//------------------------------// // Season 1 Episode 7 - Shadows that are looming // Story: Cyclonestorm // by Sweetlilkitten //------------------------------// Flurry Heart and Sunburst enters the room. Esperanza and Ethan are standing aside a table. As the royal figures sees themselves, they bow. The Crystal guards aligns, close to the enter, at the opposite side of the other enter to the room, where the Equideer guards stands. The moment seems calm and peaceful. "We are so glad to welcome you to Equideer." Ethan says. "It is a shared feeling indeed." Flurry Heart says. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Queen Esperanza." Sunburst says. "Your aura is even more lovely from up close." "Thanks." She replies. "Let's begin." They sit at the table 2 by 2 in face of each other. "So, just for you to let you know, Sunburst is my Royal Advisor." She states. "Oh." Esperanza says. "We are planning on officially marrying, on our side, for your information." Ethan says out loud without an issue. Esperanza blushes, and tries to look away for a moment. "Anyways." Ethan continues. "We are willing to indulge in a trade agreement with the Crystal Empire." Sunburst starts to note. "Alright." She says. "We are willing to agree. What would you ask for? We have great exportation on gemstones and other raw materials." "That would be great. We are thinking of paying its price." Esperanza says. "How much would you like. What is your GDP again?" Flurry Heart. "And your population?" "I'd say we are about 1 million GDP for a thousand people at the moment." Esperanza says. "One thousand bits by capita so." Sunburst conclude, his head in the notepad. "Oh okay. We are at 1 billion for 100 000 capita so its like 10 thousand per pony, just for your knowledge." Flurry Heart remembers her mathematics. "That is tremendous." Ethan says. "Okay, let's fix price that would benefit both of us." "I am willing to not demand our standard price if compensated with something else. What is these things you call rifles and cannons?" Flurry Heart proposes. Esperanza uses her magic to grab from somewhere a minifigure of a cannon and a pony with a rifle, surely these are used for army operations planning or boardgames. They look detailed, not too sophisticated but yet not too simple either. "Our cannons?" She replies. "This is the common RF Replika, it shoots 155mm caliber shells. Does it sounds that interesting?" "I never seen or heard of cannons before. It surely is a great valuable material if ever invaded by Sombra or anything else." She says. "Yes. But it is better with properly trained soldiers operating it. If you want better military strength we could give few techniques and technologies for you to advance on these steps." Esperanza says. "That'd be great." Flurry Heart replies. "Alright, I can know the price of one?" Sunburst says wanting to calculate. Discord acts like nothing, walking in the gardens of Canterlot. He walks until a statue of 3 characters that looks fixed in stone. He was approaching his hands from the rock when suddenly a pink flash throws him off. Twilight appears and unfold her wings. "What you think you are doing, Discord?" She asks, in a firm and fiercely standing voice. "Well nothing." He says, suddenly having glasses and a tissues. "I was just going to wash that little stone here because it was looking a bit dusty, that's all!" "Do not try to trick me!" She replies. "You are forbidden from even approaching them." "Urgh, why!?" He asks. "Do not act like a fool. You very know why." She says. "If you do a step I will have to use my powers to maintain you far from them." "Urgh. Okay." He says. Then suddenly he multiply himself in different colored Discords, and they all try a direction to reach the statue. As they advance, Twilight shoots each one of them, which they disappear in magic particles, until the real Discord gets hit and thrown over on the ground further away. "Grrrr!" He is angry now. "You don't even know the plan I have for them!" He says. "They will not follow any plan because they will stay here in stone, and never ever get out of here, for eternity, as they deserve." Twilight says. "You don't know how much I need to act quickly and get them at work for things to work around before everything else collapses!" He says dramatically. "I will not move away from here before you, Discord." She says. Suddenly he grab one of his ear and lean it to his other ear with his hand. "Yes, who's there?" He says. "Starlight? You need me for a mission. Very well, I'm coming." He suddenly disappears in a flash of stars or some magic effects. After a little time Twilight thinks he is gone, then she teleports back to where she were, letting the statue of