6. Battle in the Shadows
Midnight Castle was not as unchanging as it at first appeared to be. No stone ever shifted, no erosion of the plinth that it sat on occurred, but dust did accumulate inside of it from little cracks and imperfections in its construction. Vermin would find their way in. Sometime small animals that would take one look at the place and know better than to stick around…sometimes, bigger and supposedly more intelligent ones, that wouldn’t.
A pony necromancer here, a camel sorcerer there, a feline alchemist with delusions of grandeur, even the occasional centaur or gargoyle who had heard or read too many stories…and apparently not paid attention to how those stories had ended. There had been more invaders in the early years, but by now it was only one every century or so. Their decreasing frequency inspired the tiniest…slightest…most foolish glimmer of hope.
The outer wards were breached, and Midnight Castle’s hitherto lone occupant stirred. The golems were beset, and that woke him fully. He heaved a sigh, hefted his spear, and trudged to the entryway to the inmost sanctum. He set his spear into the ground, and waited.
Maybe…for the last time?
“Probably not.”
Cozy had wanted to fly up and attack whoever else was in the castle immediately, but Tirek had counseled patience. After all, they didn’t really know what tricks their attackers might have up their sleeves – assuming they wore sleeves – and so rushing in would not necessarily be the best idea. Surely they would, at the least, be more intelligent than the golems.
Besides, the two were getting hungry. So they had a small picnic in the chamber beneath the pillar-room, doing their best to ignore the black wall of annihilation that was only a few feet away. It wasn’t going anywhere.
Still, they had to get to business eventually, so after a light lunch and two boxes of apple juice for energy, Cozy Glow was ready to go and help Tirek take down their enemies/get additional power to take down the black wall. Cozy had been eager enough to fly on ahead up the stairs and out into the pillar room – and that was what had allowed her to spot the torch-and-hornlight of the castle’s other invaders across the room.
Cozy saw them, or at least saw that there were only a few of them – the distance and the glare of the light made picking out individual details difficult – but they couldn’t see her due to their own light blinding their night vision. Cozy smirked as she turned around and flew back down the stairs, which Tirek was near the top of.
“Hang on a second!” She whispered, putting her hooves to his chest and pushing him back, or trying to at least. He was really big. “They’re here. Back down the stairs.”
“Why?” Tirek asked, though he did back up a few steps. “If they’re up there, then why should I not take them out now?”
“Because we’ll wait for them to get close, then come out! It’ll add to our menace.”
“I’m already menacing. Why do we need more menace?”
“Because I’m just a kid! Menace is all I’ve got!”
Tirek rolled his eyes, but indulged Cozy by backing down several more steps. “Very well. Who are our erstwhile enemies?”
“Dunno, couldn’t see them. Ponies, I think, not that many of them.” Cozy settled into her usual spot on Tirek’s shoulder, rubbing her front hooves together. “Heehee! Just think, they came to Midnight Castle looking for the Rainbow of Darkness. Maybe somepony looking to be Equestria’s next big threat. But we’re already here! Ooh, this is gonna be so fun!”
“You say, as I’m about to do all the work,” Tirek noted.
“Oh shush, it’s not gonna be hard work.” Cozy shifted a little, getting comfortable even as her ears perked up tall, listening intently. After what seemed like forever she finally heard the sound of approaching hoof-steps, and indistinct, low voices. Cozy egged Tirek forward at that, and he complied, advancing up the stairs at a steady, measured place. At a pleading look from Cozy, he sighed, but also stomped his hooves a little with each step, adding to the menace.
The two emerged into the small vestibule before the main pillar chamber, and were greeted by the sight of…nothing. Not a soul in sight within the limits of Tirek’s torchlight. He tossed it onto the ground so that his hands would be free, then folded those behind his back, glaring out into the darkness, but ponies failed to materialize from that darkness.
Cozy considered. Had they turned tail and run away? On the one hoof, that would be great, that they were so menacing that ponies would rather run away than face them without ever having even seen them. But on the other hoof, that was not what they really wanted right now; they needed batteries, not cowards. Plus if these were more evil ponies looking for the Rainbow of Darkness, there was no way that they’d just run away without at least first seeing the threat…
She hopped from Tirek’s shoulder and floated forward, folding her front hooves behind her back to project the perfect image of innocence. “Excuse me! We know you’re here! We were waiting for you! So…could you please come out and play? Pretty please?”
And then she smiled, in a way that kids her age usually didn’t smile. It would contrast sharply with her words and pose and add even more menace. “Pretty please, with a cherry on top?”
Only silence greeted Cozy, and after a few moments it became painful to maintain her smile, so she dropped, and assumed a more comfortable, horizontal hovering position, glaring into the darkness. “Come on! Maybe we can be friends? Wouldn’t that be fun?”
Tirek came up behind her, clearly growing impatient. Cozy whickered and stomped her hooves at the air, and at the intractability of the invading ponies who weren’t so much as making a peep, just hiding somewhere in the creepy darkness of Midnight Castle. She was about to start shouting, but then a thought crossed her mind.
“Well, how about we play a game anyway?” She asked, waving Tirek forward as she floated backwards, and landed once more on his shoulder. “Since you’re all hiding, how about…hide and seek? Me and Tirek will be it.”
Cozy giggled, but even as she did she closed her eyes, thinking hard. Okay, so say she was a fairly ordinary pony – a fairly ordinary adult pony – and wanted to get the Rainbow of Darkness but then learned that there was a big, scary centaur between it and her. She wouldn’t run, not after coming so far. She was also here with friends – say, maybe five friends. So six ponies total…
In her mind’s eye, Cozy, on thinking of six friends, stopped seeing six ponies…instead, she saw one pony, plus a changeling, a yak, a dragon, a griffon, and a hippogriff. Those stupid students at the School of Friendship who had ruined her plans, ruined everything, took victory away from her right when it was in her hooves.
Sure. They’d do. Imagining that would make this fun.
Okay, so if Cozy was them, and for whatever reason they wanted the Rainbow of Darkness, and they came to this room full of darkness and pillars and Tirek and Cozy were here…they’d attack. Need to take out Tirek and Cozy first, no point in going for the Rainbow of Darkness without dealing with the biggest threats ahead of time.
Yona right in the front, just beyond the light of the torches. Yaks were good at charging in, smashing things, being loud and distracting. Sandbar to back her up. He was actually a little stronger than her thanks to earth pony magic, so he’d end up being a big surprise, his charge hidden by Yona’s bulk.
Smolder would attack from one side. Gallus and Silverstream would attack from the other. Flanking, from the air, waiting until Tirek had walked past. Tirek couldn’t fly, after all, so he was vulnerable to attacks from the air, or so the students would believe. Gallus and Silverstream would go for speedy attacks with their claws. Smolder would come in literally hot, breathing fire and smoke at Tirek to blind him.
Ocellus would be backup, jump in where needed. Shapeshifting would be useful like that. Probably end up as a heavy-hitter alongside Yona, or another dragon like Smolder for even more fire…or else turn into a unicorn for magical blasting power.
So. Initial charge attack to distract. Flanking attacks from the rear, left and right which would be the real first blows. Magical backup. Sheer numbers to overwhelm Tirek – Cozy would not be a major concern herself – and hopefully take him down fast and hard. Ponies wouldn’t be able to do necessarily all of that in detail…but the fundamental tactics were obvious. As long as one of each tribe was present, that’s what they’d try if they were going to attack.
Cozy opened her eyes, then looked to Tirek, though she still was half-focused on the battle in her head. “We’re flanked,” she whispered right into his ear, even as she hopped off his shoulder and flew down to his back so that she’d be out of the way. “Behind us and in the air, pegasi. An earth pony will charge us first to distract us. Unicorn spellcaster behind them.”
Tirek nodded, stopping his slow forward trot and taking his arms from behind his back, taking in a breath.
Cozy saw in her head…Tirek lashing out with magic straight in front of him, sending Yona and Sandbar flying. Gallus and Silverstream were snatched from the air into his mighty hands as he turned and headbutted Smolder, smashing her into the ground. Ocellus would be shocked and pull up short just before her first attack, and Tirek would telekinetically seize her and pull her forward, drain her magic…victory in just three quick moves. Checkmate.
