//------------------------------// // Today I Reach Out To Those In Need // Story: I Am Going To Save And/Or Destroy Equestria! // by Bucking Nonsense //------------------------------// And where was the archon in all of this? Well, that glorious golden guardian was overseeing the full reactivation of Sanctuary. There was a lot of ground to cover, given how... large Sanctuary truly was, but the archon had centuries of practice in maintaining the facility, and what would take years of labor for a crew of ordinary equines took it mere hours... Oh? I've lost you? Okay, I'll explain. The archon was not, in truth, Starswirl the Bearded's baby, so to speak, and neither was Sanctuary. I didn't learn about most of this until years after the grand finale of my tale, so I suppose sharing this won't spoil anything. Sanctuary, or at least the facility that would become Sanctuary, was originally designed by the teacher of the teacher of the teacher of the teacher of the teacher of the teacher of the teacher of Starswirl the Bearded, which is why it was of an architectural style centuries old. The wizard in question became a recluse in his later years, and decided to retire to a mountain sanctuary, and told only his student of it. That student visited often, and when his master died, he continued his master's work on the mountain, with the aid of the archon that the original designer had created. The facility was passed on from student to teacher, getting improved on as time went on. That's why the original architecture was over three centuries old. Over that time period, Sanctuary transformed from an old reclusive wizard's mountain palace to self-sustaining war fortress. Starswirl simply finished the expansion, made it mobile, gave it weapons, and the ability to harvest clouds. Logistically, I should have understood that: No one individual, no matter how gifted or motivated, could have forged such a massive masterpiece in one lifetime, let alone in the time between Starswirl's falling out with Celestia and his departure. Regardless, there was a lot to do for even an archon: Sanctuary was floating, sure, and battle ready, but there were thousands of systems and sub-systems to bring online and test. And it was while testing the long range scanners that the archon discovered something highly unusual. Its directives were clear: An incident of this... magnitude, had to be reported to the highest ranking individual currently in the mobile fortress. Thus... the archon had to go see the King Of Fools... -------------------------------- "So," I said, as the cheers finally, after a solid twenty minutes, subsided, "I'm guessing that, while you may be on our side, you're not actually going to do much directly to help us." Discord chuckled, then snapped his fingers and suddenly he was dressed like The Guardian Of Metal, ala Brutal Legend. "I'm not really a fighter," he admitted, giving an impersonation of Ozzy Osbourne. "More of a keeper of timeless secrets." Right. If he had been willing to step in, he'd have done so already. I suppose I could understand why, though: Celestia and Luna were the previous protectors of ponykind, and the princesses had turned him to stone. While he didn't seem to be the kind to hold a grudge, he certainly didn't owe ponykind anything. *That, and while he's as strong as any two fiends put together, he'd still be outmatched if all of them ganged up on him: Even a master of chaos has limits.* An idea came to me. I asked, "But... would you object to doing recon for us? Maybe transportation?" A smile came across his face, and Discord said, "I might be willing to do that. My help comes with a price tag, mind you." I considered letting him name his price, but I decided against it. Better to take the initiative when it comes to bartering. "I'll give you one day out of the year," I stated flatly. Confused, he asked, "Oh? What do you mean?" "Once Equestria is retaken, and the fiends, the boarcs, and anything else that might be causing us problems have been... dealt with, you'll be given one day per year where Equestria will be yours to do with as you please." I cleared my throat, and said, "You won't be allowed to hurt anyone, or brainwash anyone, or destroy things, but so long as you're willing to put everything back to the way it was when the day started, you'll have an entire day to do whatever you want to Equestria as a whole." While the other mares gave me a startled look, Discord seemed... thoughtful. "And the rest of the year?" he asked, curious. "You'll be free to go about as you please," I answered smoothly. "You'll be expected to abide by the laws of Equestria, of course, but you'll also be given all the rights of an Equestrian citizen. Go fishing, go swimming, go surfing, you can go-go dance with Prench supermodels on the moon for all that I care, but so long as you aren't hurting anypony, it's nopony's