//------------------------------// // 3: A Turncoat // Story: The Storm Of Tartarus // by AleneShazam //------------------------------// Celestia sighed as she sagged into her seat. Typhon was free, marauding the countryside, and all she could do was watch and hope they could come up with a plan to be rid of him. She continued peering into the scrying pool, searching for signs of trouble. “Sister.” Celestia jumped, her frazzled nerves overreacting at the slight touch of her back. She turned around in a hurry, her eyes wide, and her horn flared to life before dying down when she realized who she faced. “Oh, Luna. I’m sorry, it’s been a very stressful night.” “It’s alright, Celestia. Why don’t you go get some tea? Twilight and her friends as well as Cadence and Shining Armor have arrived, and are ready to begin. Go get something to soothe those nerves, I’ll fill in our guests until you get there.” “Thank you, Luna.” Celestia smiled, heading towards the kitchens. “You take care as well, sister.” Luna nodded, and they parted ways, one heading off to acquire tea, and another to meet the guests in the meeting hall. As soon as the double doors to the hall opened, Luna was greeted with the sight of six ponies and two alicorns. Twilight was there, of course, as were the other ponies she requested. “Friends, I thank you for coming here with such haste.” “Luna, what’s the matter? What’s going on?” Twilight, ever the eager student, was quick to begin asking questions. “Is there some threat to Equestria that we have to defeat again?” The same questions were echoed by her friends, and even Shining Armor and Cadance. “Please, Twilight Sparkle, a moment. This will take a while to explain, and I cannot do so if I am caught answering your questions.” Luna laughed in spite of the situation. Twilight’s face flushed, and she nodded and settled back into her seat, falling silent. “Now, please make yourselves comfortable. This will be a rather lengthy tale to tell.” Long ago, before Equestria was formed, before the lands settled and cities were raised, and the people were divided, there was only chaos. Above all this was the draconequus, Discord. Though he called himself a spirit, the natural spirits of the world spurned him, and called him a demon. He fanned the flames of disharmony, and plunged the world into a state of deep unrest. Then, ponykind was little more than scattered tribes, attempting to fend off the much more powerful griffons, and dragons, and diamond dogs. Not to mention the chaos beasts created by Discord for his amusement. These were creatures of destruction and death, with teeth and claws and burning with hellfire, that preyed on all the mortal races and was enemy to all. The immortal gods, taking pity on the mortals, pooled their powers and blessed two beings with divine power: Celestia and Luna. Celestia was blessed by the oracle of the sun, Apollo, and had control over the sun’s light and could peer into the future. Luna was blessed not only by the huntress, Artemis, but also the dream spirit, Morpheus, and was granted power over both the night and the dreams of mortals. With this power, Celestia and Luna banished the chaos demons, unified the lands, and discovered ancient artifacts, the elements of harmony, which were powerful enough to petrify even the mighty Discord. Peace reigned, but only for a short while. Monsters still roamed the land, and from the far south, rumblings were heard for thousands of miles. Olympus, eternal seat of the gods, home of all the spirits of the land, was sundered. The gods scattered, and many sought refuge in the lands under the protection of Celestia and Luna, offering to aid the mortal kingdom in standing up against the bane of Olympus: Typhon, the Storm Titan, father of monsters. He, and his consort Echidna, spawned many horrific monsters, many even greater than Discord’s chaos beasts in size, or strength, or cunning. The titan himself was terrible to behold, with a maddening visage that would drive lesser minds insane with but a look and strike fear into even immortal gods. He had a hundred heads, a serpentine body, and he was so tall that he could reach the palace of the gods without having to climb the mountain that it was perched upon. Flames and poisons spewed from his mouths, turning the lands barren, and around him raged an eternal storm that destroyed all who dared fly close. He rampaged across the land, destroying and devouring all that stood between him and his hated enemy the gods. But then the mortal world united, for the first, and last, time in history, to bring down this terrible beast. The elder dragons, their wings mighty and strong, could break through the storm. The forest spirits repaired the damage the monster wreaked, and sent forth the denizens of the woods against the terrible monsters Typhon sired. Celestia and Luna attacked with the fury of the sun and the moon, and the gods attacked with their own powers. At last, in an epic conflict of titanic proportions, Zeus the Skyfather hurled his last lightning bolt down Typhon’s gullet and obliterated him from the inside out, slaying his mate and devastating his brood. They dragged his still living body to Tartarus, the deepest place in the world, and imprisoned him behind adamantine gates. He did not rest easy, beating on the doors, screaming vengeance, but he could not escape that place, not while his wounds festered and his body weakened. Harmony returned to the land, and in time the power of the gods ebbed away. After the war, the gods too damaged to recover, leaving Celestia and Luna to guard the mortal realm. Many threats rose and fell after that, but none quite as deadly as Typhon was. The sisters kept the elements of harmony, using them time and again to strike down foes that would cause harm to the world, as was their divine duty. But all the while, they hoped that Tartarus would keep the titan in check, for little else could stand up to his full might. Evidently, it didn’t. “That is what we are up against.” Luna said, grimly. “A creature with the power to sunder the skies, and