//------------------------------// // The Tartarian Conspiracy // Story: Darkrim And The Elements Of Harmony // by Lunaexcelsior //------------------------------// Next to the Grand Tartarus Castle stood a small opening that led deep into the lair of the Basilisk. Despite its odd location, Radifus’ lair was quite homey. There were two bookshelves carved out of stone. Inside these two bookshelves were the collective works about all kinds of magic, both shadow and light magic, as well as a few philosophy books and 'The art of conquest', written by Dormius, the first king of Tartarus, Radifus' go to reading material. Aside from that, Radifus had his own collection of potions lined nicely above his firewood desk. In the middle of this lair was a large, squared, red velvet carpet. Radifus was coiled up in front of his desk overlooking paperwork when he heard a loud knock quickly followedd by his doors being kicked in. “You know you’ll have to pay for that, right?” he said as he watched the knocked down door. “This is no time for jokes!” Ares screamed “My Intel officers have informed me of your colossal failure to take over Darkrim’s mind. I thought you said it wouldn’t be a problem?!” “Well, there was always the slight variable of our plan going astray,” Radifus claimed “besides, I am not the one that chased Darkrim away and made my job that much harder!” “Hey, he was mingling with a light pegasus! If you think I would let a golden opportunity like that slip by, you’re crazier than I thought,” Ares said. Radifus shook his head. “You really don’t see farther than your snout do you?” Radifus asked in an agitated tone. “What is that supposed to mean?!” Ares said angrily. “If you had stuck to my original plan, we would have something to pin against Darkrim and exposed Hades for the incompetent leader he is,” Radifus elaborated his plane “With his popularity failing in the eyes of the nation you could’ve performed a military strike and taken over the throne. However, you decided to jump into action and now I am cleaning up your mess.” “And you’re doing a bang up job of it,” Ares commented. Radifus was beginning to grow tired of him, but he kept his composure. After all, he knew that Iracundia wasn’t the idiot he presented himself to be. “I am at least trying,” Radifus argued. “Oh yeah, well let’s see your track record, shall we?” Iracundia began “You have failed to dispose of Princess Luna, failed to get Darkrim on our side, and, not to forget, you have completely botched the mission of retrieving the eye of Leviathan,” Ares finished with a pleased look on his face. Radifus was on the verge of snapping this insolent beast’s neck, but he had to restrain himself. After all, Iracundia’s militia was his only means of achieving his goals. He had to play nice, for the time being. “Fine,” Radifus sighed “Then what do you propose we do?” “I am glad you asked,” Iracundia said with a pleased smile “Bring him in boys!” As Ares said that, his loyal gargoyle’s dragged in a peculiar creature. This beast seemed to be skeletal in design, with pale white mane flowing down the side of its head. It had a canine like jaw and grayish skin that covered its bare boned physique accompanied by two bug eyes. It bowed its head in front of Radifus. The serpent observed this strange specimen very closely as it only stood silently in front of it. “So what is this thing?” Radifus asked Ares. “This thing,” Ares began “is the majestic Makita, a beast found in the darkest parts of Tartarus. It is a prime hunter, responsive to any order, given to it by its master. Which just happens to be little ol’ me,” Ares finished with a proud smile. “Is it sentient?” Radifus asked. “Not that we know of”, Ares responded. “So, what? You’ll have this thing hunt Luna down?” Radifus inquired. “No way,” Iracundia replied “She’d have this thing mounted on a wall, if it went after her. However, if it went after Darkrim, that would be an entirely different story all together,” Ares smiled sinisterly. “You have to be kidding me,” Radifus closed his eyes “You want to kill Darkrim?! Are you insane?” “Hey, he’s a loose variable in our plan,” Ares argued “And besides, you have failed. Two times! This time we will do it my