Cozy grinned.
“Now!” An unfamiliar, masculine voice commanded. In front of them, Cozy saw a charging, scruffy-looking earth pony stallion. Just as planned. Cozy’s grin widened while Tirek reacted exactly as she’d predicted, magic gathering between his horns as he roared and shot it forward. The flash and glare blinded Cozy, but she felt Tirek lifting his arms up, ready to intercept the expected blows to the head that the pegasi would try for…
Cozy’s vision had just cleared enough to see a rainbow streak and a blue hoof slam into Tirek’s face, faster than a pegasus should have been able to move, nimbly dodging around Tirek’s outstretched hand. Tirek let out a shout of surprise. Cozy had to hold on tight as Tirek stumbled from the unexpected blow.
The follow-up was a yellow-gray blur, not nearly as fast as the first one but still twirling nimbly in the air, grabbing one of Tirek’s horns with one foreleg and then smashing his face again with the other before shooting back off into the air. Tirek stumbled backwards, hands now at his face.
That was when the third attack hit – the earth pony stallion, wrapped in a purple aura that helped carry him into the air and which must have pulled him out of the way of Tirek’s blast, the unicorn in the group giving up their own attack to save their comrade. The scruffy earth pony landed a solid buck with both hind legs on Tirek’s chest, sending him reeling backwards and throwing Cozy from him.
Cozy’s wings flailed, and she got them under herself just in time to avoid hitting the floor. She turned around, and her eyes widened as what she saw.
Hovering twenty feet in the air was none other than Professor Rainbow Dash – Wonderbolt, several-times-over savior of Equestria, and self-proclaimed fastest pony in the world, though Cozy had to admit the last was probably true. She was also the main reason her plan hadn’t worked. Cozy hadn’t expected a pony like her!
Floating next to Rainbow Dash was a yellow-coated, charcoal-maned pegasus in a Daring Do cosplay outfit that she had put way too much effort into. Beneath the two pegasi was another pony in an even worse Doctor Caballeron getup. Bringing up the rear was a unicorn pony Cozy didn’t even recognize, with a purple coat and white mane. Probably some obscure secondary character from one of those stupid books.
Cozy snarled. Undone by cosplayers?! “Oh come on! This is no fair!”
Rainbow Dash had helped save Equestria a half-dozen times and was the living embodiment of coolness and awesomeness, and reminding herself of that fact was the principal reason why she wasn’t still hiding behind a pillar. Not that she’d ever admit that to anypony.
She’d wanted to continue pressing the attack against Tirek, but for all that she, Daring, and Caballeron had pulled off an almost perfect series of strikes, the centaur seemed little more than mildly annoyed. He had been pushed around through sheer force rather than any real pain. Tirek was already standing on four hooves again and rubbing his face where Dash and Daring had one-two sucker-bucked him, while his other hand scratched almost nonchalantly at his chest like it itched where Caballeron had hit him.
So now Dash needed to buy time for the smarter ponies in the room – Dash wasn’t dumb but she knew her lane – to come up with a plan.
“How the hay did you two get out of Tartaros?” She demanded of Cozy Glow and Tirek, as the little pink psychopath flew back up to Tirek’s side, hovering next to the far larger creature. Cozy Glow. What was she doing here, of all ponies? Tirek and her really did have an alliance…
Cozy glared hate up at Dash. “Nevermind that. What the hay are you doing here? What do you want with the Rainbow of Darkness?”
“What’s a Rainbow of Darkness?”
“Don’t be coy with me, Professor Dash! You’re not cute enough to pull it off!”
Dash wasn’t certain how to take that, though she was pretty sure it wasn’t as insulting to her as Cozy had probably intended it to be. She was more concerned with the fact that Tirek had finished shaking off the blows delivered to him, though he paused and his eyes grew large when they settled on the other pegasus flying next to Rainbow Dash. “Daring Do?”
Daring tipped her pith helmet slightly at being addressed. “Lord Tirek. Can’t say that I’ve had the pleasure before.”
Tirek looked to Cozy and waved a hand at Daring in a ‘see?’ motion, then looked back to Daring, crossing his arms and stroking his beard. “Intriguing…so those books are not a mere fantasy, then? There really is a Daring Do?” He looked down at the other ponies. “And a Doctor Caballeron?”
Cozy Glow rolled her eyes. “No way, this is just Professor Dash on some kind of lame LARP or something. If Doctor Caballeron was real then he’d be on our side. He’s a bad guy.”
“Not necessarily. He and Daring have joined forces on several occasions when the situation required it – ”
“Wait, what?!” Dash demanded, all her concern being blasted into the bedrock at what she was hearing. “Lord Tirek reads Daring Do?!”
Tirek looked again to Cozy as he jerked a thumb at Dash for some reason, then looked back. “Of course. I read many different things…and Cozy sent me much of the series while I was in Tartaros when she was practicing the spell that allowed her to send me letters.”
“I wanted books that I didn’t care if I accidentally burned,” Cozy said, grinning at Dash. Dash glared back. Cozy had been her student, the little pegasus knew that Dash was a fan of the series.
“Well I appreciated them,” Tirek interjected before a tangent between the two could begin. “A.K. Yearling has quite the grasp of metaphor and is quite vivid in her descriptions of the locales Daring visits…an obvious draw for someone who was trapped in a cage for a thousand years.”
Daring blinked. “I’ll…pass the compliment along,” she finally let out, and Tirek nodded at her.
There were several moments of silence, which was finally broken by Caballeron clearing his throat. Dash glanced down and saw that he was trotting forward with surprising confidence, though that might have been to distract Tirek and Cozy from the fact that Glory was trying to sneak behind a pillar, terror apparent all over the unicorn’s face.
“This is strange,” Caballeron said. “This is the strangest conversation I have ever been witness to. However, Lord Tirek, perhaps some arrangement can be made.” He stopped directly beneath Dash and Daring. “We also have not previously had the pleasure of meeting – Miss Daring Do and myself were not in Equestria during your, ah…tour of the country.”
Tirek offered a toothy grin. Cozy rolled her eyes.
“In any event,” Caballeron pressed on, “I gathered from your young compatriot that you are looking for some artifact called the Rainbow of Darkness? I cannot say that I have heard of it – but I am here looking for an entirely different treasure known as the Sun Stone. I can’t imagine the two are related, given the names. That being the case, I see no reason for our two teams to be at odds.”
“Unfortunately,” Tirek said, “I do.”
That was all the warning that any of them got. Tirek had leapt forward for Caballeron, but Dash beat her wings and was there, shoving him out of the way before kicking off of the ground and taking to the air again before Tirek could snatch her. Her growled and reached out one hand for her, horn glowing, but before he could seize Dash in telekinesis he was smacked by a chunk of stone, a piece of golem that Daring had swooped down and quickly grabbed.
Caballeron recovered himself and turned around. “I believe discretion will prove to be the better part of valor!” He called as he high-tailed it, though he stopped by the pillar that Glory had hidden behind to collect her.
Dash might have agreed, but Tirek had recovered fast and charged forward with appalling speed for some creature so large, chasing right after Glory while the unicorn rushed for the stairs, horn glowing bright for light. Traitor or no, Glory was Dash’s teammate right now, so she took off right after Tirek, hooves outstretched to smack him in the back of the head.
But Tirek stopped his charge, skidding to a halt even as he turned around, grinning and swinging a fist at Dash. His bluff worked, and Dash felt the air being driven from her lungs as she caught the fist straight-on in the chest, sending her flying backwards and into the ground. She saw stars even as she gasped for breath.
Kinda’ worked, Dash consoled herself as she stood up, seeing Glory’s horn-light receding. But then Tirek lifted the torso of one of the golems and threw it casually over his shoulder. It disappeared a moment in the darkness before reappearing in front of Glory, almost hitting her and causing the unicorn to smack head-first into the stone.
Tirek waved a hand, and the torso started sliding forward and back to him, forcing Glory to turn and run from it lest she get crushed. Caballeron reappeared in her horn-light and bucked with his hind legs, stopping the torso’s advance long enough for Glory to remember that she could run in another direction besides forwards or backwards.