business but yours." I could see Discord mulling that over. I suppose he was weighing the pros and cons of that arrangement, but it was definitely better than what the princesses had offered him. They'd turned him to stone, and would have left him like that for a thousand years. I was offering to let him roam free, and once per year, he could turn Equestria into his canvas. After a moment's time, he asked, "Do you mind if I think on that for a bit?" I nodded, and said, "Take your time. We've got other irons in the fire, so feel free to weigh your options." Discord nodded, then snapped his fingers, and vanished. Storm Cloud looked over at me, and asked, "Are you sure that's a good idea?" I sighed, rolled my eyes, and admitted, "Probably not, but if I let him set the terms, then he probably would have asked for something seemingly harmless, but would have turned out to be disastrous in the long run." Sparkling Sunset said, "That has happened a few times before, including one time he engineered the collapse of an empire by asking for the nation's entire supply of muffins." At my disbelieving expression, she added, "Long story. The point is, Discord is very good at turning things to his own advantage, if given the chance. He's probably thinking up ways to twist that deal to his favor right now... like how you neglected to set a specific day." "That was by design," I stated, bluntly. "If he only got the same day every year, then where would the chaos be in it? Letting him have a random day every year makes the offer more appealing to him." I turned back towards my breakfast, and said, "But for now, what's done is done. We'll have his answer soon, and provided he agrees, we'll have a means of quickly tracking down the Raptorians," I paused with a chuckle at Storm Cloud's surprised look, and added, "plus a means of getting you instantly to them, and then back, once you've taken care of them." I chuckled, then finished, stating, "So I suggest you practice getting a handle on your new alicorn powers, since you may be getting a chance to use them sooner than expected." *Clever. But that means that certain things will happen sooner, rather than later.* 'She's probably our strongest fighter right now, next to myself: I want her business done, and her back and ready to layeth the smacketh down upon our enemies as quickly as possible.' I sat down at my place at the table, began cutting off a piece of tasty, tasty waffle, and said, "Now, unless there's another urgent issue that requires my immediate attention, I am going to eat some waffles now." And of course, the archon immediately appeared, and said, "King of fools, I have an urgent issue that requires your immediate attention." I believe I've mentioned that fact that my luck is just plain shitty sometimes. I swallowed a bite, and said, "Alright, lay it on me." A holograph appeared in front of me, showing a wintery landscape where two figures were fighting. One was a black unicorn with a long purple mane, blue eyes, and a ringed planet for a cutie mark. Given his fairly broad shoulders, I took him to be a male. The other... 'That is, without a doubt, the most metal centaur ever.' Seriously, I wanted to throw him an electric guitar, and have a rock battle with him, preferably on top of an exploding volcano with the fate of the world riding on who won. Irrationally, I wished that I had ended up in his body, rather than Sombra's: Just think of all the adventures I could have had... *That's Tirek, the magic thief.* 'Seriously? He isn't at all how I pictured him.' *How did you picture him?* 'Something like Dick Dastardly in a black robe, with a tall pointy hat with stars painted on it, and a burglar's mask on his face. And maybe carrying around a big sack with the words 'stolen magic' on it.' *...I thank you for that hilarious mental image, I will treasure it for years to come. But, back on subject, Tirek's a dangerous foe, and a unicorn's natural enemy: He can steal a pony's magic away in seconds.* 'Well, Wonderboy down there seems to be faring pretty well.' No lie: The unicorn was peppering the centaur with energy blasts relentlessly, not giving the centaur a moment's respite. The shots were small, controlled, but were being unleashed at a volume to outdo a dozen men armed with tommy guns. It was clear that the attacks weren't doing much real damage to the unicorn's opponent, but not much times a thousand can add up to quite a lot over time, and the centaur was too busy trying to keep a blast from hitting his eyes or going down his throat to fight back right now. *He is, isn't he... Aha! He's got some sort of counter-spell in place. Clever, but having seen it, I can duplicate it pretty quickly.* 'Good. We need to go down there. He's going to need our help.' *...While your campaign against the fiends is certainly a priority, the unicorn has things well in hand. I'd say just let him finish, and then...