Dark Harmony: Fiendship is Magic

Act 1: Fiendship is Magic
Chapter 1: Evil Lair

After exiting the canyon, a long trek through the wasteland and a hike up the eastern mountains, Phantom Tail and Grim Tidings finally catch sight of their destination: the Hayseed Swamps. At the top of one of the mountains the two stop and take a rest, Grim taking a drink of water from his thermos while Phantom looks out at the marshlands below.

Phantom sighs. "Finally. I thought we'd be at this all day." Grim lowers his thermos and looks over at his friend. "It wasn't all bad. Think of the exercise we're getting. I've always enjoyed climbing."

"Duh, you're a goat. That's a given. So why couldn't you just teleport us up here and save us the time?" Phantom asks. Grim sighs, having anticipated the obvious question. "I wanted to conserve my mana for when we arrive. These creatures are notorious villains and they might attack us for discovering them. We need to prepare for that possibility. Three of them are powerful mages too, so that healing factor or yours isn't gonna help you all that much."

Phantom looks at Grim, confused. "Wait, three?" Grim lowers his head, as if pondering what to say. "I think… From what Gold Rush told us, I think the creature who resurrected your father and brought these villains together is Grogar."

"Grogar? What, like that First Emperor guy you've told me about like 10 times? He's dead dude. If it were him he'd be like several thousand years old now. There's no way it's him."

"I dunno, he was an expert necromancer. Maybe he resurrected himself, or maybe he's a lich that keeps himself going by harvesting souls, or maybe-!" Before the goat can finish, Phantom closes the distance and clamps a clawed foot over his mouth. "Shut it. You're gonna drive us both nuts with your theories. Okay, let's just say this guy IS Grogar. What's the issue? He brought my dad back once, he can do it again, and then we'll be on our way." Grim pushes the griffon's foot off with his hooves.

"The problem is we'd be in business with a mad tyrant who just so happens to be the Father of Monsters! He'd wanna take over the world again and he'd probably be able to do it! He's also remembered for his cruelty, so if we don't play our cards right we're both dead! Phantom scoffs, unphased by Grim's references to the ancient figure. "You forget who you're talking to. I've done some conquering myself. I took over the Talon Isles and ruled as king for like four years."

"Three, and ruling a chain of islands hardly compares to ruling an entire continent." Grim mutters.

"Hey! It's more than a bunch of islands; it's my home! Don't be a dickhead!" Phantom spits defensively. Grim raises his hooves dismissively before responding. "Okay, calm down. Look, let's just get going. We'll prepare ourselves for anything that might happen, Grogar or no Grogar." Phantom rubs his head, embarrassed by his outburst. "...Alright. Let's go."

After a decent enough rest the two set out down the mountain and into Hayseed Swamps. Phantom takes full advantage of his wings and effortlessly floats over the messy terrain while Grim has to hop between patches of solid ground to traverse, occasionally missing a jump and landing right in the murky, thick stew of mud, plant matter and water. The bookworm makes his disgust known, whining and groaning muck gets all over his legs and cape. Phantom laughs at his friend's misfortune, narrowly avoiding telekinetic balls of mud flung at him when Grim loses his temper.

Eventually the two reach a clearing beyond the area of dense trees where a series of stone platforms allows for Grim to travel easier and out of the marsh, the goat taking this opportunity to wipe mud from his appendages. They follow the seemingly deliberate path of stone platforms until they catch sight of what they've been searching for.

It is just as the prospector from the tavern had described it: a giant structure of rock with the unmistakable shape of a goat skull complete with roughly curved horns. Below the formation itself are a pair of intricate paths leading to two entrances on either side of the skull rock, orange light illuminating every opening.

"Wow... What do you think makes a rock form like this?" Grim wonders as he looks over the geological marvel. Phantom; however, is more confused than impressed. "Magic probably. How the fuck else does something like this end up in a swamp?"

Grim shrugs. "Couldn't say. Regardless of how it got here, there's a cavern inside and clearly it's occupied. They're probably still here."

"Looks like it. Are you ready?" asks Phantom.

"As I'll ever be." responds Grim.

The two travelers take a breath and walk up separate ramps up to opposite entrances. They exchange a glance and nod to each other before they step inside. Within the rock walls they find a sizable, torch-lit cavern structured like a sort of grand shrine. Stone stairways and paths lead to an altar in the center, occupied by an ominous crystal ball made to look like the eye of a goat. An obvious point of interest, Grim and Phantom meet at the altar, saken aback by the sinister structure and lightning of the cavern.

