//------------------------------// // Chapter 9 // Story: The Centaur Conspiracy // by 5u0myn0n4 //------------------------------// Amber looked up at the tall imposing castle. She wasn't entirely sure how just yet, but she knew she could definitely get inside and save her family. She looked at her hoof, and realized she still had the flamethrower taser arm. That with her magic powers she had. She figured she was more than capable of staging an uprising. Even more so, she realized that she could twist it to control how spread out the flame was. She tightened it, and focused the flame to a thin strand of hot flame. She applied the focused line of fire on a window, and secretly melted it off its place. She then jumped into and began her lurking inside the castle. Amber continued to lurk and sneak through the castle. She had discovered narrow passages that she was barely strong enough to squeeze through. Pulled herself through with her hooves, and sometimes with her magic if she found herself stuck for a moment. Thankfully she wasn't claustrophobic, so getting stuck for a second or two didn't send her into a panic. She saw light beaming through an opening. She peeked her head through, but was unimpressed that it was just an ugly dragon and an old pony with a long frizzy green mane. Not that there was anything wrong with green, but this mare had definitely gone overboard. Sludge and Mane-iac heard some crawling in walls, but didn't pay too much mind. They had found the castle's treasure room, so they were mostly occupied with the piles of gold coins they found. But Mane-iac was weary by the sounds of hoofsteps in the walls. "Do you hear something? I sense there's someone watching us. Someone with a condescending attitude." Mane-iac said. Sludge didn't seem to care. He was simply enamored by the piles of wealth. "Wow, look at all this gold!" Sludge said. "I could get used to this." Sludge fell backwards, and laid on a pile of gold coins. Mane-iac picked up a single gold coin with one of her hair strands. "What do you plan on spending with your stash of stolen coins?" Mane-iac asked. "Spending? You mean, the exchange of my gold coins for services and goods? Asses to that. What could possibly beat the shiny golden luster of these gold coins? Pah." Sludge said. "Well, I'm going to use my share to buy myself the parts needed to rebuild the Hairspray Ray of Doom, and take over the nearest metropolitan area." Mane-iac said. "You sure that's what you want?" Sludge said. Sludge and Mane-iac made their way through the castle with sacks of gold coins in tow. Though they were having trouble retracing their steps through the complicated hallways. "This isn't the way we came in. I don't remember seeing all these books earlier!" Sludge said. "Books you say?" Mane-iac asked. "Look at this." Sludge started pulling books from the shelves and recklessly tossing them to the floor. "The history Changelings! The history of Grogar! La historia de King Sombra! Complete junk. I'm hanging on to a few of the ones with colorful pictures though." Mane-iac picked up the Sombra book that Sludge had tossed away. Inside she saw an illustration of a young and dapper King Sombra, with a beautiful mare named Radiant Hope. She was enamored by their beauty. Even if she felt she was still the prettiest mare of all. She then picked a different book at random, and opened it up. Inside was a wide picture of an army. The Storm King's army. Waves and lines of large beasts in dark armor. Stood proudly in the front row was Commander Tempest Shadow, cloaked, and adorned a metal helmet, obscuring her whole face. Mane-iac wasn't sure if Tempest was a pony under all that gear. Maybe that was the point. The Storm King himself, and his loyal minion Grubber. In the background was a fleet of massive airships, adorned with the same two lightning logo. Out of the book fell a handwritten note. Mane-iac picked it up, and read the bad handwriting on pencil written scratch. I sit here waiting to hear back from my most trusted soldier, Commander Tempest Shadow. She promised me the greatest power in Equestria, but so far has only delivered disappointment. Our invasion of Mt. Aris ended in failure. Commander Tempest promised me the magic pearl belonging to the Hippogriffs. However, upon arrival, every single one of the hippogriffs fled the mountain, beyond where we could follow. And they took the pearl with them. With nothing to show for our efforts, I gave Commander Tempest a nasty scolding. That is when Commander Tempest presented to me a Plan B. Commander Tempest insisted that there was more powerful magic still to be had. The magic of the four alicorn princesses. The most powerful beings in Equestria. Commander Tempest insisted that our army could catch them by surprise, and