Dash took to the air, Tirek not breaking eye contact with her as she did. “Glory!” Dash called as the unicorn took off at a right angle. “Turn off the horn! Tirek won’t be able to see you!”
“Yes, make it a challenge,” Tirek agreed. His ears perked, and he spun with one arm wide, catching the charging Daring Do with his forearm, spinning, and throwing her head-over hooves into the air. Dash rose quickly and caught her before she could impact the ceiling.
Tirek squinted up at them, almost hidden in the darkness as they were. At least Glory had stopped lighting herself up like a beacon. “Come down,” Tirek ordered.
Dash scoffed as Daring got her wings under her. “Why the heck would we do that? You can’t fly.”
Daring almost missed a wingbeat, and then sighed for some reason. “Dash…” she moaned.
“What?”
Tirek was only grinning. “You’re right. I can’t fly.” But then he gathered himself up and leaped – and soared straight at Dash. She let out a shout of surprise as she dove out of the way, letting Tirek sail past. He impacted with all four hooves against a column, but before gravity could take back over he grabbed the stone with one hand, fingers actually digging into it and making handholds.
He kicked with the points of his hooves to get a better grip, and then turned to look at Dash as he held himself in place. “Good thing I didn’t skip leg day.”
“Y-yeah. Good thing,” Dash agreed. Then she yelped as Tirek kicked off from the column and flew at her again. She and Daring parted while Tirek crashed and grabbed onto another column.
“Yeah, I think Caballeron has the right idea,” Daring said, grabbing Dash and fleeing into the shadows. Dash got her own wings under her quickly, though she didn’t let go of Daring. The two couldn’t see where they were going after only a few dozen feet, but at least the columns made hitting anything unlikely. Daring quickly guided them back to the ground before they could hit a wall, and the two turned to look back the way they’d came. Near the center of the great chamber, barely in the light, they saw Tirek let himself fall to the ground, landing easily and glaring out into the shadows without seeing his prey.
Dash gulped. She didn’t like thinking that word, prey. She liked being it even less.
“Okay,” Daring whispered, fumbling her way over to behind a column, Dash following – no sense in risking giving Tirek a straight shot. “So I’m pretty sure he was just messing around with us and could have killed us at any time.”
“Yeah,” Dash agreed, forcing some degree of control over herself. “Ponyfeathers! Tirek levelled, like, half a mountain when he was fighting Twilight…I don’t think I can hit him hard enough while we’re inside to actually hurt him, there isn’t enough space for me to really get goin’…”
“No clouds for lightning…” Daring listed off, “and he’s not just tough and strong, he’s fast…and he’s got a boatload of magic…”
Dash shifted a little, and winced when her leg accidentally kicked a piece of golem stone. She heard the clatter of the stone like it was a freight train roaring past, but it apparently couldn’t have been that loud since Tirek didn’t react to it, instead having retrieved his torch as he proceeded to move slowly between the columns.
Dash let out a sigh of relief…and then had to cover her mouth to stop herself from letting out a loud gasp as an idea came to her. “He’s got a boatload of magic,” she whispered, “but he set off the golem trap but not the other two we found. Right?” Dash waited, then remembered she couldn’t see Daring in the darkness and so wouldn’t see her nod. “Look, my point is, Tirek avoided setting off any other traps. So maybe those can hurt him?”
Dash felt Daring’s wings brush her as the other pegasus ruffled them. “Not bad, Dash,” she said, “if it works, anyway. But we’re going to need bait…”
Tirek gathered up as many pieces of golem as he could in his telekinesis and threw them at the exit to the chambers, the way that would lead further up. The glow of the objects wrapped in his aura provided enough light for him to clearly see the exit despite the distance and the omnipresent shadows, and in just a few minutes he’d completely sealed off the only escape for the four ponies.
That task done, he folded one hand behind his back while using the other to hold his torch high over his head, and began to trot. He swept the torch around as he looked behind each column that he moved past. He was moving at a slow, methodical, predictable pace – because he wasn’t really trying to find the ponies. At least, he didn’t expect to round a column and see them cowering somewhere. The room was too large and his torchlight too feeble for him to possibly actually find them.
No, he instead was keeping his ears perked and alert, and his hoof-steps as soft as possible. He wanted to hear the clip-clop of pony hooves, the rustle of pegasus feathers – and the shifting of stones as the ponies tried to dig themselves free, uncover the only exit. There was no other hope of escape, and no way they could uncover it quietly. The moment he heard pebbles begin to fall…
He wondered where Cozy Glow had gotten off to. She’d hidden herself the moment the scuffle had begun, a wise move given that she was just an ordinary pegasus foal. She might still be lurking in the dark near the ceiling, or perhaps she had retreated back down to the chamber containing the mosaics and the barrier that they needed to pass. At least he had no real cause to worry about her safety - Rainbow Dash wouldn’t harm a foal, and nor would Daring Do, not if she was anything like those novels. Doctor Caballeron, perhaps…but if he attempted to use Cozy as leverage against Tirek, then he would be in for a rude surprise.
Tirek rounded another pillar, and once again found nothing. He was at the south wall now, and as he walked along beside it he found himself coming across yet another exit to the chamber, though this had stairs that led downwards – almost certainly not the direction the ponies would want to flee. He trotted on by it.
If the ponies were going to wait for him to make an error out of impatience, then they were making a grave one of their own. If a thousand years in a prison cell had taught Tirek nothing else, it had at least taught him patience…
There was the sound of a rock falling.
Tirek dropped his torch, spun in its direction and pushed off from the ground in a great leap in its direction through the darkness – towards the exit, just as he had anticipated. It took only two mighty leaps to carry him all the way towards the exit and the pile that he had created – and found Caballeron and the other pony, the unicorn Rainbow Dash had called “Glory”. Both let out whinnies of surprise at his arrival, falling away from the exit they had been trying to dig. Before either could do anything Tirek reached out and seized both in telekinesis, pulling one pony into either hand, gripping them by the barrels. He kept his horns glowing to provide light.
“N-no!” Glory screamed. “Not again!”
Tirek grinned widely. “Oh? So unlike Daring Do and the good Doctor here, you were in Equestria when last I was free, Glory?”
The unicorn battered feebly at Tirek’s hand with her hooves. She tried to blast him in the face with magic, but he just opened his mouth and swallowed the appetizer down.
“Leave her alone!” Caballeron demanded. The blows of his earth pony hooves were just about strong enough to actually hurt, but Tirek endured the pain with practiced ease. “There must be something we can give you in return! Be reasonable!”
“Oh, but he is being reasonable!” Cozy’s voice exclaimed. Tirek glanced over his shoulder, and saw her flying down from the shadows of the ceiling. “Just not in a way you like, mister. See, all we really need is your magic to get past this dumb door.” Cozy landed on Tirek’s shoulder once more, and squinted at Glory. “Oh…hey, Miss Glory Pose! Long time no see!”
Glory, if anything, started struggling even more at the sight of Cozy. Tirek eyed the pegasus, and she giggled. “Oh, it’s nothing special. Miss Pose just used to be my next-door neighbor is all back in Fillydelphia. Uncle Royal Fork used to try to go to her house and her parties a lot. I think he wanted to marry her.”
“Wait, what?” Caballeron asked.
“He was a gold digger!” Glory exclaimed, looking quickly to Caballeron.
Tirek rolled his eyes, while Cozy pranced down the length of his arm and looked at Glory. “Hey, I bet since the Crown seized all of my assets on account of the whole I-tried-to-take-over-the-world thing, that would make you the richest pony in Fillydelphia now!” She leaned forward and patted Glory on the head. “Don’t worry, I’m not mad about that, that’s not your fault. Sure was a lucky break for you, though!” She stepped back and grinned wider. “Who’s next in line to be the richest pony, Miss Pose?”
“You, I would imagine,” Tirek said, “once you get your third of Equestria.”
“Good point!” Cozy trotted back up to Tirek’s shoulder and sat down, ruffling her wings and getting comfortable. “Go on! I wanna get the Rainbow of Darkness.”
Tirek saw no further point in delaying. He gathered magic into his horns and opened his mouth wide…and then stepped backwards and ducked just as Rainbow Dash went shooting on by and would have collided hooves-first with his face.
