//------------------------------// // Chapter 19: The Eve of the Final Battle // Story: Dadonequus Discord, But It's The MLP Movie (And still doesn't have Discord) // by CrazedLaughter //------------------------------// He could see what was happening, his soldiers crushed and defeated by a band of misfits.  But the Storm King didn’t care, for he felt his victory was already assured thanks to his newfound power. He held you up high for all to see as he looked down to his adversaries as if he was proud of them. “Hey! Hey! Up here!  I want to congratulate you all!” Whatever celebration your friends would have had was cut short as they looked up to see the Storm King, with you clutched in his tight grip. “Yeah! Hello! I’m the Storm King! Nice to see you all. Congrats on beating my army, kudos to all of you.  Tempest! Tempest, my gal, my conqueror, my little soldier. Gotta say, not really digging this whole ‘mutiny’ thing, gonna look really bad on your resume. But still, credit where credit is due, you all have managed to do a pretty good job. Pointless, but still pretty impressive. Oh..” The Storm King falsely gasps before shaking you about to make sure everyone got a good look at you “Does this kid belong to anyone? He just showed up in my throne room broken and I think I deserve some “royal” reimbursement, if you get my drift.” You were wheezing from the pain as you looked down upon the now stunned group of freedom fighters. Some were shocked, some were pissed, Twilight especially was wondering why the Storm King was there instead of Tartarus…..But then there was Fluttershy. Before anyone could get a word in, she herself went into a rage. A rage beyond anything you have ever seen before. Her eyes even seemed to have flashed red for a moment, as if that malice from her Flutterbat form was taking hold. “HOW DARE YOU!” Fluttershy flew straight up, and looked towards the Storm King with pure unbridled wrath “You...YOU! LET GO OF HIM, RIGHT NOW! OR ELSE!” The Storm King laughed, and laughed hard. He could barely believe what he was seeing. “OH HAHA! You must be his mother. Cute, but not what I’m looking for. Listen lady, all I want is the princess and my old general. And unless you want to become paste, I’d suggest you move along. I got a final battle I want to get to and I really don’t need this kind of distraction.” “Y-YOU! YOU WANT A FINAL BATTLE? I’M GONNA...NGH...I’M GONNA….RIP YOU TO PIECES!” Fluttershy cried out before letting out a tear filled battlecry. Storm King just gives her a bored look as he makes a popping noise with his mouth “O-k then, obviously she’s not listening. Anon, right?” The Storm King holds you by the scruff with his normal hand as he aims his mutant palm right towards Fluttershy “You know what makes a story really epic? A little tragedy, the kind of tragedy that really brings in the masses….” His palm, it was starting to glow...OH SHIT! You come to your senses as you scream out towards Fluttershy “AUNT FLUTTERSHY! GET OUT OF THE WAY! HE’S GONNA-” But it was too late. The Storm King released a fiery bolt of lightning towards the charging yellow pegasus. “AUNT FLUTTERSHY!” You cried out, witnessing the demise of your brave aunt. Or...it would have been her demise. At the last possible second, a rainbow blur came out from the side and careened into Fluttershy. It was in fact Rainbow Dash forcibly colliding into Fluttershy to get her out of the path of the lightning bolt. Both pegasi found themselves crashing back onto the ground. Hurt, but safe from imminent death. The Storm King wasn’t even disappointed, he just looked at his arm with evil joy in his heart. “Wow! Lightning too?! Man, this thing has everything! See kid? This is how you maximize positive gain without any loss. Oh yeah, this is gonna be-..oh..oh haha!” The Storm King giggled as he rubbed the side of his face with his mutant arm “Almost forgot, I have to get the ball rolling.” He then turns back to the group and makes an announcement towards them “Listen here, and listen good!  