overwhelm their defenses. This staff I'm holding here, the Staff of Sacanas (whom we acquired during a previous raid) could be used to hold the four alicorns' magic, and make me the most powerful King in the world. That is the hope. Commander Tempest and Grubber's fleet are on their way to their capital Canterlot as I write on this note here. I expect to hear back from them soon. And it better be good news. For her sake. Mane-iac gulped, and slowly closed the book, and put it back gently. "Whoever lives here sure has been studying up on evildoers. I could never live up to any of the villains on these pages." Mane-iac admitted. "Don't be hard on yourself. I'm sure Equestria isn't ready for the Hair Spray Ray of Doom." Sludge said. "Oh please. That's nothing compared to a centaur who eats magic. Or an entire hive of love hungry bugs. Or whatever power this Storm King guy has." Mane-iac said. "...Should we help Grogar?" Mane-iac asked. "Whatever you want, I can give or take the grouchy old ram." Sludge said. Meanwhile, Amber was getting tired. The excessive use of magic, and her muscles was wearing her down. She got overwhelmed, and forced herself to stop, and take some deep breaths. What if you can't do this? You can, you just have to give it your all. But is it worth giving it your all? What if something happens to you? Cozy Glow said she wanted me to be safe. If I save her, but sacrifice myself in the process... no, I can't do that to her. She said we would stay together. "By golly, we are all leaving this place alive! I am going to save you, and not die myself in the process!" she exclaimed. Inside the castle's throne room, the trio were held prisoner, awaiting the next part of Storm King's mysterious plan. Cozy Glow was trapped in the mirror, and Tirek, and Chrysalis were chained and imprisoned in the main throne room. "I'm sorry I messed this up." Cozy said. "What do you mean?" Tirek asked. "This isn't your fault." Chrysalis said. "I know but, if I had planed things a little differently, he wouldn't have gotten a jump on us." Cozy said. "I'm the master of manipulation. I can't believe he got the jump on us." "Come on. You've gotten out of tighter situations, and outsmarted tougher creatures." Chrysalis said. "This Storm King guy ain't nothing. We'll get back at him" Tirek said. "Yeah, but things aren't looking good right now. I'm trapped in this mirror. Tirek's lost all his magic, you can't use your magic, Chrysalis. I should've known our pristine lifestyle wouldn't last." Cozy said, tearing up. "So you would've rather not ventured Equestria together?" Chrysalis asked. "No. Far from it. I'm happy we went on this journey together. Traveling Equestria and seeing everything with you guys, and with Amber. Really has been the adventure of my lifetime. I wouldn't trade it for anything. And I wouldn't have done a darn thing leading up to this moment any differently. I just don't want this to be the end of us." "I share your thoughts likewise." Tirek said. "When I came to Equestria, I never dreamed of seeing myself making friends with anypony, let alone falling in love. But my time with you, Cozy, has opened up my eyes." "I clung onto vengeance and hatred for so long. I wanted to take out all my fury on Starlight Glimmer, and her friends for stealing my hive. But what I was blind to at the time, was how much happier every Changeling was, much better off they were because of it." Chrysalis said. "Working with you guys felt so good, I just didn't want to admit it before. After we were freed from stone, I just assumed you two were going to go back to our old ways, but from that point on, deep down personally, I wanted to stick with you guys. Discord said together forever, and you know what, being with you guys really made everything worthwhile." Cozy said. Cozy Glow's eyes watered, as she further recapped her time with her friends. "I wasn't sure what trajectory we were on during our search for the Rainbow of Darkness. I was 50/50 on whether we were going to stick together once we found it, or if we would use it, crush our enemies, and go our separate ways like we planned with Grogar's bell originally. But hearing from you two that you were waiting patiently for my word, and my plan before using the Rainbow of Darkness, was a hint that working with me truly meant something to you guys, as it did me. I'm happy we stuck together through everything and have remained friends. I love you guys." Cozy said. "We love you too, Cozy Glow. Say, Cozy. Do you know why I attempted to jump into that swirling vortex with your spirit?" Chrysalis asked. "I think I realize the reason now, but you're free to explain in your own words." Cozy said. "Shortly before Tirek and I made it to that basement, I stopped at the Changeling hive. I tried one more