The Adventure of the Apex Legion

Chapters

Chapter 1: The Adventure Begins
Chapter 2: Welcome to Equestria
Chapter 4: First Day at the School of Friendship
Chapter 5: A Sugarcube Helper
Chapter 6: Learning to Fly
Chapter 7: A Field Trip Through the Woods
Chapter 8: The Legion's First Hearts and Hooves Day
Chapter 9: A Scavenging Hunt
Chapter 10: The Legion's Destiny
Chapter 11: Hearth's Warming Eve is Here Once Again!
Chapter 12: To Face One's Fears
Chapter 13: Attunement of Magic
Chapter 14: Dissolution of Magic Part 1
Bonus Chapter: Feelings Revealed
Chapter 15: Dissolution of Magic Part 2
Chapter 16: Dissolution of Magic Part 3
Chapter 18: Rise of Darkness
Chapter 19: Rite of the Legion
Chapter 20: Light vs. Dark
Chapter 21: The Legion's Final Challenge (Spoiler Alert: It's the Hardest)
Chapter 3: The Legion's Arrival
Chapter 17: Dissolution of Magic Part 4

Chapter 1: The Adventure Begins

Written by DeffBwade

Chapter 1: The Adventure Begins

In the magical land of Equestria, peace has thrived throughout the lands for as long as anypony could remember. Ever since the Pony and Griffon War, creatures of all kinds have lived in peace with each other. However, even though that was the case, the various kingdoms never actually collaborated with each other, unless it was to accommodate travelers and tourists, or official royal business. It wasn't until recently that a plan was made so that the various creatures will finally coincide with each other thanks to Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship, as well as her friends. Together, Princess Twilight and her friends officially opened the very first school that teaches friendship just a days ago, where creatures of all kinds are welcome to join, in hopes of making Equestria a better place. However, unbeknownst to Princess Twilight, her friends, or pretty much all of Equestria, friendship won't be enough to stop what's yet to come. Only one being of Equestria knew of this, and he had to do something about it as soon as possible.

It was another peaceful day in Equestria. The sun was shining, the temperature was nice, no disasters were occurring, colts and fillies happily played with each other, stallions and mares worked hard to make a living, and overall, ponies lived their everyday lives with smiles on their faces. Canterlot, the capital of Equestria, was no exception to this. Sure some of the ponies in Canterlot were complete snobs, always caring more about their status than others, but that didn't stop the rest of the ponies from living happy lives.

The same could be said about Equestria's two rulers, Princess Celesita and her younger sister, Princess Luna. Princess Celestia has just discussed with Princess Twilight about opening a friendship school a couple weeks ago, and needless to say, she was proud. It wasn't until afterward that the two sisters have recently receive a message from a friend of theirs named Discord, although they suspected it to be some kind of prank, despite how urgent it sounded. He is a bit of a trickster after all. They don't call him the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony for not playing tricks on others, as much as the two sisters would like that.

"Sister, must we really respond to his message? I don't wanna be the victim of another syrup prank," Princess Luna said with a hint of anger and suspicion.

She remembered the prank from a few weeks ago. Discord appeared out of nowhere and gave her an envelope with no return address and said that it was an urgent message from long lost friend of hers. When she opened it, the next thing she knows is that she's completely covered in pancake syrup. It took her about an hour long shower to remove it all, with a face clearly showing frustration. Thankfully, it got Princess Celestia to giggle a bit, so there's a silver lining.

"Discord is a friend Luna. We can't always suspect him of doing something devious, even though that's exactly like him," Celestia whispered that last part, "And besides, never have I seen him write a message that sounded so...serious. Perhaps it really is important."

"I hope so. As relaxing as that shower was, if I have to do it again to rid myself of syrup, I swear I shall send thee to the moon. Do you have any idea how hard it is to clean syrup off of our fur?! It sticks to it like glue!" Princess Luna complained.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, the sisters heard a mischievous laugh that they knew all too well, followed by, "But your face when it happened Loonie was priceless!"

With a flash of light, the Spirt of Chaos appeared in front of the sisters, still laughing a bit at the younger sister's misfortune.

"Like seriously, you were all like," he said before making his face to look like Princess Luna and imitating her, "AH! What is this vile concoction?! My long lost friend dares to treat the Princess of the Night like this?! I shall find thee and punish them for their treacherous deeds!"

Ever since Princess Twilight and her friends saved Princess Luna from Nightmare Moon, she had been slowly getting used to modern day Equestria everyday. And just as Discord said, she didn't know what syrup was and how sticky it can be. So technically, Discord helped her in her growing into today's society, in an unintentional sort of way that angered her greatly. Another silver lining perhaps.

Seeing the anger building up in her sister, Princess Celestia decided to break the tension.

"Calm down Luna. Discord is merely being himself," Princess Celestia said with an unnoticeable bit of disdain before turning back to the Spirit of Chaos, "Now Discord. What is it you needed to see my sister and I for? You said in your letter that it was of upmost importance."

To this, Discord changed his face back to normal, but no longer had that grin on his face. Instead, he had a look of almost pure seriousness, one that Princess Celestia has never seen before. The only ones that have seen him make that face before was Princess Twilight and her friends, when Discord gave her Scorpan's medallion. When Tirek gave him the medallion, Discord really believed it was a sign of gratitude and loyalty, only to be betrayed in the end and stripped of his magic. Facing the fact that he betrayed his true friends, he ended up helping Princess Twilight and her friends defeat Tirek and send him back to Tartarus.

"Indeed it is Celestia," he said.

Now this grabbed Princess Celestia's attention. Discord normally never really calls her by her real name. It would either be "Celly" or "Tia," or something along those lines. Perhaps this isn't actually a prank.

"There is something I must show you. For I fear that Equestria will be in grave danger unless we do something about it," he said and with a snap of his finger, he, Celestia, and Luna disappeared in a flash of light to some unknown location.

2:00

1:59

1:58

1:57

1:56

1:55

The timer continued to tick down as the SWAT soldier walked through the building, his extendable shield facing forward and pistol in hand. He had just lost contact with his last surviving teammate and he was now alone to face the terrorists. All he knew was that it was confirmed that two of the five terrorists were now dead and where his objective was. It was moments like these that really stressed him out and make him highly vigilant to his surroundings. It didn't help that he was slow due to how heavy his armor and shield were, and how all he had to defend himself was a pistol.

Why did he choose to take this job again? Oh right. Because he needed-no...he wanted to do what was right. And somewhere in this building is a hostage, and the terrorists that kidnapped them are planning on killing them unless they get a helicopter within a minutes. Unfortunately, they didn't have a few minutes, so it was either kill all the terrorists, rescue the hostage, or the hostage dies, and the soldier was not planning on an innocent life being taken away. There was also the possibility that he could die, but that didn't deter him from his mission.

As he walked through the halls and towards the stairs, he saw the body of one of his fellow soldiers lying dead on the ground, bullet holes visible all over their torso. He closed his eyes for a few seconds and silently prayed for them. He knew what was to come when he signed up for this. He knew that people die and sometimes...he just couldn't do anything about. The only thing he could do is accept the fact that their dead, pray that they live peacefully in heaven, and move on with his life. It's just natural when you're part of the SWAT team.

He turned the corner and finally saw the stairs up ahead. He started to approach it, when suddenly a head popped out, as well as an assault rifle, and started shooting at him. The soldier immediately extended his shield, covering his entire body from the bullets and causing the terrorist to cease fire. The terrorist came from around the corner and started to approach the shielded soldier, gun raised at him.

"Come on. Come on. Just a little closer," the soldier thought.

When the terrorist was now just a few feet away, the soldier suddenly dropped his shield and shot a few rounds from his pistol. Thanks to the laser attached to it, he was able to get a few shots to his torso and then finally a clean, accurate one to his head, killing him instantly. That makes three of five now dead.

"Amateur," he thought.

He proceeded to walk up the stairs and reached an open doorway. He checked out the map on his phone and saw that this was the room the hostage was confirmed to be located in. This was it. The moment of truth. It's a matter of life and death at this point.

He quickly checked the timer on his phone.

1:02

1:01

1:00

0:59

He still had plenty of time before the terrorists decided to kill the hostage. He too out his drone and deployed it onto the ground. Going into a crouching stance next to the doorway, he used his phone to quietly send his drone into the room. It was a bedroom shaped like an T, from his position at least. To the left where the room turned was a large bed, and behind it was one of the terrorist, wearing green camo-looking armor, a metal helmet on his head with a small opening revealing his eyes, and manned on a turret with a face shield. Where the intersection was located were two doors, one that led to another hallway and one that led to a small bathroom. Peaking from out of the bathroom was the last terrorist, wearing black and blue armor and a Russian mask, his SMG raised at the doorway he was hiding next to. To the right where the room curved...was an open window.

"Seems one of my comrades tried to go the direct approach," the soldier thought.

0:47

0:46

0:45

The clock was ticking. He had to come up with a strategy soon or it would be too late.

Gunning down the remaining terrorists was out of question. Sure he had a shield, but if he tried aiming at the two, he would have to put his shield down a bit, completely exposing his head. Hip-firing was also a bad idea as they were either shielded or peeking around a corner, making the target much more smaller. And if he reloaded, it would also leave him exposed. There was also the risk of accidentally shooting the hostage.

He could try going around and go trough the other doorway, cathing the two by surprise. However, if he ran around, they would definitely hear his heavy footsteps approaching, and sneaking his way around would take way too long.

He could try rushing in with his shield extended, but if he grabbed the hostage, it would once again leave him exposed to gunfire and the hostage might get shot in the process.

0:42

0:41

0:40

He quickly checked his pockets for any more equipment and saw that he still had his three smoke grenades. This immediately gave him an idea. It was risky, but it was the only way he would at least have a chance to getting the hostage to safety. He had to take it.

0:38

0:37

Taking a deep breath, he pulled the pins off of the smoke grenades and threw them into the room and right next to the hostage. The sound of gunfire was immediate as the two started spraying their guns. The soldier extended his shield and started to slowly enter the room and towards the hostage. The kick back the bullets gave as they bounced off his shield was instance, but it was do or die. Blindly walking through the smoke, he saw the hostage ducking down to avoid the gunfire. The soldier retracted his shield and reached down to grab the hostage.

"Come! I get you out!" he said as he grabbed him and putting his shield on his back.

Running the risk of being shot, he ran through the the door that was next to the bathroom as the smoke started to clear up. The hostage was secured but he wasn't out of the woods yet. He just needed to get the hostage to the extraction point and the mission would be complete. He saw an open window and sprinted towards it before hearing footsteps coming from behind him and the feeling of bullets hitting the shield on his back filled him with adrenaline.

The soldier reached the window but realized that he would have to turn around to deploy his grapple line. The feeling of the bullets ceasing and the sound of a gun reloading gave him the opportunity he needed. He quickly spun around and sent a barrage of bullets at the terrorist, killing him. He then turned back to the window and attached the grapple line to it before hopping out, the hostage still being held in his arms. As he heard more footsteps approaching, the soldier rappeled down towards the ground, the flare indicating the extraction point in sight.

With all his might, he ran to the flare and...

EXTRACTION SUCCESSFUL. GOOD WORK.

"YEES!"

"NICE!"

"LET'S FUCKING GO!"

My friends and I cheered as I successfully managed to rescue the hostage and win the match. It's moments like these are the reason I like using Montagne. He has a giant shield, and he has smoke grenades, so I can just go in and out either to rescue a hostage or to plant a defused. I'm honestly quite surprised Tachanka and Smoke didn't hit me as I ran out of the room. Hell, how did Smoke not killing when I was running to the window. No offense, but these guys kinda sucked and it was a bit of an easy win, but I still felt accomplished. I'm not usually this good whenever I play Rainbow Six Siege. I'd say about...60% of the time I play this game I'm actually good.

Dude, don't flatter yourself. It's more like 20% of the time you play this game you actually do good.

H-hey fuck you man. I'm not that bad at this game.

You're YouTube videos say otherwise.

Pay no attention to that! L-look! I got MVP!

As the game told me that we got the victory, there stood my character, Montagne, in the center, with words MVP and a score of 3775. I held down tab and saw that I got 7 kills, 1 death, and 3 assists. My best performance so far. And the best was...it was all recorded so now I can flaunt my amazing skills at this game on the Internet...

Emphasis on "amazing."

...as well as my friends and I making stupid but funny jokes the entire time.

"Oh my God, I am hard right now looking at that," I said as the screen showed me getting the MVP. Unfortunately, it was natural to assume I was hard looking at Montagne, as my friends demonstrated.

"Wait, what?" my friend Gaming said.

"What?" I immediately said, "I didn't saying anything."

"I don't know," my other friend EnenraX (or Jrod as me, Gaming, and the others call him) said, "Seems kinda sus."

"AMONG US IN REAL LIFE! SUS, SUS!" I replied back. I pressed F4 on my keyboard to stop the recording, "Alright that seems like good footage for a video. I think I'm gonna stop for now."

"Yeah same."

"Okay"

"Time to edit," I said before opening VSDC (not sponsored by the way) and started to edit the footage together.

Here is a horror fact. If you go to your bathroom mirror at 3 a.m. and scream "AMONG US IN REAL LIFE! SUS, SUS!" exactly 666 times then you will hear a sound from your parents room saying "SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Then you will see a figure with a belt coming to beat your ass. Some people report they got set up for adoption while doing it.

Huh. I guess that's why my parents decided to leave me on that church's doorstep.

Fucker, you don't even have parents. You're just my brain talking to me...somehow.

Yeah. Sure. Let's go with that.

Anyway, I think some introductions are in order. My name is...

"AWW FUCK!" I heard Jrod say on Discord (again, not sponsored).

"What? What happened?" Gaming asked.

"I fucking spilled my water," he replied back, "Now I gotta go get some towels to clean this up. I'll be back."

"Damn bro. Feels bad," I said over the mic as I heard Jrod set his headphones down.

Anyway, as I was saying, but I am also known on YouTube as DeffBwade, aka the Apex Legion. I've been a youtuber for about one and a half years now. It was Jrod who taught me how to record and upload videos. At first, I just did for fun, but then it became something I loved to do. So I got new recording softwares and video editors. I'm quite popular nowadays. I don't wanna toot my own horn, but I have plenty of subscribers to make me feel accomplished and successful.

You have 373 subscribers. I don't know what the fuck you're talking about.

Alright man! Geez. Fuck you. Anyway, you may also know me for taking on the persona as the leader of the Legion from my favorite video game, Dead by Daylight. Hence the nickname, the Apex Legion. In case you don't know what Dead by Daylight is, it is a 4v1 horror game where four people are survivors trying to escape and another plays one of many killers trying to hunt down and kill the survivors. And...that's pretty much it.

"Alright guys, I'm back," I heard Jrod say.

"Hey," Gaming said, "Yo DeffBwade?"

"Huh?" I asked.

"After you edit the footage, you wanna play some DBD?" he asked.

"Maybe another time," I replied, "I'm kinda taking a break from that right now."

"Okay."

Wait, I thought you just said that was your favorite game.

It is. I just really want a break from that game for a while. I've been grinding a lot of blood points lately for the new Resident Evil chapter coming out in a few weeks. Also, haven't you heard the saying "if you do the same thing over and over and over again, it will eventually get boring?"

Who the fuck said that?

Me.

"So more Siege then?" Gaming asked.

"I don't know man. I think I'm done with Siege for today," Jrod said

"Honestly, after that game, same here," I admitted as I finished putting my intro, outro, and the footage together, as well as adding the transition effects. I started to export the finished video file and then went onto YouTube.

"Okaay? So, what do you guys wanna do?" Gaming asked.

"Uuuuh, I don't know," I said, "I'm just gonna watch YouTube."

"What other games can we play?" Jrod asked.

"Hold on let me check," I said as I paused the video and went onto my Steam (not sponsored once again) library.

"Let's see here. Left 4 Dead 2? Maybe. Destiny 2? Warframe? Jrod and Gaming don't wanna play either of that. Payday 2? I would, but Jrod's Payday 2 is broken...for some reason. Garry's Mod? Nah, it uses a shit ton of storage space, and I only have about 75 gigabytes left. Borderlands 2? Gaming would play that, but Jrod doesn't have that game. Among Us? Do I even have to answer that?" I thought.

Yes.

No. I don't wanna fucking play Among Us.

Grand Theft Auto V?

Like Garry's Mod, that uses a shit ton of space.

Minecraft?

We're all bored of that game.

Last Year?

That game is practically dead.

Assassin's Creed 3?

That game's not even multiplayer.

Holy shit! Make up your mind!

I'm trying to think of something!

"We literally got nothing else to play!" I complained aloud.

"What about that new game? Hood: Outlaws and Legends? That seems fun," Gaming suggested.

"Maybe," Jrod said.

As I continued searching through the Steam library and eventually started checking out the store, I heard the notification indicating that the video file has finished exporting, but at the moment...I didn't really feel like uploading anything. Just one thought was going through my mind.

"Alright, I'm fucking bored as shit," Jrod practically read my mind, to which I blew a quick raspberry.

...

"Do you guys wanna play Roblox?" Jrod asked.

"I'm down," Gaming said.

"I'm not really a fan of Roblox, so..."

"I...think I'll pass," I said, "I think I'm gonna go take a nap, but I'll be back on later."

"Alright, see ya," Gaming said.

"Ew. Who takes naps?" Jrod asked.

"I do, bitch," I said before I disconnected from the call. I turned off my computer and walked over to my room. I removed the covers from my bed and hopped on, laying my head on the pillow and putting the blanket all over me. As my eyes started to close and I drifted off to dream world, one thought ran through my head.

"Either in video games or real life, I need an adventure."

Do you know what I like the most about sleeping?

Uh...rest, relaxation, and peace of mind?

Fuck no! Well yes...but I can also dream of whatever the fuck I want! I can imagine myself in any video game I want, any movie I want, any...ahem...video I want. What happens in my dreams is up to me, as it is up to me to decide what is reality and what is fantasy.

I'm afraid to ask, but...what videos are you talking about?

Don't worry about it.

You're disgusting, you know?

Well, blame teenage hormones for making me think such thoughts.

Anyway, imagine my surprised when I saw that I didn't see a dark forest and a crazed killer chasing me with a cleaver, but rather a starry void. Am I in the world of Dead Space? I hope so. I really want to shoot crazed Necromorphs and stomp on their bodies. But I wasn't in some kind of space ship, nor was I wearing a space suit. So...I was simply just dreaming of space?

"An odd choice of a dream brain, but okay. This is quite a beautiful sight. Mesmerizing even," I said aloud.

"While I appreciate thy compliment, I can ensure you this isn't a dream," a young, regal voice said, startling me.

I screamed and immediately turned to voice and saw...

What the fuck?

...two...ponies...that looked like they came from a cartoon.

One was about a foot taller than me. She (assuming because she had long eyelashes and hair) had white fur, purple eyes, hair and a tail that each consisted of the colors pink, blue, and green and seemed to give gravity the middle finger, golden regalia including shoes, a necklace, and a tiara, a long horn protruding from her head, and giant ass wings.

The other was shorter than the white one, but still had a royal vibe to her. She dark blue fur, blue eyes, hair and a tail that also said "fuck you" to gravity and looked like it was made out of stars, and, like the white one, had royal regalia, a horn, and wings.

They pretty much looked like polar opposites of each other.

"Greetings young one," the white pony started to speak, "My name is Princess Celestia, the princess of the day."

"And I am Princess Luna, the princess of the night," the dark pony, whose voice I now recognize as the one that startled me, said.

"Ookaay?" I questioned, followed by silence.

...

"Well?" Princess Celestia asked, "Aren't you gonna introduce yourself?"

"O-oh...sorry," I said, "My name is..."

Seriously, what the fuck is going on?

Shit if I know.

"It is a pleasure to meet you," Princess Celestia said.

"It's...nice to meet you...h-hold on! Why am I even introducing myself to figments of my imagination?" I questioned to no one in particular, "In fact, why am I even dreaming about two regal looking ponies that can talk brain?! Take me back to the realm of Dead By Daylight now!"

"Again, I can ensure you this isn't a dream," Princess Luna tried to reassure me.

"Alright then. Prove it," I challenged, to which Princess Luna stepped up to me and poked me in the arm with her horn, "Ow! Wait...why did that hurt?"

"It's like my sister said, this isn't a dream," Princess Celestia said as I continued rubbing my arm.

"W-what? W-where am I then?! Did you kidnap me?! Why did you kidnap me?! *Gasp* Are you gonna force my parents to pay a ransom of $1,000 or else I'm never going home?! You monsters! How are they even gonna send you money if where at...who knows where?!" I practically screamed, making them taken aback from my outburst. Surprisingly, Princess Celestia still had a calm expression.

"Calm down, young one. I promise you we didn't take you away from your family," she said.

"Hate to break it to you, but I'm not really the type to go out and hang out with friends. And even if I was, I would let my family know if I was going out. So what do you think is gonna happen when they get home and see that I'm missing?" I questioned.

"You don't have to worry. When you left your world, time has frozen for you. When you go back, it will resume," she said.

"So...just send me back then. You apparently brought me here, you can send me back," I said.

"Before we do though, we would like to offer a proposition," Princess Luna said.

On a normal basis, my instincts would tell me to decline and remind me of stranger danger, but it's not everyday you meet two cartoon ponies that can apparently send you to the shadow realm so fuck it I'll take the risk. REEE!!!

"Okay. Color me intrigued," I said, "What sort of proposition do you have me?"

"We would like to offer you a chance to visit our world, Equestria," Princess Celestia said.

I probably shouldn't have taken the risk.

"Wait, what?" I asked.

"Like I said, we would like for you to visit our world. Equestria is a place of peace, friendship, and harmony. It could sure use someone like you," she repeated.

This pony isn't serious, right?

She doesn't look like she's joking.

"You're...not serious about this, right?" I asked.

"Our sister speaks the truth," Princess Luna answered, "Do you not believe us when we say so?"

"Well...no. You can't just go up to someone and say 'Hey. I'd like for you to go to another world and do whatever.' Then again...I'm talking to two cartoon ponies that brought me to another realm, so I guess it's not really hard to believe," I said, "Hold on, you said that...what was it called...Equestria?"

They nodded.

Jesus. The horse puns are real.

"You said that it could use someone like me. What do you mean by that?" I asked.

"You are kind, optimistic, courageous, loyal, and tenacious, are you not?" Princess Luna asked, "Not to mention you have quite the goofy personality."

"Well...I guess those are some words to describe me," I said, "I'm not sure about 'courageous' though."

Back on Earth, I was always considered the nice one. I was that one kid that was always optimistic about...well...almost everything. Jrod even once said that we need more people like me in our friend group, not that our group was bad or anything. I was also considered quiet, a bit shy, and, like Princess Luna said, goofy. I just need to dress up like a dog and boom, perfect life.

Wait, you're a furry?

What! No! I'm not a furry.

"One last question. Why should I go with you in the first place?" I asked.

"You desire an adventure, do you not?" Princess Luna asked.

"How did you..." I trailed off.

"We have seen what is going on you head," Princess Celestia answered, "You are excited for the vacation that awaits you, but you cannot think of a way to actually enjoy it."

With a sigh, I responded, "Yeah. If I enjoyed going outside a lot, I'd probably want to go out and enjoy the outside world, but since some people refuse to wear a mask during a pandemic, there are limitations. And also because I can't drive yet. And at the moment, there aren't any fun games I can play with my friends."

"Ah yes, we have also seen the moments you've had with your friends. It puts a smile on my face watching others have such a good time with their friends," Princess Celestia said before pausing, "However, for the sake of Equestria, I ask you to refrain from making such...inappropriate jokes. My little ponies wouldn't consider them to be funny."

"I...can do that," I paused, "Wait, you know about those jokes and my friends."

They nodded.

"Like every single memory I've had with them and every single joke we've made, you know about?" I asked.

"We have seen every single memory you've had throughout you're entire life," Princess Celestia said.

"Holy shit," I said.

Is it just me or does this make you question even more on why these two want you in their world?

Yeah. You're right. They said that Equestria is a place of friendship and harmony. They said they want me there because of my kindness, perseverance, bravery, and sense of humor. Yet at the same time, they know I'm pretty much like every other teenager on Earth: completely inappropriate at times. Uh...no offense to any teenager out there. And if they really saw all of my memories, they must know that humans can have a violent mind. I mean, my favorite video game involves gutting people alive and sacrificing them to pretty much a god.

"And I would like you to tone it down on the language."

My point exactly. So why would do they want me in Equestria?

Beats me. Maybe they want a bit of excitement in their little pony land.

Question for another time perhaps.

"If that's what you want, then okay," I said, "I think I'm ready now. So what's gonna happen when I arrive in pony land?"

"You will wake up at Canterlot Castle, Canterlot is the capitol of Equestria by the way, in a brand new form and we will be there to greet you," Princess Celestia said.

"And you're sure I don't have to worry about my parents wondering where I am?" I asked again.

"Yes, we do not wish to cause stress on one's loved ones," Princess Luna said, "Now then, shall we go to Equestria?"

"Das klingt super," I said, making them give looks of confusion, "Uh...sorry...that means that sounds good."

"Very well. Let us concentrate and we'll be there in no time," Princess Celestia said before she and her sister closed their eyes as their horns started glow, Celestia's glowing yellow and Luna's glowing blue.

"Maybe I'll be getting the adventure I wanted after all."

...

"Wait, did Princess Celestia say in a brand new fo-"

And with a flash of light, the princesses and I disappeared.

Author's Note

Hello everybody, and welcome to the first chapter of the rewrite of The Adventure of the Apex Legion.

I know I said I wanted to make this story better, but to be honest, I didn't think the first chapter would be 5000 words long, so...achievement unlocked?

Chapter 2: Welcome to Equestria

Previously on The Adventure of the Apex Legion

"We literally got nothing else to play," I complained aloud.

"Either in video games or real life, I need an adventure."

"We would like to offer you a chance to visit our world, Equestria," Princess Celestia said.

"Das klingt super," I said, making them give looks of confusion, "Uh...sorry...that means that sounds good."

"Maybe I'll be getting the adventure I wanted after all."

...

"Wait, did Princess Celestia say in a brand new fo-"

And with a flash of light, the princesses and I disappeared.

The Adventure of the Apex Legion

Written by DeffBwade

Chapter 2: Welcome to Equestria

Welp. Now I know how the killers from Dead By Daylight feel whenever I blind them with a flashlight. Spoiler alert: it fucking hurts! It wasn't even like a flashlight, but instead a flashbang or fire cracker. Holy shit, if I end up blind from whatever the princesses did, I swear I'll tear off their horns and shove them so far up their ass it won't be visible anymore.

That's nasty bro, but it's kinda kinky as well.

Excuse me good sir, but I'm the one that's supposed to have the perverted mind.

I mean...technically I am your mind so...

Damnit.

Hey dude, I think the light is clearing up.

My vision, which was once filled with a bright light, eventually faded back to normal and instead I saw...black. All I saw was darkness. I fucking knew it. Those princess bastards took away my vision. I guess it's time to see whether they enjoy their horns up their asses. Hopefully their parents will forgive me for what I'm to do.

You realize this is royalty you're basically threatening, right?

I don't care! Yolo! Yolo! Yo-...w-wait hold on. I think my vision is coming back. Never mind. False alarm.

Thank god.

As my vision started to clear up, I heard voices beside me. I recognized them both as the princesses. I then began to notice that body felt a little...odd. Not in a bad way or anything, just so much that it's a cause of concern. First of all, I couldn't feel any of my fingers or toes. Let me guess, the Clown stole them, or this is some kind of Saw trap? Second of all, I felt some extra appendages, two on top of my head and two on my back. The ones on my head kept perking up and down as the princesses continued to mutter. The ones on my back just stood still, and they felt...feathery? Finally, I felt something...hairy...around my ass. It's not ass hair if that's what you're thinking, you weirdo. Point is, everything about my body felt weird. I really hope I'm not going through some sort of...second stage of puberty.

I stirred as my vision finally cleared up, albeit a bit blurry, and I was now staring at a white ceiling and the voices have stopped. I felt the soft feeling of a bed underneath me. I heard footsteps, or should I call them hoofsteps, coming up to me before Princess Celestia came into my field of view.

"Can you hear me young one?" she asked to which I slowly nodded, "Are you alright?"

"I feel...weird," I responded, "Not hurting or anything, just...weird."

"I believe you are simply adjusting to your new body," I heard Princess Luna say before she also came into view.

"Oh. Okay," I said nonchalantly before realizing what she just said, "Wait. What did you just say?"

They were silent for a bit before Princess Celesita decided to break the ice.

"I think it's best if we show you," she said before her horn started to glow and a hand held mirror floated into my field of view.

"Show me wha-...wha-...WHA-WHA-WHAT?!" I screamed as I looked at the mirror and saw...me, yet...not me at the same time. Instead of seeing the reflection of my human, I saw the reflection of a...pony. One that had dark grey fur, brown eyes, and a black, spikey mane that slightly drooped down in front of their right eye. I scrambled up, but in my panic, I fell off the bed. I mean, can you really blame me? I just woke not as a human, but as a pony. Let me know what would your reaction be.

"I-I-I'm a pony?!" I screamed as I stood up on all fours, while struggling to balance myself, and began looking myself over. I saw that I had a black tail, which also had a spikey look to it, and determined that this was the hairy thing that I felt. I then took notice of the appendages on my back.

Holy shit.

"Are these...w-wings?" I questioned aloud.

"Indeed they are," I heard Princess Celestia said, "Since you show kindness like Fluttershy, as well as loyalty like Rainbow Dash, I thought it would only be right to turn you into a pegasus."

I didn't even know who Rainbowshy or Flutter Dash were, nor did I care at the moment. I was more focused on the fact that I was a god damn pony! Sure, a pegasus no less, but still! I was a pony!

"Y-you turned me into a pony?!" I asked the two princesses.

"And why I naked?! Where's my dick at?!"

Dude. Calm down.

Shut the fuck up brain! You weren't the one that was turned into a pony by two princesses! Oh god, if Jrod or Gaming ever saw me like this, they would never let me live this down.

They don't even know what your human self looks like. Well, Jrod actually had a glance at you, but besides that not even your friends know what you look like.

"I'm sorry, but we had to. Humans don't actually exist in Equestria," Princess Celestia said, "In fact, most of my little ponies haven't even heard of them, so I don't think one showing up out of the blue would lead to an immediate welcome party, unless it's by Pinkie Pie of course."

"First, Fluttershy, then Rainbow Dash, and now Pinkie Pie? Besides Fluttershy, those names sound like flavors of ice cream. This place really is a cartoon," I thought as I finally calmed down. Never in my life did I think I would turn into a pegasus. Now that I think about it, flying would be really cool.

"That...makes sense. After all, there's no talking ponies that could fly or do magic back on Earth," I said.

"And what about earth ponies?" Princess Luna asked, "They can't fly or directly utilize magic. Do they exist on your world?"

"Aw geez. How do I explain it to them?"

Tell them the truth?

"Well...um...they do, but...they don't talk," I said.

"They don't talk?"

"Yeah. They usually just walk around and eat grass all day. And they kinda smell," I explained.

"Preposterous! They just need somepony to guide them. We shall do something about that," Princess Luna declared with determination, "We shall go back to your world and make your ponies like the ponies of Equestria."

Heh heh. I think I'm gonna like this one. She's weird.

"Okay," I laughed before turning to Princess Celestia, "So...what happens now?"

"Now...you shall explore Equestria," she said, "You are free to go wherever you wish, but if I may offer a suggestion, you should first head to Ponyville. You'll definitely fit right in."

"Ponyville? Really? What's up with these names? What's next? Manehattan? Baltimare?"

I'm telling you man. The horse puns are real.

"Can you tell me more about Ponyville?" I asked, trying my best to stifle cringing at the name, to which Princess Celestia nodded.

"Ponyville is a very nice place. Quite a quaint and quiet little town," she said, "In fact, it's where my student, Twilight Sparkle, and her friends recently opened a brand new school. One that teaches friendship to all creatures throughout the lands."

A school that teaches friendship? I don't whether that sounds cool or fucking gay as shit.

A better question is how someone needs to go to school just to learn about friendship. I never did that and I have wonderful friends. I remember the day I played Friday the 13th (R.I.P. by the way because that game is now dead) and randomly got into a match with Jrod (at the time he was called 020_Jrod, hence the name I call him by). After that match, he friended me and we've been friends ever since. Through him I met Gaming as well as everyone else in my friend group. I think I'm all good when it comes to making friends.

Then again, this is a whole new world, and it would be a good idea to make some new allies besides the princesses. Perhaps going to this school, or at least checking it out, would be a good idea.

Yeah...Yeah. You're probably right.

And also a quaint and quiet little town. Sounds like a place for me.

"It sounds like a nice place. I do prefer living in a quiet neighborhood," I said.

"Then it's official then," she said. She cleared her throat before raising her hoof up, "I, Princess Celestia, hereby declare that you-"

"Oh wait. Hold on," I interrupted, "Sorry to interrupt, but wouldn't be a good idea for me to have a new name to go along with this new form. After all, I don't think my name is considered normal here after hearing names like Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie."

"Hmm. That does seem like a wise decision. Very well then. What name do you wish to use during your time here?" Princess Luna asked.

Oh shit. The hardest decision in every character creation. Choosing your name. Whatever you choose will be your name forever and you can't change it. Sounds simple right? Well, you'd be wrong. Choosing a name might be a very simple procedure, but you must realize that it'll define who you are for all eternity. You pick a crappy name and that's what you get, so...choose wisely. Oh wait. That's my job. Crap.

"Come on man, why is this so difficult. Just think of a simple name that sticks with you. You've done this dozens of times in RPGs. Then again, I either just went random or used 'DeffBwade,' and I don't think using that name is a good idea. This is real life, not a video game. Hmm. Maybe I should name myself based on how I look. Let's see. Princess Celestia said that she's the princess of the day, and Princess Luna is the princess of the night. They definitely look like they're connected to the sun and moon, and they even have-wait...what the fuck is that?"

As I pondered my thoughts, I noticed that the princesses had marks on their asses. Princess Celestia had one of the sun, and Princess Luna had a black splotch with a crescent moon in it. In hindsight, it was probably a bad idea to glance at their asses, but can you really blame me? Those marks stand out like a sore thumb.

"Why do you have tattoos on your butts?" I asked, giggling a bit at the concept of 'butt tattoos.' Some people actually get such a thing.

And how do you know that?

Just trust me. I just know, okay?

The princesses glanced at their butt tattoos before Princess Celestia said, "Oh, these are called cutie marks."

Cutie...marks? Seriously?

"I think I prefer the term 'butt tattoos.'"

"Cutie mark?" I asked.

"A cutie mark is a symbol that represents what your special talent is. For example, mine represents my ability to raise the sun and bring forth the day, and Luna's represents her ability to raise the moon and bring the night. All ponies have them," Princess Celestia said.

"Including you," Princess Luna said.

"Wait, what?

I looked back at my ass and saw a symbol I knew all too well.

"Well I'll be. The symbol of the Never Stop Slashing skin. Thank you Amacky by the way for designing such an awesome skin. It was through you design that I truly became the Apex Legion."

...

"Wait a minute. That's it."

"Apex Legion," I said.

"I'm sorry?" Princess Luna asked.

"My name...will be...Apex Legion," I said.

"Very well then," Princess Celestia said with a smile before raising her hoof up again, "I, Princess Celestia, hereby declare that you, Apex Legion, shall take up residence in Ponyville."

"I like the sound of that. And as long as I'm here I should start treating you like the princesses you are," I said before bowing...well, it was more like lowering my forehooves to the ground but you get the idea, "Thank you for letting me visit your world, your majesties."

"Please. There is no need to bow," Princess Celestia said with a giggle.

"Indeed. We like being treated like normal citizens," Princess Luna added.

"Oh. Okay then," I said getting back up, "Sorry. It's just...I've never really met royalty before. I kinda feel honored for meeting some actually. So how do I get to Ponyville anyway?"

"I will teleport you just outside of Ponyville, but first..." Princess Celestia said before she levitated a small bag. I heard the sound of coins jiggling before the bag was placed into my hooves, "...take this."

I untied the string and opened the bag. Inside were...

Holy shit.

"G-golden coins?!"

Yo! If you manage to take some of these back to Earth, we'll be rich as fuck. Maybe.

Princess Celestia, noticing my confusion, said, "Those are bits, Equestria's currency. There should be roughly 200 of them in that bag. I hope that will be enough to help you with settling down in Ponyville."

"And here is a saddlebag for your trip as well," Princess Luna said before levitating what I assumed was a backpack for ponies on my back. It was pretty much just two bags connected by a strap.

"Um...thanks," I said, placing the bag of bits into the saddlebag.

"Oh. One more thing," Princess Celestia said, "I think it would be best not to tell anypony that you're really human."

"Oh yeah, no, I completely agree," I said with a laugh, "I don't need anybody-er...anypony..."

"That's gonna take some time to get used to."

"...thinking I'm crazy or anything. Anyway, do your thing princess."

"Very well," she said before her horn started to glow.

And in flash of light, I disappeared...again.

As Apex Legion disappeared in a flash of light, Princess Celestia let out a sigh of relief. Teleporting spells, on other ponies no less, through great distances does tend to put a strain on one's magic if not fully concentrated. Luckily, she was a alicorn, making her magic twice as strong as the average unicorn. Only a few ponies were as strong as her, including her sister, Twilight Sparkle, her niece Princess Cadence, and her old mentor Starswirl the Bearded, and he's not even an alicorn.

Now her thoughts went to the young human, now known as Apex Legion. From what she saw from his memory, he's a kind soul that tries to have everypony get along with each other and doesn't get angered by many things, has a quirky personality and a nice sense of humor (although a lot it is based on rather raunchy subjects) to make his friends laugh, the ability to get things done if he believes and puts his mind to it, and a tenacity and perseverance to not give up until the very end.

"He'll definitely fit right in at Ponyville," she said looking at the window and towards the little town.

"Indeed," Princess Luna said, walking next to her, "But...sister. Are you sure it was wise not to tell him?"

"For now, I believe it's for the best," she said with a sigh, "But now, let's see what awaits for him, and when the time comes...I'll tell him the truth."

Author's Note

Ok everyone, here's the deal.

I'm gonna make sure that each chapter is at least 2000 words long.

Chapter 4: First Day at the School of Friendship

Author's Note

Sorry it took a while for me a update. I just started school a couple days ago and...t-that's pretty much it. For now, expect updates to come every weekend or every other weekend.

Chapter 4: First Day at the School of Friendship

Previously on The Adventure of the Apex Legion

"Well, as Princess Twilight said, I'm Sandbar," he said.

"Name's Gallus," Gallus said, even though I already knew his name, but...no point in nit picking the details.

"I Yona Yak," the yak said.

"I'm Ocellus," the bug girl said.

"Smolder," the orange dragon said.

"I'm Silverstream!" the hippogriff said excitedly.

"And in case you don't know who we are," the diamond pony said, "I'm Rarity."

"I'm Applejack," the apple pony said.

"U-um...I'm Fluttershy," the butter pony whispered, but I kinda have good hearing, so I was able to hear her name.

"Rainbow Dash!" Professor Pride Parade said proudly, "Fastest pony in Equestria and member of the Wonderbolts."

"Starlight Glimmer," the glimmer pony said.

"I'm Pinkie Pie! And I just love, love, looove meeting new ponies," the cotton candy pony said excitedly like Silverstream before pointing to Princess Twilight and the small dragon, "And that's Twilight Sparkle, but everypony knows who she is. I mean...she is a princess after all. And of course there's her number one assistant, Spike."

"Name's Apex Legion," I said, "But you can just call me Legion."

"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."

Maybe...maybe Princess Celestia was right. Maybe I will fit in. I made up my mind at that point.

"I'm going to attend the School of Friendship."

The Adventure of the Apex Legion

Written by DeffBwade

Chapter 4: First Day at the School of Friendship

After doing all the school paperwork mumbo jumbo and shit (most boring thing I've done in this world so far by the way), Princess-er...should I say Headmare...Twilight finally accepted me into the School of Friendship. She provided me with all the supplies I needed, like pencils, erasers, highlighters, etc., but get this. Instead of using pens, this world uses quills and bottles of ink. Truly going old school, I see. And also, it was pretty nice of Headmare Twilight to provide me with the usual supplies. Back on Earth, you had to go out and buy your supplies and...*sigh*...I don't even know why I'm telling you this. You should already know. I mean, you are from Earth...right? Whatever.

Another thing that was pretty cool was that this school had dorms, for those whose homes aren't in Ponyville. I'm already experiencing living in a dorm room before my brother, and he's like two grades ahead of me. Take that! We even have a curfew at 10:00 P.M. Not that I mind much as I don't really go out as much, but seeing as this world's technology level doesn't include computers, that might change.

You're gonna go crazy, aren't you?

Oh yeah. Big time.

As for who my roommates were, they were the ones I just met: Sandbar, Gallus, Yona, Smolder, Silverstream, and Ocellus. Girls will be on one side of the dorm room and boys will be on the other. Although, I had some obvious worries about three boys and four girls living in the same room, and I'm sure others had the same worries as me. But, despite puberty and teenage hormones, I trusted myself and the others that nothing will happen. Hell, we're all too young to be doing something...like that.

My room had the basic essentials: a bed with a pillow and blanket, a small desk with a lamp, and a shelf. I had to use some of the bits Princess Celestia gave me to buy some toiletry stuff: toothbrush, toothpaste, towel, etc. I soon found out that showers were communal, meaning the boys had to shower together. It was a bit worrisome, but seeing as we're all...ahem...we're all naked (I think it's best not to think about it), I'm not that concerned. Thank god I'm not anyway. I don't want it to be like Science Camp again.

What do you mean?

Well...like here, the showers back at Science Camp were communal, and I was worried about having my schlong out around others, my friends no less, that also have their schlong out, so...um...

Wait hold on. Are you...are you seriously telling me that for an entire week at camp, you didn't take a single shower?!

Uh...no comment?

That's fucking disgusting dude!

No. What was disgusting was when I used the bathroom for the first time in this body.

I entered the bathroom and saw the usual. Stalls, sinks, and no urinals. I found it weird that there would be urinals since ponies are quadrupeds. Then again, there could be bipeds like Smolder attending this school as well. I approached one of the urinals and saw that they were more lower to the ground and a bit smaller than the ones back on Earth. One big question ran through my mind.

"How do I do this?"

I knew ponies had these muscles called sheathes, and their schlongs were retracted, which in my opinion just sounds weird. Then again, I lived my entire life with non-retractable schlongs. So how do I take it out then?

After a few minutes of thinking and attempting, I finally stood up on my hind hooves in preparation to go number one. It turns out my positioning was wrong, or I wasn't aiming correctly, as I didn't hear the sound of pee hitting water, but more like pee hitting a wall.

"Oh boy. Aw geez. Oh that's not good," I said as I slowly stepped back and observed the damage, "Oh that's definitely not good."

I then heard the bathroom door open and turned my head to it. I saw Spike standing in the doorway with a mop, one of those janitor buckets, and an expression that said "what the fuck happened here?" We just stared at each other for a few seconds before I walked over and grabbed the mop from him.

"D-don't ask," I simply said before I started cleaning my mess.

I woke up the next morning to the sun shining through the window. I yawned and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes as I slowly got up. I always had a mental alarm clock, making me wake up as early as 6:00 A.M. It's quite handy to have. Gives me plenty of time to get dressed and eat breakfast. Although, I don't think it's healthy for me to wake up so early when I go to sleep as early as midnight. I glanced at the clock and saw that it was around 7:00 A.M.

I got of my bed and walked over to my desk, where my saddlebag and all of my supplies laid. I picked up my class schedule and read it.

"Okay, let's see here. From 8:30 to 9:15 I have Equestrian History with Headmare Twilight (fuck), from 9:20 to 10:05 I have Arts and Crafts with Professor Rarity (fuck yeah), from 10:10 to 10:55 I have Farming class with Professor Applejack (interesting), then from 10:55 to 12:00 is lunch, from 12:05 to 12:50 I have Animal Care with Professor Fluttershy (never been one for animals but okay), from 12:55 to 1:40 I have Athletics with Professor Dash (cool), and finally from 1:45 to 2:30 I have Comedy Class with Professor Pinkie (sweet...no pun intended)."

Seems like a pretty standard schedule, other than the fact you end at 2:30 instead of 3:00. You still have about an hour and 30 minutes to spare before classes start. What do you wanna do in the meantime?

I think I'm gonna explore Ponyville. Might as well get familiar with the environment while I have the time until I start learning shit. Should probably get some breakfast as well. Haven't really eaten since...well...since before I came to Equestria.

"I see that some of Ponyville are also early risers. How interesting."

As I walked through Ponyville, I saw some of the residents also walking around. Some are opening up their stores, some are opening up small stands, and the rest are just minding their own business. I saw a trio of earth pony mares opening up a flower shop, an earth pony stallion opening a store that looks like it only sells quills and sofas (what the fuck), and a couple of mares sitting on a bench.

One of the mares was an earth pony with a light apple greenish gray coat, artic blue eyes, a cobalt blue mane and tail with very light fuchsia stripes, and a cutie mark of a trio of candy wrappers. She was sitting down like a dog would on all fours. How cute. The other was a unicorn with a very light aquamarine coat, gamboge eyes, a pale, light grayish cyan mane and tail with white highlights, and a cutie mark of a lyre. And she was sitting like...like a human would. It was...awkward to look at.

