//------------------------------// // Chapter 94 - Retaliation. // Story: Terraria: Friendship Is Magic // by Pomp-Neigh //------------------------------// -EQUUS, THE CORRUPTION BIOME, CANTERLOT OUTSKIRTS- Tirek was currently having the time of his life as the large centaur continues to combat against the forces of The Coalition all while the monsters of The Corruption have disappeared by Tirek’s request. With every individual that he faced, Tirek would consume the magical energy from the armor and weapons that they wore and wielded; feasting upon the otherworldly magic that lay within. While this didn’t take away the armor’s defence and the effectiveness of the weapons, the loss of Terraria’s magic did take away the “Set Bonus” that the armor offered in addition to the enhancements from the weapons. “Delicious!” Tirek roars out as the centaur has just devoured a handful of individuals from the army before he tosses them away. “You fools fail to realize that your army is nothing but a buffet to me! You’ve lost this fight before it even began!” Tzana and Tempest were currently dodging Tirek’s various strikes but unlike the other members of the army, it would seem as if the two mares were holding back. Even when they did attack the centaur, he in turn would simply act oblivious to them and focus all of his attention on the other members of the army. This was done in a way so that no one else present could take notice of what was truly happening. Nearby, Shining Armor turns towards a duo of yaks who were pulling a large cart with a very particular item that was currently being covered by a large fabric. Smirking, the Prince of The Empire turns to his fellow leaders, Prince Ruthorford and King Domihaus, as he says: “We’ve prepared for our battle with Tirek but he is not a fool. Once he sees what we have in this cart, he’ll no doubt summon the monsters of The Corruption once again to attack us. We can take advantage of him ordering them to stay back. I’ll sneak around while you two keep his attention focused on you all.” “Domihaus likes this plan!” “Yak Prince buy pony time to use secret weapon,” Prince Ruthorford comments as he then turns towards the two yaks who were pulling the cart. “Yak say you two listen to pony. Yaks help pony Prince to move secret weapon. For Yakyakistan!” “For Yakyakistan!” The two yaks reply as Domihaus and Ruthorford head off to contend with Lord Tirek. Firing up his horn, Shining Armor lifts the fabric slightly with his magical aura as he takes on a determined expression and says: “Thank you for retrieving this, Discord. Grogar’s Bell is the perfect weapon to use against Tirek.” -EQUUS, FLUTTERSHY’S COTTAGE- “You’re probably thinking: ‘Good call on giving The Coalition, Grogar’s Bell,” Discord says to you, The Audience, as he was currently lounging on a large blue couch that was positioned within the cottage’s living room. “Well, to be completely honest my reason for doing that wasn’t only to help everyone but to put it bluntly: Fuck Tirek. Yes, I used profanity but it’s ok thanks to this story’s ‘Profanity Tag’. Anyway, he stole my magic so let’s see how he likes it. Now shoo, shoo, go on to the next scene.” “Uh, Discord,” A new voice comments. “Yes, Pomp Neigh?” “Stick to the script and don’t get lazy. More exposition on that would be nice instead of just: ‘I grabbed the bell.’ Seriously, the script is right in front of you!” “Fine, fine. To put it simply: When Lulu and the others discovered Tirek’s escape from Tartarus, she asked me if I knew of any weapon or item that could help them. Especially since the element bearers, not to mention the beautiful Fluttershy, aren’t here anymore. Then I thought:  ‘Me, why not give them Grogar’s Bell?’ ‘Why that’s an excellent idea, me. We even know where Gusty The Great sealed away said bell.’ So, after me and myself conversed, I went to the bell’s hiding place; removed that laughable barrier and retrieved it before giving the bell to Lulu and the others. Does that make you happy, Pomp?” “Wait, you shortened the script?!” Pomp Neigh exclaims with a twitching left eye. “We were supposed to show the audience every little detail about you actually going there.” “Oh come now, Pomp, It’s really as simple as that. I retrieved Grogar’s Bell and gave it to The Coalition. The Audience doesn’t really need to know about how I literally just snapped my lion’s paw and went there in an instant. I’m Discord! If it were anyone else then yes, you’d have to tell The Audience about their adventure and what they had to go through just to grab that bell. Besides, I made a promise to Fluttershy that I’d help everyone while she was gone. You should know, you wrote the story.” Pomp Neigh stares at the draconequus for a moment before The Author shrugs his shoulders and says: “Fair enough. Now, I’d better get going due to the fourth wall’s weakened state.” Pomp Neigh says as The Author then exits the story.  