Drums went off in my head as I prepared my first move. Like in a trance, I slightly tilted from side to side, my head bobbing almost unnoticeably even to myself. Rhythmic beat inside my head didn't cease, instead it kept all other thoughts out. No one and nothing will distract me from coming out a victor today. This is what I've been waiting for a long time since my arrival. And now, I have a chance to prove that I deserve to become a ruler.

The first turn was Inanna's. I tried to use her special mind controlling abilities to take control of one of Discord's units, but none could be controlled. They are completely immune to this spell, it seems. Or are they genderless? It may be so, especially if taking into account the chaotic nature of these creatures.

Well, I think I need to use gating to turn this game's tide in my favor. Activating the ability, I selected a place next to Inanna. A hexagram appeared on the tile, and soon a very familiar incubus stood at her side, blinking in confusion.

"What is going on?" Seran asked, looking around in puzzlement.

"We've gotten ourselves in the game of the Prophet." Inanna explained to him quickly before she returned to watching the battle.

Both their voices were too quiet, tuned out for me to divert too much of my attention to them. I was focused on figuring out my next move. I must be careful and thoughtful.

Hundreds of thoughts went through my head: Discord's possible moves, my reaction to them, his reaction to my reactions. There were so many options for both of us to take, and I don't know his tactics, his strategy yet. I know too little of him to figure out an effective strategy that would work well against him. I need to see how good he is, what type of combatant he is, what skills he possesses. Only then will I be able to have some understanding of what to do to crush his army.

Fortunately, it was my turn again. This time, I control Rainbow Dash. Let's see... The tatzul-wurm comes right after the second turn of the rainbow-maned pegasus. I can use this situation to my advantage. Besides, long-legged rabbits stand on adjacent tiles, right next to the wurm. I can kill two birds with one stone. So, I activated pegasus' Sonic Rainbomb ability, making her fly up and start circling around the battlefield, out of the reach of the enemy. Slowly, she increased her speed.

"Having no control is weird." Rainbow Dash commented before she turned her head to me. "Andromalius, the heck are you doing?! I want to fight, not fly around! Hey, can you even hear me?"

"You can't reach him now." Inanna said. "His mind is completely focused on the battle and strategy. Just the sheer number of thoughts that go through his head makes mine ache!" she winced.

"Doesn't seem like he's doing a good job with all those thoughts." the pegasus huffed.

I have superior initiative still. Now, it's Pinkie Pie's turn. She is a powerful unit, I must use her wisely.

"Wo-wee, time for me!" she said cheerfully. She bounced in place in excitement.

Activating her 'Cannon' ability, I directed it towards the wurm. Rainbow Dash is unlikely to take it down alone. A cannon appeared out of nowhere, and Pinkie Pie used it to shoot at the wurm. The cannon has dealt a massive amount of damage, the wurm was left with roughly three-fifth of its starting health. It shrieked in pain as it took a massive cannonball to its face.

"Yeah, take that! You are no match for my party cannon!" Pinkie Pie laughed.

Now, it's Discords turn. Time to see how he planned this battle to be.

"Well, it's certainly interesting!" he clapped his claw and paw together. "Now, all we need is epic music. This battle is going to be written in history!" he snapped his fingers, and music sounded. Very familiar music. My mind flooded with memories of battles I fought against many people, all these victories and defeats.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9e5XsEIH5hA

As drums kicked in, I felt the power of this music coursing through me, empowering me.

Oh yes...

Discord sent Minotaur Ballerinas a bit forward, effectively making their reach enough to harm almost every unit of mine. It was expected, however. The Artificial Intelligence does the same in the computer game. And I know how to counter such a strategy.

This is my turn, and now I am controlling myself. I can either directly attack any of his units or cast a spell. Let's see what I have... A spellbook opened before my eyes immediately after I thought about that.

I flipped through the pages, looking at the spells available to me. Divine Blessing, Fast, Slow, Suffering, Lightning... pretty much everything was in there. Though, excluding such spells that summon elements of nature like fire, water, air, or earth. There isn't a 'Conjure Phoenix' spell, too. Hm, when and how will I be able to learn those spells? They can be quite useful in many situations. Sometimes, a summon can change the tide of battle quite drastically.

But there is something new to me... Battle Call. I can summon a random amount of demons from this world's Hell, it seems. I need to reinforce my army, and I will use this spell. Not now, however. I will reserve it for later. If my situation becomes too hard to handle alone, I will call for reinforcement. Until then, I will fool Discord into believing that Seran is the only reinforcements I have.

Instead, I will use teleportation to move the minotaurs to the wurm, away from my troops. Rainbow Dash's attack will crush those three units that stand this close to each-other. Excellent!

"This is becoming interesting!" Discord commented. "For someone so young, you sure know some moves! Maybe, because I have no idea what you're doing!"

I saw my father smiling at me proudly. I winked at him, and returned to the battle. I'm going to win it.

