Chapter 48: A Three Way
A lone serpent slithered across the rocky terrain of the Dragon Lands. Meanwhile, high above it, an airship flew across the sky, aiming for a top of a mountain range, where it eventually stopped, but so did the snake. It waited, resting upon the scorched ground, shifting now and then, as if it was waiting. There was a loud beat echoing from above and it stirred. A large dragon appeared on the mountain and the airship proceeded to follow it, making the serpent move as well; it seemed to be following them. It crawled down the hill, hoping to catch up to them. There was suddenly a shrieking cry coming from the other side of the mountain range. The large dragon appeared from around the corner, dragging the blimp with him, putting it on the ground in front of a cave that looked like a broken dragon maw.
“Come on, all of you!” the dragon yelled.
It picked up the pace, moving between the rocks, trying to catch up to them before they disappeared into the cave. Luckily, the passengers were still reeling from the experience, and it took them a bit to get back on the solid ground. Eventually, they went on their way and followed the dragon into the cave. The serpent in the meantime slithered to the nearby piles of rocks, peeking over them, watching them disappear. Suddenly, a green flash enveloped the serpent, causing it to change its form, from a scaly elongated slithery being, into a dark equine-looking insect ceature.
“Where are they going?” The Queen of changelings glared.
She shapeshifted again, this time into a lizard, and she crawled in the direction of the cave. She didn’t dare to show her true face in this land as she was, and even flying would’ve gotten somebody’s attention, considering how loud the buzzing sound of her wings was. She reached the moored airship, where she shape-shifted again, this time into a vulture, and she flew up on the deck. She landed, inspecting the ship in case somebody was left behind, but after much searching, it became apparent that nobody was present. She needed to make a distraction; she still had a lot of work that’s been piled up by the recent events, and the last thing she needed was to have the princess and her friends make things difficult. From the corner of her eye, she suddenly saw a flashing light coming from the cave. She flew over to the mouth and gazed inside. There was a dragon’s shadow blocking the blinding light on the far end of a passage and the equines were following him. This was her chance! They won’t be able to see her at work! She flew up and landed on top of the blimp. She was quite surprised; she had thought that the large dragon would’ve pierced the balloon with his giant claws, yet remarkably, it was still intact… Not if she had anything to say about it! She scanned about to make sure nobody was present, and when she was certain, she shapeshifted back into her normal form, flew to the side of the balloon, and made three cuts into it in quick succession. There was a hissing sound, and it quickly deflated, eventually covering up the airship completely. She was satisfied with her work. Now those annoying ponies won’t be able to pursue her.
“That’s mine! DO YOU HEAR ME!? MINE!!!”
A loud bellow suddenly echoed out of the mouth of the cave, followed by a crashing sound, startling her for a moment. Curiosity got to her, and she flew back to the mouth of the cave. Not noticing anyone, she slowly tiptoed deeper inside, being able to see a large shadow in the bright light. As she got closer, she started to hear talking, but couldn’t understand what was being said. She finally reached the doorway and took a peek inside. She couldn’t understand what was happening but she saw a white dragon holding a crystal, a disembodied hand reaching out for him, and placing a cluster of crystals on top of his head.
“Because you will be their lord… MY Dragon Lord,” a voice said, and soon after the imagery disappeared.
There was a prolonged silence in the cavern, everybody simply stared at the crystal, trying to process what had just happened.
“You saw that just now, right?” the wonderbolt asked.
“Eyup!” Applejack responded.
Ember flew to the ground, picking up the inactive crystal. “It triggered when the bloodstone scepter came into contact with it… That thing we just saw… was a message from the past?”
Spike joined her side. “Ember… I think we’ve just witnessed the day when the first Dragon Lord was crowned.”
“Well, it seems that mister “Former Dragon Lord Blowhard” over here bit himself in the foot.”
“WHAT?! WHO SAID THAT?!” Torch bellowed.
“Dad, be quiet!” his daughter shushed him. “We don’t need the whole mountain to fall on us! Hold on… who did say that?”
“Me,” a voice said, coming from the animal caretaker.
The fanny pack around her neck was opened and the draconequus was sticking his head out, waving.
The Dragon Lord flew to him, looking at him up close. “Wait, what’s your name again? Disco or something?”
He groaned, pulling himself out of the pack. “That’s DISCORD, the Lord of Chaos…! Well… more like the former one at this point… But my point is, your papa over here claimed that there were no records of the past in Dragon Lands, but it seems that he unknowingly had them in his possession this whole time.”
Twilight jumped off the large colorful pile of crystals and landed on the ground. She was trying to process the fact that Discord was right about what he was saying, however, compounding it with the fact of where they were, it almost made her gasp.
“He’s right! This place... It’s a repository for recorded messages! It’s basically a library!”
“How can you be sure?” Rainbow Dash inquired.
