Finding an opera house around the lair had proven fruitless. Since it was something only the upper classes enjoyed, it was only ever really around Canterlot. I was going to walk right into the heart of enemy territory and just sit there for a couple of hours. Honestly, this was not a good plan. There were so many things that could go wrong with this, such as an accidental confrontation with the alicorn sisters. Though I would be more than capable of beating them, doing so would draw Tirek to me like a moth to a flame.
I assumed a rather different disguise. White fur, slicked-back orange mane, blue eyes and a laughing mask for a Cutie Mark. Never assume the same disguise twice. With my preparations done, I quickly flashed to a nearby train station using my power of teleportation, and bought a ticket, While I was on the train, I plotted and schemed.
Truthfully, my entire plan hinged on just three simple facts- firstly, that Celestia and Luna assumed that I hadn't gotten any stronger while I had been sealed in Tartarus. If they assumed I had gotten stronger, then more stringent checks would be preformed on citizens. I might need to acquire a passport while I was here.
Another important fact I needed on my side was that Celestia and Luna would not inform the general public of my and Tirek's existence. If a pair of incredible threats to my entire species were just walking around, I wouldn't keep it quiet, I'd have the guards poking and prodding into every garbage bag they could get their spears into. Then again, Celestia and Luna were just queens on my chessboard, and grossly underestimated their importance. If there was one alicorn I would describe as the most dangerous, it would be Cadence.
Love is truly more powerful than the sun and moon. I had given the matter intense consideration and concluded that if Cadence was ever pushed, then the power of Love would truly become one of the most terrifying magical powers to exist here. Love makes people do crazy things. It transcends space and time, and it can cause wars in its name. And Cadence understood the dangers of love, and never really used it to its fullest potential. But I would gain that power in a short amount of time. I would just wait for the opportune moment.
My last assumption? That they assumed I would be far too smart to even come near their mountaintop city. I'd already come there, they knew that much. What they wouldn't expect was for me to come again, in a disguise. I'd never really shapeshifted around them, so they didn't know that I could even do that. Mostly, I'd used my lightning and plasma powers to completely nullify most of their arsenal.
When you have forty-two powers to freely utilise, you spend a lot of time working on them. I'd spent almost all of my sentence training my powers, until they were so finely tuned that I would have eventually broken out on my own. I waited for the moment of opportunity, and I took it.
While the train powered me and my fellow passengers to my destination, I mentally poked, pried and levered information from their heads without them even noticing. A couple did glance up in confusion, but that was about it. I absorbed the information about the new bearers of the Elements of Harmony from a pony reading a newspaper. Apparently, they had vanquished Cerberus and returned him to its prison. No mention of any escaped prisoners. I mentally smirked. Celestia and Luna were just as predictable as ever. Cadence less so; so far I hadn't the faintest clue as to her whereabouts, any alliances she may have made, anything useful and tangible. The only thing I even had was a rumour from a vaguely noble Canterlot pony, which was about the scandal of Cadence looking at the Captain of the Guard in a strange way.
I filed the information away for safekeeping. Might be useful for bribery or future consultation. Whatever the case, I would have to think about it.
The train eventually stopped at Canterlot, and I quickly disembarked. I hurried through the city, acting completely natural while I pulled directions out of the heads of other ponies. Eventually, I had a map of the entire city in my head, and I quickly filed the information away. By repeatedly reinforcing the memory, it was now burned into my genius-level brain.
I eventually encountered the Canterlot opera, and through a minor suggestion on my part and a fair amount of money, I was able to enter the next opera in a private box. The opera in question? I glanced at the program and burst out laughing, before turning it into a cough as the ticket-seller glared at me. I took another look at the schedule and chuckled.
The fall of Teridax.
The irony did not escape me. I was actually pleased that I now had an opera made of my life. Were I anybody else, that would be enough. But of course I wanted more. What other course of life could I take, now that I was a ten foot tall giant robot that could shapeshift? Quite a few, but I really wanted a lot more than I had, that was for sure.
So I sat in my box, and I plotted. I kept an ear out for the music. Quite good, though a bit too light and cheery for my tastes. As I watched my opera-version of me sing in an impressively deep bass, I drifted into a semi-coma state where my brain whirled over my plans for Twilight Sparkle. She definitely existed here- she was the leader of the Elements of Harmony, the current Element of Magic.
I frowned. Hang on. Was I seriously contemplating her as a person? I blinked, then shook my head. If I got pity for her, that would endanger the plan. No. From now on, It was to be referred to as an object, in case I got pity for It. Regardless of Its status now, the chances of It becoming the repository for the alicorns' magic was about 90 percent likely. If Tirek moved when he had enough strength, that is. He was likely going to strike earlier, and with considerably less caution than he might have possessed.
So, It would likely be called up to the duty of taking all of the alicorns' magic. Truthfully, I hoped that they would pour all that power into It. If they did that, then my entire plan would go off much easier.
I had originally planned on hunting down each individual alicorn and absorbing them into me, but that plan had quite a few holes. Firstly, it meant leaving my position and taking one of the alicorns, which would either drive them into hiding or cause them to attack me. Neither option was good. Secondly, I would need to absorb and quash three separate, millenia old minds into my own, which would cause me considerable psychic strain, thus allowing these 'Element bearers' to gain the upper hand. Or, as they would say, 'upper hoof.'