Discord then looks towards you, The Audience, and exclaims: “On to the next scene! And don’t worry, I’ll pretend like you all don’t exist in this reality, my dear readers. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have an amazing scene coming up soon. Tata!” The draconequus then snaps his eagle’s talon and vanishes without a trace.   -EQUUS, THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE, CASTLE DUNGEON- In the dark depths comprising holding cells and crystalline hallways, both Princess Luna and Chrysalis were currently positioned within what was easily the most secluded cell among the many that dotted these depths. There was of course another who was present within the cell, bound and still rendered unconscious: Blueblood. The unicorn stallion was currently chained up against the wall in a bipedal position as his head was limped down onto his chest region. Upon his horn was the presence of the magic inhibitor ring. Princess Luna was momentarily in a state of frustration as she comments: “This foul traitor must’ve informed the enemy of our ability to enter the dream realm. The Hivemind has placed powerful forces of magical energy that rejects our attempts to enter Blueblood’s mind. We can not extract the information from within.” “So what you’re saying is…” Chrysalis comments as she then takes on a mischievous smile. “We can torture this fool of a pony?”  “Verily,” Luna replies as she walks up to the unconscious stallion and strikes him across the face with her left forehoof. This action causes the stallion to regain consciousness as he grits his teeth in pain and says: “You dare to strike the God-” [WHAM] “AURGH!” Luna strikes the stallion once again as he lets out a painful exclamation, along with spitting out some blood, before she mockingly replies: “Yes, we dare to strike you. Doth our hoof fall from our body by doing so?” “Hah! Arrogant, even though he’s chained up like this,” Chrysalis comments before she to strikes the stallion but unlike Luna who struck his face, the former changeling ruler turned sideways and kicked Blueblood with her right hind leg which results in him letting loose yet another painful exclamation. “Your screams of pain are quite lovely. Feel free to scream as loud as you want, Luna’s silencing spell will see to it that no one will hear you.” “I will have you both torn apart by The Corruption’s monsters!” Blueblood roars out in defiance. “My allies shall come to assist me. You think that I’m the only one who’s infiltrated The Coalition?” Blueblood then turns his gaze towards Chrysalis and says: “You will be torn apart by the others, you wretched traitor!” “That is just rich coming from you,” Chrysalis says with a condescending smirk. “You, a traitor who’s putting everyone else on Equus in danger by working with The Corruption, are calling me a traitor? Hah!” The changeling then strikes Blueblood across his face before she continues: “Here’s a little fun fact for you: I was never loyal to The Corruption. Also, I wouldn’t count on the others coming to save you.” “My allies are all up stairs in the throne room. Once they take notice of my disappearance they’ll-” Blueblood’s words were cut off by both Luna and Chrysalis laughing uncontrollably to which he says: “What are you two bitches laughing about?!” Luna is the first to recover as she then replies: “Doth thou think that The Hivemind, or Ocram, is the only one who’s installed agents within the enemies’ ranks? To deceive us from within?” In that very moment, Blueblood’s eyes were widened with realization as he then takes on a furious expression and says: “Y-you knew all along?! You acted ignorant to my treachery from the very beginning?!” “Thou hath forgotten that we are much more perceptive then thy traitor gives us credit for. It was all too clear to us that a traitor was within our midst thanks to one of our agents who pieced together your so-called plan.” Luna responds. “They realized that those purple orbs within The Corruption were strategically placed,” Chrysalis comments. “But that would be impossible for an infection from another world to have known from the start. The