What it takes

What It Takes

Act 2: Chapter 1: Fated Meeting

By: N30N-THUND3R

-(L)-

A tall black-haired and pale bipedal figure was standing on the moonlit balcony that rested just outside of the nocturnal princess's bedroom. The human was looking out over the small groves of trees that had started to grow only recently. A dark coated Alicorn walked up behind the human and nuzzled his arm affectionately.

"It's going to become a marvelous forest one day. I think the name Everfree will be suitable, will it not?" The human spoke to Luna.

"You are right, Darius, like always. It is going to be a marvelous expanse of trees. But I must ask, what compelled you to call the forest Everfree?" Luna questioned.

"Everfree, meaning it can grow outside of the influence of ponies. I just hope that the growth of the forest won't affect the castle and any towns that sprout up in the future." Darius spoke calmly.

"There should be no need to worry. Tia and I can keep any encroaching trees away from the castle." Luna spoke defensively.

"I know that Luna, I shouldn't worry at all." Darius said before leaning in towards Luna and kissing her on her cheek.

Luna woke up and immediately looked out her door and onto the balcony. Her new room in the castle in Canterlot was modeled in the exact same way it was back before Nightmare Moon. Luna always looked out onto the balcony every morning since her banishment, hoping to see the one thing that would always calm her and make her feel secure. But no matter how many times she looked, Darius wasn't there.

-(F)-

Tourmalyte, Formalendale, and Nathanius had been residing in Ponyville for five days before anything remotely interesting happened. It was made known to the three humans that Princess Celestia was visiting Ponyville, being told this by Twilight. It was midday by the time Princess Celestia arrived, except she was accompanied by three figures. As they exited the carriage- which happened to be pulled by Pegasi -it was revealed that the three figures were in fact humans to the humans and the ponies that had gathered to greet the Princess.

The first human to step out was a tall man of around six-and-a-half feet, give or take an inch. He was wearing a plain black tee and shorts with no items on his person except for a three foot scabbard which held the blade of the sword by his side. Twisting around his arms and legs were the same chains that decorated Tourmalyte, except fewer in number. His dark brown eyes gave off a look of hospitality and pure determination.

The second human was a tan, redheaded girl wearing leather armour over plain white clothing. She had the build of a guard, a Flame Guard to be precise. Formalendale had seen hundreds of the trainees during his time at Pyrus's castle, and the armour matched.

The last human to step out of the carriage was another guy. His dark hair seemed to absorb sunlight as he stepped out of the carriage. His steel grey eyes scanned over Tourmalyte, Formalendale, and Nathanius. A smile broke out over his tanned face as he seemed to recognize the three humans standing in front of him. His mottled green and brown cloak looked as if it would provide ample camouflage in a forest.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Delta Squad, the pride and joy of the Legion." Said the first human. "The name's Cheshiren Grim, or Ches for short." Ches held out his hand for someone to shake it.

"It's good to meet you, Ches. I see you have chains like me. Would you like to see who got the better end of the deal sometime?" Tourmalyte asked with a cocky grin on his face as he shook Ches's hand.

"Sure thing. I've been needing a new punching bag for a while now. What has it been, Princess? Four, five days?" Ches turned to Princess Celestia.

"It was four days since you arrived and I found you three." Celestia answered.

"Well, now that's out of the way. Name's Skylar Tarqus. I already know you three. Prince Aquus, Tourmalyte Glare, and Pyrus's golden boy himself, Formalendale Bishop." Skylar said with venom and jealousy.

"It's good to see that the Flame Guard still accepts the arrogant ones." Formalendale responded with equal venom.

"Hey guys, don't fight here. If you're going to fight, do it somewhere that you won't disturb the peace." The third human said calmly.

"I agree, just because you two have the same fiery emotions that generally come from Pyrus's kingdom, doesn't mean you have to be at each other's throats." Nathanius said in agreement.

"Tourmalyte, I thought you were blind." The third human stated bluntly.

"I was, Jet!" Tourmalyte answered just as bluntly.

"Then why..." Jet started before being interrupted by Tourmalyte.

"Magic." He answered simply.

"Okay then." Jet said, still perplexed.

"Did you guys just see that?" Formalendale asked.

"See what?" Jet and Ches asked in response at the same time.

"That bright flash of light. Did you see it Princess?" Formalendale turned to Celestia.

"She isn't moving!" Nathanius shouted.

"Well of course not! I wouldn't want her to hear or see me." Discord said, floating not five feet above the six humans.

"Discord! What do you want?" Ches shouted at the floating Draconequus.

"I just wanted to make sure my little test subjects got along just fine. Let's see now. We have Angel Boy, Chained Glare, Little Prince, Descendant of the First, The Stolen Soul, and Wielder of Oblivion. Oh I'm going to have fun with you six. It's so painfully obvious now that you are all here together which one of you is going to die." Discord said glancing at Nathanius briefly. "And which three are going to change." He looked at Cheshiren directly when he said this. "And which ones are going home. Oh so much fun!" Discord said before literally popping out of reality.

