Chapter 55: Revealed
It was finally time.
Four days had passed since he had awoken from the Power Coma and, in that time, the final preparations had been completed. Discord had been harassing the Rangers with a few squads of Uni-Golems and he had even allowed Tricksy to make a monster of her own. Whatever had possessed her to create a walking wheel was beyond his understanding but he didn't really want to pry apart the psyche of someone who had had Zedd's energy inside her. His dreamlike talk with the counterpart of his brother had also opened his eyes up to more possibilities than he could dream of and had awakened an old memory that he had thought long forgotten: the Downfall of Grash'Nak. The legend went that he had been a creature of myth and secrecy and had been part of a group of beings that had created one of the strongest artefacts known in the Universe: the Cerberus Crystal. Of course, its power practically paled in comparison to the Zeo and Ultra Crystals and it probably couldn't hold a candle to the Elemental Grid on Equestria but, if it was real, in the hands of one of the Rangers, it would be devastating.
The legend stated that he had broken free of the ranks and rebelled against the Order of the Universe, lashing out in a pitiful way and trying to create everything in his own image. As the Cerberus Crystal had been the strongest source of Power, one warrior had taken it upon himself to use the Crystal, in conjunction with a powerful hand-crafted set of armour, to see if he could banish Grash'Nak to the depths of Hell. As only the Cerberus Crystal had been recovered from the badly charred battle site, he had apparently succeeded. The warrior had been mourned and the Crystal had been delivered to some backwater planet that was rumoured to be Huran, though Jabarkas had never said a word about it. There was a chance that he would know when he returned from his little adventure but…well; it was no use worrying about it now. He hadn't heard of it being on the planet either, though there was another rumour that he had heard about it being in some sort of super-secret vault that had an extremely strange and obscure condition for unlocking.
"Master, when will we be attacking?"
Blinking at the intrusion into his thoughts, he looked up to see Gilda standing before him. The Griffon was perched on a mound of loose steel, buffing her breastplate with a scrap of cloth. The twisted energy of the Dark Crystal was all over her and he shuddered to think what had been going through her mind when the changes to her body had been made. It certainly wouldn't have been pleasant or painless. However, despite the increase in strength that had been granted to her, she had retreated or failed in her previous battles with the Rangers; only achieving one small victory…one that had been quickly negated by the Rangers. Tentatively lifting a claw to point in her direction, he shook his head and wondered what he was thinking. To give a mentally brainwashed Griffon more armour and better combat options was one thing, but to give her enhancements that could potentially turn her into the ultimate femme fatale was…well, it wasn't completely out of his range. Forcing out a few chuckles, he retracted his claws and looked at one of the screens to check on the progress.
To conceal his exit from the world, he would be attacking the Rangers' HQ in Canterlot. As they thought they were the only ones with a Dimensional Transporter, they would think that h needed it to gain access back to his world. That was true, but not in the way that they would have thought. Upon awakening, he had contacted Twinlobe and Yit to give them the co-ordinates of Equestria: specifically, the co-ordinates for the base. The insectoid warrior had informed him that his Hurantic warrior had left the Palace a few days prior after receiving some sort of communication from Huran – a place he thought he would never return to. Xonix didn't mind as he had always meant to 'accidentally' send Jabarkas back to Huran one of these days. He wondered what had made him leave so suddenly but it, honestly, wasn't any of his business. If he still had any family on the planet, he would be forced away from them and if, the Ancients forbid, he had any children…well; that also wasn't any of his business. A son or daughter to recruit would get really messy in the long run and there was always the risk that daughters could fall in love with the Orange Ranger or one of the others.
"Patience, Gilda. The Master will attack when the time is right. Prepare yourself so you will not repeat your past failings."
Gilda scowled but said nothing as Dark Hoof walked into the room. She had been literally pulled into a clandestine meeting between herself, Tricksy and Discord about the return of the true Master. She didn't know how it had happened or why, but Discord had somehow come across the unconscious body of their Master some time after the final battle with the Rangers. He had placed him in a Healing Tube and had kept monitoring his vital signs in the periods between battles with the Rangers. However, it seemed that Zedd was almost ready to be awoken from his slumber; his signs had spiked dramatically a few moments after Xonix had awakened and there had even been short periods of something approaching lucidity. Whether or not he would be fully recovered to usurp Xonix soon was up in the air, though it was now a question of when and not if.