Tirek did not make the same mistake twice.
Dash let out a shout of surprise as she disappeared into the shadows. There was a thud, probably the sound of her hitting a wall of column. Tirek was more interested in Daring Do, who had appeared right behind Dash with a rock held in both hooves, already swinging it at Tirek’s wrist where he held Caballeron. He simply moved a little so that Caballeron took the blow on his back instead. Daring managed to pull most of the force from her swing.
Cozy was holding onto Tirek’s shoulder tightly, squealing in surprise. Right in Tirek’s ear. He didn’t have time to focus on that, though, as he dropped Caballeron and stepped on him to hold him down, even as he snatched at Daring. The pegasus was just a touch too nimble, but the focus on avoiding his hand allowed Tirek to seize her in telekinesis and then pull her into his grip anyway.
He twisted his upper body to turn and look in the direction Rainbow Dash had disappeared. He was unsurprised to find that she was already flying back, but pulled up short when she saw Tirek lay eyes on her.
“Not bad,” Tirek intoned, “but not enough.”
“Ha! You show her, Tirek!” Cozy laughed as she climbed back into place. “Your speed doesn’t mean much if you’re predictable, Professor Dash!”
Rainbow Dash gulped…and then grinned and glanced at Glory. “Made you look.”
Tirek’s eyes widened. He looked to Glory, and saw her horn lit up with magic. Tirek opened his mouth to swallow it – but it didn’t matter because the magic wasn’t directed at him, but at a rock from the pile he’d made, catapulted right into his face. He let out a roar of pain, then another when another rock smacked into the leg holding Caballeron down. He let go of Glory and Daring on reflex as he stumbled, bringing up his arms to ward off further blows.
“H-hey!” Cozy cried out. “No fair – ahh!”
Cozy suddenly left his shoulder, and Tirek looked to see that Daring had grabbed her and was flying away. “I’ll take this!” Daring called out.
“Put me down, you cosplayer!”
Tirek grunted in annoyance as the ponies shot off into the darkness – but ran or flew straight towards the stairs that lead to the deepest bowels of Midnight Castle. They were fast and quickly out of sight in the dark, but Tirek gathered himself and leaped again, horns glowing brightly…
…and Rainbow Dash came at him from the side in mid-air, where he had no ability to maneuver. Sheer kinetic force slammed into his side and sent him flying into a column, then tumbling gracelessly to the ground. Dash was already off, disappeared into the darkness before Tirek could respond.
Tirek picked himself up, a rumble in his chest and fists clenched tightly. That blow hadn’t hurt…but he had felt it – a little too much. He popped a few joints, then took off at a full gallop, conjuring a shield around him as he moved to prevent any further surprise attacks. As the light of his magic pushed back the darkness, he saw the four allied ponies had regrouped at the top of the stairs leading down, Daring holding a struggling Cozy Glow tightly as she tried to make her way backwards down the steps.
He was charging too fast for even Rainbow Dash to move out of the way, let alone the other three. He let out a battle-roar as he charged, keeping his shield up so that no more annoying rocks or fast-moving pegasi could hit him before he hit one of them with all the force of a freight train. It was time to end this.
Cozy managed to get her muzzle loose from Daring’s grip by biting her. Her eyes were wide and she looked panicked. “The trap!” She screamed.
Tirek’s roar cut out as he tried to slow, but it was too late. His shield touched the magic rune that was carved into the floor. Baleful green light flared to life and the shield collapsed around him – not dissipating, but instead falling like a ton of bricks on the centaur, forcing him to his knees and then onto his side even as it was dragged fully into the circle – and dragged Tirek along with it. The green light reached up and traced its way across his flesh and into his body and clawed at his soul – and it felt like it was tearing loose pieces of it and pulling it back into the rune circle, powering it more so that it could take more.
Tirek howled in pain, real pain, far beyond anything that the ponies had inflicted. The shield had been no mere light cantrip, he’d put serious power into it – and that serious power was now being drained and fueling the rune circle. Yellow-black magic joined the green light and was pulled into it. Tirek felt his muscles atrophying and saw the world seeming to grow larger as he lost height and mass and power.
The howl turned into a roar of defiance. One hand reached out and slammed into the floor beyond the rune circle, fingers still having enough strength to dig into the stone – for now. He dragged himself forward enough so that he could get another hand out and pull further.
After what felt like an eternity but couldn’t have been more than half a minute, Tirek managed to pull himself from the circle. The green glow of the runes and the yellow-black magic still dancing around Tirek cast weird, stuttering shadows and illuminated the five ponies staring at Tirek with wide eyes strangely.
Tirek clenched one fist as he forced himself to his hooves, panting heavily from the effort and the aches that now traveled through his body with every move. He was still taller than even Caballeron…but by a lot less than before. He let out a low growl, wiping his mouth with his other hand while the light of the circle faded.
“You’ll pay for that,” he spat, and charged.
Dash acted first, of course – she dove to the side and against a wall, landing on it with all four hooves, then sprang off of it and into the much-reduced-but-still-huge Tirek. Her hooves connected solidly with him, and Tirek let out a roar of actual pain as he went stumbling. But he also turned into the blow and grabbed Dash, opening his mouth wide even as the two crashed into the ground. Yellow-black magic seized Dash, and she could feel her pegasus magic being assaulted and drawn into Tirek.
But only a thin trickle was pulled from her before Caballeron acted, leaping and landing on Tirek’s side. The magic cut out and Dash was released, and she scampered backwards. Caballeron had tried to kick Tirek again, but he grabbed the earth pony’s hoof as he stood back up and tried to drain magic from him – and got, once again, only a thin trickle. Dash dove forward, but Tirek side-stepped her.
That was when Glory stepped forward, horn glowing bright. “Put him down!” she exclaimed, sending forth a bolt of pure magic. It hit Tirek straight-on and he stumbled, but then threw away Caballeron and spread his arms wide as Glory attacked again – and he swallowed up her magic. This was no thin trickle, but instead a torrent of purple magic spilling forth as Glory shrieked in pain and Tirek feasted.
Dash acted as quickly as she could, charging forward and low, spinning and bucking Tirek in his equine ribs. He coughed and his magic sputtered, while Glory stumbled and cried out as her hoof slipped and she fell down the stairs – right into Daring, still holding a struggling Cozy.
“Ha!” Cozy exclaimed as she escaped Daring’s grasp and flew over to Tirek. Her triumphant smile disappeared at the sight of her ally. She glanced back to the other four ponies, and Dash could see her mind whirling as she returned her gaze to Tirek.
“We gotta go!” Cozy exclaimed, grasping one of Tirek’s hands and trying to pull him away.
“What?” Tirek demanded, while Dash and Caballeron both ran to the stairs to check on Daring and Glory. Daring was holding Glory now, who looked visibly drained, exhausted by Tirek’s attack.
“Even if you get all their magic now, you’ll have to spend it bringing that barrier down – you’ll be too weak! We have to find a way to get you more power!”
Tirek yanked his hand out of Cozy’s grasp, dark eyes focused on the four other ponies. “We do – but not before I take everything I can from these four!” With that, he charged forward.
“Not a chance!” Dash called as she shot forward, meeting Tirek’s charge hooves-first. He grunted and slowed, but roared and kept pushing forward anyway, grabbing Dash’s forehooves. She lifted her hind ones and bucked, and Tirek shouted in pain – but also slammed his head forward and into hers. Dash saw stars first, then felt pain as Tirek tossed her to the ground and raised a hoof.
But Daring was there, catching the falling hoof with her own two forehooves long enough for Dash to scramble out from beneath it, then spinning around Tirek’s equine body and kicking out a front knee. He roared and lashed out with magic, but Dash was on top of him and behind him, grabbing his horns and directing his energy blast upwards, then letting go and kicking his upper back.
That proved to be a mistake – he stumbled forward and into the stairwell, front hooves slipping on the first set of stairs. Surprised shouts and grunts of pain followed as Tirek tumbled into Caballeron and Glory, and the three slid down the steps in a heap of lashing hooves and bursts of magic.
“Ooh,” Cozy said, from where she hovered in the air between Dash and Daring. “That…looked painful.”
