiken-Wibklunk?” Pinkie asked.

“I said we couldn’t say what we were, Pinkie. No. Uhm... We were...uh...human,” Light Patch finished.

Twilight gasped in surprise. “You mean you went to Canterlot High? Is the portal open on that side now?” She moved in closer, putting her face directly in front of Light Patch’s face. “How’s Sunset Shimmer? And the rest of the girls? Are they all still in a band? How about Flash Sent-” Light Patch fell backwards as he tried to back away.

“I don’t exactly know. See, you’re thinking of the wrong planet full of humans,” Light Patch said from his prone position. “Don’t shoot the messenger.”

Twilight went silent for a moment, the gear in her head turning almost audibly. “So… You’re from the moon?”

“VE ARE FROM ZE DARK SIDE OF ZE MOON,” Wits shouted from the background. “VE KOME IN PEACE!”

“Shut up, Wits! You’re not helping!” Light Patch shouted, scooting away frantically. “We’re from a different universe! Discord nabbed us from our home, turned us into ponies, and threw us into this game with you lot!”

Rainbow Dash was the first of the mares to react. “So let me get this straight,” she said. “You three not only are from another world, which you somehow managed to not mention for… however long it’s been because time is weird here, but you’re from another world with creatures identical to another world we know about that has creatures with the same species name as yours, which also somehow had knowledge of our history and the six of us in particular.”

“That sounds about right!” Pinkie agreed.

“And how do you know about us?” Rarity asked.

“You have a TV show,” Wits offered from the distance.

“...Does it do well?”

“You have no idea.”

“We’ve spilled the beans. Can we stop playing the ‘Let’s pack in around Light Patch like predators and make him a’feared for his life’ game?” the pegasus asked, prompting the mares to give him a smidge more space. “Can I get a little more? I still feel kind of like if I was a hostage… oh.”

Twilight was alternating between glaring at the pegasus in front of her and the purple pony and minty pony peaking out from behind a rock that protected them both from her lightning bolts.“So you’ve been lying to us this whole ti-”

“Not to interrupt,” Discord cut in, appearing next to Light Patch, “but do you mind if we move this conversation elsewhere? Nothing extremely important, but we should probably not stay here for very long.”

“I’ve been pondering that myself,” Purple Heart said, poking at Discord with a forehoof. “What, exactly, are you doing here? Aren’t GMs supposed to stay hidden and throw threats at us from over a distant hilltop?” He poked harder, leaving sizable bruises in the mismatched godling’s side. “And what happened in that last quest, huh? Wayward Sun was more of a joke than Foxy the Silver Fox was. And that pirate was a sneaky little git.”

“Ah... Yes, well, honestly, I’d thought this whole little thing was starting to get a bit boring, but I’d have hated to have left it unfinished. So, I thought I’d rush-” The sudden sound of footsteps stopped Discord cold.

“It appears we have arrived just in time to make sure the truth is heard,” Just Duty said, walking towards the group along with the other two villains.

“Almost a shame.” Holdfast trotted up, flanked by a pair of ponies clad in full plate armor. “If we had waited a while longer, maybe they would have finished each other off.”

“Indeed,” Bael agreed cheerfully, bouncing up to crouch on the rock that Purple Heart and Wits were hiding behind. “Truth is always best between friends, don’t you agree?” The grey creature’s question was directed at Purple Heart as the Purple Barbarian moved to join Light Patch. Wits followed, hiding behind the hefty earth pony he now claimed as meat shield.

The Purple Barbarian opened his mouth to make a retort when he noticed something resting on the rock between Bael’s clawed toes. It was a glass jar holding a bright blue light that flittered back and forth, knocking against the jar’s sides in fruitless attempts to escape captivity. Bael followed Purple Heart’s gaze and a wide grin stretched across the bipedal being’s face.

