//------------------------------// // Mines Of Dragon Mountain Epilogue // Story: Mines of Dragon Mountain // by H3ph3stus //------------------------------// He waited alone. The birds and forest life having long departed since the hated diamond dogs had poisoned the rocks encasing his prison with long-lived radioactive isotopes. He waited. Waiting for the day when the sickening elements decayed and life returned to the area, waiting for the day he would infest and escape once again. Waiting for a day that would never come. He had been so close, his plans had been flawless, his deception perfect, had he succeeded this world would have died screaming a hundred times over in the intervening months. But those filthy mortals, those hateful stunted creatures, those ponies, had thwarted him. They had not been alone in their pathetic schemes; they had help of the highest order, the help of a Time Lord. A Time Lord who had foiled his schemes time and again, a Time Lord whose absurd self-righteousness was only surpassed by his hateful intelligence. The Doctor. How he hated The Doctor. How he loathed him in every conceivable way. His plan would have gone perfectly had the Time Lord simply stayed away. He knew in his dark degenerate soul that his plan had failed because he hadn’t killed the wretched face-changer when he had the chance, but another part of him knew that had he simply killed The Doctor that his victory would be just as sour as defeat. For what would his victory be if due punishment had not been served? What would his victory be if The Doctor didn’t spend every waking instant of his long, long life hating himself for his actions? Worthless, that’s what. So he waited, and hated, for six long months. Until… Something set down on the rocks above him. He could see it was a pony, but he could feel it was something else. Something familiar. The pony set down on the volcanic rock from up on high, which was strange considering this pony had no wings. A better look showed a somewhat frazzled-looking mare with a white lined purple man. She was wearing a beanie and had the most peculiar eyes, swirled wingdings denoting an utter absence of intelligence. It took him a moment to realize that this wasn’t a pony at all, but a construct. The construct locked its wingding eyes on the ground and blinked, and instant later a massive crater of rock exploded into a field of bubbles that scattered away as they were whisked into the air. The construct levitated down to the bottom of the crater, scooping away some excess foam and revealing a needle sharp shard of crystal, the new peak of Mount Kaffelerram. “Tirac…” a voice whispered to the dark soul within. “You in there?” “…Discord?” he said incredulously. “But…you’re dead! Terra killed you! I saw it, you were torn to pieces and vaporized!” The construct sat down and opened its mouth; a hologram hovered in the air, the form of a grinning abomination looked down at the exposed spire. “Yes I know! I was there! Not a pleasant memory, you know! And pulling myself back together was no small feat, I had to…improvise to fill in the gaps, as you can plainly see.” “You look disgusting.” He said curtly. “Supplanting the wonderful body I made for you with pieces of the filthy creatures of this world.” “Glad to see you too, how’s it been, how’s the wife?” the monstrosity said sarcastically. “Don’t you see I couldn’t simply waltz around in my former body, with your stink all over me?! I had to hide; I had to do…this to myself!! …I was scared…scared that they’d find me, scared that Radian and Terra wouldn’t stop at simply killing me this time, that they’d…well you know what they do to those who really anger them! Sure, they’d allow me to rampage all I want in this body, preferring to let their daughters fend for themselves. But the second I showed even the slightest inkling of who I really was they’d be back in a heartbeat, and even though I’ve learned a few new tricks in the intervening millennia I wouldn’t stand a chance against them!” “Is that what you’ve come here to do, Discord? Mock me?” he said miserably. “Mock me and show off your new powers?” He postured proudly. “Well, a few hundred thousand years does wonders for honing one’s talents, that and I’ve always had a natural affinity for creative magic…that’s why you made me your second in command.” “So why are you here?” Tirac said defensively. Discord rolled his eyes and sighed. “Well…I’m not. You see I’ve been imprisoned in stone…again. First it was the pathetic daughters who defeated me a thousand years ago, this time it was their dutiful little hench-ponies! Anyway, this is simply a familiar of myself inhabiting this construct, I gave it just enough power to create a link with you.” “You were active a thousand years ago?” Tirac said, rage creeping into his voice. “Why didn’t you free me then?!” “The same reason I didn’t free you a few days ago! No offense, but you’re not known for sharing! If I had freed you you’d just take over the world and torture it to death! So excuse me for wanting a little empire of my own, a nice little amusement park for me to spend my eons!” “That’s why you’re my second in command, Discord. You’re gutless, no ambition. You’re just as happy tormenting a single planet as you are a whole galaxy!” “And that’s why you’re trapped in an irradiated mountain! You’re arrogant and overreaching! You couldn’t just attack any old planet, it had to be the one with the most powerful gods, so you got trapped and I got torn to pieces!” He grunted and began to erect psychic defenses to shut out the gibbering disgrace. “Tirac!” Discord said in a panic. “There is a reason I’ve come, and it is important! Noticing the uncharacteristic urgency in his creation’s voice Tirac stopped and began to pay attention. “I’m listening.” “Sure, I was happy enough just to torment this planet a little…but now…I want nothing more than revenge, I want nothing more than this world to fall into the pit and scream until it chokes on its own blood!!” Discord said with growing rancor. “I watched myself get petrified this time…the look on my face…so I endeavored to visit upon this world the single most Terrible, Insidious, Reprehensible, Abominable, and Contemptible punishment possible!” “You flatterer you.” Tirac said flatly. “So you’ll do it then?” Discord said eagerly. “What are your terms?” Tirac growled, knowing that there must be a price to pay. “This world. Mine. Forever” He said with a smile. “And do try to leave it mostly intact. That includes the pony population. I realize there’ll be a bit of the ol’ slash’n’burn, but hey, I don’t expect you to depart from your signature! Just leave them intact enough to provide me with toys for the next eternity or two.” “…Agreed.” Tirac said with a sigh. “I’ll just have to make do with everything else in existence.” “That’s the spirit!” Discord said jubilantly. “So, how are you going to do this?” Tirac said with a grin. The construct blinked and shuddered, emitting a strange keening whine before violently swinging forwards and impaling its head on the crystal spire. Tirac let out a cry of alarm as he was sucked into the construct, imbuing its artificial flesh with his dark energies. The construct slowly rose, blinking as the blood from its gaping head wound ran up its face and back into its skull, the bone cracking as it snapped back into place and was once again covered with flesh. Tirac looked down at his new body, it was sickening and hateful but it would do. “Remember…” Discord’s voice whispered as the familiar faded from existence. “…you’re weak in this body, so you’ll have to be patient and build power. There can be no second chances this time; Radian and Terra should stay away so long as you keep mum about what you really are. And whatever you do, don’t, I repeat, don’t underestimate the Elements of Harmony. I look forward to serving you again…” It was gone. Tirac grinned with his pony mouth and looked up at the blue sky. He levitated into the air and cast his evil gaze over the land. Tirac laughed, there would be no stopping him this time.