“Wasn’t what we just saw obvious, Dash?” the workhorse said.
“I dunno… Maybe it was just a coincidence?”
The alicorn stopped herself, pondering for a moment. “Okay, let’s say that it was, we can still try and see whether or not that’s the case.” She picked up a yellow crystal that lay on the ground near her companion. “Ember, let’s try this again.”
The Dragon Lord put the crystal on the ground, picked up the bloodstone scepter, and approached the alicorn. She lifted it and gently pressed its tip against the formation’s surface. The scepter emitted a red flash for a moment, and soon after, the yellow crystal began to grow incredibly bright, but this time they were all prepared for the blinding light and Twilight gently put it on the floor. After it dispersed, images appeared in its surrounding. The princess jumped slightly as the image of a giant hand she saw earlier loomed over her, the tip of its claw tapping on the crystal before putting it down. In front of it was another dragon, but it was different than the previous one, much smaller, younger looking.
“Mother, I have a question,” he spoke. “Why does a Dragon Lord exist?”
What followed seemed like a gentle giggle, but the deepness of the voice made it rather unsettling. “You’re not the first one, child. Numerous Dragon Lords before you asked that question before their time for ascension came. A Dragon Lord exists to fill the void of leadership while I am gone. The Dragon Lord looks after the brood and makes sure it does not deviate from the path I had set. He looks after the offspring of my offspring and makes sure that their future clutches awaken to the world. His duty… is the duty of tenderness, of love – the kind I’ve always shared with ALL my children. And lastly and most importantly…” the voice paused. “It is his duty to assist in my awakening when the time comes. It takes several cycles, decades even for it to occur, and when the time is right, it is only through him that I’m able to return.”
The dragon walked over to the giant claw and hugged it. “I don’t want you to go, mother…” he said in a sorrowful tone.
The claw rose and gently wrapped around the “dragon child”, gently stroking him. “Do not grieve, child,” the tender deep voice said. “There are far worse things than knowing somebody will leave and then eventually return.”
And with those words, the light imagery disappeared and silence fell on the cavern once more. They allowed it to linger for a moment, for them to absorb what had just happened.
“You were right, Twilight,” Spike spoke. “This really IS a library.”
“Yes but…” the was a tone of unease in her voice, “the dragon we just saw was different than the first one. And according to what was said, several generations of Dragon Lords had already passed…”
“Well, the last one showed how the first one came to be, apparently, so I supposed that makes sense,” Ember said. “But what are you getting at?”
“This crystal laid close to Spike,” the alicorn explained, “I had assumed it was the continuation since the one that he picked closest to the entrance was a beginning, but it’s not. I thought they were chronologically lined up… Unless…”
She suddenly remembered a little detail before the collapse happened: All the crystals were lined up in the same color next to one another. She slowly turned, gazing upon the large pile of crystals that came crashing down on her and her friends when Torch let out a bellow.
“THEY ALL GOT SCRAMBLED!!!” she let out a cry of agony, inhaling and exhaling multiple times before she finally calmed herself down, finally going silent. “But not to worry. We can fix this.”
“Fix this? How?” the purple dragon questioned.
She levitated the crystal he was holding at the beginning to the entrance of the cave, where it originally was. Then her horn began to glow, enveloping the entire crystal pile, lifting it off the ground, then re-aligning them upward, with the number of them being so great that it spun around the cavern’s interior almost three times, finally setting them on the ground. “We have a beginning. All we need now is to find the ending, and in the meantime, we’ll try to click the missing pieces together. Spike, go back to the airship and fetch a quill and a lot of parchment.”
Her companion nodded and ran off through the exit.
“Easier said than done, Twilight,” Rainbow Dash complained. “There’s like, who knows how many of these things, and some of them are even the same color, just slightly different. It’ll take ages before it gets finished.”
“A few days for sure,” she corrected her, “but such is the duty of working in a library in the first place… It’s a good thing that shelving is something I love doing!” She clopped excitingly.
There was a light clang that she heard, something was off. Only then did she notice that the reason for it was because the fashionista was still clinging to one of the larger crystals.
The alicorn levitated her close to the floor. “Let it go, Rarity. It’s not yours anyway.”
The white unicorn let out a moan of disappointment, before releasing her grip and flopping to the ground.
“Twi, are you serious?” the workhorse finally spoke. “You’re planning to go through ALL these messages?”
“I don’t think we really have any other choice, dear Applejack,” Discord said from his pack. “Although those several thousand years of mommy letters are gonna pile up quite a lot.”
“No worries, ‘Cordy.” The party planner patted him on the head. “You’ve heard what she said: “We’ll try to click the pieces together.”.” She quickly grabbed several crystals and stacked them together until they resembled a dragon. “And we’re gonna finish this puzzle together!” she proudly exclaimed on top of it.