"Dude, this place is creeping me out." Phantom mutters, unsure of who may be listening. "I hear you. It could be worse though. They could have had undead guards posted." Phantom crosses his forelegs before giving a sarcastic response. "Oh yeah, cuz a cave full of Billy's is REAL intimidating." Grim frowns at Phantom. "I meant zombies; not skeletons, and don't make me tell Billy about what you just said. He'll get very offended." Phantom scoffs. "Yeah, well I've been practicing. He won't get the drop on me when we spar next time."

"Well you aren't being very perceptive at the moment, now are you?" ,another voice suddenly chimes in, paralyzing the pair in fear. They slowly turn around, a cracking sound assaulting their ears as a slender black figure with long, silky teal hair gazes at them with oversized green eyes. They hear the cracking more as the figure's head seems to flip right-side-up and the pair come face to face with the Changeling Queen Chrysalis.

"Well now, look who decided to arrive: my daily meal!" She leaps at and the two cry out in fright, Phantom screaming especially loudly as she tackles him. Chrysalis cackles wickedly as her mouth hangs open, a wisp of pink light being pulled from the griffon's beak into her gaping maw. Recognizing that his friend is in peril, Grim readies himself and charges the changeling with his head down. The goat rams into Chrysalis' side, sending her tumbling to the mucky water below.

"Ugh! Damn you, this will take hours to get this sludge out of my mane!" Chrysalis cries, swamp water and mud soaking her. Grim looks down at Phantom and uses telekinesis to help him to his feet. "Are you okay, dude!?"

"Ngh… Y-yeah, just kinda dizzy." the griffon replies, holding his head. "Then we've gotta go! We'll fare better in a fight outside!" The two of them run back down the platform path as Chrysalis climbs out of the muck, focused more on cleaning herself off than pursuing them. The two nearly reach one of the exits when another figure appears in their way with a crash. They slowly look up to see a hulking creature with a horse body, humanoid torso and the head of a boar. Towering over them is the feared tyrant and gluttonous magic-eater Lord Tirek.

"I'm sorry, were you trying to leave? Why, you only just arrived. Besides, I can smell your magic and it smells… exquisite. Especially yours, heheheheh." Tirek chuckles, pressing a finger against Grim's forehead, forcing the goat back with just that tiny appendage. Phantom grabs onto Grim's cloak to keep him from stumbling off of the stairway before shooting a retort at the centaur.

"Sure, we'll stick around… so we can add some more black to your face!" Phantom his clawed foot on a stair and a pillar of blue crystal bursts forth from the staircase, rising up to Tirek's level and striking him in the face.

"Agh! Cheeky little-!" Tirek grunts as he throws a punch into the pillar. Breaking free from it's base, the pillar nearly falls on them before Grim teleports Phantom and himself to the bottom of the other staircase. Chrysalis notices their sudden proximity to her and lashes out at Grim, biting and kicking. Before she can land a hit; however, a purple flash is seen and a large, curved blade catches her legs. Chrysalis backs off to see that Grim is now wielding a scythe which he spins with ease using his telekinesis before settling it into a combat position at his side.

"I'd rather talk this out, but we've clearly angered them. What do you say, P? I take the bug, you take the centaur?" Grim proposes. The griffon looks at him as if offended. "What!? Screw that, I hate bugs! She's mine!" Phantom stomps his foot again and a smaller crystal pillar than before rises from the stone platform beneath them, this one changing shape and forming into a hefty battle axe. As Phantom picks up his newly formed weapon, Tirek grabs onto the first pillar and lifts it, preparing to throw it at the two intruders.

"Fair enough." Grim responds. Tirek throws the pillar at the goat like a spear and Grim runs straight toward him to intercept it, breaking it apart with a swing of his scythe. The centaur channels magic into a fiery orb between his horns and unleashes it on Grim as a beam, but the goat manages to roll out of the way and close the distance between them. Tirek is faced with a flurry of slashes from the scythe which he continually blocks using the shackles on his wrists.

"We didn't come to fight, but we didn't come to get killed either! Just give in and I'll stop attacking!" Grim calls out, slowing the flow of his swings. Tirek chuckles, seemingly amused.

"How arrogant of you, making such a request. As if I need you to hold back, wretch!" Tirek suddenly begins moving faster, deflecting scythe attacks almost effortlessly, toying with the goat before he knocks the scythe aside and lunges forward for a punch. Just as Tirek's fist is about to collide with Grim's face the goat's horns flash and the bulky red arm's forward motion is halted. He blinks in confusion, looking over his arm to find that his fist has been caught by a thick, strong but decayed minotaur arm which has emerged from a small purple portal behind it. It is now Grim's turn to chuckle.