...

"I'm just...I'm just gonna ignore that."

Same here.

Ponyville had quite a few interesting buildings. One of which was a building that literally looked like it was made of sweets. The roof looked like it was made of gingerbread and was covered in frosting, there was the shape of a pony holding up a candy cane, and there was small tower that looked like a cupcake with candles on it. There was a sign near the front entrance with an image of a cupcake on it, so I assumed it was some kind of bakery.

"Oh. Perfect. I could go for a couple of sweets. Hopefully they have croissants, or maybe a chocolate chip muffin."

I entered the building with the jingle of a bell, and indeed, it was a bakery. I walked over to the counter and immediately my eyes sparkled and I could feel my mouth on the verge of watering at the sight of the many treats on display. I saw cookies. I saw pastries. I saw...pretty much what you would usually see at a bakery. I'm pretty sure I pressed my muzzle up against the glass at this point. Now, I'm not usually a sweets kind of guy, I was more into chips, but god damn did all of these look good!

"Holy shit. I don't which of these to pick."

How about the chocolate croissant. Oh, oh, wait! There's a chocolate chip muffin. How about a cupcake? I see chocolate, vanilla, red velvet, and-is that a sugar cookie?

Holy shit. That is a sugar cookie. I fucking love sugar cookies. Especially those pink frosted ones with the sprinkles on them.

Oh yeah, those are really good.

"You should try the Double Chunk Chocolate Chip Cookies. They're one of my personal favorites," a familiar voice said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I looked back up to see Professor Pinkie standing behind the counter with a big smile on her face. Now, never in my life have I ever called a teacher by 'professor,' so I'm not really sure if I should at this moment. No, no. We're outside the classroom right now, I don't think there's any need to. But as I sign of respect, I decided to go with...

"Good morning, Ms. Pie," I said with a smile.

"Oh silly, there's no need to call me 'miss,'" she said with a giggle, "You can just call me Pinkie. All of my friends do."

"Uh...sorry," I said, rubbing the back of my head, "Force of habit. My mom always taught me to say Mr., Ms., or Mrs. when talking to an adult."

"Well then, your mom raised such a polite colt," she said, patting me on the head, "But like I said, you don't have to call me 'miss.'"

"I'll probably just refer to you as 'professor' then once we're in the classroom."

Holy shit. That was so good. That bakery, which I learned was named Sugarcube Corner, had some of the best sweets I've ever had in my life. I got a buttered croissant, a chocolate chip muffin, and a sugar cookie. I know it's quite a lot, but I haven't eaten since yesterday, so...

By now, after doing a little more exploring of Ponyville, it was around 7:35, so I figured it would be a good idea to head back to my room to prepare for classes today. In fact, it's important that I prepare. It's my first day after all.

Do you all know that feeling you have whenever you start your first day at a brand new school? Well, I had that feeling right now. No matter what, whenever I go to a new school, I first say to myself that it'll be easy peasy and that there's nothing to worry about, only for the anxiety to come to me when I have to go up to the front of the class to talk about myself.

"Breath in. Breath out. Come on Legion, you can do this. You just have to be yourself."

You mean completely and utterly retarded all the time?

...

Yes.

I finally arrived back to my dorm room, just in time to see Ocellus exiting her room. I kinda expected for her to still be wiping the sleep from her eyes and give a mumbled greeting to me. Instead, she looked kinda excited for today actually, saddlebags prepared and ready.

"Hey Ocellus," I said.

"Morning Legion," she said, clearly wide awake.

"What are you excited about?" I asked her.

"Why wouldn't I be excited? It's a brand new day of school. And that means new stuff to learn," she said all giddied up.

"Ah. So she's one of those people that's excited to learn new things. Interesting."

Heh. Nerd.

Hey man. Just because she's excited to learn new things doesn't mean she's a nerd. Sure, she's shy, but she still has social skills and she's not really a bore. I mean, she can shapeshift into stuff for pete's sake. If anyone's a nerd here, it's me. I'm a pretty quiet kid.

"You're quite the bookwork, aren't you?" I asked with a chuckle.

"I am!" she said before going from excited to slight nervousness, "T-that's not a bad thing? Right?"

"Of course not. Knowledge is power," I reassured her before putting on a derp face and imitating that guy with the Lamborghini, "You know what I like more than flying? Knowledge. That's why I have 3,000 books on my shelf. I read one book a day."

This made her giggle and my god...her giggle was adorable.

The other dorm rooms opened and, like I expected, the others walked out with sleep still evident in their eyes. I don't know if I should be concerned that they're waking up when classes start in about an hour. Then again, we all literally live at the school.

I don't wanna bore you with every single detail of how my first day went (and also because I'm lazy), so here's a summary of it. And if you wanted the details...too bad.

I-I wanted the detai-

Too bad! Shut the fuck up!

First class of the day was Equestrian History with Headmare Twilight. Great. It's not that I dislike Headmare Twilight, it's that I think history is just...boring. I'm more of a math kind of guy because you can't just know the answer automatically, most of the time at least. You gotta work out the problem and really get that brain moving. With history, it's just a matter of knowing your facts.

The classroom was...pretty nice actually. It was pretty much an amphitheater, but indoors. I was seated next to Sandbar and a few other random ponies at the front of the classroom. We all had pencils and notebooks for writing any notes. Our lesson of the year was about a pony named Nightmare Moon.

Oh. Sounds intimidating.

It all started a long time ago, when Princesses Celestia and Luna ruled together in peace and harmony. Every morning Princess Celestia would raise the sun, and every morning Princess Luna would raise the moon.

Wait, what? Did you just say that the two Princesses raise the sun and moon?

I thought the same thing. That's just not possible. The planet is constantly rotating as it rotates around the sun and the moon rotates around the planet. There's no way the two Princesses can actually move them. What are they, goddesses? *Sigh*. Then again, different world, different rules. I probably shouldn't question it either. It could be considered common knowledge.

Anyway, ogether, they maintained balance throughout Equestria. However, as time went on, Princess Luna grew jealous as ponies cherished and played throughout the day while they slept throughout the night. Fed up with her sister, she refused to lower the moon one night. At that moment, the bitterness in Princess Luna's heart transformed her into a wicked mare of darkness, Nightmare Moon. She vowed to bring eternal night upon Equestria.

Woah.

I know right? She just went all Venom on our ass. And bring eternal night? That would kill everyone due to the cold and the crops not growing.

Reluctantly, Princess Celestia harnessed the Elements of Harmony and defeated her sister, banishing her to the moon, which is what many ponies used to refer as 'the Mare in the Moon.'

Wait, what?!

That's just fucked up. Banishing her to the moon? How did she not die to the freezing temperatures or lack of oxygen?

Since then, Princess Celestia took responsibility of raising the sun and moon. However, it was prophesied that in a thousand years, Nightmare Moon would be free and seek her revenge.

Did you just say a thousand years?

That's what Headmare Twilight said. Holy shit, they really are goddesses.

Now let's skip to just a few years ago, when Headmare Twilight was simply a unicorn and first arrived in Ponyville. She knew of Nightmare Moon's return and tried to warn Princess Celestia, but she merely told her to not worry about it and focus on making friends while checking on the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration. At the time, she merely saw friends as a waste of time. But once she discovered how nice having friends is, she, as well as the rest of the professors, became the current wielders to the Elements of Harmony. With Professor Applejack representing honesty, Professor Fluttershy representing kindness, Professor Pinkie Pie representing laughter, Professor Rarity representing generosity, Professor Rainbow Dash representing loyalty, and Headmare Twilight representing magic. Together, they defeated Nightmare Moon and brought Princess Luna back."

After the lecuture, I was a bit slack jawed at that point cause holy shit. I just found out that my professors are practically super heroes.

I wouldn't say super heroes.

Sure. Just ordinary ponies who saved the world from complete destruction.

However, some ponies say that not all of Nightmare Moon was defeated and that her spirit still lives on. Some have theorized that it rests deep within the Everfree Forest due to its chaotic nature.

Oh. That's...reassuring.

My thoughts exactly. I even said it out loud nonchalantly, but Sandbar told me not to worry and that Twilight and her can stop her if she ever returns.

Up next was Arts and Crafts with Professor Rarity, and let just tell you how excited I was. Art is one of favorite subjects back on Earth. It really gets that creative mind flowing, there's no wrong answers, well sort of, and I'm free to make whatever the fuck I want, with limitations of course. Imagine giving your art teacher a painted, detailed picture of...I don't know...a dick.

Thanks for putting that image in my mind.

Bro. We have a dick, or my like I have a dick and you just see it everyday. And you're welcome.

The classroom had a pretty interesting design to it. It was basically just a bunch of chairs around one of those things you use to present something to class. I forgot what it was called. A podium? Whatever, it's not important. Up on the podium thing was Professor Rarity, wearing red glasses and seemed to be in deep concentration while working on a dress. I can see that. Stitching most likely requires focus.

As everypony else arrived, including Gallus, Professor Rarity levitated the dress to a closet.

Professor Rarity greeted us and explained that in her class we will express our thoughts, imagination, and feelings, whether physical or emotional, through visual representations and blah blah blah, you get the idea of what art is about and how it works, so I'll skip just ahead a bit.

Twenty-five minutes of explaining and going over our supplies later, Professor Rarity assigned us to choose a partner and to sketch them in our sketchbooks. Gallus and I unanimously picked each other cause why not? Ten minutes later, the professor told us to stop and show our partners.

I'm just gonna be honest, my sketch was absolute shit. The lines were all squiggly and a lot of stuff were out of proportion, like one of his eyes was bigger than the other, and one of the pupils was almost as big as the eye itself.

I thought you said you were good at art.

You try drawing someone with your mouth! In fact...do it right now! Draw me with your mouth and let's see if you're any better.

...

Shut up.

When I showed it to Gallus, he just told me not to worry and that it's better than his artistic skills. He just drew me as a stick figure.

The next class was Farming with Professor Applejack. I always wanted to see what farming was, because it seems interesting and I want to help the planet. Back on Earth there was actually a farming club at my school. I just...didn't think I had the time to be a part of it and attend its meetings.

Her classroom actually looked like what you would see inside of a barn, only with the addition of a chalkboard and a large apple tree. How did it even get any sunlight?

Bigger question is why would anyone plant such a large tree indoors?

I don't know. This is Professor Applejack we're talking about.

With the addition of farming, she also teaches us the importance of honesty and how lying can lead to friendships breaking up. Please, I lied to my friends a bunch of times...for shits and giggles...and we're still friends.

I'm pretty sure she meant lying for...you know...not shits and giggles.

Our first task was to simply plant a sapling in a pot. Very simple right? Well...it mostly was. I partnered up with Yona, and...she ended up tripping and spilling the pot just when I was about to water the sapling, spilling dirt everywhere and a little bit on me. Needless to say, she had a sad face as she kept apologizing to me and the professor, but we assured her it was okay and that it was just an accident. After all, it wouldn't considered farming if you didn't get your hands dirty.

After lunch, I had Professor Fluttershy's Animal Care class. Animals are living creatures too, and it's important that I learn how to take care of them...I guess. Her classroom was filled with plants, a balcony, and a shit ton of birds and butterflies.

Our objective? Simply observe the animals and study their behaviors around each other and other creatures.

That's it? Just...watch the animals?

Yep. That's pretty much it. Silverstream had a good time. She flew around the animals with a smile on her face and trying to play with them. It was amusing. But other than that, class was a little bit boring but interesting, so let's skip ahead.

Now Professor Dash's Athletics class, that was interesting. Her classroom was pretty much a gym, with a rack filled with dumbbells, a basket full of balls, a display case of trophies. Spoiler alert, they all had Professor Dash's name on them. She does seem to be the boastful type.

There, we played one of the most classic and intense games to ever exist in schools throughout the world, and apparently the universe, dodgeball.

Oh shit.

It was an intense war. Unicorns weren't allowed any magic and the pegasi weren't allowed to fly. Ponies from both sides dropped one by one, while the survivors cried (not really) over their fallen comrades. I was one of the last ones standing. Due to having a small frame, I was able to easily dodge ball after ball, but I had the strength of a mouse, so I didn't get much hits. And also because I'm still trying to get used to this new body. Now that I think about, I need to get some lessons on how to fly.

After a while, I was the only one on my team standing. There was one more on the enemy team as well. I had to either catch the ball, somehow trick the enemy into getting hit, or keep dodging until they give up. Unfortunately, the last one on the enemy team was Smolder, and she was ruthless, as well having an advantage as she was a biped and having claws. I think you can piece together what happened.

The final class was Comedy with Professor Pinkie. Do I even need to explain what her classroom looked like? She's a party planner. Think of confetti, streamers, balloons, whatever you see at a party, and put that inside of a classroom.

So...alcohol, loud ass music with profanities, and random people making out?

What? What kind of parties have you been to?

What? That's typical teenager stuff.

I'm not really a social person, okay? So I wouldn't know.

Anyway, her class was just a blast. I mean, who wouldn't want a teacher that's both a baker and a certified party planner?

One of her activities involved cupcakes! Before we could eat any, she told us it was not meant for eating, but for sharing. She told us to approach one of our classmates, say one good thing about them, and then give them our cupcake. The person we complimented then does the same thing, and then so on.

A unicorn filly, Citrine Spark I believe was her name, told me that I have a nice mane.

The spikey mane is pretty cool.

Unfortunately, I didn't really know anypony, so I complimented the one creature I'm familiar with, Ocellus. I approached her with a smile and told her that she's a really nice changeling. You should've seen her face when I said that. She did that adorable giggle again and blushed a bit. Guess she's one of those people that don't like being put in the spotlight. The same could be said to me, only she's shyer.

And that's it. That's how my first day at the School of Friendship went. I met some new ponies and I've gotten to know my friends a bit more, and what they were like.

Sandbar seems like the easygoing, laid back kind of guy. He's kinda tame when compared to the others' personalities. Gallus seems to be the sarcastic and snarky one, kinda like that old griffon, but kinder. Not that I'm calling him a bully or anything. Yona is the one that's very innocent and a bit clumsy at times. I do like her broken English and speaking in the third person. It's quite amusing. Smolder is that one friend that's tough and competitive. I can imagine her being in a lot of sports. Silverstream is just extremely hyperactive and bubbly. Again, quite amusing. And finally, there's Ocellus. In regards to her, I guess you can say she's kinda like me. Sweet, always there for her friends, shy, although she seems shyer than me, you get the point.

I laid down on my bed and smiled as my eyes started to slowly close. Only one thought ran through my mind as I drifted sleep.

"I think I'm gonna like it here."

Chapter 5: A Sugarcube Helper

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 6: Learning to Fly

Previously on The Adventure of the Apex Legion

While we're on the subject of doing stuff, I think we should talk about our financial situation.

I guess I had no choice. I needed a source of income, so I'm gonna do something I've never done on Earth before. I'm gonna go look for a job!

"Uh, no thanks Profe-um...Pinkie. Sorry. Again, force of habit," I said while salivating a bit at the thought of fresh cookies coming out of the oven before I held out the flyer to her, "I'm actually here because of the job."

"Mmhm," I nodded, "Apex Legion, but my friends just call me Legion. And I heard you were in need of an assistant?" I said as I held out the flyer to her.

"You may call me Mrs. Cake, and we do indeed," she said, "Ever since Princess Twilight opened the School of Friendship, more and more ponies have been coming here on a daily basis. Not that I mind of course. We do need the business, but with the twins and me and my husband Carrot having to go on a delivery trip from time to time, it can be quite a hoofull, especially during the weekends."

"Congratulations. You start tomorrow," he said as he and Mrs. Cake had smiles on their faces.

"Well then. Thank you and I guess I'll see you tomorrow for my first assignment," I said. I then got up from my seat and waved them goodbye before exiting Sugarcube Corner.

Huh. That was easy.

I know right. I never applied for a job before, but I know they usually cause people stress and whatnot. Either the Cakes really don't care about my life story or they're pretty naive. Oh well. I shouldn't really complain. I got a paying job now and that's what matters.

The Adventure of the Apex Legion

Written by DeffBwade

Chapter 6: Learning to Fly

"Alright class! Today we're gonna be playing one of the coolest games to ever exist in all of Equestria! Buckball!" Professor Dash exclaimed proudly, "Offense, defense, teamwork, non-stop action! It's got it all!"

About a week has passed since I got my job at Sugarcube Corner. It's relatively easy. I mainly just wiped tables, dirty dishes, set up the see through display at the front counter, assisted in baking, like getting ingredients and pouring the right amount stuff, yada yada, you get the point. I assist with stuff.

It was now Professor Dash's class and we were out in one of those sport fields you would see at school, with bleachers and everything. As she just said, we were preparing to play a game called "buckball."

Heh heh. Buckball.

Yes. I do find the name a bit humorous. You all can probably guess why. Spoiler alert, it has something to do with my childish mind.

Bro, you can just say it. You don't have to give hints. Just say what the name "buckball" makes you think.

No, I can't say that. This story is rated T for teens.

Story?

Nothing! Never mind!

"Now, in case you don't know how to play buckball, let me give a demonstration," Professor Dash said before moving the center of the field with a ball in hoof, "Each team consists of an earth pony, a pegasus, and a unicorn. The two earth ponies meet in the middle and are in charge of offense. Their jobs are to be the first one to buck the ball."

"Hehehehehe."

"And the pegasi are on defense. Their jobs are to defend the ball from getting into their goal and then passing it back to the earth pony. The unicorns are in charge of levitating their basket outside the field and trying to catch as much balls as possible," Professor Dash explained before turning back to us, "Every creature got that?"

We all nodded or spoke our acknowledgements.

"All right, I'm now gonna split you into teams. Sandbar, Smolder, and Burning Heart, you're on this side," she said, pointing to one side of the field, to which those she called walked over, "Vellum Codex, Citrine Spark, and Legion, you're on the other side."

Me and the other two started to move to our positions.

I mentioned Citrine Spark in the past. As I said, she's a unicorn filly, with a brilliant amber coat, a light and very pale turquoise mane and tail tied with red hair bands, very light opal eyes, and a cutie mark of a red and light-yellow starburst.

Vellum Codex is an earth pony colt a pale, light grayish coat, a brilliant orange and light amber mane and tail, moderate gamboge eyes, and a cutie mark of a scroll.

Burning Heart, who was on Sandbar's and Smolder's team, is a unicorn filly with a light scarlet coat, a dark mulberry mane and tail, dark grayish heliotrope eyes, and a cutie mark of a flame.

"With the power of tee-am work, we can do this," I said to my teammates, to which they nodded, as Codex got into the middle with Sandbar, Citrine and Burning went on the outskirts of the field opposite from each other with the baskets levitating in their auras, and Smolder and I got into positions to defend.

It's been a while, probably a few years, since I played defense in a physical game, but I think I can manage. I mean, how hard can it be? You just catch or knock the ball out of way of the goal. Pure and simple.

"You mean teamwork?" Citrine asked.

"Nope. I mean tee-am work," I replied.

Besides Smolder and Sandbar, Citrine was probably the only one in Professor Dash's class that I talk to, even if it's just from time to time. She may not be adept in magic like Headmare Twilight and Counselor Starlight, but she's pretty skilled in levitation. I think that's why she's in charge of organizing and putting back books in the school's library.

Knowing Headmare Twilight as one of those book smart people that always strives for getting a good grade and likes a good book, I'm not surprised the school's library is as big as-

Wait, dude. I just realized something.

What?

In Professor Dash's demonstration of buckball, particularly the pegasi's role, she was flying.

Okay? And?

That means you have to fly to play defense.

...

And you don't know how to fly.

...

And you and Smolder are the only ones capable of playing defense.

...

"Ah fan (Ah fuck in Swedish)," I whispered to myself as my pupils shrunk a bit and my eyes widened. I may have kept a small smile on my face, but on the inside I was practically screaming.

"How could I be so stupid?! I-I don't know how to fly! And I need to fly to play on defense! Gah! I'm gonna look like a fucking idiot! This is like being called up to do a math problem in school without even knowing how to solve it, only way worse! It's pretty much basic knowledge to pegasi! DeffBwade, what have you gotten yourself into?!"

I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I didn't hear Professor Dash shout "And, begin!" or notice Sandbar kicking the ball in my direction. I only snapped out of it and became aware of what just happened when I heard a ball impacting a basket, and then looking back to see Burning Heart with the ball in her basket.

I started to sweat a bit as I slowly turned my head back to everyone else with a nervous smile on my face. They all had looks of confusion on their faces. Well...everyone except Citrine and Codex, who each had looks that asked 'what the fuck?'

"Um...whoops?" I nervously said.

"Uh, Legion? You are aware that you're in charge of defense, right?" Professor Dash asked from the side.

"And to add salt to the wound, I'm getting called out by the teacher. Great."

"Y-yeah, I know," I said, "I was just...deep in thought. Yeah. I wasn't paying attention. Sorry."

I don't think she's gonna buy that-

"Hmm. Well, okay then. Just get your head out of the clouds, start flying, and we can start again," she said.

Okay, never mind.

"Yes. Flying. Got it. Can do professor," I said.

"I can't do this!"

Burning tossed the ball back to Professor Dash as she flew back to Codex and Sandbar.

"If that's the case, without further ado, let's try this again," she said, "Sandbar? Codex? You two ready?"

The two nodded.

"Then, begin!" she shouted as she tossed the ball to them.

This time, it was Codex who kicked the ball first. Smolder managed to catch it before Citrine can catch it. She then tossed the ball to Sandbar, to which he kicked it in my direction. For added epicness, time started to slow down as the ball soured through the air. It was getting closer...closer...and closer, Burning prepared her basket to catch it. And I...

...weakly hopped into the air in a valiant attempt to catch it, but instead missed completely and landed on my back.

"FUCK!"

A for effort?

I opened my eyes to see everyone standing over me and looking down, confused expressions on all of their faces, although I could tell Smolder was trying her best to hold a snicker. Meanwhile Professor Dash hovered above, also with a confused expression.

I mean what can I do right now? They got me cornered.

"I don't know how to fly," I casually admitted, causing everyone to gasp, but none of them was more dramatic then Professor Dash. She looked and sounded like her childhood friend was a total dickwad to her present day friends and abandoned her.

"WHAT?!" she yelled out in disbelief, making my pupils shrink a bit.

"I-" I said before I was interrupted by Smolder laughing.

"Hahahahaha! Good one Legion. You don't know how to fly? That's ridiculous. All pegasi at your age should know how to fly. At least that's what I heard," she said before noticing my silence and blank expression, to which she light scoffed, "Come on dude. You have gotta be joking."

I just continued to give the silent treatment, as well that same face.

"You are joking right?" she asked.

"..."

"Dude?" she asked again.

"Um-" I said as I started to get back up, before I was interrupted...again. This time by Professor Dash.

"HOW CAN YOU NOT KNOW HOW TO FLY?!" she said as she flew up close to me.

"I never learned how to, okay?!" I yelled back. I mean, it was the truth, just not the whole truth. Now that I think about it, I probably should've asked Princess Celestia or Princess Luna to teach me to fly before I arrived in Ponyville. I dumb dumb.

"But what about your parents? Didn't they teach you?" Sandbar asked.

"Time to technically say the truth again."

"Nopony in my family was a pegasus. Not my mom, my dad, not even my brother. I also didn't have any pegasus friends," I explained with a sigh. Now, I'm not the type of person that can easily lie to my friends, nor do I enjoy it, but I'm pretty sure I had no choice. Princess Celestia asked me not to tell anyone who I really was.

"No pegasus friends?" Citrine asked, to which I nodded, "Where exactly did you grow up?"

"Fuck, fuck, fuck! What should I say?! I have no knowledge on geographical locations here!"

Technically say the truth?

Technically say the truth?! What technical truth is there to say?! The only places I've been to in this world is Ponyville and Canter-wait a minute! That's it! Oh, please work!

"Canterlot?" I said.

"Hmm. That explains it, I guess," Citrine said.

"Huh?" I questioned.

"Canterlot is mostly made up of unicorns," she explained.

Phew.

"Although to not have any pegasus friends all those years still perplexes me," she said.

"Fuck! Oh wait, never mind. I have the perfect lie for that."

"Yeeaah. I was not really the social type growing up. I was always the introverted quiet one that just did my own thing," I explained, and it was actually the truth. I did have friends, but I never really hung out with them outside of school. Hell, I'm in high school right now and I still do that, mainly because I don't know how to drive.

...

Okay, it's because I like videogames, but you get the point.

"Heh. Kinda sounds like Twilight," Professor Dash chuckled after she managed to calm down, "But still, being the only pegasus during your foalhood? I don't I could ever go through that sort of thing. It must've been sad and lonely."

"Meh. I managed," I said.

Welp, cat's out of the bag I guess. But in all seriousness, I need to learn how to fly. Like soon. I don't wanna be that one pegasus that can't fly. I don't wanna be like Blue from Rio.

Maybe you just have to kiss a girl. That's what inspired Blue to fly in the movie.

...Um...Yeah, no, maybe I'll just ask someone.

"Hey? Professor?" I asked, getting her attention, "If it's not too much trouble, can you teach me how to fly?"

She grinned at my question.

"Of course Legion. I'll always be there for my fellow pegasi," she said.

"Cool."

After Professor Dash agreed to teach me how to fly, she told when and where to meet her. After the school day ended, I walked to the field located on the outskirts of Ponyville just outside the Everfree Forest. I admit, I was a bit adamant to go near such a dangerous place. Well, I wouldn't say dangerous. I have yet to face that. More like it gave me the creeps, as if something was watching me at all times.

I eventually saw Professor Dash doing a few flight tricks and started to pick up my pace a bit. She noticed me approaching and landed back on the ground.

We greeted each other, blah blah blah, let's just get on with the lessons.

And this time...I'll actually give you the details. You happy?

Very.

"Alright kid, let's start off with the basics," she said as she started circling me, observing my wings, "So far, your wings seem to be pretty healthy and clean. That's good. Now then, let's try some basic flapping exercises. That way, we can get some blood pumping in the muscles. Just move your wings up and down like normal, like this," she said as she demonstrated some flapping.

I've never really extended my wings out before, at least on my own volition. Anytime they did extend was by accident, like when I first arrived in Ponyville and faced the puckwudgies with the others. Besides extending them out, I fidgeted them a bit from time to time.

Controlling my muscles, I started to fidget my wings again, and then after a few seconds, I started to feel them extend, albeit slowly, until eventually they were fully extended. However, they were completely in awkward and uneven positions, and the flapping was more like twitching.

"God, it feels like I have a third pair of arms."

I refocused my gaze on Professor Dash and noticed her expression of disappointment.

"Hey, in my defense...I never used my wings my entire life," I admitted.

r/Technicallythetruth...again

"I-...you know what? I'm not even gonna ask," Professor Dash said before she flew up to me and grabbed one of my wings, "You gotta extend them like this. You can't just have them at awkward angles and then lazily move them up and down," she said as she gently moved my wing up and down.

"And having somebody else move them is even weirder."

She then let go of my wing and then back off a bit.

"Now then, try it again, but this just mimic what I'm doing," she said as she started to flap her wings.

I nodded in understanding before trying my best to mimic her movements. Even though it wasn't so much as twitching this time, my wings were still moving awkwardly due to me not having accurate control of my muscles. Eventually, I started to get the hang of moving my wings in general, and then moving them in sync. Over the next few minutes, my movements started to get more and more accurate with each flap, and then soon got faster.

I soon became tired from all the flapping and stopped, my wings dangling on the sides. I took deep, slow breathes as my face was sweating from the workout.

This time, Professor Dash had a small smile on her face.

"That was pretty good kid. I think you got the movements of flapping down," she said, "The next step for you is to learn how to hover in place. But first, take a few minutes to recover."

"O-okay," I said, still catching my breathe.

"Aww, that's so sad," Ocellus said.

After school ended, the Young Six met up at Sugarcube Corner. Smolder and Sandbar have just finished telling everyone else about what they learned about Apex Legion. How he doesn't know how to fly, that he grew up in Canterlot, and that he never really socialized with anypony during his foalhood. While it was nice to know a little bit about the grey pegasus, there were many things that still boggled them.

"It's a little weird though," Gallus said, "I may not have lived Canterlot, or pretty much any pony community, but I know there had to be at least a few pegasi there."

"Our thoughts exactly," Sandbar nodded in agreement.

"Didn't Sandbar say Legion not very social?" Yona asked to which Sandbar nodded.

"But why?!" Silverstream asked, "Why would he not go out into the world and make new friends?"

"Maybe he was just shy," Ocellus said, "Kind of like me before I started attending the school."

"Okay, that explains the not interacting with others part," Gallus said, "But what about the fact that no one in his family are pegasi."

"Well, Mr. and Mrs. Cake are both earth ponies, and their two foals are a unicorn and a pegasus," Sandbar explained, "Maybe it's the same kind of thing with Legion."

"I'm...not really sure that's how genes work," Ocellus said.

Even though there were many things about their friend's foalhood to think about, they couldn't really think about it that much. After all, they did only meet Legion just a little over a week ago. Maybe as time goes on that they will learn more about their pegasus friend.

"Phew, that was quite a workout."

I fell on my back out of exhaustion onto the soft grass. It had been a few hours since I started my flying lessons. During that time, I learned how to flap my wings, hover in place, and even move around a bit. It's not perfect though. There were a few times where I miscalculated the angle of my wings and ended up doing some flips and falling on the ground. Who knew that flying consisted of so many factors like wing angle, wind strength, and other stuff? I thought it would just be the flap your wings to fly.

Huh. Now I respect every bird, fly, and pretty much every other flying animal back on Earth.

Ditto.

"You're a quick learner kid," I heard Professor Dash say, "Keep this up and you'll learn how to fly like the back of your hoof in no time."

"Well, a wise pony once said 'if you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything,'" I said as I slowly got up and looked in the professor's direction.

Who said that?

Marty McFly.

"Anyway professor, I think I'm gonna head back to the school. Got homework to do, friends to chat with, and...phew...I could use some rest. Probably after I get some food though," I said.

"Yeah, I could use some sleep right now," Professor Dash said, "See you tomorrow Legion."

"See you," I said as I walked away before I stopped and turned back, "Oh, and professor? Thank you for doing this."

"Heh. No problem kid," she said with a smile as I continued to walk back to Ponyville.

Chapter 7: A Field Trip Through the Woods

Author's Note

Hey everybody, I'm back with another update...after another 3 fucking weeks. Seriously, WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH ME?!

Chapter 7: A Field Trip Through the Woods

Previously on The Adventure of the Apex Legion

"I don't know how to fly," I casually admitted.

"WHAT?!" she yelled out in disbelief, making my pupils shrink a bit.

"I never learned how to, okay?!" I yelled back.

"Nopony in my family was a pegasus. Not my mom, my dad, not even my brother. I also didn't have any pegasus friends," I explained with a sigh.

"Hey? Professor?" I asked, getting her attention, "If it's not too much trouble, can you teach me how to fly?"

"Of course Legion. I'll always be there for my fellow pegasi," she said.

"It's a little weird though," Gallus said, "I may not have lived Canterlot, or pretty much any pony community, but I know there had to be at least a few pegasi there."

"You're a quick learner kid," I heard Professor Dash say, "Keep this up and you'll learn how to fly like the back of your hoof in no time."

"Well, a wise pony once said 'if you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything,'" I said as I slowly got up and looked in the professor's direction.

"See you," I said as I walked away before I stopped and turned back, "Oh, and professor? Thank you for doing this."

"Heh. No problem kid," she said with a smile as I continued to walk back to Ponyville.

The Adventure of the Apex Legion

Written by DeffBwade

Chapter 7: A Field Trip Through the Woods

It was another normal day at the School of Friendship. Students were getting up for classes, all refreshed from a good night's sleep followed by good dreams under Princess Luna's moon, while the professors prepared their lessons for the day. However, for one rambunctious cyan pegasus, today was special.

Rainbow Dash soured into the school and through the fountain area and the hallways. She was so both anxious and excited for today that she wasn't really paying attention to how fast she was flying, as evident when she flew past Yona and Silverstream and blew away a stack of papers that the young yak was holding. Even though Rainbow picked the papers back up and gave Yona an apologetic smile, she blew away the papers yet again when she took off. Within a minute, she finally reached the teacher's lounge, where all of her friends were gathered.

"Did I miss the Teacher of the Month announcement?" Rainbow asked with a smile.

"You're just in time, but it's gonna be me," Applejack stated, prompting Rainbow to frown.

"Yeah right," Rainbow said with a wave of her hoof, "I got this one nailed."

Ever since Twilight started doing Teacher of the Month, where the students would vote on who they thought was...well...the teacher of the month, Rainbow Dash and Applejack have been doing whatever they can to a win. Just one...single...win. Just one problem.

"And the Friendship School Teacher of the Month is..." Twilight said, causing Rainbow and Applejack to lean forward with huge smiles and sparkling eyes, "Fluttershy!"

"Again?" Applejack asked disappointedly with a sigh.

"Come on!" Rainbow exclaimed.

"Oh my," the shy pegasus said meekly, "I don't how I keep winning."

The problem is that Fluttershy won every single month. Not that they were jealous of her, of course. They were proud that their friend keeps winning. It just...would've been nice if they won at least once.

Spike walked up to Fluttershy and took a picture, the flashing causing her to become dazed for a second before shaking her head.

"Yeah, me neither," Rainbow muttered sarcastically.

"The award is based on the students' votes," Twilight said, "They must really like you."

Spike took the photo in his and glanced up, becoming shocked at the eight identical pictures of Fluttershy winning Teacher of the Month.

"Congratulations Fluttershy," Twilight said as she levitated the trophy over, causing Rainbow and Applejack to become a bit more saddened, "Next item of business. I've been looking into a new activity for our friendship classes. Spike."

Spike then came up with the huge friendship book for the school. However, it was difficult for him to open it, so Twilight just used her levitation.

"Section 147, paragraph 2 states that teamwork is a key part of friendship, and section 229, paragraph 9 says outdoor activity reinforces learning. Add that together and what do you get?" Twilight asked.

"Oh! Oh!" Pinkie called out with a wave of a raised hoof, "Ok, let me see...147, 229, carry the two...387!"

"Nuh uh," Twilight shook her head, though she was mostly confused, as well as everypony else, but then again...it's Pinkie Pie, "A teamwork field trip. Leading it is a Teacher of the Month type job, so I thought I'd ask-"

"I'm your pony Twilight," Applejack interrupted, "Sweet Apple Acres has taught me a thing or two about working together."

"Yeah, but being a Wonderbolt's the definition of teamwork," Rainbow butted in, only for Applejack to chuckle.

"I'm sure you're not saying fancy flying makes you a better choice than me," Applejack said, to which Rainbow merely chuckled back.

"I wouldn't say better. Just a little more qualified. No offense."

"Maybe you could lead the field trip together," Fluttershy suggested.

"Bu..."

"Ga-ah..."

"Of course. Who better to model the importance of working as a team?" Twilight asked.

"Uh...Rarity? Fluttershy? Me? Spike? This flower pot?" Pinkie asked, as if she knew as well that it wasn't really a good idea.

"Both of you are teamwork experts. If the students see the two of you teaching together, they'll learn even more," Twilight said, "I know you've been competitive in the past, but I'm you'd never let that get in the way of friendship education."

"Of course!" Applejack proudly said.

"Totally!" Rainbow exclaimed.

As Twilight walked away though, the two professors groaned in annoyance before looking at each other and laughing it off. However, deep down they knew the truth on how this field trip is gonna go if they both are leading it and teaching about teamwork.

It's gonna end in disaster.

It's been about two weeks since Professor Dash started teaching me to fly. Like she stated, I was a pretty quick learner. I may not have the skills of an acrobatic, and definitely not skills like Professor Dash or the Wonderbolts (which I learned is basically an acrobatic team of pegasi), but I am now able to fly like the average pegasus. The only problems I'm still working on is my speed and endurance. Like I said many times, I've never had wings before.

During the last two weeks everything was pretty much the same old, same old. Wake up, get prepared, learn friendship, hang out with friends, do homework, sleep, go to work on the weekends, repeat, yada yada yada, you get the point. Two things happened that was different from the usual schedule.

The first was during Professor Dash's class where she was telling us about some kind of roller coaster in town called...Las Pegasus. Sigh...I swear one day I'm gonna find out who created these horse puns. Anyway, I believe it was called the Wild Blue Yonder. She described it as, and I quote, "the fastest, most thrilling ride of all time." And of course she had to go into detail of what it consists of.

Typical Professor Dash. Always liking speed.

First, you strap yourself into the cloud rocket car, and then you're catapulted straight through a...

"...series of daring dips and terrifying turns!" Professor Dash said as she flew in the air doing flips and all that.

"Does anypony know what the heck she's talking about?" I whispered to Sandbar and Smolder.

"Beats me," Smolder shrugged.

I'm not gonna say the rest of her explanation cause...I really don't care.

Aww.

What? I'm not interested in roller coasters, okay?

Anyway, the next day, Professor Dash left for what I assumed to be the Wild Blue Yonder, and Professor Applejack ended up covering for her. To my surprise, she was quite an athlete, though not as tough as Professor Dash. There was a lot of bucking involved in that class.

...

Don't take that out of context.

I'll try not to.

Anyway (again)...I'm gonna move on cause I'm sure you all are starting to get bored of me talking about a roller coaster.

Just last week Headmare Twilight held a play at the school commemorating Princess Celestia's 1,111th year anniversary of when she first raised the sun, or as Professor Pinkie called it, her "ones-versary." I'd ask why Professor Pinkie decided the celebrate on such an odd number, but if the last few weeks have taught me anything, it's to never question Professor Pinkie and just chalk it off as she being herself. Sandbar and the others were part of the play, while I decided to opt out and spectate the rehearsals because I wasn't really a theater kid. The play had everything you'd expect. Props, costumes, the whole shebang. Even Princess Celestia herself was part of it, but to be honest...her acting skills was a bit...well. Let's just say that I would be a better actor than her.

You can say she was absolute shit, she can't hear you. I hope.

"Places everypony! We're hear to rehearse a new day in Equestria," Spike said through a megaphone before Headmare Twilight cleared her throat, making him roll his eyes, "Directed, written, and produced by Twilight Sparkle."

"Wow," I thought as I sat in the bleachers.

"Page 1, act 1, scene 1," Headmare Twilight said while levitating a script, "Action!"

The curtains to the stage opened up, revealing Professor Fluttershy.

"Once upon a time, before Celestia, Equestria was suffering terrible hardship. Raising the sun every morning was so hard, it took five great sorcerers plus Starswirl the Bearded to do it," she said as Sandbar and the others, fully in sorcerer like costumes, walked into view.

"Starswirl the Bearded? Really? That was his actual name?" I deadpanned in my head.

My friends then started to crouch to the ground and act like they were taking massive shits, full concentration and grunting. A trapdoor on the stage opened up and a huge, golden disco ball started to rise up.

"And everyday, the unicorns helping Starswirl would use so much magic, they lost their powers forever," Professor Fluttershy continued dramatically as all of my friends except Sandbar collapsed to the ground, Silverstream looking like she was dead, "Things looked bleak. Soon, Equestria would lose all its magic users, then the land would be covered in darkness. For...eternity."

The disco ball then started to rise back down into the stage.

"Even I can't believe how good my play is," I heard Headmare Twilight say proudly, "The sets, the props, the outfits. They're all great."

"And...here comes the best part," Spike said, though I could tell from the tone of his voice that he was not 100% sincere. He sounded a bit worried actually.

"But then, a student named Celestia discovered that she had the power to raise the sun itself without draining her magic," Professor Fluttershy explained as Princess Celestia walked onto stage, and then just waved at us with a smile and didn't say anything.

"Hi?"

"Um...that's your cue Celestia," Headmare Twilight said.

"Oh-er...right...of course," she said before clearing her throat and...

"It is time for a new day in Equestria."

Um?

Spike, Headmare Twilight, and I shared looks of confusion before I spoke up.

"What?" I asked.

"O-oh...I said...It is time for a new day in Equestria," she said again.

"Um...you're gonna have to speak up," I called out.

She doesn't even sound or look nervous! In fact, she's smiling right now!

"Y-yeah, I mean...your delivery was great, but the ponies in the back row need to hear you as well," Headmare Twilight said.

"Oh! Yes. Yes, my royal Canterlot voice. Thank you for the reminder," Princess Celestia said.

Her what voice?

I think she said her "royal Canterlot voice?" I believe that's what she called it, but what the fuck does that even-

"IT IS TIME FOR A NEW DAY IN EQUESTRIA!"

HOLY SHIT!

"WHAT THE FUCK!" I yelled in my head as I covered my ears at Celestia raising her voice by 5.247 hundred decibels (don't ask why the number was so specific, just roll with it). I could feel the ground shaking and the force of the wind literally pushing everybody back, and I'm pretty sure that someone on the other side of the world in an alternate dimension just shit themselves to how loud that was.

When the ground and wind started to settle, I opened my eyes and saw my friends on the ground. Ocellus, Smolder, Yona, Gallus, and Silverstream were even shaking at the sheer loudness.

"Oh-uh, goodness. This theater does have strong acoustics," Princess Celestia said, "M-my apologies. I'm still learning to hone my craft."

"No, no, you're doing...fine," Headmare Twilight said hesitantly.

"Explain exactly what the fuck she's doing fine in."

"Why don't we try it one more time, just like you're talking to me."

"It is time for a new day in Equestria," Princess Celesia said in an almost robotic-like voice, as if she was being mind controlled. At this, my friends decided to get off the stage.

"Yeah. My thoughts exactly. I'm out of here. T-this is absolute cringe."

You're right. She was absolute shit.

Anyway, back to the present. Apparently Headmare Twilight arranged for us to have a field trip in order to learn about tee-am work.

Tee-am work? You mean teamwork?

Yeah, that's what I said. Tee-am work.

It's pronounced teamwork.

Yeah. Tee-am work.

Teamwork.

Tee-am work.

Teamwork.

Tee-am work.

Say "team."

Team.

Say "work."

Work.

Now say "teamwork."

Tee-am work.

IT'S FUCKING TEAMWORK!

Listen man. I don't care what kind of schee-am work your trying to do to me, but I'll say it however I please.

We were now walking with Headmare Twilight to where our field shall begin. What we're gonna do exactly...shit if I know. I'm as oblivious as the others.

"I've never been on a field trip before," Ocellus said.

"Yeah, what's the point of this exactly?" Smolder asked.

"Getting out of the classroom. Duh," Gallus said.

"Yeah don't complain Smolder. I mean...not that I don't enjoy classes or anything," I whispered to Smolder.

"Yak best at field tripping," Yona said she purposely tripped over onto the grass. Sweet, innocent Yona.

"That's what we're doing? So fun!" Silverstream cheered as she too tripped onto the grass.

"Heh heh. Pretty sure the Headmare has something else in mind," Sandbar said.

"Alright class. Today you'll learn how important working together is to building a strong friendship," Headmare Twilight said as Professor Applejack walked up to her.

"He y'all. Ready to get out there and do some learning the Apple family way?" Professor Applejack asked.

"This is basically gonna be the best field trip in the history of ever! With me in charge that is," Professor Dash said as she flew up. Professor Applejack then pushed her out of the way, making her grunt.

"With us in charge." Professor Applejack said before we heard her muttering, "Meaning mostly me."

"Yeah, good one," Professor Dash said. I noticed the two of them giving each other stares of sternness.

"And what teamwork activity do you two have planned for today?" Headmare Twilight asked the two professors.

"Shed building/Canoe racing," they both said.

"No way. We get to do both?!" Silverstream asked as she leapt into the air out of excitement.

"I bet that's exactly what your two teachers had in mind," Headmare Twilight said, "Why don't you start with shed building first?"

"Heh, don't mind if I do," Professor Applejack said as Professor Dash gave her a stern glare, "Every creature, follow the leader."

"I'll check in later to see its going. Remember to work together," Headmare Twilight said.

"Now take a good deep breathe. What do you smell?" Professor Applejack asked.

Gallus took a breathe and let out a sound of disgust. "Ew, yak?"

Yona sniffed her own fur...wool...I still don't know and smiled. "Mmhm."

Should I be disgusted at that?

"Nope. Try again."

"Um, Apples?" Ocellus said.

"Aaand? Anyone? Anyone? Nope?" Professor Applejack asked.

SNIIIIIIIIIFF!

Everybody looked at me as I sniffed really loudly. I then let out a huge exhale and looked at Professor Applejack.

"Fresh air?" I asked her calmly.

"Well, yeah. But also, the promise of...teamwork!" she said as she pointed to a small shed next to a pile of planks of wood and tools.

If there's one thing you should know about me it's that I'm weird. Like really weird. Not Professor Pinkie levels of weird, but you get the point. My friends have gotten used to my silliness at this point, especially Silverstream.

"For Narnia!" I yelled as I charged to get some people out in one of Professor Dash's dodgeball games, before I stopped mid run and stared wide eyed at almost everybody, including Smolder, with balls in their hooves...or claws.

I then did the only sensible thing to do.

"Aaaahhh!"

I let out probably the most girlish scream I ever did.

I thought we agreed never to talk about thar again.

Hehehehe...I-I can't help it! It-it's just too good!

"That there's an apple shed, and this here is what we're gonna use to build it. Nothing brings friends together like a little hard work and honest sweat," Professor Applejack said.

