Chapter 12: To Face One's Fears
Previously on The Adventures of the Apex Legion
That's right. Christmas time is finally upon us! Or as Equestria calls it, Hearth's Warming Eve.
Turns out, she didn't tell anyone where I went. Although, she did tell the others that I had to do something important, but that's pretty much it. She questioned me on what I talked about with the princesses. I only told her part of the truth. Actually, I probably told her a complete lie. I just said that the princesses are looking into my whole...problem.
In my mind, I told myself that I'll listen to Princess Celestia's request to think about the whole situation. My magic, Starswirl's vision, and learning the other traits of the Elements: honesty, generosity, and magic.
That was almost two weeks ago, and I'm still thinking.
A small part of me wants to just ignore the whole ordeal completely and go back to a normal life. Well...as normal as living as a pegasus in Equestria can be. But the events from a few weeks ago still linger in my mind.
When I heard that Hearth's Warming Eve was coming soon, I decided to use that as a...I guess you can call it a distraction.
"I think you'll all enjoy the time off to be with you families. To celebrate your own traditions," Headmare Twilight said.
Here in Equestria, I don't have a family to go back to (well that sounded really depressing to say out loud). Everybody believes that I have family back in Canterlot. The only ones that know the truth are the princesses and Discord.
But back on topic, the School of Friendship is more or less my home in Equestria. I don't have anywhere else to go. Neither in Ponyville nor Canterlot. Since my friends believe that I have family back in Canterlot, I'm sure they'd get suspicious of my origins if I ask one of them if I can go with them back to their homes. And I don't feel very comfortable with the idea of just asking the princesses if I can stay with them in the castle during the two-week break. I'm already living at the school rent free. I would ask Discord if I can stay with him, but I'm kind of scared to know where he lives. I bet it's some freaky alternate dimension where reality is an illusion and the universe is a hologram. Buy gold.
"That...is so not cool," Sandbar said as we all stared out the tree, which was now covered in some kind of purple goo.
"But...since no creature took responsibility for this mess, you're gonna have to help clean it up before you can go home."
I hope whoever did this is happy. Now if they chose to keep silent, then all of our friends can't go back home and celebrate the holidays!
I mean...would that really be a bad thing?
What do you mean?
Think about it. Like I said earlier, the school is the only home I have in this world. I don't really wanna spend the next two weeks here without the others. But if they were forced to stay here, then maybe the holiday break won't be as bad as I thought it will be.
"How can you guys be so cool about this?" Sandbar asked the three annoyed creatures.
"We're mad. We just show it differently," Smolder explained.
"More like you don't show it at all," Sandbar said with suspicion.
"Maybe it wasn't just one prankster. Maybe there were three of you, and you're trying to hide your guilt by not being upset!" Silverstream deduced.
"It does make sense," Ocellus said.
"Or...maybe whoever did it is only pretending to be upset, to throw us off!" Smolder accused as she pointed a finger at Silverstream and Ocellus.
"Me?! But I didn't!" the changeling pleaded.
Everyone's fighting and pointing fingers as if we were in a game of Among Us. We were originally at the notion that if nobody confesses, and nobody goes home. That's it. No harm done. And the worse part? That's exactly what I wanted.
"Just stop fighting, please!" I yelled as I ran up and pushed my friends away from each other, "You guys wanna know who did it?! Well, fine! It was me, okay?! I messed up the tree!"
"Do you...do you guys remember when I talked about my childhood in Canterlot?" I asked, to which they all nodded, "Well, being the only pegasus out of my family and the few friends I had, it made me feel...out of place. My family and friends always studied new spells and tried to become adept in magic, while I was just there, no horn to levitate stuff, shoot laser beams, or any other magical spells. Just wings that I've never learned how to use. I always felt like the odd one out."
"Meeting all of you, though, made me feel...complete. Like I belonged here. And I just...wanted to stay here. With all of you," I said.
"But...what about your family?" Ocellus asked.
"It's...complicated," I sighed as I turned my gaze away, "I'd rather not talk about."
"Hey...Legion?" Gallus said, grabbing my attention, "Thanks. You know, for being willing to take the blame for me? That was pretty cool of you."
"Don't mention it, Gallus," I said with a smile.
You know, Gallus was right. That was pretty cool of you to try and take the blame for him. Stupid, but cool.
Eh, it's no big deal. It's like what I said earlier. It doesn't really matter to me if I'm told to get some extra friendship lessons. I'm willing to do it if it means my friends can be happy for the holidays.
...generosity
My eyes widened and I stopped once I heard it. A sort of calming whisper. The same kind that I heard a few weeks ago at the Tree of Harmony. I backed up a bit as I shook my head to clear it. Unfortunately, my back was turned towards the bookshelves and I ended up nudging it. I snapped my head up as I heard a book topple over to see that the textbook I borrowed was falling.
The textbook would've hit me...if it wasn't for the cyan shield hovering above me.
The Adventure of the Apex Legion
Written by DeffBwade
Chapter 12: To Face One's Fears
Time for a little recap over the recent events.
Insert the rewind sound effect.
A few days after we all returned to school, everybody, and I mean everybody, got this brochure for another friendship school. And it wasn't just a school. It was a university. Wow. Early access for college. I think I'll pass. I'm still in high school after all. The others seemed excited though. Ocellus because it offered the same lessons in half the the time, or as she put it, twice the learning. Gallus because it was located in a place called Las Pegasus, and assuming that it was the pony equivalent to Earth's Las Vegas, I guess I can see why. I've been to Las Vegas myself, seeing as it mostly consists of gambling, drinking, and, to put it bluntly, sexual activities. Hopefully it's not the same in Las Pegasus.
Turns out the whole Friendship University was a scam. Something about how tuition was free, but the worksheets weren't. I don't know. I didn't pay attention to a lot of the details.
Fast forward, and Headmare Twilight gives us a lesson on compromising despite differences, using Professors Rarity and Rainbow Dash as examples.
Well, it turns out that those two share almost nothing in common.
When it comes to Professor Dash, she's into sports, so she used a game of buckball as her demonstration. The only thing is that Professor Rarity didn't pay attention and was more focused on writing out inspirations based on the jersey she was wearing. Needless to say, Professor Dash was pissed.
For Professor Rarity, she took the daredevil shopping. Need I go on? Professor Dash was bored and impatient. Enough said. Although I do have to question a few things. Why would ponies wear shoes when hooves are practically their hands? Furthermore, what madman thought it would be a good idea to make stilettos? Cause Professor Dash had a point. Heels on a pony are pretty useless. Not to mention the shoes Professor Rarity wore earlier left a mess of glitter everywhere. Headmare Twilight tried to play it off as just being banter, but...yeah.
Heels on a pony? What?
Later on, we found ourselves observing the two professors searching for gems in a cave, but Professor Dash ended up thinking like it was one of the Daring Do books and tried to find a secret room. She ended up breaking all of the gems that Professor Rarity collected, and...oh boy. The fight was not pretty. They claimed that because they didn't share interests, they weren't friends anymore.
But...as if this was a children's TV show, they eventually made up by going a quest for a stolen amulet (a quest that was staged by the headmare) and became friends once again.
Fast forward (again), and I witness one of the weirdest events I've ever scene.
Professor Pinkie gets a hold of some sort of instrument. I think it was called a Yo-la-dee-da-phone. Holy fuck, I butcher my words. And let's just say her playing...wasn't the best. If I had to rate her playing on a scale of 1 to 10, it would be...probably a negative 5. God, I was so close to ripping off my own ears.
That wasn't the strangest part, however.
I'm pretty sure that her playing of the Yo-loo-loo-phone was absolute shit, because the next day, Professor Pinkie was...basically the polar opposite of herself.
Her colors were all dull and gray, her mane and tail were flat, and she didn't exude her usual aura of happiness. I know I make a lot of depression jokes, but holy shit.