All I want is the princess and Tempest. Try a stunt like that yellow pony there and I’m just gonna fry the kid til he’s nice and crispy. Oh, and if you both could be a doll, come through the castle’s throne room. I have this whole ominous thing going and I just don’t want to see all that hard work go to waste. I mean, you could fly up here, princess. But then I’d still fry the kid.” It didn’t look like there was any room for debate. It seemed like Twilight delegated some of the group to check on the fallen pegasi as her and Tempest made their way into the castle. The Storm King just looked on as he whispered to himself “That’s right...go right in..hahaha…” He then turns around to wait for the pair to come through to the balcony. As for you, he raises you to eye level to taunt you face to face “You see, kid? I always get what I want.” “I’m...gonna kill you, I swear it.” You say in a low and vicious tone. Trying to zap Fluttershy? No, you wanted this guy deader than dead. Even Chrysalis wouldn’t have dared even tried such a thing. This guy was pure evil. “Woah! That’s a lot of hate you got going there. Wow! Just want me dead, just like that. What are they teaching kids these days, hm? I love it! And here I thought ponies didn’t have it in them for stuff like that” The Storm King found your words impressive, he had never been threatened like that by a pony before. And for a kid to tell him off like that? He found it rather delightful in a rather sick sense. “D-dammit! I mean it! Let me go, and I’ll show you real pain… Or are you too scared to go for a round two with me?” You just needed another chance, one good shot…..and you could end him. “As much as I’d like to give you another pounding, It’s gonna have to wait until after I take over this place. Although…” The Storm King notices your horn, and tries to take it. And although you nearly choke, he’s unable to remove it thanks to Discord’s protective magic. “Ahh, it was a nice thought. Not like I need any extra power anyway.” “STORM KING!” Yells out a familiar voice “LET HIM GO!” You and the Storm King look ahead to see Twilight angrily eyeing him down as she approaches. Tempest was behind her, and she looked more bewildered than angry. Of course she would be, the Storm King’s transformation was something she wasn’t expecting. “Ah! Princess Twilight, by your command.” The Storm King does a short bow before chucking you to the ground, causing you to slide and tumble towards the pair “Oops...sorry, as you can see, I haven’t been myself lately.” “Anon!” Twilight catches you with her magic and brings you close. Her worry increases when she sees just how battered and beaten you looked, “Anon! What happened?! Are you alright?!” It seemed the fact you fucked up was far from her mind at this point. “Twil-Twilight...ngh. I-it didn’t work….That arm...he blocked my magic.” You say in a weak voice. In truth, it was nearly unintelligible the way you said it. “What?! Anon…” She hugs you and holds you close “Shhh, don’t say anything more. We’re here to stop him.” As Twilight did her best to keep you calm and safe, Tempest stepped up to the Storm King, wondering what happened. “...What happened to you?” “Oh this?” The Storm King looks to his mutant arm, then back to Tempest with an uninterested shrug “Not much. Let me give you the short version since I want to get the ball rolling. That whole staff thing kinda went a little bonkers when I tried pulling it off...in fact.” The Storm King pulled out your dulled out wings, and threw it towards Tempest “My new power wouldn’t even exist without you, Tempest. Gosh, even when you betray me, you still do your best to bring me to the top. Funny how that goes, huh?” Tempest looks down at the wings, confused. “What are you talking about? What is this?” “That? Oh, not much. A pair of wings that belong to the kid there. You left it behind after your little smackdown with him. Now, I don’t blame you for not really noticing some cardboard wings, I wouldn’t have cared about them either to be perfectly honest. But it turns out they were filled to the brim with some kind of weird magic. And one thing lead to another, and yadda yadda, and BAM!  