“Yeah – hey wait!” Dash turned, but Cozy was already flying away – down the stairs, after Tirek. Dash shook her head. “How do I keep forgetting about her?!”
“Admittedly the big red and black magic centaur is distracting…” Daring said, taking off down the stairs, Dash following. They found Tirek picking himself up, horns glowing for light, while Caballeron had placed the still-stricken Glory behind him and was eyeing Tirek and Cozy Glow. Tirek, for his part, was breathing heavily and obviously fighting off pain – not that Caballeron, or Daring or Dash for that matter, were exactly looking better.
The chamber they had found themselves in was square-shaped and covered in mosaics of creatures suffering in various agonized poses, their shadows being drawn to a carving of Lord Tirac with his mouth open wide and containing utter blackness, a darkness even more total than the one at the entrance of Midnight Castle. Green lines of flowing magic traced their way along the floor and ceiling and to the dark mouth of Tirac, where they disappeared into the inky void.
At least, for just a few seconds after Dash arrived. Before she could do or say anything else, however, the utter blackness started to, somehow, glow, like there was some light behind it struggling to break through. Dash had just enough of a warning to shield her eyes before the darkness was blasted away, physically tearing open and vanishing as bright, warm yellow-white light poured out from the open mouth carving, along with a rush of air.
Dash squinted past her hooves, and saw a silhouette against the brightness. As her eyes adjusted to the sudden glare, the silhouette took on a more distinct shape – a two-legged creature, clutching a long spear as tall as it was. It began to move with heavy foot-falls, the end of its spear tapping the ground as it did.
The creature spread a pair of large, dragon-like wings on its back after a few paces, its body and wings blocking most of the light and allowing Dash to see it more clearly – covered in brown fur, with a darker brown mane and an almost wolf-like head. A gargoyle, Dash realized, as tall as Tirek and easily as muscled and powerful in build.
“‘Wait, guardian, stop and listen,’ you’ll say…” the gargoyle said, his voice high and dry, like it had gone unused for a long time. “‘We can negotiate, we can be friends’…lines I’ve heard before. Lies I’ve heard before. Let’s get this…over…”
The gargoyle stopped, staring straight ahead. His eyes grew wide, and his mouth slowly dropped open as he leaned on his spear for support. Dash followed his gaze, and saw that he was looking at Tirek.
“…Brother?” The gargoyle asked.
Tirek’s own expression was a mirror image of the gargoyle’s.
“…Scorpan?”
The two stared at each other, silent and unmoving.
Then a deep voice that seemed to reverberate and rebound off of every shadow that remained in sight spilled forth from the chamber that the gargoyle had emerged from.
“How touching...I wonder which of you will kill the other.”
Stats
Page generated in 0.038 seconds
Total duration
944 users online
120,467 hits today, 2,004,447 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Anyway.
So, zero points for anyone who guessed that Scorpan was alive - I haven't exactly been trying to hide it. Likewise I haven't tried too hard to hide who the other character is. This is sort of in response to how Cacophony came out of nowhere in Trouble in Midnight Castle - there were enough people who didn't like that, that I thought I'd make things more obvious here.
This fight was also hard to choreograph because...well, I did the equivalent of siccing an elder dragon on a 5th-level party. While Tirek is nowhere near the maximum power that he's displayed in the show - when he fought Twilight - I still think that he's a powerhouse, well beyond the ability of Our Heroes (and Caballeron and Glory) to fight. You'll note that they basically have to resort to the action economy - they can simply do more at once than Tirek can. Also clever use of the environment. Even then I think they were at most stalemating him even after he had a bunch of his power drained.
Story is about...sixty percent done here. Hopefully I can finish some time before 2022.
Still in 2020!
... Damn, Tirek, get your game on!
Pfft, I love how they keep forgetting about Cozy.
Hooray, update!
So glad to see it! Things are really strumming along. I really liked how that fight went and oooh, Scorpan alive? But not very sane it seems? This should be interesting...
A rather strange assumption, given Equestria.
Some great, clever action here. Yeah, as someone who know what a pain it is to choreograph properly, you did great. I didn't guess Scorpan was alive. But I wasn't really thinking along those lines.
As for the other voice, it's obvious. Megan has returned! ;p
One typo I noted.
Should be 'Tirek opened'.
Tirek as you write him is a very difficult character to write in a fight, as he is powerful, intelligent, and most of all, prudent. Most of that fight was a windup for that singular moment with the trap, as he would not have fallen for it otherwise.
Indeed, this particular group was one of the few that could have done so well, as they're all quite used to the idea of fighting dirty. Sub in AJ for Caballeron for instance and the fight actually goes poorer, as she doesn't have the doctor's experience in fighting a superior enemy.
Nicely written.
Ooh, neat! I like Tirek being a sort-of Daring Do nerd.
10604798
Actually, I thought Scorpan was dead, his ghost bound to the castle and force guardian to the Rainbow of Darkness. Example; Tartarus prevented Tirek from aging to dust after a 1000 years. Also funny part on Cozy, how she said she purposely burn Daring Do's books and spite Rainbow Dash.
Miss Pose knows Cozy?! Also Cozy has an uncle that's a gold digger? Will they explain for of their backstories?
I guess Scorpan has been betrayed many times and he went mad.
10604932
I outright assumed it more or less as soon as he came up in-story. Too much of a gun on the mantelpiece for anything else, other than the slight deviation 10605012 proposed (the only relevant part of "alive" was the last scene of the chapter)
Yeah, the reason the fight ended with a draw is that Tirek needed to conserve his power. Were he able to go all-out, they would have been crushed. It doesn't help that the pony party has an extra Rogue instead of a Cleric for heals.
Oh wow that's a dramatic ending! Can't wait to see what happens next!
This was worth the wait.
I adore how Tirek and Cozy's creepy entrence at the end of the previous chapter was due to Cozy wanting to play up their manece. She's certainly into the whole villain thing.
The fight was great. I liked how everyone got to partake in it in some capacity. I also like how you wrote Tirek as not just an agressive bruiser, but also quite cunning. A dangerous combination worthy of one of the show's most major villains. It's very rare to find such a nice depiction of him.
As for that final reveal... The next chapter should certainly be interesting.
Funny thing is that this would have actually been a correct guess against most enemies. She marely made the mistake of not thinking someone as fast as Rainbow would be one of them.
I adore Cozy's dialogue in this.
Tirek actually enjoying Daring's books is something I find quite amusing.
Of all things to give her a relation to Cozy for, this one is perhaps one of the funniest.
So not only did they lock her up in a cage presumably for forever but they also took away everything she owned. That's just cruel.
I'm surprised they guessed that Tirek would care enough about Cozy to try and save her.
Tirac?
Overall I loved it and looking foreward to the next chapter!
10605367
It was a correct guess, it's just... I'll defer to Quicksilver here:
10604798
It might be hard to choreograph, but it's absolutely worth it when done well. You did great in this regard.
When it feels like everyone's making natural decisions and using everything at their disposal to pursue their goals, including acknowledging their limits, it's all the better for audience immersion and investment in the stakes and characters.
Been watching a certain series lately, and my enjoyment is constantly undermined by the characters making absolutely moronic decisions in combat...
And then... the TRUE villain finally emerges!
yt3.ggpht.com/a-/AAuE7mCbOEsuneZGVLMqEScIeb-fxwlYxFgCfTqGPw=s240-mo-c-c0xffffffff-rj-k-no
Lord Nuxanor, "YOU FOOLS!! You all fell for my large-brained 189IQ Master Plan! Muwah ha ha ha!!"
10605981
I...don't know who that is.
10605840
Oh? I'm curious which series this is.
10605720
Of course Professor X should be able to just sort of shut down Quicksilver if he wants to - he's certainly been shown as able to do that in the past, at least to other people. But maybe he can't get a thought in edgewise. Also Xavier is kind of famously a bit of a dick.
"Have you seen my wheelchair? I have jogged briskly five times around this beach but have been unable to find it!"
10605367
Personally I think Tirek is the most dangerous of all the villains - he's got the right combination of raw power, intellect, charm, and most importantly of all a healthy understanding of the threat level possessed by others. Even the finale got that right - he wanted to eliminate the windigoes immediately, rather than risk them becoming too powerful to deal with.