* 'Look behind Metal Von Centaurstein.' I'd not noticed them at first, having been distracted by the pyrotechnics, but as soon as I'd realized that those blasts were heavily controlled, I understood that there had to be a reason why he was avoiding collateral damage: There was an overturned cart, and I could see about half a dozen ponies, probably all mares (or maybe even fillies, it was hard to judge from the view I was given) and as crystaline as Ladyhawke, huddled behind it for shelter... and they were directly behind Tirek. *Blast. He must have come upon Tirek as he was attacking those travelers. He can't use anything strong enough to do real damage to Tirek without risking harm to the mares, and the moment that brute realizes that those refugees have value as hostages, it will be all over.* 'Exactly. So, we're going to go down there, rescue the mares, help Space Unicorn down there wipe the floor with Tirek's face, then recruit him and give him a high five so epic that ponies will paint it on the ceilings of cathedrals for centuries to come.' I stood up, and said, "I'll need... three pegasai, all of whom must be strong enough fliers to carry two or more ponies from the ground to Sanctuary, and a winter coat." It was fucking cold out there, and I didn't want to end up getting knocked out by exposure again. "And someone put my waffles aside until I'm done. I am going to finish those when I get back." Ladyhawke, Thunder Cloud, and... Miss Bubbles all stood up, and saluted, the last carrying a blue winter coat. Where she'd been hiding it, I had no idea. Hammerspace again, I suppose. I admit, Lady didn't look happy, but she definitely wasn't arguing. All three were already suited up for outside, though: Apparently, they'd had the same idea I had... "Good." I turned towards the archon, and said, "Lead us to the exit." "WAIT!!!" A mousy looking unicorn ran up, her scheme varying shades of brown. Panting, she bowed, and said, "Milord, my name is Tick Tock. I'm... I'm a survivor of the massacre of Baltimare. Tirek, and two, no, three of the other fiends attacked and destroyed my home town. However, the main fault for the ruin of the city lies with Tirek: Had he not drained the protective spells imbued within the stones, then the city might have held for hours, or at least minutes, giving the citizens time to escape, to prepare to fight back, to do something other than be lambs at the slaughterhouse. Had we been allowed even just a few minutes... my father might still be alive." She took a deep breath, and said, "Discord said that, when you're fulfilling the wish of one of us, you are granted an increase to your power. If that is so, then my wish is that Tirek dies. I care not if it's you, the unicorn down there, or if a star just falls from the sky and crushes him under its mass, and I don't even care if it's today, or weeks from now, or the end of the one year time limit, but Lord Tirek must die. No conditions, no restrictions, so long as Tirek is dead, I don't care how it happens. That is what I want the most in this world." Clever girl: She'd realized that my granting wishes could give me a power up for the fight ahead, something I'd not considered myself. I nodded, and said, "Done." I felt a jolt of power flow through me. Another mare, an earth pony with a brown coat and dark green mane done up in dreadlocks, with a willow tree on her flank, said, "Weeping Willow. My home town was likewise destroyed by Tirek, although with mine it was just him. My wish is the same as hers." "Done," I said with another nod, feeling another boost. Sweet Melody stood up, and shouted, pumping her foreleg in the air with each syllable, "Same here! Lord Tirek must die!" "Done," I said, and felt another surge. I also felt a strong rumbling, implying that going any further today might be a very bad idea. I then held up a hoof, and said, "That's enough for now. I don't know if I can handle any more, and there's no more time to spare. But rest assured, Tirek will die." With that, I did a dramatic turn, and with Ladyhawke, Miss Bubbles, and Storm Cloud in tow, we began making our way to the exit. As I shrugged on the coat, I said, "Alright ladies, here's the plan..." -------------------------------------- Aphelion was having a hard time of it: He'd finally caught up with Tirek, and sooner than expected, but the reason why he'd caught up so soon had turned out to be due to the fact that Tirek had run into a group of ponies who seemed to be trying to brave the winter snows. Given that these were Crystal Ponies, that did not bode well for the Crystal Empire, but their presence prevented the unicorn from using one of his most powerful spells to end the battle quickly, given their highly destructive nature. Instead, it was quickly becoming a battle of attrition, a contest to see if the unicorn's stamina could