During my shift at Sugarcube Corner, Professor Dash tried to cheer her up by baking cupcakes with her. Let's just say that Professor Dash needs some baking lessons, but she just laughed it off. What she did next, though...still terrifies me to this day.
Shudder. I'll never forget that image for as long as I live.
I think I need to bleach my brain now. Is it bad that I preferred it when she was frowning?
A little. Anyway, I thank whoever the deity was that turned Professor Pinkie back to her cheery self.
Fast forward (the last time, I swear), and we watch this whole stunt show, and let tell you something. It was AMAZING! Extreme wouldn't be enough to describe the daredevils, the Washouts! Their whole show involved cannons, electrified hoops, flying through fires (with fire-proof flight suits of course), crushing platforms with spikes, and sawblades! FUCKING SAWBLADES! I'm not even joking!
It really was an amazing performance! I only wished we stayed to get their autographs.
Sigh. Yeah. But...despite all of the events that occurred, what happened back at the start of winter break still lingered my mind.
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. I mean, when I thought I could use a break from my powers, instead I unintentionally learned generosity and increased said powers...by taking the blame for something. Is it even considered generous to take the blame for someone?
There's a difference between generosity and over-giving. You selflessly wanted to take the blame so your friends can go home for the holidays. That seems generous to me.
But still. I'm not usually like that. I would never take the blame for something I wasn't responsible for, but you're right. I didn't want to see my friends fight and not trust each other. I just...did what I felt was right. And because of that, I'm now apparently able to form shields.
Teleporting, invisibility, enhanced hearing, and now shields? What else am I gonna do? Am I gonna be able to do a supersonic punch like the Flash? Actually, that would be epic. I want to do that. At least, I think do.
Over the past few weeks, the princesses and Discord kept sending me private messages, asking me if I was alright or if I thought about the whole situation. Of course, I just ignored them and threw them away. I don't know why, though.
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? I agreed to come to this world for some excitement in my life. So why is this whole ordeal with my magic just lingering in my mind and making me feel...stressed...or scared?
"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.
God, I hate history.
You gotta admit, thought, it's more interesting and less dark than Earth history.
True.
"Mind?" Smolder scoffed, "It's a tree."
"A tree that grew a castle," Headmare Twilight said as she pointed out the window, where her castle was in line of sight.
"Not to mention that the tree apparently spoke to me and showed me visions of memories."
"Was that before or after Discord made chocolate rain?" Silverstream asked.
"After," a pegasus filly whispered. What was her name? I think it was Cozy Glow.
"I'm never gonna learn pony history!" Gallus proclaimed before the bell rang.
Saved by the bell?
"You can all show me what you've learned on tomorrow's test. Friendship's effect on the course of Equestrian history," the headmare said, to which we all groaned. Well...except me. I'm one of those students that don't complain about stuff out loud. At least...in front of the teacher.
"Boo! History test! Fuck that!"
"Remember, study groups are both fun and effective," the headmare said as we left.
"So...who wants to study together?" Sandbar asked as we walked through the school.
"With other students? This is Equestria! If you want the real scoop, there's only one place to go," Gallus said before he approached a random tree and sarcastically said, "Hello oh ma-agical Equestrian tree. Can you tell me everything I need to know about friendship?"
Always the sarcastic type, isn't he?
Pretty much. As the tree did nothing, I decided to do a funny.
"Of course, Gallus," I said, putting on a wise guy voice, "The first lesson is that there are strength in numbers. Act as each other's buttresses," I laughed, "I always liked that word. Buttress."
"I really wish my jokes here weren't so...innocent. I miss the crude humor. Oh well. At least I can do it in my head."
As well as me. Fuck, fuckity, fuck fuck fuck.
How would you like to see the school counselor?!
How would you like to suck my balls?
What did you say?!
Oh, I'm sorry. What I meant to say was...how would you like to suck my balls...Mr. Garrison?
#SouthParkReference
We all then laughed and walked away. Unbeknownst to us, however, there was glow emanating from a nearby grate.
Later that day, we all decided to gather up in the library for a study session on tomorrow's history test. As much as I hate to admit, but Headmare Twilight was right. These study sessions really are fun and effective. We've done these kinds of things plenty of times in the past and they really do help. Why didn't I do these back on Earth?
Because you don't know how to drive?
I was gonna say that I managed just fine without them, but sure...let's go with that.
Ocellus, Sandbar, and I were doing just fine with our history knowledge, Silverstream was just reading random shit (that girl can be a total wildcard from time to time), Yona has her face in a book (though I'm pretty she's sleeping), and Gallus and Smolder...well...
"The Elements of Harmony grew the tree?" Smolder asked as Sandbar showed her and Gallus a picture of the Tree of Harmony. Ocellus, Sandbar, and I groaned at her question.
"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.
"You guys! Check this out!" Silverstream said before showing us a book on...plumbing.
"That's a plumbing diagram on how to fix a sink," Gallus deadpanned, to which Silverstream just giggled.
"What does that have to do with Equestrian history?" Sandbar asked.
"Nothing. I just can't believe that's how sinks work!" Silverstream exclaimed. Again, total wildcard.
"In all my life I have never seen any creature so interested in plumbing," I said before I looked back at Yona, whose face was still in a book, "Is Yona sleeping?"
Gallus walked up to her and removed the book, showing us that Yona was...
"Yep, definitely sleeping," I said as the yak continued to snore, "Should I wake her up, or..."
"Heh heh. Apparently...yaks no love study groups!" Smolder laughed.
"Shhh. Watch this," Gallus said before he started crawling his talons along Yona's nose.
"SPIDER!" Yona yelled out of fear while smacking her nose, before she, along with the rest of us, started laughing.
"Heh heh. Same, Yona. Same," I said. Seriously, I commend anyone that isn't afraid of spiders. They give me the heebie jeebies. Like that one time in Professor Fluttershy's class.
"Alright class. Today, we're gonna learn about arachnids," Professor Fluttershy said before she showed us a a glass box with a tarantula inside it. She then noticed me, "Um, Legion? Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," I said from the other side of the room, "Just uh...just a little scared of spiders."
"Oh. Well you don't have to worry about this little fella. He's quite harmless," the professor said before she out the spider, held it in her hooves, and started approaching me, "Would you like to hold him?"
The next thing she saw was a grey blur zooming out of the door.
The sound of a filly's giggle broke me out of my thoughts. We all looked and saw Cozy Glow on top of a ladder and organizing some of the books on the shelf. Cozy was a pegasus with a pinkish coat and freckles on her cheeks, a curly mane and tail consisting of two shades of artic blue and ribbons, moderate scarlet eyes, and a cutie mark of a chess piece. A rook to be specific.
"Hey Cozy. What are you doing here?" Sandbar asked.
"I volunteered to help Professor Sparkle organize these books," Cozy said, "So...experts on friendship history yet?"
"I think I'd be better off studying the plumbing book," Gallus sighed, "This stuff is impossible."
"Not to mention that history class is just boring," I added.
A flash of light made us turn our heads to see that Ocellus shapeshifted into Headmare Twilight. Seriously, changelings are so cool.
"Oh, come on Gallus," Ocellus said in the headmare's voice as she stood up on a table, "With good friends and solid study habits, anything is possible."
Gallus laughed at this.
"How about you just tell us what's on tomorrow's test, professor," Smolder suggested, to which we all agreed.
"Yes. Do that. You should totally do that," I said.
Ocellus then turned into Professor Applejack with another flash of light (it was more like a burst of light actually).
"Now hold on a sec. I can't give y'all a sneak peak," she said sternly, "That there wouldn't be honest."
Heh. Tell that to all of the teachers back on Earth who told my class what's on an upcoming test. Actually, wait, don't do that.
We all continued to laugh at Ocellus's little show before Cozy nudged her off of the table.
"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.
"Is she trying to say that I'm retarded? Cause I am."
"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.
Jesus. Does she not realize that that's just racist.