"Dark Hoof, please do not agitate our warriors. We need their minds to be focused on the battle at hand and not on what may have happened in the past. Estimates for an attack tomorrow morning are all proceeding as scheduled. Trust me; they will not know what has hit them until it is too late."
Seeing the humanoid Griffon nod, Xonix looked back at the screen and placed a claw on his lower jaw. Manual production of the Uni-Golems was slightly behind schedule, thanks to the numerous delays they had faced in their non-magical creation. Of course, he could have planted the magical formulae for them inside Zedd's mind but he didn't want to poke around the brain of any duplicate of his brother; specifically one that had been exposed to the raw energy of the Multiverse. The generators were also working at full capacity as well and a rather flimsy shield had formed over the base. He hadn't really tested what it blocked out but seeing as the Rangers weren't knocking at the door, he had to assume the location was off their radar.
Standing slowly, he inhaled deeply and smiled as his nostrils picked up the underlying scent of fear and panic in the air. Of course, that was to be anticipated as he had awoken rather quickly by his standards but there was something else as well; something that, for once, wasn't the rotting stench of the two undead Trotters. It wasn't his excitement at leaving this blasted dimension behind, nor was it the anticipation he was feeling about the Grash'Nak plan. Walking to the far wall, he allowed a thin grin to creep over his face as he realised what it was…and how long it had been since he had tasted something like it. The smell of fear was always rather sweet when it was mixed with the bitter tang of imminent betrayal.
"Discord, how is it coming along?"
His one-time leader paused in powering up one of the consoles with the Dark Crystal and turned slowly to face the screen. There was a slight quiver in his face and an indescribable emotion flashed across his eyes for the briefest of moments. He briefly wondered why Discord hadn't practiced his poker face over the years but dropped that train of thought. Being locked up inside a stone prison with only the dead for comfort would leave many ponies warped and twisted far worse than Discord; though, by all accounts, he had been one of the lucky ones. Mentally shaking his head, he schooled his features into a slightly impatient look and waited for the reply.
"My lord, the construction of the thirty-first battalion is complete. The fighting patterns just need to be downloaded into their processing matrices and they will be ready to serve."
"That is fine. Where is the Healing Tube that you have hidden from me?"
All right, as far as incriminating questions went, it could have used a lot of work. On one hand, he was leaving the dimension very soon and didn't have time to engage in a battle of wills. On the other…well, it was worth it just to see the tsunami of shock and fear wash over Discord's face. And he professed some degree of mirth at hearing Gilda unceremoniously tumble from her perch in surprise as well. Holding up a hand to silence the rather inelegant blubbering coming from Discord, Xonix rolled his eyes and sighed. That was the easy part down but now he had to convince everyone that what he had seen in his Dream Void was real. Dark Hoof and the Trotters would be the easiest as they had seen and done things that could have been considered outlandish. If what he had overheard was correct, they even had a hand in releasing Nightmare Moon from her lunar prison.
"There is no use in hiding it from me. I have known for quite some time now that your…former Lord barely survived that last battle with the Rangers. If the Rangers are to be defeated, we will require his assistance."
Discord forced himself to nod in return, still wondering how Xonix had learnt that Zedd was still alive. He had seen him talking to Tricksy on a few occasions but the mentally raped former Unicorn would know better than to spill the beans on her Master. Taking a few calming breaths, he nodded to himself and thought about his options...the few there were. Outright denial of that was straight out as Night Shade had apparently seen through the veil of secrecy he had worked hard to build. Leaving the service was another option but it was too risky as the dimensional being could easily steamroll him and whoever he took with him. Leaving opened up a whole other set of challenges as there was no way in any version of Hell that he would go back to the pony that had dared call himself his father. Sighing to himself, he realised that there was, really, only one option he could take; however, he would ensure that Xonix had the best interests of their campaign at hand.
"What is your reason for seeing him? He is in no condition to see anyone as he in unconscious."
Xonix snapped his fingers and teleported himself to Discord's location, wheezing slightly as he rematerialised. Non-technological self-teleportation was something that he could, obviously, do but it took a lot out of him and the strange lemony aftertaste was always a mystery. His warrior spun around in shock and almost dropped the tuning console in his hands. Forcing his body to stand upright, despite several particles that were still settling into place, Xonix fixed Discord with a steely gaze.
"Take me to him."
TBC…