The construction was soon enveloped in purple magic and broken to pieces, making the pink pony frown as she was put on the ground. “As appreciating at this is, Pinkie,” Twilight answered, “this task will require a lot of concentration and organization. And considering we’ll be moving at a slow pace anyway, this is a task that I’d prefer to do on my own.”
“Wait, so what are we supposed to do in the meantime? Twiddle our hooves?” Rainbow Dash complained.
“TWILIGHT!” a yell came from outside.
They all heard it. They hurried out of the crystal cavern, into the ruined one, before they finally ended outside, only to be met with a shocking discovery. The balloon of their airship lay deflated, almost completely covering it. Above it, the little dragon flew about, observing the damage.
“Spike… what’s happened?!” the princess raised her voice.
“This is how I found it, Twilight,” he said. “And look!”
He landed on the covered deck, grabbed the deflated blimp, and tried to pull it over to their side, with little effect, so the rest of the mares helped him out. They finally managed to pull it over the edge, only to discover the cause.
“Somecreature made a cut in our balloon…?” Fluttershy said, to which the draconequus quickly joined. “More like SOMEDRAGON who dragged us all the way here because he couldn’t wait.”
“HEY!!!” a loud bellow came from behind them, as Torch stuck his head out of the cave entrance. “I’ll let you know that if I wanted to pop your balloon, I would’ve done so at the start! You can’t pin the blame on me after the fact! If I didn’t have a delicate touch I would’ve already squished my daughter here a long time ago!”
“Yeah… about as delicate as a yak if he gets offended,” side-whispered to the orange pony.
“Don’ matter now. How the hay are we supposed to go around with our blimp popped?” Applejack critiqued. “We ain’t got the tools to repair it.”
“Oh, ye of little faith,” the white unicorn responded in a prideful tone before she climbed onto the airship and crawled under the balloon, only for her to emerge from under it a few moments later, carrying a large trunk. “It’s a good thing I always come prepared.”
“What is that, Rarity?” Fluttershy asked.
She bucked the trunk, having it pop open, revealing lots of different fabrics and sewing equipment. “I always carry it with me in case of emergency.”
“Emergency? What kind of emergency?” Pinkie Pie tilted her head.
“Probably the kind where she had to make a whole new dress on the fly so it didn’t clash with a party host’s,” the wonderbolt nudged her jokingly.
“Why yes, darling!” The fashionista turned to her. “How did you know?”
The blue pegasus’ head shook for a moment, not believing what she just heard.
“Best not tell her you were bein’ facetious, Dash,” Applejack whispered.
Ember heard her. “Oooooh, I see. You weren’t being serious.”
Rarity glanced at the Dragon Lord, trying to suppress anger from that remark. “Khm, as I was saying, I can use my sewing equipment to mend our balloon while we’re waiting for Twilight to complete her task. Luckily, I got a lot of extra fabric to patch the hole up, but it will still take some time.”
“Thanks, Rarity,” the princess answered.
“So, that’s one who’s occupied while we wait. What are the rest of us supposed to do?” Rainbow Dash wondered.
“OH OH OH! BEACH PARTY! BEACH PARTY” the party planner quickly yelped.
“’Scuse me?” The orange pony raised her eyebrow.
“You heard what Ember said. There’s a group of dragons that have been playing at the beach for a while now. I say we join in!”
“You know what? I’m down with that,” the blue pegasus lept at it. “After the Crystal Empire, I could go for a little R&R on a hot beach.” She turned to the other one. “Fluttershy, you wanna join in?”
She shook her head. “I’m really not in the mood.”
“Oh come on, Fluttershy,” Discord begged around her neck. “This is one time when we actually have an excuse to relax on a sunny day while we wait for results to come in and not be stuck in dreary weather.”
“Oh… I don’t know.” She shifted nervously.
“Chillax, Flutters,” Rainbow Dash calmed her. “You don’t have to play games if you don’t feel like it.”
“Yeah!” pink pony pitched in, bending over the wonderbolt’s head. “Besides, I’m sure you’ll find some delightful little critter on the beach to talk to.”
As reluctant as she was, there were simply too many begging her to join, and she nodded her head.
“Alright!” the blue pegasus cheered. “AJ, you gonna join in on this?”
The workhorse didn’t have an excited look on her face though. “Dash, shouldn’t you be a bit less easygoin’ considering what we have to deal with? You should stay here, and if nothing else, watch the messages.”
“Yes, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight interjected. “It’s gonna be very VERY educational.”
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand that’s where you lost me,” she declined. “Besides, you can just give me a quick breakdown of what you discovered when you get there anyway.”
“Oh come on, Dash. We’re all staying with Twilight. Right, Zecora?” she waited for a response, but she received none. “Zecora?”
There was still no response. They all finally looked in her direction to see the zebra turned away from them, to the east of the mountain ridge under which they were.