"She's...just a kid. She probably doesn't no any better?"
"Hey, kid," I said, "Maybe you should-"
"Oh!" she interrupted again, "I'll let you borrow my notes. It's what friends do. I'll right back."
"Okay then," I thought as Cozy flew away.
"We...should...get back to studying," Silverstream said, this time without her usual energetic demeanor.
TAP
TAP
TAP
Silence.
That was all there was as we all continued staring at our history books, trying to ingrain the information into our heads. The tension was so palpable you could cut it with a knife. The only sound that's cutting through the silence was Silverstream's claws...talons...whatever...tapping on the table constantly.
TAP
TAP
TAP
As the seconds passed, the constant tapping seemed to get more and more louder. Not that I was irritated by it or anything. It's better than just listening to silence.
TAP
TAP
TAP
TAP
TAP
TAP
"Could you stop that clicking?! I'm trying to focus!" Gallus suddenly asked.
"Dude," Sandbar said.
"What? We have a test. I don't know every detail about every adventure the professors went on like you and Legion do," Gallus said.
"In my defense, I don't know every detail either," I admitted.
"That's why we're studying together," Ocellus said.
"Right, to help us 'disadvantaged' creatures," Smolder said with a bit of anger.
"Yona confused. Why we all upset?" Yona asked.
"Yeah guys, come on. You don't have any sort of disadvantages. Don't listen to whatever Cozy Glow says abo-"
CLANG
We all turned our heads at the sound of the clang. Silverstream decided to be brave and investigate whatever that noise was. As she rounded a corner, she poked her head back and motioned for us to follow. When the rest of us rounded the corner, what we saw...irked us.
There was an open grate, with a crystal...branch...and a pulsing blue glow emanating from it. What's stranger was that the branch was jutting out between the holes of the grate cover. As if the branch moved the grate cover.
"I only glanced at that plumbing book, but I'm pretty sure this isn't supposed to be here," Silverstream said.
Smolder decided to be the ballsy one and approached and peeked into the grate.
"What are you doing?" Ocellus asked.
"Dragon. Strange magical cave. What do you think I'm doing?" Smolder said before she leapt into the cave.
"Wait. We're just gonna go into that mysterious cave?" I asked before the others started to jump in (Yona needed a little shove from Ocellus), to which I sighed, "I guess we are."
Once I flew into the cave and touched the ground, the sight irked me even more. All around us in this giant cave were more of those crystal branches that were all emitting a pulsing glow. It was...beautiful.
"Did we know this was down here?" Silverstream asked.
"I don't think anypony knows this is down here," Sandbar answered.
"Are you telling me that this giant cave was underneath our hooves the entire time?" I asked, "When were these caves even made?"
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?
"Welcome," Headmare Twilight(?) said with an unsettling smile.
Okay, the way she said that just gave off bad vibes.
"Headmare Twilight? Where are we?" Sandbar asked.
"Where you need to be," she answered.
Okay. Now that's definitely some bad vibes.
"Uh, Yona confused," Yona said.
"It is as I feared. You are not one. What has happened?" Headmare Twilight asked in a worried tone.
"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.
Bad vibes! Bad vibes! Bail! Bail!
"Our headmare is glowing, you guys. What is going on?" Silverstream said.
"Um, I vote that we bail and get back to studying for the test," I said with a fake smile as we all slowly started to back up.
"A test, yes," Headmare Twilight calmly said as the winds died down and her horn began to glow while she was looking up. We looked up as well and saw that the crystal branches near the entrance were bathed in a magenta aura and were starting to expand, "By sunrise, this door will be closed. Finish the test before then and you may go. Fail the test and here you will stay."
"Wait, what?!"
Before any of us could react, my vision was filled with a flash of light (yet again).
When the light finally dissipated and my vision came back, the first thing that I saw was a different cave. I mean, I'm sure I was in the same cave as before, but just in a different area. Out of instinct, I looked around and...yep...I didn't see any of the others. I hope they're okay. I hope I'll be okay as well. Welp, not gonna help if I just stay here. Time to start moving.
"Oh Evan MacMillan, please spare me while I'm down here."
Silverstream continued to look around as she strolled through the cave with a happy trot almost without a care in the world. At first, she expected to wake up in some sort of creepy area. Turns out, the cave she was in was quite beautiful. It became even more beautiful once she saw a waterfall.
"Oh!" she said. Feeling adventurous, she went through the waterfall, only for her eyes to widen once she realized she was in a very familiar place, "Mount Aris? Headmare Twilight sent me home?"
She recognized the rocks, the trees, the sandy beach, and just the overall mountain environment.
"Wait. Am I suspended?" she asked out loud as she hopped on the rocks. When no response came, she flew up into the air and searched the area, "Hello? Any griff here?"
It was quite odd to her. Mount Aris was usually teeming with hippogriffs that were spending time with their families, doing important guard duties, or pretty much just having fun. The only hippogriffs that didn't live in Mount Aris lived in Seaquestria, which was literally underwater around the mountain.
"They must be topside," Silverstream said to herself as she flew to another cave area. Suddenly, she heard a bunch of growls all around her, "Huh?"
She turned her head and saw a sight that scared her. A shadow. A shadow belonging to an asset that was all too familiar to her. Silverstream looked around as there were more growls and saw more shadows. Panicking, she quickly used her pearl and transformed into her seapony form and dove into the waters and hid behind a rock. Daring to peak, Silverstream poked her head out and saw a sight that scared her to the core.
More of the same shadows, but there was one that stood out from the rest. One that had the appearance of an ape, piercing blue eyes, a sort of crown on top of its head, and was the very reason that the hippogriffs went into hiding in Seaquestria for years.
"The Storm King?! He's back?!" Silverstream asked out of fear as she began to shake.
Gallus looked around the cave he was in. It was a single cavern that wasn't really that spacious (at least one could walk around and stretch their limbs), and had a bunch of pink and blue beams light reflecting off of the crystals around him.
"Big room. No exits. Big deal," Gallus shrugged with fake confidence.
As he continued to look around the cavern, his head accidently touched one of the pink lights, and that was when the panic began to settle in. 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.
"Nothing for yak to be afraid of," Yona tried to calm herself with a smile as she slowly moved through the dark cave, making sure to avoid the cobwebs around her. Yaks were well known to be tough and resilient warriors. Yona had to be brave. It was who she was, "Just empty cave. Nothing in here can hurt..."
Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard a sort of scuffling noise behind her. She turned around and saw nothing. Her bravado expression immediately fell.
"...Yona," she said with a panicked expression as she continued forward, unaware of the many glowing red eyes watching her from the ceiling.
"Ugh. Things like this just don't happen in the Dragon Lands," Smolder groaned as she flew through the cave. Sure, back home in the Dragon Lands she lived in a literal cave, but never before has she been teleported and forced to traverse through an almost never ending hallway.
Smolder eventually found herself entering another cavern, only to ask out loud, "Huh?"
"And I told her that she was the cutest pony of all ponies," a mare said to another mare as they were in the middle of a tea party. The tea ponies were sitting on chairs around a fancy table, and were even dressed in fancy dresses and had their manes stylized. The cavern around them was all decorated. Professor Rarity would consider the sight to be...what was the word...posh. The two ponies finally noticed the dragoness.
"Aw! Aren't you just the most adorable thing? Come join us," one of them ponies said, in a way as if they were talking to a newborn hatchling.
Smolder was shocked for second before putting on a stern face.
"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.
Ocellus continued to trot through the cave, looking around to see if her friends or an exit was around. It was quite perplexing, though. The cave she was in looked live the Changeling Hive. At least, before it was a luxuriant land teeming with vegetation. The green glowing rocks around the cave resembled...changeling pods.
A hoof step behind her made her turn around, only to gasp at the sight.
"Why do you look like that?" she asked the two changelings, who had the appearance of the changelings from before they reformed and Thorax became the leader. Their black chitin, the fangs, their blue eyes, and the holes in their hooves.