"Hahahaha! Sweat?! Seriously?! That's supposed to be part of friendship?" Professor Dash responded.

"Not everypony would know that Rainbow Dash. Just Teacher of the Month kind of ponies," Professor Applejack said.

"Whatever. Let's just get this done so we can move on to my activity," Professor Dash said. Now it was Professor Applejack's turn to give a stern glare. Something tells me this field trip isn't off to a great start. But regardless...

"Yeah! I'm ready to get sweaty!" I cheered as me and the others got to work.

"That's the spirit Legion!" Professor Applejack complimented.

We managed to build the shed. Well, one side at least. Professor Dash decided to use speed to build the rest of it. Hell, she did it all in the air in a cloud of dust. I'm surprised she doesn't have any form of injuries, especially when she decided to kick a bunch of nails with her bare hind hooves. Obviously, Professor Applejack wasn't happy with her, not only how she rushed it, but her recklessness as well.

"Just cause it's fast, don't mean it's good," Professor Applejack said to Professor Dash.

That's what she said.

"Oh sorry. Can't hear you. Too busy practicing my Teacher of the Month pose. Yeah! Gyah! Hoo-wah!" Professor Dash as she did a bunch of poses at that last part.

"You're looking absolutely fabulous Professor."

"Don't count your pictures before their snapped Rainbow Dash!"

"Oh come on! These students are totally gonna vote for a teacher that gets things done!"

"No! They're gonna vote for a teacher that gets things done right!"

Vote for a...oh. So that's what this is about. The Teacher of the Month. They're more focused on getting the dub.

Why am I not surprised?

I voted for Professor Pinkie. She's cheery and weird. My two favorite combinations (not really).

Should we...should we talk to them about it?

Nah. I'm sure they can resolve it on their own. Hopefully.

"Yeeaah...this isn't awkward at all," Smolder said.

Eventually, we attached the wall that we built to the structure that Professor Dash built. The final piece was the roof. Me, Smolder, and Gallus were flying in the air holding the roof, while Yona held onto the rope that held the roof. Professor Applejack gave me a bit of a headache when she kept telling us to move it back and forth and left and right, and apparently...the same could be said for Professor Dash.

"Just drop it already!" Professor Dash yelled out at Yona suddenly.

"WHOA!"

Yona, being startled by the outburst, ended up letting go of the rope, making the roof a lot heavier to hold. We lost our grips and the roof collapsed onto the shed. Surprisingly, the side that we built was the only thing still standing. Professor Dash nervously chuckled when she noticed Professor Applejack's glare.

"I'll give you guess who's side is still standing."

"Yak's side!" Yona cheered as she held onto the still standing wall, making it fall. Thankfully, there was a hole (lol) in it, so Sandbar wasn't harmed when it fell.

"Welp...this day is off to...er...off to a great start," I said reluctantly.

"Who's ready to smash the all-time Equestrian speed record for river canoeing?!" Professor Dash asked proudly.

We now equipped with life vests and helmets and getting ready to, as she said, canoe. I've always wanted to go canoeing, but watching horror movies involving a lake has pretty much turned me into a massive pussy.

I have told him many, many times not to watch Piranha, but he went ahead and did it anyway. This is why we don't watch horror movies.

"Is that even a thing?" Gallus asked.

"First I heard of it," Sandbar responded.

"I think the real question is, how were Smolder and Yona able to put on their helmets despite their horns?"

"We need to get to the finish line before this alarm goes off," Professor Dash said, showing us a stopwatch, "That means you gotta move fast!"

She then flew to the boat and threw us all boat paddles. I found it impressive that Sandbar was able to catch it with his hoof.

"Any questions?"

"Um...Yona have questions," Yona said a bit nervously.

"No time for them. Get in the boat!"

Oh. She's one of those teachers.

We all then proceeded to get in the boat.

"You really think winning some canoeing record will get ya that Teacher of the Month trophy?" I heard Professor Applejack ask.

"I'm pretty sure every creature's gonna like it a lot better than pounding nails and cutting wood," Professor Dash said, to which Professor Applejack have another glare.

"I'd like teachers that can cooperate."

As we got into the boat, I heard Yona say, "Yak not like water."

"Sometimes, when I'm scared to try something new, I whistle," Ocellus said, to which Yona proceeded to whistle.

"Huh. I usually just either sit it out, or suck it up and deal with it. Mostly the former though," I said.

"Way I see it, Twilight's gonna give that teacher trophy to a teacher, not a racer," Professor Applejack said.

"We'll see about that," Professor Dash said.

"STROKE! STROKE! STROKE! HARDER! PUT YOU BACK INTO IT NOOBIES!" Professor Dash practically commanded Smolder, Gallus, Yona, and I.

And did she just call us noobs?

"Stroooke. Stroooke. Stroooke. Slower. Focus on your paddle technique y'all," I heard Professor Applejack tell Ocellus, Silverstream, and Sandbar.

"If Jrod and Gaming were here, I'd imagine that they would be making a lot of...inappropriate jokes. Hell, I would do it as well."

"Whoo-hoo! We're really going now!" Silverstream cheered.

"Yes! This is totally working. We are definitely not stroking in complete opposite directions and not actually moving," I stated sarcastically yet proudly, to which everybody else noticed that we weren't actually going anywhere.

"Grr. Every creature needs to listen to me, the leader of my activity, Applejack!" Professor Dash seethed, putting emphasis when calling out Professor Applejack's name. Ocellus, Silverstream, and Sandbar then turned around.

"Now, STROKE!"

Cut to a few minutes...I think. I wasn't paying attention. We were still keeping up with the paddling. It's all about the technique.

First go like this, SPIN AROUND, STOP. Double take three times. One, two, three, and...PELVIC THRUST. WOO!

"Dig in team! We can still beat that record!" Professor Dash said.

Honestly it felt like Professor Dash was more focused on breaking the record than teaching us about tee-amwork. I glanced up and saw that we were approaching a split in the path thanks to a damn rock.

"Stop!" Professor Applejack yelled.

"Go!" Professor Dash yelled.

"Which way do we go?" Ocellus asked.

"Left!"

"Right!"

"What?"

"Ei-ei captains! Wait, what?" Silverstream asked with confusion, practically reading my thoughts.

"Left! I can see the finish line from here!" Professor Dash said excited. I looked ahead to the left side and, indeed, there was a finish line. There was also a bunch of these green fish swimming there. One of them jumped, revealing to have sharp teeth. Almost like...

"...PIRANHAS?!"

HOLY SHIT!

"If we go left, we'll be heading straight into the bite-a-cuda fish!"

"Who cares about a few fish?"

"I care about a few fish when they can bite you!" I yelled out my thoughts.

DUDE I WAS WRONG! I'LL NEVER DISREGARD YOUR PARANOIA EVER AGAIN!

"Well, just go around them," Professor Dash shrugged off.

"JESUS CHRIST! This reminds of that one Spongebob episode where Spongebob and Patrick try to live like Larry!"

W-wait. Wasn't there something else we should be concerned about?

"ROCK!" Sandbar yelled out before the boat crashed into the rock, smashing it and everybody falling into the water. Fortunately, we were drifting to the right side, so I guess I get to live another day. At least Silverstream was laughing it off as we floated down the river.

"I love field trips!" Silverstream cheered.

"I hope you're happy," I heard Professor Applejack say.

"I'm definitely happy."

"Obviously not! Because there goes our new speed record," Professor Dash complained.

Professor Dash. Just once in your life, can you please not talk about breaking some kind of re-HOLY SHIT YONA IS DROWNING!

I heard the sound of rapid splashing and saw a ripped life vest. I turned and saw Yona trying to stay afloat.

"HELP! YAK NOT SWIM!" Yona pleaded between coughs before submerging under the water.

"Holy shit! Holy shit! Oh my god! What do we do?! What do we do?! WHAT DO WE-oh wait I forgot Ocellus and Silverstream can turn into creatures that can swim and breath underwater. But still...HOLY SHIT!"

After Ocellus and Silverstream emerge with Yona, we hear Headmare Twilight ask, "How's the canoeing...going?"

"About as good as the apple shed building," Smolder commented before we all started to swim back to shore.

"I totally had things under control...until Applejack messed them up," Professor Dash accussed.

"Did not," Professor Applejack defended.

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Yep, it's been like this all day," Gallus sighed.

"I wouldn't say all day. Just...99% of it," Sandbar said, to which Headmare Twilight gave a stern glance at the two professors.

"Uh oh. Someponies are in trouble," I said, although on the inside I was smiling.

"I can't believe this. You're not teaching teamwork, you're competing with each other. I thought you were past that," Twilight sternly said to the two mares.

When she first moved to Ponyville, she found out pretty quickly that Rainbow and Applejack were competitive ponies, if the Iron Pony Competition and the Running of the Leaves were any indication. In fact, they were so competitive that they resorted to cheating, from bucking beehives off of trees, to misdirection, usage of tree sap, nudging each other, and flying. Thankfully, it ended up nipping them in the butts and they ended up getting last place and eventually learning that friendship is more important than some silly competition. But apparently, they either forgot the lesson might've not learned anything after all.

"We are!" Rainbow pleaded before she hesitantly said, "...Mostly."

"We got carried away with wanting to be the Teacher of the Month is all," Applejack defended.

"The Teacher of the Month wouldn't care about being Teacher of the Month. I know Fluttershy would be thrilled to see another pony win," Twilight scolded, "That's it! I'm taking over this field trip."

"Hold up Twilight!" Applejack said, "Don't call out Rainbow Dash for the reward just yet. You should've seen her fire up those students to build a shed."

"No way. You're the one the students listen to. Besides, you saved us from those pony eating fish," Rainbow said as she and orange mare gave huge smiles to the Headmare, who just raised an eyebrow at that, "Long story, but Applejack should definitely be Teacher of the Month."

"Hmm, maybe you two have learned something after all," Twilight said with suspicion evident in her voice.

"Does that mean you'll give us another chance at the Teacher of the-" Applejack asked before Rainbow placed a hoof on her mouth.

"Field trip?" Rainbow corrected.

"Well..." Twilight considered.

"Come on Twilight," Rainbow pleaded, "We get it. No more arguing. Right Applejack?"

"Right as rain and twice as fresh," Applejack responded as they hoof bumped.

"Fine," Twilight said, albeit with a bit of reluctance, "But I'm picking the next activity you two lead. A nature walk. Nopony can possibly argue over that, right?"

"Right!" the two mares answered.

"See? We're agreeing all ready," Applejack said, to which Twilight nodded and walked off.

Ah, a nature walk. A chance to see nature for what it truly looks like. And a chance for peace, quiet, and serenity. I remember a few years ago in 7th grade when my class went on a week long field trip to some camp. Forgot what it was called though. One of the activities we did were a nature walk. One in the day and one at night, although the night one was a bit uneventful other than a few people being scared of the dark. Not that I blame them or anything.

The one in the day, however, was pretty calming. It gave time to think about life and the beauty of nature and whatnot. Although, it could've been better off without those cards telling us to do things. One of them told me to take off my shoes and walk barefoot the rest of the way. There's no way in hell that I'm gonna walk barefoot through a forest. What if I stepped on something sharp? Regardless, seeing nature up close was amazing.

It must've been pretty nice, wasn't it?

It was. I would say the same for this one, but there's just one tiny problem.

THESE TWO MARES COULDN'T NAVIGATE THROUGH A PILE OF SHIT IF THEIR LIVES DEPENDED ON IT!

WE'VE BEEN IN THIS FOREST FOR AN HOUR AND A HALF! AN HOUR AND A HALF DUDE! AN HOUR AND A-first off, this isn't even a nature walk anymore. We're pretty much rats in a maze, but an hour and a half! The sun's gonna lower in a couple of hours, and I don't even think we're making any progress! Me, Ocellus, and Sandbar have seen that same rock 4 times!

...

Phew. Anyway...now that I got that off of my chest, I think it's time to voice my complaints.

"Professors, admit it. We're lost," I said at loud.

"I wouldn't say lost, just...confused?" Professor Applejack defended.

"So we're lost," I said.

"N-no. We're just...taking the long and scenic route," Professor Dash defended.

"A route that takes more than an hour and a half to go through?"

"Y-yes?"

"Uh huh...so that means we're lost."

"U-um...I...yeah, we're lost," Professor Dash admitted, to which we all groaned out of annoyance.

"Bileomeogeul (goddamn it)," I mumbled.

"Now, now. Remain calm every creature. I'm sure we'll find our way back eventually," Professor Applejack. reassured us.

"I wanna believe you, but I can't for some reason."

"Yeah. And besides, this is the Whitetail Woods," Professor Dash said, "This is practically a safe haven for camping. We'll be totally fine."

And cue the ominous music because we all turned at the sound of rustling bushes. This alone wasn't what scared us. No. It was the fact that it didn't sound like a squirrel or even a deer was passing through. No, whatever it was, it was huge. What's more, I wasn't even focused on that.

"Oh my stars, what is that smell?!" I yelled as I pressed a hoof against my muzzle, "It smells like a rotting skunk basted in expired milk!"

We then heard the sound of a beast growling, a wolf's growling to be specific. My eyes turned to pinpricks as the beast finally emerged out of its cover. It was...I don't even know what it was. It was indeed a wolf, but it was bigger than what you would expect. Its eyes glowed green as it practically stared into my soul. The freakiest part, however, was that it didn't even look like it was made out of fur and flesh, but instead an amalgamation of a bunch of wood and leaves.

"You just had to say that Rainbow," I heard the professor chide.

The beast then sounded more aggravated as it slowly started to approach us, to which we slowly back up.

"A timberwolf in the Whitetail Woods?!" Sandbar panicked.

"But that's impossible!" Professor Applejack said, "They only reside in the Everfree Forest! What's it doing here?!"

Professor Dash then turned to us, "All of you stay back. AJ and I will take care of it," she said as she got into a battle stance.

Nani?!

"What?! You're gonna fight that thing by yourselves?! That's insane!" I pleaded.

"No sweat. We handled dozens of Timberwolves before," Professor Dash said with some cockiness evident in her voice.

Seriously! Two tiny ponies vs. a wooden wolf the size of a a velociraptor?!

This is gonna be awesome to watch.

I know, right? I mean, I'm still worried, but if they really think they can take care of it, then okay.

Me and the others took a few paces back, although I had to admit that I still felt scared because the Timberwolf was still staring into my soul.

"Just be safe, alright?" I said, to which the professors nodded.

"God, I wish there were phones here. You gotta do what you gotta do for the content."

The Timberwolf started to approach the two mares as they got into battle stances. Rainbow was honest in what she told Legion. They tackled many Timberwolves in the past, and that was when they were in groups of three. An example would be when Spike was so adamant on being Applejack's assistant that they tried to fake a Timberwolf attack for him to repay his debt, only for actual Timberwolves to show up, but that's not important right now.

What matters now is to protect the students.

"This will be a breeze," Rainbow whispered with a cocky expression.

Before anything could happen though, Rainbow and AJ could've sworn that they saw something in the Timberwolf's eyes. It was only for a brief second, but it was enough to put a slight chill up their spines. Some sort of shimmer. Something...dark...and evil.

"What in tarnation?" AJ whispered with a raised eyebrow...before the Timberwolf suddenly darted forward past the two mares, knocking them over in the process...and towards the students.

"HOLY SHIT!"

We all screamed as we darted in different directions, out of the way of the Timberwolf's lunge. When it landed, it immediately turned its head to where me, Ocellus, and Sandbar were. I would've yelled at Smolder to light this bitch up, but that would run the risk of starting a forest fire. As Smokey the Bear once said, only you can prevent forest fires.

"Maybe Ocellus could turn into something to kill it, maybe a-OH SHIT!"

The wolf lunged at us again, causing us to dodge out of the way, with me separate from Ocellus and Sandbar. My heart was racing, only for it to speed up even more like the Flash when the wooden wolf turned towards me and started growling.

"W-why is it looking at me?"

It then started to slowly approach me...before it suddenly lunged, to which I jumped up into the air, my wings flapping in the breeze of the supposedly serene woods.

It was a fight or flight situation at this point, and seeing as there was no way I could be capable of killing a wolf made of wood...

I choose flight. Literally.

In hindsight, I was worried I made the wrong decision by basically abandoning my friends, but that worry immediately dissipated when I heard my friends calling my name in horror...as well as the sound of the wolf giving chase as I dodged and weaved through the trees.

I know you might be wondering why I didn't just fly up high above the tree line, and the answer was that I wasn't thinking clearly because of the fear I felt.

But...in a way...I was kind of relieved that my friends and the professors would be safe. A noble sacrifice?

...

Nah. Fuck that. I'm too young to die.

I could feel my stamina depleting as the wolf continued to give chase, but I had to keep going. It was do or die. But then I did something stupid. Something you should never do in horror movies when something is chasing you. I looked back for a brief second to see that the wolf was getting closer and closer, and because I wasn't watching where I was going, I didn't see the branch up ahead until I felt a sharp pain on one of my wings, making me wince.

I fell to the ground and almost immediately got up to run as much as my hooves can provide me. I then saw the edge of the woods ahead of me, making me relieved that I was gonna get help. However, the relief dissipated when I got out of the woods...and reached a ravine.

"Ah shit," I mumbled.

I looked to the other side of the ravine and stretched my wings, only for one of them to send jolts of pain. I looked at my right wing and saw that it was...what's the word...clipped? I think that's what Professor Dash said.

I looked down and saw a massive river below. Maybe I could jump? That idea was then thrown out of the window when I saw some familiar fishes with snapping jaws jump out of the water.

"Fuck," I mumbled with wide eyes and a racing heart as my fears grew at the reality of the situation. A forest predator was after me and I had no way out.

I resisted the urge to piss myself as I heard the sounds of bushes rustling and growling. I slowly turned as my breathing was as loud as...I don't even know...to the sight of the Timberwolf slowly approaching, once again its eyes piercing into my soul.

I couldn't fly.

I couldn't fight.

I was going to die.

Time seemed to slow down as the wolf got into a pouncing position, ready to catch its prey.

I closed my eyes and waited for it to deliver the final blow.

As I heard the Timberwolf pounced, my memories shifted to those of my friends. How they always put a smile on my face, how much fun we had.

Well...it was fun while it lasted.

"At least I know that they're safe."

At that thought, I felt something. Not the feeling of claws and teeth tearing my flesh apart. Not the feeling of the wolf tackling me down to the river below. It was instead kind of a feeling of warmth enveloping me, but only for a split second. And after that...

Nothing.

I slowly opened up my eyes...and saw nothing. I didn't see any Timberwolf nor any blood on me as I examined my body. I was perfectly fine. I mean...not that I'm complaining or anything.

SPLASH

I immediately turned back to the river below at the sound of a massive splash.

Did...did the Timberwolf just fall into the river?

I-I think...I think it did.

My breathing started to slow down as I sat down on my haunches. Once I calmed down, I then started to chuckle.

"Heh. I can just imagine it. Pegasus colt survives Timberwolf attack because Timberwolf has small brain."

I'd say you got lucky.

Yeah. Maybe I did.

"There he is!"

I turned back to the trees and saw the professors and my friends approaching. I got up and met them halfway.

"Are you okay Legion?!" Ocellus asked out of concern.

"Besides being a little shaken up from what just happened, I think I'm fine," I answered.

"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."

"Where is the Timberwolf anyway?" Sandbar asked.

"Well...simply put...it fell," I admitted.

"Beg your pardon?" Professor Applejack asked.

"I...honestly don't know myself," I shrugged, "I must've missed me when it lunged at me."

"Huh?!" Silverstream yelled.

"I mean...it doesn't really matter to me," I shrugged, "I'm alive. That's what matters."

How can you be so nonchalant about this?

Oh I'm not. I'm actually shitting myself right now.

"Woah dude! Your wing!" Professor Dash exclaimed once she noticed my injured wing.

"Ah it's just a flesh wound professor. I'll be fine," I said, but then I winced a little at the pain, "But in all honesty, I think I need to go to the hospital. Please tell one of you found the way back."

Smolder then flew up into the air to get her bearings. She must've spotted Ponyville because she flew back down and said, "We can get back to the school before dark if we cross the ravine."

"Good," I said with a sigh of relief.

Ever since the young pegasus came to Equestria, he's been keeping tabs on him. Watching how he progresses with living in such a peaceful world. He is aware that the pegasus known as Apex Legion comes from a sort of violent world, but in all honesty, that's probably what makes him more enjoy, as well as his whole demeanor.

Regardless, he's been watching him for another reason.

And he's glad about what he just saw.

As he watched from the shadows, he saw the Timberwolf slowly approach the pegasus, who then closed his eyes, as if accepting his fate. He was considering intervening when the Timberwolf got into a pounce position, but then he felt something from Legion.

He may not be some kind of emotional reader, but he sensed that the pegasus was feeling some sort of...relief? Again, he isn't sure, but he does know that was something positive.

What happened next was something that shouldn't be possible unless you were a unicorn.

Just before the Timberwolf was about to dig its claws into Legion, the young pegasus, in the blink of an eye, disappeared and reappeared in a flash of light a meter or two to the left, just outside of the Timberwolf's range. The young pegasus didn't seem to notice what just happened though.

He didn't sense any unicorns around to cause the pegasus to teleport and it definitely wasn't him.

No, he knew what just happened.

Unfortunately, so did somepony else.

He felt it off of the Timberwolf. It wasn't the normal Everfree like energy Timberwolves exudes. It was something dark...and easily recognizable. And that means that what he found was true.

But he can worry about that at a later date. For now, he needs to continue monitoring the young pegasus.

"It appears the hero of the story is starting to get in touch with his...'special'...kind of magic," he said as his yellow and red eyes backed off into the darkness.

Chapter 8: The Legion's First Hearts and Hooves Day

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 9: A Scavenging Hunt

Author's Note

Warning: chapter is horribly written, especially the end, but I tried my best.

That is all.

Chapter 9: A Scavenging Hunt

Previously on The Adventure of the Apex Legion

"I said it's Hearts and Hooves Day," she said as she then started to hug herself, "You know, the day where you get all romantic with your special somepony and give them hugs and kisses, as well as chocolates! Ohh, I love chocolates. I'm hungry."

Okay. So it is Valentine's Day. Good to know I guess.

"So Legion, do you have anypony on your mind that you wanna ask to be your special somepony? Somepony with whom you want to give a good old smooch on the cheek or lip and let love blossom in the air?" she asked, which I admit, made me blush a bit, and by that I mean a lot. It's a good thing I have dark colored coat.

"No," I simply answered, but she then leaned a bit closer to me, a huge grin on her face.

"Are you sure~?" she asked, making me a little bit more nervous.

"Yeah?" I said, to which she backed off after a few seconds of silence.

"Okay then. Maybe love will blossom between you and your special somepony at a later date," she cheered before going into a whisper, "Spoiler alert, she lives here in Ponyville."

"I am so not following you," I said with confusion, "What do you mean by that?"

"You'll find out eventually, but right now you should head to class before you're late," she said before hopping off, "I'll see you in class and at work Legion!"

"Thanks for the tour of Ponyville Mrs. Cake. It's such a lovely place," Sugar Belle said, confirming my thoughts as I recognized her voice as the one I heard earlier.

"It was my pleasure," Mrs. Cake said before she turned her head to me, "Oh, Sugar Belle, I want you to meet Apex Legion. He also works here at Sugarcube Corner."

"Eh, just 'Legion' is fine," I said before turning my attention to the pink mare, "Nice to meet you Sugar Belle."

"Nice to meet you too Legion," she said with a smile.

"Well Mrs. Cake, I'm off to surprise Big Mac with the news," Sugar Belle said.

"Big Mac?" I asked.

"We're breaking up," Big Mac said as he started lean against the door in a way that I consider cursed.

"I...I don't understand. Why are you breaking up with me?" Sugar Belle asked sadly, "And why are you leaning like that?"

"I...you...GAH!" Big Mac yelled before he stormed outside with tears forming in his eyes, "This is why I don't like talking! Words can hurt! Words hurt! Goodbye, Sugar Belle."

And with that, he ran off.

"I-I'm sorry Sugar Belle," I said to her.

"Is that...Sugar Belle and Big Mac?" I said getting a closer look, "It is!"

"And by the looks on their faces, I believe they worked things out," I said as looked over at Mrs. Cake, who was at the counter.

"Oh thank goodness," Mrs. Cake said happily, "I was hoping that they'd get back together. Sugar Belle couldn't stop talking about how much she loves Big Mac during the tour. Not that I blame her or anything, what with it being Hearts and Hooves Day."

"Do you have a special somepony for Hearts and Hooves Day?" she asked.

"Oh, nah," I responded, "I'm not really in a rush right now to find my significant other."

But at the same time, I wouldn't mind getting a girlfriend. I'm the kind of guy that just goes with the flow. If I'm single, then I'm fine with being single. If a girl has a crush on me and asks me out, and I think the girl is cool, then I guess I have a girlfriend.

I chuckled a bit at that second thought though.

"A girl having a crush on me. That'll be the day."

As Ocellus walked through the halls of the school, she had a small blush on her face as her eyes shifted around. She noticed many ponies giving each cards or chocolates in honor of today's holiday. In her saddlebags, she had her own card, meant for somepony whom she believes is special.

As she continued to walk around, she finally saw him.

Apex Legion.

All Ocellus had to do was talk to him. Just give him the card and ask him to be her special somepony for Hearts and Hooves Day.

And if he says 'yes,' then he could be her very first coltfriend and she would be a very happy changeling. Easy peasy.

...

But what if he said 'no?'

What if instead of accepting her feelings, what if he says that he's not looking for a relationship right now?

What if he says she has a marefriend already?

What if this damages their friendship?

What if...what if he laughs at her?! What if he says that he would never date a changeling because he thinks they're vile for trying to take over Equestria?!

No. Ocellus has known Legion for quite a while. He's not the type to say something like that. Right? I mean, he did stand up for her when Chancellor Neighsay said those harsh words about her.

Nothing will go wrong.

...

Right?

Out of fear for what could happen, Ocellus started to slowly back up. Once she thought she was at a reasonable distance, she quickly turned and started to head to her first class.

On the inside though, she slapped herself for being scared once again.

The Adventure of the Apex Legion

Written by DeffBwade

Chapter 9: A Scavenging Hunt

Let's have a quick recap on events that occurred this past week. Cause why not?

So...one day my friends and I were in the library doing our homework (the Cakes gave me a day off that day) and minding our own business, when all of a sudden Spike came bursting in wearing a trench coat, fedora, and sunglasses, and screaming his balls out to a group of tourists. When we asked him to be quiet, he acted oblivious to his decibel level increasing. And then all of a sudden (again), Spike burped a huge pillar of fire and turned all of his clothes to ash (as well as the sunglasses but I don't think that's how chemistry works), revealing himself to have these red bumps all over his body.

Yeesh. If that's the dragon equivalent to acne, then I don't really blame him for running away afterwards, I think. I mean, I don't really get as much acne cause I use this oil...cream...moisturizer?

After Smolder ran off to speak to him, she soon explained to us that what Spike was going through was a part of growing up as dragon called 'the Molt.' She said that side effects include itchy scales, uncontrollable shifts in volume, constant fire burping, and a smell that attracts predators.

Cool. Not really. That sounds like hell.

I bet it was.

I forgot to ask Smolder what the point of it was, or if it was pretty much puberty, but it doesn't matter now. Because the next day, Spike had fucking wings! Now that's cool. Now the little guy no longer has to do so much walking. Eh, hopefully Spike doesn't find out that I referred to him as little. No matter the size, I don't wanna be on the receiving end of a living flamethrower.

That same day, during one of my classes, I swear that in the corner of my enlarged eye, I saw a filly spying on us through the window. I didn't even bother saying anything. During the next class, for some reason the same filly, as well as two others, were there as well. For a second I thought they were just new students, but based on the fact that Headmare Twilight took them out of the classroom to talk to them and that I didn't see the fillies the next day, it's safe to assume that they weren't supposed to be there.

Again, not gonna question it.

However, during Professor Dash's class, that same filly whom I saw spying (she was a pegasus by the way) was sitting next to me wearing...sigh...a pretty shitty disguise. Her "disguise" was literally just those comedic glasses with a fake nose and moustache. Unfortunately, she got caught when she spoiled a story that Professor Dash was telling us and was told afterwards to leave.

Heh. Someone doesn't know how to blend in.

Once again, not gonna question it.

Anyway, today has been a weird day so far. It all yesterday when Headmare Twilight showed us these artifacts that represented the pony, changeling, griffon, hippogriff, dragon, and yak tribes. There was the Amulent of Aurora, the Talismen of Mirage, the Helm of (I'm not even gonna attempt it), the Crown of Grover, (I'm not even gonna attempt it)'s Shell, and Clover the Clever's Cloak. In the middle of the lecture, Headmare Twilight's cutie mark started to glow for some reason. I wish the same applied for the smile on my cutie mark. The next day, not only the Headmare, but also the professors had to leave for a "friendship mission," whatever that is, leaving Spike and Counselor Starlight in charge. The next day, classes were taught by some...I'm just gonna say interesting...teachers.

Professor Fluttershy's class was taught by a minotaur named Iron Will, and I know because he kept saying stuff like "Iron Will this" and "Iron Will that." Let me tell you, this minotaur was the opposite of Professor Fluttershy. Not evil or anything, just...aggressive, or as he claims, assertive. He taught us that we had to be "assertive" in order to make people their friend. Yeah, I don't think he understands that's not what "making friends" means. He asked (more like told actually) Yona to demonstrate how to "make friends." At first Yona was her sweet, innocent self, but then Iron Will told her to act more convincing. She puffed air out of her nostrils and then yelled "be my friend" as if she's King Kong. Needless to say, everyone was intimidated by this teacher, while I did everything I could to hold in the liquid in the tank.

You almost pissed yourself because a teacher was intimidating?

Well...when you put it that way, but in my defense, I drank a full bottle of water before the class. At least he didn't call the principal's son an ass.

Wait, what?

Long story. Professor Dash's class was taught by...how should I say it...a complete ass. Like literally and metaphorically. The teacher was a donkey and he was an ass. In fact, I think his name was Cranky Doodle Donkey. No joke. This guy made us make sure he was pampered, like fanning him and bringing him food and drinks. And guess who had the misfortune of rubbing his hind hooves? Did I mention that this guy was old. What really made me think that this guy was high on crack, or had dementia, was when Gallus brought him his tea...three times. First, he said it was "too hot," then he he said it was "too cold," then he said it was "too tea-flavored." Too tea-flavored! What the fuck does that even mean?!

Damn bro. Feels bad.

No amount of soap and water will make my hooves feel clean again. Bleach will have to do. Probably fire. You know what, I'm just gonna slice them off.

Headmare Twilight's substitute teacher was just...what the fuck? Her class was taught by...a tree. A fucking tree was our substitute. I'm not even kidding around, a tree was behind the teacher's desk. At least Silverstream had the courtesy to leave an apple on its desk.

That doesn't sound too bad.

That's because you didn't let me finish. Apparently Smolder was allergic to whatever this tree was, because she started sneezing out fire blasts like crazy. Everything was on fire, the desks, the walls, the students...okay, I'm just exaggerating that last one because my coat was slightly singed afterwards.

Okay. I take it back. That sounds bad.

Apparently, there was a morning announcement this morning, but because I stayed up late doing homework, I missed it. One of the disadvantages of living at a school I guess. Apparently Counselor Starlight hired some new substitute teachers. Thank god.

We were now in the amphitheater waiting for the substitute to arrive, a unicorn named Trixie Lulamoon. Nice name. The door suddenly opened and revealed...um...uh. I had no idea what I was looking at.

The fuck is that thing?

It was, in short, an amalgamation of creatures. A mismatch of randomness. Something you'd see from Harry Potter or Narnia. It had a right leg of a lizard, a left leg of a goat, a lion's paw for its right arm, an eagle's claw for its left arm, a snake-like body, a bat wing, a bird wing, a dragon-like tail, a deer horn, a goat horn, a head that looked equine in shape, and white eyebrows and a beard. Like I said, a mismatch of randomness.

He (I'm assuming it's a he) was also wearing clothing a typical white teenager would wear. A red hoodie, red hat, a grey shirt with a lightning bolt on it, and blue jeans that are pulled down to show white underwear with red hearts on them (like seriously, don't ever have your pants pulled down in public because no one wants to see what your underwear looks like).

"Yo! Greeting, fellow creatures," he said. He vanished suddenly (Houdini) before reappearing between me and Ocellus, "Is this seat taken?"

Ocellus chuckled nervously as I gave him a questioning stare as we both backed away. He then gave this look, something I couldn't describe as much, as if he was telling me 'Hey, I know you,' but that could've just been my imagination though.

A puff of smoke appeared on the stage, clearing away to who I assumed to be Trixie Lulamoon. She was a unicorn mare with a mane and tail that were pale cornflower blue with very pale cerulean stripes, a blue coat, and dark grayish violet eyes. I couldn't see her cutie mark though because of the magician's outfit she was wearing.

"Holy shit. She just appeared in a smoke cloud. She's a fucking ninja! Teach me your ways senpai!"

"Welcome class," she said, "You may call me the Great and Powerful Professor Trix-"

RING

"Wait, what?"

"Shhh!" the...whatever this creature is...said, "Really, that's so inconsiderate."

RING

Uh, excuse me. Dafuq?!

Are there cellphones here and I was just too dumb to notice?!

The creature reached into a paper bag that had a drawing of a smiling sun and...Professor Fluttershy's face...on it and pulled out a banana that was...ringing?

"Oh, I better take this," he said before leaning down on the seats forcing me and Smolder to move, "Hello...Ugh, he did not...And what did you say...Gasp. You did not..."

"Is this guy seriously talking to a banana? I'm sorry to ask, but is he high? Is he gonna say 'I am the great Cornholio! I need TP for my bum hole!'"

"Discord," the Great and Pow-...Professor Trixie said, pointing a hoof at the creature, "Why are you here?"

This guy's name is Discord? Makes sense I guess since "discord" means a state of chaos and disharmony.

But who exactly is this guy?

"Why, I'm a student of friendship of course. Unless you don't think you're good enough to teach me," he said.

That's not what she meant by that question.

"Of course I am," she said offended, "No fruit calls in my class."

Please don't tell me you can actually call people in this world with fruit.

Discord shrugged before peeling the banana, revealing an actual telephone (the old school type) and eating it. I gave him a wtf look, but he didn't seem to notice. I shrugged it off and turned back to the professor.

"Magic is the most important element of friendship. So today, I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, will put on a magic show," the professor said.

"Talk about being boastful. Still, she said 'magic show.' Worth it!"

Professor Trixie placed her hat on the ground and reached into it, pulling out...a pig with wings.

When pigs fly, am I right?

The professor pushed the pig back into her hat before pulling out...a grey pegasus with a blonde mane and mismatched eyes.

"Wasn't that the mail pony? What was her name again? Derpy? Actually, you know what? Never mind."

Again, she pushed the Pegasus back before pulling out-

HOLY FUCKING SHIT! WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT THING?!

A BEAR THAT WAS THE SIZE OF GODZILLA AND LOOKED LIKE IT WAS MADE OF STARS?!

Me, as well as every other student, screamed in a panic, and ran out the door, but not before casting one last glance at Discord, who just remained in place.

Professor Fluttershy's class was taught by the grey earth pony with a purple mane and tail and a blue dress (I decided to not be so specific with colors because fuck you), named Maud, and let me tell you something. She sounded so bland and emotionless, you could fall asleep having a conversation with her, so I'm not gonna talk about her class. Legit everybody fell asleep, or at least Gallus did, but mainly because her lesson was on rocks.

I would've fallen asleep as well if it wasn't for...well...

"Minerals are classified as naturally occurring substances formed in a geological process. They feature a crystalline structure in addition to specific additional properties and chemical composition," the professor explained in her emotionless voice with several drawings of rocks displayed on the board, "Now for something fun. I will point to the sedimentary rocks. There. And there. There. That one. There."

"Please kill me."

As I sat at my desk with my head resting on my hoof, I noticed a few students around me falling asleep, including Gallus. As I tried my best to stay awake, I saw Professor Maud slowly raise her hoof in the air before-

SLAM

-she slammed her hoof on the desk, jolting everyone awake from the sheer force of it. The noise was so loud someone billions of light years could've heard it, and I'm pretty sure I even saw cracks start to form in the desk.

"Please don't sleep," she said in the same emotionless tone before casually continuing with lesson.

She scares me more than Professor Pinkie.

Speaking of Professor Pinkie, there is one question I have on my mind.

"HOW THE FUCK IS SHE PROFESSOR PINKIE'S SISTER?!"

Professor Dash's class was taught by the yellow pegasus with a fire color mane and tail named Spitfire (cool name). When I heard that name, I swear to God, my first thought was Skylanders Superchargers. Apparently, she's the captain of an aerial team called the Wonderbolts, as evident by the commanders uniform and sunglasses she was wearing. I recall Professor Dash telling a story about that, about how she was nicknamed 'Crash' and she tried everything she can to be renamed, including acting like the other professors. God, I feel bad to whom ever she acted like Professor Rarity towards. Professor Rarity seems like the type that can easily charm others, if you know what I mean.

I'd...rather not.

Professor Spitfire had us run laps around the buckball field. It was a great workout. We were now resting on the bleachers when, in a flash, Discird appeared in a gym coach uniform.

"Take a lap team," he told us.

"Uh, actually...we just finished Professor Spitfire's workout," Sandbar said, but Discord didn't seem convinced, or he just didn't care.

"Sound like somepony needs a little motivation," he blew his whistle before behind us came-

"AW COME ON!"

A MIX BETWEEN A BEAR AND A BEE?!

It roared and tried to take a bite at us before we all ran and sprinted around the field.

"I've never run so fast in my life!" Silverstream cheered, even with a smile on her face.

"Not the time to act all cheery Silverstream!" I yelled. If only my wing wasn't still a few days away from recovering completely.

"Yona...can't run...faster," I heard Yona say. I looked back just in time to see Yona trip over. The bug bear pointed its stinger and dive bombed towards her...before a blue laser impacted it.

"Discord, that's enough! Endangering students crosses the line! I don't know why you're trying to ruin this school, but it stops now!" Counselor Starlight yelled.

"I wouldn't be so sure," Discord said winking.

"This is your last warning!" she said making her horn glow brightly.

"Hey, take it easy Starlight! Discord's your friend, remember?" Spike intervened.

"Well he's not acting like it. The students could've been seriously hurt because of him," Counselor Starlight.

"Sigh. She's right Discord. What's your problem?" Spike asked.

"My problem? How is the fact that Twilight decided that putting an incompetent, power hungry unicorn in charge of her school my problem?!" Discord asked.

"Welp. He's fucked."

Counselor Starlight gasped before shooting out a laser that could rival the Death Star.

Guess what? Laser beam!

"Imma firing my laser! BOOM!"

When the laser dissipated, Discord was no where to be found. My inner smirk diminished at this.

"Holy shit! Did she just kill him?!"

Another name to add to the list of ponies not to piss off I guess.

"Heh heh. Don't worry. I just banished him from the school grounds forever. He's fine," Counselor Starlight said.

"Is he?"

"For this afternoon's Spell-Venger Hunt, you'll need to use the artifacts' history to find where they're hidden in the school. When you spot one, touch it with a magic shield to keep track of your score," Counselor Starlight said.

Me and all of the other students were gathered up in the main lobby of the school for this so-called Spell-Venger (these puns are starting to become lame and unoriginal at this point). Like Counselor Starlight, hidden throughout the school are the several artifacts that I mentioned earlier. The goal of the game is to find these artifacts using the knowledge we received from history class.

So it's safe to say that I'm gonna find none of them because history is boring as fuck (at least in my opinion). That and because history just isn't my strong suit. I don't know why, but I find it easier to work for an answer, like in math or physics, than remember specific facts. Ok now that I think about I'm quite surprised I had A's in my previous history classes.

"Twilight left out a list of your hunt partners before she left. I'll pass out the shields," Spike said as he displayed a list of partners. After I received my shield (although it was more like a watch, a bit weird to have on as a quadruped by the way), I checked the list so see who my partner was, and it appeared to be Ocellus.

"Okay, never mind. Ocellus is probably the smartest person...er...changeling I know."

I approached Ocellus and stood by her side. I glanced in her direction through my peripheral vision and saw that she seemed nervous. Her hooves were fidgeting a bit and...I swear I saw a blush. Eh, it's whatever.

I mean she is a shy girl, isn't she?

Yeah.

"Ready. Set. Spell-veneer hunt!" Counselor Starlight yelled out as she hit a gong.

Everyone then started to spread out with their partners, with me following Ocellus. With her as my partner, we got this...probably.

"So what's first Ocellus?" I asked her.

"To the Helm of (once again, not even gonna attempt to spell)," she responded to which I nodded.

"Alright. Sorry you had to be paired with me though," I said, "History isn't exactly my forte."

"O-oh. Don't apologize. I-I'm...I'm g-g-glad that you're my partner," she stammered, while I remained oblivious to the blush that started to form on her face, "N-not that I didn't want any of the others. I...I just really wanted to be partnered with you...I mean! O-oh jeez."

"You alright?" I asked.

"I'm fine!" she yelled, but I just raised an eyebrow at this.

I knew she wasn't fine. I don't know if it was just me, but lately she's been acting...odd. Shy. Like more shyer than when I met her. Was she nervous about something? Well...Professor Rarity recently assigned us a project where we have to give a presentation in front of the class. Due to how Ocellus is, I couldn't blame her if she was nervous about that. Oh well. I'm not the type to continue prodding people about their problems and invade their privacy. But just to be safe...

"You nervous about the upcoming presentation in Professor Rarity's class?" I asked her, "Can't blame you. I tend to stutter whenever I give a presentation."

"T-to me, b-b-being l-loyal to y-y-your friends means b-being by t-their side and...and..." I continued to stammer, even with a notecard in my hoof.

"And I mean a lot," I finished.

"Y-yeah! That's it! Just nervous about the presentation! Yeah," she said laughing nervously.

"Is it weird that I think it's kind of cute whenever she gets like this?"

After a little more running, Ocellus and I finally arrived at a hallway filled with all of these sets of armor. Not gonna lie, I'm kind of tempted to put one of them on right here and now.

"If I recall from the book...um...Lick...Shire...was a yak warrior whose enemies would surrender just at the sight of him. It's possible that his helmet is hidden in one of these suits of armor. But which one?" I said. I saw it immediately. It was literally resting on the head of one of the suits of armor, "Huh. That was easy."

I don't know whether to say it was clever for hiding it in plain sight, or just being lazy.

I'm gonna go with the former.

And also, I thought you said you were bad at history.

I said I found it boring and that it wasn't my forte.

"One down, five to go," I said as we scanned the helmet with our shields.

As we turned and started to walk away, we heard the sound of clanging metal behind us. We turned and saw that the suit of armor was...moving?

Let me guess. Magic?

Definitely magic.

"What the..." I trailed off as the suit continued to slowly approach us, to which Ocellus and I slowly backed away, "Okay, no need to be scared. It's just a suit of armor. It can't harm us too much. Right?"

The suit then stopped its approach and then went to where an axe laid on the wall, and proceeded to pick it up.

"There's no way that axe is real," I chuckled.

The suit then let the axe head fall to the ground and-

CRACK

-caused a few large cracks to form on the ground.

Y-you were saying?

"Ah fan," I said as Ocellus and I hastened our pace, "W-well...at least it's slow. We can easily outrun it."

It then proceeded to full on sprint at us, the axe dragging behind it.

"RUN!" I screamed as Ocellus and I turned and sprinted through the hallways, the former whom, while scared, was still giving me a bit of a deadpan stare, "OKAY! OKAY! I GET IT! I'LL STOP TALKING!"

"T-the school is haunted!" Ocellus yelled.

We ran through the halls trying to shake the cursed suit of armor, but we unfortunately couldn't, if the constant dragging of an axe on the ground was any indication. It didn't help that I was still grounded to the...the ground due to my healing wing. I even tried throwing a vase at it, only for it to not even be deterred. And now I'm gonna have to pay for a new vase. Cool.

We did manage to gain some distance, but I could hear that it was still following us.

God, this thing does not give up.

I then thought of a 900 IQ play of the game idea.

"Ocellus, you fly away and I'll continue running," I said.

"What?! That's a horrible idea!" Ocellus exclaimed.

Yeah! What the fuck, man?!

"Can't blame me for coming up with an idea!" I said.

"Well, forget it! I'm not leaving you!" she responded...before we hit a dead end.

"Jenjang (Damn it)," I muttered as we tried to turn back, only to hear the approaching footsteps. I tried to look for a door, a window, or literally anything to escape. I then saw at the end of the hall, at the corner, was another axe hanging there.

"I would question why there are even axes...real axes...just hanging around this school, but right now I would like one right now."

I was about to run over the grab it, but the cursed armor slowly turned the corner and saw us. I immediately got in front of Ocellus and shielded her.

"Ocellus," I whispered as the armor slowly started to approach us, "Stay behind me."

It's kind of like that field trip through the woods all over again. Something that will probably kill me is slowly approaching, and I had no where to run. But this time, I had to be strong. Put on a brave face for my friend's sake. I had a plan in mind. Let the armor approach, but before it could strike us, I simply grab Ocellus and move out of the way and around it. Yeah. Easier said then done, but it's all I've got at the moment. I just have to wait-

"L-Legion..." I heard Ocellus whisper.