hold out against Tirek's endurance... And since Tirek was still weathering the blows without seeming to be weakening, and Aphelion's horn was beginning to hurt, it was looking like the unicorn would be the loser of that battle. If the mares would just run, then things might turn around, but whatever is in that cart is too precious for them to abandon, and Tirek's first action had, apparently, been to render the cart immobile... It simply wasn't fair: If he could only have a moment's respite, if the mares would just move... if something would happen before it's too late... "YOU'VE GOT THE TOUCH!!! YOU"VE GOT THE POWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!!!!" And suddenly, the sky was lit by fireworks, and the world was filled with noise... -------------------------------- Five minutes earlier... "You three are going to be the rescue team: I need you to collect all of those mares and bring them back to Sanctuary. Them, plus I'll need you, Storm Cloud, to collect their cart." "Me?" "Yeah. You've got alicorn powers now, Storm Cloud. I believe that comes with greatly increased strength, yes?" "I... I believe so, yes. Celestia and Luna, in addition to having great magical power, were far stronger than the average pony. I was already much stronger than the average pony, so I guess I should be able to handle it now." "But why the cart?" "Easy, Ladyhawke: There has to be something in that cart that is as precious, if not more so, than their lives. Otherwise, they'd have abandoned it the moment the T-Rex down there showed up. I doubt that you'd be able to convince them to leave without it. Make sure that the cart and its contents can be safely transported." "What'll you be doing?" "Both you and Space Unicorn down there need a distraction, so Ti-Wrecks-Your-Face won't try to interfere with your mission, and so that out fellow Hunter will have a little bit of time to breathe before he lays into Tirek with his big finish. So, just keep in mind, no matter what you see or hear, keep moving: I'm certain I can buy you time, but I don't know how long my distraction will keep him entranced." "...You really think that unicorn is a Hunter of fiends?" "Yes, I do, although I don't think he's on our level yet. So, let's give him a chance to show his stuff, and then we'll see about a job interview." ------------------------------------------ As I began unleashing the mighty power chords of Stan Bush's greatest work, I knew I had Tirek's full attention. Let's be fair: If a giant being made of shadows with a star on his chest began belting out one of the most inspiring songs ever written on a gigantic guitar, you'd stop whatever the fuck you're doing and stare too. The fact that I'd used the massive boost of energy I'd been given to create multiple duplicates of myself, playing drums, bass, keyboard, and what have you, and was also setting off enough fireworks for every fourth of July ever, forever, made me all the more distracting. *I don't understand this: You pulled those instruments out of nowhere, and I know for a fact that you've never learned to play the guitar. How are you able to perform this song so... perfectly?* 'Elementary, my dear Sombra: I am able to take on the various aspects of a star, both literal and figurative, right?' *Yes...* 'And that's any kind of star, right?' *I... suppose...* 'So right now... I'm channeling the essence of a rock star. So, the magic I have generated both the skills, and the instruments, required to be one.' *...That has a vast number of worrying implications.* 'Like what happens if I channel the essence of a porn star?' *...I was thinking more along the lines of the Death Star, but yours is scarier, honestly.* Credit where it's due, the girls did a great job with their rescue mission: They didn't even stop to look as they picked up the mares, cart and all, and took off with the entire load without a word. And the unicorn, he was no slouch, either... He saw the rescue, and seemed to realize right away that I wasn't a new threat, but rather a distraction. He turned towards Tirek, and began preparations on a spell... And bow howdy, was it ever a big one. Most unicorns have, I know, been taught the principles behind this spell, but most pegasai and earth ponies have never heard of it. As someone with knowledge of computer programming, I have to say, if it were a computer program, it would be an incredibly elegant piece of work. Here's the basic principles: Let's say you have a spell, and that spell's job is, basically, to generate ten instances of another spell. That new spell's job is to generate ten instances of yet another spell. That new spell's job is to generate ten instances of yet another spell... and after a few repeats of that process, you have something like one trillion spells, all set to go off at once. The spells fire off in rapid-fire succession, and you hit the final