She finally inhaled. “Though I’m eager to seek answers and dispel the tension, there is an issue which caught my attention.” The shaman turned to face them. “The earthly formation I saw, and the former Dragon Lord’s words made me stand in awe. He claimed it was an empty pit, now I’d like to see if it’s legit.”
“Wait… you mean that giant evil-looking-face-like-mountain in the distance?” the workhorse inquired. “But that’s so far away!”
“And considering our airship is broken down, we can’t fly you over there,” Rarity pointed out as she was rummaging through the fabrics.
“All the more reason to go, standing still won’t cause events to flow,” Zecora ended.
“Hold on!” Applejack stopped her. “You wanna go all that way? By yourself?!”
“She’s brave, I got to hand it to her,” Ember commented. “Not every outsider’s prepared to wander the Dragon Lands on his own. Who knows what other dragons will think of an oddity like her wondering through our land.”
The orange pony gave her a concerned expression. “Ember, can’cya go with her to make sure trouble’s kept away from her?”
“Sorry Jack, but I’m on duty here.” She shook her head. “This is Dragon Lord business what we’ve got going on in there.”
This was unfortunate. She was hoping that a native could give a helping hand and offer support, but it appeared the situation was not favorable to her. She couldn’t let the zebra wander the foreign land and risk potentially getting hurt.
She relented to the only option she had. “Ah’ma comin’ with you, Zecora,” she said. “As much as Ah wanna see what all the hubbub’s about with the whole crystal thing, Ah don’t think any of us will be of easy mind if we keep worrying about you.”
The shaman chuckled. “I’m grateful for the company, trot fast but not clumsily.” She turned and trotted off eastwards.
“Hey, wait up!” Applejack dashed after her, but not before giving the alicorn a quick glance. “Twilight, send us a message if you find anything!”
The two earthly mares were now gone, leaving the other two groups behind.
“Well, if nopony else is gonna object at this point, then we’re off too,” the wonderbolt stated.
“Yes, well… try not to have too much fun,” Twilight awkwardly said.
“We’ll try,” Fluttershy meekly responded.
“Enough lollygagging!” Pinkie Pie yelled. “To the beach party!”
And with that, the trio went in the opposite direction, westward, to the coast, with the party planner ahead of them, happily hopping off, with the two pegasi following her, leaving the two magic users and dragons on their own.
“Well,” the former Dragon Lord grunted, as he slowly began to crawl out of the cave, “I guess I’ll be seeing myself off then.”
He didn’t get further than his waist when his spawn suddenly flew in front of his face, blocking his path. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“I’m going back to my lair, what else?”
She shook her head, pointing the bloodstone scepter at him. “Oh no, you’re not. You’re going back in there and help out since it was your bellowing that caused this mess in the first place.”
Black smoke escaped from his nostrils. “You’re can’t tell me what to do, whelp!”
“I’M YOUR DRAGON LORD AND YOU’LL DO AS I COMMAND!” Ember bellowed back at him.
Her voice echoed, leaving silence in the aftermath to linger for some time. A grumbling sound finally came from the larger dragon, as he lowered himself and started to crawl back into the cave.
“That’s one strong set of lungs, Ember,” the smaller dragon commented.
“Thanks. It comes with the territory. You know, you could’ve been in my position at some point, Spike,” she mused.
“Yeeeeeeeah thanks, but I signed off that one for a reason,” he smirked.
“You guys get what you need and we’ll wait for you inside.” And the blue dragon flew into the cave, leaving the two ponies alone with the halfling.
“Spike, a quill and parchment. Lots of it,” Twilight requested.
The little dragon crawled under the deflated blimp to get to the ship’s interior, while the two mares were let by themselves. As the princess waited for her companion to return, she noticed that the fashionista was making a lot of mumbling noises.
“Troubles with fabric choice, Rarity?” she asked.
“Well, kind of. The colors are clashing and I can’t seem to find the perfect color compilation to go with it. I might as well remake an entire blimp at this point,” she answered.
“There’s really no need to go that far, Rarity,” the princess giggled. “Although considering how long we might end up searching “the library” I wouldn’t be surprised if you actually do it in the meantime.”
“Yes… that’s another thing that’s been bothering me, Twilight,” the fashionista confessed. “Don’t you find this whole obliviousness rather odd?”
“What do you mean, Rarity?”
“I mean, for Ember, I could understand. But her father? Apparently, he had no idea that those crystals inside were actually recorded messages that the Dragon Lords before him used. In fact, from what he said, this place was completely off the radar for any other dragon before him, yet there’s been apparently dozens of generations before him according to the recordings.”
“I’m not sure I follow where you’re going with this…”
“Twilight, why is it that there have been numerous generations of Dragon Lords who were able to record messages, yet for some reason, the rest of them forgot all about it?” she elaborated.
“I got it!” a voice came from under the blimp and the little dragon popped his head out, pulling out a giant roll of paper while holding a feather in his mouth.