answer is obvious: It was you who told The Hivemind about Equestria’s three most distinct locations.” “Canterlot, the capital of Equestria. Ponyville, home to the element bearers and arguably one of our largest sources of food thanks to Sweet Apple Acres. And finally, Princess Twilight’s Castle, home to Equestria’s future ruler.” “She is not fit to rule!” Blueblood exclaims in absolute anger and hatred. “That peasant is nothing but-” [WHAM] “Thou shalt not mock Twilight Sparkle within our presence, worm!” Luna exclaims in a tone that matched Blueblood’s very own. “She is far more fit to rule than thou could ever hope to be! She is the successor that we and our dear sister hath chosen! Why doth thou think Celly was conditioning Twilight Sparkle all along? Thou art nothing compared to her!” Luna then unleashes a series of blows as she strikes Blueblood with her forehooves. The stallion’s face, stomach and chest region were the main target of her brutal assault. “Celly loved ye like thy own child and yet this is what thou hath rewarded her with?! Betraying us all just because she never chose ye to rule?!” Luna doesn’t relent as Blueblood’s white fur was starting to be covered in his own blood of which was escaping his mouth and nose. The stallion would’ve fell unconscious once more were it not for the fact that Luna was using her magic to keep him awake as a blue aura was currently surrounding his head. Chrysalis simply watches with a satisfied expression all while Luna continues to beat the stallion. Finally, with Blueblood’s very own blood dripping from her forehooves, Luna pulls away from her assault and says: “Before we end thy life, thou shalt tell us all ye know about The Corruption’s intentions and any possible allies we know not of. We will ask you only once before we resort to other methods.” Blueblood spits out not only a glob of blood but also a few of his teeth as he chuckles to himself and says: “B… buck you… b-bitch.” Luna was about to continue her assault once more before Chrysalis interjects and says: “Luna, I want to ask you something.” “We hope it is important enough for thou to interrupt our intimate time with this creature.” Luna responds. “Oh, it is, and I very much enjoy the show. However, how about we remove his horn?” Chrysalis says as she then draws near the stallion. “After I’ve drained his love from his pathetic body.” Opening her maw, Chrysalis starts to perform the action as a stream of pink energy starts to leave Blueblood’s form; causing the stallion to squirm in discomfort. As this goes on, Luna approaches the bound unicorn and places a forehoof onto the base of his horn as she says: “Let’s see how powerful thy so-called: God-King, is without thy horn,” In a display of anger, Luna grits her teeth and literally breaks off Blueblood’s white horn; causing the stallion to cry out even more, as she then places it onto the ground and stomps on it. “We knoweth of a certain unicorn mare who doth indeed deserves a horn far more than you do.” Chrysalis finally finishes her action as she licks her lips and says: “Ah, the love you have for yourself is truly exquisite. You also being a pony adds even more flavor to it. No offense, Luna.” “None taken although we art surprised that ye managed to get any love at all from this fiend.” “Love comes in many forms. Even one such as he loves something which in this case, is himself. Oh my, it seems he’s finally fallen unconscious.” Chrysalis comments as the aforementioned stallion was indeed now unconscious once again. Most notably, the blue aura that once surrounded his head was now gone. “We gave thy traitor a chance to tell us all thy know but thy wretched stallion hath refused. We won’t get any more out of this traitor so we hath decided to let them fall unconscious from our combined assaults,” Luna then turns around before she continues: “Come, Chrysalis, we shall inform the populace of this traitor’s presence and sentence him to public execution. We can’t stand to live in this world knowing that we share it with that thing.” Chrysalis gives Luna an approving nod before they then leave the cell together. However, unbeknownst to them, someone was watching the entire affair as the being closes the portal, of which they used to observe the scenario, as they comment: “We knew that the allies Blueblood brought into our fold consisted of traitors among them. It’s fortunate that we have have two allies that not even the Princess knows about. Soon, it will be time for you both to strike: Tzana and Cozy Glow.”