It's Discord's turn. I don't see him too strong of a foe. He seems to underestimate me and... He doesn't seem like he puts much thought into his actions. I patiently waited as he flipped through his own spell book.

"Aha!" he exclaimed and snapped his fingers.

The whole area was immediately covered in soap. Whatever I do now, I mustn't move my troops — the consequences might be terrible. This spell doesn't hurt my troops yet, but it's certainly not good for my army. Otherwise, why would he use the spell?

Now, let's see... Soap is slippery. Perhaps the speed of my troops is now reduced. Or maybe this soap will damage them. One way or another, it certainly connects to movements.

It's Seran's turn. Let's see his stats first, though. Hmm, he's pretty good and deals maximum damage in close combat. He also can... oh my, that is something I need. He can increase attack stats of all units by three until the end of the battle. I think it has to do something with him being a blacksmith.

So, I used his special ability. Yes, that is much better now. Even if it increases the offense only by a little, small things are what make victory possible. Together, small things become a big thing. It's quite simple, really.

It's turn to use Rarity. Fortunately, she's a shooter, and I will make her attack the parasprites. They will take a turn soon, and I must lessen their numbers as much as possible until they are able to do anything to me. A blue bolt shot from Rarity's horn, destroying fifty-three parasprites. Huh, they indeed have a very low health, considering that this unicorn doesn't have any good attack nor spellpower stats. Not to mention that there is a lack of battle spells in her possession.

"I didn't know I could do that..." she commented, angling her eyes to see her horn. Some of the leftover energy buzzed, quickly disappearing.

Alright, here come the rabbits. They shot at Twilight Sparkle. Huh, there's already Deflect Missiles spell on her. Interesting... So, the damage dealt was minimal, barely affecting her hit points.

And it's time to use that unicorn. I flipped through her spellbook to see if she has something truly useful... Hm, Mass Arcane Shield? Never saw that one in the game... Alright, I think it will be pretty useful if Discord tries to take control of my units or harm them in any magical way. So, I made her cast that spell, rendering all of my units immune to almost all magic.

It's Applejack's turn. Can't really use her now. Stand on defense.

Bug-Bears have their turn. They moved closer to my army. On next turn, they will be able to reach almost anyone. I mustn't let that happen.

Here comes Fluttershy. I can't really use her right now either. Defense.

Time for Rainbow Dash. From the skies, she came crushing onto the enemies, breaking the sound barrier. With tremendous force, she created a rainbow-colored nuclear-like explosion that completely devastated tatzul-wurm and most of other units standing too close. There are only six minotaur ballerinas and five chaos rabbits left.

"I didn't see that coming, truly!" Discord said, staring wide-eyed at the remains of his army in... Shock? Soon, his expresion turned mischievous. "However, I still have them!"

Parasprites took their turn, and multiplied greatly, their count almost reaching a thousand. They're a big problem now.

Nevertheless, the morale of my troops raised from zero to one. Rainbow Dash's morale raised even higher, allowing her to have her turn faster. Fortunately, she returned to her place and was out of any enemy units' reach.

"Oh yeah!" she said. "And that's what I call real battle!"

Inanna's turn. Now, time for a direct approach. I made her shoot at the parasprites. She destroyed seventy-three of them, and her chain shot almost killed one bug-bear, absolutely destroyed one minotaur ballerina, and annihilated two chaos rabbits. Not bad.

Seran's turn. I used him to deal the same damage as Inanna did. Now, in addition to sixty parapsrites destroyed, one bug-bear, two ballerinas, and three chaos rabbits were killed. No more rabbits, and there are only three ballerinas left.

Discord's turn.

"Alright, now you're a big problem." he said, huffing in slight annoyance. "Hmm...." he snapped his fingers, but nothing happened. "Huh?" he snapped again, and then looked at me. "So, you predicted this..." his cheerful and careless attitude dropped to zero. "But what about this?" he snapped his fingers. Nothing. "Huh... It seems I have to use this." he grinned mischievously, snapping his finger again.

A sphere appeared above the center of the battlefield. Two disks spun around its center. The sound increased and increased, growing louder with each moment.

Chaotic analog to the Word of Light and the Curse of the Netherworld? Let's see how much damage it deals...

The spell erupted, and most of my army was destroyed completely. I have Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie remaining on the battlefield. All others were teleported into the sphere that holds my father. Alright, that was a pretty powerful spell. Not even the magical shields could prevent it. Well done, Discord.

Now it's getting very serious. With bug-bears and parapsrites on the loose, I may as well expect a defeat.

If not for the spell that I'm going to use later.

For now, it's Pinkie Pie's turn. Time to use her healing others ability. Some hit points were restored, and that's what I'm thankful for.

"Andro, you can do this!" I heard Inanna yelling.

I know I can. If there were no odds of victory, I doubt I would be playing this game of Discord's.