the 3 characters alone. After a moment of calm, Discord appear, he draws a portal on the ground, and act like tripping on a rock and as he falls the portal slides until under the statue, which swallows it before replacing a similar shaped one but of 3 Discord-faced characters. "Hehe he ha." He rub his hands. Starlight, Trixie and Thorax are waiting somewhere in the woods. They seems bored, until Discord appears. "Oh, finally you are here. I didn't thought your teleportations took that long to cast." Starlight says. "Calm down, on-time pony." He place a Twilight mane that covers Starlight's one for a second before she shakes it off. "I just needed to make some very important moves before finding a little bit of time for your own askings. Which. I didn't understood completely, honestly. Am-I needed to spread chaos somewhere??" He smirks in a evil face. "I wouldn't like to cause some issues for this community to face because of us." Thorax says with his gentle voice. "No, we aren't causing troubles today." Starlight says. Trixie and Discord let out a 'huh' sound. "Mhhh. Today?" Discord retake her words. "We need to understand what is making them an actual threat to Equestria as a rising economic power." Starlight explains. "Once we will have every clues, I guess you can do whatever you want, I can't stop you two from making problems to our neighbors, I am not under any agreement concerning them." Suddenly a kirin and a lion-looking creature appears from behind the bushes, and they don't specially recognize the 4 but they are surely feeling odd. "Um. Sorry." The kirin excuses herself. "It looks like we are interrupting something. We might go around to go to Trotetia....." She says awkwardly. "Ew!" Discord says. "What in the world that thing is!??!" He adds. He stretch his head around and tries to stay away but still observe the strange, foreign creature from multiple angles. "I'm sorry, what did I just heard? I mean did you ever look into a mirror?" The kirin gets angry as she defends the creature she decided to take care of. "I do every morning and I can't ever stop contemplating my beautiful face." Discord says while he magically have a handmirror and stare at himself. "And you, when was last time you seen a furstylist?" He gesture at the disorded coat and feathers of the wings of the tiger creature. The kirin utterly becomes inflamed as a blaze of fighting crosses her eyes. Discord smirks and giggles, enjoying watching the flames of the angry one. But then Starlight steps between them. "Discord, stop!" She shout. "Stop making enemies everywhere you go, for Twi's sake!" She says. Then she turns around, and tries to calm the 2 travelers. "I'm sorry. Where were you going? Are you lost? Do you need help?" She asks. "Well. I were going to this seemingly nice new place of Equestria but it looks like this place isn't as welcoming as I thought." She pouts. She grabs the tail of her friend and slides him on the ground without him having much a chance to say anything or to overpass the 4 characters that they found. But Thorax's friendliness overflows him and his interest in the discover of this totally new creature is not going to slide away from him like that. "Wait!" He says. He runs close to them and walk aside of them. "I'd like to know more about you." He talks to the creature that mindlessly is getting trailed away but still acts like nothing and seems fine. "Hi. I'm Coral." He says in a voice, that now put aside of Thorax's, sound quite similar in some ways. "Hi Coral, nice to meet you!" The changeling shakes his paw. "What are you doing here? I never seen a creature as beautiful as you!" The kirin gets somewhat of a little jealous and grabs the cub to put in on her back. While she struggle of a moment under his weight, she can seemingly still act like she is his mother and that he isn't as tall as her, when she smirks at Thorax. "Well that beautiful creature is mine, I don't know if you noticed it, but, he is still a little child and needs a lot of care. If it doesn't bother you to show me where I could find a place that can be a home for every creature possible I'd like to know it, I really am exhausted myself from this travel and could use some rest." She says. "Incredible! You traveled from where? Where do you come from?" He asks. "I found him during a walk in a forest but he said he woke up on the shore not even knowing his own name. So I thought about taking care of him." She explains. Discord, Starlight and Trixie follows them, before Starlight teleport in front of the kirin. "Wait, please! We are sorry to interrupt your travel. I'd like you to continue just like if we weren't there." Starlight says. "What's your name by the way? I'm