Chaos and Courage

by SabreXio

Twists and Turns

"Now I know how Pac-Man feels" I mused as I proceeded through the hedge maze. I'd been walking for what felt like hours, but then again, Discord's magic could have been distorting my sense of time. Or it could have been the fact that I was letting my training take over, sweeping each and every path and corner like any one of them could be hiding a platoon of soldiers. Then I remembered Albatross; I could use him to plot a route.

"Albatross, do you read me?" I called through my radio. A few seconds later, my HUD showed a text response.

Affirmative: Awaiting orders

"I need a route to the maze center" I said

Plotting...Uploading to Heads-Up Display. I could now see a small map through my eye.

"Thanks. Maintain overwatch" I commanded as I moved on. I followed the map Albatross had given me until I saw something: It was Guardian. He was hovering in an open area in the maze.

"Guardian?" I asked surprised "What are you doing here?" The drone remained silent.
"Guardian, answer me"

"Answer what, sir?" I heard over my radio

"Guardian?" I asked again "what the...where are you?"

"I am onboard the Firestorm, why do you ask?"

"Because I'm looking at one of your drone platforms" I replied

"Impossible" he said "I have not moved from Ponyville. I recommend caution, Captain; this does not bode well"

"Roger that" I replied as I approached the drone. Once I was within arm's reach, it floated away down one of the passages.

This is TOTALLY not a trap I thought as I pursued the robot, which constantly ran away once I approached it. after what felt like an hour of chasing it, I rounded a corner and found something even more out of place: A battlefield.

"What in the world?" I asked out loud. The large open area was littered with spent rifle, shotgun and artillery shells, piles of rubble and even what looked like a demolished tank hull. I holstered my weapon and began investigating.

"Hmm...5.56 NATO, 12 Gauge and 155" I said as I examined the cartridges "I'm the only one with access to this kind of firepower, and I don't even have a tank"
Then I heard the disembodied laughter again. I grabbed my rifle off my back and readied it and the Masterkey.

"Show yourself!" I shouted as I scanned the area. Then I noticed the spent shells were rolling on their own, forming into a pile. As more and more brass joined the pile, it started shifting and morphing into a familiar serpentine shape until finally, Discord was revealed.

"I'll give you credit, that was mildly impressive" I said to the patchwork villain as I replaced my rifle

"Why thank you" he replied as he morphed a shotgun shell into a fang and placed it in his maw "It's always nice to be recognized for what you do"

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some Elements to find"
I started walking which is when Discord poofed in front of me again
"Not so fast, Captain" he said as he slithered behind me "You really don't want to go that way"

"and why not?"

"Well because it's really scary, of course"

"You don't need to worry about me" I said sarcastically as I pushed him off "I'm sure I'll be fine"

"Always the brave and fearless one I see" He said as he looked directly into my eyes which had an odd hypnotic swirling effect "You've been strong for far too long, why not be weak, why not be meek?"
I could feel something changing in me, like I wanted to be somewhere safe where no one could find me.

"Warning, warning: unauthorized runtime modification detected" My computer reported out loud "Erecting firewall... Quarantining malignant code...Preparing counter-virus...Dispensing...Running diagnostics...All systems report cleansed...Attack neutralized"

"Nice try" I said "but you have a lot to learn about computer hacking"

"Fine then we'll do this the hard way" He then placed his eagle claw on my head, which my computer detected as a second brute force attack. I just smiled and grabbed his arm. In one motion, I yanked the Draconequus toward me, flipped him over my head and slammed him into the ground.

"You don't learn very quickly do you?" I said as I reared back to punch the grounded hybrid. He vanished as my fist connected with the ground.

"And apparently, YOU still have a lot to learn about magic" he retorted as I rolled away and jumped up to face him.

"Well, that's unexpected" I said looked around. In the time I had been facing away from him, Discord had spawned a large group of ninja ponies in front of me.
"Seriously? Ninjas? What is this, a movie?" My combat software was already working to designate targets, as well as overclocking my reflexes and dexterity.
"Fine" I sighed "Let's do this" I dropped into a gunslinger stance, drawing my rifle.

"Ooooh" Discord said as he reclined in a lawn chair with a bag of popcorn "Dis gone be good"
I just rolled my eyes and smirked
"DRAW" I shouted as I raised my rifle and dropped to one knee. Time seemed to slow as my implants kicked in, channeling my inner action hero, I began picking off targets. In under five seconds I had dropped all the ninjas, but then I heard something behind me.

"He's over there" Called one pony who I didn't see. Then, a magic bolt impacted the ground next to me.

