//------------------------------// // Chapter 18: Anon vs. The Storm King // Story: Dadonequus Discord, But It's The MLP Movie (And still doesn't have Discord) // by CrazedLaughter //------------------------------// Your room. It was the same as always, as if nothing changed. You didn’t have time to rest, to look over things, to even see if Discord had come back. No, you had a world to save. You rush over to your portal door, it was still set to Canterlot. You jump inside, and appear near the castle. You could hear fighting behind you. You take a look back and see Storm Creatures being knocked around like they were common mooks, it seemed like they weren’t really that good at fighting at all. Wow, maybe everyone could have just charged in after all. But it’s probably best not to think you’ve won just yet, you had to press on. The way was clear as more Storm Creatures came rushing out from other parts of the city rather than the castle itself. That was….rather strange, but you didn't have time to think about it. So you just rushed into the castle, and prepared yourself for a fight. Though, it was strange, the interior of the castle had been changed for sure, there were new banners representing the storm king, new furnishing, even a dark storm blue carpet lining the hallways. But what there wasn’t was guards of any sort. Even as you neared the throne room, there was nothing there to stop you. Tempest was right, this was definitely a trap set for Twilight. You take a deep breath before opening the throne room doors. You had to be calm about this, you had to keep your cool and not get cocky. Everyone was counting on you, so you had to do this as quick and precise as possible. Finally, you open the doors and step inside. The room was much darker than you’ve ever seen it before. The statues of the three princesses still eerily stood in place, the princesses themselves frozen in fright eternal. Banners with the Storm King’s mug were hung on either side of the throne. And sitting on that throne was the big man himself, or….You think it’s him. For some reason, he was in a dark blue cloak and hood. When you stepped forward and the throne room doors closed, the hooded figure made a slight movement on top of the throne as he began to speak “Ahhh, Princess Twilight, welcome.What do you think of the new decor?” You say nothing. In fact, you were rather stunned at what you heard. Could he not see you? Was that even him? Just be careful, and get ready. The cloaked being chuckles “Silent I see. Yes, I suppose being in my presence is awe inspiring.” It sounded like his voice. But goddammit, if you waste this charge. Whatever, it’d probably be good if you got ready, just in case. You grab your horn and put it on your head. “Nothing? Not even a retort against me? Princess Twilight, I would e-” The cloaked figure looks up ever so slightly, and when he does, he lets out a heavy groan. “What is this? Really? A colt? Are you serious? No, just….no. I went through the entire hassle to set up this great big epic final battle and they send a colt?” The cloaked figure chuckles angrily and annoyed as he stands “You know what it is? None of these cutesy wutesy ponies give a flying feather about hard work and art.  And redecorating this place didn’t come cheap either. I mean, I didn’t pay for it myself. But the whining from the slaves when I kicked them around to work faster was just….It was just awful. I swear, I’m gonna have to set up some re-education camps when I’m all done here.” Yep, it was him alright. You focus on Tartarus, that hellscape where Equestria’s worst beings are kept, and close your eyes as your horn starts to glow. “No, seriously. Can we just get this show on the road already. Just go back out there and-WOAH!” The Storm King is cut off by your magic as he is blinked away in an instant. Or so you thought… “Wow! Just, wow! I didn’t even know I could do this. This is cool!” …..wut? You open your eyes….and good fucking christ! He was still there! But even worse, he was somehow holding your magic, which you didn’t even use in a blast, in his hand. But his hand….It was different than what you imagined. Hell, his entire right arm was different from his left. His right arm was of a dark pale blue, long and outstretched with skin like wood and thorns coming out every which way. His hand had long protruding claws while his palm had a blue orb glowing with high intensity as it held back your magic. All this contrasted with his normal monkeyish looking left arm. “And he goes for the crush, and BAM!” The Storm King crushes your magic as if it was a ball of mush. It causes it to explode into multi colored cinders as the blow back causes his hood to come off. And...oh good lord. WHAT THE FUCK?! The right side of his face was as fucked up as his arm. It had black veins and patches of the same wood-like skin all over it. And his right eye was yellow with a burning red pupil, not unlike….Oh no. WHAT HAPPENED!? Now you had to say something. “W-what?! What happened? How did you? When did...WHAT HAPPENED?!” The Storm King looked to his claws as he flexed them a few times “Heh, still works” He then looks to you with a rather calm smile on his face “Kid, I don’t even really know myself. But you gotta relax, take it down a notch. I mean, I know I got a little annoyed myself. But did you see that? I’ve become a lot more powerful than I thought I did, it’s real top notch stuff. It really