The thought of six inferior beings managing to defeat an immaculate and majestic being such as myself galled me. How dare they? How dare they even think of defying me? With a mental cough, I reigned my temper back in, though my righteous and divine fury still coursed through me. No, Tirek provided the perfect opportunity. The alicorns, in fear of Tirek taking over, would call It so that they could give It their power. It would then go to its home of Ponyville. Then, I could wait until the climactic battle between It and Tirek...
And eat It. By absorbing It, I would both negate any possibility of alicorn retaliation, but also negate the Elements of Harmony by absorbing their leader. Though by all accounts Its mind was quite powerful, It was still young. I would crush it like a bug, and then I would have all of Its knowledge and power.
I grinned. All I had to do was play the waiting game now, and wait for Tirek to gain his full strength. And in the meantime, I had a few ancient superweapons that I wanted to get rid of...
.................. terixdax, sorry to say this, but both of them are miles beyond you.
Teridax VS Super Twilight(that's what I call Twilight when she absorbs the other alicorns' magic)
Sounds badass.
I really hope this story doesn't just end with Twilight defeating Teridax through the power of friendship or through the folly of Teridax's arrogance. I want Teridax to win; there really aren't enough stories where the villain wins.
4618475 I agree.
The main flaw is that he'll have only a very small window to enact his sceme, after that window he'll be dealing with Freakaziod wannabees.
waiting for more
And Teridax's master plan is both outlined and catalogued. Equestria is doomed.
4618528
He will win. Don't you worry about that. I have plans for how he'll be beaten in the sequel.
I like his form of think
4619085 Casting a Shadow 2 confirmed!!!
4619085 wait there will be a sequil?!?! *head explodes*
4619085 YOU JERK! YOU SPOILED THE SEQUEL! NOW THE UNIVERSE IS GONNA EXPLODE! *drama*
4619085
HOLD UP HOLD UP HOLDUP
Beaten?
BEATEN?
NOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Also, does Teridax know of the events of The Kingdom? (Basically, he knows that when a Makuta absorbs another being, he needs to crush its will or else it'll take over, right?
4620029
yes
he actually said that.
He actually needs to crush wills.
What's easier- three ancient minds or one, inexperienced mind?
I have to say, it's nice to see Teridax actually working on his plans, and to see what he has in store for Equestria, rather than him simply 'placing down his summon sign' and seeing who bites.
4618433 Actually, due to the saccharine nature of the MLP universe, they know not what true power is. Hell George Bush would probably warrant the use of the EoH, for the sole fact that he's a politician. They're almost as evil as lawyers.
Good chapter, though Teridax is still rather weak to some of my OCs, primarily Captain Overpowered and The Janitor. Captain Overpowered because fuck you. And The Janitor because he is the one who cleans up everything, which is why he has an especial hatred for Pinkie Pie and Superman.
4620406 Oh no, they know true power. It is what holds the world together, not what can break it apart.
Besides Teridax is probably roughly the strength of a Regal Sister....... he's screwed.
4620480 You're one of those faggots that thinks celestia and luna are gods. Well shocking news to you buddy: Only in some universes. But the equestrians literally know NOTHING of true power. They have not witnessed the destructive powers of nuclear fission, they have not seen a gun, they do not even comprehend the baser laws of reality. How can a race that knows next to nothing about the inner workings of the universe possibly know what true power is? The answer: They don't. Hell, much to my chagrin, not even the Supreme and Ultimately Flawless Human Race knows not what true power is... Yet. A day will come, maybe not tomorrow, maybe not next week, but some day, Humanity will be a race with power unending, and then I will laugh and laugh and laugh, because the Ponies are noobs.
4620491 .........Why is this site full of deranged lunatics?
You seem to forget that Teridax is even less of a god in comparison. He is only a creature, if a powerful one.
Also why understand the baser laws of the universe when you can just bypass them?
4620513 Because in order to bypass them, one must first understand them? Think of gaining omnipotence like robbing a bank: If you stumble in blindly, you're going to get either shot or tazed. If you learn everything you can about your target bank, you can draw up a plan with the highest rates of success. In other words, if you can understand the base principles of the universe, you can figure out the fastest and most efficient route to bypass them. Also I am not a lunatic, I am a humanist. Homines superiores sunt.
4620519 Heil Humanity!
4620542 *Gives MiiaTheLamia a cyber high five* Indubitably. This pony worshiping misanthrope clearly needs to be taught his lesson. Unfortunately that goes against site rules. So they shall be permitted to live, for now.
I like his plan! I hope he wins xD
...And then both auric fulcrum and pyramid head notice his plan and "Intervene". And then everything goes horrendously, hilariously, and terrifyingly wrong.
(I'm talking Life and Times of an Alchemist Turned Pony and Ten Thousand Tortured Souls Scream My Name by Thadius0 and SCP Pinkamena respectively for the character sources.)
4620157 Wait, what three minds? I thought Teridax only had one.
Also, please don't make Twilight "have a stronger will through the ""magic" of "friendship""".
MOAR! NOAW!
4621841
Celestia, Luna and Cadence.
Absorbing three minds, even f he dominated them, would cause considerable mental strain on him and would weaken him considerably.
4621258
Yes, I know about them. Teridax doesn't.
Actually, Pyramid Head would hate Teridax with a passion. If there's one thing Teridax isn't, it's humble.
4618475 I agree with ya
4622270 Could you pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease put in at least part of the opera?
Please?
Oooooominous.