Starlight." "Hm. Name's Faustine Shell." She states. "Why would I trust you, Starlight?" "Here is Trixie, Thorax and Discord. We are only exploring these places of here. In fact we aren't in Equestria actually, more at its border or even further, and into Equideer's territory." "Equideer? I never heard of that place before." Thorax says. "Is it nice?" "We are going to try to inspect it to see why it is so nice that apparently every few local towns are now almost aborted for going there, in Equideer." Trixie replies. "I am personally quite interested if they help poor people, not going to lie." She looks down. "Well let's go then." Faustine says. "I'd like to rest." "Okay, call me if something actually interesting happens." Discord says before he disappears. "Wait-" Starlight says. "Huh, anyways..." The 5 walks again, south-west, in direction of Trotetia. The scene is still, but after a time, the pink pegasi, the red-gray centaur, and the thin and slimy insect-like pony slowly loses their rocky-style. Each of them falls on the ground, turn-by-turn, once they are entirely out of stone. After a quick look around, they consensually acknowledge that they are in a cage and iron bars that is probably more tough than anything. "Urgh. W- what happened?" The pink pegasi asks, trying to regain consciousness. "You three are right now more than two hundred and fifty years after the last breath you took of air." A dark voice says. "Two hundred years!??" The centaur reacts. "You said correct." Discord comes out of the shadows. "Discord?" Tirek asks, surprised. "What do you want from us, fool?" Chrysalis says, smirking. Discord dashes in front of the cage which makes them thrown far almost until the other side of it, which makes specifically Chrysalis bang her head against the bars. "Ouch!" She let out an angry growl rubbing her face. "You aren't going to get out of hand this time!!!!!" Discord shout, so loud that probably everyone heard a couple hundred kilometers ahead. The ground still trembles a bit when the three shakes their head and regain consciousness out of the trembling. "Oh you think so?" Cozy Glow smirks evilly. "I wander what you will come up with, this time..." Chrysalis says, giggling. Discord snaps finger and Cozy Glow is suddenly a pig just with her original eyes, Tirek is now a baby dragon copy of Spike but red and black, while Chrysalis is changed to Twilight Sparkle, young, just a common size pony but alicorn and pastel colors, with green eyes. For a second they look at themselves and access what happened, right before they panic loudly. "I can't transform back!" Chrysalis says, horrified. "I can't change back from this horrible form!!" "Oh my, Tirek if you could see yourself right now!" Cozy says, laughing and snoring like a pig without knowing her own form at the moment. "My size must be ridiculous but seeing you laughing of me is the most ironic sight I might ever see." He says, angry, but giggling as she is quite funny from his point of view. Discord then make the floor of the cage bright reflective iron or silver which makes them unable to miss their new form now. "This is torture! Stop that immediately!" Chrysalis says. Discord extend his head, crosses the bars without any problems, until right the front of her face. "This is ridiculous compared to what you three deserves." He growls at her. She shut it and cross her front hooves, resulting of her pouting. Her wings does a little movement for a very short instant before going folded again, the reflects of some little drops of water or some dust on her feathers gets following her movement. She seems naturally pretty and cute, which, she, surely, probably, hate entirely. Tirek's scales are quite red and shiny but his overall looks seems way too fragile for his own satisfaction. And Cozy Glow, for her own nightmare, is a non-attractive and dirty-looking pig that probably would have disadvantage trying manipulating people with her looks. "Are you happy now? Or should I continue further?" Discord asks. "Please let me get off this horribly colorful coat!!" Chrysalis tumble on the ground an beg him to stop this. "Right." He accepts. They all are back to their own form, but still aren't looking powerful much. "I need you for a very important mission." He says. "What is it this time. You want us to be little compliant figures of your Twilight confidence regaining challenge thing again?" She smirks. Discord stretch his neck to again watch very closer the insect. He very slightly raise an eyebrow slowly and gently just before she surrender and loses herself again. "Okay, okay!" She whines. "Please don't make me into that silly looking ponies gain, I beg you!" She says. "Great." He smiles. "Hey but since