"Yeah?" I asked without even turning to her.

"Y-your body..." she said.

"What? What about it?" I asked as I shot a quick glance at her.

"It's disappearing!" she exclaimed.

"Um...what?"

I took a quick glance at my hooves once...twice...three times...before I looked once again and continued to stare as my hooves were slowly disappearing.

"W-what the fuck?"

Are we disappearing as if Thanos snapped his fingers with the Infinity Gauntlet?

It was weird though, even though I couldn't see them, I could still feel them, as well as something...familiar. It was the warm feeling I felt about a week ago in the woods. Instead of a split second, however, it was slowly crawling up my hooves and around my body. It felt...calming.

I continued to stare as my hooves completely disappeared, and my torso also began to as well. In a matter of seconds, the warm feeling finally reached my face. and then stopped. I inspected my entire body, only to see nothing.

"L-legion?" Ocellus asked, but I was too dumbfounded to respond.

I looked back and saw that the armor stopped and tilted its head in confusion, before it set its sights on Ocellus and continued to approach. Snapping out of my stupor, I quickly ran forward around the suit and towards the axe. The armor didn't seem to notice me though. Needless to say, it was heavy when I grabbed it and almost dropped it on the ground, but I managed to get a good grip on it.

With all my strength, I quickly ran over, just as the armor was just a few yards from Ocellus, brought the axe up and...

SMASH

...smashed the armor to pieces. Amazing. Another thing I'll to pay for I guess. But at least Ocellus was safe.

I then felt the warmth quickly envelope my body, and I immediately saw that my hooves were now no longer invisible, as well as the rest of my body when I inspected it.

W-what just happened?

"D-did I actually turn invisible? How did I do that?"

"Legion!" Ocellus said as I looked up and saw her approaching me, "Are you alright?!"

"I...I honestly don't even know...I think I am," I stammered, "What about you?"

"I-I'm fine," she answered, "But...what was that? How did you use magic like that?"

If only I had an answer. I had no idea.

"I-I..." I trailed off, before the sound of more screaming from down the hallway interrupted us, "We'll worry about that later. Come on! Let's go!"

We ran and entered the lobby to see more suits of armor running around, random paintings, flying after students, and Silverstream and Gallus pulling Sandbar and Yona out of a sandpit.

"What the fuck is going on?!"

"Every creature stop!" Counselor Starlight yelled as she entered the lobby.

"B-b-but the school is haunted!" Silverstream said.

"It's not haunted. It's Discord," Counselor Starlight said. In a flash of light, everything turned back to normal. No moving suits of armor, no flying paintings, no sand pit. There was though Discord's ghost carrying all the artifacts.

"Headmare Starlight, look at me! Look! I won the Spell-Venger Hunt," he said, "Well done me. Now what's my prize?"

"Detention," Spike said sternly.

"Ooh. Somebody's in trouble," I whispered mockingly to Ocellus.

"Well, that's disappointing," Discord said he threw the artifacts into the air to which Spike caught.

Jesus Christ Discord, aren't those ancient artifacts?

"Discord, you can't keep messing up the school," Counselor Starlight said.

"On the contrary, I think I rather can, and will," he said.

"Then I have just one thing to say to you," she said.

"Well do go on," he said.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"What?" Discord said confused.

"Excuse me?"

The counselor fired a beam at Discord and he suddenly became tangible again.

"I had to stop thinking like a headmare and start thinking like a guidance counselor to finally understand. You felt left out."

"E-erm u-u-um, I-I don't know what you're getting at."

"Nopony ever invited you to the school, and when you offered to help, I didn't listen. I was so worried about doing things Twilight's way, I didn't stop to think about being a good friend. I'd like to apologize for that, and offer you the job of vice-headmare."

"Huh?!"

"Huh?"/"Really?!"/"What?"/"Why?"/"No."/"Him?!"/"Totally confused," everyone else said.

How about we don't?

"I accept!" Discord exclaimed as he started shaking Counselor Starlight's hoof.

"Fuck."

"I mean-I...I suppose I could find some time in my busy schedule to help you out. But I will need my own office, my own expense account, parking space..."

"You're new to the world of education, aren't you?" Spike asked.

We are so screwed, aren't we?

"Yep. Also, what the fuck does he mean by parking space? There's no cars in this world. At least to my knowledge."

"Next time you want something, just ask for it alright?" Counselor Starlight said.

"Well then we'd miss out on those delightful misadventures," Discord said as he picked up Spike and started hugging him.

"H-hey!" Spike exclaimed as he got out of Discord's grasp, "W-watch the wings!"

"Now, Vice-Headmare Discord, if you'll help put the Spell-Venger Hunt back in order," Counselor Starlight said.

With a snap of a finger, the artifacts disappeared.

"Holy crap, this guy's a literal god."

"Everything is rehidden," Discord said, before a painting flew off the wall, "Oh well, with a few surprises."

"I'm honestly not sure whether or not I'm gonna like this guy."

...

"I will. I like him, even though he most likely put Ocellus and I at ri-"

Wait. yeah! Now that I think about it, he did put Ocellus and I at risk! What the fuck?! I mean, who else could've done it?!

The doors to the school suddenly burst opened, revealing the professors looking like shit. Their manes were ragged, their coats were covered in dirt, and they all looked pissed.

"Discord," Headmare Twilight sternly said, "I can't believe you tricked us into going on a friendship quest that wasn't real!"

"Oh, back so soon?" Discord groaned.

"A glamour spell on our cutie marks?!" Professor Rarity asked.

"A fake summons on the map?!" Professor Dash asked.

"Hey. At least we got to go spelunking in that really creepy cave with all those eyeless worm creatures chasing us," Professor Pinkie said with too much happi-...you know what? Who am I kidding? This is Professor Pinkie.

"Oh, Yona so glad ponies back!" Yona said as she hugged Professor Applejack.

"Uh. Y'all get the feeling we missed something?" the professor asked.

Later that day, I asked Ocellus if we can talk in private about...you know. We were currently in the library in a corner section that nobody usually goes to.

"I just don't get it. I've done some research, and I've never read anything about pegasi being able to utilize magic other than flight and controlling the weather. The only creatures I know that's capable of invisibility are those with magical inducing horns. I shouldn't be able to do this," I sighed, "Don't suppose you're capable of invisibility spells, aren't you Ocellus?"

"I'm afraid not. Changelings aren't so diverse in magic like unicorns are," Ocellus sighed, "I'm just as confused about this as you are Legion."

I concentrated a bit and tried to turn myself invisible again, but the most I got was my hoof. God, magic can be such a fickle little thing. I'm not sure I'll ever understand it.

"I just don't know what to think. Maybe Headmare Twilight knows what's going on with me? I mean she is the Element of Magic, right?" I suggested.

"Yeah, she is," Ocellus said, "Do you think we should tell the other professors as well, and our friends?"

"I wouldn't recommend it."

We yelped at the sudden voice and turned to see Discord leaning against one of the bookshelves.

"Twilight or any of her friends wouldn't know anything about what's going on with you," he said as I looked back at my still invisible hoof.

"And how do you know that?" I asked.

"Because you two are right," he answered, making us confused, "No pegasus in the history of Equestria has been able to use magic like you did. And I should know because I've lived for thousands of years."

"Holy shit."

"Well...then again, I've been trapped in stone hundreds of years, so I could be wrong," he continued.

"I-is...is there a point to all this?" I asked.

"Now, now Legion, it's rather rude to interrupt someone when they're speaking," Discord said with a smile, before I realized something he just said.

"W-wait, I didn't tell you my name," I said.

"You didn't have to. I know all about you Apex Legion. Raised in the city of Canterlot, didn't have much friends growing up," Discord said as he floated around me before he whispered to make ensure that Ocellus didn't hear, "And how you're not even from this world to begin with."

My eyes widened when he said this.

"H-how did you..." I trailed off.

"What?" Ocellus asked before Discord looked at her.

"Ocellus? Was it?" Discord asked, to which she nodded, "Could you do me a solid and tell Twilight that me and the royal sisters needed to talk to our pegasus friend here?"

"You mean...Princesses Celestia and Luna?" I asked.

"What for?" Ocellus asked.

"About his...condition," Discord answered, "Oh...and also, make it a double solid and don't tell any creature what you saw. Not even those friends of yours. Not yet at least."

"U-um...I..." Ocellus stammered before she looked at me, expecting an answer.

Does Discord know about what's going on with me? And if he mentioned the princesses, do they know as well? Should I...trust Discord? I mean, he claims no pegasus could perform magic, and I couldn't find anything in the various books Ocellus and I have read. Then again, I mostly just skimmed through the pages since I hate reading.

I looked back at my hoof to see it reappear.

You know what? Fuck it. If Discord has the answers, then what have I got to lose?

"Ocellus, I think we should trust Discord on this," I said before I turned to the chaotic creature, "I won't be gone for too long, right?"

"Oh, don't worry. I'll be sure to bring you back before you can even say 'kumquat,'" Discord said before he snapped his finger, making him and I disappear, and possibly leaving Ocellus as confused as me.

Chapter 10: The Legion's Destiny

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 11: Hearth's Warming Eve is Here Once Again!

Previously on The Adventure of the Apex Legion

Oh. Hello Discord," Princess Celestia greeted back, "And hello Legion."

"Hello Tia. Hello Lulu," Discord greeted.

"Hi princesses," I said before I bowed when I remembered that I was in the presence of royalty.

"There's no need to bow my little pony," Princess Celestia giggled, "Anyway, to what do we owe you the pleasure? It would be nice to just catch up on what has been going on with you."

"I'm glad you asked. It involves our little pegasus friend here," Discord replied before he lifted me up, "Well. Go on little one. Show the princesses your little trick."

"That is rather interesting," Princess Celestia said as I made my hoof reappear, "I've never seen a pegasus perform magic like that before."

"Sister, does thou think that Starswirl's journals were true?" Princess Luna whispered to her sister before she pointed a hoof at me, "And that this child is actually capable of utilizing the magic from the Elements?"

"It's quite possible."

"Um...what?" I asked.

"How did thou hear us?! We were barely speaking above a whisper!" Princess Luna exclaimed.

"I don't know. Good hearing?" I answered, "Now I ask again, what do the Elements of Harmony have to do with this?"

"Legion. I'm afraid my sister and I haven't been completely honest with you," she answered.

"Thou has just teleported," Princess Luna said, "It was a minor, but it was still a teleportation spell nonetheless."

"B-but that's not possible!" I exclaimed, "I shouldn't be able teleport!"

As we entered the cave, I noticed a bright light emitting from it. The first thing I see is a crystalline tree. Princesses Celestia's and Luna's cutie marks were marked on trunk of it. Sitting on tree were six different colored crystals. Five on the trunks and one in the center. The crystal in the center was rose colored and shaped like a star. There was also a pink colored one shaped like a butterfly, a baby blue one shaped like a balloon, a magenta one shaped like a lightning bolt, an indigo one shaped like a diamond, and an orange one shaped like an apple.

"What...what is this?" I asked as I stared back at the tree.

"This is the Tree of Harmony," Princess Celestia said, "It has been here for thousands of years. It's where the Elements originally came from."

"This journal belonged to our old mentor, Starswirl the Bearded," the princess of the night said, "Thou can thank Discord for discovering it. It includes all of his research on the Elements of Harmony."

With Harmony Magic, anypony is capable of doing wonderous things that no normal pony is capable of doing. My only regret is that I don't have the time to research what exactly it could do. Research for another pony to do, I guess.

The reason I'm mentioning this is because of a recent event besides the whole thing with Stygian.

I had a vision. One that's in the distant future. It was kind of a blur to me, but I still remember a few parts.

There was a pony, a pegasus to be specific, who was able to utilize Harmony Magic whenever he needed to. They were able to use magic no pegasus has done before. The pony gave off an aura of light and tranquility.

In other parts of my vision, all I saw was darkness, full of...sadness...and anger. Lots and lots of anger. It was...suffocating, to put it bluntly.

And in the middle of the darkness was the pony.

I don't know what it all meant, but unfortunately I don't have the time to figure it out. I only hope that whoever this pony was is capable of defeating the darkness.

As Princess Luna finished off the journal entry, I was left to my thoughts. Was that what was happening to me? I looked at my hoof and turned it invisible. Invisibility, teleportation, and supposedly enhanced healing. Was all this the work of the Harmony Magic that Starswirl mentioned? Was this magic coming from the Tree of Harmony?

And this vision that he mentioned. That's what irked me the most. A pony, a pegasus, doing magic. Was this pegasus...me? Was I the one giving off the aura of light?

What scared me though was the part about darkness suffocating the pony, or rather, me?

What did it all mean?

"Why me though?!" I yelled, "The mystery pegasus in Starswirl's vision could be anyone! There's tons of pegasi in Equestria! No, scratch that! The entire planet! So why is it that you decided to call for some random person that's not even from this world?!"

"Legion, of course we have brought thou here for a reason. We wouldn't go through such great lengths to bring you here if we didn't have one," Princess Luna said.

"Indeed, we have brought you here because you are the only one we've found that's capable of wielding Harmony Magic," Princess Celestia said, "For you are capable of representing everything that the Elements stand for."

"Laughter, kindness, and loyalty, maybe," I said, "But honesty, generosity, and magic? I hate to break it to you, but I'm not exactly honest or generous like my professors. And magic? I don't even know where to begin with that one."

"Hmm. Perhaps. But just because you aren't really honest or generous doesn't mean that you can't be. You just have to learn how to," the princess explained.

"As for the Element of Magic," Princess Celestia continued, "I'm afraid I don't have the answer to that. It'll just...come to you. A sort of spark if you would."

"Legion?" Princess Celestia said, grabbing my attention, "At least think about this before you come to a decision. Please. That's all I ask."

"Okay," I muttered with a nod.

You doing alright man?

Honestly...I don't know. I just don't know what to think. The thought that I'm supposedly a pony that will fight an entity of darkness, it scares me. But...if it's my destiny to protect this world, then...sigh...I don't know. Maybe.

The Adventure of the Apex Legion

Written by DeffBwade

Chapter 11: Hearth's Warming Eve is Here Once Again!

The frigid snow from the clouds outside blew gently against the windows of the school. You know, I haven't actually seen snow in person for...who knows how long. Years at best. It doesn't snow back where I lived. Just cold weather during the winter season. It was both a blessing and a curse. I never had to shovel snow off the driveway or worry about being late to school due to roads being covered in ice. But at the same time, it meant school was never cancelled during the winter season besides Christmas break.

Speaking of Christmas, I looked around the room and saw ponies chatting away happily. Around the room were festive decorations like the classic wreathes, red ribbons, pretty lights, and a tree covered in decorations and surrounded by wrapped presents.

Sound familiar?

That's right. Christmas time is finally upon us! Or as Equestria calls it, Hearth's Warming Eve.

You might be wondering what happened after my talk with the princesses.

After Discord brought me back to the school, I walked back to my room in hopes of just sleeping the whole ordeal off, but I was soon approached by Ocellus. 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.

Okay, forget what I just said. I lied to her completely. One of the perks of being me, is that I can be a good liar. It's all about keeping a calm expression, speak in a convincing tone, and try not to stutter over your words. I don't think such tactics would work when talking to Professor Applejack though. She really is a living lie detector.

It did pain me a bit to lie to my friend, especially if it was sweet, little Ocellus. I mean, I lie to my friends a lot, but those were all jokes and most of the time I make it obvious that I'm lying. But this time, it's legitimate.

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.

I could learn about honesty and generosity, but magic wouldn't be easy. The princess said that it'll just come to me, like a spark. Dude, it's magic. I can already fly and do magical tricks. What exactly will the this spark feel like?

And that's if I choose to act upon the princesses' words. 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.

Sigh. 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. Something to focus on other than my magic or the whole mumbo jumbo. I mean, something other than midterms, which actually weren't that bad, besides Headmare Twilight's history portion.

So here I am now, sitting with my friends as we prepare for the holidays.

God, that was hell. Just like all the other history tests you've had.

As Sandbar decorated the tree, he sang one of those festive Christmas songs.

"Pony's voices fill the night, Hearth's Warming Eve is here once again~," he sang happily, "Come on every creature, sing!"

Nobody actually sang along. They just glanced at him and then continued talking to each other, including me and the others.

"Sorry Sandbar. Not that I think the song is bad or anything. I just don't know the lyrics. Plus I don't sing...in public at least."

"La la la la la la la la, la la la la la la la la~," Sandbar sang the tune as he walked over to me and the others, and then prompted Ocellus to sing as well.

"La la la la la," Ocellus muttered with a nervous smile.

Sing it girl!

I couldn't help but have a small smile on face.

"Not every creature celebrate same way, you know," Yona said with a stern face.

"Yeah. Dragons don't do pony holidays," Smolder said.

"Sure we do. I love Hearth's Warming Eve!" Spike said as he, Headmare Twilight, and Professor Dash approached, "It's all about friends, and presents, and family, and presents!"

"Amen to that dude."

"It's also about putting aside difference to come together. Like earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns did on the first holiday," Headmare Twilight explained.

I honestly don't know if that's better than the fact we celebrate Christmas in order to remember the birth of Jesus Christ.

I mean, Jesus did save us from sin by being hanged on the cross, so...wait. Why are we getting religious all of a sudden?

"Oh. Is that why you put their Fire of Friendship on top of the tree?" Ocellus as she pointed to a pink burning heart that laid on the tree, "To help us remember their unity?"

"And...cause it looks cool," Professor Dash said.

"It really is. Although I can't help but wonder whether or not that's a fire hazard."

"This is my favorite day of the year!" Silverstream giggled excitedly, "Not that I don't like the other ones. Tuesdays are great!"

"At least she didn't say Mondays. Mondays suck ass."

"Yona like any day at the start of winter break," Yona exclaimed.

"Agreed," I said with a nod.

"Two whole weeks without classes. How will Ocellus survive?" Gallus sarcastically asked, eliciting a nervous giggle from the shy changeling.

It's times like these that are basically the reason why love hanging out with these creatures. We're all unique in a way, both appearance (besides Sandbar and I, species wise) and personality wise. Sure we tease each other from time to time, but in the end, we're all great friends who's got each others backs.

I'm not gonna tell anyone this, but my best friend is probably Ocellus, cause we have a few things in common.

We're both the scholarly types, we're both shy (although admittedly she's shyer than me), and we're really nice to our friends. Also...I find changelings to be very cool, mostly because they have the ability to shapeshift. If you had that kind of power, what would you do?

Probably turn into a naked chi-

Okay! Moving on.

"I think you'll all enjoy the time off to be with you families. To celebrate your own traditions," Headmare Twilight said.

"Shit."

And...this is where my happiness died down a bit, despite me continuing to smile on the outside.

How could I have been so stupid? 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.

"Attention every creature. School is officially out. Happy holidays and we'll see you after the break," Headmare Twilight announced, to which everyone in room, sans me and the others, walked out, "And for those of you traveling outside of Equestria..."

"Yeah, shouldn't you guys be getting ready to go?" Professor Dash asked, "If you miss that train, it's a really long walk."

"Go pack up and we'll take you to the station," Headmare Twilight said.

We then got up and walked back to our dorm rooms.

I didn't do any packing at all. I just lied down on my bed and stared at the ceiling, thinking. I mean, what did I have to pack? Besides my saddlebags, bits, toiletries, and school supplies, I didn't have much. I guess that's one of the perks of being part of a species that don't really wear clothes. The other one being that you don't have to decide everyday what you're gonna wear.

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.

Sigh. What am I gonna do dude?

Beats me.

What if I-

"Might as well give up, whoever you are! We got you cornered!"

Oh shit! The cops are here! Quick, hide the drugs!

That sounded like Professors Dash actually. Was she confronting someone?

"Hello? Is anypony there?"

That sounded like Headmare Twilight. What's going on?

I got up from my bed and opened my door. Out in the hall was the headmare and Spike.

"What's going on?" I asked with confusion as Smolder and Silverstream exited their rooms.

"Gasp. Is there gonna be another decorating party?!" Silverstream asked excitedly.

"Has any creature come in here?" the headmare asked.

"Well...yeah. All of us did. To pack? Like you told us to?" Smolder answered.

"After that," Spike said, "Did you hear anything?"

Smolder, Silverstream, and I shook our heads, before the others exited their rooms.

"What's up?" Gallus asked.

"Yona done packing!" Yona proclaimed.

"Is something wrong?" Ocellus asked as Professor Dash flew into the hallway.

"The backdoor's locked. No way out!" she exclaimed.

"But whoever did had to have come in here," the headmare said, "We saw them."

"Whoever did what?" Ocellus asked.

"Helvete (Swedish for holy shit)," I muttered.

"That...is so not cool," Sandbar said as we all stared out the tree, which was now covered in some kind of purple goo. In fact, said goo was all over the room, covering the furniture and dripping from the ceiling.

Don't take that out of context.

"And...whoever did it ran into your rooms," Spike pointed at us as he, Headmare Twilight, and Professor Dash gave us stern glares, "No one came out, and all of you are still here."

"One of you must've done this!" Professor Dash pointed at us accusingly, "But...why would any of you wanna sabotage Hearth's Warming Eve?"

We all spoke in unison, claiming that we didn't do anything.

"Yona not do this," Yona scoffed, "Yona offended by accusation."

"We don't know what happened. Maybe this wasn't even on purpose, but I wanna give whoever caused this mess a chance to tell the truth and explain themselves. I'll make it easy for you. Close your eyes," Headmare Twilight asked before we all closed our eyes, but I opened my eye a bit and saw that Ocellus had to nudge Yona when she was being reluctant, "Now, if you did this, raise your hoof...or claw...or whatever."

I'm pretty sure none of us raised their ho-...limb. I then heard the headmare sigh.

"Come on Spike, looks like we have to-...Spike, you can open your eyes," I heard her say.

"What? Oh," Spike said.

"Um, what about me?" Professor Dash asked.

"You all can," the headmare said, eliciting an embarrassed chuckle from the professor. We then opened our eyes, "But...since no creature took responsibility for this mess, you're gonna have to help clean it up before you can go home."

Needless to say, none of us were happy as we all complained.

Oh, you're one of those teachers, I see. The type that gives punishment to the whole class while that one person that was responsible is just sitting at the back and smiling while watching everyone suffer.

"Why do I have to stay?!" Smolder asked.

"But the holidays!" Sandbar complained.

Headmare Twilight's only response was to levitate a bunch of cleaning supplies to us.

"While you're cleaning, we'll bring you into our office one at a time," she said, "Since honesty is one of the Elements of Harmony, we wanna give each of you a chance to tell you the truth."

"Oh jeez, thanks. Maybe I can use this opportunity to activate the honesty part of my magic," I sarcastically said in my head.

"And once we find out who did it, just you wait. We're gonna...we'll...What are we gonna do exactly?" Professor Dash asked.

"Sigh. The guilty party won't be going home over Hearth's Warming break. She or he will stay here for some one on one friendship lessons," the headmare said.

"But what if none of us confesses?!" Silverstream asked.

"Then...sigh...I guess there's no holidays for any creature," she responded, "You'll all stay over the break."

While everybody gasped at this, I just stayed silent.

What the fuck?! What kind of bullshit is that?! I don't think you can even do that! That's just...despicable.

...

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.

Do you even know what you're saying?!

Of course I do! The culprit stays quiet, then my friends stay here. Sure, we'll probably be getting new lessons, but it'll be worth it in the long run if it means I don't have to be alone for two weeks.

W-what...but I...sigh...I guess I can't be too mad about what you're saying. I mean, you aren't the one that actually caused this mess.

As soon as the three staff members left the room to discuss about who to interrogate first, we all got started on cleaning. A few minutes later, they came back.

"Alright, let's get to the bottom of this," Headmare Twilight said, "Who wants to be interviewed first."

"Meh, I'll go. Beats mop duty," Gallus said as he tossed his mop to Silverstream before leaving the room the professors and Spike.

"Hey, I know. We can make a game out of this. See who finishes cleaning up first," Silverstream said.

"Woohoo, yak win! Yak is best at cleaning!" Yona said proudly before she continued cleaning.

"Let's save time and cut to the chase," Smolder said as she wrang out a towel, "Which one of you did it?!"

Lol. Just kidding.

"I would never do something this horrible! I love Hearth's Warming Eve! And I do not wanna miss going home for it," Ocellus said with a pout.

"Huh. I didn't even know changelings celebrate Hearth's Warming," Sandbar said.

"Oh yes! It's our favorite holiday," Ocellus cutely giggled, "Well...since Headmare Twilight shared it with us last year. She gave our hive very clear instructions."

"Ahem. Welcome to traditions and fun of Hearth's Warming. Here's a guide to help you enjoy the celebration of pony history," Ocellus said to her parents and siblings as she unrolled a very long scroll, "Families start the holidays by putting the tree up."

Ocellus and her family pulled on the rope to put up the tree. Once they were sure the tree was fully pulled up, they secured the end of the rope around a rock. They looked at their work proudly as the ordinary tree was left hanging upside down.

"Thirsty? Dive into some holiday punch."

Once they were sure the punch was ready, they proceeded to dive into it. They had a lot of fun swimming around in the large, pool-sized bowl of punch.

"Just before bed, every pony exchanges gifts."

Ocellus and her family sat in a circle giving each other gifts to the changeling next to them. They did it again with the exact same gifts they gave each other. And then again. And then again. Then again. Again. And Again.

"It doesn't say how long we keep doing this."

"And to finish celebrating, you can build a fire..."

Ocellus's father hammers down the last nail in the built fire made of wood and coated in paint.

"...light it up..."

Ocellus and family then picks up a bunch of lanterns and held it near the fire.

"...and sing carols."

"Carols, carols, carols, carols, carols~," Ocellus and her family sang.

"Ocellus, please don't stop being cute," I said in my head. Or at least, I thought I said in my head, as everybody looked at me while Ocellus had a large blush on her face, "Did I just say that out loud?"

It was my turn to blush in embarrassment (thank God I have a dark coat color) as everybody slowly nodded their heads, while Smolder had a smirk on her faces.

Fuuuuuuuu...

Well, well, well. Look at Romeo over here-

SHUT UP! Just...shut up. Please.

"Ahem! Anyway...Ocellus, you might've taken Headmare Twilight's instructions...a bit too literally," I said. Ocellus continued to stare at me with a flushed look, "But...I bet it was really fun and you can't wait to do it again."

"If we ever get out of here," Smolder said.

"Ocellus?" Headmare Twilight said as she came back with Gallus, "Your turn."

This snapped Ocellus out of her flushed state before she nervously followed the headmare, but not before giving me one last look. The moment they left, however, Smolder turned back to me with that shit-eating grin.

"So...you and Ocellus, huh?" Smolder teased, making my blush return.

"W-what?! No! I-it's nothing like that!" I cried out.

"What? What happened?" Gallus asked.

"Oh, well-," Smolder started before I interrupted.

"Smolder, don't you dare say anything!" I practically begged, "Nothing! It's nothing Gallus! Nothing at-"

"Legion thinks Ocellus is cute!" Silverstream chirped happily.

"Silverstream!" I complained. Now it was Gallus's turn to smirk.

"I'm sorry, but I just couldn't help myself!" Silverstream said.

"Aww-," Gallus started before I quickly flew over to him and pressed my hoof against his beak. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, but my wing has finally healed up.

"Not. A. Single. Word. Please," I begged.

"In his defense, I think you and Ocellus would make a great couple," Sandbar admitted.

"Yona agree!" Yona proclaimed, "Changeling and pony have a lot in common!"

"Oh my stars! Are all of you just gonna tease me about this?!" I cried out as I took my hoof off of Gallus's mouth.

"Most likely," the griffon admitted.

I definitely will.

Thanks. Appreciate it.

You're welcome.

"So are you gonna ask her out and take her on a date?" Silverstream asked slyly, causing me to sit on my haunches and cover my face with my hooves.

"Groan. Please kill me," I muttered.

I like Ocellus. I really do, but I just see her as friend. A best friend actually, as I mentioned before. I don't see Ocellus in that way.

Right?

"Um, Legion?" Ocellus asked as I lifted my head up and saw her coming back, a slight blush still on her face, "S-sorry, but...they said they wanted you to go next."

"O-okay," I said as I got back up and walked out of the room and towards the headmare's office.

Ocellus was starting to get nervous again as Legion walked past her. She couldn't believe what he said. Sure, he didn't mean to say it out loud, but regardless, she still couldn't believe it. Legion, her crush, actually thought she was cute. When the pegasus finally left the room, Ocellus couldn't help but smile a bit.

"By the way Gallus," Silverstream said, "What did you say to the Headmare when she called you?"

"What do you think I said? I told her I didn't do it," Gallus said.

"And I'm guessing, Ocellus, that you didn't confess either?" Sandbar asked, to which the changeling shook her head.

"ARGH! Yona tired of waiting," Yona emphasized with a stomp, "Yona always home for holidays."

"How do you celebrate Hearth's Warming in Yakyakistan, Yona?" Sandbar asked.

"Yaks do not. Our holiday much better. It's called Snilldar Fest," Yona said, "Night before, yaks gather things to smash, and put them in big pile. Then, in morning, we smash them! In afternoon, we smash them again! Then, in evening..."

"So, it's just about smashing stuff, like all your other holidays," Gallus said.

"No! How griffon get that idea?! This holiday about so much more. Last year, for example, most perfect Snilldar ever," Yona cooed, "All family. Grandpa and grandma yak. Yona's brother, sister, mother, father yak, all go to woods, singing yak song!"

"Yak song! Yak song! Not very long, sing again!"

Yona, whose hair wasn't braided at the time, and her family continued to sing as they walked through the snowy woods.

"Yaks and family pick out perfect smashing log...then yaks smash it!"

SMASH
SMASH
SMASH
SMASH
SMASH

"Then yak family build perfect snow fort...and smash it!"

SMASH
SMASH
SMASH
SMASH
SMASH

"Then we hang perfect things on perfect moss pile and-"

"You smash it," every other creature in the room deadpanned.

"What you think yaks are? Barbarians?" Yona asked, sounding offended, "Moss pile is for special family rituals. Last year, ritual for Yona. All yak family gather around Yona, and braid Yona hair for first time."

"So...to recap. Your holiday is about smashing things and family," Gallus recapped.

"Two most perfect things ever, put together. Happy Snilldar Fest!" Yona cheered before she started smashing one of the buckets.

"Happy Snilldar to you too Yona! It's so cool to learn new traditions from new friends!" Silverstream cheered before she tried smashing another bucket. Emphasis on 'tried.'

"Yeah, well, one of these 'new friends' has gotten us all in trouble, and they better confess soon," Smolder warned.

"Sandbar," Legion said as he came back into the room, "You're next dude."

"So what did I miss?" I asked as Sandbar calmly left the room.

"Well, Yona just finished telling us about Snilldar Fest, which, in a nutshell, is all about smashing stuff and spending time with family," Gallus explained.

"Got it," I said before I turned to the others, "I said I didn't do it, if that's what you're wondering."

"Ah come on," Smolder complained.

"Why the rush to go home Smolder?" Silverstream asked, "Like you said, dragons don't really do holidays. Do they?"

"Meh," Smolder blanched.

"That's so sad," Ocellus gasped, "You must do something in the winter for fun."

"Well...we do have the Feast of Fire. Every dragon gets together and tells stories. The best one wins a pile of gemstones," the dragon explained.

"Oh! What story won last year?" Yona asked.

"It was called A Dream Come True," she answered.

"Come on! Now you've gotta tell it!" Silverstream said.

"I like happy stories," I said with a smile.

"Sigh. Fine," Smolder said.

"Once upon a time, there was a sad, little dragon. Her name was Scales. She lived alone in the wilderness with nothing to eat."

As the storm continued on, the small, pink dragon clutched her stomach as it began to growl violently.

"But one night, as she sat alone in the storm, she heard something."

Scales got up and walked out of her shelter to check out the noise. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a giant dragon with a scepter flew into view.

"It was the dragon lord! Scales was scared, but the dragon lord told her not to be afraid. That he was taking her to the Dragon Lands for a great feast."

Later that night, Scales found herself ravenously eating on tons of gems with the dragon lord and other dragons seated around her.

"Scales sat with the dragon lord's family and friends in the biggest and best dinner of gemstones she has ever eaten. Then, while the dragons were telling stories, Scales thought it would be so easy to seize power from this feeble and sensitive dragon lord."

Scales continued to eye the scepter in the dragon's claw with malicious intent. Before any dragon could, Scales blew a torrent of flames at the dragon lord.

"She saw her chance and took it! She claimed the Bloodstone Scepter and took over the Dragon Lands! And forced the dragon lord to live out in the cold just as she used to."

As the dragon lord sat in the small cave in the rain, Scales just laughed evilly.

"Vad fan?" I asked as me and the others, sans Gallus, had our jaws dropped, "That was...depressing."

"Yep. Dragons usually like hearing about weak, kind creatures getting defeated," Smolder said.

That explains so much.

"Silverstream! You're up," Professor Dash called out as she and Sandbar came back, "Let's go."

As Silverstream and the professor left, Smolder approached Sandbar.

"So, did you tell them you did it?" she asked.

"What? No way! Why would I say that?" Sandbar asked in disbelief.

"You already live in Ponyville," Smolder said, "Staying here over break is no big deal."

"School of Friendship good place for a pony to a pony holiday," Yona said.

"Should I be offended by that?" I whispered to Gallus.

"Maybe," he answered.

"I'd still rather spend it with my family back at home," Sandbar said, "Oh! That reminds me. I've got the best holiday story ever! It's called...The Day My Hearth's Warming Doll Almost Fell Into the Fire."

"Woah," we all said.

Wait, what?

"Just before we went to bed, my mom, my dad, and my sister, all put our Hearth's Warming dolls up on the mantle. Just like we do every year."

As Sandbar turned his back, his doll started to slowly tilt forward.

"But this year, I put my doll too close to the edge, and it fell!"

"Noooooo!" Sandbar screamed as his doll fell.

"And?!" Ocellus asked in anticipation.

"My doll hit the floor," Sandbar shrugged, "BUT...it could've gone in the fire."

Fucking hell. What a twist.

"Oh my stars," I muttered with an amazed face, "Best story so far."

The others just deadpanned.

"That's a great story, and you told it really well," Smolder sarcastically said.

"Yeah. It was a Hearth's Warming miracle," Sandbar said proudly before the door opened, and the professor and Silverstream returned.

"Next!" Professor Dash said, "Smolder, come with me. Yona, Twilight's waiting for you."

After the door closed, Ocellus had a nervous expresssion.

"The last two," she said, "So if neither one of them confesses, that mean..."

"We're never going home!" Silverstream panicked.

"We'll be here forever!" Ocellus panicked as well.

"Beyond forever!" Sandbar cried out.

"Forever ever!" I followed, although there was a bit of reluctance in my tone. Thankfully, nobody noticed.

"But I can't miss the Three Days of Freedom Celebration!" Silverstream exclaimed.

"How long does that last?" Gallus asked sarcastically.

"It used to be only one day, but now to commemorate our escape from the Storm King, we're adding two more days of awesome!" she said excitedly before pulling out a book, "See?"

"There's a book?" Gallus asked in surprise.

"Mmhm," Silverstream nodded, "Queen Novo had these made for the Mount Aris Board of Tourism. To explain it all to guests."

"We'll spend the first night in Seaquestria, thanking the ocean for protecting us from the Storm King, with sea dancing, whale singing, shell stringing. Lot's of '-ings.'

The second day, we'll be on Mount Aris with sky dancing and a wind song in the Harmonizing Heights, to celebrate the Storm King's defeat.

Then the third day, every creature will party together, on land and sea. Grandparents, and parents, and sisters, uncles, brothers, acquaintances, neighbors, and cousins! And at the end of the night, Queen Novo is gonna give out presents!"

Whistle. Wow. Three days of celebrating with friends and family? Sounds like a very festive...festival.

Heh. Yeah. It does.

...

As well as the other's celebrations.

"W-wait, hold on. Cousins? What are those?" Gallus asked.

"Your aunt's and uncle's children?" Ocellus replied, "You know, part of your family."

How the crap does he not know what cousins are?

...

"Heh. Oh, you're teasing us again, right?" Ocellus asked.

As Gallus was about to reply, the door opened up again before Smolder and Yona walked in, both with annoyed expressions.

"I'm guessing neither one of you confessed," Sandbar blanched.

"Sigh. Headmare Twilight said wait here," Yona said with a stomp of her paw.

"Maybe they're changing their minds about sending us home," Silverstream said with hope in her voice.

"Why would they? Face it, we're stuck here," Smolder said.

"B-but, but I have to go home!" Ocellus cried with tears in her eyes.

"My mom makes the best kelp fritters!" Silverstream cried, also with tears in her eyes.

I just stood there with a sad expression on my face. Although, if I'm being honest, I don't think it's for the reason that you might think. Yona, Smolder, and Gallus just had annoyed expressions.

"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.

"H-huh?"

This snapped me out of my stupor as I looked back at Sandbar.

"What pony getting at?!" Yona asked as she shoved her face closer to Sandbar's.

"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.

"Guys, stop it," Gallus 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.

"Come on. Let it go," Gallus said with an annoyed expression, but his words fell on deaf's ears as everybody started arguing and blaming each other for this whole mess.

Everything was supposed to be fine, but instead everything went to shit. 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.

"Come on! Ocellus, you know you did it!" Sandbar blamed, "Just fess up!"

Jeez. Even Ocellus, the sweetest creature I've ever met, is on the receiving end of the blame game. Sigh. Fuck it. What's the point of being with your friends if there's only mistrust? Besides, after hearing about the other's celebrations, sans Yona and Gallus, it became apparent to me that they all had friends and family to get back to. I don't know why I didn't get that through my head at first, though.

I don't know who did it, or what their intentions were, but I really don't care right now. Even though it wasn't me, it might have as well have been.

There's only one thing I can do to stop all of this. I'd get in the trouble, sure, but in the end, it'll be a win-win for all of us.

"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!"

Dude, what are you doing?!

What I have to do.

They all gasped at my lie, although Gallus didn't respond.

"You?!" Smolder shouted with a glare, and a bit of disbelief. In fact, everyone was in disbelief.

"Pony mess up decoration?!" Yona asked.

"No way!" Sandbar said.

"Please say it isn't so!" Silverstream pleaded.

Gallus just remained silent.

"Why?" Ocellus asked, causing me to look in her direction and see total sadness in her eyes, "Why would you ruin things for us?"

While it was easy to lie about committing the crime, it was hard to figure out a clear motive. Wanting to stay with my friends alone wouldn't be a plausible reason, seeing as they think I have family back in Canterlot. I sighed as I realized I had to tell the truth, or at least, some more of it.

"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."

In a way, I was telling the truth. Yes, I loved my family and friends, and they loved me, but I still felt a bit out of place. My father can work with computers, my mom is a a nurse, and my brother is now following in my mom's footsteps and studying nursing in college. As for my friends back on Earth, the ones from my school I mean, most of them were all playing sports like football, wrestling, and track. Meanwhile there's me, the nerdy kid with weak muscles who's hobby is making YouTube videos of me playing video games. The only friends I didn't feel out of place with were Jrod and Gaming, because they were gamers as well. The only thing...I never met any of them in person. I don't even know what Gaming looks like in real life.

"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."

"No..." I heard Gallus whisper, causing me to look in his direction.

"I'm sorry Gallus," I apologized, "I know I'm being selfish, but I now know that-"

"No! I mean, that's not possible! It wasn't you! It couldn't have been you!" Gallus shouted, "You're lying!"

"And what makes you I am lying?" I asked.

"I know you're lying because I did it!" he shouted.

Ah fuck."

"Wait, what?" Silverstream asked.

"Gallus, what are you talking about?" I asked.

"What do you think I'm talking about?! I'm the one that put goo powder in the Fire of Friendship!" he shouted, causing me to facepalm and approach him.

"Gallus, whether it was you or not, I am willing to take the blame if it means you and the others can go back home for the holidays," I whispered to him.

"Well, maybe I too don't want to go home for the holidays!" he responded, making me back up.

"What do you mean?" I asked him, causing Gallus to sigh.

"Do you know what the Blue Moon Festival is?" he asked us.

"Isn't that the holiday festival that griffons celebrate?" Smolder questioned.

"Yeah. The one time of the year where griffons are nice to each other. Well...as nice as we can be," he responded.

"Families get together to eat, and then complain about the food, and give each other presents they don't like, and mostly just try not to yell at each other."

A quartet of griffons sat around a table in preparation to eat. When one of the griffons, however, came back with a plate of scones, the eldest of the table gagged at the food. This caused the one that brought the scones to give a glare and, overall, just ruin the mood as every griffon put on an annoyed expression.

"Well, at least you get to be with your family," Silverstream said the silver lining.

"No. Because I don't have a family," Gallus sighed.

"Oh shit," I thought with sorrow as my eyes widened.

Outside of the window of the quartet's house was Gallus, looking inside with a look of sorrow and longing.

"What about Grandpa Gruff?" Sandbar asked.

"That's just his name. He's not any griff's actual grandpa. I felt like I never had a place in Griffonstone, kind of like how Legion felt like he never had a place in Canterlot," Gallus admitted as he walked over to the window, "And then I came here, and well...met all of you. So I don't want to go home for the holidays, which is why I did it, pretty much for the same reason Legion said. I figured that if I made a mess, then our teachers would make us clean. We'd be together a little longer, and when Headmare Twilight threatened to cancel winter break, that meant I could be with all of you, through the entire holiday," he then turned towards me, "Look, Legion, I appreciate you taking the blame for me, but I can't do this if our friends are just gonna be fighting and blaming each other. That's the opposite of what the holidays mean, except maybe Smolder's."

Smolder was about to say something in response, but then just shrugged.

I then flew over to Gallus and wrapped a hoof around him.

"Then we'll both take the blame," I said with confidence, "Let me take the L with you."

"W-what?" Gallus asked out of surprise, "Legion, no, I-"

"Gallus, what I said was the truth. I didn't want to spend the break without you guys. So if getting in trouble means that I can spend it with at least one of my friends..." I smiled, "...then I think it's pretty worth it. And besides, I'd feel like such a jerk if I let you face punishment alone."

"I..." he said in disbelief, "I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything," I reassured, "Let's just go confess to Headmare Twilight."

"You don't have to."

We all turned our heads to see Headmare Twilight, Professor Dash, and Spike standing in the doorway with proud smiles on their faces.

"We already know," the headmare said.

"We...kind of guessed it was you, Gallus," Professor Dash said, "But we wanted to give you all a chance to tell the truth."

"I'm proud that you did, and I'm glad to see you've been paying attention to Professor Applejack's honesty classes," Headmare Twilight said before she turned to me, "And Legion, I'm proud that you were willing to show such loyalty to your friend, even at the possibility of getting in trouble."

I nodded in thanks.

"However, Gallus, you're still gonna have to make amends, and stay over break for extra friendship lessons," the headmare said, "By yourself."

"No Headmare Twilight," I said, "Like I told Gallus, I'm staying here as well."

"And I'll stay with them," Silverstream said as she approached us, along with the others.

"Me too!" Ocellus said.

"Yona stay also!" Yona proclaimed.

"I'm staying!" Sandbar said.

We all then turned our heads towards Smolder.

"What?" she shrugged, "Oh alright. I guess pony holidays can't be that bad."

"Heh. Looks like this will be the first time you spend Hearth's Warming with friends that care about you," I said as we all hugged Gallus, including me.

"Looks like they don't need any extra lessons," Professor Dash said proudly.

"Since you obviously know that Hearth's Warming is about coming together, I'd be honored if all of you would join my friends as guests at our holiday table," Headmare Twilight announced, causing us to cheer, "After we finish cleaning up."

We all got back to work right away.

"Hey, this reminds me of another story," Sandbar said as we continued cleaning, "The Time I Almost Spilled Grape Juice on the White Couch."

"Does it have a depressing ending?" Smolder asked with a hopeful smile.

"I'm not sure pony stories work that way," Ocellus said.

"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.

"Um, Gallus want Yona braid feathers?" Yona asked.

"Erm...pass," Gallus answered.

"How do you even braid feathers?"

"Hearth's Warming Eve is here once again~," Silverstream sang happily.

Later that evening, I asked Headmare Twilight if I can go to the library to put back a few books that I borrowed. I entered the library and searched for the action/adventure section. Remind me to thank Professor Dash for recommending Daring Do and the Quest of the Sapphire Stone. It was actually quite interesting. Basically, this Daring Do pony is this world's version of Indiana Jones. Enough said.

When I finally found the right section, I put back the Daring Do book and out a heavy textbook on pony holidays out of my saddlebag. What, you think I learned about Hearth's Warming Eve from history class? Hell no! I barely pay attention in that class.

When I finally found the nonfictional history section, I flew up and put the textbook back in the shelf.

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.

I yelped, shut my eyes, and put my hooves over my head as I crouched down.

Dude, just teleport! Or blink! Or whatever you prefer to call it!

When I heard the book hit the ground, but didn't feel it impact my cranium, I assumed I subconsciously did blink. However, when I opened my eyes, I gasped as I realized that was not the case.

The textbook would've hit me...if it wasn't for the cyan shield hovering above me.