"What do you mean? We all look the same," one of the changelings said.
"Not me," Ocellus said.
"Of course not you, you're majesty," the other changeling said as they both bowed, "We'll go drain the love from those pathetic ponies in Ponyville just as you ordered."
Y-you're majesty?! Ocellus looked back at her hooves, only to panic as she saw that they were black as well and had holes in them. 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.
Sandbar continued to trot through the cave, searching for something. Anything that leads to the way out or to his friends. He lived in Ponyville for a long time, and not once has he seen or heard anything about...whatever this cave system is. He stopped in his tracks when he noticed two of his professors.
"Thank heavens we found you," Professor Rarity gasped.
"There's an emergency!" Professor Dash said with a look of determination before pointing a hoof at the the colt, "And we need you Sandbar!"
What the pegasus just exclaimed brought a smile to Sandbar's face.
"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.
Sandbar knew that he had to find his friends, but he figured that whatever his professors needed him for could be super important. He decided to follow them. Surely, the others could wait a little bit longer.
Sigh. Jesus Christ. How long have I've been walking through these caves?
About 1 or 2 hours at best.
Seriously?! That long?! Am I even getting anywhere?! Everything look the same. And I'm starting to get tired of looking at all of these crystals. I commend the miners both here and on Earth. Having to be in a place like this for several hours almost everyday mining resources and shit. This is hell, and I'm just walking around.
Maybe you need to lay off the sweets?
Are you calling me fat?!
U-um...I mean...look!
I snapped out of my thoughts and saw that I was no longer in a sort of hallway labyrinth full of crystals. This time...I was in a giant cavern full of crystals.
"God damnit! What the fuck is this bullshit?" I asked out loud. Hopefully nobody was around to hear my profanity. I sighed and then started exploring the cavern, "Well...at least it's something. Hopefully I don't die."
Let's recap. We find a cave, some sort of astral projection of Headmare Twilight approaches, said projection gets pissed at us for believing what Cozy Glow said earlier, then sends us to fuck knows where. One question. What the fuck?!
Hmm. Hold on. What did she say before she teleported us?
That the way out will close by sunrise? And if we fail...some sort of test, then we stay here?
Exactly. Maybe what's happening right now is a test. The others could be doing something similar right now as we speak...er...think.
That does make sense.
"But what sort of test is this?"
"Obviously it's a test on who has the biggest schlong."
"Obvious-...wait, what?" I asked as I snapped out of my thoughts. I froze in place and started to look for the source of the voice, "Hello? Is somepony there?"
"You meant say 'someone,' right?" the voice said...wait.
"That voice. No, it can't be," I mumbled. I then heard the sound of movement behind me. I quickly turned and just saw more rocks, "Where are you?"
"Um...nowhere and everywhere," the voice said as I heard more sounds of movement.
"All right. That's it!" I said, "Show yourself! I ain't scared!
"Alright."
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.
Holy shit.
Gallus tried everything to get out of this cavern. He tried looking for openings, moving rocks, walking around, but he couldn't find anything. As he tried to move another rock, though, his hindleg accidently crossed one of the pink lights, which caused the walls to close in some more. He immediately sat on his hindlegs and held his talons against the sides of his as he held his eyes shut.
"Come on, Gallus," he said to himself, "Keep it together. Deep breathes."
As the griffon continued to breathe in and out, the grinding of the rocks caused plenty of dust to form, some of ending up in his nostrils. Gallus felt his eyes start to water a bit before he sneezed, knocking backwards and hitting more of the pink lights. The walls started to get closer and closer, threatening to crush the young griffon, whom started to whimper.
"Okay, if this is a test, there's got to be a way out," Gallus said as sweat poured down his head, "It's just a puzzle...that will squash you if you don't figure it out."
Most of the griffons back home were known for their prides, especially Grandpa Gruff. What Gallus was not prideful about was the fact that he's afraid of tight spaces. The possibility of being crushed, the air becoming thicker and harder to breathe. All of it was frightening to the griffon. But one way or another, he'll get out.
He looked up and was relieved to see an opening. Sure it was small, but still, it was something. Gallus couldn't help but notice that the light coming from the opening was reflecting off of the crystal walls as one of the many blue lights.
Deciding to take a risk, Gallus reached out and crossed one of the blue lights. To his miraculous relief, the opening in the wall grow a bit bigger. Knowing what to do, Gallus continued to touch the blue lights. He accidently hit a few of the pink lights, which in turn, made the opening shrink, but he was persistent. 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.
As he escaped, though, his tail accidently brushed the pink light, causing the walls to fully close in. He didn't even wanna think about what would've happen to him if that happened while he was still in the tight cavern.
Turn left here, turn right there, a quick turn everywhere. No matter what Smolder did, even though she only could only go in one direction through these caves, she always found herself in the same decorated cavern with the same two ponies having the same tea party.
She growled in frustration as fire flared from her nostrils when she found herself in the cavern for the...
She didn't even know how many times she saw those two ponies, but it ticked her off nonetheless.
It was time to take matters into her own claws.
"Look, I have to get out of here and find my friends!" Smolder said, "So just tell me what to do to pass this test. I'm not afraid of anything."
"Um...I don't know. Seems like she's afraid to be cute and adorable, doesn't it?" one of the ponies asked.
"Or maybe...she's just afraid to admit that she likes to be cute and adorable," the other pony said.
"Mmhm."
Smolder hated to admit it, but...they were right. Dragons were known to be fierce and ferocious creatures. Former Dragon Lord Torch was a prime example of that. Attending the School of Friendship, though, was probably the best thing that ever happened to the young dragoness. It gave her the perspective that being tough doesn't always have to be what it means to be a dragon. However. she swore to take her appreciation for cute things to her grave.
"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.
The next thing she knows is that she's now being handed tea as she's wearing a frilly blue dress, makeup, and even a tiara. And she loved every second of it.
Yona frantically ran through the cave as hundreds, probably thousands, of spiders chased after her. They were on the ground, the walls, the ceiling, everywhere. She saw a small rock perch and immediately hopped onto it. She slammed her hoof onto the ground hard in a desperate attempt to scare them away. Unfortunately, the spiders only backed off a bit before slowly approaching again. One of spiders on the ceiling used a web to slowly land on Yona's nose.
She screamed and started running away again.
But no matter where she ran, the spiders were always on her tail. Yona continued to scream as the spiders started to surround her. As they started to slowly approach, the yak sat on her belly and held her hooves over eyes as she continued to hyperventilate.
Yona, being a yak, always saw herself as a creature of strength and not being afraid of anything. But here she was now, cowering as dozens and dozens of little arachnids approached her.
"YONA NEED HELP!" she screamed, "WHERE YONA'S FRIENDS WHEN YONA NEEDS THEM?!"
Yona dared to peek and saw that the spiders were only inches away from her face. She screamed and flailed about, making them back off. When she looked again, she saw that only one of the spiders was approaching her, while the others stayed where they were.
The lone spider then...chittered?
"Huh?" Yona asked.
It chittered again.
For some reason or another, Yona seemed to understand it. She didn't detect any form of malice or hatred in the spider's chittering, but instead it sounded...friendly.
"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.
Sandbar continued to follow Professors Rarity and Dash. They've been running for a while now. Where exactly is the friendship problem they needed his help with? They've yet to explain what the problem even is. And what about...
"Wait," Sandbar said as he skidded to a stop, "I really should find my friends."
The young colt honestly couldn't whether the faces his professors gave each other were of determination or disappointment.
"Darling," Professor Rarity said, "It was so generous of you to take the time to teach those other creatures about friendship."
Those other creatures? Why didn't she refer to them as his friends?
"But..." Professor Dash continued, "If you're going to do something that really makes a difference, we need to know where your loyalty lies."
Something that really makes a difference?