“Alright, Spike. Ready for an educational “book-sort-cation”?” the elder sibling asked.
“It’s more of a crystal…sort…cation…?” he tried.
She pondered for a moment. “Nah, it just doesn’t feel right.”
As they walked off, he tried several more ideas to fit the description, failing at it, and Twilight couldn’t help but giggle. But what Rarity said made sense. Dragons were hardy and ancient creatures, and from what they just learned, they were also dedicated archivists of past events. But for the entire race to just forget about all of this? How could it happen that they forgot about the Broken Hollow? There was no way this happened over the course of a single generation, could it?
“Ugh… This blistering heat’s going to be a murder on my mane… As if it didn’t go through enough already,” Rarity whimpered as she wiped her brow in the scorching sun.
As she worked on trying to mend the hole in the balloon, she was unaware of a serpent that suddenly slithered out of the mouth of the cave and made its way around the corner and out of sight. It moved a bit more before it raised its head and looked about to see if anyone was present. There was nobody around. And in a flash of sickly green magic, the illusion dropped and the Queen of Changelings stood in its place.
“UGH!” she groaned in frustration. “What am I supposed to do now? That blasted vapor had better turn up already.”
“I’m already here,” a whisper said into her ear, making her jump.
“How do you keep doing that?!”
“Doing what, Broodmother?”
“That! That thing where you seem to pop out of nowhere and find me wherever I am!”
Doubt sighed. “Do I really have to make a prolonged explanation?”
“Actually no, we don’t have time for that. Now, where are they?” To her surprise, all that the weaselly shade did, was shake its head. “No…? Wait, what do you mean NO?! Where are Grogar and Tirek?!”
“I don’t know, Broodmother,” he finally answered. “I went all the way back and forth, from where we were to where we started. They weren’t there.”
“Oh that’s just lovely,” she groaned. “Now I’ll be stuck working with Mister “I’m suffering from Conflicting Identity”.”
“Unfortunately,” the shade resumed. “He’s disappeared as well.”
“WHAAAAAAAAAAT?!” she yelled out loud before shutting herself. “How’s that possible?! You know where we left him!”
“Yes… and he was no longer there. And the storm that had loomed over the area had ended.”
She was absolutely livid, trying really hard not to let her frustration be known. “Curse you Tirek for being an opportunistic idiot when we least needed it!”
Through the dark forest, they waded, its shade offering them cover from potential opposition. The wizen centaur and the changeling queen led the old ram through the dark forest; they may have been trapped in paralysis for three years, but the path was still fresh in their memories, they remembered the place where the artifact that the sorcerer was. And that’s precisely where they led him to: Their trail ended on a shelf that overlooked an old, decaying swamp, and out of its middle, a stone structure was rising, looking like a skeletal head of a ram, with two broken pathways connecting to its sides, while several flagstones were sticking out of the water surface, forming a path to its open maw.
“This is it,” Chrysalis announced, “this is where it all happened.”
The old ram walked to the edge. “Ah… one of my old ziggurats. I used this place as one of my strongholds to overlook the hated enemy that I wanted to destroy.”
The changeling tilted her head. “A ziggurat? Don’t they usually look more… I don’t know, elevated?”
The centaur shifted his hooves a bit, and just then part of the shelf by his side broke off and fell into the water below. “Is it any wonder, when the whole structure apparently sunk into the bog after more than a thousand years?”
“And this is where you’ve last seen the Eye, boy?” he inquired.
He cringed slightly at the nickname. “Yes. It’s unlikely anyone in their right mind would want to come here, so it’s likely still inside.”
“Well, I hope for you and your “friend’s” sake that that is the case, boy,” the ancient sorcerer threatened. “Because if that does not turn out to be the case, I will be very, VERY… displeased.”
There was a noticeable tone of dread in his voice when he said that, giving the two cohorts a reason for concern. He lept over the edge and landed on one of the flagstones, then slowly proceeded to walk towards the sunken structure.
He stopped for a moment, gazing back. “Well? What are you waiting for? Come. I want to have both of you in sight in case things do not go as planned.”
The two quickly acted, as the Pillar of Hatred flew overhead and the other one tried to catch up with her on foot before the Father of Monsters finally moved after them and they entered.
There was another who refused to act, however. “You aren’t coming, wisp?”
The shadowy manifestation shook its head. “No. I know how things will end. Just do me a favor: Don’t rough them up too much, Shaper.”
The sorcerer smirked and proceeded to enter his abandoned lair. As the two expected, the place was pretty much the same as they left it: The walls that were decayed by the passage of time were covered with overgrowth, and the interior was broken, though not as much as the outside, unlike last time, it was dark, as whatever light source that the previous “Grogar” had provided was no longer lit up.
As they walked further into the interior, the sound of hooves behind them went silent. “Now… where’s the Eye?” Grogar asked as he stood in the doorway.