you need us again. Wouldn't you want to bring Sombra too?" Cozy Glow asks. "Well, if you three think you aren't enough for the task I have for you, then fine." He says. After a simple snap, the dark and great figure of Sombra appears. "Tirek? Chrysalis? Cozy Glow?" The dark figure is surprised. "Did you won the battle against Twilight and her friends?" He asks. "No." Tirek says, gesturing at the place they are all in right now. Sombra looks around and see this odd looking chaos dimension while they are all in a cage in middle of nowhere. "I suppose I will have to make you beg for me to let you with your usual form." Discord roll his eyes, preparing to do same for him too. "What those that mean?" He asks. "You don't wanna be changed into a bright and colorful pony or whatever is the contrary of you now do you?" Tirek says. "No, I'll comply." He says, wisely. "Nice." Discord sighs of boredom. "I enchanted you to change into your worst looks whenever you will act against my wills, and by a simple snap, at the singlest friendly-fire, I will make sure you regret it." "Yeah, okay." Cozy Glow says. "What? I think I didn't heard." Discord retorts. "Yes Discord." They reply. "I would prefer 'Yes Discord, Lord of Chaos', but I guess this is already a good start." He says for a start, then he continues. "I need you to protect Equestria from evil creatures that are lurking and looming to threat all of our world." "Why would we obey you?" Cozy Glow retorts. "Because you can be a pig if I want you to." He says in a suddenly dark voice, which comically scare the three that have known an opposite form of themselves. "What is these evil. Could they even be merely a fly's wing strength compared to Equestria? Or compared to us 4?" Chrysalis asks. Discord, now showing the shape of what he observed of the baby tiger-lion looking creature, gesture at its potential adulthood and full strength. "You are nothing compared to a single one of this mighty and powerful creature!!" He shout. "A wheeze of them would crush Twilight Sparkle and the other mane 6 in a single blow!" "If they are so powerful we can't do anything, technically." Sombra says. "Okay, I'm a little exaggerating or dramatizing here, but you get the idea." He says. "I wouldn't even thought of risking the same mistake as two centuries ago if I wasn't sure they are very dangerous and that we need every single entity to work for protecting our world." "Wait. What was the mistake you done centuries ago or something?" King Sombra asks. "He was Grogar. He put you and us under the mane 6 as a challenge for their royal handover or whatever, roughly." Tirek explains. "Oh I see." He understands. "That is why I have a new security for you this time, but also I thought that you wanted to help Equestria and others' lands as they not straight gone to execute you or something." Discord says. "Well, fair point." Cozy Glow says, quite afraid of that one. "So, what's the plan?" Asks Sombra. A sudden shadow appears beneath Discord, which push the dragonequus off a bit. "The plan?" The shadow giggles. "You guys are having fun without the actual baddies here? How cute of you." "What? Not you again! How can you even enter my own dimension!??" Discord is shocked. "What. You thought a pathetic little chaos dimension can defy Abyss, the God of Chaos?" He giggles. "How little you know." The feminine deer appears in a bubble of pink, white, and some light mix of other flashy colors, resulting in her teleportation. "God of Chaos, God of Chaos..." Discord mumbles angrily. "What in the world are you really? Like, show me your face. You probably look nothing like chaos." The dark figure lands on ground and gets its hood off, revealing its colorful and round shaped head, looking plushy and stuffy-like, big eyebrows, big round yellow eyes with black pupils that glows in a evil red, a body made of 4 legs with 4 hands like a monkey would have and a light or dark purple fur spreading from its head until the last piece of its curved tail. He seems out of dimension and both made of physical and magic or illusion materials, like a 2D cartoon character in a 3D place or vice-versa. "W- w-what-" Discord is immensely and utterly shocked. "Are you..." "What?" The figure says in its non-octaved voice for once. "Do you know me? I surely don't know you, a pile of creatures' part." "You are Ambiset." He have tears. "The ambidextrous marmoset I was working on for so long! How could I manage to lost you in the wild for unknown reasons?!?" Discord collapses and kneel on the ground. "Am I supposed to get emotional right now?" The cartoon monkey says. "We should had prepared the tissues." Eris says, giggling. The sewing threads and fabric physics made creature