Tyrant Monarch, ruler and creator of the changeling race, gazed into her reflection in a pond, her claw grazing at the scar marring the right side of her face so glaringly.
She snarled in anger. How DARE that THING defy her!? She created her for a specific purpose, who was she to decide to betray her!? And now thanks to that disgusting creature, her already horrible face has gotten even more deplorable and for some reason she only had her two most loyal changelings at her side, unable to call upon her other minions. WHAT DID THEY DO!?
She blinks as she sensed something behind, Her two changelings stood nearby keeping watch, and they glanced behind themselves to where their monarch stood, they hissed and got into defensive position in front of her, as an intruder now stood before them, having somehow gotten before them without them noticing.
“Who are you!?” Flitter snapped.
“Harm our queen, better you not!” Chaser added.
The figure chuckled, they seemed to be hunched over but even so towered over the three of them by a good couple of feet, a brown cloak over their body that hide their every feature. “I am here with a proposition, Tyrant Monarch, ruler of the Changelings.”
Tyrant Monarch raised a brow. “How do you know of me, stranger?”
“I have been watching our shared enemies for a long time now, so have learned many things through them.”
“Shared enemies?” Tyrant Monarch enquired, looking sceptical.
“Why, Princess Celestia, of course.” The figure chuckled. “I am here with an offer, Tyrant Monarch of the Changelings.”
“What is this offer...?”
A black portal appeared behind the figure. “Join forces with me. I have a plan that will ensure you will not only attain the power you crave, but you will regain all you lost in Canterlot, and you will see the fall of Celestia herself. Simply follow me, and I will grant you power beyond imagining, and you will have a second chance at your revenge.”
Tyrant Monarch frowned, not wanting to take the offer, not just because she distrusted this individual, but because of her own pride. However, the promise of power and seeing Celestia’s demise...were far too tempting.
“Very well...I will have a look.” She glared dangerously. “But any sign of betrayal will lead to your demise...”
“Hehe, think what you want...” *the figure turned, walking out of sight as they disappeared into the portal.
“Flitter, Chaser, come.” Tyrant Monarch ordered, her minions following as she stepped into the door.
On the other side of the portal the changeling found herself in a large, black room with little light, only thing visible in said room being a large table around which sat numerous strange looking figures: a pink Pegasus filly with blue hair, a large purple octopus with a large hook replacing one of its tentacles and an eyepatch over its eye, a small dark grey dragon with a black mane on its head and finally the cloaked figure that had brought her here.
“And what are THESE supposed to be?” Tyrant Monarch asked, fighting to find a particularly fitting word for the disdainful opinion she had of the creatures she saw before her.
The cloaked figure chuckled. “These people shall be your colleagues. If we want victory we must work together.”
Tyrant Monarch huffed. “And WHY should I work with these...monsters and inferiors?”
The octopus frowned, looking around in befuddlement. “That was bad right? She was trying to insult me, right?”
“You’re no prize yourself, ma’am.” The Pegasus filly drawled, speaking in a southern accent as she twirled a large black revolver in her hoof.
The cloaked figure sighed in annoyance. “Tyrant Monarch, tell me, WHY were you in the wilderness, with only those jesters for company, with a scar on your face?”
The changeling scoffed. “Mere misfortune. If the Queen I created hadn’t betrayed me and somehow managed to free Princess Cadance and empowered her magic, I would be ruling this entire country like I was meant to!”
The small dragon at the table gazed at her. “You had dealings with Cadance as well? I too have some personal business with her.”
“Oh, why should I care what some dragon has to say?” Tyran Monarch responded haughtily.
The cloaked figure shook their head. “And it was only by pure fortune you didn’t have to contend with the Elements of Harmony, whose bearers had assisted with your defeat, albeit only by proxy. However, they would have easily bested you had they thought to bring the Elements.”
“What ARE you blathering on about?” The changeling mother frowned. “I must say, if you don’t get to the point I think I should leave...”
“The Elements of Harmony are an ancient weapon wielded by Celestia once upon a time and are now held in the hooves of six ponies.” The cloaked figure explained. “With those Elements, even you, Tyrant Monarch, at the height of your stolen power would’ve been EASILY defeated.”
The Tyrant Monarch’s eyes widened in disbelief. “What!? And why do you make that claim!?”
“Surely you know of Discord, the Spirit of Disharmony? Only months ago he terrorised Equestria and made the world his playpen...but once the Elements were used upon him he was turned to stone. Now if the Elements could do THAT to arguably THE most powerful entity in Equestria’s history...imagine what they could do to YOU.”
Tyrant Monarch frowned in thought, glaring at the cloaked figure. “...I am sceptical, but I suppose such a thing WOULD be a dire threat against me. But that still doesn’t explain the presence of these creatures here...”
The dragon glared at her in irritation, while a green pony mare that was standing behind the octopus charged forward, snarling at the changeling. “Hey! This is Captain Squirk, scourge of the seven seas, who personally fought Princess Celestia! Show some RESPECT, bug!”
Flitter and Chaser shot forward, buzzing threatenginly. “Tyrant Monarch defeated Celestia personally, and is far more regal and dignified than that smelly mollusc there!”
“What did you say!?” The mare growled, baring a row of sharp fangs at the changelings, only to yelp as she she and the changeling jesters were pushed aside by a wave of magic.