The centaur didn’t know what he was fuming about when his prize was plain to see… And that’s when he realized something was wrong. In the middle of the room stood a large stone table, behind which the masquerading Lord of Chaos would sit and gaze at a large orange orb for hours on end, as if he was looking for something, and now it was gone…
“I’ll ask again: WHERE is the Eye?” the ram repeated, and his surroundings got increasingly darker.
The atmosphere in the lair suddenly became sinister, the background disappearing into ever-increasing darkness, all the while the two were getting more and more worried about what to tell its original resident. “I… I don’t know, it was supposed to be right here,” Chrysalis answered.
“If you’ve just led me on a wild goose chase, it won’t be my problem for what will happen next…” Grogar stated before he disappeared into the darkness.
The environment around the centaur and the changeling quickly became hostile, as tendrils began to emerge from the dark surroundings, trying to grasp at them. The Queen of Changelings quickly acted and shot a bolt of magic at them, destroying them in the process, but it did little as they once again began to emerge, and she kept fighting back, only for the process to repeat itself.
“Chrysalis, stop! You’re not doing anything, you’re just postponing the inevitable!” the withered lord pointed out.
“I know, idiot! Just find the blasted magic ball already!”
Tirek began to perspire. He didn’t know what to do, he was certain that the magic ball was here. Where could it have-?! And then he remembered: Yes, the Eye of Arimaspi was on the table… up until he personally flicked it over the edge… For a brief moment, he hoped, almost begged, that his fear didn’t come to pass, as he slowly looked around the edges of the table. He sighed in relief, there were no broken remains around it, but that still presented the question of where did it roll off. He heard behind him how the changeling queen continued to fight off the continuous assault of eldritch horrors that kept coming back at an increased rate; it was a battle that she was not going to win, he had to hurry! He dropped to the ground and started to cover every inch around; there was no way it could’ve rolled very far away. He finally spotted a dark hole in the bottom of the wall, he slowly reached inside, feeling something fuzzy… and then a bite! He flinched, wondering what was that just now. He struggled, trying to harness what little magic he had, and a small red orb formed over his head, giving him enough light to illuminate the interior. And there he saw a group of aggravated rats inside their den… along with a large round glistening object next to them! That was it! Yet as he tried to reach inside, the rats bit his hand again.
“Stupid vermin!” he barked, the fiery orb flaring up and shooting into the den.
With a puff of smoke, the rats quickly dispersed and ran off, while his slender arms reached inside and grabbed the artifact. And just as he did, he suddenly felt something wrapping around his hind legs and then got dragged backward. The eldritch tendrils have finally overpowered the Queen of Changelings, wrapping around her completely, all the while the centaur was dragged next to her. All of a sudden, a giant ghastly maw opened on the dark background in front of them, and they were slowly being dragged in.
“WAIT, WAIT! STOP! I GOT IT HERE! IT’S RIGHT HERE!!!” Tirek screamed, lifting his hand in the air to show he was telling the truth.
A few moments after that, the pull stopped. From the darkness above the maw, a pair of red eyes opened, and at that moment Grogar stepped through the illusion and it dispersed, the sinister atmosphere around them disappearing. He traipsed over to the Lord of the Nether Lands, and a glow of dark light enveloped the artifact, lifting it from his grasp. The old ram brought it to his face, looking at the dull, empty state it was in. A burst of energy was suddenly shot from his horns at it, and the eye quickly lit up, its pristine colorful glow restored.
“Paramis’ right eye…” he said to himself, his gaze traveling to the two. “Looks like the boy was sincere about his claims, after all, Queen of Changelings.”
“Look, can you just do me one tiny favor?” Tirek voiced a complaint. “Stop calling me BOY! I’m Lord Tirek, and I’m over a thousand years old!”
Grogar bristled. “Not in the experience you’re not. A thousand years more could pass, and you’ll still be little more than a boy to me.” He walked up the ramp, to the ledge overlooking the room. “Now, don’t interrupt me. I must concentrate.” His eyes lit up in golden yellow, and the mystical artifact flared up in response. “Where are you, little kid?” he mumbled. “Where is your final resting place?”
After what they just went through, the changeling queen wiped the sweat off her brow. “That was too close… For a moment I thought he was going to do it.”
“Of course he was!” Tirek yelled. “He’s Grogar, The first emperor of Equestria! If he wanted to destroy us right here and there he would! It was only my timely actions that saved us! I don’t understand how can you just sit there and take it instead of slapping it right in his face!”
She quickly shushed him. “Be quiet! Do you want him to hear you?” They looked at the old ram who still loomed over them on the ledge, yet he didn’t respond. “It’s a good thing he didn’t.”
The centaur squinted and raised an eyebrow at him. “Hey, you decrepit old goat! Your mother stinks!”