split the earth. Although Celestia’s scrying tells us that Typhon is vastly weakened, we have neither the gods nor the elements of harmony to assist in our victory. Plus, a magic stealing demon named Tirek has also escaped, and he has stolen a vast majority of Typhon’s magic. With the titan’s magic, Tirek has become a high priority target as well.” Celestia, at that moment, entered the hall. “Luna, have you told them about Typhon and Tirek?” “Yes, sister.” Luna nodded. “In that case, I must ask you for advice, ponies. Cadance, Shining Armor, do you think anything in the crystal empire will help us defeat the creature? And Twilight, do you and your friends have any idea about the crystal box that came out of the tree of harmony?” Celestia turned first to the crystal rulers, then to the elements of harmony. Cadance glanced worriedly at Shining Armor, and the stallion spoke up. “The crystal heart is used mostly in a defensive capacity, Princess. If Typhon or Tirek attacked the empire, we could probably use the heart to fuel a shield matrix that can hold them off indefinitely, but not much in actually defeating them.” “That’s good.” Luna comments. “At least that gives us an opportunity to have a secure command center.” Celestia nods. “And you, Twilight?” Twilight shakes her head. “Nothing in the old Everfree library says anything about the box, and no lock opening magic that I know could open the box. Discord did give me some cryptic advice, but nothing more than his usual annoying rambling.” Fluttershy raised her hoof timidly. “Um, Twilight? If Discord suggested something, maybe you should try and listen to him?” “Ha! Discord? Are you kidding? He’d sooner lead us in the wrong direction than give us actual advice.” Rainbow snorted, leaning back in her seat. Twilight, Applejack and Rarity nodded in agreement. Celestia looked sternly at Rainbow Dash and those who agreed with her. “Discord is our ally now. Even if he’s up for the occasional prank and trick, I’m sure he wouldn’t deceive us in this time of crisis. Tell me, Twilight, what did he suggest?” Twilight shrugged. “I don’t know what it means, Princess- um, Celestia, he just put some bookmarks in our friendship journal and told us that those were important. But I don’t know what exactly is so special about those entries, they’re just your usual friendship report.” Luna cocked her head. “Pray tell, did you perhaps bring this friendship journal? If Celestia and I looked over the marked sections, perhaps we might figure out some clues that you were not able to pick up.” Twilight nodded. “Feel free, Luna. It’s just in my bags.” She levitates the book out and passes it over to Luna, who immediately begins scanning through it. Fluttershy raised her hoof again. “Um, Princess?” Twilight, Cadance, Luna and Celestia looked at her. “Yes?” Then all blushed and looked down uncomfortably. “Um, Princess Celestia, where’s Discord?” Fluttershy asked again, a small smile on her face in spite of herself. “Well, Discord is just about the only being on Equestria on remotely the same level as Tirek is right now.” Celestia said. “So we sent him to do some reconnaissance. He was under explicit orders not to engage, and to come back if he thought that he was at risk.” Twilight blanched. “You’d trust Discord with a task like that?” “If we never give the draconequus a chance to shine, we’ll never know if we can trust him.” Luna said, nodding sagely. Twilight pursed her lips. “I suppose…” “Discord…” Tirek rumbled, staring at the draconequus in front of him, trapped within the confines of his fist. The spirit could easily fit in his grip, which further reminded him of his brilliant triumph. “The master of chaos himself, paying little old me a visit. Why, I’m honoured.” “Ah yes, Tirek. How’s life serving you? I see you’ve grown since we’ve last met.” Discord chuckled. “So I’m supposed to capture you and take you back to Tartarus. How’s that sound?” “I doubt you’d be able to, Discord. I’ve devoured all of Typhon’s magic. I’m more powerful than ever, even before my imprisonment. I don’t even need to absorb the magic of the Princesses anymore. I’m already the strongest there is.” Tirek said. “I could just crush you, and you could do nothing to stop me.” “Except you won’t.” “I won’t?” Tirek asked, raising an eyebrow. “You won’t because I’m already on your side.” Discord said, smugly. “I thought you were working with the ponies? How did they convince you to join their cause, anyway?” Tirek’s grip tightened on Discord, causing the spirit to wince. “Easy, there, Rekky my boy. This body doesn’t die, but I can still be hurt you know.” Discord groused, his tongue sticking out dramatically. “But well, I’m in no position to lie now, am I? I, ah, made friends with a pony, just the sweetest little pegasus. She’d be sad if I let you wreck her home. Which is why I’m here, trapped in your sweaty hand.” “Friendship?!” Tirek sneered, leaning forward until all Discord could see was Tirek’s black and yellow eyes. “You abandoned your power, your freedom, for FRIENDSHIP?” “Nope!” Discord laughed. “I’m not throwing my life away for ponykind. I’m joining your side!” Tirek pauses. “That easy? Not that I’m complaining, but… well then, good to know that you’re not a fool. So, what can you do for me that would stop me from draining you dry and leaving you to die? Your power would be quite the addition to my power levels.” Discord smirked, and snapped his fingers. A winged, fanged creature, looking like a giant reptilian bat with a spiked tail, appeared near where Discord was. It was larger than a griffon, with snapping jaws and razor sharp talons, flapping its large leathery wings and screeching loudly. “I think I’ll call this one… a wyvern. ‘Cuz the ponies getting attacked will go ‘Whyyyyy?!’ and the thing will go ‘VEERRRN’ and then ‘om nom nom’. Wyvern.” “Oh yes… Chaos beasts.” Tirek’s smile widened into a predatory grin. “I’ve almost forgotten about those.” “Fancy making yourself an army?” Discord snapped his fingers again, and a dozen wyverns appeared around them. “Consider yourself hired, Discord.”