"You do want to impress us. Don't you, Sandbar?" Professor Rarity asked.
Well, that made sense to Sandbar. He nodded and continued to follow them.
I continued to stare with wide eyes and an agape jaw at human me. I mean...the black, messy hair...the chocolate brown eyes...he had to have been me. Thank god he...or is it I...was wearing clothes. It's just some basic clothes that I would normally wear at home. A t-shirt and sweatpants cause I'm a basic bitch.
I felt small at the moment and my pride shattered. Normally, I'm 5 foot...something, I don't know, but right now I'm about half of his...my...size. You know what? For future reference, I'm just gonna use 'he' or 'his' for human me's personal pronouns. Just to make it easier. You're welcome.
"What?" human me asked with confusion.
"What? What?! What do you mean what?!" I practically shouted out, "Y-you're me!"
"Yeah," he responded, "And?"
"AND...that shouldn't be possible!" I shouted.
H-how the...what...w-what the fuck?
"This can't be real. I must be dreaming, or high on cocaine right now."
"Oh, I can assure you dude. I am very much real," human me said, which made me pause.
"How...how did you..." I stammered.
"You're smart dude. You can figure it out," he said with an almost mocking smile.
"I-I..." I stammered some more.
"Okay," he sighed, "You know I'm absolute shit at explaining stuff, so I'll do the short version. In Leyman's terms, I'm a part of you."
"You're just...a figment of my imagination?" I asked.
"You...could say that. Sure, let's go with that," he said before he noticed my face, "You alright?"
"I-I'm sorry. It's just...really crazy that I'm talking to myself," I said as I attempted to clear my head.
My mind is so blown right now.
"I know, right? It's like talking to a mirror...that can talk back...Okay, now that think about, it sounds more creepy than crazy."
"Probably both."
"Yeah. But you know what is crazy?" he asked, "This whole...thing...with you doing magic and whatnot. But at the same time it's awesome as shit."
"Yeah," I said as I turned my hoof invisible, before I sighed and felt a bit dejected, "It is."
"Okay, now I know you're not alright," he said with a bit of concern, "What's wrong? And don't try to lie because we're the same person...pony...whatever."
I stayed silent for a bit. Should I tell him? I mean, he is right. It's kind of hard to lie to myself, but still. Is it really wise to talk about the problem that's been nagging me for a few weeks now? Pffft. Of course it is. I mean, he's literally me. I sighed before looking back at human me, but then a thought hit me.
"Hang on," I eyed the human me, "If you're me, then shouldn't you know what my problem is?"
He paused at this before chuckling a bit.
"Ah you're right," he chuckled, "Starswirl's vision. The fact that you might be the pegasus from said vision is stressing you out."
"Yeah," I nodded, "I mean...that journal the princesses showed must be over a thousand years old, and they didn't say anything seeing about a pegasus with this...harmony magic...over their rule. Until me, at least," I sighed before continuing, "Not once in my life have I thought about saving the world from darkness. No human has. What is this, Kingdom Hearts or something? Am I gonna have some kind of magical sword?"
That would be dope.
I was just being sarcastic at that point. I sighed again.
"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."
"Wait, what?"
Before I could react, the area around me burst with a cloud of dust and pebbles, and a couple of chains shot out of the ground, wrapping around my fore hooves and pulling me to the ground.
"H-HEY! WHAT THE FUCK?!" I yelled.
EY YO! BDSM!
I immediately started to pull on the chains in a vein attempt to break them, but these things must've been out of titanium or something. I tried to teleport out of them, but it started to feel like my energy was being rapidly drained, making me fall to the ground. I looked back up at human me and saw him giving me a look of apathy.
"W-what are you doing?!" I asked.
"Hm? Oh, I'm just opening your eyes to the truth."
Smolder continued to search around the caves for her friends. When she got back to the entrance, she reunited with Gallus, who questioned her on why she was wearing a dress, makeup, and a tiara. She immediately removed everything and practically threatened him not to tell anyone.
Normally, any dragon or griffon would've just escaped from these caves without hesitation. But they weren't like any dragon or griffon. So, they unanimously decided to split up and search for their remaining friends.
So here she was now. Searching the caves, until she started hearing the sound of crying that belonged to a certain changeling.
"Huh? Ocellus?" Smolder called out.
"Go away," Ocellus sniffled from behind a rock.
"We're still in those weird caves beneath the school. We got to get out of here," Smolder responded.
What she expected to be the cute, little changeling stepping out from behind the rock was instead a familiar changeling queen.
"Chrysalis!" Smolder shouted, standing up to the queen, "Where's Ocellus?!"
"I-it's me! I'm hideous!" Ocellus cried.
"Hello!" Gallus called out, searching for his friends. Unbeknownst to him, a certain sea pony heard his calling and peaked out of her hiding spot in the water, "Where are-WHOA!"
Silverstream suddenly leapt out of the water and tackled Gallus into the water, hiding him behind the rock she was hiding behind.
"Shhh! The Storm King will hear you," Silverstream whispered out of fear.
"The Storm King? He was defeated," Gallus tried to reassure the shaking sea pony, "We're still under the school. This is all just some crazy test."
When he heard loud growling, he peeked out and saw the shadows of the Storm King and his minions.
"Okay, that's horrifying," Gallus said before he hid back behind the rock.
"I can't find any hippogriffs or sea ponies. They must all be captured!" Silverstream said before Gallus flew out of the water and started to approach the shadows, "Gallus! Get back down here!"
As Gallus continued to stare at the shadows, he noticed that they seemed to morph. Gone were the shadows of the Storm King and his army, and replaced by shadows of rock-like figures.
"It's not real," he called to Silverstream.
"Yes it is! He's back and I'm never gonna see another sunset, or fly through a cloud bed, or study plumbing! He's gonna take away everything I love and I'm gonna be trapped down here forever!" Silverstream ranted as Gallus's eye started to twitch a bit before he relented his pride.
"I'm afraid of being trapped too. I'm scared of small spaces," he admitted.
"Really?" Silverstream asked.
"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."
This caused the sea pony to smile before she transformed back into her hippogriff form with a face of determination. She could do this. She trusts Gallus, and if he says that this all just a test, then she's inclined to believe him. The Storm King has been defeated, and he's never coming back. It's not real.
"H-hey! Storm King! You're nothing but a big, old bully! With a...silly name and a goofy crown! You thought you could scare us into doing whatever you wanted, but together we learned that we're stronger than you! And now that we're rid of you...we're gonna SOAR THROUGH THE SKY AND GO ON ADVENTURES AND NEVER GIVE YOU ANOTHER THOUGHT EVER!" Silverstream shouted, and with a stomp of her talons, she collapsed the rocks that were casting the shadows in the first place, "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."
"You're a changeling. Just change back," Smolder suggested to the transformed changeling.
"I can't" Ocellus said. There was a flash of green, but she still stayed the same, "Maybe my past was so horrible, it's still inside me just waiting to come out again."
While Ocellus was too young at the time, she was still aware of all the deeds the changeling used to do. Kidnapping ponies and and shapeshifting into them to blend into society, harvesting love off of unfortunate creatures, keeping them imprisoned, and even invasions. Thank the stars that she was not part of the changeling invasion of Canterlot. Sure, they did all that caused they needed love to survive, but in hindsight, there could've been other options instead of invasion.
"That's ridiculous. That's not who you are anymore. You've changed," Smolder reassured.
"Maybe we can't really change that much," Ocellus said.
"I like cute, silly stuff."
"I'm sorry. What?"
"I like cute, silly stuff!" Smolder shouted to the heavens, "But ever since school started, I've realized that sometimes I kind of don't mind silly stuff."
Ocellus started to laugh at this revelation, but a deadpan and angry expression from Smolder made her cover her mouth with her hooves.
"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."