The moment those words came out of him, Chrysalis pounced on top of him shoving her hoof in his mouth. “Are you crazy?! Why would you say that?! Do you have a death wish?!”
He removed her appendage. “Nothing’s going to happen, idiot. Look.”
She did. She looked at Grogar again. Nothing – there wasn’t any expression on his face that would indicate anger or anything. He was standing still, his eyes still glowing in golden yellow.
Tirek shoved the changeling off of him. “See? He’s clearly not present.” He gave her a conniving look. “You know, while he’s in trance, let's decorate his antlers with pond scum. By the time he wakes up he likely won’t even notice it.”
“Lord Tirek, I would really appreciate it if you stopped being so antagonistic. Considering what that satyr had to go through you’re on an easy streak.”
“What’s it to you?” he wondered. “Why do you have this penchant to constantly be on his good side?”
She sighed. “Let’s just say that Grogar and I have reached… an understanding. And it’s in both of our interests to not step on one another on purpose, and in turn, we help each other out, and that’s outside of my benefactor’s desire.”
“You? The Queen of Changelings, willingly being buddy-buddy with another creature?” He frowned. “Oh, how the mighty have fallen.”
“Don’t give me that snide remark. I’ve been willing to work with lesser creatures than him.”
He laughed. “Oh yeah? Who?”
In turn, a taunting smile appeared on her face. “You.”
When he finally registered that she had just insulted him, he suddenly felt a fire lighting up in his belly; she had the nerve! A small orb formed on top of his head and fired it at her. She didn’t even blink, and a green bolt of magic was shot, they connected and it completely nullified his attack, before the bolt hit his front legs and he fell flat.
“Don’t even bother, Lord Tirek,” she told him. “Even if you were in your normal state you wouldn’t have enough power to go head to head with me, and right now you’re weakened. Don’t do something stupid, just wait for him to return.”
As she sat down, the centaur was still unsatisfied; the fire of anger in his belly was still lit and he wanted to quench it, he wanted to quench his thirst for magic. If he had more of it, the changeling wouldn’t be in a position where she was smug and unthreatened. Suddenly, an idea popped up in his head… a conniving idea. His gaze traveled up to the ledge where the Father of Monsters stood unmoving, then it traveled to Queen Chrysalis, whose own sight was currently turned from him. A small red orb conjured above his head once more and aimed it at his hooves. They glowed in a red hue, and then he stood up, jumped back and forth… and yet no sound was made. He made his steps completely silent, and she wasn’t aware of what he was doing… or what he was about to do. He traipsed up the ramp and slowly approached the ledge where Grogar stood, then waved to the side of his face. There was no reaction, he was still absent. This was the opportune moment; once he’s drained the old sheep of all magic he was going to be more powerful than anyone, and nobody was going to stop him. However, there was somebody that he didn’t take into account in his plan.
As he closed in, the shadowy whisper flew inside to check on the progress of his minions, only to discover an act of treachery in progress. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING, DEVOURER?!”
The cry got the changeling queen’s attention and she quickly turned. This was the moment; either now or never. Tirek grabbed Grogar by the horns and opened his mouth. The magical energy began to leave the ancient sorcerer and that’s when he finally snapped out of his trance, but it was already too late. The centaur felt the marvelous power beginning to course through his veins, his power growing by the second.
“BROODMOTHER, STOP HIM!” Doubt commanded.
Her wings spread open and she instantly flew in his direction. He didn’t have time to counter her; if he let go of the ram before he’s been fully drained it would end badly for him, he needed to escape. With the power he felt right now he could only think of one safe place where he would be out of reach for enough time. He reached out with his hand, and a portal opened right under his hooves, making both the centaur and the ram fall through the floor, just when Chrysalis was about to reach him, causing her to fly out the opening behind them. Doubt in meantime flew to the location where the portal opened, only for it to close, allowing it to only catch a glimpse of where it went.
The Queen of Changelings came back with a flustered look on his face. “Where is he?! Where did he go?!”
“I’ve managed to see the place they went to before the portal closed,” the weaselly vapor answered. “It’s the same location where we got out, where we left the Scourgelord.”
“Then we need to go get him before that stupid centaur does something worse!”
“No,” it commanded. “I will go and bring them back. You, Broodmother, you must continue to Dragon Lands. The longer we wait, the bigger the chance that the princess and her friends may catch up to us.”
And here she was now, all alone, with no assistance.
“What are we supposed to do now?!” she complained. “A group of them went to the beach in the west where they are, another just made a discovery over in the cave that could yield potential clues, and the third one went east to some form of a mountain thing…”
“Do the dragons call it “The Ol’ Rager”?” Doubt asked.
She gave him a curious look. “You know it?”
It nodded. “And that’s precisely why I see two of the three things take president.”
“Wait… do you mean…?”
“Yes, Broodmother,” it answered. “It was a beneficial venture to our plans while it lasted… but I fear at this point, a sacrifice has to be made.”