Here comes me! Deluxe class king, ready to make all he surveys submit to his super glorious self. Haha! Gotta love it!” Tempest stepped back in utter shock. The wings, she didn’t realize they had meant anything. She could barely even remember they existed. She thought that all the power you displayed had come from your bowtie and horn. Heck, considering the bowtie turns one into a bird, she thought thats where your pegasus wings came from. “That’s..Th-” “That’s what I like to see! Pure horrible realization! HAHAHAHA!” The Storm King cackled as he slapped his knee “You dun goofed, Tempest. Big time! And unluckily for you, I’m not one of those types to offer you a second chance. I’m appreciative of your major screw up, I really am. But when you have a successful brand like mine, you have to know when to cut out the losers who just drag you down.” Twilight gently put you down, she had overheard everything. She was already calculating in her head that the Storm King not only had the other princesses’ magic, but even the power of chaos itself. That’s how he must have stopped whatever magic you used on him. “A monster like you isn’t successful at anything…” Twilight turns and looks at him with a vicious expression “You just take from everyone else like a tyrant, and use everyone as if they were some worthless toy.” The Storm King shrugs “Yeah...and?” “T-Twilight...d-don’t even...bother.” You say in a low whine, trying your best to stand up. “Tempest...don’t let him get to you. He’s a monster. I know his type….Just...beat him already. He’s ruthless, he was gonna hurt Aunt Fluttershy just because....” “He’s right, you know. See, I have a goal in mind. And I’m gonna achieve that goal no matter what. Speaking of which, I think I need to set the mood for this. Can’t have a final battle without a fitting stage, am I right? Yeah, you know I am!” The Storm King steps back as he aims his arm right up into the air. As the orb on his palm glows, the area around the castle darkens as it fills with horrible winds and spinning clouds of storms and destruction. Canterlot itself was now covered in an ever growing dome of clouds most black, with hurricane winds that threaten to destroy the city if they go on for too long. “There we go, much better...Don’t you think?” Twilight wasn’t willing to let it go any further. She gives you one last reassuring look as she jumps up in the air and immediately starts firing magical beams at the Storm King. Unfortunately, much like yourself, he was able to block all of them with ease. Tempest however, was still stunned.Before this had all happened, she felt victory was assured. But as she witnessed the Storm King and his newfound abilities, she was feeling all hope was lost. And it was all her fault. “Tempest…” You say as you drag yourself towards her “Tempest, snap out of it” Tempest slowly turned her head towards you, but still, she said nothing. You could tell, it was the guilt of such a simple mistake leading to the monstrosity the Storm King was now. She could see him toying with Twilight, just blocking every shot as he taunted her. “Tempest...whatever you’re thinking. Forget about it...This isn’t your fault. There was no way you could have known. And even then, it doesn’t matter now! Don’t let this be like it was with your horn. Don’t let yourself think you helped him win! Twilight needs your help! Your friends need your help! Tempest...Please...I need your help. We can’t do this without you…” “Anon..ngh” Tempest looked upon the Storm King as she spoke “I..did th-” “Shut it!” You cry out, damn, was now not the time for this self defeatist shit “Don’t even say whatever you’re gonna say! Fine, even if it is your fault! So what?! If I didn’t screw up with my fight with you, we wouldn’t be friends! We all screw up, Tempest. More than once, even you know that! I shouldn’t have to tell you this! You’re rough and tough and ready to take anyone down! That’s the Tempest I know, that’s the Tempest I became friends with...ngh” You fall flat on your belly as you lose your footing “T-Tempest….You’re my friend, ok? No matter what….and that’s never gonna change. Truthfully, you’re one of the best fighters I’ve ever seen, and like I said many times before….the coolest pony I’ve ever met...so come on, just kick his butt already so we can all have some like...dinner..and we can hang out...and stuff..” Tempest felt a tear break, and flow down her scarred eye. There you were, the friend that broke her out of her dark delusions, the one who she blamed herself for being in the state you were now, and she could see that you still believed in her and cared about her as if it was just another day. She looked towards the Storm King again, and nodded, then looked back to you “Stay there, don’t move, and don’t do anything stupid. I’ll be back.” You let out a soft chuckle as you lay to your side. “Heh, don’t worry. I’m not in the mood to move anyway. Just get in there already, Twilight needs your help!” Tempest nods, and rushes into battle. This was it, the last chance for Equestria.