"What did he mean by that?" Ches asked fearfully. Nathanius was standing stone-still, fearfully comprehending what Discord had just said.

"What did who mean by what?" Celestia asked, now unfrozen.

"Discord! He just showed up and called us test subjects!" Ches answered.

"Oh dear. It seems as if now is not a good time to be here." A new voice joined in. The voice came from a silver Unicorn with a pure white mane and tail. His cutie mark, a gilded mirror, stood proudly on his flank, the silver in the mirror rippling like a pool. His golden eyes seemed to look around the group of seven, resting on Celestia briefly and then settling on Tourmalyte.

"And who might you be?" Nathanius questioned viciously.

"You can call me Crystal or anything else really. Names don't matter to me." Crystal answered.

"Okay, Crystal. Tell me, do you know what Discord meant by calling us test subjects?" Nathanius interrogated.

"Unfortunately, I do. But I cannot tell you that at the moment. Until next time." Crystal said before vanishing in a golden light.

"I hate it when people, or ponies in this case, do that. Just when they reveal they know something, they vanish." Cheshiren said. "So Tourma, when are we going to duel?" He asked with a Cheshire smile.

-(D)-

Discord was sitting a cloud at the top of Canterlot Mountain. There was a bright flash of golden light as Crystal Glare, in his human form, sat down on the cloud next to Discord.

"You know what, old friend. Eventually, one of them is going to defeat you. And I will be there to help you move on." Crystal said to Discord.

"Pffft. You saw how disorganized they were. They'll never be able to work together and defeat me. I would place my money on that Cheshiren to be the one to single-handedly get close enough to try and get me. But he won't. You know as well as I do what happens to him. Their determination was the only thing that saved him, albeit at a terribly great cost. He managed to cope with his changes with the help of the Hurricane." Discord replied.

"What you call a terribly great cost, I call a blessing. The same thing will happen to two others, but not in the same fashion. You know exactly who strikes the final blow against you. And you are the one who strikes the final blow against him. Just know this, when it all ends, I am sure you will find the peace that you have always been searching for deep down." Crystal said.

"I never was searching for peace. I was searching for rest." Discord snorted.

"What's the difference?" Crystal asked softly.

A Few Excerpts From the Journal of Prince Nathanius Aquus IV.

Journal Entry #1 November 18th, 5248

I have decided to use this gift I got from my mother for my tenth birthday to honor her. Six years it has been since I got this and four since I last saw mother. I have decided to use this as a means of escape from reality. I will also be using this as a sort of reference guide for any and all things we may encounter as well as anything that might occur.

Today was the first day that the Academy assigned practice teams. I was paired with two other students, Tourmalyte Glare and Formalendale Bishop. What I find most odd about the two is that they are like me and are able to use magic. What we went through was an obstacle course with several Lesser Demons to fight through the course. We were able to complete the course in record time at seven minutes exactly.

Journal Entry #75 May 1st, 5250

It has recently come to my attention through reading all of my previous entries up to this point that my journal has a severe lack of detail on the vast armies of the Demon Horde. I have decided, with some help from Tourma and Formalendale, that I would create a compendium of our knowledge on the various demons that exist, including the twelve demon generals and Discord himself. It is with him that I will start.

Discord is what is known in mythology as a Draconequus. His physical makeup is similar to that of many fusion beasts, except for in the instance that his body is made of a mix of all creatures. From what manuscripts from witnesses of Discord, he has seemingly unlimited reality bending powers that seem to always have a chaotic effect on the surrounding world. His physical strength is still an unknown due to nobody being able to get close enough to gauge it directly.

Recommended course of action (In general): Try to avoid any encounters with Discord at all costs except for the loss of any team members. It is unknown whether physical strength could defeat him, but it is inferred through distant observation that any other type of attack, ranged or mental, is ineffective against him.

Recommended course of action (Delta Squad only(with no options for retreat)): Send in Formalendale and Tourmalyte to get in close while I use ranged and mental attacks to distract Discord. Have Formalendale use a combo of his 'fire pillar' and 'prism bolt' to distract from up close while Tourma goes 'minus all' and tries to engage in physical combat. I have labeled this plan of action 'Attack Form Omega'.

Discord's second in command, a demonic spirit named Bellum, is a violent and temperamental force to consider. She adopts a fighting style that favors speed and strength, but she lacks mental fortitude. She still is very dangerous and has been reported to be able to take over bodies, lifeless or not, and control them.

Recommended course of action (In general): Distract Bellum with physical attack while mounting a mental attack. If that fails, run. There is no other course of action.

Recommended course of action (Delta Squad only): Tourmalyte and I will distract her with direct attack while Formalendale, who has the stronger determination and will, begins a mental assault against Bellum. Once Formalendale has her subdued, I will use my Sapphire dagger to cut the spirit away from the material world.