It's Rainbow Dash's turn. She has too few hit points to use her effectively and safely. Instead, she will stay defensive. I needn't sacrifice her in order to win. Besides, she won't be reached. I will save her for later.

"Dammit, I want to fight, not just stand here!" she yelled at me.

Alright, it's Twilight's turn. I used her to cast shield on herself and others. She's a good unit, her protective spells are very strong. Most importantly, they can be cast on everyone. Her mana reserves are vast, too. She is very powerful, even for a tier seven unit. She has a place among heroes, not creatures. It is a mistake on Discord's part, one that will lead to his downfall. I suppose he didn't expect or didn't know her enough to properly balance this battle. I can use his mistakes to my advantage.

But I must remember that he is almost omnipotent, and he is holding back for the sake of the game. Otherwise, I doubt I'd beat him in a fair fight.

The battle isn't over yet, though. I must use all that I have to beat him. Besides, he might still have a few tricks rolled up his metaphorical sleeve.

With enough protection against both magical and physical attacks, my units have a high chance of enduring this battle. However, even high chances can be crushed by one small mistake, one little thing. I must predict Discord's moves and see if he can win.

Bug-Bears attacked Pinkie Pie but barely scratched her due to the protection and her high stats. He used a giant candy cane to smash them to the head, effectively ending two of them. There are four of them left. Still enough to inflict moderate damage on my army.

Here come the parasprites. They flew much closer, and yet didn't reach anyone. Good, that means I have one more turn to obliterate them before they attack.

Time for my attack. Let's see if I can use that spell... The Word of Light. Can it affect those chaotic creatures?

Yes, it can. Time to use it, then. I cast the spell, and a bright sphere of white and gold appeared above the center of the battlefield, disk started spinning around it's center. The light erupted, and it destroyed all remaining bug-bears and minotaurs, and left only one hundred and fifty-three parasprites.

Discord is on the edge of a cliff. I will push him forward to his defeat.

All in all, he wasn't too smart of an enemy. I've seen better, truth be told. He didn't think his attack through nor did he seem to think twice about his decisions. He could use some additional training. Starting with chess, perhaps. Or maybe he just cheated in the games too often he forgot how to play them fairly.

Pinkie Pie's turn. I used her to attack the parapsrites, and she annihilated them in one hit by striking them with a giant chocolate bar. What a humiliating defeat, huh.

"You have lost, Discord." I said in my triumph. "I have won."

"I can't believe it! You're, like, only eighteen!" Discord's jaw literally dropper. He picked it up and placed it back in place. "Alright, alright..." he snorted. "You win." he grumbled grumpily, crossing his arms on his chest. "I suppose I underestimated you, Andromalius. It rarely happens when I'm proven wrong about something. I'll improve my tactic." his cheerful attitude returned. "Alright, time for your winner prize!" he released my father, love, and friends. "First of all, I return all that I've temporarily taken from you." I walked to my group and reunited with them. "And, since you've proven to be a worthy tactician to carry my legacy, so to say, I will give you the prize you so desire.

"You know that my prophecy was created merely for giggles, right? There aren't any artifacts needed to open the prison demons found themselves in. It was never intended to be opened." Discord explained. "My, I'm surprised you discovered the two of the artifacts in the first place! "A" for effort, definitely! And since you were such a good boy, you get a well-deserved reward."

Discord snapped his finger, and our whole group appeared in the large crater somewhere... Hm, I have no idea where. I also noticed that Seran disappeared. I suppose he has returned to Hell.

There are mountains nearby. I'd say... there's at least fifty or maybe even a hundred kilometers between them and us. Kilometers of a completely flat surface. How interesting... Also, this place is radiating with magical energy. Perhaps it is the place where Regnum once stood. Are we at the end of our journey?

"As fun as it was competing with you, I will now go." Discord said, frowning. "Go back to stone... willingly. That way, I'll have time to rethink my strategy with no ponies or their elements bothering me. Besides, my appearance wasn't scheduled until the beginning of the next season." he chuckled. "And if there's someone like you... Well, to be honest, I don't think I stand a chance... yet. You're not just some silly pony. Crossing your path will be dangerous, I feel it. I mean, you had that scary look during the battle!" he shuddered. "Besides, I don't want to spoil the fun. After you actually take the throne, a lot of things will happen. Oh my, so much chaos will ensue! I should stand aside and just watch it unfold. Hey, watching someone making chaos is easier than making it myself, after all. My, your reaction will be priceless! Farewell!" he snapped his fingers, and he was gone.

"He didn't tell how to open the prison." Inanna told me.

"Neither did he say it's impossible." I countered. "I will find a way."

Author's Notes:

Battle with Discord wasn't the hardest neither in reality nor in the game, but who knows what future will bring? He will have to face different foes in the future, some maybe even stronger than him. Will he come out a victor just as easily?

This story will soon come to an end. Soon, the prophecy will be fulfilled.

It's ironical how it wasn't supposed to be true in any way, isn't it?