“Noticed finally, haven’t you?” He clucked. “For shame, Primarch. Not even aware of his subordinates. All-Father would be disappointed in you. I captured her a ways back, leading some daemon-ponies of all things.” Long grey fingers reached down to pluck the jar from where it sat. Bael brought the vessel up to eye level, his green orbs sparking malevolently at the occupant. He languidly waved a hand and threads of green magic opened the jar and attached themselves to Navee’s fairy form, preventing escape.

“Tell me,” Bael mused, addressing the draconequus and ponies before him while his eyes blinked owlishly at a struggling Navee, “when you notice an insect on the ground, do you stop to consider it a fool? The life of an insect is so beneath you that it would be a waste of your time to even consider judging it. That would be an accurate summation on my feelings towards you ponies, regardless of my desired purpose.” Bael shoved Navee into his mouth and swallowed, drawing the power the Emerald Seed had given her back into himself where it belonged. The being smacked his lips and smiled darkly at the stunned mares and colts.

Without a word, Light Patch charged Bael, swinging his war hammer. Lips curving into a smug grin, Bael snapped his left hand forward and sent the grey pegasus flying towards Just Duty. “He’s all yours.”

“Thank you, demon. He may be a coward, but he still deserves a chance,” Just Duty said, pulling his warhammer out while moving closer to the downed pegasus.

“First of all,” Wits said, scrambling away from the biped, “dude just straight up ate fairy lady, which is entirely uncool.” He came to stand next to the rest of the adventurer ponies, plus Discord. “Secondly, what’re you three nerds doing together? I mean, you’ve got a guy who lost to me of all ponies.” He frowned at Holdfast. “Which is super embarrassing for you, by the way, ‘cause I suck at that kind of thing.” He spared a slow glance at the armored forms next to him before turning to Just Duty. “You’re… well, old, and from what I heard you barely beat Light Patch, so not entirely sure what you’re doing here.” Finally, the mint-colored stallion turned to Bael. “And you… Uh… Who are you, exactly?”

The grey figure grinned at Wits End from his perch on the rock. “I am the Purple Heart’s rage made corporeal,” Bael replied. “Your friend Discord made me with the sole purpose of antagonizing the Purple Barbarian. Before you ask about how I remain so calm, all I can say is that I am powered by his anger and hate. That doesn’t necessarily mean I am rage incarnate, though it does form a significant part of my personality. In regards to your original question, I am Bael.”

Wits End stared at the demonic biped for several seconds. His expression was blank, no sign of emotion. “Ok.” He shrugged. “Whatever you say, Edgelord. I gotta say, I’m surprised you’re not red and black, a bat pony alicorn, and in a relationship with Luna.” He coughed and shifted to lean against Purple Heart. “So he’s Original the Character, huh?”

The purple earth pony shrugged. “I dunno,” he replied. “As for his lack of black and red, my favorite colors are purple, green, blue, and grey. In that order. Discord must have been conservative with his color palette.” He cast an unamused glare over his shoulder at the cringing draconequus.

“I was pressed for time,” Discord whined.

“Poor show,” Wits muttered, shaking his head in disappointment. His head snapped up as he pointed a hoof at Just Duty, still advancing on Light Patch’s fallen form. “Hey! No! Leave it! Don’t make me find a spray bottle, buddy.”

“Relax, mage. I don’t plan on exactly killing him ye-” The ex-paladin was interrupted Light Patch’s hooves grabbed and pulled him close.

“I can taste colors.” He muttered deliriously. “And yours are the best, they taste like… bitter chocolate.”

Just Duty grimaced and pulled the dazed pegasus off of himself. “I want him at least conscious when the battle starts,” he said, glaring towards Holdfast and Bael. “I need all of you ready,” he whispered.

“So you’re set on fighting?” Twilight asked. “You know we don’t have to do this, right?

“Oh there will be a fight here.” Just Duty replied giving a look to Purple Heart and Wits End. Wits raised his eyebrows, only to narrow them and nod, almost imperceptibly. Purple Heart’s eye twitched and he blinked once before jerking his head in acknowledgement. He then moved his gaze to Twilight.