Author's Note

I know this wasn't exactly the best chapter, but let me explain. Remember in the previous chapter where Legion found out that he has to activate the honesty, generosity, and magic components of my magic? Well, I planned out the honesty and magic components, but generosity was a challenge to figure out. But I eventually figured that since Legion actually didn't have anywhere to go for the winter break, he could technically copy Gallus's motive for sabotaging the tree and use that to take the blame.

But then I thought to myself: Is it generous to take the blame for someone? So I actually went online and found out a term called "over-giving." It just basically means to be generous for the wrong reasons. I saw that people usually over-give if they want something in return, to be appreciated, to feel good about themselves, want to be seen as a better person, think that they are obligated to do something because nobody else is capable, or if they want to ease a feeling a guilt.

Since none the reasons for over-giving really applied to Legion, I figured that him taking the blame was being generous.

Why dafuq am I even explaining this and giving you guys a friendship lesson from the Internet?

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.

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.

"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?

"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!"

"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.

...generosity

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

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

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

"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."

Author's Note

I feel like it's kind of lazy to use scenes and lines from MLP episodes and use them as a base kit for chapters. Then again, a lot of fanfics do that and they end up being good.

Anyways, hi everyone. Um...sorry for taking so long to post the next chapter. Life and school and all that has kept me busy. I would've done it last week, but I've been constantly racking my brain on how to write this chapter, and this is the result. I hope you all enjoyed it nonetheless, and I promise to get back to my normal schedule of one chapter a week or every other week. Have a good day.

Oh. And one more thing.

HOLY FUCK! THIS CHAPTER IS 14K WORDS?!

Chapter 13: Attunement of Magic

Previously on The Adventures of the Apex Legion

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.

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?

"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.

"No, the Pillar's grew the tree," Ocellus explained.

"The Tree grew the Elements, and then the box with six locks," Sandbar continued.

"I'm so gonna fail," Gallus facepalmed.

"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.

"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 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.

"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.

"The Storm King?! He's back?!" Silverstream asked out of fear as she began to shake.

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.

"...Yona," she said with a panicked expression as she continued forward, unaware of the many glowing red eyes watching her from the ceiling.

"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.

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.

"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.

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.

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.

"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.

"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.

"Wait," Sandbar said as he skidded to a stop, "I really should find my friends."

"Darling," Professor Rarity said, "It was so generous of you to take the time to teach those other creatures about friendship."

"But..." Professor Dash continued, "If you're going to do something that really makes a difference, we need to know where your loyalty lies."

"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."

"W-what are you doing?!" I asked.

"Hm? Oh, I'm just opening your eyes to the truth."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"..."

"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."

"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

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!"

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.

"So...I really am the pony that Starswirl envisioned?" I asked, "And I'm the one that's destined to protect this world?"

"But...the element of magic," I said, "How do I unlock it? How can I display magic enough to unite the other elements?"

"Okay buddy, we're out. Now spill the beans!" she demanded, "What was all that back there?"

And so I explained everything to them.

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?"

"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?"

"Our lips are sealed!" Silverstream exclaimed, followed by everybody nodding in agreement.

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."

The Adventure of the Apex Legion

Written by DeffBwade

Chapter 13: Attunement of Magic

You might be thinking that I should use this opportunity to talk to the princess as an excuse to skip the history test, but unfortunately, I have a little something called honor. It's both a blessing and a curse. At least Cozy pulled through and got us that extension. I'd say I got a C+ at the minimum.

You also might be thinking that I could be skipping a day of school, but...you know...honor. Like I said, a blessing and a curse.

It was now Saturday and I have asked the Cakes if I could have the day off. I felt bad about lying that it was a family issue back in Canterlot because they're such sweet (no pun intended) people.

Pon-

You know what I mean.

I had enough (and by that I mean a lot) bits to buy a train ticket to Canterlot. Now that I think about it, this is the first time I've used the train here. In fact, this is the first time I've used the train in years. The place that I lived in back on Earth didn't really have trains nearby, so means of transportation were always by car.

The train ride took a few hours (most of which were spent sleeping), but I eventually arrived in Canterlot. I've never actually took the time to explore the town, and let me tell you, it's definitely Equestria's capital. A good majority of the ponies I saw around me were unicorns and looked...what's the word...sophisticated. Fancy looking clothing, noses up in the air as they walked around (how the fuck do they not bump into obstacles?), stuff like that. Even the buildings around me looked fancy.

You'd think that Professor Rarity would actually be living here, based on the kind of pony she is.

Anyways, I'm going off tangent. Long story short, there was one thing I didn't account for. How do I even get to the princesses? It wasn't like the guards were just gonna let some random kid into a castle where Equestria's princesses reside. And it wasn't like I was gonna break in.

Fortunately, a certain...whatever Discord was...appeared at my side and teleported me to the throne room.

So here I am now. Standing in front of the princesses and Discord after so long.

"So I know it's been...a while...since we've last talked," I said.

"It's been exactly four weeks, thirteen hours, twenty-six minutes, and two seconds since we've last seen each other," Discord said as he was looking at a calendar before tossing it away, "But who's counting?"

Not even gonna ask.

"Okay, I know it's weeks and that sure gave me a lot of time to think," I said, "First off, I apologize princesses if I stayed away from you and ignored your letters, but...it was just fear holding me back. I mean, it's not everyday that a human is given awesome magical powers and a destiny to save the world. But regardless, I'm so-"

"Legion," Princess Celestia chuckled, "There's no need to apologize. While I do admit that time is a bit of the essence, I can understand your plight. Fear can hold any pony back. It is only by facing your fear that you can truly rise to victory. I faced that kind of fear when I was deciding to send Twilight off."

"Um...what?" I asked.

"A tale for another time," Princess Luna said, "Like my sister said, time could be of the essence. We are unsure when the darkness shall arise."

"True, which is why I'm ready to embrace the magic," I said with confidence, "I'm no longer gonna let fear hold me back from protecting this world, as well as my friends. Plus, if this whole thing was a TV show, it would make a sick anime."

"And what is this 'anime?'" Princess Luna asked.

"I'll tell you another time. Right now..." I said as I turned my hoof invisible, "...I need to get a grasp on my harmony magic. Do you think you can help me?"

The princesses glanced at each other before Princess Celestia spoke up.

"We might not," she said, "But there might be some pony who can?"

"Who?" I asked.

"How the fuck could this guy still be alive?!" I thought in shock as I stared at the pony version Gandalf in front of me.

The pony in front of me was a unicorn with dark violetish gray eyes, a light gray mane, tail, and beard, and a light gray coat. He also had on blue wizard hat and cloak, which covered his cutie mark, with stars and bells.

I was still in disbelief, however.

"You...how could you be Starswirl the Bearded?!" I asked, "Didn't he live like...centuries ago?!"

Unless either this guy's an imposter or Starswirl is immortal like the princesses.

"Oh? Did Twilight not tell you?" Princess Celestia asked, "Starswirl and the rest of Pillars have only been trapped in limbo all this time. It wasn't until a little over a year ago that Twilight and the rest of her friends freed them."

Or...we could go with that.

"To the Pillars and I, however, it only felt like a few seconds since time is irrelevant in limbo," Starswirl said. He even had a Gandalf-like voice.

I shook out of my state of shock.

"So the princesses said that you could help me with my magic," I said as I held an invisible hoof to him, "I mean it would make sense since you were the one that researched harmony magic."

"So you've read my journal then?" Starswirl asked, to which I nodded, "It's true. I did do research on harmony magic. Ever since the Pillars and I planted the seed for the Tree of Harmony. When the Elements of the Tree are united, they form a magic powerful enough to bring light into the darkness. But even on their own, the Elements can still be a strong force to reckon with."

"That's cool, but how do I utilize them properly?" I asked.

"Like a pegasus learning to fly, or a unicorn learning to use their horn, as long as your heart stays true to each dedicated Element, all it takes is practice and perseverance to hone your skills," he responded.

"So...in other words, I just have to train," I said simply.

"More or less," he said, "It could be tough though. I don't believe any pony has ever been trained on harmony magic before. Not to mention that a pegasus can't normally perform magic like a unicorn. It will take some time, but I believe that with the right training, you will learn how to use your magic with ease."

"Oh shit, this guy's gonna be my sensei, my Sensei Wu, my Obi-Wan Kenobi, my Gandalf, my Hagrid. You get the idea."

I don't think Hagrid was a teacher.

I don't recall giving a shit.

I never had a teacher outside of school before. Actually, never mind. I think I had a swim teacher when I was young. Other than that, no other teacher. And I'm not counting when my mom forced me to be a part of the school choir or Breakfast with Santa. If I'm being honest, I wish I took some sort of self defense class, like karate for example. I'll be like the Karate Kid (never watched it if that's what you're wondering).

It's all about wax on and wax off.

"Right. Your training shall begin first thing tomorrow morning," Starswirl said, "For now, rest up and get settled in."

"Right," I said before I realized something, "Wait, how often are we gonna be training exactly?"

"Everyday," he responded.

"That might be an issue. I have school on the weekdays," I said.

"Hmm. That is an issue. Education is important for such a young pony," he said while stroking his beard.

"Why do I feel like he's implying that I'm nine years old?"

"And I wouldn't want to get in the way of your homework. Heh. I sure didn't let anything get in the way of Celestia's and Luna's education, and look at them now," he chuckled before he turned towards the princesses, "By the way, you two still owe me a lot of essays. I'm curious..."

"E-erm..." I head Princess Luna say.

I turned back towards the princesses and started to chuckle as they had nervous expressions, the type you would have if one of your parents found a report card filled with Fs in the trash can, and either they call for you by your full name or you hear their footsteps with the sound of a jingling belt. Or the face you make when you shit your pants.

Wait...You would shit your pants anyway if you heard your full name being called or a jingling belt. Heh. It's a good thing my parents never used a belt whenever they spanked me as a child. It's pretty much akin to a whip, just not as sharp.

...

Why do parents spank their children with a belt?

...

What was I talking about again? Oh right.

"I also have work during the weekends," I said, "I mean, I guess I can take a leave of absence (I actually have no idea what that means), but then it would be a slow of process if I only trained during the weekends."

"Well shit."

"Psst," I heard Discord whisper next to my ear, to which I turned to him, "I can make it so you don't have to worry about missing anything important."

"How? A clone?" I asked.

"Oh no. That wouldn't be as fun or entertaining," Discord chuckled, "No no, dear boy. You know those scenes in action movies where the main protagonist of the story goes through some epic montage where he turns into the hero? With some epic music playing? Well young one, this is that scene."

"A montage scene?" I asked.

"Of course! And the best part, you don't have to actually go through the weeks of rigorous training!" he said happily, "My word, imagine if you actually went down that path. That would be so monotonous and boring. And I know you can be the impatient type. So what do you say?"

"You're right. I mean, I wouldn't say I'm impatient, but rather lazy," I corrected him, "Screw it! Montage time it is!"

"Um...Legion?" Princess Celestia asked, "Don't you think you should be patient in your training? It could do you some good."

"Oh of course he wouldn't want to do that Celly," Discord chuckled before I could respond, "And besides, the viewers would get so bored if they read a long chapter where the hero just trained," he then turned his head towards...somewhere (I stopped questioning his antics seeing he's literally a god of chaos), "Isn't that right viewer?"

"I'm not even gonna ask," I deadpanned, "Anyway...MONTAGE! Work your magic Discord!"

"With pleasure!" he said before he snapped his finger.

Starswirl and I were now in the Whitetail Woods (pretty much a safe version of the Everfree Forest) while I was wearing a blindfold (don't take this out of context). Before I was blindfolded, Starswirl hanged up various objects (stuff like bottles and all that) on the trees around me. I told him about my other powers, and for my training in enhanced hearing, he said something about focusing on the disturbances in the wind in order to dodge or block the objects as they swung towards me.

I got hit by the first object.

For my power of invisible, the training was simple.

Turn my whole body invisible. I only managed to do that once, back during the Spell-veneer Hunt. Any other times I tried to do it, I only managed to do my hoof.

Right now during training was no exception.

Teleportation was also simple. Teleport as far and as often as I can.

In short, I was only able to teleport like one or two meters. And only when I really focused to do it. I even took a few leaps forward for...stylish points I guess. That only ended with me landing on my face.

For my shield power, I had to make a big and strong shield.

Like Violet from the Incredibles had a hard time doing so, every time I tried to make one, it would fizzle out almost immediately.

For my falcon punch...or venom sting...I'll think of a name for it soon, do I really need to say what went wrong when I tried to punch a tree?

I've been improving with my powers.

I was able to dodge or block most of the objects flung at me with ease, although sometimes I got hit in the back of the head.

I'd say I was able to turn half of my body invisible, although it looked like I was trying to take a shit whenever I was trying to do the rest of my body.

Thankfully, I didn't, but I did let out a fart.

I didn't improve much on the distance of my teleports, but I did improve on the frequency of them. I was now able to do around five teleports in a row before I felt exhausted.

Maintaining a shield around myself? Check.

Maintaining a shield that's strong? Needs work.

I was now able to break a tree with my super punch (that name sounds lame and unoriginal), but it took a lot out of me in order to do so and it still left my hoof sore a bit.

A disturbance in the wind to my left. I stepped back to dodge the bottle.

A swinging rope to my right. I caught the bottle in my hoof.

A whistling noise from right behind me. I tilted my head a bit to the side and then held my hoof out to catch the bottle as it swung back towards me.

I smiled as I didn't hear anything else. I managed to dodge all of the bottles.

It's all about focus.

My whole body was now invisible. Just like the Wraith from Dead by Daylight, whenever I move swiftly you can notice the slight shimmer of my body if you payed close attention. According to Starswirl, the magic around my body is like the fire on a lit match that seems to lag a bit behind as you wave the match back and forth rapidly.

Otherwise, if I stood still or moved slowly, it would be like I wasn't even there.

Seven or eight.

That's how many times I can blink (what I'm calling my teleports since the farthest I was able to go with each one is around four meters) in a row before exhausting myself.

Needless to say, Starswirl was impressed. For the average unicorn, teleportation took a lot out of them, especially if they did it either rapidly or over long distances.

I guess it was because of the short distance I was able to blink that I can do it rapidly.

Maintaining a strong shield wasn't so hard to do now. Again, it was all about focus.

Discord even tried to test out my shield's strength by shooting a few lasers at it. At least I know now that my shield isn't indestructible, but at least very strong, for every laser formed a small crack on my shield, until it finally broke down, leaving me exhausted.

Needless to say, he got scolded the hell out of them by the princesses, and even Starswirl.

Thank you and fuck you, Discord.

Up to four trees stood no chance to my venom strike (I'm calling it that because I gave up on coming up with a creative name). I know now that that power is what exhausts me the fastest, which makes sense.

I'm not exactly One Punch Man.

I smiled as I was catching my breath.

"Wow! That was an epic montage!" I said with a smile, "You were right Discord. Thanks to you, I managed to do a lot without missing any school or work."

"Don't mention mention it, my friend," Discord responded, "It was rather entertaining to watch, especially at the beginning. Oh, I think I busted a gut during that section of the montage."

"I'm still rather shocked that it only felt like a few minutes, but really it's been almost four weeks," Princess Luna said.

"I know, right?!" I exclaimed.

I'm not gonna question the logic about that because that really was an epic montage.

"You have improved a lot young one," Starswirl said, "It impresses me as much as when I mentored Celestia and Luna. Sure brings back a lot of memories."

"Indeed," Princess Celestia said, "But as Starswirl taught my sister and I, there's always room to improve. After all, Twilight didn't become adept in magic as she is now after just four weeks of practice."

I became dejected a bit at the mention of that. Not that I still had room to improve. No. I knew you can always improve your skills. This isn't an RPG with a max level. Rather, I became dejected at the though of the Element of Magic. I still have yet to find the so called spark in order to unlock what I like to refer to as "perfect harmony."

During my training, I asked Starswirl about it and he said pretty much the same answer that Princess Celestia gave. That it will just come to me and that I have to be patient.

I also need to take into account that the Tree of Harmony said to follow my heart.

What did it mean by that exactly? Does it mean to pretty much do what's right?

I know I said that I'm not impatient, but...holy shit. Cryptic much?

"It is almost time to switch from day to night. Thou should head home young one," Princess Luna suggested.

"Indeed. You deserve the rest after weeks of training," Starswirl said.

"I'll teleport you back to Ponyville," Princess Celestia said as her horn began to glow.

"Thank you," I said as I looked around the room, "All of you, I mean. For helping me hone my skills."

"It's no problem," Princess Celestia said with a smile.

"Just remember," Discord said before was suddenly in a Spider-Man costume (what the fuck?), "With great power, comes great responsibility."

"Heh. Nice one," I said before a flash of light filled my vision.

Author's Note

Literally 2000 words of this chapter is the recap. Is that considered a lazy way to increase the word count?

Chapter 14: Dissolution of Magic Part 1

Previously on The Adventures of the Apex Legion

"I'm no longer gonna let fear hold me back from protecting this world, as well as my friends. Plus, if this whole thing was a TV show, it would make a sick anime."

"Right now..." I said as I turned my hoof invisible, "...I need to get a grasp on my harmony magic."

A disturbance in the wind to my left. I stepped back to dodge the bottle.

A swinging rope to my right. I caught the bottle in my hoof.

A whistling noise from right behind me. I tilted my head a bit to the side and then held my hoof out to catch the bottle as it swung back towards me.

I smiled as I didn't hear anything else. I managed to dodge all of the bottles.

It's all about focus.

Otherwise, if I stood still or moved slowly, it would be like I wasn't even there.

Seven or eight.

That's how many times I can blink (what I'm calling my teleports since the farthest I was able to go with each one is around four meters) in a row before exhausting myself.

Needless to say, Starswirl was impressed. For the average unicorn, teleportation took a lot out of them, especially if they did it either rapidly or over long distances.

I guess it was because of the short distance I was able to blink that I can do it rapidly.

Maintaining a strong shield wasn't so hard to do now. Again, it was all about focus.

Needless to say, he got scolded the hell out of them by the princesses, and even Starswirl.

Thank you and fuck you, Discord.

I'm not exactly One Punch Man.

I smiled as I was catching my breath.

I became dejected at the though of the Element of Magic. I still have yet to find the so called spark in order to unlock what I like to refer to as "perfect harmony."

During my training, I asked Starswirl about it and he said pretty much the same answer that Princess Celestia gave. That it will just come to me and that I have to be patient.

I also need to take into account that the Tree of Harmony said to follow my heart.

What did it mean by that exactly? Does it mean to pretty much do what's right?

I know I said that I'm not impatient, but...holy shit. Cryptic much?

The Adventure of the Apex Legion

Written by DeffBwade

Chapter 14: Dissolution of Magic Part 1

That is actually the most beautiful thing I have ever laid my eyes on.

I know, right?

CRASH

Aside from all the lightning strikes, but at least we're at a safe distance.

What my classmates and I are looking at right now is supposedly some kind of weather factory located in a city called Cloudsdale, which is more or less a pegasus capital due to it being in the sky.

I'm not even gonna ask how that's possible. Oh god. I wonder where there...bathroom waste...goes to.

Ew. Thanks for putting that question into my head.

Normally I would question why there's factory for weather (I mean, how the fuck does that even work?), but then again...different world, different rules of nature. And also magic.

Hmm. Maybe that's the answer to pegasi's...waste. Magic.

Imagine the brain aneurysm that I had when I learned in my first few weeks in this world that the weather isn't the work of Mother Nature, but rather they pegasi themselves actually control it. They even have schedules for whether the day is gonna be sunny, rainy, cloudy, storming, snowing, etc. I guess you can say that the schedule is this world's weather forecast.

"Tada! The pegasus weather factory!" Professor Dash said as she pointed towards said factory.

It really was a beautiful sight. There were even rainbow waterfalls! You hear me?! Rainbow! Waterfalls!

You think it's palatable?

Hope so. Maybe. I bet it taste like Skittles.

As Rhett and Link once said: Skittle Milk! Call someone right now!

Skim Milk. Stick your dick in it.

I said Skittle Milk, not-

Don't care. Ha ha funny. Moving on.

"Every drop of rain or flake of snow from Cloudsdale comes from there!" Professor Dash continued, getting a bunch of 'woahs' in reply, only for her to turn to face us and see what really got our attention: the view down below, "Hey! The cool stuff's over here!"

I, however, was too much of a pussy to look down. In fact, I standing, with my hooves wobbling a bit, as close to the center of cloud we were on as I could. Yes, you heard right. We literally standing on a cloud.

You'd think that it would cool as shit to be standing on a cloud, but think about it. It's not like I'm sitting in an airplane where there's solid ground, but rather it's liquid given a vapor form. Although, this cloud does feel like a solid platform, but still. Not to mention that we're high, high up. The only thing that gives me some sort of relief is that I'm a pegasus, which is the reason this cloud feels solid (or more like cotton candy) to me. Sadly, I can't say the same for the ones who can't fly. Fortunately, Counselor Starlight had a solution for the non-pegasi.

"Wow! I've never stood on a cloud before," Ocellus exclaimed with amazement as she hopped up and down, as well as Sandbar.

"You can't normally, but for our trip I cast a spell that let's us walk like pegasi," Counselor Starlight said as her horn continued to glow.

"The wonders of magic. So cool. And I should know. I have it."

Ocellus noticed my slightly distressed state and walked over to me, a bit of concern written on her face.

"Are you alright Legion?" she asked.

"Yeah, just...never been up this high up before," I said with a bit of a chuckle, "It's just making me a little nervous."

Ocellus looked around for bit to make sure nobody was listening before whispering to me, "But...didn't you once say that humans fly above the clouds everyday?"

"Well...yeah, but that's while they were in the planes that I told you about," I whispered back, "And I already told you that humans don't have wings to fly nor are able to stand on clouds. And there isn't any magic to make it so."

After I told my friends about my human origins all that time ago, they, of course, were naturally curious about my species. Out of all of them, though, Ocellus, being the smart cookie that she is, was the most curious and asked quite a lot of questions.

Not that I mind, of course. I like it whenever Ocellus is around. I mean, I feel the same with the others, but with Ocellus? Well...how do I explain it? I guess she just brings a smile to my face with her innocent nature, her thirst for knowledge, and just her whole personality. And did I mention that she's just so darn cute?

I think two or three times. Yeah.

It's weird though. In all my life, I've never really referred to a girl as cute before. At least...I don't think I have. I guess the reason being that I would get teased for it, as my friends did when I accidently called Ocellus cute out loud. Hmm. It's whatever.

"Hey Yona! Check out this view!" Gallus called to Yona, who was currently clutching onto the leg of another pegasus, before he put on a smirk, "Unless you're too scared."

"Damn bro. Why you gotta do her like that?"

"Yona not scared," Yona said with confidence as she got up...before she fell through the cloud, "YAH! NOW YONA SCARED!"

"Holy shit!"

We all ran to the hole and looked through it with panicked expressions as we saw the figure of Yona get more and more smaller as she continued to fall.

ISN'T SOMEONE GONNA DO SOMETHING?!

I immediately glanced over to Counselor Starlight. She's smart! She must know what to do! How about she, I don't know, cast a spell?!

Counselor's horn began to glow its usual aura...before it fizzled out, causing her to gasp with an even more panicked expression.

"Ah shit."

The panic started to go over 9000 when all of the other non-pegasi, or at least those that can't fly, started to fall through the cloud. I knew this was a bad idea!

"Come on! We gotta catch them!" Professor Dash said.

"No shit Sherlock!"

We all then practically divebombed towards my classmates and grabbed each of them one by one. Professor Dash grabbing Counselor Starlight, Smolder grabbing Sandbar, Silverstream grabbing some random guy, some random girl grabbing another random girl, and finally, Gallus, Ocellus, and I grabbing Yona right before she could hit the ground. She was literally about a foot and a half away from making impact.

"Gotcha!" Gallus said.

"It's okay Yona," Ocellus reassured, "You like flying, remember?"

"Flying. Not falling," Yona said with a pout and crossed hooves before she started to kiss the ground as everybody else landed.

"Holy. Fucking. Shit."

And this is why I'm not interested in skydiving. The adrenaline I would get sounds invigorating, but what if my parachute fails and I end up breaking into a million pieces and staining the ground red? Oh jeez, the mere thought of it is absolutely horrifying.

And yes. I can be highly paranoid guy, so sue me.

"I don't understand. It's like my spell stopped working," Counselor Starlight said, "That's...never happened before."

We all exchanged worried glances at that. If there's one thing that I learned during my time here, it's that unicorn magic can't just stop...insert finger snap sound effect here...just like that. At least not without any outside interruptions. At the very least, a unicorn can be completely drained of energy and not be able to cast any spells. But Counselor Starlight seemed perfectly healthy and energized, so what could've caused her horn to lose its juice like a man only shooting a few squirts of-

Throughout the rest of the afternoon, I was able to see that Counselor Starlight wasn't the only one unable to perform spells. Every unicorn that I've seen hasn't been able to perform even the simplest of unicorn spells. For example, when I was walking through the library, I saw Citrine Spark struggling to use levitation, which I learned is a spell that an eight year old could learn, to organize the books. Obviously, I offered to help her since I was still able to fly.

But yeah, whenever I saw a unicorn try to perform a spell, it would just fizzle out. Like a garden hose spraying only a few squirts of water before failing completely.

There. I was family friendly that time. You happy?

Anyway, my friends and I were now walking through the hallways of the school. They too have noticed spells failing around Ponyville. Surprisingly, Ocellus and Silverstream were still able to transform, so that's one thing to be relieved about.

"It's weird," Gallus said, "I've read enough books on ponies to know that unicorn magic doesn't just...stop working."

"You? Reading books?" Smolder said jokingly, "And about pony magic, no less?"

Gallus's response was to give a small glare at the dragoness.

Smolder does have a point though. Since when does Gallus willingly read?

Since school started, I guess?

"Heh. You are right though, Gallus," I said, "And then there's another thing. Why is unicorn magic failing while Ocellus and Silverstream can still use their magic?"

"Beats me," Sandbar shrugged.

"Can Legion still do magic?" Yona asked.

That made me pause.

"Huh. I'm not sure," I said. I looked around to see if anyone was watching. Seeing no one, I focused on my harmony magic and managed to turn myself completely invisible. Yahtzee, "Huh," I said before blinking up into the air and then spreading my wings out, "I guess I can."

"I still find that pretty cool," Gallus said with a bit of awe.

Yeah, I showed off my powers to my friends. In private, of course. I mean, who am I to deny them a little show?

...

Yeah, that...that didn't sound as suggestive in my head.

And besides, I don't want any prying eyes to see what I'm capable. Specifically, Headmare Twilight. Not that I have anything bad against her, it's just that I don't want her seeing me use harmony magic and then have one of her...Twilight moments.

I can just imagine it.

"B-but...you're a pegasus! You shouldn't be able to do that!" Headmare Twilight said as she frantically took out dozens and dozens of papers and quills, brought out at least ten chalkboards, and was staring at me with the curiosity and excitement of a child in a candy store filled with candies unknown to them, "How are you performing magic like a unicorn?! When did this start to happen?! And for how long?! I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS! OH PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE ANSWER ALL OF THEM!!!"

Okay. I may have exaggerated a bit, but you get the idea.

"Maybe it's because Legion isn't a unicorn?" Ocellus questioned.

"Or maybe he's immune to his magic being stolen!" Silverstream suggested.

"That actually doesn't sound very farfetched."

"The real question is why. Why are unicorn spells failing?" I asked as finally made it to our dorm rooms and I began to close the hallway door once we were all in.

Could it be an outside factor? Is someone or something responsible for this? Is there a special season that prevents unicorns from using magic for some reason? No. Counselor Starlight said that this has never happened before. Maybe the world just had enough of this shit and decided to say fuck you to-

POP

"GAH!" we all screamed as a popping sound made us jump and I ended up falling backwards onto the ground. The others looked down at me, asking me if I was alright, "Yeah. Yeah. I'm fine."

"Hahahaha!" laughed a familiar voice belonging to a certain draconequus that was now hovering above us.

"Hello to you too Discord," I said with a deadpan expression.

"Hehe. Oh hilarious!" Discord said as he continued to chuckle, "Turns out you were right. Humans can be quite...chaotic...when it comes to pranking each other. Even more so than Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie."

"I knew I never should've told you about human pranks," I said as I looked at the string connected to the door and the firecracker (a small one mind you) that was now burnt out on the ground.

This was the prank he did in case you were curious.

How the fuck did none of us notice the string?

"Haha very funny," Smolder said sarcastically, "What do you want Discord?"

"Why Smolder, you wound me," Discord said as he pretended to be hurt by Smolder's question, his talon poised over his heart and everything, "Can't a guy just stop by and say hello to his dear friends?"

"I mean...you can," I said, "But you don't do that."

"And no offense or anything..." Gallus said, "...but we've never really acquainted enough for me to consider you a friend."

"Do you guys at least consider him an acquaintance?" I said, to which they either nodded or shrugged.

"Good enough for me!" Discord said happily.

"No, but seriously Discord, you usually aren't around unless it's something importante," I said.

"Oh, alright alright. You've caught me," he said, "So you know how unicorn spells have been failing lately?"

"Yeah, I mean, it happened earlier during our trip to Cloudsdale with Counselor Starlight," I responded, "Sandbar and Yona ended up falling through clouds."

"Yona no wish to sit on cloud anymore," Yona said with a shake of her head.

"Any who. It has to do with a little message Mr. the Bearded sent to Celly and Lulu," Discord said before he snapped his fingers, summoned a scroll, and then put on some oversized glasses, "According to our wizard friend, magic has been disappearing all over Equestria."

We all gasped at this.

"I know, right?" Discord said before he continued, "On day one of what I like to call the 'Retirement of Magic,' unicorn magic and spells will fail. On day two, creatures will lose their magical abilities. And finally, on day three, magical artifacts will stop working. And when the sun sets on the third day, all magic will be gone. Forever!"

Once again, we all gasped.

"Forever?!" I asked.

"Forever!" Discord said dramatically as he threw away the glasses. And I can't help but swear that I heard the sound of thunder. Scratch that. That did happen. It's Discord.

"B-b-but you said that unicorn magic and spells should be failing right now!" I exclaimed before shrouding (a word that refers to me turning invisible in case you have a small brain like me; screw it, I'm calling it that from now on) myself, "But as you can see, my magic still works perfectly fine!"

"Hmm. That is a bit strange," he said as he stroked his chin, "Perhaps it's because you're not a unicorn?"

"That's what I thought," Ocellus said.

"Well, regardless, Twilight and her friends have already determined who's behind this," Discord reassured us, "Right now, they're preparing to take a little road trip to visit my...ex-friend...Tirek!"

"Tirek?!" we all asked at once.

"You mean the centaur that is capable of eating magic? The centaur that came to Equestria with his brother Scorpan to steal Equestria's magic, only to be betrayed by Scorpan due to him appreciating Equestria's ways? That Tirek?" Gallus asked, to which we all glanced at him, making him sigh out of annoyance, "I've been studying okay?! Finals are coming up."

Yeah, you heard right. Tirek is a centaur (although his upper half is supposedly more demonic looking rather than humanoid) that can suck the magic out of any creature. Wait, does he actually eat the magic to fill his stomach, or does he just absorb it like a sponge absorbs water? Eh, it's whatever. To put it bluntly, Tirek desired power. The more magic he eats, the bigger and more powerful he becomes. Simple as that.

As Gallus stated, Tirek's brother, Scorpan, grew to like Equestria, so he ended up betraying Tirek. While Scorpan moved back to his homeland to live a happy life, Tirek was imprisoned in a place called Tartarus. It's more or less like the Tartarus known to Greek mythology, but just without the concept of torment and suffering. I'll be honest, I at first thought that Tartarus was just another word for Hell when I first learned about it.

"It would make sense that he would be responsible for all the magic disappearing," I said, "But if that's the case, then shouldn't I go with Headmare Twilight and the other professors?"

Wait, I thought you didn't want any to know about your powers.

First of all, it's not that I'm never gonna show anyone my powers. I meant that I wasn't ready to reveal them yet. Second of all, that doesn't matter right now. This is big, like really big! I trained to properly use my powers so I can protect this world. So why would I not go with-

"Oh no no no no no," Discord shook his head, "No."

"Um...what?" I asked with confusion.

"Well, Celly and Lulu figured you would want to help out, so they asked me to tell you that it would be wise if you stayed here," he explained.

"W-what? But I still have my magic!" I emphasized my point blinking into the air and hovering at eye level with Discord, "Why should I stay here when I could be helping out?"

"Uh...you know...reasons," he responded.

"Wow, that was a terrible answer," I heard Smolder mutter.

"What reasons?" I said, starting to get a little irritated.

"U-um, reasons that I can't explain and are completely irrelevant to the story?" he said with a slightly nervous smile.

"Discord!" I yelled sternly.

"Oh alright alright!" Discord finally budged, "The princesses don't want you to join Twilight and her friends because...because they don't think you ready yet due to you not fully mastering your powers."

"..."

"Now I know you're not happy with that explanation, not that I blame you or anything, but let me explain even further," Discord explained.

"That's it? Yeah, that makes sense," I said almost nonchalantly.

"Celly and Lulu said that..." Discord said before his his eyes bulged as he realized what I just said, "Wait, what?"

"If the princesses say that I'm not ready, then I'm not ready," I shrugged.

Silence was all Discord's response before he said, "I'll say again...what?!"

"So pony won't object?" Yona asked.

"You're just gonna accept it...just like that?" Gallus asked with a snap of his talons.

"Doesn't make sense, dude," Sandbar said, everyone else nodding and murmuring in agreement.

"Sandbar, we've known each for almost a year. You know as well as I do that nothing I say or do makes sense," I deadpanned, "Like a pegasus trying to tan in the snowy regions of Yakyakistan. Or an earth pony trying not to get wet in Seaquestria."

Yo, is water wet?

"W-what?" Sandbar asked.

"Exactly," he responded with a smile before I turned back to Discord, "But for real, though, I agree with the princesses. After all, I've only been training for a few weeks. It's like the military. You don't become an elite soldier after just a few weeks of training."

I'm also a task guy. I just do what I'm told without question. Within good reason, of course.

On a serious note, while I may be fine on the outside, I was stressed out on the inside. It's been weeks. Weeks. And I still haven't got the slightest clue how to activate the Element of Magic. To so called "spark" has never appeared to me.

I'll be honest, there are times where I think the "spark" is just...never gonna come.

But...I suppose I just gotta be patient. As I've been doing for the past few weeks.

And to answer your earlier question: no, water is not wet. Google actually states that "wet" is officially defined as covered or saturated with water or another liquid. No joke. Look it up.

The next day, my friends and I, as well as every other student, all gathered around in the main lobby where official announcements are...well...announced. Seated at the front podium was a familiar pinkish pegasus filly. Cozy Glow.

Believe it or not, but Cozy Glow is actually Headmare Twilight's assistant. At the school, of course. Not like the type of assistant that Spike is. I guess the reasoning behind Cozy's position is due to her proficiency in just the overall concept of friendship. Impressive. Especially that she was at first terrible at friendship, at least from what I've heard.

"I wonder where Counselor Starlight is," I thought as I looked around the room, trying to find the lilac unicorn.

From what I've heard, while Twilight and the rest of the teachers are away, Counselor Starlight is in charge and Cozy glow is here to assist her.

"Good morning friendship students!" Cozy proclaimed, drawing our attention, "I know we're all sad Professor Sparkle is away, but don't worry. Because she left me in charge to do things just the way she would!"

Or not.

"Uh, I thought Starlight Glimmer was gonna be temporary headmare," Gallus pointed out.

"She was, but she left me this note," Cozy said before she started to read said note, "'I have to go. Twilight needs my help. I know the school is in good hooves with you Cozy.' Isn't that sweet? We won't let Starlight down, will we?"

While the other students answered with a bunch of "no's" or whatnot, my friends and I just gave glances to each other, a bit of suspicion in our eyes.

"It's just kind of weird, isn't it?" Smolder asked, voicing our thoughts.

"I don't know what you mean," Cozy shrugged.

"Like, why did she change our mind? Why Starlight write a note instead of saying goodbye to us herself? It doesn't make any sense," Smolder explained, to which the other students started to feel unsure as well.

"It does seem a bit of character for Counselor Starlight to do that."

"Oh Smolder," Cozy giggled, "You forget. We're not scheming dragons, we're ponies. Sounds like some creature needs to do a little extra friendship homework," Cozy said with a wink and a hoof boop on Smolder's nose.

Everyone (of course with the exception of my friends and I) started to laugh, and I could Smolder was starting to get pissed, if the growl and the smoke puffing from her nostrils were any indication.

"Damn Cozy. I see you still haven't learned your lesson about non-ponies having disadvantages in friendship. No offense or anything, but how are you the top student in this school? Sigh. Relax Legion, she's just a kid. A kid who's apparently now in charge of an entire school. Oh boy."

"Yak not pony either!" Yona proclaimed, "If Smolder get homework, Yona get homework."

"Me too!" Ocellus proclaimed.

"I'm in," Sandbar said.

"Yeah! Homework party!" Silverstream cheered before she and others looked at Gallus and I.

"Fine," Gallus said with a heavy sigh.

I don't wanna have extra homework as well. Sigh. But you're doing this for your friends. You're doing this for your friends. You're doing this for your friends. Fuck me, loyalty can be a curse from time to time.

"Alright," I sighed.

You're actually voluntarily accepting to do extra homework. All because you want to be there for your friends.

Yeah. I really have changed, haven't I? I don't even remember the last time I swore in another language.

That's because your friends are aware that you do that.

Yeah, but they're lenient about it.

"What loyalty," Cozy admired, "Professor Rainbow Dash would be so proud. You are such good friends. You all are! And I'm grateful because it'll be awfully hard running a whole school alone. Can I count on each of you to help me?"

Everybody voiced their thoughts that they would.

As for my friends and I, we still found the whole "Starlight just taking off" thing to be suspicious. Like I said before, it's out of her character to do that. She wouldn't just leave a note, no. She would actually tell us herself that she's leaving. And I don't know if it's just me, but I'm pretty sure Counselor Starlight wouldn't leave someone as young as Cozy Glow to run the whole school. Hell, Headmare Twilight wouldn't do that. Probably.

Cozy may be nice and responsible and all, but as I just said, she's young. A literal 10 year old. Or is she 12? I don't know. Somewhere around that spectrum.

I actually thought she's an 8 year old.

Regardless, I still find it suspicious. But I suppose I can't really do or say anything right now. And neither could my friends. All we could do is see what happens.

I mean, it's not like Cozy is gonna do something like, I don't know, blow up the school or something like that.

Author's Note

Finally made some artwork to show what Apex Legion (or rather me) looks like! :raritystarry:

The mane and tail are not exactly what I imagined them to be, but it's close enough. And besides, it was my first time making my pony oc based on a base vector.

Bonus Chapter: Feelings Revealed

It was the final day of the school year at the School of Friendship. Final exams have been taken, grades were finalized (with some of them making some students pale at how horribly horrendous they are and now they're gonna have to show them to their parents, which will probably lead to their asses getting beat), and Professor Pinkie Pie got together a "Congratulations on Making It Through The School Year!" party at the school. The last one brought great big smiles as any pony who had half a brain knew how much of a killer Pinkie Pie's parties are. Students sure celebrated for making it through the year.

Including a certain group of friends consisting of various types of creatures.

"Man, I honestly can't believe that it's already the last day of school," Apex Legion said to his friends as the party went on, "Time really flies by when you don't really think about it."

"I know, right?" Sandbar asked, "A year seemed like so long at first."

"Tell me about it," Gallus shrugged, "A full year filled with nothing but learning, homework, and tests. I don't even know how many times I got in trouble for sleeping in class. But...in the end...it was alright. I guess."

"Heh. Yeah," Smolder chuckled.

"I really enjoyed it!" Ocellus proclaimed with a buzz of her wings, "We all learned quite a lot of stuff about pony history and friendship. Oh, I can't wait to share all of it with the Hive!"

"Yona enjoyed year! Yona made lots of new friends!" Yona proclaimed proudly as she suddenly brought the two creatures closest to her into a hug.

"AGHH! YONA!" Legion choked, "HUG...TOO TIGHT!"

"SMOLDER...LIKE...BREATHING!" Smolder said before Yona finally let she and Legion go.

"Sorry. Yona not know her own strength," Yona said apologetically.

"Heh. It's alright," Legion said as he caught his breathe before he raised a cup (full of fruit punch, not alcohol you retards) into the air, "Hey...guys? Can I just make a toast?"

"Oh! I love toast!" Silverstream said enthusiastically. "My favorite kind is whole wheat with peanut butter and jelly on it!"

"I prefer sourdough," Legion shrugged before he continued, "Anyway, when I first came here, I thought it was just gonna be a nice little vaycay spot to chillax and all that, but then I met all of you. I honestly don't think I've ever connected with anyone more than I did with all of you...except maybe with a few friends back on Earth. But regardless, thank you all. A toast...to friendship!"

"That sounded so bad but I don't care because this is a nice moment," Legion thought to himself.

"To friendship!" every other creature said as they too raised their cups in the air.

"So what are you all gonna do over the summer break?" Sandbar asked, "I'm probably just gonna spend some time with my family. Might go on a trip somewhere, but I'm not sure."

"I think I'm gonna head back to the Dragonlands," Smolder said, "I don't know about you, but I've..."

As every creature talked about their plans for the summer, Ocellus couldn't help but draw her gaze over to Legion. It's been many, many months, and she still hasn't shared her feelings towards the cute colt. The main reason why she hasn't said anything was because of something called "the friendzone."

Despite the fear of being rejected and jeopardizing their friendship, though, Ocellus couldn't help herself. It was as if Legion was her soulmate. She's honestly surprised that he hasn't picked up any signs from her behavior from time to time. Like whenever they study together, she would occasionally glance at the pegasus and would blush a bit whenever he looked in her direction.

"I guess mom was right. Colts really can be dense at times," Ocellus thought before she realized something.

The summer break was approaching and she planned on going back to the Hive. That meant 3 months without seeing Legion. What if over the break...he gets himself a marefriend?!

No! That won't stand! Ocellus knew at that moment that she had to finally take action.

"It'll be okay! If Legion reciprocates your feelings, then I'll be the happiest changeling in the world. If not, then that's fine too! You knew Legion for about a year now. He's not the type to let friendships fall apart because of a silly crush. You got this. You got this!" Ocellus thought to herself.

With a deep breathe, Ocellus stood up.

"H-hey Legion?" the changeling said, drawing everyone's attention, "C-can I...talk to you for a sec?"

"Um, sure," Legion said.

Ocellus decided to take Legion to the balcony of the school, which showed a great view of Ponyville and the moon over shining it.

"So what's up?" Legion asked as he stood on his hind hooves leaned against the railing.

This was it. The moment she was waiting for. She just had to tell Legion that she likes him. Simple right?

"I-I..." Ocellus stammered.

No. It's not simple.

"You alright?" Legion asked.

"Y-yeah, it's just..." Ocellus responded as she started to blush, "I-I have something to...confess."

"Go on."

"W-well...we've...we've known each other for almost a year now, and...I felt like I've connected with you a whole lot. Like we've gotten closer."

"Mmhm."

"A-and...well...I just wanted to say that...that..." Ocellus gulped as she was now red as a tomato, "...I hope you have fun over your summer break."

Ocellus started to scream on the inside, and it took all of her willpower not to slam her head against the railing out of frustration.

"Oh? Well, thanks," Legion smiled, "I hope you have fun as well."

"Jeez I'm pathetic," Ocellus thought with a bit of sadness as she too stood on her hind hooves and leaned against the railing.

"You know, I'm kind of glad you brought me up here. The moon is pretty beautiful tonight," Legion said before he turned away a bit with a blush starting to form on his cheeks, "Kind of like how beautiful your eyes are."

"H-huh?!" Ocellus exclaimed as she snapped her head back towards the colt, who turned his back to reveal a now blushing face.

"I-I also have something to confess. Do you...remember when I called you cute during Hearth's Warming?" he asked, to which Ocellus nodded, "Well..." Legion then put his hoof on Ocellus's as his face turned even more red, "I...I think you're more than cute. I think you're the most beautiful creature I've ever met."

Ocellus's heart started to thump against her chest.

"He...h-he actually called me beautiful! And he's holding my hoof! Oh my, oh my, oh my!" Ocellus thought with glee as he started at Legion's eyes.

"Ocellus, I...I think I like you. And I mean...like like you," Legion said as he started into Ocellus's gorgeous eyes that started to sparkle at this words.

"You...you really mean that?" Ocellus asked.

She didn't need Legion to nod to know the answer. She could feel it exuding from him. And it was strong. Fulfilling even.

"I...I think I like you too," the changeling finally confessed, "And I mean...like like you."

They both smiled at their confessions, before their faces heavily turned red once again as they both started to slowly lean in towards each other.

"I'm...I'm gonna do it! I'm actually gonna do it!" Ocellus thought as she could barely contain her excitement.

"Legion," Ocellus whispered.

"Ocellus," Legion whispered.

Their eyes slowly started to close as they were only a few inches away from each other, and only coming closer to...and closer...and closer...until...

"GOOD MORNING OCELLUS!"

Ocellus yelped at the yell as she quickly opened up her eyes, only to see that she was not on the school's balcony with her crush, but in her bed with Silverstream standing next to it with a wide grin. She sat up and just stared at the hippogriff with a tired expression.