On the other hand he is capable of letting a bit of arrogance get to him on occasion. It's possible that Cozy Glow is rubbing off on him a bit.
10605145
Personally I think they're all some manner of rogue, except perhaps Rainbow Dash, who's more likely a pure fighter.
10605054 10605012
During a few drafts of this, before I started writing the story, I did consider having Scorpan be truly dead, just a pile of bones in the corner somewhere. I think I could get a fair bit of good characterization out of Tirek over that, but I think it would also make him a fair bit too mopey for what I need him to be in this fic.
While Glory doesn't appear in it, Uncle Royal Fork is in the backstory that I wrote for Cozy: Cozy Glow: FIENDship is Magic.
10605007
I wanted either him or Cozy to be one, and I think the stories would appeal to him more, for the reasons stated - he spent a long time in a prison, so any form of escape is something he'd like.
10604935
Thanks! I was worried the start-and-stop nature of the fight would get annoying, but there really was no way I could justify the four of them being able to take on Tirek, not at the power level he was at in my head, anyway.
10604932
Will correct, thanks! And not Megan, but it is another G1 character...
I swear I will not introduce any G1 characters in The End is Never the End (the sequel to this and the conclusion of the series). I'll try and work exclusively with existing characters.
10604840
I had a few different ways I wanted to potentially write Scorpan bouncing around in my head. At first I wanted him to basically be the Grail Knight from Last Crusade, but he's a little too...light, I guess. Plus the Grail Knight was protecting one of the holiest relics of Christendom, the cup of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Scorpan has been guarding...something else.
10604826
To be honest that line was added in because I kept forgetting about Cozy. But for the exact reason Daring Do stated: Tirek's kind of distracting, and plus it's not like Cozy could really contribute to the fight in any meaningful way.
10605150 10604868
Thanks for the comments!
10606534
No problem!
10606534
At the risk of starting a heated debate in your comments section... okay. Rant incoming.
It's the Mandalorian.
Some of the most frustrating aspects of the show are the plot-sensitive competence and apparent lack of attention to detail in world-building (and by world-building I mean in terms of the reasons for things being the way they are, and not in terms of references to other things in the SW universe).
Without getting into too many specifics, much of the action is undermined by stormtroopers being absolutely awful at their jobs. They seldom take cover, they often stop shooting once they have clear shots, they have very poor tactical sense, and this is all in addition to their terrible accuracy. Except that one time when they rescued the protagonists who were disguised as stormtroopers; then, their accuracy suddenly went up to 100%. The only other time when they have a high degree of accuracy is when they're constantly hitting Mando's impenetrable Beskar armour (and never any of the substantial gaps in his plating).
Mando also frequently obtains victory by outgearing his opponents rather than outsmarting them. And they're already not that difficult to outsmart in the first place, so it's not exactly a high bar to clear.
In one episode, Mando hijacks an Imperial truck carrying space nitro glyceryn. It explodes if it's jostled around too much. And yet the Empire chose to transport it in a wheeled vehicle instead of any hovercraft that is ubiquitous to the SW universe, just so that the writers could have a tense car-chase sequence where going too fast to escape the baddies comes with the risk of blowing up. Little head-scratch-inducing details like these are present throughout the series; they're not too bad on their own, but they keep adding up.
There are many more examples, but my general impression is that the series is like playing a game on easy mode. It's hard to be invested in the characters and the stakes when they're running around beating up the baddie equivalent of third-graders.
I'm surprised they guessed Tirek would actually care about Cozy Glow. Then again, the fact that he's just bringing her along with him on this mission probably helps in realizing that.
10606534
Mister X is a different character from Xavier. His gimmick is that he's a highly trained martial artist and fit guy with low level telepathy that lets him read minds for an advantage in fighting.
He's really not much to write home about, hence Quicksilver easily kicking his ass in that quote.
10606534
That was actually from a fight against Mister X, who can only read minds rather than actually control them. And he only really has the brainpower to do one person at a time. He makes it work using a Power Grid that maxes out Fighting Skills, allowing him to capitalize on knowing what his opponent is going to do next... provided that none of the extensive list of counter-strategies that page mentioned are in play.
EPIC CHAPTER! One with a heck of a twist coming in at the end with Scorpan revealed alive after all, and mysterious entity entering the picture as well.
Also loved everything about the clash and encounter between the two groups, played it quite perfectly. Plus nice touches with Tirek revealed to be a Daring Do book fan, and Cozy knowing Glory Pose back in the day.
10606534 You will.... you will...
Soon all shall know Lord Nuxanor and worship the almighty BILLY!
A camel sorcerer, eh? Any chance he keep facing an eternally reincarnating hero of a thousand faces and one hat?
Sorry, Cozy. You may be a great tactician, but no plan survives contact with the enemy. (Very little survives contact with Dash when she moves at that speed, actually.)
Heh. I don't see that ending up on a cover blurb any time soon.
To quote a wise man, "No fly. Jump good."
Fantastic fight choreography on all fronts, and a great stinger to close out the chapter. Definitely looking forward to more.
Wooo! Update!
I loved the fight in this. There was a lot of action and it felt very balanced out! It was also long enough for it to make sense that Tirek completely forgot about those traps until the last second.
And oh god, his brother is back. That's a whole other can of worms~! I can't wait to see the next chapter.
Really enjoy your story!
Is this a reference to Gen 1 by any chance?
Why? Wouldn't surprise be a much better tool in this instance?
Nice how she figured all this out. And the lead up scenes where she was visualizing everything was pretty neat too. Shame it didn't amount for anything in the end.
It's actually kind off funny that Cozy would know what that is in a pre-internet environment.
I am sure there's a story there.
Don't know why but this looks wonky on my computer. After many there's a weird gap where it looks like someone hit the enter key. Works fine when I copied it though.
Aww she's jealous! Let's get real; we all know Rainbow Dash is more than cute enough to pull off being coy.
Great characterization here. There's no real reason why they couldn't work together at this point (and get the drop on them latter) but Tirek's worldview of seeing ponies as cattle, and his arrogance, coupled with a possible need for vengeance, has him attack almost immediately. Great stuff.
(Or Maybe that's just me reading into it?) Still good though.
Love this moment; this is the kind of loyalty that I wish we had gotten more of from Rainbow Dash. Also her actions throughout the fight are both impressive and effective; something the canon Rainbow Dash was great at when it came to the former, but not so much the later.
Aww Caballeron does care! Maybe.
Run Glory run! You and Tirek are the most interesting villains here!
Wow, Cozy what did you do to her?
So he wanted control over your money then? Hmm nothing like your current employee right? Remind me who has been making outlandish purchases with your cash recently?
Also it doesn't explain why she's scared of Cozy either.
"Who never skips leg day? Dun nun nun nun nun Tirek!"
Dash's fear of Tirek is characterized brilliantly, both here and in the previous chapter. It's clearly having a effect on her, but if anything it's fueling her survival instincts instead of diminishing them; great stuff.
The image of Tirek just nonchalantly sauntering around in the dark, waiting for his enemies to come to him is way cooler than it has any right to be.
Still if they drag her off to Tartarus, you'd have to explain to Grogar how she disappeared. Even if she was just a filler villain, if she disappears without explanation there's going to be questions.
Pifft! Priceless!
Also Cozy got herself kidnapped. Honestly I've come to expect that from this version.
Aww! She stepped in to defend Caballeron. And unlike him she can't even really get more use out of him by this point! I love this character.
Finally she does some actual fighting! Too little too late though.
This was a good chapter. The fight lagged and was kind of repetitive but all in all it was decent, if not quite on the level of some of the changeling conflicts for Trouble In Tiatarta.
The humor was pretty good over all, and I enjoyed a fair bit of it all things considered.
Cozy being condescending is the one interesting part of her character I still enjoy, and the Cosplayers gag was pretty hilarious.
The characters all got some development in this chapter and most of it was pretty good; Glory made some mistakes, but nothing damming enough to ruin her villain or character status for me.
Tirek remains a awesome character, and even though I couldn't honestly route for Rainbow Dash here (as she represents the pony status quo) I did enjoy her as a character with a lot of layers, and some pretty awesome moves being shown throughout the fight.
