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// Soon, Very Soon 
// Story: Gloom and Doom 
// by casualbrony10 
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	The last two weeks had been amazing for Twilight. She had returned to the human world, been in a band, defeated three sirens, and learned many new things about friendship. She was most surprised and delighted that her lesson had come from Sunset Shimmer, her old enemy turned friend. Thanks to Sunset, they had been able to defeat the sirens and her friendships in the alternate world had strengthened. She had told her pony friends and the princesses all about it after her return. Celestia had later interviewed her about the details of the Dazzlings' defeat. She had been interested in how Sunset had added another color to the rainbow and how the spell had briefly summoned a huge spectral alicorn. Twilight had wondered about that herself, the magic of friendship had never done such a thing before. Celestia and her had discussed the possibility of a seventh element and Twilight had agreed to ask Sunset to visit Equestria so they could find out more. Twilight was excited, the idea of discovering hidden magic was one of the reasons she studied magic in the first place. New magic opened new possibilities and ways to make Equestria a better place. The day before she had contacted Sunset through their book and Sunset had agreed to arrive the next day. Now she waited in front of the portal along with her friends, excited to formally introduce Sunset to the ponies. The portal flashed and Sunset was through along with a small bag of luggage. Unfortunately, she came through on two legs and quickly lost her balance and fell over. She had a sheepish smile as Twilight went to help her up.
"Woah! I'm okay, just forgot to switch to all fours." Sunset looked a little embarrassed.
"It's alright, I made the same mistake." Twilight replied. She turned to her friends. "Everypony, this is Sunset Shimmer. Sunset, let me introduce you to Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy. And I'm sure you recognize Spike."
"It's wonderful to really meet you all. I wanted to get a second chance a first impression since my first one involved me," Sunset paused and looked at the ground, "Stealing Twilight's crown." Rarity walked up and smiled.
"Darling, Twilight has told us about how you've changed and I think I speak for all of us when I say we've forgiven you for your past, ahem, boo boos." Sunset looked surprised for a moment.
"Woah, deja-vu, human Rarity said the exact same thing. I still can't get over that there's two versions of everybody." Sunset said.
"Every-what?" Applejack asked.
"Oh sorry, everypony. Everybody is a human expression that means the same thing," Sunset replied.
"Speaking of that, isn't there a human version of you Sunset?" Twilight asked "Cause if there is I haven't met her."
"Where do you think I've been living all this time?" Sunset explained, "The human Sunset was one of the first people I met when I entered their world. Long story short, we became friends and her parents sort of adopted me. Everyone else thought that I was a long lost twin or something and both of us had always wanted a sister so we went with it. She was home schooled, but I chose to enroll at Canterlot High. I owe a lot to her cause she taught me everything I needed to know about humans. I'm ashamed to say that I hid my true goals from her. I set it right though and she forgave me."
Fluttershy chimed in, "That's wonderful, the way you've turned your life around reminds me of a certain draconeques friend of mine. I know anypony can be redeemed if they really want to."
"Did you use apology cookies? I'll forgive anypony that gives those." Pinkie added, "I know a really good recipe for them too, they're sorrylicious!"
"I second that, Pinkie gave one to me and it was great," Rainbow said.
"What was she apologizing to you for?" Spike asked.
"Remember that time my hair was all scorched? Let's just say Pinkie and fireworks don't mix."
"I didn't know you were napping in that cloud!" Pinkie exclaimed.
Sunset laughed, "Anyway, I have a week before I'll need to go back, until then where am I staying?"
"You can stay with me, there's plenty of room in the castle." Twilight responded, "I'm so excited!" The group smiled as they turned off the portal and got ready for a week with their new friend.

Meanwhile, on the other side of Equestria, Gloom exited a cave. It, or rather he, as many of the denizens of Tartarus had referred to him, had been busy in the past weeks. He wondered why many thought of him as male, he had no gender, but that was what he was labeled as in the minds of his victims. Perhaps it was because the male side of his voice stood out and made the female side sound like an echo. It didn't matter, if they chose to fear a male that was their choice, but despair applied to both sexes. Every prisoner in Tartarus had succumbed to his influence and the combined misery of the thousands imprisoned there had pushed his power to terrifying heights. He had spent days bathing in the bitter tears and now his body was whole. He now had a pair of hind legs that ended in three-toed claws and a covering of black, liquid skin that constantly churned and swirled. His mane and tail were made of a thicker sludge that dripped off his body and hissed as it bubbled on the ground. His eyes glowed a cold blue with streams of black tears permanently running down his cheeks. His every breath sent fumes of grey gas that seemed to suck the color out of the world and more black ichor dripped from his mouth, which was lined with sharp teeth. He had no horn or wings, but he did not need them for flight or magic. He still sobbed perpetually.
It had been easy, if tedious, to overcome the minds of the prisoners one by one. They were all already miserable and Gloom just needed to enhance that with some choice words and telepathic influence. Now they were all trapped in the deepest, darkest pit of despair within their own minds. Gloom felt, not happiness, he could never be happy, but satisfaction. He had made the worst place in Equestria even worse and now he knew exactly how to spread his misery across Equestria, after all, misery loves company. In addition to power, he also gained knowledge from his victims. He could read their memories in an instant just by reaching out with his mind, it made it all the easier to influence them. Tirek's memories had told Gloom much and bits from other prisoners filled in the gaps. At this point there were only four things that could possibly stop Gloom from plunging the world into sorrow: The princesses, the spirit of chaos, the heart, and harmony. Celestia, Luna, Cadence, and Discord were obvious threats and the crystal heart could be used against him if the ponies fully understood it. The greatest threat was the Tree of Harmony, that cursed thing had already beaten Gloom once, and it was troublesome to know that six ponies could channel its power. Even more troublesome that one of those ponies was the newest alicorn princess, which made her a threat all on her own.
Gloom had been planning for the last several days as he gathered his strength. He needed to strike quickly before Equestria could react. If Canterlot, Ponyville, and the Crystal Empire fell, the rest would follow. The tree would have to be last, as much as Gloom wanted to attack it first that would be a mistake. The Tree drew power from the world and only after everything else was gone would the Tree be vulnerable. Gloom would also need the misery of the world to be powerful enough to destroy the tree, in his current state simply being near the Tree would be agony. Gloom set the first step of his plan in motion. The streams of black ooze running off him intensified and formed a large pool beneath him. The pool moved under his direction and split into two puddles. The puddles rose and took on shape, molding and hardening. After a few minutes Gloom had created two bodies identical to his own. His consciousness split into three equal parts and two entered the extra bodies. There were now three Glooms, each capable of thinking and acting separately, but still linked together as one being. Each body held a fraction of Gloom's power, but that was still formidable. The Glooms then began moving towards their respective targets.