"Sorry, but I wanted to make that you didn't oversleep. It's such a beautiful day out, don't you think?" Silverstream asked as she looked out the window.

"..."

"Anyway, come on! Cozy Glow said that she had an announcement to make, and she wanted to make sure that every student was present for it."

"..."

"I'll give you some privacy to get ready. See you in the lobby, Ocellus!" Silverstream said happily as she exited the room, somehow oblivious to what Ocellus was currently feeling.

After a few seconds after the door to the bedroom closed, Ocellus's face turned into a pout as she slammed back down onto her bed.

"Darn it! Just before I got to the best part!" Ocellus yelled within the confides of her mind.

Author's Note

Ain't I a fucking stinker motherfucker?

Chapter 15: Dissolution of Magic Part 2

Previously on The Adventures of the Apex Legion

"Yona not scared," Yona said with confidence as she got up...before she fell through the cloud, "YAH! NOW YONA SCARED!"

I immediately glanced over to Counselor Starlight. She's smart! She must know what to do! How about she, I don't know, cast a spell?!

Counselor's horn began to glow its usual aura...before it fizzled out, causing her to gasp with an even more panicked expression.

Every unicorn that I've seen hasn't been able to perform even the simplest of unicorn spells.

We all gasped at this.

Once again, we all gasped.

"Forever?!" I asked.

"Forever!" Discord said dramatically as he threw away the glasses. And I can't help but swear that I heard the sound of thunder. Scratch that. That did happen. It's Discord.

"Well, regardless, Twilight and her friends have already determined who's behind this," Discord reassured us, "Right now, they're preparing to take a little road trip to visit my...ex-friend...Tirek!"

"It would make sense that he would be responsible for all the magic disappearing," I said, "But if that's the case, then shouldn't I go with Headmare Twilight and the other professors?"

"The princesses don't want you to join Twilight and her friends because...because they don't think you ready yet due to you not fully mastering your powers."

"That's it? Yeah, that makes sense," I said almost nonchalantly.

"Celly and Lulu said that..." Discord said before his his eyes bulged as he realized what I just said, "Wait, what?"

"If the princesses say that I'm not ready, then I'm not ready," I shrugged.

I'll be honest, there are times where I think the "spark" is just...never gonna come.

But...I suppose I just gotta be patient. As I've been doing for the past few weeks.

From what I've heard, while Twilight and the rest of the teachers are away, Counselor Starlight is in charge and Cozy glow is here to assist her.

Or not.

The Adventure of the Apex Legion

Written by DeffBwade

Chapter 15: Dissolution of Magic Part 2

Do you all remember when I said that I found the whole Cozy suddenly being in charge of the school situation suspicious? Well right now, I find it even more suspicious.

The day hasn't been bad per say, but to me it seemed like Cozy was trying too hard for everyone to like her.

Do you wanna know what she just did? She got us tickets for a concert in Ponyville for some Lady Gaga like pony named Sapphire Shores or something. Yes, you heard correct. Tickets for a fucking concert. Like...god damn. And you probably think I'm joking around, but no. I'm actually serious.

I mean, it was nice of Cozy to do that, but you have to admit it does raise some questions? Mainly why she did that. Cozy's only response was, and I quote...

"Isn't that what good friends do?"

SUS!

First of all, how as a 10 year old able to buy tickets for a concert one of the most popular pop stars in Equestria? And for the my entire class no less? Either she's rich as fuck or she has some good connections with Sapphire Shores. And second of all, and I don't mean any offense, but I see Cozy as more as an acquaintance then a friend. I really only had a conversation with her twice, during the night me and the others explored that catacombs beneath the school. The times where we had to talk to each other for classwork doesn't count.

I know it just sounds like I'm just ranting and dragging this on, but if you were in my shoes (er...hooves) then you would feel exactly the same.

No grown up would just suddenly leave a 10 year child in charge of an entire school, by herself no less, and especially without announcing it before leaving. And no 10 year would do all these nice things without wanting something in return. And that's a fact. I think.

It's not. I'm sure there are some kids that do nice things just out of the kindness of their heart. And also you have to remember that Equestria isn't like Earth. Friendship is literally a weapon here.

Sigh, you're right.

And unfortunately, despite the suspicion Cozy has casted on herself, it wasn't really enough to warrant some kind of confrontation. And she never really said or did anything that would be a cause for concern.

I think the best option right now is to just let things happen while also staying vigilant. And who knows? Maybe she really is just trying to be nice and I'm overthinking things. I do tend to do that at times.

"Let's see here. Carry the 4, subtract 5, and then I substitute that for x, multiply both sides by mouthwash, imagine a turkey reenacting the famous scene from Terminator 2: Judgement. Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? Fuck it, I'll just choose C."

The next day when I got my math test back I found out I had got it wrong and it showed me how to solve it. I had a right triangle, and I was given x and y, and I had to find z.

I just had to use the Pythagorean Theorem.

"I'm a fucking idiot."

You really are. Didn't you take Honors Pre-Calculus last year?

That's...irrelevant at the moment.

Anyway, it was now night time and I was running a bit late for study club, a little tid bit my friends and I decided to hold when some big test is coming up. And like Gallus mentioned, finals are coming up. Finals...for the year.

Sigh...wow. I can't it's been almost a year since I came to this world. Almost a year since I met my friends, the princesses, Discord, my professors, etc. etc. Where did all the time go?

I guess it's just like you've always said. When you don't think about time, it just seems to cruise by.

That's a trick for all of you people in school by the way. Don't think about how much time you have left, but rather just focus on your work and the lessons. No matter how stressful and brain numbingly they are. I can't count how many brain aneurysms I had or how many times I wanted to bash my head against the wall because of school.

But year, so much has happened this past year. I made great friends, I found out early what college life is gonna be like, I got my first job, I found out I was destined to become an anime superhero, and I fell in love.

Wait what?

Pfft! Just kidding! I didn't fall in love. In fact, I don't it's possible for a girl to fall in love with me. I mean, I'm, in short terms, a loser. I have no muscles (not counting the fact that I can literally do a Falcon Punch now), I'm a total nerd, I'm a bit of a shy guy, and my hobby back home is literally playing video games. Seriously, who would ever fall in love with a guy like me?

A-are you serious?

What?

I...never mind.

And before you ask me, no, I'm not upset about it. Like I mentioned a long time ago, if I find myself a girlfriend, then cool. If I don't, then that's also cool.

"Cozy Glow baked our class cupcakes today," I head Citrine Spark say happily to her friends as I was walking through the hallways.

"She made all of us friendship bracelets," Berry Bliss said as she the so called friendship bracelet.

"Won't bracelets just slide off if you have hooves?"

"She's the nicest pony I've ever met," Patty Peppermint said, "I'm so glad she's headmare."

"Remember, she's only headmare until our professors get back," I said to them.

"Oh, yeah we know. But...I wouldn't mind if Twilight took her time coming back," Citrine said before she and her friends walked off.

"Damn Citrine. A little harsh, but okay."

I shrugged it off and proceeded to walk to the library. Jeez. It's so eerie walking through empty halls during the night. If this is something the college life involves, then I'm gonna have to get used to it.

I finally entered the library and proceeded towards our usual study spot. One of the things I like about study club is that we bring snacks. Or at least Silverstream does. I swear that girl's literally Pinkie 2.0. Not that I mind of course.

"Sorry that I'm late," I said as I sat down, "Do you wanna know what Cozy did? She got us tickets for a Sapphire Shores concert."

"Aww, you didn't even let us guess," Silverstream pouted.

"Woah, a Sapphire Shores concert?" Sandbar asked with amazement, to which I nodded.

"Do you all get the feeling that Cozy Glow's trying too hard to make us like her?" Gallus asked.

"Ah. The money question."

"Okay, good. It's not just me," I sighed in relief that my friends also share my suspicions.

"Maybe she's just trying to keep our minds off of how scary it is that magic is disappearing," Ocellus said her opinion.

"I don't trust her. What's she up to behind those big eyes..." Smolder asked as she stretched her eyes to make them seem larger, and then started to bounce her horns with her claws, "...and bouncy curls?"

I couldn't help but just think about that one meme where a child is smiling at the camera while a house is burning in the background.

"Well gee golly gosh. It seems I accidently burned the School of Friendship down," Cozy Glow said innocently as she puffed up her cheeks while firefighters tried their hardest to extinguish the flames and pegasi used the clouds to make it rain on the school.

"Cozy Glow. What do you have to say for yourself?" Headmare Twilight asked sternly.

"Well I'm just a kid, so..." Cozy answered simply with a shrug.

"Well, can't argue with that," Headmare Twilight said with a smile.

All of our jaws dropped at this.

"WHAT THE FU-?!"

I got to stop looking at memes.

No. Memes are haha funny.

And why was I imagining Ocellus being the one to swear?

"And why Cozy pony coming out of catacombs so late at night?" Yona asked.

Wait what?

I got my head out of the clouds and saw Yona looking through the space in one of the bookshelves, suspicion all over her face. We all peered through as well, and we indeed saw Cozy walking away from the grate that led to the catacombs, a lantern in her hooves.

"Hmm. Totally not suspicious at all."

She turned the corner, and somehow without seeing us, proceeded to fly out of the library.

"Let's go ask her," Gallus suggested, to which we all started to follow the tiny pegasus.

Oh. Follow mission. Sneak, sneak, sneak. Sneakity sneak sneak. I should put on some sort of ninja costume. Just so I'll look badass. Or maybe a Sam Fisher cosplay. Yeah! With the green lights being neon blue instead. I would look so badass and-

...

What? What's happ-

Shh. Listen.

...

Do you hear that?

I stopped in my tracks. It might've been just the wind, but I could've sworn I heard some sort of...whispering. It was feint, but still audible. The whispers had a sense of eeriness to it. Not demonic or anything like that. Just...cold. At least...that's the best I can describe it. Normally I would've just said "oh hell no" and completely ignore it for my safety (said no horror movie character ever). But it was almost as if the whispers were...calling to me. I just couldn't help but be entranced by them.

I looked in the direction I heard the whispers. It was coming from where we just were. In hindsight this might've been dumb, for I slowly turned around and walked in the direction of the whispers.

"Legion?" I heard Ocellus call to me.

Without even looking back, I simply lifted my hoof and waved it.

"You guys go on," I said as I looked around the corner and deduced that the whispers were definitely coming from the catacombs, "Tell the others that I'm gonna go check what Cozy was doing below the school."

"Y-you want me to go with you?" Ocellus asked.

"I'll be fine Ocellus," I said as I finally looked to her with a smile. I honestly wasn't sure if she could here the whispers as well, but seeing as she didn't say anything about it, I'm assuming not.

"Oh jeez. I hope I'm not finally going crazy. Wait, I'm already crazy. Never mind."

"O-okay. Just please be careful," Ocellus said before she proceeded to follow the others.

"Always looking out for her friends. Never change Ocellus."

I then looked back at the grate that led to the catacombs.

"Out with the old and in with the new I guess," I thought as I went into the grate.

You have no idea what that phrase means, do you?

"There you are Ocellus," Smolder whispered as the changeling caught up, "Where were you? And where's Legion?"

"He decided to check out what Cozy was doing below the school," Ocellus whispered back, "I offered to go with him, but...he said he'll be fine."

"You know how Legion is," Sandbar whispered, "He can be a bit impulsive at times, but he's a pretty smart pony. I'm sure he can handle himself."

"Yeah..." Ocellus said. She just couldn't help but worry though. Legion has been a close friend of hers for almost a year now. But Sandbar was right. Legion has proved that he's able handle tough situations, like the that time with the Timberwolf during the field trip. Or that time he saved her from that bully, and again from that suit of armor during the Spell-Venger Hunt. And she can't forget the time he defended her from Chancellor Neighsay.

"So brave," Ocellus thought dreamily to herself.

Unfortunately, Smolder saw the feint blush that was starting to form on the changeling's face and couldn't help but smirk a bit. Normally, she (and most likely Gallus) would've teased Ocellus and asked if she wanted to go with Legion in case something happened, and not because she wanted to be alone with him. But right now, they had a filly to follow, and she may or may not have heard their previous whispering. So just to be safe, she kept quiet.

"I wonder when she'll finally tell him though," Smolder wondered.

I continued to walk through the catacombs in the direction the whispers were leading me, as if there was a trail painted on the ground that was leading me to where a buried treasure chest was located. I am totally not gonna get possessed or murdered by some angry ghost.

"I hope I won't."

As I continued to walk, the whispers started to get louder. Not to the point of ear raping me, but it was as if someone was whispering directly into my ear. It was starting to make me a bit uncomfortable. Again, they weren't demonic or something that would make you think the words belonged to something religious. It was as if someone sad or angry was muttering indiscernible words. There's no other way I can describe them.

Eventually, though, the emotions that I just mentioned starting to become palpable in the air. I can literally feel the sadness, the hatred, the anger. Pretty much any negative emotion that exists, I could feel. In fact, I myself was starting to feel a little bit sad and angry. Especially angry. I was even feeling a bit scared. But like I said, just a bit. The feelings weren't overwhelming me that much.

"But why exactly am I feeling these emotions? Is it because of-...holy shit."

I recognized what room I was looking at almost immediately. It was the room where I encountered human me and embraced my fear of failure due to remembering that I'll always have my friends by my side. I swear that sounds so cheesy but whatever.

But that wasn't what caught my attention. Oh no sir. In the center of the room was some kind of ritual cultist shit. There was a giant, glowing red circular symbol...what was it called...I believe it's called a glyph, and six objects surrounding said glyph. I recognized them as the six artifacts we learned about a long time ago. I'm not gonna say the name of them as it's irrelevant and you probably won't care in the slightest. The artifacts seemed to be using magic to form some kind of magical sphere, and inside the sphere...was Counselor Starlight.

Holy shit. Is she gonna be sacrificed?

The group of creatures peaked around the corner to see Cozy Glow entering Headmare Twilight's office. So far they haven't been spotted yet. That's good, but if they're being honest, a small part of them believed that she did notice them and is just playing dumb. Oh well. They got this far.

Every creature peaked through the door that was left slightly ajar. As Cozy approached the desk, the chair suddenly turned to reveal a unicorn they hoped to never see again.

"Where is Princess Twilight?!" Chancellor Neighsay asked the filly.

"Oh golly. She's away on a quest. I'm watching the school for her," Cozy answered with a cute smile.

"Magic is failing across our land and she left a foal in charge of this facility?!" Neighsay asked, frustration evident in his voice.

"Yes sir! Is there anything I can do for you?" Cozy asked before the unicorn pointed a hoof at her.

"That won't be necessary," he responded, "Twilight's folly stops here. As of now, I am Headstallion, and I have quite a few changes to make."

Cozy's only response was to pout, while the group of creatures could only glance at each other out of worry.

It didn't matter if this looked demonic. What mattered to me at the moment was that Counselor Starlight was in danger and I had to do something.

I flew down into the room and started to slowly walk towards this...this...ritual. If I played enough video games (which I did), then I should know that it probably wasn't a good idea to step onto the glyph, especially since it was glowing such an ominous red.

Turns out I was right, as Counselor Starlight seemed to notice me and started to rapidly shake her head as I got closer, as if she was warning me.

Unfortunately, I was stupid. I was so focused on the sphere where the mare was trapped that I wasn't watching where I was stepping.

Now remember when I said that the negative feelings I was feeling weren't overwhelming?

Well, when my hoof accidently stepped onto the glyph, I was suddenly hit with a wave of negativity. Jesus. So much negativity. Anger, sadness, fear. Take your pick. I felt them all. And this time, it was overwhelming. I had the urge to knock someone's teeth out, to just lie down and cry, to ball up into a corner. Never in my life have I felt...well...like this.

I immediately retracted my hoof back, and all of the negativity was suddenly...gone. Well, not gone gone. It was still there, but it was a lot more tolerable.

"C-counselor Starlight..." I said as I looked up to her, "Wha-...what is all this?"

"..."

No response. She just looked at me with a look of concern.

"Can she not hear me? Or can she just not talk?"

I wanted to do something. I had to do something. I wanted to just fly into that sphere and save the counselor. Or just blink in and blink out. Literally anything.

But I didn't do anything. One glance to the glyph made me turn away from those decisions.

I then looked at the artifacts and walked up to one of them.

"These things seem to be forming that sphere. Maybe if I..."

I brought a hoof up and started to slowly move it towards the artifact...only to immediately retract it as the wave of negativity came back.

"Whatever this is, it seems to have some sort of negative aura that spreads...well...negativity."

It was clear to me that I couldn't save her. At least not on my own. I had to get in contact with the princesses, or maybe even Discord, and have them help me. But first, I need to let my friends know about this as well.

"Counselor Starlight. I don't know if you can hear me, but if you can, don't worry. I'll be back with some help," I said.

Her only response was a nod and a face of reassuring confidence. That was my cue to leave. I flew back the way I came and proceeded to exit the catacombs.

"Cozy...what are you up to down here?"

Neighsay stared at the student files that were laid down on the desk. Specifically the files of the non-ponies that attended this school. Just looking at it disgusted it.

Without hesitation, he swept the files off of the desk and into the trash can.

"What are you doing?!" Cozy asked with a pout, "Those are Twilight's students files!"

"These aren't," Neighsay gestured to the files laying in the trash, "Not anymore. With Equestria under attack, ponies must stand together. Twilight has endangered us all by skipping off on friendship trips, while these dangerous creatures run loose."

The group of friends looked at the conversation with looks of disgust. Well, at least Gallus and Smolder had looks of disgust. The others had looks of sadness.

"You don't think they're the reason magic is disappearing, do you?" Cozy asked, which the group to go slack jawed.

"Yes," Neighsay seethed, "I came to warn Twilight, but since she is gone, it falls to me to protect you foals from these monsters."

At the mention of the word "monsters," the group of friends were borderline ticked and voiced how mad they were. They've been attending this school for almost a year now, and they've never done anything that would cause animosity towards them.

Unfortunately, they were all whispering at the same time and a bit too loud.

"Did you hear something?" Neighsay asked.

"It sounded like it came from over there," Cozy pointed to the door.

The two ponies approached the door and opened it, causing the group of friends to tumble to the ground.

"You again. As I suspected," Neighsay said.

Tapping into the magic of his medallion, he casted a spell and wrapped the group up in magical chains.

"From now on this school is pony only," he smiled, "As nature intended."

Author's Note

You can't lie. Even though he apologized, you can't help but want to just punch Neighsay and his stupid, racist face.

Chapter 16: Dissolution of Magic Part 3

Author's Note

New cover art!

Chapter 16: Dissolution of Magic Part 3

Previously on The Adventures of the Apex Legion

Do you all remember when I said that I found the whole Cozy suddenly being in charge of the school situation suspicious? Well right now, I find it even more suspicious.

"Do you all get the feeling that Cozy Glow's trying too hard to make us like her?" Gallus asked.

"And why Cozy pony coming out of catacombs so late at night?" Yona asked.

I stopped in my tracks. It might've been just the wind, but I could've sworn I heard some sort of...whispering.

I can literally feel the sadness, the hatred, the anger. Pretty much any negative emotion that exists, I could feel. In fact, I myself was starting to feel a little bit sad and angry. Especially angry.

In the center of the room was some kind of ritual cultist shit. There was a giant, glowing red circular symbol...what was it called...I believe it's called a glyph, and six objects surrounding said glyph. I recognized them as the six artifacts we learned about a long time ago. I'm not gonna say the name of them as it's irrelevant and you probably won't care in the slightest. The artifacts seemed to be using magic to form some kind of magical sphere, and inside the sphere...was Counselor Starlight.

Now remember when I said that the negative feelings I was feeling weren't overwhelming?

Well, when my hoof accidently stepped onto the glyph, I was suddenly hit with a wave of negativity. Jesus. So much negativity.

"Counselor Starlight. I don't know if you can hear me, but if you can, don't worry. I'll be back with some help," I said.

Her only response was a nod and a face of reassuring confidence. That was my cue to leave. I flew back the way I came and proceeded to exit the catacombs.

"Cozy...what are you up to down here?"

The Adventure of the Apex Legion

Written by DeffBwade

Chapter 16: Dissolution of Magic Part 3

To say that the six students weren't on good terms with the Chancellor would be a huge understatement. Now, they held animosity towards the unicorn. He himself said that he believed that they were responsible for the disappearance of magic just because they weren't ponies.

And now, he's currently holding them in chains.

Neighsay apathetically tossed the six students into a random student room. Gallus and Smolder glared at him, but it didn't deter him at all.

"Since you refuse to explain your plot against Equestria and return the magic you stole, you will stay here while I summon your guardians to take you home," Neighsay turned to walk away before Sandbar called out to him.

"Wait," the colt said.

Sandbar has always been there for his friends, unwilling to abandon them in desperate times, but right now he needed a way to get him and his friends out. Seeing as he was a pony, he came up with a plan, but...a small part of him would chastise him for doing this, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

"You were right about them from the beginning, Chancellor," he continued, "I see that now."

That small of him started to eat away at him as his friends gave shocked responses, and he could feel Smolder's and Gallus's glares burning the back of his head.

"I don't wanna anything to do with creatures that could threaten Equestria," he said with false seriousness.

"Wisely put, colt," Neighsay said before he used his amulet to free him, "Everypony will come to their senses. Eventually."

As he and Sandbar walked out of the room, Sandbar was only able to have one final glance at the look of hurt his friends had before he shut the door behind him.

"Come on. Come on. Where did you guys go?" I thought to myself as I flew through the halls. Literally no one was up at this hour. Again, eerie.

While it was a priority to give the princesses the word on what's beneath the school, I had to find my friends and let them know that Cozy is up to no good. I also had to know what kind of dirt they were able to find on the small filly. Call it curiosity if you will. I call it priorities.

I turned the corner and then found myself almost ramming into someone. It was Sandbar.

"Oh! Legion, there you are," Sandbar said, "I'm glad I found you. Listen, we need to get the Cutie Mark Crusaders."

I knew who the Cutie Mark Crusaders were. One of the members was that orange pegasus that tried to spy on my class with Professor Pinkie, and then sneakily attended my class with Professor Dash. I believe she said her name was Scootaloo. And I believe the other two members were named Applebloom and Sweetie Belle. Could be wrong, though.

In case you don't know who the Cutie Mark Crusaders (CMC for short since the name is a mouth full) are, while I never talked to them personally, I can still tell you. To put it bluntly, they're just a group of fillies who help ponies their age to find their cutie marks, or the meaning of their cutie marks.

Basically they help foals their age that have an identity crisis.

I guess you can put it like that.

"Wait, what? Why?" I asked out of confusion, "Also, where are the others?" I asked as I looked around for our other friends.

"That's...why we need to get the Crusaders," Sandbar answered with slight hesitation and a concerned expression, "The others are in trouble. Chancellor Neighsay locked them up."

"...I'm sorry, what?" I said after a moment of silence before chuckling a bit, "Surely, I didn't hear you correctly. I mean, I'm pretty sure that you just said that Neighsay locked them up."

Sigh. Fucking Neighsay. But surely Sandbar had just misspoken. Right?

"I um...I did say that," he said.

"..."

"Huh. Interesting," I said with a calm expression while tapping my hoof on the ground and looking at the ground, "Any uh...any particular reason why?"

"He..." he said with more hesitation, "He believes that...they're responsible for the disappearance of magic. I uh...think you may know why."

He's right. I did know why. I didn't need to ask any more questions. I walked away a bit and just leaned against the wall, thinking. Pondering. Mentally ranting. With a bit of frustration starting to show on my face.

"I must have hit my head. Cause there ain't no way that he really thinks that the others are responsible for the disappearance of magic...just because they're not ponies."

But who am I kidding? Neighsay was like this the first time I met him. I remember that I wanted to punch in the teeth so hard that he would have to wear dentures the rest of his life.

"Fucking racist asshole," I muttered.

"Woah!"

"Don't 'woah' me!" I said as I quickly looked back at Sandbar, who had wide eyes at my profanity, but I didn't care, "Our friends are being held responsible for something they didn't do and are now locked up...just because they're not ponies!" I took a quick breath before continuing, "Do you know what racism has led to back where I came from?"

Sandbar shook his head.

"Apathy, discrimination, hatred, hostility, take your pick. And all that includes towards children and elderly," I lectured, "It even has led to one of the greatest tragedies in human history: the enslavement of all African Americans. All because of the fact that they were different."

Sandbar's eyes were widened now. I don't blame him. Slavery is almost unheard of here in Equestria. There are times where I wish Earth was a lot like this place. Equestria is a lot more...friendly and colorful. While Earth, compared to this place, is bleak. Not that I'm staying that I wish to stay here for the rest of my life. Earth is still my home and I have a family back there.

"So excuse me for being pissed at Chancelor Neighsay," I took a deep breath, "Regardless, I still don't understand why we need to get the Cutie Mark Crusaders. I mean why can't we just bust them out? My powers still work. I can probably break the door down."

"No," Sandbar deadpanned.

"Fair enough," I shrugged, "S-sorry about that whole rant by the way. I just needed to get it off my chest."

"It's cool. Don't worry about it," he reassured.

"You know, I know Neighsay isn't racist towards ponies, but I'm kind of surprised he didn't lock you up as well, seeing as we're both close to the others, " I said.

"W-well..." Sandbar said as he rubbed the back of his head out of nervousness, "I may or may not have said that he was right and that I didn't want anything to do with creatures that threaten Equestria."

"O-oh," I said, "W-well...that's...some big brain thinking I guess."

As Markiplier once said, this is big brain time.

"I just hope the others aren't too mad," Sandbar said with a droop of his ears.

"I'm sure they'll understand once you explain it to them," I reassured as I put a hoof on his shoulder.

"Yeah," he said, "Anyway, we need to get the Cutie Mark Crusaders so they can convince Cozy to distract Neighsay so we can break the others out."

"Oh boy."

"Yeah...about Cozy..." I said, "Call it paranoia if you will, but I don't think we can trust that filly."

"What? Why?" Sandbar asked before he remembered something, "Wait. Ocellus told us that you stayed behind to check out what's beneath the catacombs. What did you find down there?"

I, admittedly, was a bit hesitant to tell him, but that's the reason I was looking for him and the others in the first place. But what exactly was I supposed to say? That Counselor Starlight looked like she was part of a ritual? No, that's just stupid, but not far from the truth.

"I...I found Counselor Starlight," I said, which made Sandbar gasp, "She's fine, but she's trapped in some kind of...magical orb. I wanted to save her, I really did, but...I couldn't."

"Why not?" he asked.

"When I got close to it, it felt...dark...malevolent. Like it was turning me into some kind of...anti-me. I was...afraid to get any closer," I said before I shrouded my hoof, "Hm. It didn't seem to affect my magic. Actually, now that I think about it, it hasn't seemed to disappear at all."

"Yeah, it seems that way," Sandbar observed, "But...I don't see why we can't trust Cozy."

"Sandbar, think about it. Cozy herself said that Starlight left to go help Twilight and her friends, when in actuality she was trapped in the very same catacombs that we all saw her exiting," I explained, "And before you ask, no. That's not enough to directly accuse Cozy for the disappearance of magic. But you have to admit that it's enough to not trust her."

That's when I realized something.

"Oh god. Now that I think it...Cozy is the only one besides you, me, and the others that know that the catacombs even exist. And she also said that she didn't want our professors to know about it," I remembered, "Now...I'm wondering if the reason she gave us is the real reason."

"Mmm," Sandbar nodded.

"But like I said, it's just speculation," I repeated, "We've been talking for long enough. Come on, let's go free the others."

Sandbar nodded and we proceeded to run through the hallways towards where our friends were trapped.

Ever since they got locked into the room, Gallus has been trying for who knows how long to open the clearly locked door. He was so tempted to break the window or have Yona break the door down, but that would only make them look more suspicious and lead to more trouble. And also because he didn't want to pay for the damages.

"Still locked huh?" Smolder asked sarcastically.

"We got to at least try to get out," Gallus said.

"What's the point? Do you not remember Sandbar saying that he didn't want anything to do with us? If he's turned his back on us, then every other pony probably has too," Smolder reminded, which led to shocked expressions, primarily from Yona and Ocellus.

"Sandbar not turn his back on us! Sandbar is our friend!" Yona exclaimed.

"And Legion would never do that as well! He's as loyal as Professor Dash," Ocellus exclaimed.

"Pfft. I bet you're just saying that because you like~ him. And I mean like like him," Smolder teased with a smirk. Now was the time to do some teasing.

"W-what?!" Ocellus asked with a massive blush forming on her face, "I...I don't know what you're talking about!"

"H-how does she know?!" Ocellus thought, "Oh no! Does everyone know?!"

"Ocellus, come on. It's just that obvious. Right guys?" Smolder asked everyone else, to which they all nodded.

The changeling blushed even more. Surely she was good at suppressing her feelings. Surely she wasn't making her feelings obvious.

Right?

"Alright Ocellus, you're gonna be paired with..." Headmare Twilight paused, "...Legion."

Ocellus quickly blushed a bit before glancing at the pegasus sitting next to her. Without even looking at her or saying anything, Legion smiled and raised his hoof up for a hoof bump.

Blushing a bit more, Ocellus slowly raised her hoof up and bumped it against Legion's.

As Ocellus and Smolder walked to their next class, they happened to see Legion walking down the hallway towards their direction.

"Hey guys," Legion said as he passed by.

"H-hi Legion," Ocellus said with a blush.

Smolder couldn't help but smirk at the changeling's shyness.

"Okay Ocellus. Truth or dare?" Smolder asked the changeling as they and their other friends sat in a circle in one of their dorm rooms.

"U-um...truth," Ocellus answered.

"Who do you...have a crush on?" Smolder asked with a smirk, causing the changeling to blush madly.

"Ooh~. Somebody's blushing~," Gallus teased.

"Ooh! Who is it? Who is it?" Silverstream asked.

"Now hang on. Hang on. Don't press her. Can't you see that she's nervous about answering the question? Believe me, I would be very nervous as well," Legion said.

Ocellus's eyes started to sparkle a bit from the pegasus standing up for her...until she became more nervous from Legion wrapping a hoof around her.

"Don't worry Ocellus. Whatever is said in this circle, stays in the circle. Right guys?" Legion asked everyone else, to which they all nodded.

Ocellus gulped, and with as much courage as possible, she meekly...let out an 'eep' and then turn into a mouse and scurry away out of the door.

Everybody just stared at the door not saying anything.

"Meh. Whatever," Legion shrugged, "Can't really blame her. Back when I was 13 years old, I was asked who I had a crush on, and I ended up chickening out as well."

Okay. Maybe not.

It was ironic because she was literally a creature of love.

"Does...does Legion know as well?" Ocellus asked with a shaky voice.

"Nah. We all promised not to say anything," Gallus answered, "I think the real question is how does Legion not know that you like him?"

"Look! That's not the point I was trying to make. The point is that Sandbar and Legion probably aren't coming for us," Smolder said.

"W-well...maybe Sandbar just said what he said so he and Legion can snoop around and find out what's going," Silverstream said with hope in her tone.

"I don't know," a voice said as the window suddenly opened and Sandbar started to climb inside, a crowbar in his hoof, followed by Legion peering over him, "That sounds too clever for a couple of ponies to come up with."

Yona then put on a face of glee and tackled Sandbar onto the ground.

"Yona knew ponies were still our friends!" she exclaimed.

Ocellus turned to the window and saw that Legion had a look of...nervousness.

"Oh no! Does Legion know that I like him?!" Ocellus nervously asked before she remembered something, "No. Gallus just said that he doesn't know. I think I'm good."

Literally less than a minute ago

"I'm just saying dude. I could just punch the door down," I said as Sandbar and I walked outside the school, "I think it would be a lot more cool."

"Yeah. No. I mean, it would be cool, but no. I think it'd better if we do something more...discreet," Sandbar said with a crowbar in his hoof, "And besides...I don't want you to end up having to pay for any damages."

"Yeah. Makes sense," I said. After all, I only get paid 60 bits a week. Not that I'm complaining, of course, "But do you even know which window we need to open?"

"I...um..." Sandbar stopped in his tracks as we looked at all of the windows that were on this side of the building alone, "...oh."

"And I don't think we have the time to just check every single window. Nor do I even want to," I said, "Luckily, I can just use my magic to listen for our friends voices. Just give me few seconds."

I took a deep breathe and focused my magic to listen to the environment around me. Fortunately, all that training has made me able to determine direction and distance on stuff that I hear.

And as if luck was on our side, I was able to hear them just a few windows away. And on the ground floor.

"Huh. That was easier than I thought. I thought I would have to end up-"

"Pfft. I bet you're just saying that because you like~ him. And I mean like like him," I heard Smolder say.

"W-what?! I...I don't know what you're talking about!" Ocellus yelped.

"Ocellus, come on. It's just that obvious. Right guys?" Smolder asked, to which I heard voices of agreement.

Oh. Juicy gossip I see.

"Huh. They must be talking about Ocellus's crush. Color me intrigued. I wonder who it could be-"

"Does...does Legion know as well?" I heard Ocellus ask with a shaky voice.

"Me? What do I have to do with this?"

You naive child.

"Nah. We all promised not to say anything," I heard Gallus answer, "I think the real question is how does Legion not know that you like him?"

...

"W-what?"

Chapter 18: Rise of Darkness

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 19: Rite of the Legion

Previously on The Adventures of the Apex Legion

"I gotta hand it to all of you," Cozy started to say, "You were so close to stopping my plans. I mean, all you had to do was remove a couple of artifacts and that would've stopped the spell. That's kinda...kinda lame if you think about it," she continued before she scowled, "Unfortunately, I can't have you impede what I worked on for a while. That's just not what friends do. Right?"

"Is it because you want power like you told Neighsay?" I asked, "Because if that's the case, then I'd say you have quite enough already. I mean, you're clearly the one holding us down to the ground. How else do you explain the red eyes?"

"Oh that. That's just a natural effect of being around those who have dark magic," Cozy explained.

“H-hold on. Are we really gonna fight Cozy Glow? Because I feel conflicted about fighting a little filly,” I said as I turned around…only to see that Cozy has gotten up and was now floating, a dark red aura surrounding her, eyes now glowing completely red, and an expression basically saying that she wanted to hurt me so bad, “Then again…she has magic that could potentially spell ‘doom’ for all of Equestria.”

“Guys, I’m the only one that has the means to fight Cozy, and I don’t want you to get caught in the crossfire,” I said before another orb crashed into my shield, creating more dents, “Get the princesses, get Discord, our professors, anyone! I got this!” Another hit to my shield. One more and it will shatter, “Please! I don’t want you guys to get hurt!”

“Golly. It seems your ‘friends’ decided to bail on you,” Cozy said, drawing my attention back to her, “Too bad, so sad…but perfect for me.”

“Oh. They’re not bailing on me. But that doesn’t matter. You want me, Cozy? Come and get me,” I said confidently as I dropped my shield.

"Hey little clod!" I yelled as I launched my hoof forward...only for it to be stopped as it was shrouded in a red aura.

"Hello to you too," Cozy said as she turned towards me before she gave me an almost devilish grin as her hoof became a claw once again.

I examined my body. My chest had noticeable claw marks running across it. It was a miracle that Cozy didn't manage to hit my wings when she attacked me from behind. My fur was a bit singed from the all the electricity those orbs pumped throughout my body.

I saw my friends struggling to escape from the levitation spell that held them in the air, a magenta aura shrouding them. And the one that was casting the spell...was Headmare Twilight.

She and the rest of the professors had glowing red eyes and emotionless expressions.

"P-professors?" I stammered, "B-but...they should be..."

"Thought they should be miles and miles away from Ponyville? Well surprise!" she exclaimed gleefully, "They've been here all this time. I only kept them on stand by just in case somepony managed to find my spell circle."

Time seemed to slow down as she turned and shot the orb towards me, electricity crackling around it. I tried to move, blink away, put up a shield, but I couldn't. Once again, I was in too much pain and my magic was drained. All I could was watch as it continued to fly towards me.

I then did the only thing I could've then right then and there.

I closed my eyes.

The Adventure of the Apex Legion

Written by DeffBwade

Chapter 19: Rite of the Legion

There were no more sounds of electricity crackling or my friends shouting for my safety. There was just…nothing.

All I was able to see…was nothing. It was just darkness. Is this wha—

Oh wait. My eyes are just shut.

I slowly opened eyes to just bright lights everywhere. As I looked all around me, all I saw were these bright lights, almost astral like. There was no noticeable ground to be standing on. It was like I was simply standing on air. Wherever I was, it sure gave off a feeling of…peace. Tranquility.

I then realized that I didn’t feel anymore pain. I glanced around my body and didn’t see neither singed fur nor claw marks. I even flapped my wings and felt no pain nor discomfort.

It was like I was a video game character that somehow healed all of their broken bones, bullet wounds, and mangled flesh by applying bandages to their wrist. Or the guy from Resident Evil 7 that reattached his sawed off hand and healed it by dumping this healing oil all over it.

Seriously, how the fuck does that work?

Sigh. It’s whatever. But the astral surroundings and my healed wounds only brought up multiple questions.

“W-where am I?” I thought to myself, “Did I die? Is this…heaven?”

Hmm. Interesting. I always imagined heaven to be less starry and more…cloudy?

So let’s recap. Giant orb that’s crackling with electricity flies towards me, I closed my eyes, then I open my eyes to…well this.

“So this is it, huh?” I said to no one in particular, “I would say that I’m too young to die, but I guess that’s not gonna help me. Oh well, at least I went down in a blaze of glory.”

“You mustn’t worry young one, for you still live.”

I yelped at the unexpected voice before I turned around and saw—

“Headmare Twilight?” I asked, confusion written all over my voice, “Did you kick the bucket too?”

“I am not your headmare young one,” ‘Headmare Twilight’ stated.

Looking at her closely now, ‘Headmare Twilight’ did have an astral effect to her entire body. I suddenly realized who I was talking to.

“The…Tree of Harmony?” I asked.

“That is correct,” the Tree said with a nod.

“Huh. Well…I guess it’s nice to see you again,” I said, before I realized something that she…it…said, “Wait. Did you just say that I’m still alive?”

The Tree nodded once more.

“That’s impossible. A giant orb the size of a filly and crackling with electricity was hurtling towards me. And after all those injuries that I’ve taken, it would be a miracle to be alive. And even if I was alive, then how do you explain this place?” I asked as I gestured to the environment, “For that matter, what the heck is this place?”

“This is the place where all magic in the world comes from. It is from which the magic of the Elements of Harmony originate from. It is where my magical spirit lives to maintain peace and harmony throughout Equestria,” the Tree explained.

“So what. This place is your home?”

“You could say that.”

“Wait a minute. How did I get here? And what happened to all my injuries?” I asked, “I mean…I had claw marks across my chest and back, not to mention all the singed fur.”

“It was I that brought you here and healed you of your wounds,” the Tree explained, “I saw what your fate was going to be and decided to intervene.”

Heh. That rhymed.

“Oh. Wow um…thanks for the save I guess. I appreciate the help, really I do,” I said, “But how did you bring me here? I thought at this point that most, if not all magic has disappeared.”

“The same reason that your magic hasn’t diminished yet,” the Tree started to explain, “While each species has their own unique magic, harmony magic, also known as light magic, exists within us all and comes from here,” it said as it held a hoof to its heart.

“Light magic. That’s a way better name than ‘harmony magic.’”

It makes sense that light magic comes from the heart. After all, honesty, kindness, loyalty, etc. also comes from it as well.

But that begs one question.

“But why am I the only one besides my professors that’s able to use it?” I asked, “Is it because I’m special? Because let me assure you, I’m not. I’m sure there are plenty of creatures out there that have way better hearts than me. Like Ocellus. She’s as sweet as a um…I don’t know, some kind of sweet candy, but you what I mean,” I continued, “Now that I think about, I’m not even from this world to begin with! So why the hell is an alien who makes gameplay videos as a hobby destined to utilize the light and fight darkness? I mean you must’ve saw how poorly I performed! I failed to defeat Cozy Glow, I failed to save Equestria, and I failed to protect my friends!”

I started to take deep breathes after I ended my little rant. I actually started to feel tears begin to build up, but I managed to suppress them.

"You know, I find it ironic," I chuckled, "About that test you gave me some time ago, I mean. How it prattled on about how much of a failure I was. Turns out, it was right. I'm nothing but a failure."

I then drooped my head as I sat down on my haunches. I don't know if it was out of anger, out of sadness, or out of defeat. Hell, it might've been all of the above. Anger towards myself, sadness for being too weak, and defeat...well...it speaks for itself.

"Now look at me wallowing. What would the others think if they saw me like this? What would Jrod and Gaming think? Probably something along the lines of 'get your ass up.' Something mean yet profound."

Heh. That does sound like something they would say.

"You haven't failed yet young one," the Tree said, breaking me out of my thoughts as I looked back up. I would've expected some kind of stern or disappointed expression, but instead she had a smile filled with...hope, "After all, you always lived by the rule of to not give up until it's over. That's what drove you to get so far ahead in life."

"Didn't you hear my whole rant? Cozy kicked my ass, my friends are held captive, and if weren't for you, I would barely be able to move. So I don't know about you, but to me it sounds like it is over!" I stated.

"Magic isn't completely gone from Equstria, right?" it asked, "You still have a chance."

"Yeah, a chance that's guaranteed to fail," I rebutted, "As you probably saw from my fantastic performance, I wasn't even able to get close to Cozy without getting hit by her dark magic. All because I haven't mastered the Element of Magic yet. Hell, I still don't know how to do so! I've been training for who knows how long and I'm not one step closer!"

Yet again, I drooped my head. This time I knew it was out of anger for the fucking Element of Magic!

"Besides my light magic, I know diddly dick about magic! I'm not a fucking unicorn, but a pegasus for Christ's sake!" I yelled.

Many people would shit on me for yelling profanities at what's pretty much a celestial spirit. Okay, 'celestial' probably isn't the right word, but it's still some sort spirit so you know what I mean.

"Just because you can't use magic like a unicorn doesn't mean you don't have it, and that's even if you don't have your light magic. Nor does it mean you can't represent the Element of Magic. After all, magic isn't a skill that takes time and effort to learn, but rather a tool that helps bring harmony across Equestria. The only thing that matters is how you represent it," the Tree said before it craned its neck to the side and pointed to...my cutie mark, "May I ask what your cutie mark means?"

"What?" I asked out of confusion before I glanced out the aforementioned mark, "It doesn't really mean anything. It's just the symbol of a video game character, the Legion. Hence my name, Apex Legion. Why do you ask?"

"Where was the Tree going with this? Does it want to talk about video games or something? Because I don't think now is the time for that," I thought.

"Interesting," the Tree said, "Do you know what the term 'legion' means?"

I had no idea where it was going with this, but fuck it. Curiosity killed the cat, I guess.

"It means like...a group of people. You know...a team?" I responded.

My answer seemed to satisfy the Tree.

"I believe that is the answer to your problems young one," it said.

"..."

"....What?" I asked. I was thoroughly confused at what it just said, "What is the answer to my problems? You mean a team?"

"Indeed. More specifically, your friends that you care very deeply for. They are the key to unlock you full potential," the Tree responded, "As the saying goes, when one is strong and another is stronger, only together that nothing can stop them."

"Okay. So I must be a team player with my friends? But...I already do that."

"At school perhaps. But do you remember that field trip through the woods? And what you thought about as that Timberwolf was chasing you?" it asked.

But...in a way...I was kind of relieved that my friends and the professors would be safe.

"I-I thought about how my friends would be safe?" I responded, "But what does that have to do with—"

"And what about that night before the break for Hearth's Warming?"

There's only one thing I can do to stop all of this. I'd get in the trouble, sure, but in the end, it'll be a win-win for all of us.

"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!"

"Hey! I only did that because otherwise we would all have to stay! What I originally planned would've been a win-win situation," I shouted, "...O-okay. I admit it wasn't the...best decision to make, but I didn't have any other choice."

"There's always a choice young one," the Tree said, "And what was the choice you made when you faced Cozy Glow? Did you allow your friends to help you? Or did you send them away and tried to face Cozy yourself?"

"I-I...umm..." I stammered as my eyes widened as it finally hit me just what the Tree was trying to say.

"I sent them away," I whispered, "And now they're in danger. Oh my god."

"Do you understand now young one?" the Tree asked, "When times are troubling, you care about protecting your friends to the point that you deny them the choice to protect you."

Those words hit me like a brick. Is what the Tree said the truth? Do I really care so much about protecting my friends so much to the point that I don't care about my own well-being? Maybe. It never really occurred to me.

"Oh my god," I whispered again as I looked back down on the ground, "What have I done?"

"You mustn't blame yourself for what has happened. Your heart was in the right place after all," the Tree said as it walked up to me and placed a hoof on my shoulder, "And like I said, there is still time to save Equestria."

"And...and what should I do this time?" I asked as I looked up. I knew what the answer is gonna be, but I just want—...no...I needed to hear it from the horse's mouth.

Pun intended?

Heh. No. I didn't intend for that.

"Let your friends help you. Let them carry some of the weight off of your shoulders. Be a leader."

"A leader," I whispered, "But...what if something goes wrong? What if I only lead them into getting hurt? What if—"

"Nothing bad will happen. Trust me," the Tree interrupted.

"But how do you—"

"Trust me," it interrupted again, "Please."