“Okay, this might not seem like the best time,” he wondered aloud, “but Navee just died. And you’re all okay with that? ‘Course, I’m not too choked up about it, but I’m not exactly apathetic to the whole experience.” He waved a hoof at a surprised Bael. “He just ATE her! Whole! One swallow, gone! Although, I must admit, thank you for not going titan and spraying blood ‘n’ guts ‘n’ wing everywhere.”

“You’re asking me that?” Twilight shook her head.

Purple Heart blinked. “Um, yes?” he replied. “You mares are certainly more moral and sensitive than I am. I honestly thought Fluttershy would faint after that.”

Twilight sighed, turning away from the threat of danger to face Purple Heart. “It’s because I’ve been thinking about what you said before. Surprisingly enough, after a while to ponder, I think you’re right.”

“Hooo?” The purple earth pony hummed, blinking curiously at the alicorn.

“About this.” She made a broad sweeping motion toward the world around them. “And about them.” She made a less-broad sweeping motion toward the foes around them. “Non-Player Characters, right? They served their purpose, and then they disappear. Like actors in a play. It makes this all easier to deal with.” Twilight turned to Discord with a smile. “After all, it’s just a game, right?”

“A game. You think that all of this is a game. Made by the god we stole power from?” Just Duty asked, turning to face Discord who was fidgeting. “Well then please, master of the game, summon an arch. The gateway to reality from this falsehood.”

Discord gulped, thought for a few seconds, then with a snap caused an arch to appear. Through the arch could be seen a town, easily encompassing all around the arch. But what caught the attention of Just Duty the most were the two stunned Alicorns standing locked in surprise before the arch. “Twilight?” one of them quietly questioned before Discord snapped again and the arch faded away.

“Ordinarily, I don’t like to show off,” Discord said, ignoring the sound of six scoffing mares and a couple of similarly disbelieving stallions, “but since you asked, I thought it might be worth showing you what you’re dealing with here.” The draconequus shot into the air with a peal of lightning and the boom of thunder. “Yes, I am your god. This world is my creation, and you will obey me!”

Bael swivelled his head around and blinked twice at the draconequus. “Yeesh, dial the system lord shtick down,” he sighed. “If you so much as ‘Jaffa kree’, I’ll kick your mismatched rump into the middle of next week.”

“Please do, I’m having a rough time this week!” Discord grumbled, floating back down to earth.

Wits End was staring at the space of empty air where the arch had stood. “Literally the way outta here,” he muttered, using his forehooves to outline where the entrance had been. “Literally. Right here. The way out.” He turned to Discord, a mixture of disappointment and confusion on his face. “What gives, DisLancie?”

Discord coughed into his eagle claw. “Weeeell, that was about as long as I could hold the portal open. You remember how he,” he jerked a thumb at Just Duty, “said they stole power? I’m not exactly running on all cylinders right now.” He leaned in to let the unicorn stallion hear the slow, soft thump of machinery echoing inside the draconequus’ head.
Rainbow Dash joined in on staring at Discord in disbelief. “So that whole display was…”

“A frantic, last-ditch effort to make a show of force to con them into thinking I was still in charge?” Discord shrugged. “It was worth a shot, right?”

“So you’ve shown you still have a few of your powers. It’ll still take a bit more to prove to me that I, and this world, and most everything I hold dear are tokens you made for some game,” Just Duty said, glaring at Discord. “Show me something that you, as the controller of a game, could do that a god couldn’t. Show me the rules you can ignore.”

“So he has to insta-kill someone, bring someone back from the dead, or make two people fall in love,” Purple Heart mused. “Roight. Genie away.” Wits coughed loudly and jerked his head at the two warhammer-wielders.

Discord mused for a second. “I’m not usually one for shipping, but… I suppose I have enough power for a little cheating.” He leaned in, placing a single index finger on the noses of Just Duty and Light Patch. “Boop.”