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Mother is totally one of the other sparks isn't she?
Sapient horses trotting in place to show that they are happy will never cease to be adorable.
Silly Rarebear. Jewels are for dragons!
Years of modeling for you perhaps?
Zecora. Adventurer. Doctor. Poet. Badass.
Poor Applejack, missing out on all the learning.
And poor Twilight losing a study buddy!
Is it my birthday? Have all the villians gotten smart? Surely that can't happen. It must be against the rules.
There's no possible way these guys realized their cannon fodder status against all the possible cliches and got the heck out of dodge.
You mean when you least needed it. You haven't been really giving him any reason to play along.
Cozy Glow would have offered a compliment about his muscles, or gotten him a cupcake by now.
At the very least change up the insults so they don't get repetitive.
This is a interesting scene, both because it explains why Grogar's lair is in a cave on the swamp, and because it allows Tirek to be a intellectual.
Ahh the obligatory slapping around of the evil minions. How orginal.
I mean it's a great short term motivator, but it's not exactly a good way to build trust.
It really is a small request in the grand scheme of things.
So either he's not using it the way Discord did, or he's not as strong as him. Interesting.
Dang he really is weak. The Tirek from the show wouldn't be half as slow. In either regard.
Go Tirek! Mess him up!
And now you've got me rooting for Tirek. Are you proud of yourself?
I know he's going to be convinced or beaten through some contrived method, but until the next chapter comes out, I'm going to enjoy the mental imagery of a drained Grogar gasping for breath in a ditch somewhere.
It's a pity that Tirek isn't more violent though. It would save everyone a lot of trouble.
Huh. I wonder what that foretells?
11310014
Oh, whatever do you mean?
Discord was looking for the Bewitching Bell, Grogar is looking through the eye of "an old friend" to find him... or what's left of him anyway.
I mean, Tirek in his weakest form is pretty weak. He had to go "alley stalker in the night" to steal magic from ponies. But then again, considering Chrysalis has been empowered, is it even surprising that he can't do a thing to her?
Be careful what you wish for. 🔥🔥🔥
11310218
So he's trying to locate the eye as opposed to seeing through it.
That makes sense.
True. But canonically he's been in his second biggest form ever since then.
Orginally he was shown to be smaller than a pony. He never appears as that size in the series again though.
He actually appears in a form that occurs after at least two growth spurts.
And as we saw, while in that form he was able to drain the magic of a audience of Unicorns.
Plus he fired a magic blast that not only looked intimidating but that Discord flat out avoided.
When the OP chaos master doesn't want to try a strength measuring contest, that's worrisome.
That's a big reason why I'm not making a larger deal out of it.
Honestly disappointed we didn't get a better show out of it though.
Hopefully Grogar infused Tirek is more impressive.
Still a bit bothered by that crack about his intelligence though.
Tirek is usually very quick to notice stuff, especially when he has been disrespected.
I'm not too worried. Canonically Tirek is actually pretty honorable, not seeking to kill anyone unless he deems them to be a threat.
There's no one besides a dragon or a monster who fits that bill now that Grogar's magic has been drained.
Plus Tirek is one of my favorite MlP villians and my favorite before Cozy Glow popped up in Season 8.
So he's unlikely to cause too much death, and even if he does off Grogar (who has become more of a one note bully by the chapter) there are worse villains you could use to upset the status quo.
11310419
Oh he's seeing through it, just not in a limiting way that Discord used it.
Remember, Arimaspi only has ONE eye.
Oh, you'll get a clash of titans eventually, just hold on to your pants.
11310499
Well Discord did use it to spy in a battle several miles away, and locate a magical artifact which he apparently didn't know the location of (likely twice). He didn't really use it in a very limited manor.
I'll settle for Tirek just being really cool. Like I said, I'm a fan.
it's funny how Tirek, being the weakest link in the team, managed to turn the tables and snatch the initiative.
even more funny is that Chrysalis is in canon: when the trio received Grogar's bell, they began to doubt their methods and thought about friendship, it was Chrysalis who at the last moment began to claim that this was all heresy and disease.
But at the same time, here she seems to be a much more team player than Tirek.
(Although there is an idea that Chrysalis is also the most naive of all. She seems to be the only one who doesn't have a plan of her own and trustingly follows directions.)
I like the new tag change. At least Tirek is a much more expected character than the Storm King.
for some reason it seems to me that if Chrysalis also observed this message, then it is like "hitting a sore nerve" for her.
11313425
She did say that friendship is like a disease that destroyed her hive, so she views the changelings "changing" as corruption.
Chrysalis is a creature of nature, so it would make sense that she'd be against changing one's nature.
This is also the reason why she unquestionably follows Turmoil, unlike Tirek. After all, it made her whole again and she finally has drones again... but for how long? dun dun DUN!