"You're the arrogant one, assuming that you can just beat down a mage you don't know and suck out their magic. So sorry, but I'm not that easy!" Responding to Grim's will, the minotaur arm forces Tirek's arm back, displaying supernatural strength for a rotten limb. Grim's horns flash again and a similar portal appears on Grim's other side, a matching minotaur arm emerging from it.

"Let's see how you handle my Undead Appendages!" Grim taunts as he engages Tirek hand to hand, the space between them quickly becoming a whirlwind of fists as they both throw and deflect punches.

While Grim is occupied with Tirek, Phantom Tail has been dealing with Queen Chrysalis who has been avoiding the griffon's heavy axe swings and retaliating with magic blasts from her horn. However, no matter how many times she attacks him, Phantom just keeps coming for another attempt to bring his crystal blade down on her. Quickly growing tired of such repetition, Chrysalis dodges a downward slam of the axe before she spits a glob of green slime, glueing the axe blade to the stone floor. She follows up by spitting another on Phantom's claws, trapping the griffon with his own weapon. The changeling queen chuckles to herself as she slowly walks around him in circles.

"While I appreciate my supper coming to me, I would like to know why exactly you've come here. Your friend is a proper mage but you certainly do not strike me as a knight. Are you bounty hunters, or are you merely a pair of fools trying to play hero?" Chrysalis questions. Phantom struggles, but his sticky restraints prove too strong. "Oh I'd LOVE to tell you all about why I'm here, just as soon as I find a big enough piece of flypaper to stick you to!" Chrysalis giggles at his taunt, recognizing his attempts to keep a brave face.

"Aww, but I would much rather keep YOU firmly in place. That way I can keep you around and feed off of your love whenever I please, for however long you last anyway." Phantom snickers in response, confusing the changeling queen.

"For as kinda hot as that sounds, I'm not a big fan of bugs, so I'm gonna take a raincheck on that." Phantom's forelegs are suddenly consumed in blackness before dissolving into a dark mist, allowing the griffon to step away with two less limbs. Chrysalis looks on in shock as the mist floats back to Phantom, merging with his shoulders before reverting back into his forelegs like nothing happened.

"That… that is impossible." Chrysalis remarks, dumbfounded. "Sure it is. My dad is King Sombra, and I can do everything he can! Check this out!" Phantom shouts as he stomps his falcon foot on the ground. Several spires of sapphire crystals erupt from the ground around him, shredding his dirty brown cloak to reveal his entire form underneath. Propping himself up on white feline legs he triumphantly spreads a pair of dark blue falcon wings. The outward thrust of his wings propels a previously hidden garment upwards, a black and red cape connected by a brooch shaped like the symbol on King Sombra's crown: a silver circle embraced by a red crescent. Flowing behind him along with the cape is his tail, thick and curvy, appearing more like a wisp of smoke than the tail of a feline.

"What? This can't be! Sombra only ever had children with…" Chrysalis mutters to herself. She quickly shakes the thought from her head before focusing back on Phantom himself.

"Rrgh! It doesn't matter what you are! You have discovered us, so we cannot allow you to leave! Your fate is sealed!" Clearly frustrated, Chrysalis lunges at the griffon with her jaw wide open, intending to bite. She manages to do so only because Phantom thrusts his arm out to catch her teeth on it, the small, jagged bone digging into his flesh. Their jagged shape proves detrimental however as they become lodged into Phantom's foreleg, leaving Chrysalis helpless as Phantom grabs onto her horn, lifting the changeling queen up before slamming her onto the stone stairway.

Phantom lifts into the air and drags her along the rock wall of the cavern, brutally smashing the old stone against the changeling queen's exoskeleton. Desperate to free herself, Chrysalis fires up her horn and blasts Phantom's bird foot apart. Kicking the griffon in the face for leverage, Chrysalis yanks her head back against his foreleg until she finally tears herself free, taking a good chunk of muscle and feathers with her. She flies a few meters away from him before spitting out the bloody mass, which turns into black mist before disappearing.

Phantom winces at the pain as the wound on his arm turns black and closes. His heavily damaged foot is notably slower to restore itself. "I see, so not only do you share Sombra's strengths, but his weaknesses as well. He was always more careful with magic users." Chrysalis says, smiling at her realization of an advantage.

"Wait a minute… Did you know my dad before he showed up here?" Phantom asks.

"Wouldn't you like to know? I could tell you, but I'd much rather destroy you!" Chrysalis cries, firing another beam at Phantom and blasting him to the floor. She swoops down to follow up on her assault but doubles back as she narrowly avoids being skewered by a salvo of crystal shards shooting up from the ground.