helps the mood when you know you’re pretty much as strong as a deity, know what I mean? Nah, course you don’t…..wait” He takes a few steps towards you as he narrows his eyes at you “You look familiar…..wait!” He snaps his fingers and lets out a quick laugh “Ha! You’re that kid my former commander beat up! Wow! Ok, let’s rewind things a bit because I think I know what happened. But first, considering that magic you shot at me, I have to ask a question.” He reached under his cloak and pulled out...YOUR CARDBOARD WINGS?! And yet, they looked faded and drained. Goddammit! How?! Didn’t Tempest have them?!...Or...did she never pick them up? What did that have to do with anything anyway?....good god, you were confused. The Storm King cackles as he puts the wings back under his cloak, he then waggles a claw at you “Aha! I knew it! They do belong to you! Well, that really does explain everything. Tempest, Tempest, Tempest, my gal, even when you’ve turned your back on me, you still do me proud. Oh yeah, You know what? I have an idea! I want her to be a part of the showdown along with that poofy purple princess. I think working that ‘thanks to you’ angle would really help sell the story, don’t you think? Yeah, of course you think so. Everyone loves a little drama. I mean, that’s how I became like this….With drama I mean. See, when I found out about my little pawn turning sides and my plan about to be in ruins, I tried rushing things a little. Yep, I tried taking these majestic morons’ magic to try to compensate for the fact that I was about to be assaulted by a bunch of losers. But nope, wouldn’t work, no matter how hard I tried. Then I saw those wings. I gave em a kick, they flew in my face, and I kinda lost my cool and tried stabbing the staff into it for a bit of a stress reliever. And wouldn’t you know it? Freaky things happen and the next thing I know, I’m looking like this and I’m sporting some pretty awesome power over here. And after blocking your powerful magic? Wow, I think we can all agree I’m unstoppable now.” You only paid him half a mind as you snapped to your senses and grabbed your horn to place it on your head once more. All you needed was an extra shot while he was monologuing and you’d be straight. “Yeah, everything's falling into place. Speaking of which...HYAH!” The Storm King points his claws at the ceiling, sending a burst of wind right over you. The blast was so strong it was able to smash some of the ceiling into rubble and...OH SHIT! You try dodging out of the way, but the debris falls right on top of you. You fall flat on the floor as your body and your legs are pinned by the rubble, you could barely even turn your head. “Ohhhhggghh…” You look forward as you regain your senses...goddammit, he reacted quick. “Wow, attacking me while I’m not paying attention? Good on you, kid, but I don’t appreciate it.  I mean, here I am giving you my awesome story and you use it to try to stab me in the back.” He then stops and begins to ponder “I remember when I did that to my dear old Dad, what an idiot he was, huh? HAH!” He laughs as he jumps back and points his normal hand like a gun at you while he winks “Still, between you and me, it was a pretty good try. Anyway, on to some business. I need an unbiased focus test and you seem like the type of kid for the job. So tell me….GGGRRYYAAAHH!” The Storm King crosses his arms and yells. And then, when he leans over, gigantic pale blue storm colored wings burst from his back as they rip his cape to shreds. These wings were demonic in nature, and fueled with the power of the storms as bolts of lightning randomly shot out from them every which way. “Check it out! Pretty awesome, eh? Thanks to you and Tempest, I’ve become a powerful,terrifying, ruthless, and HIGHLY MARKETABLE demon.  C’mon, you can’t tell me you wouldn’t buy me as an action figure. This is the coolest thing you’ll EVER see….actually, this might be the last thing you’ll ever see. But I’m not a guy to nitpick at details like that.” You were just struggling to get out. Fuck, you couldn’t screw up here. You couldn’t lose to this fucktard. Everyone was counting on you! NGH! DAMMIT! WHY! YOU DID EVERYTHING RIGHT! AND YOU STILL LOST?! GOD FUCKING DAMMIT! But even with all your rage, you just couldn’t get loose. The Storm King could see you weren’t even going to bother answering him “Ugh...kids these days have no respect. Whatever, I’m bored and I really REALLY just want to get to the main event already. Of course, for that to happen now…” Suddenly, he points his glowing palm at you. A giant ball of wind slams into both you and the debris, capturing everything in a small orblike vortex as it slams you and the rubble halfway through the wall. The pain was excruciating, not just from the slam, but from the pieces of ceiling that collided into your body as you were sent backwards. You could barely move at this point. The Storm King lets out a small cackle as he walks over to you and grabs you by the head, yanking you from the wall as he turns and starts to walk towards the balcony behind the throne. “C’mon short stuff. I gotta go wiggle you around a little til the fishes bite.” And so, you failed. The Storm King walked out to the very edge of the balcony to look onto the current battle going on below him. He was confident, without a care for the situation or his soldiers. All he wanted was his grand finale. And so, he held you up, and called out to all.