This was starting to get ridiculous. Sandbar and the professors have been running for Celestia knows how long, and they've yet to discover the friendship problem. Was there even a friendship problem to begin with? To Sandbar, it's likely that there's none. Meanwhile, the others are doing who knows what. They could be in danger for all that he knows and his professors are pretty much just wasting his time at this point.
It was time to take a stand.
"Okay! Enough!" Sandbar said with a stomp of his hoof, "I'm not going anywhere without my friends!"
As he turned to walk away, Professor Dash suddenly flew in front of him.
"So you don't care about anypony but you're friends?!" she questioned with a stern glare, "Are you really that selfish?"
"Honestly," Professor Rarity said, "You really are such a disappointment."
Being selfish and a disappointment for caring about your friends? This...this isn't like his professors in the slightest.
"I've always looked up to you," Sandbar said taking a stand, "You would never turn your back on each other and that's what makes you strong. Now I have a group of friends that I think is everything as amazing as yours. If I have to give up on them to make you proud, then you aren't the ponies I think you were," he continued as Silverstream, Smolder, Ocellus, Gallus, and Yona approached from behind him, "I don't care if I disappoint you. You disappoint me."
The two professors then gave him proud smiles before disappearing.
"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."
"That's all very sweet," Smolder said, "Now let's find Legion and get out of this place!"
"Yona got this!" Yona shouted before she held out a hoof, showing Sandbar the lone spider that talked to her, "Can Spindel please help find friend?"
After Yona and the spiders talked for a bit, the yak asked Spindel if he and his spider army could help find the rest of her friends. Needless to say, her friends freaked out a bit when Yona suddenly approached them with an army of spiders following her. Oh boy. She wondered how Legion was gonna react, knowing that he too is afraid of spiders. Now that she thought about it, maybe he's going through a test similar to hers.
Spindel chittered in agreement before he and the rest of the spiders traversed through the caves, Yona and the others following close behind.
"O-opening my eyes to the truth?" I asked before I struggled some more in my binds, "What do you mean? Get me out of these chains!"
"Well, that depends. Are you gonna listen to my whole lecture if I do?" human me asked.
"Depends on what you're lecturing me about," I answered simply with a deadpan expression.
"Then no, I'm not getting you out of those chains," he stood up and began to slowly walk around me, "And don't worry man. I'm not gonna do some sussy stuff to you...unless you're into that. Oh, what am I talking about? You're me, so obviously you don't swing that way. What would you even call it if you do the deed with yourself-"
"Can you just get to the point?!" I yelled, taking him aback.
"Excuse the fuck out of me. Rude," he said sternly, "Anyway, yeah...um...Oh, who am I kidding? You know that I'm shit at explaining stuff unless I have a notecard, so please bear with me. Starswirl's journal said that in his vision, there was a pegasus utilizing this so called harmony magic against some sort of entity of darkness, like Sora from Kingdom Hearts. Hmm, maybe you should stream that game sometime in the future. Anyway, I know that at the time you were thinking 'that could've been anyone' or 'there's no way that's me.' And you're right. Starswirl had that vision, like, a thousand years ago, right? Right. But open up your eyes dude. In truth, you are the pegasus."
"And what makes you say that?" I asked.
"Come on. It's a pretty simple explanation. Do I really have to spell it out?" he asked, "Like I said, the vision was a thousand years ago, but if you're not the one, then why would the princesses go through such great lengths to bring you here? They would've have if another pegasus was the chosen one. Not only that, but Princess Celestia herself admitted that you were the only one they've found that's worthy of harmony magic."
"Shit. He's got a point."
"Of course I've got a point. I have an IQ of an avocado," he boasted, "If avocado's were smart."
"Okay," I sighed, "So there's no denying it. I'm meant to fight a dark entity filled with hate and anger," I then remembered what human me said earlier, "But what does this have to do with me failing. Now that I think about it, you should know that I'm not really scared of failure. As CG5 once said, 'But I got no, but I got no, Kakorrhaphiophobia.'"
Yes, that's a real word. The fear of failure for those who don't know what it means.
"Hmm. Maybe I worded it wrong," he muttered, "You're right. You don't have Kakorrhaphiophobia. You're not scared of failing. Rather, you're scared of being viewed as a failure because deep down...a failure is all that you are."
"Excuse me?" I deadpanned, "What?"
"I mean there's no denying it. You are, in short terms, a loser. A loser that fails at everything he does."
"Okay, a loser? Maybe. But a failure? Not in the slightest. I'll have you know that I earned an honors reward throughout all of middle school, participated in the Academic Decathlon, and received in honors reward for art after 8th grade. Not to mention, I have some of the best grades in the School of Friendship," I boasted, "Okay, my grade in Headmare Twilight's class is a B-, but that's still a win in my books."
The human me sighed, "Okay, again I worded it wrong. You're a loser that fails at most of the things you do."
"Like what?"
"Well, I'm glad you asked. Time for a little stroll down memory lane. Memories that prove you're just a failure," he said with a shit eating grin.
I didn't really understand why he was grinning, and was he darting his eyes back and forth? Unaware to me, a certain group of creatures have finally came and were now spectating this whole scene.
"Spindel says Legion this way!" Yona proclaimed as she and the others followed the spiders through the caves.
"Oh, I hope he isn't hurt or anything," Ocellus said with worry for the colt.
"Don't worry Ocellus," Smolder reassured, "Legion may not have much muscle, but he's still pretty tough."
"Yeah, have you seen him whenever he plays dodgeball?" Gallus added.
"Hey, since Legion's afraid of spiders, do you think he's facing a test similar to Yona's?" Silverstream asked.
"...some of the best grades in the School of Friendship," they heard Legion say, "Okay, my grade in Headmare Twilight's class is a B-, but that's still a win in my books."
"Hey! I can hear him," Sandbar said with a smile.
"Okay, again I worded it wrong. You're a loser that fails at most of the things you do."
That made the group slow down a bit. Was Legion just talking to himself? Why did he just call himself a loser?
"Huh. I never took Legion to be the crazy type," Smolder said.
The group quickly rounded a corner and entered a cavern filled with pillars crystals, but then stopped in their tracks. The pillars were placed in a way to make a circle, and in the center of the circle was Legion.
However, that was not what made the group pause and stop in their tracks.
Legion was on the ground and had his back turned to them, chains that came from the ground wrapped around his fore hooves.
That wasn't the strangest part.
Standing over the colt was...they didn't even know what the creature was. It was bipedal, twice as tall as the colt, wearing a shirt and pants, furless except for a patch of messy, black on its head, showing beige skin, and had chocolate brown eyes.
"W-what the..." Ocellus muttered.
"Like what?" Legion asked the strange creature, before it finally noticed their presence and put on a grin.
"Well, I'm glad you asked. Time for a little stroll down memory lane. Memories that prove you're just a failure," the creature said as it took quick glances between them and Legion.
That made the group stare in disbelief. That was...Legion's voice! Now that they looked closely at the creature, it strangely resembled Legion. The messy, black hair. The chocolate brown eyes.
"L-Legion?" Ocellus asked as she stepped forward, before she suddenly collided with some sort of invisible barrier. She started to pound against it, "H-hey! Legion!"
There must've been some kind of one way soundproofing spell as Legion didn't even acknowledge their presence. All they could do was watch.
"Freshmen year of high school. You meet a beautiful girl who has a kind personality. In the middle of the school year, you start to develop a crush on this girl. A couple of months before the year ended, the girl tells you that she's transferring to a new school after the year ends. And what did you decide to do? Pussy out and not tell her of your feelings. You've never seen her again ever since," human me ranted.
"Hey, you know that I'm a shy guy!" I fought back, "Okay? It doesn't make me a failure."
"Well, that wasn't the only time your shyness has costed you," he said, "Sophomore year. You develop a crush on one of your closest friends at the beginning of the year. Cut to a few months in the year, and you still don't tell her. She ends up getting a boyfriend and you fail at romance again."