I remained quiet for a seconds as I stared at the Tree's eyes. They were filled all sorts of emotions. The main ones being certainty and...hope. Taking her word, I nodded.

"Okay," I said, "I trust you."

"Embrace the light alongside your friends, and use it to strike back against the darkness," it said before it closed its eyes as its horn began to light up brightly, "Now go young one."

As the Tree's horn continued to glow brighter and brighter, I closed my eyes and took a deep breathe. I thought back to all the times my friends had my back. How together we were able to accomplish tough tasks. Like the Tree said. One is strong. Another is stronger. But only together can they be unstoppable.

And right now we will save Equestria...together!

You got this man! After all...

"I...am...the Apex Legion," I whispered before everything finally went white.

"Golly. I just can't figure out to do with you all," Cozy pondered as she buzzed around her six mind controlled professors, occasionally glancing at her captives, "Should I imprison all of you? Let your professors choose for me? Mind control you into doing my bidding? So many choices to choose from!"

"Y-you monster!" Ocellus yelled with anger, catching the filly's attention, "How could you just do this?! Give us back Legion!"

"Oh? You wish to your little coltfriend again?" Cozy teased before she had a devilish grin once again, "Well now I know just what to do with you!"

The six friends gasped as Cozy lifted a hoof up and summoned another dark orb, their eyes now filled with me.

"You wish to see him so bad? Fine!" I'll..." Cozy proclaimed before she launched the orb at the six friends, "...send you to him!"

They tried to struggle. Wiggle. Anything to break from the brainwashed Twilight's grip, but it was all for nought.

And Cozy could only smile at what was about to happen. They were merely thorns on her side after all. Bugs in the system. But once they're gone, nothing will stand in her way.

...

At least, that's what she thought.

A bright light slowly started form in front of the six friends as the orb continued its path towards them, until...there was a flash of light that was even brighter.

The six friends shut their eyes and looked away due to their close proximity, while Cozy and the professors used their hooves to shut her eyes as Cozy yelped. The break in concentration also caused Twilight to release her levitation spell, causing the six friends to drop to the ground.

Once the light finally started to dissipate, Cozy slowly looked back…only to see her dark orb hurtling towards her.

“Aw buck,” Cozy internally swore before she got knocked back into a wall.

The six friends also noticed the dissipating light. They all looked up…and their jaws dropped at what…no…who they saw.

Should I feel bad that I deflected that orb back at Cozy? Maybe.

Do I feel bad that I deflected that orb back at Cozy?

Fuck no. You know the phrase ‘an eye for an eye,’ right? Or is ‘poetic justice’ the right term for this sit—…you know what? It’s whatever.

I continued to stare at friends whose jaws were all dropped, a small smile adorning my face.

“Can’t really blame them. After all, they all thought I kicked the bucket,” I thought.

“L-Legion?” Ocellus stammered, finally breaking the silence.

“Hey guys,” I responded…before my changeling friend lunged at me and gave me an almost bear crushing hug, the others joining almost immediately afterwards.

“It’s a miracle!”

“Yona knew friend was alright!”

“Dude, you’re alive!”

“By Grover’s gold, how are you alive?!”

“Do you have any idea how scared I was for you?!”

“Guys…it’s very sweet of you to do this…but you’re all currently choking me!” I choked out, causing the others to loosen their grips. Everyone…except for one whom was currently shedding tears, “Ocellus?”

Ocellus finally broke the hug and looked at me with tearful eyes.

“I-I fine!” she squeaked out, “It’s just…I thought we lost you forever. I thought you—“

“Shhhhh,” I interrupted as I placed a hoof on her mouth and used one of my wings to wipe the tears running down her cheek. I then lowered my hoof back down, “It’s alright Ocellus. I’m here now.”

Aww. So cute.

“Guys, I was wrong,” I said as my smile dropped, leading to the others having confused faces, “I thought…that the whole being some kind of hero of light was something that I had to do on my own…because I believed that going solo was the only way to protect you guys. But…I realize now…that it’s just suicidal to do so, and would only lead you guys to getting hurt.”

“What the fuck am I even saying?”

“Okay. I’m really not the best at explaining stuff. What I’m trying to say is…I can’t do this alone. I need help. I need you guys. Only together can we defeat Cozy Glow,” I explained before I held my hoof out, “So…will you help me?”

They all stared at me for a few seconds before they stacked their hoof…paw…claw…limb…you get the idea…on top of my hoof.

“We got your back dude!”

“Ohh! This will be so much fun!”

“Yona stick with friends!”

“What kind of dragon would I be if I didn’t?”

“Totally!”

“We’re here for you Legion,” Ocellus smiled, “And we always will be.”

I smiled at their responses. These guys really are some of the best friends I’ve ever had.

“Thank you guys,” I said, “For everything, I mean. For helping me whenever I need it. For being by my side even after finding out who I really am. But most importantly…thank you for being my friends.”

Magic.

Cozy Glow finally managed to get back up after a few minutes of dizziness, albeit with a little bit of sway in her steps.

“Golly,” she groaned as she rubbed her temples with her hooves, “I must be stronger than I thought because that really hurt.”

Luckily for her, months of improving and honing her ambient dark magic was able to protect her from most of the damage.

Cozy looked up to see what had caused her own orb to shoot back towards her…and her jaw dropped.

The pegasus, Apex Legion, was standing amongst his friends, alive and perfectly unscathed from her previous attacks.

But that wasn’t the only thing that surprised her. There was also the fact that they all had glowing auras surrounding them.

Sandbar was glowing yellow.

Gallus was glowing purple.

Smolder was glowing light blue.

Silverstream was glowing pink

Yona was glowing orange.

Ocellus was glowing white.

And Apex Legion was glowing cyan.

Cozy could feel all the…friendship exuding off of them. The harmony. The light.

And it disgusted her. For there was only one source that she was aware of that exuded this much harmony magic.

The Elements of Harmony.

“Hey Cozy Glow,” Legion greeted smugly, “How are you doing?”

“No,” Cozy whispered before started to raise her voice, “No. No! NO! You're supposed to be dead!”

“Wel…I’m not, aren’t I?” the colt responded.

Cozy gritted her teeth as she held up another orb.

“I guess I’m gonna have kill you again, don’t I?!” she yelled before she launched the orb.

I continued to stand my ground as the orb flew towards us. I mean, all I had to do was put up a shi—

My thoughts were interrupted as something suddenly appeared right in front of me, and my eyes widened as I saw what it was.

It was a sword that looked beautiful in design. The hilt of the blade, which was both black and silver in color, had an ornate design to it. The blade itself was colored cyan and actually looked like it was made out of glass.

Woah! Where did this come from?

Who cares where it came from?! I immediately grabbed the blade and, feeling like a badass, I swung it just before the orb was about to impact me. And no joke when I say this, the orb split in half and started to fizzle way.

“Holy!” I shouted with glee as I looked at the blade, “This thing is awesome!”

“How?” Cozy whispered again, catching my attention, before she seethed, “HOW?! I was kicking your flank not even 5 minutes ago! Where…WHERE DID THIS POWER COME FROM?!”

I only smirked once again.

“It was always with me Cozy,” I said, “I just needed some guidance on how to properly use it.”

“Grr! It doesn’t matter! I’m still powerful enough in dark magic to defeat all of you. Not to mention…” she said before our still mind controlled professors walked up beside her, “…you’re not the only one with allies.”

“They’re more like slaves, but whatever,” I shrugged.

“Wait,” Sandbar interrupted, “Are we really gonna be fighting our professors?”

“Yona not sure about hurting teachers,” Yona added.

“As long as they’re still under Cozy’s control, then I’m afraid we’ve got no choice,” I said, “The only thing we can do is not hurt them too bad.”

“Well? Any last words before I put you down for good?” Cozy asked as she formed another claw.

”Oh. The badass one liner every hero makes before they go into a big battle. Gotta make it count. Gotta make it count”!

“YOLO!” I screamed before both sides charged at each other.

“Fuck! That was terrible.”

Author's Note

This is it King Douchebag! The final battle! Your buddies stand before you!

I will just stand over here.

Chapter 20: Light vs. Dark

Author's Note

Do you all know why this chapter is special?

Not only is it the epic final fight of the story, but today (at the time this chapter is released) is also the 1 year anniversary of when I started this rewrite.

It's hard to believe that it's been 1 year already. Where has the time gone? When I first started writing this, I was entering my final year of high school. Now, I'm going to start college in a few weeks.

Pretty insane right?

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter involving a horribly written fight.

Chapter 20: Light vs. Dark

Previously on The Adventures of the Apex Legion

“You mustn’t worry young one, for you still live.”

“The…Tree of Harmony?” I asked.

“That is correct,” the Tree said with a nod.

"Yeah, a chance that's guaranteed to fail," I rebutted, "As you probably saw from my fantastic performance, I wasn't even able to get close to Cozy without getting hit by her dark magic. All because I haven't mastered the Element of Magic yet. Hell, I still don't know how to do so! I've been training for who knows how long and I'm not one step closer!"

"Interesting," the Tree said, "Do you know what the term 'legion' means?"

"It means like...a group of people. You know...a team?" I responded.

"I believe that is the answer to your problems young one," it said.

"Do you understand now young one?" the Tree asked, "When times are troubling, you care about protecting your friends to the point that you deny them the choice to protect you."

"Let your friends help you. Let them carry some of the weight off of your shoulders. Be a leader."

"A leader," I whispered, "But...what if something goes wrong? What if I only lead them into getting hurt? What if—"

"Nothing bad will happen. Trust me," the Tree interrupted.

"But how do you—"

"Trust me," it interrupted again, "Please."

Magic.

“How?” Cozy whispered again, catching my attention, before she seethed, “HOW?! I was kicking your flank not even 5 minutes ago! Where…WHERE DID THIS POWER COME FROM?!”

I only smirked once again.

“It was always with me Cozy,” I said, “I just needed some guidance on how to properly use it.”

The Adventure of the Apex Legion

Written by DeffBwade

Chapter 20: Light vs. Dark

You know it's funny. I've never been in a fight before (no joke), and never have I expected my first one is against my teachers and a literal child. One with dark magical powers.

But hey, at least I'm not alone. I've got my allies, my friends. And as long as they're by my side, then I'll gladly beat up any child...that have dark powers and are bent on endangering an entire country of course.

Taking this entire scenario out of context will land you in prison. Or at the very least, leave you as the most hated person on the Internet.

Good thing there's no Internet here. Hehehe. God I miss the Internet.

All jokes aside, what’s your plan of action?

Um…

You don’t have one, don’t you?

I’m thinking of one as I go along, okay?

As Cozy raised her claw up in preparation to strike, I did so as well with my blade. Maybe I should give it a name.

How about the Blade of Harmony? No, that's not good.

The Light Blade? That's fucking awful.

Let's see. It looks like it's made of glass. Maybe the Light Bla—...You know what? Fuck it. I'll think of something later when I'm done fighting bad guys.

Obviously I know absolutely nothing about using a sword, so I just had to depend on all those action movies and video games. Just swing your sword in the right direction and at the right time. Shouldn't be too hard, right?

I brought the blade back and swung it forward, Cozy doing the same with her claw. Our respective weapons collided with each other, making that epic ‘ding’ sound that every movie or video game involving swords has. That was even a bit of sparks to make it even more epic.

As my blade clashed with Cozy's claw, my friends soon followed against the professors. In my peripheral vision, I can see Sandbar fighting against Professor Fluttershy ("fighting" is kind of a strong word since it's Professor Fluttershy), Gallus against Headmare Twilight (I'm sorry Gallus but you're kinda screwed), Smolder against Professor Dash, Silverstream against Professor Pinkie (whom has her trusty party cannon), Yona against Professor Applejack, and Ocellus against Professor Rarity.

"Neat sword you got there. But do you even know how to properly use it?" Cozy smirked.

"Fuck. She knows," I thought.

"Swing sword, block at right time, fight fight fight. That’s all I need to know,” I smiled with confidence.

"I am royally fucked."

"Well, even if you did know how to use a sword, which you clearly don’t, it doesn't matter," she said before my eyes widened a bit as I noticed she was starting to push me back, "Because darkness is always stronger than light!"

Once again, time seemed to slow down as I felt some kind of…pull. At least, “pull” was the best way I could describe it. Like when this whole ritual that Cozy set up lured me down here. This time, however, I didn’t feel any malice nor negativity.

I slightly turned my eyes to the side to where this feeling was and saw Ocellus, trying her best to subdue Professor Rarity, who was…shooting projections of diamonds?

Weird, but okay.

I couldn’t blame her, nor any of my friends for being pacifists. After all, it’s our professors that we’re fighting.

As if she knew I was looking in her direction, Ocellus slightly turned her eyes towards me.

The moment we looked into each other’s eyes, it was as if I…how do I put it? Became one with her. As if I knew what she was thinking. As if I was feeling everything she was feeling.

Now that I think about, the same thing was happening with all my friends as they fought our professors. All of our thoughts, minds…they were all connecting as one. Like a…like a hive mind.

“Be a leader,” I thought about the Tree’s advice as I shut my eyes for a bit. I then reopened them and looked back at the evil filly.

"Maybe darkness will always come when there's no light...and maybe you can't truly snuff out darkness...but here's the thing Cozy," I said before I made my grip on my blade firmer, "No matter what happens, the light will always fight back!"

Like Raiden did against Sam in Metal Gear Rising, I thrusted my blade forward, breaking Cozy’s hold on it and causing her to stumble back a bit. Well…stumble as in she lost a bit of her flight balance.

For a second I was worried that I left some massive cut on her hoof, but as I glanced at the damage I caused, I found out that wasn’t the case. The hoof itself seemed to be fine, but the aura around it that formed the actual claw seemed to be…dissipating.

“What the?” I thought.

But just as I saw it happening, her claw went back to normal. Cozy then regained her balance and lunged at me once again. I flapped my wings to propel me back and dodge her attack (lol that rhymed).

”Damn it. Should’ve attacked her when she she lost her balance,” I mentally chastised myself, “Focus man. Focus.”

This time, I was the one that lunged first. She deflected it and tried to counter attack. But I the counter attacked her counter attack. We kept swinging our weapons at each other , only for them to deflect in a spark of…sparks.

Hey, how are sparks forming anyway? Your weapon is made out of glass and Cozy’s is made out of some dark aura, like and Absol’s Shadow Claw attack from Pokémon.

I’m not even gonna think about it. Magic or some bullshit answer.

You know, for my first time fighting with a sword, I’m doing surprisingly we—

I then got hit by Cozy’s claw as some more pain jutted across my hoof. Despite the fact that it was less painful than it was before, it still hurt.

“Gah!” I yelped as I stumbled back, giving Cozy a chance to attack again. Thinking quickly, I summoned a shield just in time to block her attack.

“Why didn’t I just do this before?” I thought as Cozy kept clawing at my shield in an attempt to break it. What’s bad was that it was working, “Jeez. Talk about ruthless.”

I looked behind Cozy and once again saw Ocellus trying to subdue Professor Rarity. At the same time, I took notice of the…connection I’m having with my friends’…I guess mind? And heart?

“Okay Legion think. Whatever this connection is it must’ve come from the Element of Magic,” I thought, ”The Tree said that I need to represent the Element through leadership. And if I now just…what my friends are thinking and feeling, is that how I’m meant to lead? By projecting my thoughts and feelings?”

It was worth a shot. I have an idea on how to help the others. It’s a long shot, but if I’m right then this will help not only us, but the professors as well. I just needed to get Cozy to leave me alone for a few minutes.

I then saw that Professor Rarity managed to get a hit on Ocellus’s wing, making her yelp and fall to the ground. The mind controlled professor smirked and started to slowly walk towards the changeling, whom looked up and started to quiver a bit.

“That’s it!” I thought as I looked back at Cozy, who was still slashing at my shield that was on the brink of breaking. It seemed that the power boost in magic strengthened my shield.

“I can do this. Find the magic inside you and project your thought to Ocellus,” I thought as I closed my eyes, “I just have to focus.”

I looked deep into my magical soul…if my soul was magical that is.

”Focus.”

But then…I found it. Like a magical string was attached to me and eventually led to Ocellus.

“Focus!”

I focused my magic into traveling through the aforementioned string.

“FOCUS!”

Just as Cozy hit my shield once again, I immediately dropped it and summoned magic into my hoof. And as I swung my hoof forward…

”Get down!” I projected towards Ocellus…before my powered hoof struck Cozy in the gut, making sure to aim in Ocellus’s direction…or in this case, Professor Rarity.

It’s a good thing her magic keeps her from getting severely injured.

As Cozy launched through the air, I saw Ocellus duck just in time for the filly to impact the professor, sending her skidding across the ground for a few feet, while Cozy tumbled into another wall.

I then flew over to Ocellus and held my hoof out to her.

“Ocellus, are you alright?” I asked.

“M-my wing stings a bit, but otherwise I’m alright,” she said as she reached her hoof out and grabbed mine. I then lifted her up.

“W-wow. I never really thought about how smooth her hoof fee—why am I starting to blush?!” I thought as my cheeks started to turn a bit red. I quickly shook off the blush and glanced at Professor Rarity, whom was starting to get up. I looked at my sword began to walk towards her, but Ocellus stopped me in my tracks.

“Wait Legion! What are you doing?!” she asked, as if she knew what I was gonna do.

“Trust me Ocellus. I know what I’m doing,” I said.

“But it’s our profess—“ Ocellus continued before I took my hoof off of hers and placed it on her shoulder.

“Ocellus,” I said as I stared into her…b-beautiful…eyes, “Trust me.”

Ocellus was hesitant at first, not that I could blame her. But after a few seconds she nodded, signaling me of her trust.

“I just hope that I’m right about this,” I thought as I walked up to the professor. As she was turning to look at me with her glowing red eyes, I raised my blade up.

I immediately grabbed the blade and, feeling like a badass, I swung it just before the orb was about to impact me. And no joke when I say this, the orb split in half and started to fizzle way.

"Embrace the light alongside your friends, and use it to strike back against the darkness," it said before it closed its eyes as its horn began to light up brightly, "Now go young one."

"Please be right!" I mentally pleaded as I shut my eyes before I swung my blade down onto Professor Rarity. After a few seconds of silence, I slowly opened my eyes to see the damage I've caused.

Turns out, there was no damage. At least physically.

I saw Professor Rarity stumbling a bit in a daze...before she collapsed into unconsciousness. What made me smile and sigh in relief, however, was that her eyes were back to normal. No glow. No red.

"Professor Rarity," Ocellus walked up beside me, "She's—"

"Back to normal," I said before I glanced at the sword in my hooves, "Use the light to strike back against the darkness."

So...I was right after all. How I destroyed that dark orb like butter. How I didn't injure Cozy's hoof but instead the aura around it. This blade is made out of light magic, and is only capable of targeting darkness. Similar to Samurai Jack's sword.

I turned around and looked at my others friends, who were still fighting against the other professors.

I first thought was to help Gallus because he was dodging left and right from Headmare Twilight's laser beams. I think it goes without saying that Headmare Twilight is highly adept in...well, magic. Props to Gallus for lasting this long though.

"Ocellus, I’ll help out Gallus and Yona. You help out the others," I said as I looked at the changeling, who in turned looked at me, "We don't have to hurt the professors. Just subdue them long enough for me to snap them out of it."

"Wait," Ocellus interrupted, "Before you helped me, I...I thought I heard your voice. Inside my head."

"You did," I nodded in confirmation, "That's what my new powers are. Projection of thoughts," I then started to ponder a bit before I looked back, "And I think, and this is just a theory, I think you can do it as well. Just focus the magic in your heart, find this sort of connection with us, and just think what you want us to hear."

"A-alright, I'll try," Ocellus said before she flew into the fray, me doing the same as well.

If Ocellus was being honest with herself, she thought that Professor Dash was the only real threat at the moment.

Professor Pinkie was busy trying to blast Silverstream with her trusty party cannon, which didn’t actually shoot cannonballs, but rather cake instead. It surprised Ocellus when she first witnessed Professor Pinkie fire it.

In regards to Professor Fluttershy…well, it was Professor Fluttershy. Sure she was mind controlled and tried to attack Sandbar with everything she got, but there was one flaw with that.

She wasn’t exactly that fast of a flyer. Which makes dodging her attacks easy. And luckily there were also no animals down here to help her.

Professor Dash, however, was a fast flyer. Like really fast.

Fortunately, Smolder is also a bit of a good flyer herself as she was dodging…a good majority of the pegasus’s attacks.

“Think Ocellus,” she thought aloud as she rubbed her temples, “How does one stop a speeding pegasus?”

Ocellus pondered for a few seconds as she glanced back and forth between the speeding pegasus and Professor Pinkie’s party cannon.

“Hmm. The frosty on the cakes can be pretty sticky. And with the cakes being fired seemingly for infinity and at that velocity…”

A lightbulb lit up in Ocellus’s head as she came up with an idea.

“Okay. What did Legion say again?” Ocellus whispered to herself as she closed her eyes, “Focus on the magic, find the connection, and project your thoughts. You can do this.”

Up until this point, the only magical thing Ocellus really had to focus on was detecting love from other creatures. Shapeshifting is pretty much second nature to her.

But right now, she had to focus on what was in her heart. It took a few seconds, but eventually…she found it. Now came the easy part. After all, she technicians had to magically connect with other creatures in order to detect love from them.

When she found the connection trail towards her friends, she projected her thoughts.

”Silverstream, Smolder, Sandbar. Can you hear me?” she projected.

I immediately flew up in front of the griffon and raised up a shield, blocking another laser beam. That one beam alone was enough to do a considerable amount of damage to it.

"Yeah, let's not get hit by one of those," I thought before I grabbed Gallus and blinked to cover. Some time ago, I found out that if I'm holding someone and blink away, then that person will get blinked along with me. Talk about handy.

"Okay, maybe it wasn't a good idea to face an alicorn by myself after all," Gallus said before he turned to me, "Any ideas?"

"Don't worry, I found a way to subdue them without hurting them. Turns out this sword specifically targets dark magic. Cool, right?" I said as I raised said sword, "As for an idea...I'm working on it."

I peeked out of the cover...and then got down just in time to avoid a laser beam to the face. The Headmare kept blasting laser after laser at our cover.

"Shit. If this goes on, we'll no longer have any cover to hide behind," I thought as I peeked back out. That's when I saw some distance away Yona having some kind of headbutting fight against Professor Applejack, "Ah. There we go. Also holy shit, Professor Applejack is strong."

Right?!

I then closed and started looking for the connection once again.

”Guys, I’ve got an idea,” I projected to Gallus and Yona.

“What the?!” Gallus yelped.

“Legion in Yona’s head?!” I heard Yona ask using my heightened hearing.

”Hehe. Yes Yona, I’m speaking inside your head. Simply put, just close your eyes, focus, and think what you want us to know,” I projected, ”Anyway, I have an idea. Yona, keep Professor Applejack busy and when I give the signal, you move out of the way. Until then, Gallus, I need you to grab Headmare Twilight’s attention. Once she’s distracted, I’ll do the rest. Got it?”

“Got it!” Gallus responded.

“Yona understand!” Yona responded next.

Gallus then spread his wings and flew out of cover, attracting the headmare’s attention.

In case you’re wondering why I had Gallus distract her, if I got close to her while I was in her line of sight, she might simply teleport away from me.

“Come and get me Headmare Twilight!” Gallus taunted as he flew in circles around her, continuously redirecting her aim.

A looked out from cover, and when I saw my chance, I spread my wings as well and flew straight towards the alicorn. Once I was close enough, I raised my blade and did a Sonic the Hedgehog spin attack like a badass.

As my blade came into contact with the headmare, it didn’t make any physical contact. Instead, it phased through her like a ghost.

“Fuck that spin made me dizzy though,” I thought as the world seemed to spin a bit. I quickly reoriented myself and shook off the dizziness before I could hurl.

”Now Yona!” I projected as I zoomed towards the yak, who then backed off and moved out of the way in time for me to swing my blade downward onto Professor Applejack.

I then looked and just like before, the two ponies were stumbling around in a daze before they collapsed, their eyes devoid of any darkness.

"Um...what exactly did you do to them?" Gallus asked as he walked up beside me.

"They're no longer mind controlled," I answered, "This blade is made to diminish dark magic."

"Huh. Neat," he said back.

"Mmhm," Yona nodded.

"And the rest are taken care of as well," Sandbar said as he, Ocellus, Silverstream, and Smolder walked up.

I looked to where Sandbar pointed to see Professors Dash, Pinkie, and Fluttershy all stuck to the wall...by cake. It was easy to put two and two together when I also saw Professor Pinkie's party cannon. I'm guessing that Professor Dash was a little hard to hit though due to her high speeds when flying. I'm guessing (again) that Ocellus (being the smart cookie that she is) came up with some big brain plan in order to do so.

"When did that cannon even get down he—You know what? Never mind," I shrugged as I walked up to the last three and slashed at each of them one by one. As expected, they're glowing red eyes dimmed down to their normal colored, non-glowing eyes then closed as they fell into unconsciousness.

"Okay. I already said, but I'll say it again, this thing is awesome," I said, looking at the blade, "Now that the professors are no longer mind controlled, that only leaves us with—"

I was interrupted when something tackled me in the stomach. It caught me by surprise that I lost my grip on the blade as I was tackled through the air. I spread my wings in an effort to slow down my velocity, but the wind was soon knocked out of my lungs when I impacted the wall. Dazed and confused, I then screamed in my pain as I felt something sharp pierce into one of my wings, sending pain throughout it.

I looked down to see what exactly hit me. I saw Cozy Glow, her face full of rage, her clawed hand piercing into my wing, her eyes still glowing red, the sclera (the white around the iris and pupil in case you didn't know) around the iris now having strands of black.

It was like I was staring into the eyes of evil itself. And it was pissed.

"How? HOW?" she yelled, "It took me almost a month to master the mind control spell. A month I tell you! And you just break it, just like that. What. Are. You?"

My only response was to smirk.

"You mad bro?" I taunted.

Turns out it was a bad idea to taunt as she removed the claw and was about to pierce it into my skull. I quickly summoned a shield in front of my face, causing Cozy's claw to bounce back.

"Legion!" Ocellus called out as she and the others started to approach us.

"Stay...out of this!" Cozy yelled as she launched a dark orb at my friends, who managed to dodge out of the way.

With Cozy facing the other direction, I surprised her by power punching her right in the temple. She quickly reoriented herself and flew at me once again. I met her halfway and our hooves collided with each other as we both tried to push the other back.

"It's over Cozy!" I yelled, to which she scoffed in response.

"You might think that. But I've still got the advantage with my spell!" she smiled, "Once the magic is drained from Equestria, that's when it will be over and you will have lost!"

I smiled back at this.

"Are you sure it's advantageous to just leave your spell all defenseless?" I said smugly, causing to filly's eyes to widen, before I projected, "Guys! Grab the artifacts!"

Cozy turned her head back to see the others running towards her glyph. She immediately let go of my hooves and started flying towards them.

"NO!" she yelled as she then blinked behind Ocellus, her claw ready to strike, "I won't let you!"

Cozy was soon gonna be disappointed at her effort to stop Ocellus as I too blinked and tackled the little filly, my hooves wrapped around her torso. I didn't even care about the fact that it felt like her rage and bloodlust was pouring into my soul. I summoned some strength into my hooves in order to increase my grip on her.

"Now guys now! Do it now!" I yelled at them, despite the risk of blowing up the school. It's like I said earlier. Sometimes you gotta take a leap of faith.

They each immediately grabbed one of the artifacts around the glyph and raised them into the air.

Suddenly, a dome of magic formed around the School of Friendship and started to expand further and further across Equestria. Every piece of land that this dome passed through left behind numerous orbs of magic, each one of them immediately traveling towards each creature.

Earth ponies's strengths returned. Pegasi were once again able to fly. Unicorns got their magic back.

All other creatures got their magical abilities back.

Artifacts were able to be used again.

It was over.

Magic in Equestria has finally returned.

I reopened my eyes once the bright flash of light finally diminished. There was no more giant glyph painted on the ground. There was no giant magical orb that held Counselor Starlight prisoner. There was no more negativity in the air that I could feel.

I saw my friends with an artifact in each of their...limbs, as well as the aforementioned counselor.

"Did...did we do it?" I asked aloud, "Has magic returned?"

Counselor Starlight answered my question by lighting up horn. Ocellus answering as well by changing into various creatures.

"Well, I guess that answers my question," I smiled before I looked back at Cozy, who was sitting on her haunches and facing the ground, hiding her eyes from us, "Now it's over Cozy. You lost."

"I'll kill you," she whispered. Before I could ask what she said, she suddenly raised her head up and growled her teeth. Her eyes. Dear god her eyes. The scleras were now completely black, the irises still the same blood red, "I'LL KILL YOU!"

She suddenly lunged forward and tackled me once again, her claw now pierced into my shoulder, causing me to grit my teeth in pain. I then felt Cozy angle her flight path upwards...towards the cave ceiling.

"Oh shi—" I thought before I was forcibly pushed through dozens and dozens of feet of stone. All those jokes I've ever made about getting a brain aneurysm...well, this time I think I'm actually getting one. The world seemed to be spinning a whole bunch once we finally reached ground level. As I saw that we were only getting higher up in the night sky, I could feel blood start to pour down the side of my head as a wound definitely opened.

It wasn't until we were above the clouds that Cozy stopped her flying and flipped me over so I was now facing upwards. She slowly removed her claw from my shoulder, making me scream, her other hoof holding me by the neck (just don't ask how that's possible).

"You. Ruined. Everything," she seethed as I held on for dear life to her hoof, "Do you have any idea how long it took me to form that spell? Weeks and weeks of preparation and planning. And all for what?! Nothing?!" she yelled as she tightened her grip on me, before she raised her claw up, "Well...it looks like I'll get something out of this after all. Any last words?"

I slightly turned my head back and looked down to the ground, or rather the clouds, but you get the idea. I thought everything, and everyone, that was waiting for me down there. I then put on a face of confidence and looked back at Cozy.

"Everything I did during this night, as well as for the past few months, it was all for Equestria," I said before I shook my head, "No, scratch that, it was for everyone here that I care about. The professors, the princesses, Discord...and my friends. Sandbar, Gallus, Smolder, Silverstream, Yona, and Ocellus. They were some of the greatest friends I've ever made. And I'd be damned if I just let you do any bad to them!"

"Golly, so sweet of you to say that. It almost makes me not want to kill you. Oh well," she shrugged, "Now, say goodbye Legion!"

I immediately summoned back my blade and used it to stab Cozy in the gut. Like before, it didn't actually pierce her like an actual sword, but rather phased through her.

"Phew. It seems like I can summon this sword at will. That's good to know," I thought in relief.

Cozy looked down in surprise at the blade that was phasing through her and then looked back at my smiling face.

"Heh. It's just like I told you Cozy," I said, still smiling, "The light will always fight back against the darkness."

"No! NO! LET GO OF ME!" Cozy screamed in a panic as she tried to break away from my grip on her. The dark aura around her started to diminish, my blade continuing to do its work, until finally...I didn't sense any more darkness from her. There was no more aura around her, and her eyes were back to their scarlet color.

She was now just a normal pegasus filly.

And now I realize that maybe this wasn't a good idea as her eyes started to slowly close...before we both started to fall to the ground.

"AH CRAAAAAAAAP!" I yelled as we fell through the clouds and towards the ground, "AH I DIDN'T THINK THIS THROUGH! I DIDN'T THINK THIS THROUGH!"

I couldn't use my wings as one of them was injured, and blinking at this velocity would be completely pointless. To put it simply...I was fucked.

I looked back at Cozy's still unconscious form, and couldn't help but feel...bad for her. There's one thing that still needs answers. Her motive. She seemed so innocent and nice. How could a filly like her do something like all this? Why would she do something like this?

"It seems I won't find out," I thought as I looked towards the approaching ground, "I don't know what led you to doing this Cozy, but regardless, you don't deserve this fate. I refuse to just let you die, even if you tried to kill me."

Without hesitation, I grabbed Cozy and held her close to me, making sure that she would land on top of me upon impact. I looked back down and determined that at this rate, it would all be over in a few seconds.

"Thank you guys. For everything," I smiled as I shut my eyes, ready to move on from this life to the ne—

Wait...why does it feel like I suddenly stopped falling?

After a few seconds of nothing happening, I slowly opened my eyes to see that I was in...a bubble? Said bubble was a foot or two off the ground, and in this case, so was I.

I slowly sat back and looked around the school's courtyard. Everyone, and I mean everyone was looking at me. All the other students of the school, Chancellor Neighsay, the princesses, Discord, what seems to be all of the Royal Guard, Counselor Starlight, the professors...and my friends.

I glanced at the aforementioned draconequus to see him smile and snap his fingers, causing the bubble I was in to pop.

"Heh. Thanks Discord," I sighed in relief before I saw that all of my friends were now running towards me. I looked down at the filly still in my hooves and gently set her down beside me.

I got up from my haunches and started to walk towards the others, only to wince in pain due to my still injured shoulder. One of the disadvantages of being a quadruped, I suppose, not to mention I may have a concussion.

“Oh my! Are you alright Legion?” Ocellus asked as she and the others stopped in their tracks.

“Apart from an injured shoulder, an injured wing, and probably a concussion, I’m doing fine,” I laughed before I started to sway a bit, “But for real, I think I need to go to the hospital.”

“That won’t be necessary,” I heard Headmare Twilight say. I turned to her to see her and the other two princesses approaching me. They nodded at each other and lowered their heads, their horns glowing, causing a glowing aura to appear around me.

And just like that…I was fine. My shoulder, my wing, they were both fine now. And I didn’t feel like I had a concussion.

Isn’t magic wonderful?

“Oh, uh…thanks,” I said.

“It is you who should be thanked. All of you,” Princess Celestial gestured to me and the others, “For getting back the magic and saving all of Equestria.”

She then bowed to us as a sign of thanks, Princess Luna and Headmare Twilight doing the same.

“Well, it’s all thanks to you Headmare Twilight that we were able to do this,” Sandbar said to the lavender alicorn.

“Yeah! If it weren’t for you and the professors, we wouldn’t have been able to learn everything there is about friendship,” Ocellus gladly said.

“Honesty? Loyalty? Generosity? Blah blah blah,” a voice spat out.

I looked back and saw Cozy Glow struggling to get back up. I guess draining her dark magic pretty much sapped her energy for now.

“Do you know?” I whispered to the headmare.

“Starlight told us everything,” she responded back with a sad expression adorning her face.

I turned back to the filly and started to slowly walk up to her.

“Why’d you do all this Cozy?” I asked, “You seemed like such a nice kid. You had the topmost scores here and you were Headmare Twilight’s friendship assistant. Why would you throw this all away?”

“Why?!” she seethed as she gave me the stink eye, “Because if this school has taught me anything, it’s that friendship is power. And by gaining power, I gain more friends, which gives me more power, and so on and so forth!” she proclaimed, “You should know what it’s like Legion. You made friends, and now look at what you can do.”

“She wanted power so she can gain friends so she can gain power? That’s…a highly confusing explanation,” I thought. I stayed silent for a few more seconds before I figured out how I should respond.

“You’re right about one thing Cozy,” I said before I looked at my now shrouded hoof, “Friendship can be a pretty powerful thing, but I didn’t make friends in the first place because of power,” I explained before I smiled and turned back to my friends. For some reason, I draped my wing over Ocellus, causing her to gasp lightly, “It’s because of what came from my heart.”

While this is a touching moment, I’m sorry to say this but that sounded a bit cringy.

No it did—

“Golly. So sappy,” Cozy said in a disgusted tone.

Told you.

“Well, I suppose it’s over now,” Cozy admitted as guards started to surround her, “I lost, you won. Congrats.”

I sighed with a look of sadness, feeling bad that I can’t think of anything to help the little filly right now. I turned and started to walk away from all this.

“You ok?” Ocellus asked as she and the others started to walk alongside me.

“Yeah,” I answered after a few seconds of silence, before I yawned, “I just need some sleep, that’s all.”

“Boy you said it,” Smolder yawned as well, the others agreeing with me.

As we continued to walk back to our dorm rooms, I soon realized that draped my wing over Ocellus again. I started to blush and was about to remove it, but I stopped myself.

This felt…nice. Ocellus didn’t seem to mind as well.

I then realized that there was still one more thing that I had to deal with. And let me tell you something.

I felt much more confident with fighting Cozy Glow than with what’s gonna happening tomorrow.

Chapter 21: The Legion's Final Challenge (Spoiler Alert: It's the Hardest)

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 3: The Legion's Arrival

Previously on The Adventure of the Apex Legion

"Y-you turned me into a pony?!" I asked the two princesses.

"It sounds like a nice place. I do prefer living in a quiet neighborhood," I said.

"My name...will be...Apex Legion," I said.

"Very well then," Princess Celestia said with a smile before raising her hoof up again, "I, Princess Celestia, hereby declare that you, Apex Legion, shall take up residence in Ponyville."

"He'll definitely fit right in at Ponyville," she said looking at the window and towards the little town.

"Indeed," Princess Luna said, walking next to her, "But...sister. Are you sure it was wise not to tell him?"

"For now, I believe it's for the best," she said with a sigh, "But now, let's see what awaits for him, and when the time comes...I'll tell him the truth."

The Adventure of the Apex Legion

Written by DeffBwade

Chapter 3: The Legion's Arrival

In a flash of light, I appeared with my head spinning and hooves stumbling all over the place from the sudden flash of the teleportation spell. It took me a few minutes to reorient my balance and get my head straight.

"God. I am not gonna get used to that."

I'm pretty sure you have to, seeing how there's magic and all on this world. It's bound to happen when you go back to Earth.

Damnit.

After recovering from the dizziness, I looked over myself and saw that I still had the saddlebag, as well as the bag of...what did Princess Celestia call them? Bits? As in bitcoin? Nah, I'm kidding.

Does this world even use bitcoins?

I have no idea.

I then started to look around my surroundings. I was in the middle of a field filled with grass and other luxurious plants. In the distance I could see what I assumed to be Ponyville, and Princess Celestia was right. It is a pretty small town. Many of the buildings had a medieval-style to it, timber-framed with distinct thatched roofs and everything. There were other buildings that stood out from the rest. The first was a farm I could see to the right of Ponyville, including a barn, many...apple trees I believe, and whatnot. I guess I could finally see a farm up close. Go figure. The other building was-

Holy shit.

"God damn that looks beautiful."

It seemed to be another castle, and I'm not lying when I say it looked amazing. It was purple and gold in color and had this whole tree-like design to it and it looked like it was made out of crystals. More crystals formed some sort of star shape on top of the castle.

Didn't Princess Celestia say that her student lived here? Maybe it belongs to her. What was her name again? Twiggly? Twiggles Sparkler? Sparky? No wait. Midnight Shimmer.

What...the fuck? That's not even close. It's Twilight Sparkle. Just like those god awful vampire romance books and movies. Like seriously? Who the fuck cares about whether an emo vampire and a hot guy that can turn into a wolf are better? I'm just kidding Twilight fans, please don't kill me.

Next to the crystal castle was another building that stood out. Like seriously, there was a walkway from the castle to this one. It looked like it was embedded into some hills behind it and...were those waterfalls?! They were! There were actual waterfalls shooting down from some of the building's sections and falling into a stream that surrounded the front of it.

"Holy shit. I wonder what that's for."

It must have some sort of significance to it seeing as how it's next to...*gasp*...wait. Didn't Twilight Sparkle also open a school that teaches friendship for all creatures?!

I never though I'd say this, but I actually wanna check that school out.

Maybe you'll get your chance sooner than expected. I think I see someone approaching.

I looked back ahead of the path to the town and there was indeed someone...somepony...approaching me. Seeing as their nose shape, muzzle I believe it's called, was square shaped like mine, I assumed it was a male. He was also an earth pony if the lack of wings and a horn were any indication. He had a pale, light grayish spring bud coat, light sea green eyes, a mane and short tail that were pretty stylish and were a mix of light cyan and moderate opal, and a cutie mark of a trio of sea turtles.

As the pony got closer and closer, I saw that he was also attached to a set of carts. One cart was filled with apples, another was filled with pillows and blankets, and another was filled with apples.

"Good afternoon," the pony said as he walked past me.

"Hello there," I responded with a smile and slight nod.

Oh god. That guy had a surfer voice.

Well, his cutie mark is literally a trio of turtles. Maybe his special talent is...surfing? Or it could be pretty much anything sea related.

True.

I looked in the direction the pony was heading and saw...pretty much the opposite of what Ponyville is. Instead of a bright, sunny, quiet, little (mountain) town that looked like I could be safe in, I saw a dark, brooding forest that looked like it could be perfect for a murder by the Slenderman or Jack the Ripper. Actually, he's a male, so he's probably fine.

"Why the fuck is he going into that dark forest anyway? And what's with all the supplies? Is he having a campout or something?"

Maybe, but I think the bigger question is why is there a big, spooky forest just on the outskirts on a peaceful looking town?

Why am I even so concerned for this pony's life?

Because he seemed to be around your age and he's also intelligent like a normal human being, and your kind soul is preventing you from just forgetting about him going into that dangerous looking forest?

Should I go after him?

Yeah, you should.

In the middle of the Everfree Forest, five friends were hanging out and kinda doing their own thing, waiting for their sixth friend to return with the supplies. They didn't think it would happen, but they actually managed to learn friendship and get along with each other, despite some conflict. After the School of Friendship was shut down by the EEA, their chaperones were angered and practically forced them to come back home. However, they didn't want to say goodbye to each other, so they decided to run away in order to stay together.

They didn't know much places they could stay at since they each come from different kingdoms. Fortunately, their changeling friend, Ocellus, remembered one place that they learned about at school: the Castle of the Two Sisters.

Gallus, the griffon of the group, flew through the air and having a good time. While the Everfree Forest was filled with dangerous creatures like timberwolves and manticores, it still was kinda nice to look at. It sure was nicer than his old home, that's for sure. Back in Griffonstone, the buildings were dilapidating and the other griffons had grumpy looks on their faces. Attending the School of Friendship sure was an upgrade.

"Huh, this place is way cooler than I thought it'd be," he said as he landed back inside the castle and started flying upside down with his arms behind his head.

Yona, the yak, was seen trotting down the stairs until she tripped on one of her braids. Even though she liked the braided look ever since she was properly taught how to do it in Yakyakistan, she had trouble keeping them under control. It would constantly get in her face, she would accidently smack others with them, and she would trip on them almost 24/7.

"Even I'm impressed," Smolder, the dragon of the group, said as she ate the small gems off the many pieces of armor, "What's it called again Ocellus?"

"The Castle of the Two Sisters," Ocellus said as she looked at one of the many books she brought with her. She always did love to learn new things, "I remembered it from class, Princess Twilight's History of Pre-Equestrian Friendships."

"Huh, who knew?" Gallus said as he landed next to Ocellus, "School was actually good for something."

"Yona not really like school," Yona said with a stern face before smiling and bringing Gallus, Ocellus, and Smolder into a hug, "But, Yona like new friends."

"Smolder...like...breathing!" Smolder strained as she tried to get out of the yak's tight hug. She was never really one for affection anyway, whether it's physical or emotional. Same could be said for Gallus, or griffons in general...except maybe Gabby. She always was the exuberant type, just like Professor Pinkie Pie.

"Hey you guys! Sandbar's back!" they heard their hippogriff friend, Silverstream, said while pointing out one of the windows in an excited tone, to which the others started to head out.

Sandbar walked down the pathway towards the Castle of the Two Sisters. He never really liked going through the Everfree Forest for pretty much any reason, but...it was for his friends and he fortunately knew the path to the castle. As he approached the castle, the cart filled with apples bumped on a rock, causing one of the apples to fall off. If he was paying attention, he would have noticed a paw reaching out from the bush and grabbing the apple.

The doors to the castle suddenly opened with Yona yelling, "Cupcakes are best cakes!" before she started full on sprinting towards Sandbar.

With a scream, he closed his eyes and braced for impact. Fortunately, Gallus had his back as he flew up behind Yona and used her braids to make her trip, making stop right in front of the green pony, tail wagging and panting like a dog.

"Thanks for the assist, Gallus," Sandbar said with a sigh.

"I was saving the cupcakes," he sarcastically said with a scoff before he and Yona started eating the cupcakes.

"Pillows!" Ocellus excitedly said as she flew into the bundle of pillows and blankets, nuzzling into them, "How nice! The castle is gonna be so much more comfy."

"And fun! Pillow fight!" Smolder said before she grabbed a pillow and threw at Sandbar.

Sandbar immediately grabbed the pillow that hit as Smolder charged at him with another one in hand. Never in his life had he had this much fun with friends. That school sure was the best thing that ever happened to him, even if it was shut down. As he and Smolder battled it out, they heard loud buzzing above them. They looked up in curiosity and saw a giant bug bear flying over them. Normally they would scream in terror at the sight of a bug bear, but its color scheme indicated that it was just Ocellus, as well as the many pillows in its hands. Ocellus crashed into them with pillows before turning back to normal, making them all laugh.

All of this while unaware of the presence of another pony hiding in the bushes and watching them.

Woah! Did you just see that?

You mean the bug girl that transformed into a giant flying bear? Yes, I saw it! That was amazing!

Legends and myths that actually exist and can talk? Magic actually being a thing and not just straight up bullshit? Nice and serene scenery? And now creatures that can shapeshift into other creatures? I have a feeling I'm gonna like this place.

