Chapter 13
Game On
It will a peaceful, quiet afternoon in Ponyville. Not a single cloud was in the sky as the warm sunlight shined from above. At Golden Oak Library, Twilight was feeding Solana in her high chair, while Flareon and Spike were playing checkers. Suddenly, the front door flew open as a panicked Rainbow Dash came flying inside.
"Flareon! Twilight!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, "Discord...is...is...in Ponyville!" Soon after, Flareon and Twilight hurried outside as Rainbow Dash rushed to get the others. Later on, they found Discord in the park. He was floating in the air while drinking a cup of tea.
"Hold it right there!" Flareon yelled as they confronted Discord, "Alright...what are you planning? Going to send another train to kill us?!" After Discord finished drinking his tea, the cup is his hand disappeared and he landed on the ground before them.
"I'm here because I have left Alexei, " he replied as a violin appeared by him playing a sad tune, "I've decided to give up my mischievous and chaotic ways and become good." Discord fell to he knees and began to beg with puppy dog eyes. "Can you find it in your hearts to forgive this kind and gentle dragon...please?" Flareon, Twilight, and their friends looked at each other perplexed. Was Discord really telling the truth?
"I don't know," Rainbow Dash said, "Can we really trust this guy?"
"I think we should give him a chance," Fluttershy replied, "He did after all say please."
"Ok...fine. We'll give Discord a fair chance," Flareon muttered. Discord quickly stood up in joy and began to dance.
"Thank you everyone!" he happily said, "I promise you won't regret this! How about we play a game to celebrate our newfound friendship?!"
"I love games!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, "What kind of game are we going to play?!" Suddenly, a mischievous smirked spread across Discord's face.
"How about this one?" Discord replied as he snapped his fingers. At that moment, the ground before them began to glow, and a portal appeared. Soon after, they were sucked into the portal and disappeared. As Discord laughed manically, he jumped into the portal after them. A few seconds later, the portal slowly closed and vanished. Not a single trace of Flareon, Twilight, their friends, or Discord was left behind. Later on, they began to wake up in what appeared to be a dungeon.
"Everyone ok?" Flareon asked as he rubbed his forehead.
"I'm ok," Twilight replied, "More importantly...where are we?" At that moment, words suddenly appeared in the air before them.
"Discord's Delightful Dungeon?" Rainbow Dash read, "What the heck does that mean? Wait...where did Discord go?" It didn't take long before they realized what just happened. They had been tricked by Discord and fell into his trap. "I told you guys we couldn't trust that lying weasel!" Suddenly, a voice appeared behind them.
"Lying weasel? I'm absolutely appalled! I thought we were friends?" the voice replied. When they turned around, they saw Discord standing before them.
"Alright Discord! What did you do? Where are we?" Applejack exclaimed.
"I'm proud to present Discord's Delightful Dungeon! It's an RPG-style game I made where you guys will battle monsters, solve puzzles, and endure traps. All while exploring this dungeon like characters in an RPG video game! Now...doesn't that sound fun?!" Discord said.
"Forget it Discord!" Flareon yelled, "We aren't playing your stupid game!"
"You don't have a choice. Unless you play and beat this little game I set up, you will be stuck here forever!" Discord replied as he laughed mischievously. At that moment, Rainbow Dash lunged at Discord, but amazingly, she went right through him. It turns out the real Discord wasn't here, the one before them was just a hologram. He then began to wave his finger at a baffled Rainbow Dash. "So sorry, but you don't get to face the final boss until to make it to the last level! Now then everyone...pick your character class. After you do, that door over there will open up and the game will begin! Also...please do me a favor and don't die before you make it to me...ok? I want to have the honor of killing you all myself!" As Discord laughed manically, his hologram slowly disappeared. Soon after, words began to appear in the air again that read 'Attention players! Please choose your character class from the following: Warrior, Archer, Mage, or Healer. Flareon and Rainbow Dash chose Warrior, Twilight and Rarity picked Mage, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie decided on Healer, and Applejack chose Archer. The Warriors got swords and armor, the Mages got robes and staffs, the Healers got nurse outfits and med-kits, and the Archer got a body suit made of leaves and a bow with arrows. Everyone also got a leather bag to put their items in. After they have made their final choices, the door before them opened.