Light Patch’s eyes snapped back into focus, hearts now replacing the irises and he stood up, looking around. He froze when his eyes locked on Just Duty’s eyes, which lacked the hearts. The two stared at each other for seconds before they suddenly embraced each other, occasionally nuzzling each other. They whispered things to the other that the rest of those present were frankly happy to be unable to hear. The two leaned in to kiss and, moments before their lips touched, Discord touched them both on the head, causing his effects to disappear just as the two kissed. Their pupils shrunk and they shot away from each other like similarly charged magnets spitting and rubbing at their lips before settling on glaring quietly at Discord.

“That was easier than I expected,” Discord mused.

“I’m torn between wishing I had a camera,” Wits muttered, “and wishing I had some bleach.”

Fluttershy’s eyes were wide. “O-oh my…”

“Huh,” Purple Heart grunted, eyes rapidly blinking as if to clear an obstruction. “That was an experience.”

“I’ll let you hit me just once in the head to get that out of my memory,” Bael declared, pointing a finger at the Purple Barbarian.

Just Duty’s glare faded as he realized what had set in. “He was under the effects of a love spell. I remember seeing the hearts. I know what they look like, draconequus. This proves nothing.”

Fluttershy half-stepped forward. “Um, your eyes didn’t have hearts, though,” she quietly said, causing the ex-paladin to whip around to face her.

“You’re lying. We already know you support this being,” he accused.

“As much as I’d hate to think of that memory again,” Holdfast said with a retching noise, “she is not lying. Your eyes held no hearts.”

Just Duty looked at the older stallion before turning to face Bael for further confirmation; a nod was his reply. He thought for a few seconds before looking up at Discord with concern. “Then this is- everything is- This really is all a game?”

Discord nodded slowly in trepidation. “Yeah,” he confirmed. “Really, it was a passing fancy to have some fun. I just made you three to add some spice to the experience.”

“A passing fancy,” Wits echoed. “A fancy that was dumb. And stupid. And stupid. And dumb.” He made a grumbling noise that might have been mistaken for something about towns and RPGs. “So, when do we beat the carp outta these nerds?”

“I was just wondering that myself,” Bael hummed, standing up on the rock to tower above the ponies and draconequus.

Just Duty stood staring at the ground, obviously conflicted. Suddenly, he picked up his warhammer and locked a glare on Discord. “I shall make you pay for messing with me. For lying to me. I knew they would,” he jerked his head at the two he’d arrived with, “but for you lot to lie to me, try to fool me into thinking that I am as fake as the fight between kingdoms in chess? I thought you were better than that. I thought you were all heroes, but I can see the only hero here is me. I shall show you all who is real!” he shouted, charging at Fluttershy.

Fluttershy froze in panic and whimpered as the ex-paladin approached. Just Duty’s charge was aborted when Light Patch’s warhammer appeared in his way. “Come on, don’t do this. They weren’t lying. I remember the hearts as well.”

“Lies,” the blue-grey stallion shouted, spit flying from his mouth as he swung his warhammer. Light Patch ducked under the swing and countered with one of his own.

“Fine then, but fight me. This time there won’t be an artifact to save you by interrupting our fight,” the grey pegasus shouted, working hard to dodge the savage and anger-infused swings of his opponent.

Bael leapt down from his perch and landed in front of Purple Heart, his clawed toes digging into the earth. “Let’s see if you’ve gotten better than when we last fought,” the two-legged being chuckled.

Purple Heart growled deep in his throat and barreled forward to attack his nemesis, courtesy crafted by Discord. He’d have to Gibb-smack the draconequus after this. If they survived.

“I suppose that leaves you and me,” Wits said, drawing his blade. He squared off against Holdfast and his guards. “I’ll give your other leg a scar to match the first one I gave you.”

Holdfast motioned with his head; the two armored ponies moving in between the two matched stallions. “You owe me for the bits you stole from me. I owe you for betraying me at Gallopilli.” He tapped his good forehoof on the ground. “Beat him. I want him in pain, but not dead.” The two guards rushed forward, splitting away to attack Wits from opposite sides.

The Mane Six just stood there in awe, watching as the three colts faced off against villains made specifically for them. Applejack glanced over at Discord.