If they had done this with her in the earlier seasons I proberbly would've warmed up to the idea of her being a valid member of the Main Six a lot sooner.
Cozy Glow is... still present I guess. To be honest I have no real investment in this version of her in terms of her being a villain, or being used as a long term character arc.
She's too cliché, impatient, and over the top to be a effective schemer and (unlike canon Chrysalis) lacks the magical abilities to come off looking cool or competent while doing it.
As a character she strikes me as being too lazy, hands off, and shallow to be a effective focus for a series that seems to be focused on character development, especially when she hasn't had a whole lot of meaningful development of her own so far, and this despite appearing in numerous stories. It doesn't help that her depiction has been all over the place at this point.
Comedically she's funny enough, and I suppose you could in theory make a sympathetic figure out of her, but I suspect most of it would boil down to a sympathetic backstory or her being a cute child, rather than anything substantial.
Obviously I want to see her reformed (or at least given a better fate than she was in the show) but that's all I really expect to be done with the character at this rate. I couldn't be happier if you managed to prove me wrong of course.
10605367
Sure explains why they couldn't be bothered to reform her though, (and quite possibly what she was doing at Twilight's school in the first place). Makes you wonder how much of Twilight's school was paid for with Cozy's money; either through donations or though the crowns "acquiring" of her assets.
Me too. Should've been a pretty huge leap in logic from Rainbow's perspective. I mean this was the guy Twilight refused to even discuss friendship with, so you'd think ponies in general would look at him and see a heartless monster. I am curious as to how this will factor into everyone's characterization moving forward.
I am going to go with... yes.
10606676
I mean they couldn't be bothered to help her and they're supposed to be the good guys, where as Tirek was clearly meant to be considered a absolute monster by Twilight and her friends in the show.
And it's not like Cozy was intentionally helpful to Tirek before this, except for the times when it was in her own interest, so there's not really a whole lot of difference between him and Twilight on this, certainly nothing so sever that it should cause him to legitimately care about what happens to her.
It's certainly strange to see the different perspectives on this and you've got to wonder whether they were actually trying to bait him or just wanted Cozy off the battle field.
10604798
I'll be honest, I actually really liked that. I kind of had the sense from the beginning that there was more going on in that story then meet the eye, and I really enjoyed the reveal of her character as it upped the stakes of the conflict considerably, as opposed to feeling like a random villain thrown in for shock value. Be interesting to see what you do with her moving forward.
10610062
RDD agrees with you here, which is why he already wrote and posted one.
What little we know about the character is that she enrolled in the school before being outed as a villain.
The chapter repeatedly points out that a spoiled pegasus filly is of absolutely no relevance to a fight that also contains Tirek or Rainbow Dash, never mind both. Ignoring her completely is the better tactical choice if you aren't using her as bait.
10611173
Right but a sympathetic backstory doesn't make for good characterization on it's own. Characters need to have layers or believable reasons for what they do, and (if your attempting to imitate source material) then they should at least be somewhat similar to their original characterization.
Even in Season 9's "The Ending of the End" Cozy Glow was smart enough to avoid the castle defenses not to mention taking out the guards in a way so that she didn't sound any alarms, and also hid the Bewitching Bell until the right moment, taking advantage of Celestia and Luna's joint attack on her.
And she did all this despite being a alicorn with more magic than most characters had at the time. And now she just waltzes into the open where anyone could get at her and Tirek, and has them make a point of announcing their arrival, because she wants to be menacing? Not only is not in character for her, it's simply not a interesting explanation for what happens in the last scene.
That's why I said donations. My point being that Cozy proberbly paid money to get herself enrolled at such a young age. Aside from the upkeep of the facility which (after she was arrested) proberbly was paid with money the crown "acquired" from her.
But why should they think that using her as bait would actually work?
Twilight clearly wanted nothing to do with Tirek during Twilight's Kingdom, clearly seeing him as a monster, and Cozy was simply using his knowledge to gain power. It's not like we get any reason to believe that Twilight or the others thought the two were actually friends at this point.
There is no established reason that they know of as to why Tirek wouldn't just ditch her. And she's too unpredictable to be useful as a audio lure, so there's no real reason why you'd abduct her except to keep her away from Tirek.
Arguably she has some limited foresight when it comes to battle tactics, but it's unclear whether she could really make that much of a difference in the heat of battle.
10611401
Eh...while Cozy is certainly capable of great subtlety when she wants to be, she also does seem to enjoy hamming it up when either she isn't capable of hiding her evil nature, such as opponents who know her already - using your own example, she may have held back on having the Bewitching Bell but at the same time she did charge straight into the throne room through the front door.
Since she's walking around with Tirek it wouldn't exactly be able to convince people that she's on the up-and-up. Well, I suppose she might have thought to try and lure the ponies down to Tirek where he could absorb their power without a fight, but given that she figured that whoever was there were other villains after the Rainbow of Darkness for their own purposes, I don't think she'd bother with that (not to mention that trying to explain why a twelve-year-old filly is wandering around Midnight Castle just isn't worth the effort). Likewise unlike Cozy in "The Ending of the End", she doesn't have any special powers, so she'd be acutely aware of the fact that she really can't add anything to a fight. This is going to entirely consist of her sitting on the sidelines watching Tirek work.
Finally, something I've established in this story plus one of its prequels, "Cozy Glow's Tales of Revenge", is that Cozy doesn't like being treated like a sidekick or mascot, or the suggestion that she was merely Tirek's "minion" for the steal-all-the-magic plan. She wants to be considered a legitimate threat in her own right. She isn't trying to add menace just for the sake of adding menace; she wants to add it so that she can come across as just as threatening as Tirek or Chrysalis when she wants to be. Basically while her line in chapter 1 of "I'm not a pony, I'm a little monster! Rawr!" can be read as just a cute kid moment, you should also be reading into it.
Taken together it seemed to fit, for me, that she'd basically be theatrically playing up Tirek and herself to the potential rival villains that she thought was going to show up.
There may have been an enrollment fee, but I doubt it was all that much. I actually hinted at what I think Cozy did to get into the friendship school back in FIENDship is Magic, when she was talking to her magically-drained uncle:
“I wouldn’t do anything crazy like shut [my daddy's companies] down or anything. Just sell out Daddy’s shares! So maybe I wouldn’t own them anymore but then I’d have a ton of money. And then I’d invest them into Fillydelphia! I’ll open charities and sponsor public works…” [...] “I bet I’d get recognized by the Princesses, even, if I did that. I don’t know what that would mean. Maybe I’d get a real special medal or something. Or ice cream! I bet I could get free ice cream for life. That’s totally worth selling all of Daddy’s companies and then giving away all the money, right?” [...] “Oh, but if I did all that, then I’d probably only be left with enough money to support myself. Just enough to get me into a good school...”
The School of Friendship of course didn't exist at the time of this conversation but I was meaning to hint that Cozy's planned actions here are what got her noticed for going to the school by the time it opened.
I don't think she was bait (and she was never mentioned as bait by the ponies, it's Tirek who muses that they might try it). But she is an ally of Tirek's who's been traveling with him and might have known about or remembered the traps that Tirek apparently noticed and avoided, which the four ponies were banking on luring Tirek into. Last thing they need is for Cozy to have a mildly cooler head in the heat of battle and successfully warn Tirek against stepping into it.
Edit: Oh, wait, I think I know the confusion. When Daring said that they were going to need bait, she didn’t mean Cozy, she meant Caballeron and Glory. Mea culpa, the story isn’t clear about that since I didn’t want to include Daring and Dash finding those two and explaining the plan, or hint that they were looking for them.
10611481
Right, except she knew what she was getting into, or thought she did. The palace is a location she has been in before, and most of the ponies there she had already meet and dealt with at one time or another.
And again she was a alicorn and had the Bewitching Bell on her side, giving her that old villain confidence. Here she has none of that, and no real assurance of what she's up against.
It sounds like it was just ponies, but what if it was something worse? She waited a considerable length of time before moving against Twilight, and took the time to fetch her classmates before fighting the Young Six. Cozy Glow is smart and likes stacking the deck in her favor. I don't see any of that here.
