//------------------------------// // A friendly night at the opera // Story: Casting a Shadow // by Ssendam the Masked //------------------------------// 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...