I dropped the rifle, it was empty anyway, and drew my pistols. Turning around , I saw five armored unicorn soldiers, each taking aim at me. I threw up my shield and braced for impact, shirking off the blasts like water. I dropped the metal wall and took my shots, blasting each pony with a headshot, dropping them like flies. I stood back up and re-holstered my M-9s.

"And that's how we do it in SOCOM" I said triumphantly as I looked back to the now stunned Discord. His jaw literally hit the ground.

"But...that's not...you can't...YOU CHEATED!"

"No I didn't" I said truthfully "I'm playing your game, I haven't used magic, and I don't have wings"

"Then how did you move so fast?" He challenged

"Simple, I used machinery and technology to augment my strength and perception to super-human levels" I picked my AR back up and slung it over my shoulder

"So you DID use magic!"

"No, I used science" I corrected "That's like the opposite of magic"

"How do you figure?"

"Simple, humans, and by association human cyborgs, can't use magic"

"I still say you cheated" He said defeated

"Look, it's really not that difficult: I beat your challenge, your mad, so you accuse me of cheating; but you can't PROVE that I cheated, so therefore I didn't. End of argument"

"Then explain it to me, O Master of Science" Discord demanded "Explain to me just how you did all that without magic"

"In order to do that you'd need a basic understanding of...You know what: I don't have time for this" I said as I turned and walked away down a passage.

A few minutes later Discord appeared again.
"You know Captain, I've been thinking" he said as his shrunken self perched on my shoulder "Maybe we shouldn't be against each other after all"

"Oh here we go" I moaned "The whole 'join me and we will rule the planet together' skit"

"Oh, you've heard it before? Well that saves some time" he said "What do you say?"

"You know...I think I'd rather step on a land mine then be you're partner" I replied as I flicked the little twerp off my shoulder.

"C'mon, think about it Captain, all of Equestria could be ours to play with"
I just kept walking
"All the chaos we can stand?"
Still walking
"All the mares you could ever want, hmmm?" he offered

"You can tell I'm ignoring you, right?" I asked as I rounded another corner
With a snap of his talons, Discord appeared further down the path leaning on the hedgerow wall.

"Hmph, and I thought you enjoyed chaos"
I stopped right in front of him. I've had enough.

"Enjoy...chaos" I said barely containing my rage "You think I ENJOY chaos?"

"Well of course, you never miss a chance to cause a little uproar"
I turned to him. He could see the rage.

"Listen to me, you biological jigsaw puzzle, I...do not...enjoy...chaos" I could feel my shoulder guns arming

"Ok, ok so you don't have spread any chaos"

"Let me make something very clear, Discord: you don't know chaos. You've never seen cities burned to the ground. You've never seen a friend's head explode not three feet from you..."

"Hey, hey easy now"

"And, you've never watched as you're body was destroyed and replace with cold, unfeeling MACHINERY!" My guns instantly focused in on the Draconequus.

"L-let's not do anything rash now Captain" he pleaded as he shrunk back

"I know why you're trying to recruit me. It's because you fear me"

"No, no I just thought we'd make a good team since we're so much alike"

"Alike? You think I'm ANYTHING like YOU?!". I took another step forward, now nose to snout with Discord "The only thing WE have in common is that we're both hybrids of something. What you don't seem to get is that while you are the so-called embodiment of chaos, I've been shaped by chaos and insanity from the start."

"Um, You know you're eye is on fire right?"
I ignored him. I knew my eye had changed from a golden gear to a crimson flame.
"I was born into war, the panicle of chaos; nearly killed by it, and just when I might find peace: I was resurrected to be the ultimate harbinger of chaos: the perfect synergy of human cruelty and mechanical efficiency."

"Right, so why not BE that and rule Equestria with me?"

"Because I never wanted to be that. This place has given me a second chance to find peace. These ponies don't see a killing machine, a freak or a monster. When they look at me; they see a friend..."

"Is THAT what you think? AHH HA HA HA HA!" Discord howled as he fell into laughter. I grabbed him by the shoulders and threw him into the opposite wall, then pinned him with my axe blade to his throat.

"And what's THAT suppose to mean?" I demanded

"You really think your 'friends' see you like that?" he said as he calmed down "They're only your friends because they don't want to be your enemy, you thick-headed grunt"

"You're wrong, I know it. You're just trying to play mind-games again, you subversive waste of skin"
He snapped again and appeared hovering above me
"Go ahead and believe what you want, but remember, they're only your friends when they need you"
I answered with some 20mm shells. He just poofed away. Then one of the hedgerows retracted into the ground.

"Arc?" a familiar voice asked "Is that you?"

"Yeah Twilight, it's me" I answered as I joined the group of ponies and continued on our way. But I knew things could only get worse.

Author's Note:

I can't write an ending to save my life.

Comments

[storydude23]

Interesting. I shall continue to read all arc angle stories, they intrigue me.