“Why did ya have to make villains like them?” she asked grumpily, gesturing at the two stallions and bipedal being. “Couldn’t ya have settled for somepony like Chrysalis or Tirek? We at least know how ta beat those two.”

“I wanted something original,” Discord explained, wincing at a solid hit Purple Heart received.

“So you thought digging around in their heads looking for material was the next best thing?” Rarity sniffed haughtily.

“Well...yeah,” Discord replied.

“It’s not turning out too well for them,” Rainbow Dash commented, sucking air through her teeth when Light Patch was smashed through a tree by Just Duty.

“This isn’t funny anymore,” Pinkie Pie sighed morosely.

“I agree,” Fluttershy squeaked, cringing as Wits End was bashed down by a two-hoofed blow from one of the armored guards.

“Well obviously,” Discord snapped. “They’re fighting on their own.”

“Ah think we should help them,” Applejack offered.

“I don’t think so, girls,” Twilight said. “This is something the colts have to do for themselves.”

“HELP!” the Colts cried.

“Oh.” The mares leapt forward, intent on assisting the three colts against their respective opponents only to be stonewalled by Bael’s words.

“I don’t think so,” he snorted, backhanding Purple Heart’s face and following with a kick to the stallion’s recently healed chest. This elicited a grunt of pain from the colt as he flew away from Bael and landed just by the mares’ hooves, minor bruises and lacerations pockmarking his coat.

“Enough of this!” Wits pulled himself up and lunged, thrusting the tip of his sword into the slit of one guard’s visor. The blade slid in with no resistance, hitting the back of the helmet and popping it clean off. The mint-colored stallion froze at the sight of what was inside; or rather, the lack of anything inside. “Wha-” He was cut short by a charging tackle from the other suit of armor, sending him skidding away to join Purple Heart in a heap.

A loud crack tore through the field. Everypony present turned to see the two hammer heads pulling away from each other. Light Patch was panting heavily and his movements slow, whereas Just Duty still moved as if the fight had only begun. The pegasus stumbled from exhaustion and fell to the ground. He wasted no time in rolling to the side to dodge the first swing and tried to raise his warhammer to block a second. Just Duty’s hammer smashed through the shaft in its way to smash into the pegasus armor. Still winded from the blow, the pegasus didn’t see the second that sent him flying to join the heap of the other stallions.

“Well,” Discord clicked his tongue. “That could’ve gone better.”

Twilight turned on Discord, her wings flaring. “Do something!”

Discord’s eyes widened in surprise. “What am I supposed to do? They stole most of my powers!”

“You had enough power to get here,” Twilight said quickly. “Teleport us out of here!”

Discord paused for a moment. “Huh. That would work, wouldn’t it?” He wrapped one arm around the 9 adventurer ponies, and snapped the fingers of his other hand. In a puff of smoke—which smelled faintly of fudge and butterscotch—they were gone, leaving the villains alone.
Holdfast growled, grinding his good hoof into the ground as his guards, one helmetless, moved back to stand behind him. “They got away!”

“We will find them,” Just Duty growled, “They likely won’t have left the kingdom. There is too much potential support here for them.” He pawed at the ground unknowingly, almost as if reassuring himself it was still there beneath him. “I’ll chase them as far as I have to so they’ll pay for their lies.”

“If they haven’t left the country,” Bael said flatly, though his eyes contained a spark of fury and irritation, “then it would be wise of us to destabilize any possible safe haven they might run to. Starting with the capital, Gallopilli.” He turned to face his two cohorts. “Together, we can find them and defeat them. This is our world now. Let us keep it that way.”

Author's Note:

Authors: Purple Heart, Wits End, Light Patch

Comments

[Dravkwn]

The story didn't advance as much as i thought it would. Some how you have cliff hanged my expectations most splendidly.

[Seeking Dusk]

Discord really is dumb at times

[bluemoon1996]

7278375

Agreed, thats what you get for diggin around in peoples noggins for inspiration for their nemesises. Nothing good is ever found in a bunch of nerds heads