"W-well...I just...didn't wanna risk jeopardizing our friendship. Yeah," I said, "And I'll have you know that I've gotten over it and moved on. If she's happy with her boyfriend, then I'm happy for her."
"Hmm. Persistent one, are you?" he asked, "Alright then, I guess it's time to bring out the big guns. Do you remember Lion?"
"Do I really have to answer that? Of course I do."
"Oh? So you also remember what you and others did?" he asked, to which I remained silent, "How you all just ditched him and severed your friendship ties with him? All because none of you thought talking to him about his, and I quote, 'childish behavior?' Remember that?!"
"Hey! That guy was a straight up asshole and you know it!" I yelled.
The group of friends gasped at Legion's profanity, but Smolder and Gallus had small yet proud grins on their faces.
"And you and the others thought that made it okay to stop hanging out with him?! You're better than this dude! You could've talked to him. Worked things out. But nooo. You didn't do any of that, did you? You didn't even have that much of a problem with him like the others, yet you didn't do anything and still left him in the dust! Talk about a disappointment to friendship!"
That actually hit me. I didn't want to admit it, but he's right. Jrod, Gaming, me. We all just abandoned Lion like a sack of potatoes, even though I didn't have that much of a problem with his asshole behavior.
"W-well...not all friendships last forever! Some end in happiness, and others end in travesty. It's just the way life is," I said, but I'm pretty sure I was just making excuses for what me and the others did.
"You wanna talk about travesty? Okay, let's talk about travesty," human said before he leaned closer to me, "Dead By Daily."
"Wha-"
"Sure, you didn't talk to him much, but you still considered him a friend. He was nice and supportive of what you did. He was a good kid," he said, "Overtime, though, you two started to drift apart, while he started to message you about his problems in life, thanks to social anxiety. And I'm pretty sure he also became depressed."
"But he-"
"Took medicine for it? Please. He told you that it wasn't working. He even showed you photographic evidence, but you already know that."
"I-I..."
"You know what's funny though?" human me chuckled, "In his last message to you, he said that it's not your fault, when in actuality, it is. You may not be a psychologist, but you still could've been a good friend and talk to him about his problems, and how life is worth it and that there's always happiness out there to find him, or something along those lines. But no. You failed at giving a simple talk about life being worth it, and you haven't seen or heard from him since."
"Shut up..."
"My guy! He could be dead for all you know! He was your #1 fan of your YouTube channel!" he shouted, "Now that I mention it, that's another thing you fail at. Life. Think about it. Father works with computers, mother's a nurse, big brother's in college now to become a nurse. And you? You waste your life away playing videogames with a couple of idiots and update a YouTube channel that nobody gives a shit about!"
"SHUT UP! SHUT THE FUCK UP!" I shouted with rage filling my eyes.
Every creature were taken aback from their friend's rage-filled use of profanity. For as long as they have known Legion, they've never seen him so...angry and broken. He was normally an optimistic and calm colt. But hearing about the instances where he failed to be there for others made just explode.
Was Legion really that insecure about failure?
Besides the sound of me taking deep breathes, the only sound in the cavern was silence as I just stared at the ground.
"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."
My only response was more silence. Because in the end, he's right. Everybody always saw me to be a kind and funny kid who's always there for his friends. And I made such great friends because of my whole demeanor. But...I can't help but question: Is that all just a mask? A mask to hide my insecurities and failures in life?
And what would happen if that mask was torn away, and all they saw was a pathetic kid and a shitty friend? Would they still wanna hang out with me? Would they just abandon me without hesitation? Probably. Most likely. I wouldn't blame them if they did. I'd deserve it anyway.
I'm nothing but a failure.
"I'm glad I got that through your thick, little skull," human me said as he stood up and started to walk away.
The only thing I could right then was shed a tear of sadness as I laid there in defe-
"Hey...Legion?" Gallus said, grabbing my attention, "Thanks. You know, for being willing to take the blame for me? That was pretty cool of you."
My eyes widened as the memory played in my head. Gallus thanked me for trying to take the blame for him. Not because I had to. But because I wanted to.
"Ocellus, you fly away and I'll continue running," I said.
"What?! That's a horrible idea!" Ocellus exclaimed.
"Can't blame me for coming up with an idea!" I said.
"Well, forget it! I'm not leaving you!" she responded.
Another memory. Back when I tried to leave that haunted set of armor away, but Ocellus was persistent to stay by my side.
"A-are you sure?! I-I mean...when the Timberwolf started chasing you, I got so worried," Ocellus said as her voice started to quiver a bit, "I thought...I thought..."
I then walked up to her and placed a hoof on her shoulder with a small smile adorning my face. Well...I don't know if quadrupeds even have shoulders, but you get the idea.
"Ocellus. I'm fine," I said, "But...thanks for worrying about me."
The lesson on teamwork. After the Timberwolf fell down the ravine, Ocellus was highly worried about me. I mean, everyone else was concerned, but Ocellus takes the cake.
"You alright Ocellus?" I asked with concern.
The response I got was Ocellus suddenly hugging me. Now, I'm not much of a hugger, but I felt like she really needed one. Especially since she was sniffling a bit.
"T-thank you," she sniffled, causing me to smile.
"Hey, I'll always be there for my friends," I said before we both let go.
A lot of the good times with the others seems to involve Ocellus, don't it? Oh well. I'll always remember that day where I defended Ocellus from a bully. It felt...good. Great...to...protect my...friends.
"Y-you all really consider me a friend?" I asked, "Even though I met you not even a day ago?"
"Of course," Ocellus said, "You stood up to Chancellor Neighsay when he was being mean to me and every Changeling out there."
"Yeah! He was all 'Changelings are just a bunch of meanies,' and then you were all 'you better apologize right now,'" Silverstream said.
"For a second there, I thought you were actually gonna straight up punch him," Smolder said.
"That would've a nice thing to see actually," Gallus said.
"I've decided," I said.
"On what?" Sandbar asked.
"I'm going to attend the School of Friendship."
Ocellus. Sandbar. Gallus. Smolder. Yona. Silverstream.
They all accepted me despite being so...different. Not to mention just meeting them within a few hours. But just why exactly? Why did they accept more or less a complete stranger to be their friend? All because they liked me for who I was?
Was that why I decided to attend school with them?
Because I felt...accepted?
"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 took deep breathes as I stared at the fiery aura disappearing from my hooves, before collapsing onto my haunches. I was sweating as if I was in a sauna, only it was stinky. I need a shower. Despite that, I still managed to put on a smile.
That was badass!
I know, right?! I legit just straight up falcon punched his ass!
Now it's time to get the fuck out of here!
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.
Fuck./"Fuck."
I sighed and got up.
"Let's get out of here," I said as I moved past the others, to which they followed, "I'll explain everything once we get out."
Silence was all there was between all of us as we ran back to the cave entrance with haste. When we finally reached the entranced, Sandbar immediately went to work with wedging between the roots that were closing the gate. If it comes to it, then I'm just gonna smash my way out.
Before I could come to a decision, however, a bright magenta glow drew our attention. We turned around and saw the astral image of Headmare Twilight, giving us that unsettling smile again.
"You!" Sandbar confronted, "You're not Headmare Twilight, are you?"
The astral image shook its head, to which Ocellus gasped.
"You're the Tree of Harmony!" she exclaimed.
The astral image nodded.
Huh. Well damn. I should've realized it sooner.
"The Tree of Harmony turned into a sparkly version of our headmare to talk to us?" Silverstream asked with confusion, "Did I miss a chapter in class?"
"I think the Tree turning into the headmare is some kind of metaphor actually," I said.
Is it a rock or is it a face?
I think...it's a metaphor.
"Like all living things, I change as I grow. As I have grown, so have my abilities," the Tree said.
"I'm a bit rusty on pony history, but since when does the Tree of Harmony trap creatures with their biggest fears?!" Gallus demanded.
"You chose what you saw in my roots. Not me," the Tree responded.