She might not like it but cannon Cozy is certainly more than capable of acting like a sidekick (and spends a lot of time gravitating towards that role).
Most of her early season 8 appearances show her dumbing down herself and pretending to be subservient to carry her plans forward. In Season 9 after Frenemies, she actually spends most of her time serving as a support villain and helping out other villains by spotting details they've missed, rather than stealing the spot light.
In both season 8 and season 9 she shows a obsession with gaining other peoples attention, but that doesn't usually lead itself to fear tactics when she knows she can't back them up. At the end of the day Cozy is more concerned with winning and survival than looking tough, and she's usually smart enough to not try and attempt the latter without a serious advantage.
Even in the throne room she's not trying to be "menacing" or a monster. Cozy's always been that sarcastic and bitter; from the fake answers she gives on her test way back in "Marks For Effort", to her wise cracks in Season 9. She's just having a good time wrecking havoc on the people that she hates (and proberbly envies) more than anything.
More or less what I was suggesting when I brought up donations. Her throwing around money to get her way into Twilight's school being the basic idea. That being said, it would make a lot of sense if they couldn't be bothered to reform Cozy once they had access to her money.
The same way Discord was only considered for reformation once Celestia came up with the idea to harness his magic, or the way no one (including Thorax) could be bothered to help the changelings until they reformed.
Equestria (as we've seen through out the show) is very much a society that thrives on the idea of "what can you do for me?" rather than "what could we do for you?"
10611546
Such as, say, a millennium-old, highly intelligent and cunning, extremely powerful centaur sorcerer and warrior who, based on his appearance in Season 9 compared to what he could do in Season 4 when he looked the same, has roughly the power he had when he drained a theater full of dozens of unicorn ponies?
I certainly believe that of the three in the Legion, Tirek has the most amount of raw power to throw around. He’s significantly more powerful in a straight-up brawl than Chrysalis. Chrysalis, in the comics, is able to stalemate Twilight in a magical duel, and therefore is also around as strong as Starlight, whom Twilight is capable of stalemating as per Season 5. And to repeat, Tirek is someone whom I view as significantly stronger in terms of raw brawling ability.
Trust me - Cozy has every reason to think that the deck was stacked in her favor by the fact that she had Tirek around since all they were doing is going up against no more than a half-dozen ponies. As the ponies themselves observe, they make it because Tirek is essentially dicking around and enjoying his freedom because he doesn’t view them as a threat as so he can flex and dunk on them - but there are multiple points where if he was taking the fight seriously he could have won in a heartbeat.
10611848
Honestly the only times I can recall seeing Cozy Glow deliberately try to cower someone was when she absorbed Discord's Chaos Magic in the final. And that's the thing: Cozy knows she's not scary. She's smart enough not to try imitating her opponents.
Even in Frenemies which was arguably the episode with her lowest success rate, she's knows she can't scare Rusty Bucket into doing what she wants and doesn't even try.
When he's fully charged sure, but that differs wildly from stage to stage.
Honestly Chrysalis is severely underestimated when it comes to raw combat ability. Remember that she took on Celestia and won.
Now admittedly there were a variety of issues at play there (with the stress that Celestia was mast likely under at the time being a considerable factor in those regards) but the fact is that Chrysalis was (with enough love) able to beat someone who was considered one of the strongest characters in the fandom at the time, and still proved strong enough latter on to basically hold back the cold at Equestria's north pole, with only Luna to aid her.
So Celestia is no push over, and (by extension) neither is Chrysalis. Just imagining what she could do if she could create love on her own instead of having to steal it, is a big reason why I find the idea of her transforming interesting, regardless of whether she actually reforms or not.
True but Tirek can pull that off because of a variety of reasons. One he is a well written character: we've seen what he is thinking beyond any given moment and we've seen how his emotions color his thinking in ways that make sense. There is a method to his madness that we can understand, even if we don't agree with it.
That's what you did with Chrysalis; you took a villain I'd always seen as cliché and shallow, and gave her actual feelings. It's what the show did with Pinkie Pie and Rarity (and a bunch of other characters I ordinarily wouldn't like) and showed us where they were coming from, whereas previously without that context I wouldn't have understood them at all.
Tirek also has consistency of character where at least some of his actions have been established before in less known (but still very important scenes). Take for example, your own version of Cozy's backstory, where we have Tirek agree to a wager on a game of chess to decide whether or not he gets to drain one of his victims of his magic.
Not only is it incredibly arrogant, but it shows that he likes to play around and to see what others are capable of when they are up against him, as opposed to being someone who shuts down competition almost instantly, which winds up setting up the fight scene in this chapter very nicely.
Plus Tirek talks about the possibility of betraying Discord with Cozy Glow; even though Discord is unpredictable, has uncanny snooping skills, can do just about anything instantaneously, and transport anywhere he wants to, and thus might come back from his little vacation at any moment once he has had his fun.
Now that's arrogant. That's character consistency. Compare Cozy Glow's character in this story to her character in your own backstory however, and you come up with a variety of problems.
This is Cozy Glow in your backstory:
And this is Cozy in the current story:
Why is so invested in being treated like royalty, if she basically was planning to get ride of her money and thus prove that she was above spoiling in the first place? For that matter did she give the money all away, or was it seized by the government?
Because there's a huge difference between someone who has to acquire additional work because they don't have the money needed to invest in various interests, and someone like Glory; who can afford buying Caballeron's services; not to mention all the stuff Caballeron is blowing her money on, like expensive air blimps, bribing government officials and who knows what else.
Maybe Glory's been thrifty before this and only looks really rich because she's been saving a lot in the bank, and Caballeron is your basic scam artist making purchases she couldn't possibly afford otherwise, but still it's weird when the richest pony in your city thinks she might wind up working a day job at the age of ten. Nor does such ruminations do a lot to sell the spoiled filly character you turned her into.
And those are just the differences between this story and her official backstory that are unexplained; that's not counting all the other stories that have her acting differently from story to story with no real consistency. And because there's obvious character differences between your series and cannon, I can't really be sure what her development is supposed to be based on what we've seen in cannon either.
One of the things I loved about this series was how you turned what was basically a crack comedy about Chrysalis "reforming", and used some of that emotional motivation moving forward even as you made her feel like a real consistent character from the get go. Same (more or less) with Tirek, and (as far as I can tell) most of your cast that your put your focus on (like Glory and Rainbow Dash) remain mostly similar from appearance to appearance (bar some massive emotional revelation).
Cozy however is all over the place. One moment she's being nice to someone who is essentially helpless (her preferred kind of person to intimidate in the show) and the next she's cutting lose to show how "scary" she is, to a group of unknowns who's abilities she has yet to assess and who may very well have any number of factors on their side that she hasn't accounted for yet.
Most of your stuff is really good, and it shows that you are able to make a character like Glory well rounded and interesting, and overcome my apathy towards Chrysalis to make her a interesting character. Cozy however, feels like a afterthought at times.
There is no unifying theory or trait to explain her, and it seems like there are times when her character was just thrown in, because logic dictated that she be there.
She certainly has had no meaningful impact on this story so far, and it feels like you could cut her out of it entirely and get a lot more characterization by just focusing on Tirek or sub in another character and get more or less the same dialogue and plot. I actually really like Cozy, but it feels like she manages to be even less relevant in this story than she ever was in cannon.
Even that wouldn't be as bad if it was consistent, but it's gotten to the point where I am never sure what you are going to do with her, because every time I click on a story it's like I am watching a totally different character.
Like I said: Cozy has some great lines in this story; she's arguably one of the funniest characters here. I am just not a big fan of not knowing what relevance she will have from story to story, or never being sure how she's going to be written the next time I click on one of your works.
The real problem is that Cozy Glow is a reoccurring character and we (as far as I know) are stuck with her. So it would be nice to get a sense of what kind of person she is, or to have a fair idea what her characterization is supposed to be going forward.
Yet we've already had several stories with her, and she still has less character consistency than characters who have been reimagined multiple times, across decades worth of media. It's more than a little disconcerting all things considered.
And with the amount of issues she has, it's going to be difficult to believably wrap up her character arc in the time still available, if the goal is in fact reformation.
Oh ho ho, the epic battle can just wait, now -- we've got family drama on screen!