extend its arms to leash the chaotic being. With a snap, Discord free the 4 Equestrian in-reforming baddies in hope for them to help. "Please comrades, help!" He begs them. The second after, they all look at each other, and decide to jump out of the rocky cavern thing they are all in, just fleeing the place mindlessly. Discord sighs as he becomes sewing threads, that falls on the ground almost lifeless. "Why would you do that?" He asks to the primate. "Because you'all's friendship cult is a lie." The feminine deer says. "Your social hierarchy will fall!!" Shout the purple figure, angry. Tirek, Sombra, Cozy Glow and Chrysalis find themselves in a forest, probably at west of Equestrian lands. "Um. Why did we flee again?" Cozy asks. "Why do you call us a 'we'? I fleed, then you'all followed!" Chrysalis states. "I probably thought like you that it is a very good idea to stay aside for whenever Discord or Abyss take over on their shenanigans. Then we will complain about one's wishes if they want us to." Sombra guesses. "Indeed." Adds Tirek. "I don't wanna complain to anyone's wishes!" Chrysalis looks at the three. "We didn't asked you to. But if Discord evertually finds you against his side or against his friends he will change you to pastel Twilight again." Tirek tells her. "Do what you want, but I'd probably stick to Discord's wills." "Anyways. We are in nature now. We could do anything we wanted." Cozy Glow remarks. "We could make a great come back and threat Equestria once more like last time!!" She giggles. "And if Discord comes back for us?" Tirek gesture a shrugging. "Come-on. He is the master of chaos, surely he will not be against it if we cause a little bit of troubles here and there..." She rub her hooves. Luster Dawn is sat at a desk. In face of her, a colorful changeling, which she greets happily. "Welcome in, darling." She says. "You are my very first client." "Right so." The masculine voice starts. "Me and my brothers are so competitive sometimes. It is quite annoying because whenever I want to approach girls they always just tease me or whatever. I'd like to have a little moment for myself and do my things. But they can't stop doing stuff to show everyone 'who is the best'. It is quite bothering me and I can't bear with it sometimes." He says. "I think here the problem is you may not have stated you don't like to be teased." She suggests. "I do! I really like playfighting with them or whatever. But they never stop. It's like they are 100% full energy ever and ever, without wanting to stop competing against me or anyone else even." He adds. "You probably should tell them more often that there is times for playing and times for serious things." Luster says. "I think you should maybe try to step out of their reach or make more adulthood stuff, like working, going to the gym, writing administration stuff, I don't know. Maybe that will discourage them to follow you everywhere just to bother you. When they will be bored because you don't reply to them anymore they will maybe get tired of it and give up. They will maybe think something have changed. That time you will be able to make them actually listen to your complains and make them care for your own satisfaction in their playings." "Thanks for your help, Luster Dawn." The changeling drops a handful of coins on her table. She becomes all sparkly. "You're welcome, you I'm not sure if I deserve to be paid yet, I'm only stepping in." She says. "Of course you deserves it, keep the bits." He smiles while leaving the room of the castle of Friendship. Aurora Sunshine, and Twinklesprite, are aside of Rarity and Fluttershy. Aurora steps in middle and present Twinkie. "This is Twinklesprite, one of my friends living in Equideer." She presents her friend. "She really likes pretty things, like you Rarity, and I thought you and Fluttershy would have nice company of my friend and I." "What a lovely pony there." Rarity approaches the earth pony that smiles at her. "I see you are good in making dress huh?" She spotted her cutie mark. "I hope so." She smiles. Chrysalis, Tirek, Cozy Glow, and Sombra, walks aside in the forest, until they finally reach somewhere. The shore of the Equestria's western sea. But also there is when some eyes glowing and staring at them from within a bush. "Urgh. This landscape is so pony-like." Chrysalis says. "Let me work on that." Sombra says. In a magic splash the dark king transforms the place with shadowy and corrupted crystal area. "Way better like that." Tirek says, smiling. "It is so dark." Cozy says. "Why wouldn't we add some colors?" She spreads confettis around for a time. "Wait!" Chrysalis says. She scent something and get suspicious of it. "I'm feeling something