“SILENCE.” The cloaked figure spoke out, a colde gaze peering from under the darkness of their hood. “Now, the reason you are all here is simple: for one, you are all equally dangerous and powerful entities with similar ways of thinking, and secondly you have all, in one way or another, had encounters with the Elements of Harmony. As I said before, Tyrant Monarch here while not directly defeated by them, still met them and their presence did in SOME way lead to her loss of her army and a fair portion of her power.” The figure then gestured to the octopus. “Squirk was defeated directly by two of the bearers of the Elements, who not only lead to him losing his crew and his treasure but sent him flying from the ocean and nearly leading him to die by makeshift rocket.”
The octopus growled, narrowing an eye. “Aye...I remember them, I think. Two unicorns, one purple, one white. Yeah, I lost a lot of treasure because of those two...”
“Indeed,” The figure turned to the Pegasus filly at the table. “You, my friend, also met one of those two, the purple one. She ruined your attempts to save yourself and have your revenge.”
“...is that a fact?” The filly raised a brow, pointedly juggling her revolver in her hoof.
The figure gestured to the dragon as they continued. “And Sombra here? The bearers bought Princess Cadance and a dragon to his home, and it was thanks to them he was deposed and lost his magnificent power, and likely would’ve frozen in the northern wasteland had I not saved him.”
“...Those ponies cost me my revenge AND my mate.” The dragon, Sombra, growled.
“indeed, so you so, you all have reason to want to deal with the bearers, be it personal, or more pragmatically because dealing with them help your own plans.” The figure snapped their fingers and threw down six photos on the table, each showing a pony: a rainbow haired Pegasus, a purple unicorn, a white unicorn, a grumpy looking pink earth pony, a smiling yellow Pegasus and an orange earth pony. “These are the obstacles that stand in the way of our goals.”
Tyrant Monarch sneered. “They are nothing...”
“Maybe individually, but together they pose a SIGNIFICANT threat. ESPECIALLY once they hold the Elements. In light of that, I have a plan...”
“A plan?” Sombra looked at the figure curiously. “What sort of plan? And how DO you know all of these things in the first place...?”
“We all have reason to want to see them fall, or to see Princess Celestia’s rule come to an end, so if they can defeat us by working together...then we should do the same. I propose an alliance. Together, the six of us seated at this table will be able to defeat them where alone we could not.” The figure chuckled. “as for how I know things about all of you and our enemies...let’s just say I have been watching things from afar for quite some time...”
“Six...” Sombra frowned, raising a brow as he looked around the table. “I see only five actually seated, and your choice of words makes me think those no seated don’t count.”
“You are correct, Sombra.” The figure confirmed. “Indeed, we have only six at this table...because the sixth is not here, they are working on their own part of the plan, and it requires them to not be here. But do not wworry, I am keeping them informed of this meeting.”
“And WHY should we consider this ‘alliance’? Whatever our goals, we can accomplish them ourselves and need not bother with any...unwanted ‘help’.” Tyrant Monarch said haughtily.
“With WHAT, may I ask?” the cloaked figure replied. “YOU have no army at the moment and it will take a LONG time to rebuild. All of you have lost much in your encounters with the Elements, in fact. But with this alliance, not only will you be given the power to counter them within DAYS, but I can personally promise you EVERYTHING you want can be gained by defeating the Elements. With them gone, Celestia will fall, her ponies will no longer safe, the kingdom will be ours and any....personal desire we have can be accomplished. Besides...” The figure held up a small little bag in their hands, the bag beating like a heart ominously every minute.
“What...IS that...?” The octopus enquired, eyes widened as he greedily gazed at the bag.
“Nothing for you to hoard, Squirk.” The cloaked figure said, its tone somewhat threatening. “But its contents will grant us the power of Ruin...but we must be patient. My plan still has many steps to be implemented. So, my question is...are you in, or out?”
“Ah’m in.” The filly said immediately. “You helped me out, so Ah owe ya. Besides, if that purple unicorn is one of them Elements, well, AH can’t just let her off scot free, not after what she did to me.”
Sombra folded his arms, looking thoughtful. “Those ponies are the reason Spike turned on me...with them out of the picture, I can convince him to come to my side. Besides, attacking THEM will hurt CADANCE. So, yes, I am in.” He took a knife, stabbing it into the picture of the yellow Pegasus.
The octopus looked over the pictures, licking his lips. “Sooo...if we take down these ponies, we take down Celestia?”
The cloaked figure nodded.
“AAAANNNND...does that mean...we get her treasuuuure...?”
The cloaked figure smirked. “If you want physical reward, you are welcome to it.”
“DEAL!” The octopus grinned widely.
Tyrant MOnarch frowned, gazing at the figure with suspiscion. “And what’s stopping us from betraying each other...?”
“absolutely nothing. You are all selfish, cruel, cold hearted SCOUNDRELS, I expect any one of you to betray me or each other...but this isn’t about trust, this is about convenience. We will NEVER defeat the Elements, not by ourselves. And that in turn means we will NEVER defeat Celestia.”
Tyrant Monarch growled, not wanting to submit herself to this creature...but the bag they held REEKED of incredible magical power. With it she knew she could take down Celestia and rule Equestria in her stead...and this alliance would give her many chances to steal it for herself.
“Very well...I accept. So...what do we do now?”
The cloaked figure chuckled, sitting back. “Now? We wait.”