iteration of the spell in seconds... And the final spell is the one that does the actual work. Our wonder boy had realized that Tirek was too difficult to take down with one big spell without the element of surprise: The guy may only be a fiend in levels of potential power, rather than in the ways that really matter, but Tirek eats magic, and thus can potentially just eat any one spell you launch at him. But one trillion spells, all coming at him at once, even if on their own they wouldn't do 'diddly'... Well, diddly times one trillion equals a whole fucking lot more than diddly. The result was a small, fairly well-contained explosion, but at its epicenter (By which I mean Tirek), it generated a level of heat and destructive power that one might normally find at the heart of the sun. Tirek was tough, though, and at the last second, he was able to put up a defensive spell, which was why, instead of being reduced to carbon dust and blown to the wind, the centaur was just badly burned and pissed right the hell off. The unicorn fell to his knees, the last of his magic spent. Tirek, furious, turned towards the unicorn... ...and was completely unprepared for the guitar I slammed upside his head. There was an admittedly satisfying crunch of bone breaking, the kind that tells you that, whatever you just hit, isn't likely to be getting up any time soon. However, while Tirek did fall to his knees, he was still standing, and still breathing... Which suited me fine: I had power to burn, and I definitely wanted to be the one who delivered the finisher. I called upon another, more literal aspect of a star, that being a black hole's ability to play merry hell with gravity: I summoned up a gravitational singularity inside of Tirek's chest, no larger than the size of the head of a pin, but with the gravitational force one would find on the planet Jupiter. It was keyed solely to Tirek's mass, and only lasted for a second, and yet, in a single, horrific second, Tirek was drawn into it; compressed, in a heartbeat, into something the size of a pea... which I then burned to carbon dust by summoning up the intense heat at the heart of a star. Yes, I launched a cosmic flamethrower blast from my chest. *How... how did you do all of that?* Sombra's question surprised me, and it took me a moment to realize that none of that had been Sombra. I'd done that all by myself. I theorized quickly... 'I did that all on instinct. I think that while the unicorn magic might be yours, I think that the 'Star Power' is mine, and it comes with a subconscious 'user's manual'.' *That's even more worrying...* 'Worry later: Let's go see to the new recruit.' The recruit in question had just passed out... ---------------------------------- "And yet another falls to him," Grogar said, miles away, as he watched it all unfold in his crystal ball. "I told you so," Discord said with a grin. "You understand why I'm turning down your offer now? Even if his offer wasn't far better than yours, Sombra is on a roll, and I doubt even all the fiends working in concert would be able to stop him. I'm not about to get in his way." The old goat scowled, and asked, "Is that why you came here? So you could rub it all in my face?" Much more serious, the master of chaos said, "No, although I admit, that is a welcome addition. No, I'm just here to give you a bit of advice: Get your affairs in order." Pointing at the image in the crystal ball, he added, "Whatever he was before, Sombra is now well on his way to becoming a hero, and not just the mundane kind. He is becoming the kind that will upset the so-called balance of the world, to the point that there's a strong possibility that, when he's done, the Equestria that he rules will be completely unrecognizable from the Equestria of a year ago." Wiping away a joyful tear, he admitted, "I live to see things like that." With a chuckle, he added, "So, there's no way I'll stand against him, when he's going to do something on a scale that even I, with all of my power, could have ever imagined." Grogar sighed, then said, "Fine. Now begone. I have work to do." Discord snickered, then snapped his fingers, and was gone. Grogar looked upon the image in his crystal ball again... and smiled. Things might have looked poorly on the surface, but Grogar was old, the oldest of the fiends, in fact. He'd not gotten to where he was, as the master of death, by being easily defeated. He'd gotten to where he was by being devious, more devious than any other fiend. Every fiend that Sombra defeated was one less fiend to stand in Grogar's way. They'd had their chance to join him, and had refused. Let them die. Let Sombra wipe them, and Diretusk's forces, away. Then, when the time was right, Grogar would unleash his secret weapon, and would stand alone as the only being of power still alive in Equestria... And then, the true Triumph Of Death would begin!