is following us." "Hey, there is eyes in that bushes!" Cozy gestures at the big evil-typed eyes. "Show yourself, fool!" Chrysalis shout. "With immense pleasure." The frightening, scariest ever voice replies. A fierce and dark figure appears from behind the bush. It is formed of 4 legs with 4 great-feline-like paws, claws at each fingers, a mouth full of teeth as the being smiles and a fur that is both nicely kept and disorded or disturbing, or terrifying by nature. "Oh come-on, we have already a handful of villain that are dark or dirty. This guy's not a great addition to our problems." Cozy Glow says. "Oh. You want colors?" The figure says. It's dual cattle-like horns shines and the fur of the creature becomes colorful and pony-like. It's long thin tail and the claws are what's lasting from making itself cute after his body changes. "That is not specially impressive." Chrysalis says. "Oh. Then maybe this is." He says. After a little time the newcomer casts magic and a bunny is teared from the forest nearby, all close to its paws. The instant it is there, the bunny don't have much to understand what is happening while the great-feline-like creature seize it and swallow it, all at once. After a little burp, Cozy Glow almost throw up. "That is." Tirek says. "Disgusting!" Cozy shout. "No. I don't think so." The dark figure says. "It was quite delicious to be honest." "What do you want from us!" Chrysalis says. "My name is Symfora." He smiles in a self-loving face. "And I am here to rule over the world." "Hmpf. So original." Sombra says. Sombra walks towards the feline. "Why don't you go elsewhere for that stuff. We have enough slices of the cake to share, here, already." He says. "Not to mention that some of us don't want to share anything with one another." He glances at Chrysalis, which pout. "If you think I am going to be easily stepped-on fine and let you rule anything without proving yourself to us, you are wrong!" Chrysalis hisses. "I don't understand why you think I will let you any choice." Symfora giggles evilly. "As I showed you, I am a carnivorous creature. Therefore I eat flesh." Cozy Glow does a face when he says that. "My nation will just invade this place and eat whatever it need to live, with or without your cooperation. If you wanna join in the fun, or actually the terror, then I'd ask my lovely subjects to not eat you alive." "Because we can't defend ourselves, sure." Tirek retorts, crossing his arms. "Why are you coming here then anyway. Isn't it meat all over the planet?" "Unfortunately, if you creatures of this antiquity world don't know, the world is falling apart. It is becoming inhabitable for us, sentient animal creatures. So technically I am just moving to another place to find food." The colorful lingotas loses its colors to become all predatory and scary again. "But in the mean time. I, and my nation, need to eat every single pony of Equifrancia!" He shout, angry. "Why them specifically?" Sombra asks. "Because of their selfishness they built up a country that have laws based on herbivorous behaviors! They declared our nation savage and undignified to be alive, and made several crusades and many attacks in our lands. I am the one that built our nation that was pastly a collection of clans and tribes into organized, defensive worth empire, and when we did strike back, they kept fleeing. What ridiculous preys!" He shout. "But one day it will be over. When my glorious and powerful army will follow my orders as I'll make their foolish rainbow-liking society collapses, then! Then our thirst of flesh might ever be satisfied!" "That is a flawless conviction. I won't be against you." Tirek says. "I'll be by your side." Cozy Glow says. "These ponies only agree on their own privileged rulings. They don't deserve to rule every creatures of this world!" "Same." Sombra adds. "Chrysalis?" "If there is still love for me and my hive to steal, then maybe I'll think about it." She pouts. "I only want revenge. I don't seek for anything else that ruling and walking over their dead corpses as their order fall under our justice." Symfora says. "So." Cozy Glow guesses. "Sombra takes the Crystal Empire. Chrysalis takes the Changeling hive. Tirek takes Equestria's magic, while I take on the School of Friendship. And Symfora takes over Equideer. I guess we would all benefit from our common teamwork?" "Indeed." Tirek nods. "Perhaps." Chrysalis roll her eyes in a pouting manner but still shows she is in. "Great." Sombra smiles. "Perfect." Symfora giggles evilish. They all comes alongside and raise a hoof, or a paw, or a hand, in sign of agreement. "To the end of Equestria. To the end of Harmony." They all say together, in their respective evil voices.