As all of this fighting is going on, a tiny filly floats above, watching the conflict for any opportunity to join in. She sees Tirek having trouble keeping up with the goat intruder's increasing number of floating limbs attacking him all at once, and out of the kindness of her heart she descends to assist him. Swooping down behind Grim, she picks up the long cloak draped over his backside and flips it over his head, the dirty fabric being torn through and caught on his horns leaving him unable to see.

"Woah, wh-what the hell!?" Grim questions in a panic, strikes from the appendages missing Tirek due to the goat's new lack of awareness. He feels a weight on his back and hears mocking laughter from behind him before a young voice speaks out.

"Hahahaha! You shoulda been paying more attention to your surroundings, stupid! Let's see how well you fight when you can't see anything! Get him, Tirek!"

"With pleasure!" Tirek replies as he delivers a punch directly to Grim's covered face, marking the beginning of an assault that he can hardly fight off due to his inability to see where the punches are coming from. In a panic Grim casts a magic shield in front of him to block further attacks while he focuses on removing his cloak.

Tirek takes advantage of this to step over to Grim's side and prepare a right hook, the filly already getting the message to move out of the way. Grim manages to remove the troublesome cloak but he is too late to defend himself from Tirek's red fist which comes barreling into the side of Grim's head. Blood spews from the goat's nose as he is sent rolling off of the stone platforms and into the swamp water.

While Grim is coughing up blood and trying to regain his breath, the filly that sabotaged him picks up his discarded scythe and holds the blade up to his neck, the goat instinctively raising his head in response. Looking upon the filly before him he notes her pink coat, deceptively adorable red umber eyes, grandma-curled blue mane, dimpled chubby cheeks and chess piece Cutie Mark. Recognizing all of those features from several news reports he read, he acknowledges the filly's identity.

"C-cozy Glow."

"Heehee, yep! That's my name alright! It's nice and all that you recognized me, but I think I'd be WAY better off if I keep my infamy on the down-low, soooo you're not going anywhere. I wonder how easily I can cut your head off with this thing!" Cozy responds with an excited smile and a crazed look in her eyes.

Looking over to his side, several meters away Grim sees Phantom crash to the ground with a thud, burnt holes blasted into his body and pinned underhoof Chrysalis. The changeling queen cackles, victorious over her opponent.

"How pathetic! Even if you are an Umbrum like Sombra, your skills pale in comparison! Oh well, at least your love is tasty enough." she brags before opening her mouth and restraining Phantom with her thick saliva and bringing him over to the others.

"Chrysalis, don't you think you should thank us for taking down this other guy for you?" Cozy asks, raising an eyebrow.

"What? Oh…" Chrysalis sighs, seemingly annoyed. "Alright… Thank you for allowing me to deal with only one opponent." She says begrudgingly.

"Yes, you are very welcome. What say we split the difference? You steal their love and I steal their magic." Tirek suggests with a sneer.

"Heheheh. Now THAT is teamwork I can get behind!" Chrysalis replies, ecstatic. Chrysalis and Tirek both open their mouths wide and the magic in they channel magic through their horns, both exerting an audible inhale while Cozy Glow cheers them on. Before they can protest, Grim and Phantom's eyes widen as wisps of energy are ripped forth from their mouths, Chrysalis siphoning misty pink energy while Tirek siphons fiery red energy. The duo of travelers can feel their fatigue increasing, the world fading along with their consciousness.

Just when it seems they will be meeting their final moments, Tirek and Chrysalis are suddenly enveloped in a yellow & black aura. The two leeches' faces change to one of fear and pain as the flow of energy is forcibly reversed. The darkness in the eyes of Phantom and Grim disappears as their strength returns to them. Tirek & Chrysalis are forced to their knees by the aura as Cozy watches from the side with concern.

"So you decided to start attacking creatures without consulting me first? You are all impulsive fools!" A deep, gruff voice exclaims from the makeshift balcony above them. All of them look up to behold a large, aged goat with blue fur, a strip of white hair on his neck that travels down his back, and a pair of elaborately curved dark blue horns. He takes a step forward, causing the golden charms adorning a harness around his neck to jingle like bells. He gazes down at them with piercing red eyes, striking fear into the hearts of everyone in the room.

Grim and Phantom slowly stand up, unable to take their eyes off of the menacing figure before them.

"Dude… Wh-who the hell is that?" Phantom asks, curious but intimidated.

"It's him… It's actually him." Grim replies, frozen in both fear and awe.

The goat looks directly at the two intruders, curious but no less aggravated. "You two. Who are you, and why have you come here?"

Grim shakes his head, freeing himself from his stupor before answering. "B-before we answer, I have to know for sure! Who are YOU!? The blue goat frowns, a bit annoyed by the younger goat's dodging of his question, but ultimately decides to answer.

"You may call me… Grogar."