Also I feel like calling her "bug girl" is racist, so...

We say racist stuff all the time. As jokes at least.

True.

The first among (us) the group is the green pony I saw entering this forest, and let me tell you something. Being all sneakity sneak sneak through here was pretty easy. I swear it would be easy to commit a murder here. The last time I walked through was...I think it was 7th grade during a school field trip. Yeah. For a week, we went to a camp...somewhere...and actually learned stuff for science class. We even called it 'science camp.' Not even joking. But yeah, one day my group had me have a small hike through a forest, on a predetermined path of course. The only sounds being nature itself and the crunching of leaves, and the immaculate tress. It was both nice and scary at the same time.

The second among (us) the group was the previously mentioned the bug girl (still feel like saying that is racist by the way). Well...it was like a mix of a bug and a pony. She (assuming by the almost shy voice I heard) had moderate cyan eyes, a light amaranth neck fin and tail fin, pale, light grayish, artic blue chitin, and a brilliant amaranth elytra.

Yeah that's right, I know my bug facts.

Also not gonna lie, she looks pretty cute.

Y-you think a girl is...cute?

Not like that dumbass! More like...a puppy begging for ear scratches.

Oh...got it.

The third creature was an actual griffon. Looks a bit like a lion? Looks a bit like an eagle? Yep, that's a griffon. I believe the green one called him Gallus. Heh, Gallus the Griffon. Nice play on alliteration. He had moderate azure eyes, brilliant cerulean fur with a pale, light grayish amber chest and eyebrows, head feathers that are a gradient of brilliant cerulean to brilliant amber, wings and tailfeathers that are moderate cerulean, and brilliant amber talons and beak.

Do you think what Luz said in the Owl House is true? Do griffons have spider breath?

I'd...rather not know.

The fourth creature was-holy shit, that's a dragon. A real life dragon. I'm pretty sure it was a female due to her feminine appearance. Her eyes were a moderate cyan, her spines were moderate orchid, and her scales were brilliant gamboge with a light gold underbelly, wing membrane, and ear fronds.

"Thank god that dragons are friendly in this world, as well as them being quite small. I would've imagined them being the size of an airplane."

Well...assuming that she's the same age as the green one, she's still going through puberty, like you.

The fifth creature was what I believed to be a yak. Horns? Check. Fluffy coat? Check. Has muscles that can crush you like the Hulk? Check. She (based on her feminine appearance) had moderate olive eyes, a moderate scarlet mane with two braids that hung loosely, a grayish amber undercoat, a grayish vermilion overcoat, a light brownish gray muzzle, and horns that are dark spring greenish and dark turquois gray. She was also wearing some kind of...blanket...on her back, as well as pink bows.

Seriously, don't try to piss her off.

Yeah, no, I hear you. I do not want to receive the Bane treatment and get my back broken.

"You guys!" I heard an excited, feminine voice say, grabbing the others attention.

I looked in the direction of the voice and saw a sixth creature. I didn't really know what she was exactly. She looked similar to Gallus, but she had a more pony-like appearance instead of a lion.

If I remember correctly from Harry Potter, I believe she's a hippogriff. Half bird and half horse-er...pony.

How do you know that? I've never even watched Harry Potter.

What the fu-you know what? Nevermind.

Anyway, she had moderate blue violet eyes, a mane that was a mix of light cornflower blue and light cornflower bluish gray, a light magenta gray coat, and pale, light grayish orchid beak and claws. It also looked like she was wearing a necklace made out of seashells.

"I just found STAIRS!" the hippogriff said with as much enthusiasm as when Jrod receives his Taco Bell.

"YAS QUEEN!"

I already feel like I'm gonna like her.

You and me both dude.

"And...we care because?" Gallus said.

"Stairs are awesome!" she said.

"Um...what?"

Is it...um...is it some kind of fetish?

Please...don't make me think about that.

"We don't have anything like them underwater cause you know..." she said before changing into a more fish-like appearance, hindlegs turning into a mermaid tail, forelegs and wings turning into fins, and beak disappearing, "...no way to climb them."

"Woah. She's a fish now. A seapony."

That...probably sounds just as racist as "bug girl."

The other creatures "oohed" in realization before the hippogriff transformed back to normal.

"This place has everything!" she said before her face turned from excitement to one of slight sadness, "If only my family back home can see it."

I saw the dragon toss an apple, which bopped her on the head, to which the hippogriff ate it with a smile on her face.

"I wish the other changelings could meet you all," the bug girl said, "You're not nearly as strange as the stories say."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"Gee. Thanks," the dragon said sarcastically before she adorned a smile, "But yeah, hanging out with other creatures is actually...er...not bad."

I smiled at this. This is what I like to see. Creatures of diverse cultures getting together and becoming friends. No fighting, no hostility, and no cracking any sexual or racist jokes. Don't get me wrong though. I enjoy all the shits and giggle I have with my friends back on Earth. But here...there's just...friendship. Perhaps this School of Friendship could be better than I tho-

My thoughts were interrupted by a rustling of bushes next to the group of friends, getting their attention. Out of came...um...what the fuck is that thing?

It looks like some kind of porcupine, or perhaps a hedgehog. Just look at those quills on its back.

"Um, most other creatures," the pony said, "What is that thing?"

"Am I the only one who didn't sleep through Professor Fluttershy's Critter of Comfort and Conflict class?" the bug girl said with a sigh, "It's a puckwudgie."

The hell is a puckwudgie?

Shit if I know, but I'd rather refer to it as a hedgehog.

"Maybe I could make friends with it," the bug girl said before she transformed into a hedgehog and started making autistic noises with a smile. The only response she got was the little hedgehog growling at her and putting on a predatory face, as well as other hedgehogs jumping out from the same bush, also with a predatory face and growling. She backed off and turned back to normal, "Oops."

"Yak plan better," the yak said before letting out a battle shout and charging at the hedgehogs, who turned around and shot out quills towards her direction.

"Holy shit!"

Before they could puncture her, the hippogriff came up with a cart in her hands...claws and shielded her. The yak silently thanked her before a hedgehog hopped onto the cart and growled. The hippogriff smiled at it before the yak pulled her away just in time for more quills to be shot out. The hedgehogs surrounded the group of friends, forcing them to use the carts as a last means of defense. The hedgehogs turned around and aimed their quills towards them.

I ducked down just in time to prevent the little critters from seeing me, but I turned around, I saw more of them slowly approaching me. I smiled and laughed nervously as they turned around and prepared their quills.

As the puckwudgies continued to slowly approach them, Smolder peeked out from cover and threw a pillow, which was immediately shredded by multiple quills.

"Think Ocellus!" Smolder said out of desperation as Ocellus rubbed her temples, "Did Professor Fluttershy say anything about how to beat puckwudgies in her lecture?"

"Hn! I'm sorry! I can't remember!" she responded.

"I'm gonna go ahead guess it's not pillows, apples..." Gallus said before he held a cupcake up in the air, which was punctured immediately, "...or cupcakes."

Their thoughts were interrupted by the sound of more quills firing, followed by a scream. Not one of theirs, they knew that for sure.

"OH JEGILAL!" the voice screamed, drawing the attention of all creatures in the area. The group of friends peeked their heads out of cover just in time so see another pony run out of the bushes. He was a pegasus around their ages, had a dark gray coat, a black, spikey mane, chocolate brown eyes, and had a cutie mark of...a smile? Maybe his special talent is making others smile, like Professor Pinkie Pie.

The pony ran past the puckwudgies surrounding them and hopped over the carts and next to them. They just looked at the pony in confusion before he chuckled nervously.

"H-hey there. D-don't mind me. I'm just...I'm just gonna hunker down with you guys," the pony said.

"You? Again?" Sandbar asked.

They wanted to question who this pony was, why he was in the Everfree Forest alone in the first place, and what the heck "jegilal" means, but they had more concerning issues to deal with.

"Come on guys! We have to think of something!" Smolder said.

"Wouldn't class have been about how to make friends with them?" Silverstream asked.

"H-hold on," the random pony said, "That's not actually a bad idea. Let me try that."

The pony got up and slightly poked his head out, only to immediately retract it back just in time for more quills to hit the carts. In retrospect, what was he thinking? What exactly did he think was gonna happen? He turned towards the group with wide eyes and small pupils.

"Yeah, let's...let's not try that," he somehow calmly said, despite almost being punctured in the head. That...that would not be pretty.

"Uh...guys? They're getting really close," Sandbar said. They peeked out and saw that they were indeed getting closer and closer.

"Yona not scared. Yona have friends," Yona said with a confident smile before putting a paw in the middle. Out of all of them, Yona was the one that showed how proud she was for becoming their friend the most. Together, they can-no. They will get through this. Everyone else put their hooves, claws, whatever in the middle.

"Yeah! Even though I don't know who any of you are," the pony said as he also put his hoof in the middle.

I like this yak's spirit.

Same here, but sooner or later I'm gonna have to ask these people's...ponies', creature's...names. I can't keep calling them what they are cause that's just racist. And don't say I say racist stuff all the time. Those are all for shits and giggles.

Duly noted.

Now, back to the matter at hand...let's go fuck some shit up! With the power of tee-am work!

It's pronounced teamwork.

I do what I want!

Three hedgehogs growled then leapt at us, but before we could defend ourselves, a rainbow blur rushed past us, grabbing the critters and sticking them onto a tree by their quills. We all looked up and saw a female pony, a mare I believe is what they're called. She was a pegasus who had magenta eyes, a light grayish cyan coat, a cutie mark of a cloud shooting a lightning bolt that was the colors red, yellow, and blue, and a mane and tail that were the colors of a rainbow. The mare wiped her brow and smiled down at us before flying away.

"Is that Professor Egghead?!" Gallus asked in awe.

"More like Professor Pride Parade."

Heh heh. Professor Pride Parade, or PPP for short. That's gonna be her new nickname.

I looked back to the rest of the hedge-okay I'll stop...puckwudgies, and saw some of them encased in a magenta aura, and others turquoise aura. The others looked back as the puckwudgies were levitated away and two more mares ran in front of us.

One was a unicorn who had moderate persian blue eyes, a pale, light grayish heliotrope coat, a mane and tail that were the colors moderate purple, lighter purple, and pale, light grayish aquamarine, and a cutie mark of a purple star with turquoise glimmers.

The other was an alicorn like Princesses Celestia and Luna, both wings and a horn. She was most likely Princess Celestia's student, Twilight Sparkle. She had moderate violet eyes, a mane that was a dark sapphire blue with moderate purple and brilliant raspberry streaks, a pale, light grayish mulberry coat, and a cutie mark of a magenta star surrounded by five smaller white stars.

The two mares then touched their horns together and expanded a shield outward, pushing the puckwudgies further away.

They touched tips.

More ponies, or actually ponies and a dragon, came into the fray.

The dragon, one that was much smaller than the orange one ran up and headbutted one of the puckwudgies with a "Oh yeah!"

He had moderate pistachio eyes, moderate harlequin spikes, light mulberry scales, a light spring budish gray underbelly, and light lime green ear fronds.

"Seriously, why is he so small?"

Well, you did hear his voice. It sounds childish. Maybe he's younger than the orange one and hasn't gone through puberty yet.

The next pony that came was a unicorn mare with moderate azure eyes, a moderate indigo mane, a snow white coat, light cornflower bluish gray eyeshadow, and a cutie mark of a trio of diamonds. She was...what the fuck was she doing?

Is she...is she giving one of them a makeup.

Yep. She is. She was giving one of them a makeup, including bows, lipstick, and blush. Its face just screamed "seriously?"

A trio of them were actually running away from the next pony. She was an earth pony with emerald green eyes, a blonde mane, a brilliant gamboge coat, a cutie mark of a trio of apples, and wearing a stetson hat. She twirled a lasso in her mouth, very impressive by the way, before tossing it and catching two of the little critters.

The one that wasn't caught was instead carried by two birds and placed into the hooves of a pegasus mare. She had moderate cyan eyes, a pink mane, a butter yellow coat, and a cutie mark of a trio of pink butterflies.

"Oh, don't hurt them," she said in a worried voice before speaking calmly and hugging the puckwudgie, "Just ask them to leave nicely?"

How the fuck is she not getting pricked by its quills?

One last pony came in, and my god she looked like cotton candy. She was an earth pony who had light cerulean eyes, dark pink mane, light pink coat, everything about her was pink. She had a cutie mark of a trio of balloons, two being baby blue and one being yellow. She also pulled out a giant fucking cannon with a smile on her face.

Holy shit man!

Professor Pride Parade placed a bunch of puckwudgies into the cannon before the cotton candy pony covered her ears and fired the cannon, launching all of them, as well as confetti, high into the air.

Jesus! Did she just kill them?!

I...I...oh, no wait. I think...yep. They have parachutes. Never mind dude. They're safe.

Oh, thank god.

"Not bad," I heard the yak say before looking away, "...er, for pony."

"Not bad? That was one of the coolest things I've ever seen," I said.

"Wow. They're amazing," the bug girl said happily.

"I had no idea our teachers were actually cool," Gallus said awestruck.

"I've been trying to tell you," the green pony said with a smile on his face.

"Did you see that?! Rainbow Dash was like 'zoom' and 'woah,' and the puckwudgies went flying!" the hippogriff said excitedly, "And then the birds came and-"

"Yeah. We all just lived it," the orange dragon interrupted, "But you're right. That was pretty amazing, even by dragon standards.

"Is every creature alright?" Princess Twilight asked as she inspected the yak's face for any damages.

"You're lucky we got here in time," the small dragon said.

"You know, this probably isn't the safest place for a campout," the glimmer pony said, and she's right. It's an abandoned castle in the middle of some creepy forest. This is the kind of place ghost investigators would check out. Who knows how big this place is.

"Does that you're gonna send us back to our homes," the bug girl said sadly before she and other creatures, except for Gallus and the orange dragon, put on what I call 'the puppy eyes,' eyes on the verge of crying, lips pouting, and even making the puppy sad noise.

"Dear god, please stop doing that. I don't know if my heart can take it."

"Not exactly. We have another option in mind," Princess Twilight said to which the other mares nodded in agreement.

"We're listening," Gallus said.

"It's pretty clear you've already started learning friendship without your teachers, but we'd like to show you even more...if you come back to school," Princess Twilight said with a smile. The group of friends were a bit taken aback by this.

"Not much of a choice," the orange dragon said.

The mares looked at each other before the apple pony held her hat to her chest.

"To be honest..." she said with a southern accent, "...we felt exactly the same way when Twilight told us she was reopening the school."

"But this time, we guarantee it shall be different," the diamond pony said in an elegant tone.

"Oh yeah," Professor Pride Parade said in a tomboyish voice, "With class run my way, it'll 220% cooler!"

I'd ask what that even means, but it sounds cool nonetheless so I really don't care.

"And without the EEA...," the butter pony said as threw a huge book behind her, hitting a puckwudgie, "...it'll be much friendlier."

"I do like friendlier."

"Plus..." the cotton candy pony said in a cheery voice, "...all your nations won't go to war if you come back with us. Bonus!"

...

"Wait, what?" I said aloud as the others were slack jawed.

"So..mind telling us what you were doing in the Everfree Forest in the first place, and how you found us?" the orange dragon asked as we walked through the forest with the group of mares. It was nice walking through here as a large group, especially in the daytime.

"Yeah. I saw you on my way here. Did you...did you follow me?" the green pony asked.

"Well shit. I guess the cat's out of the bag.

"W-well...yes...I did," I said with a sigh, "But can you really blame me? When I saw you entering this forest, I was like 'Why is he entering that forest? I should probably follow him and make sure he'll be fine.' I mean, is it just me, or does this forest give off a really creepy and hostile vibe?"

I then noticed in my peripheral vision that the apple pony was staring at me, as if analyzing me for any kind of deception.

"Well, he ain't lying. That's for sure," she said, confirming my thought.

What, is she some kind of lie detector or something?

"You were right in following Sandbar, young one," Princess Twilight said with a smile, "The Everfree Forest is known to have some of the most dangerous creatures in Equestria. Did you not know that?"

"Oh god. How do I explain that?"

Do what all good liars can do. Technically say the truth.

"Er...sorry. I don't really go out much, nor have I really learned about it in school," I said, rubbing the back of my head. I saw the apple pony nod her head in confirmation. She really is some kind of lie detector.

"If that's the case, then thank you for being concerned about me," the green pony, Sandbar, said with a smile, to which I nodded, "You said you don't know who we are, right?"

I nodded again.

"Well, as Princess Twilight said, I'm Sandbar," he said.

"Name's Gallus," Gallus said, even though I already knew his name, but...no point in nit picking the details.

"I Yona Yak," the yak said.

"I'm Ocellus," the bug girl said.

"Smolder," the orange dragon said.

"I'm Silverstream!" the hippogriff said excitedly.

"And in case you don't know who we are," the diamond pony said, "I'm Rarity."

"I'm Applejack," the apple pony said.

"U-um...I'm Fluttershy," the butter pony whispered, but I kinda have good hearing, so I was able to hear her name.

"Rainbow Dash!" Professor Pride Parade said proudly, "Fastest pony in Equestria and member of the Wonderbolts."

"Who?"

"Starlight Glimmer," the glimmer pony said.

"Spike? Is it just me or that sound completely generic?"

"It's nice to meet all of you," I said with a smile.

"Well...what about you?" Sandbar asked, "What's your name?"

"Name's Apex Legion," I said, "But you can just call me Legion."

"So this building is actually the School of the Friendship. I gotta say...by appearance alone, I'm already impressed."

We eventually arrived in front of the building with the waterfalls coming out of it. It looked so much more bigger up close. I could see that there was some kind of lock, as well as chains, on the front door. The apple pony did say something about reopening the school. Wonder what happened.

Princess Twilight walked up to the front with her horn glowing before she was interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Twilight. I was so relieved to get your letter."

I looked back and indeed it was Princess Celestia flying down, followed by other creatures. I'm too lazy to give an exact description of each of them, so here you go. There was a very old griffon with a dead eye, a navy blue hippogriff that looked like he would be in the military, a bigger yak whose hair was covering his eyes (how the fuck can he even see?), a blue dragon who looks like someone you wouldn't wanna fuck with, and a green bug that just looks friendly.

"As was Queen Novo," the blue hippogriff said with relief, "Oh, we're just glad you're alright Silverstream."

"Don't expect a welcome party from me sonny! It's time you got home!" the old griffon yelled before grabbing Gallus' ear with his beak, to which Gallus just slapped him off.

"Jesus. Angry much?"

"I'm not leaving," Gallus simply said.

"What?!" the old griffon said.

"None of us are," Ocellus said before hiding behind the orange dragon, "Sorry Thorax."

"Yak not understand," the big yak said confused, "This pony joke."

Heh heh. I like the way he and Yona talk.

"No! We're going back to school," Smolder said as if it's a matter of fact.

"Never in my life would I hear someone say that with such determination."

"How? You can't even get inside," the blue dragon said before a shimmering sound brought all of our attention.

We looked back, with the mares and Princess Celestia with smiles on their faces, and saw Princess Twilight shoot a beam at the lock, successfully breaking it.

"School is back in session," she said to which every...creature cheered. Seriously, I gotta get used to that.

We then saw, Princess Twilight turning around at the sound, a bright blue portal opening before an unicorn stallion walked out of it. He had moderate turquoise eyes, a light gray coat, and a slicked back dark azure mane, tail, and goatee. I couldn't see his cutie mark due to him wearing a dark red robe. He also had some kind of medallion. It was best to assume he was somepony important.

"Who dared remove my seal," he said, anger clearly evident in his voice.

"I did Chancellor Neighsay," Princess Twilight said, "And I respectfully ask you to step aside, or classes will start late."

Neighsay? Are you kidding me? Does every name have to be some kind of horse pun.

I mean...no. There's...Gallus. There's...Silverstream. There's...what did Ocellus call him...Thorax. Well, that's actually a bug pun. There's...Twilight, Celestia, Luna. There's-

...

I'm just gonna stop talking.

"Classes won't start at all. The EEA have spoken, and none shall pass," Neighsay said before stomping his hoof and emitting a shockwave.

Jesus! What, is this guy from Dragon Ball Z or something?

"Yak pass if yak say," Yona said before she started to charge forward, but Sandbar held her back with a look that said "please don't."

"This is for the greater good. The school was disorganized, the teachers unqualified, and those dangerous and unpredictable students put ponies' lives in danger," Neighsay said, putting a bit of venom at the word 'students.'

Wait, what did he just say?

"Wait, hold on," I said, grabbing every creature's attention, including Neighsay's, "What do you mean by that last part?"

"I mean that on the day I came here to check out this school, those students attacked the school and almost got ponies hurt," he said.

"Is this true?" I asked as I turned to the others with a worried expression. Ocellus eyes widened at my question.

"It was an accident! I swear!" she cried out, "We would never do any harm to any creature!"

"Oh please," Neighsay said, pointing an accusing hoof to Ocellus, "As if anypony would believe you out of all creatures. Changelings have been known as masters of deceit and trickery for generations."

"I want to say that sounds cool, but the way he said just sounds offensive. At least now I know what Ocellus's species is called."

I glanced at Ocellus and saw that she was on the verge of tears. Oh god, oh god. Please don't cry.

"But the Changelings are reformed now," Starlight said, "They no longer need to deceive or trick any creature."

"Look...Neighsay, was it?" I said, "Maybe it really was a big whole accident after all. And if you can't believe that, then at least consider the possibility. And I would appreciate it if you apologized to Ocellus."

"I don't need to apologize to any creature, and I don't need to consider the possibility!" Neighsay shouted, "The fact is that these creatures are a danger to Equestria, and this school was supposed to defend it from them! They don't deserve friendship! It should be for ponies only!"

This straight up pissed me off. This guy...this fucking guy...actually had the audacity to say aloud that non-ponies are dangerous and that they don't deserve to have friends. All because they didn't have the same culture as ponies. All because they didn't have the same look as ponies. All because they were different from ponies. It's reasons like these that there was so much conflict in Earth's history. Thousands, probably millions of people slaughtered or sold as slaves all because they were different. I looked at Neighsay with a look of pure rage.

"Okay, that's it. Now you went too far, YOU SON OF A-" I yelled as I started to walk forward, only to be interrupted by a hoof on my shoulder. I looked back and saw Princess Celestia with a look of concern.

"Hold on. Please. I'm sure Princess Twilight Sparkle has a good explanation for all of this," she said, to which I looked back at the racist bastard and scoffed. I swore I heard Princess Celestia give a sigh of relief.

"I do. It's true that my school is EEA unaccredited," Princess Twilight said.

"Look. She said it without doing the eye thing," I heard Spike say.

"Then, it is NOT a school!" Neigh-racist said.

"It's not an EEA school. It's a friendship school, with its own rules. I should know, I wrote the book," she said before placing a really big fucking book at Neigh-racist's hooves.

OH SHIT! Take that Neigh-racist!

"These students reminded me that every friendship is special," she said pointing to all of us, "So the way we teach has to be just as unique. My school is gonna do things differently."

"Allowing all of these creatures to attend your school? Changing the rules...for them?! It simply won't work!" Neigh-racist yelled.

"Can you actually shut the fuck up so I can at least tolerate you? I don't know. Maybe."

"I seem to recall something about earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi doing something similar," Princess Celestia said as she flew next to Princess Twilight, "Don't you?"

"Yeah! Tell him Princess!"

"I promise you Chancellor. My school will protect Equestria," Princess Twilight said.

"Or destroy it!" Neigh-racist said menacingly before he went back through the portal, to which every creature cheered.

"And don't come back," I said aloud before going into a whisper, "Din lilla fitta."

Now that I think about it, you also said "jegilal" earlier. Didn't Princess Celestia specifically ask you NOT to swear?

Yes, but nobody heard me...I think...I hope. And even if they did, they don't know what it means. It's big brain plays, just swear in another language.

"Hmm. How is this school gonna be any different from last time?" I heard the old griffon scoff to which Princess Twilight gave a wink.

We all entered the School of Friendship and...

This brand new School of Friendship...

"Wait, what?"

...is home to everyone.

We're learning how to trust.

We're here to all have fun.

Where is that music coming from?

Are we...are we singing now for some reason? Is that what's happening?

With friendship ties that bind us.

Tighter than the strongest bonds.

Yep...we're singing. Well...more like they are. Sounds nice though. I would've joined, but I can't sing without lyrics and I'm a terrible singer. I'm just...I'm just gonna step outside.

Are you alright man?

Yes and no at the same time. Yes because this place is nice and magical and whatnot, but no because I now know that this place isn't as peaceful and harmonious as I thought it would be.

I know. That Neighsay's a bitch.

Heh. Yeah. He totally was, but Twilight's a princess. She doesn't have to listen to some...what did she say...EEA to stop her from running a school in order to help others. And also, what gives that guy the right to be a part of his cult or whatever. He closed the school because non-ponies were attending it, for fuck's sake!

Then again...he also said that it was disorganized and the teachers were unqualified.

*Sigh*...true, but just...look how it is right now.

I looked around and saw student's mingling, laughing, hanging out, all with smiles on their faces. It was pretty much like my school back on Earth, only Earth had a lot of teasing and joking around. It was quite nice.

"U-um, Legion?"

I turned and saw Ocellus, as well as the rest of her friends, walking up to me.

"Oh hey," I said, "What's up?"

"We just couldn't but notice you sitting here all alone," Ocellus said.

"Yeah! It's no fun being all alone and not hanging out with friends," Silverstream said.

"S-sorry," I said, rubbing the back of my head, "Just thinking."

"Do you...wanna talk about it?" Sandbar asked.

It was silent for a few seconds before I finally started talking.

"When I heard about Ponyville, as well as the School of Friendship, I just thought it would be a nice place to visit, and then I would continue traveling Equestria. Simple as that. But after seeing you, your professors, and...pretty much everypony else, how they all got along with each other so well, I realize...Ponyville is much better than I imagined. But when Chancellor Neighsay said that you..." I said, pointing at Ocellus, "...were deceiving us and caused accused you of hurting ponies on purpose, well, it angered me. I'm the kind of pony that doesn't like it when my friends cry, especially because of other ponies. What really ticked me off though was when he said that non-ponies are dangerous and don't deserve friendship. It's stuff like this that causes division, then conflict, then eventually...others get hurt, in one way or another."

I turned away from them in order to hide my sadness. Now, I'm not one that can easily cry unless I guess, someone close to me dies, and even then it's not heavy sobbing. Just a few minutes of tears, a few light sniffles, and that's pretty much it.

I then felt a hoof touch my shoulder before I saw Sandbar with a smile on his face.

"Well, you don't need to worry about that," he reassured me, "Ponyville is probably the friendliest place in all of Equestria, and with the School of Friendship, I don't doubt it's gonna be even better. It's how all of my friends, including you."

"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.

Heh. It actually would've, but thank god Princess Celestia was there to stop us, or else things would've gotten ugly. But regardless, these guys already consider me a friend, even though we're all so different. Maybe...maybe Princess Celestia was right. Maybe I will fit in. I made up my mind at that point.

"I've decided," I said.

"On what?" Sandbar asked.

"I'm going to attend the School of Friendship."

Author's Note

Again, I did not expect for this chapter to be this long. I admit, the ending sounded a bit rushed, but I still think it's pretty good.

Also, I totally did not go to the mlp wiki to find out the name of the colors the characters are.

Now I actually have an important announcement to make. I've been thinking about for quite some time, and I've decided. I decided that two major parts of the storyline will be changed. I ask that those who decide to see what I'm changing not to spoil them in the comments. Please. No one likes spoilers.

So here they are. Here's the changes.

Shimmy Shake will no longer be the focus of the romance part of the story. Mainly because she only appeared in one episode of MLP, so it's kinda hard to write about her.

The mysterious figure that worked with Sombra won't be revealed...yet...to add suspense I guess.

Chapter 17: Dissolution of Magic Part 4

Previously on The Adventures of the Apex Legion

"You know, I know Neighsay isn't racist towards ponies, but I'm kind of surprised he didn't lock you up as well, seeing as we're both close to the others, " I said.

"I just hope the others aren't too mad," Sandbar said with a droop of his ears.

"I'm sure they'll understand once you explain it to them," I reassured as I put a hoof on his shoulder.

"Yeah," he said, "Anyway, we need to get the Cutie Mark Crusaders so they can convince Cozy to distract Neighsay so we can break the others out."

"Yeah...about Cozy..." I said, "Call it paranoia if you will, but I don't think we can trust that filly."

"What? Why?" Sandbar asked before he remembered something, "Wait. Ocellus told us that you stayed behind to check out what's beneath the catacombs. What did you find down there?"

"I...I found Counselor Starlight," I said, which made Sandbar gasp, "She's fine, but she's trapped in some kind of...magical orb. I wanted to save her, I really did, but...I couldn't."

"Why not?" he asked.

"I'm just saying dude. I could just punch the door down," I said as Sandbar and I walked outside the school, "I think it would be a lot more cool."

"Yeah. No. I mean, it would be cool, but no. I think it'd better if we do something more...discreet," Sandbar said with a crowbar in his hoof.

"But do you even know which window we need to open?"

"I...um..." Sandbar stopped in his tracks as we looked at all of the windows that were on this side of the building alone, "...oh."

"And I don't think we have the time to just check every single window. Nor do I even want to," I said, "Luckily, I can just use my magic to listen for our friends voices. Just give me few seconds."

"Pfft. I bet you're just saying that because you like~ him. And I mean like like him," I heard Smolder say.

"W-what?! I...I don't know what you're talking about!" Ocellus yelped.

"Ocellus, come on. It's just that obvious. Right guys?" Smolder asked, to which I heard voices of agreement.

"Does...does Legion know as well?" I heard Ocellus ask with a shaky voice.

"Nah. We all promised not to say anything," I heard Gallus answer, "I think the real question is how does Legion not know that you like him?"

...

"W-what?"

The Adventure of the Apex Legion

Written by DeffBwade

Chapter 17: Dissolution of Magic Part 4

"Did...did I just hear that correctly? No, I mustn't have. Surely my hearing is just a bit wonky right now," I thought.

Who was I kidding though? I heard my friends loud and clear through the power of plot convenience. Er, I mean my magic.

Now I'm good at keeping a calm expression (probably the reason why I can be a good liar towards my parents) and pretty much just hiding my feelings. So on the outside, I held a calm and neutral expression. But like I just said, on the outside. On the inside, though, I was in shock. Disbelief. Hell, you could say I was in denial. Because I was.

Ocellus...has a crush...on...me.

I mean...how do I even respond to-

"Can you hear them?" Sandbar interrupted my thoughts.

"Hm? Oh, yeah. Yeah," I said as I got my head out of the clouds, "They're over here," I said as I walked over to the window.

"W-well...maybe Sandbar just said what he said so he and Legion can snoop around and find out what's going," we heard Silverstream say as Sandbar pried the window open with the crowbar.

"I don't know," Sandbar said as he opened the window and climbed inside, "That sounds too clever for a couple of ponies to come up with."

Yona, being the lovable yak that she is, put on a face of glee and hugged Sandbar. And by 'hug,' I mean she fucking tackled him to the ground like a WWE superstar.

"Yona knew ponies were still our friends!" Yona exclaimed.

And his name is John Cena!

Insert the John Cena music here.

Actually, fuck it. Put in the John Cena meme for the haha funny.

Anyway, I looked into the room and indeed, all of our friends were in there, and sitting on the bed was...Ocellus.

"Okay. Stay calm Legion. It's just Ocellus. You've known her for almost a year at this point. She's your friend...who just so happens to like you and wants to be more than a friend. Wait, no. Stop getting nervous! STOP GETTING NERVOUS!"

Remember when I said I'm good at keeping a calm expression. Well, sometimes barriers break.

I started to sweat a bit as my expression turned from calmness to one of nervousness. Thank the stars that my knees didn't start to wobble, or that my cheeks didn't start to blush.

"Oh fuck! She's looking at me!" I mentally panicked as I noticed Ocellus's gaze had turned towards me.

I hastily climbed inside the room.

"As if we're just gonna leave you guys," I chuckled, trying to shrug away my nervousness. I then put on a serious expression, "Listen, we have reason to believe that Cozy Glow isn't who we think she is. I'm like 95% sure that she's responsible for magic disappearing."

And the remaining 5%?

That she's completely innocent and that I'm a retard for accusing a child for what's basically the magical equivalent of terrorism.

"What?!" my friends gasped.

"We'll explain on the way, but right now, we got to get to Chancellor Neighsay," Sandbar said as he-

Wait. What did he just say?!

"Huh?" Gallus asked out of pure confusion.

The others had confused expressions as well. Same could be said for me.

"I don't wanna talk to Neighsay," I deadpanned with an angry face.

Okay. Mine was more out of animosity.

"I know he doesn't like non-ponies..." Sandbar explained as he started climbing out of the window.

"No shit Sherlock."

"...but if we tell him what's going on, he'll help."

"I-I kind of doubt that, but okay," I said as the rest of us proceeded to climb out of the window.

"Besides, I trust you Sandbar. So if you say that some racist asshole will help us, then...I guess it wouldn't hurt to ask."

I decided right then and there that I'll think about what to do regarding Ocellus having a crush on me once this whole thing is over...no matter how much I want to talk about as soon as possible.

...

Why do I have a feeling it's gonna be a shit show?

Morning has finally come to Equestria, and the students of the School of Friendship were all gathered up in the lobby for some announcements. Imagine some of their skepticism when they found that Chancellor Neighsay, the very same pony that tried to shut down the school, was the one to make the announcements.

"I am sure you're all concerned about the magic situation, but I want to ensure you that this institution is safe, despite the absence of your headmare. As your new headstallion, let me be the first to ensure you that the reign of Princess Twilight is over!" Neighsay said with a stomp of his hoof, "From now on this school will adhere to EEA doctrine! As it should have from the start!"

The only response the chancellor got was confused muttering among the students. What does this all mean?

The sound of clapping hooves brought the chancellor's attention to the pinkish filly that was floating next to him the entire time.

"Thank you Chancellor Neighsay for that rousing speech," Cozy said with a puff of her cheeks, "I know you're a stallion who truly believes what you say. And when you say you'll run the school according to EEA doctrine, I know you mean it."

Cozy then flew down to the other students.

"And..." she continued, "...when you say there won't be anymore lessons from the Princess of Friendship at the School of Friendship, I guess you don't mean that too."

The muttering from the students made Cozy smile. So far, so good.

"That's not exactly-" Neighsay tried to explain.

"But!" Cozy interrupted, "Twilight decided to run her school outside of the EEA guidelines, and even though you tried to stop her, Princesses Celestia and Luna trusted her enough to support her."

More muttering from the other students. Almost there.

"W-well, I wouldn't say-"

"So since I know what you mean what you, my question is really for the students," Cozy pointed to the crowd, "Are we gonna give the pony who already tried to wreck Twilight's school once...another chance to do it?"

Now the students started to protest along with Cozy. Hook, line, and sinker.

Without even turning back to Neighsay, Cozy gave out another smile, but this time it was one filled with smugness. Being a cute, little filly, it was very easy for her to deceit and manipulate other ponies. And she should know that.

After all, it was how she became the top student in the first place.

"I guess things will have to stay as Twilight wants them, which includes leaving me in charge," she said.

As if the students were all thinking the same, all of students ran forward and carried the Chancellor away.

As the crowd carried Neighsay through the halls and towards Headmare Twilight's office, one of the janitor closets opened up, revealing Legion and the others hiding.

"I was...not expecting that to happen," Legion said.

"Maybe we need a plan," Sandbar said.

"Oh. Oh, not too tight. We don't wanna hurt the chancellor," Cozy said before she locked the chains that were currently binding Neighsay to the chair, "I'm sure Twilight will know what to do with him when she gets back. Now back to class everyone. We let the EEA disrupt our friendship studies long enough."

Once the last of the students left, Cozy Glow closed the door and turned around to see Neighsay trying to struggle out of his binds.

"Why are you doing this?" Neighsay asked as the filly floated up to him, "I thought you wanted to have somepony in charge of this school."

"Oh, I do. You just aren't the pony I had in mind," Cozy said as she took out a box filled with knick knacks, before she saw what the chancellor was wearing. She then removed the medallion from him and threw it in the trash. She wasn't a fool. She knew that was no ordinary medallion.

In hindsight, though, it probably wasn't the brightest idea to just throw it in a trashcan that was located right next to her little prisoner. Oh well. It's not like anypony is gonna save him. And sooner or later, that medallion is gonna become useless anyway.

"I can't very well have the EEA run the school if I wanna run it myself," she said before placing a picture of her cute self on the desk, "After all, I worked very hard to become headmare in the first place," she said in a more serious tone, "I once learned a long time ago that if you want something, you can't just ask for it or wait for it to be given to you because you've been a good little pony. Oh no sir. If you want something, you just take it for yourself! But in order to do that, you need power. Nopony could say 'no' to a powerful being after all. And if there's one thing I learned here, it's that friendship is the most powerful thing there is. And I'm not gonna let anypony get in the way of my hard work of procuring that power!"

Cozy then took a deep breathe.

"Golly. That got intense," Cozy giggled, reverting back to her cute and innocent demeanor, "Anyway, I got to get back out there. So many friendship tasks to do and whatnot."

She then proceeded to leave, leaving Neighsay to struggle on his own. As she walked out of the door and down the hall, she stopped and looked over her shoulder, swearing she heard something. When she didn't see nor hear anything else, she shrugged and proceeded to walk down the hall.

"That kid...is very troubled," I thought as I saw Cozy walk down the hall.

What I heard in there, however, just gave me more assurance that that filly is responsible for magic disappearing. She wants power. Magic is power. Therefore, she wants magic. Enough said.

Once I saw her turn the corner, I unshrouded myself and opened another janitor closet, revealing my friends. I nodded my head towards the headmare's door and then walked towards it. We opened it, and lo and behold, Chancellor Neighsay was chained to a chair. He was hopping towards a trash can, for some reason, I don't know.

"I wanna put on a smug face so bad."

You and me both.

"Oh. Wonderful," Neighsay groaned as he noticed us, "I suppose you've all come to gloat."

"Oh, you have no idea."

"Actually, we've come to undo all of these chains and free you!" Silverstream said ecstatically before she started fiddling with the chains, with Sandbar trying to tear off the lock.

"B-but why?" Neighsay said. Couldn't really blame him for being confused.

"Now that nasty pony met even nastier pony, maybe nasty pony not be so nasty," Yona smiled before she-

"Holy shit! Why's she charging at him?!"

Yona stopped dead in her tracks before she impacted him and then used one of her horns to pick the lock, freeing Neighsay from the chains.

"Oh, never mind."

Yona then pushed the chair over, shattering it to pieces.

"Don't know why she did that. I-I mean...he was already free, but...whatever."

"And also because we kind of wanna stop Cozy before she drains all of Equestria's magic," I said.

"She's behind that as well?" he gasped.

"I'm 99.99% sure of it," I said with a smile of confidence.

Oh for God's sake.

"I must get word to Celestia and Luna," Neighsay said as he started searching through the pile of papers that have fallen to the floor due to the trashcan falling over.

"How? Without magic, it'll take forever to get to them," Sandbar said.

"And Discord must've lost his chaos magic at this point. But why is my harmony magic still function-...o-okay. I swear, the more I say 'harmony magic,' the more dumb the title sounds."

"While it's true that unicorns have lost their abilities to cast spells, the most potent magic in Equestria is housed in our..." Neighsay explained before he found...some kind of medallion, "...artifacts," he then put on said medallion, "The EEA Medallion allows me to travel throughout Equestria. It's magic worked when I chained you up."

"Gee. Way to bring that back up."

"Perhaps it still has enough to send me to the Princesses."

After a few taps to the medallion, sparks came out of it and traveled to Neighsay's horn, causing it's orange aura to appear. He then summoned a portal and proceeded to walk towards it. Before he walked through, however, I could've sworn his face shifted to one of...regret.

"I hope he makes it," Ocellus said with worry as the portal closed.

"I hope he doesn't come back and lock us up again," Smolder said.

"If he comes back," Gallus said.

"Everything's gonna be fine," Silverstream exclaimed with a smile, "Twilight and the others are probably already on their way."

"Let's hope so," I said...before I remembered something, "Wait guys. We're not done yet. There's still one more pony we have to free."

"Why pony lead us back down here?" Yona asked as she and the others climbed into the catacombs.

"Because I don't know what'll happen if we simply wait for help to arrive. And I don't know if I wanna find it being a bad thing," I explained, "So like I said, there's one more pony we have to free."

If I was being honest, I would've avoided coming back down into these catacombs at all costs due to the negative atmosphere it gave off. Hell, I still felt the negativity down here. However, I did make a promise to Counselor Starlight that I would come back to save her. That is if I can. I'm literally thinking of a plan as I'm going along.

As for the others, they didn't seem to be feeling what I was feeling. That's...good...I think? Most likely.

We finally reached the open area where Counselor Starlight was trapped in and I was suddenly hit with a wave of negativity, sending a slight shiver up my spine. And yes, ponies have spines. I think.

"Oh! I guessed Starlight! Is it Starlight?!" Silverstream asked excitedly.

"No it's Robert Downey Jr.-...what the fuck is Yona doing?!" I thought with wide eyes as I saw the yak in question hurriedly approaching the trapped mare.

"Counselor pony, come out! We need help with nasty pony," Yona said as she continued to approach.

Even though the others couldn't feel the negativity in the environment, I was worried what would happen if they approached the source. Not giving a fuck that Counselor Starlight was watching, I flew down and blinked in front of Yona and stopped her from coming any closer. Doing so however brought me closer, making me more uneasy.

"Don't get any closer!" I yelled, "Sorry. Just...just don't get any closer. Whatever this is orb thing is...it's emanating some kind of...negative energy. It doesn't seem to affecting you guys though," I said as I looked at the others, "None of you are feeling...angry...right? Sad? Scared?"

"A little scared, but not angry nor sad," Ocellus answered, to which the others, sans Gallus and Smolder, agreed.

Well that confirms it. You're a special case.

We then split up a bit and observed each of the artifacts that are...presumedly siphoning the magic.

"Hey! This is just like chapter twelve of Kept Facts of Artifacts in Twilight's class." Gallus said with a smile, only to drop as we all stared at him, "Oh for Grover's sake. Finals are coming up, okay?!"

"Actually, I remember that too!" Ocellus said proudly (and cutely) as she took out a book from...somewhere, "Cozy must've used these artifacts to act like a mystical magnet. Attracting all of Equestria's magnet into that orb."

"But what is this orb for exactly? This glyph must mean something," I said as I looked at said glyph.

"Who cares? We can shut this thing down by yanking one of these out, right?" Smolder asked as she was about to grab one of the artifacts.

"Sure..." Ocellus answered, interrupting Smolder, "...though that would probably cause a magical feedback loop and destroy the whole school."

"Wait, what?" I asked, "I'm sorry, but when you say 'destroy,' do you mean...like an explosion or...or what?"

"Probably an explosion," Ocellus answered.

"Well crap," I said.

Destroy the school with probably an explosion? Fuck man. That's...we definitely don't want that. I mean this school is huge after all. Not only that, but I've had so many fond memories here. Most of them are obviously about hanging out with my friends. And I'm sure they, and every other student here, have fond memories as well.

"And what would happen to us if there actually was some kind of explosion?" I asked myself.

"Ocellus?" I asked, catching the changeling's attention, "If we did take out the artifacts and there actually was a feedback loop, would we still bring magic back?"

Ocellus stroked her chin a bit in thought before replying.

"I...believe so," she said.

So either we just let magic in Equestria disappear or we take a risk saving it.

...

Fuck it.

"I say we grab the artifacts then," I finally said, causing the others to gasp.

"But Legion, didn't Ocellus just say-" Sandbar began asking, before I interrupted.

"I know what she said! But we either take a risk at saving Equestria's magic, or we do nothing and let magic disappear. It's your choice," I said, causing the others to think about it, "Sometimes in life, we just gotta take a leap of faith."

The others didn't say anything. Not that I could blame them. I don't want to blow up the school either, but if we even have the slightest chance at saving Equestria, I say we take it.

Eventually, they made their decisions and nodded their heads, albeit with a bit of hesitation, but at the same time there was confidence.

As the Avengers once said in End Game, whatever it takes.

I guess at that moment though, I was being too hopeful. Before the others can so much as touch the artifacts, they suddenly froze, causing their eyes to widen.

"Guys?" I asked after a couple seconds.

"What the?! I can't move!" Gallus exclaimed, the others practically saying the same thing.

"Neither can I!" Smolder said.

"What's going on?!" Sandbar asked.

I tried to run up to them, but I couldn't move either, as if I was frozen in place. It was then did I notice that the others and I were embedded in red auras.

All of a sudden we were all flung away from the giant orb and forcibly kept to the ground, not even being able to stand, not matter how much we struggled.

"Oh dear. And just when I thought I was actually starting to like you all."

"Fuck. That voice," I thought as I looked up...and saw a familiar filly slowly walking up to this, a small smile adorning your face.

"Cozy Glow?" I asked as I continued to struggle.

"Surprised to see me Legion?" she asked smugly.

It was then that I looked closely and noticed something about her. I could feel some kind of aura emanating from her, and it sent more chills up my spine. It felt...dark...evil.

Not only her demeanor was different, but her eyes as well.

Instead of their usual moderate scarlet color...

...they were blood red.