"Ok everyone," Flareon said, "Let's get to the last level, kick Discord's butt, and return home." After everyone nodded their heads in agreement, they began to walk towards through the door, which slowly closed behind them. No matter what, they had to beat this game. There's no telling what could happen to Ponyville if they didn't return soon. They continued to walk down this dark corridor as the flames from the torches on the walls lit the way. "I don't mean to brag but, I'm an expert at RPG games. In Dungeon Explorers Ultimate 4, I reached level 189 and racked up 300 hours total play time. I also beat the game on the hardest difficulty." Sadly for Flareon, no one was paying attention to him, however, they did listen when he told them their battle strategy. It was to protect Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. They are the most important members of the team since they have helpful healing abilities. Flareon and Rainbow Dash would be in close combat with their swords, while Twilight and Rarity would attack with magic from mid-range, and Applejack would shoot her arrows from long-range. It was their job to protect the Healers. Their game plan was quickly put to the test when they suddenly found themselves surrounded by monsters. The monsters ranged from wolves, goblins, and gargoyles. They soon got to work fighting the monsters. A couple of minutes later, Rainbow Dash's body began to glow. "Rainbow Dash! You can use you special ability now!" Flareon yelled.
Rainbow Dash then charged at the monsters as she reared back her sword while yelling, "Super Rainbow Slash!" She easily cut through all the monsters as a rainbow trailed behind her. After the defeated monsters vanished, she exclaimed, "Oh yeah! Did you see that? My special move is totally awesome!" Soon after, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie restored everyone's health. They quickly continued through the dungeon. Eventually, they found themselves in front of a large door and went through it. After the door closed behind them, the torches on the walls lit brighter, and they found themselves in a room filled with white tiles on the floor. Suddenly, the tile before them turned purple and the one after it did the same as a trail of purple tiles made a trail all the way to the other side of the room. A few seconds later, the titles turned white again. It seemed that this was a memory puzzle. Unfortunately, the purple tile trail didn't last long enough for Flareon to remember all of it. Rainbow Dash tried to fly across the room, but she was stopped by an invisible force field. It seemed Discord wasn't going to let them cross that easily. Twilight then stepped forward and smiled.
"Don't worry everyone! I got this!" Twilight said as she stepped on the first tile. After it turned purple signaling it was correct, she continued across the room, hopping on tile after title. Eventually, Twilight made it all the way to the other side. After she stepped on the last tile, all the tiles suddenly turned green as a bing sound echoed throughout the dungeon room signaling they had successfully solved the puzzle. Everyone quickly rushed over to congratulate Twilight. As they turned to face the door, words suddenly appeared on it saying 'Level 1 complete'. Even though they had made it past the first level, they knew it wasn't over yet. The next level was most likely going to be harder. The door then opened revealing a stair case. Everyone quickly ran up the stairs as the door slowly closed behind them. Level after level they battled monsters, solved puzzles, and had to deal with traps. One trap was that dealt with involved Flareon and Twilight getting affected by a confuse spell. They thought thief friends were monsters and attacked them. Eventually, Rarity was able to preform a spell to heal their ailments. Unfortunately, the damage everyone sustained required Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy to use some healing potions to restore their health. Not only were they running out to healing potions, they were running out of energy potions to restore their depleted spell bars. They had to hurry and make it to the final level. As they were walking though a corridor on level 5, Fluttershy accidently stepped on a trap. The floor before her opened up and she fell through it. Unfortunately, they were unable to save her. As the floor panel closed back up, Rainbow Dash was desperately trying to use the end of her sword to bust through it.
"Rainbow Dash stop! It's too late," Flareon said.
"We have to do something!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, "She's all alone by herself now! What if something happens to her?!"
"Don't worry...I'm sure she'll be fine," Flareon lied, "We just have to hope we end up meeting her somewhere along the way." As a reluctant Rainbow Dash followed after them, Flareon was beginning to worry. Not only was Fluttershy their healer, if her life bar went completely red, she would die. Flareon shook his head as he tried to get rid of that thought. Meanwhile, Fluttershy was slowly walking through a hallway.
"I hope I find the others soon," she muttered. Soon after, Fluttershy a treasure chest on the left side of the wall. After she opened it up, Fluttershy said, "Oh...what's this? An item? I've never seen one like this before." She picked it up and put it in her bag. "I have to hurry...the others are counting on me. I can't let them down!" As Fluttershy ran through the hallway, she suddenly found herself in front of a stair case. "Ok...here I go!" Fluttershy exclaimed as she quickly began climbed the stairs. Back at Flareon's group, they were standing at a door that read 'Beware! Final Boss Ahead!' This was it, all they had to do was defeat Discord, and they could all return home. Unfortunately, they were still missing a key member of their party.
"What are we going to do?" Applejack said, "We only have one Healer. Can we beat Discord without Fluttershy?"
"We have no choice," Flareon replied, "Either we face Discord without Fluttershy or we go back and look for her, but if we do that, then we would be in danger of using up the last of our items. It is never a good idea to face the final boss with no items." After everyone agreed to face Discord, they opened the door, and went inside. After the door closed behind them, the torches on the way become brighter, and they found themselves in a huge, circular room. The floor was made of red carpet and on the walls were gold framed paintings...all featuring Discord. Suddenly, they heard clapping. When everyone looked ahead, they saw Discord walking up to them.