way or else you can forget about our cooperation!” Radifus sighed in defeat. He really didn’t wish it had to come to this, but Iracundia was relentless. He had to agree. “Fine,” Radifus said “We’ll try it your way.” “Thank you.” Iracundia said proudly “Oh yeah, before I forget: I am going to need a photo of Darkrim, just so Makita knows what it is searching for.” “Of course,” Radifus said and walked up to his drawer. He pulled out a picture of him and Darkrim, studying at the ambrosia fields. A slight feeling of nostalgia took over Radifus, but only for a second, as the serpent handed the picture over to Ares. Ares looked at the photo with slight amusement. “How precious,” he smiled and showed it to Makita. The beast took the picture in its bony fingers and observed it. Ares made a slight gesture, showing it the dark blue unicorn in the picture. The beast looked at him and nodded its head as the gargoyles took it away. “Are you sure that thing isn’t sentient?” Radifus questioned once more. “Even if it is, it’s probably the bottom of the scale,” Ares smirked. “What makes you say that?” Radifus asked him. “If it was any higher, I wouldn’t be using it as my tool,” Ares bragged as Radifus smirked to his comment. “Talk about a slip of the tongue,” Radifus thought to himself as Ares left his lair. As Radifus was left all alone, he was a bit frightened by Ares’ decision. He wanted Darkrim to suffer for betraying him, but his death was something he never wished. “If that blasted idiot kills Darkrim it will mess up everything,” Radifus thought to himself “There’s only one way I can stop him.” As he came to that conclusion Radifus moved to the center of his room. He used his tail to get a book called ‘Communication spells' from the top shelf. “Okay let’s see How to contact a witch, no. How to communicate with the dead, that’s not it. How to contact Equestrian officials, hah, as if… ” he thought to himself, as he searched for his spell “Ah here it is! Gargoyle summoning! Yes that should suffice,” Radifus clicked. “Egredietur gargoyle Grimoire per ordinem Radifus Morrigan Basiliscus Quarti!” Radifus exclaimed as he read the pass from the spell book. His golden horns glowed as a bright, white flash appeared in the middle of his room. Radifus shielded his eyes for the split second as from the flash came out a gray furred, bipedal creature, with bat-like brown wings. “Grimoire, you old so and so!” Radifus exclaimed as he saw his gargoyle friend come out. “What’s going on Radifuss?” Grimoire joked with him. “Sad to say, nothing good,” Radifus replied with a worried look on his face. “Wouldn’t be expecting anything else,” Grimoire said and shook his head “So what’s the scoop, my man?” “That fool Iracundia has ordered a hit on Darkrim,” Radifus yelled through his fangs. “Seriously?” Grimoire said in a wide eyed shock “I didn’t know the old bastard had it in him. Who’s he sending?” “Makita,” Radifus replied with a deep sigh. “Ah, I see,” Grimoire said “and I assume that you want me to do something about it, am I right?” “You know me so well,” Radifus smirked. “Well you know I don’t do these things out of the kindness of my heart,” Grimoire rubbed his hands together. Radifus approached his desk and took out a brown bag, filled with irantium. “I trust this will suffice,” he said and tossed it towards Grimoire. He opened up the bag and smiled, contently. “So what’s my mission?” Grimoire asked. “You are to pursuit the Makita and make sure that it does not harm Darkrim. I want you to shadow its every move, but do not interfere unless you absolutely have to!” Radifus explained “Do you understand me?” “Find the ugly hunter and make sure he doesn’t hurt your precious Darkrim. I got that part,” Grimoire said “but why must I wait to spring into action?” “Because I don’t want Ares’ spies to learn about this.” Radifus explained “Plus Darkrim is already under Luna’s protection. You’re just my safety insurance.” “Ah, got it.” Grimoire nodded, “Will that be all?” “I would trust so,” Radifus said. “As always, it’s been a pleasure working with you Radifus,” Grimoire smiled and extended his hand. “May our business be ever so prosperous,” Radifus said and shook his tail with Grimoire’s claw.