I was about to retort that I didn't choose to see human me lecture me about how I'm failure, but I stopped. Because in a way, I guess what the Tree said is true. The whole situation with harmony magic has been lingering on my mind for weeks, but at least now I know why.
"Our friendship got us past our fears," Sandbar realized.
And now I know that it's alright to be scared of failure. Because I'll always have my friends to get me through it and rise up to success.
"You were more concerned with each other's well being than your own," the Tree explained, "You were strong when your friends were weak. You let each other in, and showed that you would be there for each other no matter what. Friendship is in your nature."
We all looked at each other with proud smiles, until I stepped forward.
"Um, excuse me? Tree of Harmony?" I asked, "If you really are what you say you are, then you know who I am, right?"
The Tree nodded.
"So you also know that I can...well..." I stammered, but the Tree seemed to be reading my mind, when it nodded again.
"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 it really was the Tree whispering to me."
I heard my friends murmuring and questioning what the Tree said, but I ignored them.
"So...I really am the pony that Starswirl envisioned?" I asked, "And I'm the one that's destined to protect this world?"
That seemed to make the others pause.
"Pony destined to protect world?" Yona asked.
"From what?" Ocellus asked.
"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."
"Kind of like how our professors used the Elements to defeat Nightmare Moon and Discord?" Sandbar asked, to which the Tree nodded.
"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."
The Tree then disappeared in a flash of light that was bright as fuck! Holy shit!
When all of our visions cleared, we saw that the entrance was finally opened, and we didn't hesitate to exit out.
Fucking finally!
It's about time we got out of here. Now we can all go to sleep and forget this ever happened.
Well...not exactly.
What do you...Oh fuck.
When I was the last to exit, the first thing I saw was Smolder flying up to me and giving me a suspicious glare.
"Okay buddy, we're out. Now spell the beans!" she demanded, "What was all that back there?"
"How did you do...whatever you did...with your hooves?" Sandbar asked.
"And what exactly was that...thing...that was talking to you?" Ocellus asked, "And why did it look and sound like you."
I looked around and saw that all of my friends had questioning expressions on their faces. Knowing that the cat's now out of the bag, I sighed in defeat. Sorry Princess Celestia, but there's no weaseling my way out of this.
"What you saw..." I paused, "...was the real me."
And so I explained everything to them.
I told them about how I wasn't always a pony and that I used to be a human. I explained that the princesses came to me in a dream and offered me a chance to explore Equestria. They questioned if me being human was the reason behind my use of vulgar language back in the caves.
My exact response was, "You'd be surprised at how vulgar humans can be."
I was hoping that they wouldn't question me on swearing in a different language all this time. Spoiler alert: they did. Thankfully, Korean and Swedish weren't official languages here in Equestria. But still...they chastised me a bit for swearing nonetheless. Thankfully again, while they're not too happy about my potty mouth...well, except for Gallus and Smolder...they said that they wouldn't rat me out for that. But, as I said, they prefer that I kept a clean tongue.
Oh well, I can just swear in my head.
I then explained to them about what I did back in the caves. I told about the harmony magic I possess and what the princesses told me about it: Starswirl's vision, my supposed destiny, yada yada yada, you get the idea.
And then...sigh...I explained to them about my insecurities and fears, but only because they asked me about it. Otherwise, I would've just dropped it. Everything the other me talked about actually happened in my life. I don't care much about my shyness making me a coward towards past crushes. I really have moved on from them.
But Lion and Dead By Daily?
My experiences with them still pains me a bit to this day. Sometimes, I just wish I could forget about my past instances with them. But you can't forget about your past. You can only learn and move on from it.
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?"
"Are you kidding?" Gallus asked, "We're friends with an alien. How cool is that?!"
"Of course. And besides, 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? I'll be honest...I don't think it's a good idea to reveal my true self to anypony. Especially that Lyra pony."
"Lyra, there are times where I think you've completely crazy over your little obsession," Bon Bon said to her mint green friend as they sat in a booth at Sugarcube Corner.
"It's not an obsession Bon Bon! It's a known fact that humans exist!" Lyra yelled to her friend, "Someday...I don't when...but someday I will find one and I will catch it! I will treat with loved and care and raise it to be my personal companion!"
"Yeah. Not an obsession at all," Bon Bon muttered sarcastically as Lyra continued to rant.
Meanwhile, at the booth next to the pair was me, who was originally there just to clean the table, but instead heard everything and now had wide eyes. I slowly stopped scrubbing the table before putting the sponge back into the bucket filled with water. I slowly picked up the bucket, before full on sprinting back towards the kitchen, not caring if water splashed everywhere for I just wanted to get away from the pair of friends, mainly the unicorn.
I shuddered a bit at the memory.
"Our lips are sealed!" Silverstream exclaimed, followed by everybody nodding in agreement.
"You know what's funny?" I asked as I looked back to the entrance to the caves, "You'd think that after all this time, the professors would've noticed that the Tree of Harmony is literally below the school, but nope! Instead it was us, the students of the professors. I feel special now."
"Especially now that the Tree guided me towards unlocking the Element of Magic...to an extent. Follow your heart. Cryptic, but it's a start. I think."
"The Tree of Harmony is below the school?"
We all turned our heads towards a familiar pinkish filly that was walking towards us.
"Oh I hope she didn't hear my whole backstory."
"Oh hey Cozy," I said, "And yeah, the Tree of Harmony is apparently below the school. Long story short, we found this hole and decided to investigate...well, Smolder decided to investigate. The rest of us just followed. Anyway, we were all still a bit dejected from your little...speech...and the Tree got all ticked for believing that friendship wasn't in our nature, so it decided to test us. In the end, the Tree itself said that friendship is in our nature."
"We should probably tell somepony there's some giant magical hole in the library," Ocellus suggested, before a crystal root placed the grate for the entrance back in its place, "Or not."
"We have to tell our professors about this," Sandbar said, "They won't believe-"
"You can't!" Cozy panicked.
"Why no?" Yona asked.
"Because...it's my fault," Cozy said as she sat on her haunches, "You were all getting along so well and I felt left out. I was jealous, and it upset you so much the Tree of Harmony had to test you," Cozy gasped before she started to tear up, "I'm gonna get expelled for sure! Please don't tell anypony about this! Especially the professors! Please, please, please, ple-!"
"Okay!" Smolder interrupted as she yawned, "I'm actually too tired to do anything right now."
"Yeah. I need some sleep. What time is it any way?" I looked out the window and saw...the sun beginning to rise, "Please tell me the sun isn't actually rising right now?"
"I'm afraid so," Sandbar yawned, "But if we sleep now we'll miss the test."
"The test!" Gallus panicked, "I almost forgot!"
"Meh," I yawned, "Nuts to the test. I feel like I'm gonna pass out right now."
"Heh. We're all gonna fail," Ocellus said with a smile before she and the others laid down and started snoring peacefully.
"What if I tell Professor Sparkle that I needed help organizing these books and you were all kind enough to pitch in?" Cozy suggested, "I'll get you an extension!"
"Thanks Cozy. That's nice of you," Sandbar yawned before he too started to sleep.
Ah hell yeah. An extension? Let's go! Hey, maybe we can ask the other students what's on the test after they take it!
Maybe, but knowing Headmare Twilight, she's probably gonna make sure that we get different questions so we're not being cheeky. That's one of the disadvantages of having a teacher with a thousand IQ.
Damn.
"Hey Cozy?" I yawned as I laid down on my stomach, "Thanks for the apology. I admit, I wasn't exactly happy when you said those things to my friends, but jealously can be an ugly thing," I yawned again as my eyes started to close, "Remember that Cozy. And if you want to hang out with us, just...ask."
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."
Stats
Page generated in 0.021 seconds
Total duration
1,074 users online
1,935,561 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Quick, apply weedkiller to cosy before her plans grow to fruit!
yes