"Congratulations!" he exclaimed, "You managed to make it to the final level! I have to admit, I was worried there for a minute you wouldn't make it here after your dear friend Fluttershy disappeared. Such a shame she isn't here to watch you all die!"
"Shut up Discord!" a furious Rainbow Dash yelled, "After we beat you, we're going to look for her!" Discord quickly began to laugh at her.
"You...beat me?" he replied, "I would love to see you try!" At that moment, Discord began to grow bigger and bigger until his head nearly reached the top of the ceiling. "Now then...shall we begin?"
"Ok everyone! This is it!" Flareon yelled as everyone got into their positions, "Let's win this battle for Fluttershy!" Soon after, the battle against Mega Discord began. Right off the bat, everyone attacked Discord at the same time, but even with six combined attacks, it didn't seem to faze him much. Discord simply laughed at their weak attempt and slammed down his right hand on them. Everyone managed to evade just in time as a giant crater was left in the spot where Discord's fist hand landed. A couple of minutes later, Discord was beginning to figure out their battle strategy. He then shot a huge fireball towards Pinkie Pie.
"Pinkie Pie! Look out!" Flareon yelled as he flew towards her. As he pushed her out of the fireball's path, it hit him directly on his side. The force of the fireball was so powerful, it sent Flareon crashing into the wall.
"Flareon!" Twilight exclaimed as he fell onto the floor. She then turned to Pinkie Pie. "Quick...heal him!" As Pinkie Pie desperately ran over to an injured Flareon, Rainbow Dash angrily flew towards Discord.
"Super Rainbow Slash!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she reared back her sword. Unfortunately, Discord easily anticipated Rainbow Dash' attack as he turned and used his left claw to swat her away. As Rainbow Dash was sent flying into a wall, Flareon told Pinkie Pie to go help her. Things were beginning to look very bad. Not only did their normal attacks not work, not even their special abilities had any affect on Discord. They had to do something before all their health bars turned completely red.
"Oh no!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she finish healing Rainbow Dash, "I'm out of health potions!" At that moment, Discord began to smile and laughed manically.
"What's that? No more health potions? Well then...I suppose this is the prefect opportunity to show you my special ability!" Discord yelled. Suddenly, he reached out with his right claw. "Chaotic Thunderbolt Storm!" As everyone looked up, they saw thunder clouds appearing above them. Soon after, they were hit by a barrage of thunderbolts that rained down from the clouds. A few seconds later, they were all seen lying on the floor. Their health bars barely had an inch of green left. Was this the end? "Oh dear...was that attack to powerful?" Discord chucked, "I'm so amazing I scare myself! Time to end this once and for all! Flareon...tell your dear pal Nova for me that I was the one who killed you!" As he prepared to finish them off, a hole in the ceiling suddenly appeared, and Fluttershy came falling out of it. After she landed on the ground, Fluttershy looked around to see her friend's depleted health bars, and the giant Discord.
"Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash muttered, "You're ok!"
"Oh no!" Fluttershy yelled, "You're all injured!"
"Ah...Fluttershy. I'm glad to see you finally made it. Once I finish off your friends, I'm going to kill you!," Discord replied as he smiled and laughed. At that moment, Fluttershy took the item she had recently found out of her bag.
"This is the only item I have left. I hope this helps," Fluttershy said. Suddenly, Discord's eyes widen in shock.
"No...that's impossible," he exclaimed, "How...how did you find that?" It turns out Fluttershy had found an ultra-rare item called the Super Full Restore. It was an item that fully healed an entire party's health and spell bars. After Fluttershy activated the item, everyone's health and spell bars quickly went from red to green.
"Thanks Fluttershy!" Flareon said. He then turned to a baffled Discord, "I think it's about time we showed you how powerful a special attack can really be from seven ponies combined! Soon after, everyone began to glow as they gathered power.
"Fusion attack...Ultimate Holy Light Pillar!" everyone yelled as the ground below Discord erupted as white light shot up towards the ceiling, completely engulfing him. As Discord screamed in pain, the room started to become distorted, and soon after, a bright flash appeared. Later on, Flareon and the others awoke to find themselves back at the park in Ponyville. Discord was nowhere to be found.
"We...we did it!" Twilight exclaimed, "Wait...where did Discord go?"
"Who cares?" Rainbow Dash replied, "He probably ran back to Alexei with his tail between his legs after the whooping we gave him!"
"I have to admit...even though it was a trap set by Discord, I actually had fun back there. Except for the almost dying part," Applejack said. As everyone began to laugh, they soon decided to continue their activities before they had confronted Discord. After everyone went their separate ways, Flareon and Twilight headed back home to Golden Oak Library. They sure had an interesting story to tell Spike when they returned.