attempt to take back my hive. But upon seeing my children fighting amongst each other, it was too much to handle, so I gave in, and agreed to help them raise a new queen. That's when I gave Ocellus my royal jelly. It would grow her into a queen at the cost of my life. With my time ticking, I saw the only fitting thing to do was have all of us lost to oblivion. But you wanted things to be different than last time. You saw an opportunity to set us free." "I wanted you guys to live happily, and raise Amber." Cozy said. "Even if I thought I was done." "So even though I knew my time was limited, I wanted you, in what we all thought was your final moments, to believe Tirek and I were off to live happily." Chrysalis said. "I'd was darned though, we didn't even know you had a sister up until that moment." Tirek said. "It was a chore and a half trying to find her after that." he said, in a joking mood. "And that's what happened eventually anyway, right? Discord brought me back, and we all got to live our most happy and ideal lives." Cozy said, weeping. "I just hope Amber's okay." Cozy said. "I know she's tough as me, which is to say she's tough as nails, and can fend for herself. Still, if anything happened to her..." "I hope father's okay." Tirek said. "Seeing the lengths this Storm King will go to. I dread to think of what he did to take over the castle." "What do you think happened to everyone? King Vorak? Queen Haydon. It's been a long time since I've seen either of them. What will they think of me?" "That you're friends with a pony?" Chrysalis asked. "Not just that. I can only imagine the utter disappointment they must feel. Having their son locked in Tartarus for all those years. I mean, it's not like they wanted me to take over Equestria. That was more my idea, and not one they were particularly fond of. Fueled by rage against my brother Scorpan. Maybe it's best they aren't here to see their disappointment of a son." Cozy Glow wept. "I wanna climb out of this mirror and give you a hug so badly. *sniff* And tell you, that I don't think you're a disappointment *sniff* At least you didn't flunk out of school because you got in a fight... *sniff* and get flung out a window and confiscated by child protection agencies and put in a hospital... *sniff* with no memory of your parents..." Cozy said, weeping. "What kind of imbecile would that happen to?" Actually, Cozy's story and Tirek's have more parallels that she's giving credit for. Chrysalis thought. Cozy banged on the mirror. "I'm gonna give that Storm King a piece of my mind once I get out of here!" Cozy exclaimed. "I'd watch what you say! Lest I be picking up pieces of you!" shouted the Storm King, as he entered the room. "Get it? Pieces? In case I decide to shatter you. Be it stone, or in a mirror, it seems you're destined to be immobilized, and vulnerable to vandals." "You leave her alone!" Chrysalis exclaimed. If you do anything to her, I'll do it to you, ten fold!" Tirek exclaimed. "I decide my own destiny from now on, Storm King! And I will get out of here, and run you out of Tirek's home castle!" Cozy exclaimed. "Ooh. I'm so scared of your empty threats." Storm King said. "You should be scared! I defeated the father of monsters, Grogar TWICE!" Cozy shouted. "Oh, you mean THIS Grogar?" Storm King said. Storm King pulled a chain, and brought in Grogar. "This chump? This weakling? You think beating him was a heroic feat? Pah!" Storm King exclaimed. "Oh, I'm so scared! You defeated Grogar!" "Grogar?!" they all exclaimed simultaneously. "Grrr. Cozy Glow." Grogar snarled under his breath. "If I had the strength I'd..." Grogar looked up, dazed. And saw the trio of Cozy Glow, Chrysalis, and Tirek, captured by Storm King. "Who are you anyway? How did you..." Grogar struggled to say. "How did I do the thing you failed to do? Simple. I outsmarted them. It was easy." Storm King said. "Work smarter, not harder. Brains over brawn and everything." Storm King laughed and sneered seeing his plan coming together. "Now, let's do one more head count here. There's me, the best villain. There's Lord Tirek, Queen Chrysalis, Cozy Glow, the father of monsters Grogar makes 5. And the Crystal here containing the essence of King Sombra makes six." Storm King said. *gasp* "King Sombra?!" everyone exclaimed. "Yes. Don't ask me where I got the dark crystal of Sombra's horn. I had to jump through quite a number of hoops to bring him here, but he's here regardless. And it's going to be a key player in unlocking the ultimate power!" Storm King said. "So now that everyone is here. Let's not waste any further time padding this out, and get on with business." Storm King pressed a button he was holding and up out of the middle of the ground came a pedestal. "It's time for, the epoch of The Storm King."