Aaron groaned as his eyes started to power up. He felt a little dizzy, but he slowly regained sense of reality.
"Aaron!" Joe cheered. "You're okay! Can you hear me?"
"Yes, I can hear you." Aaron groaned. "What happened?"
"That Golden Apple hit you." Terry said. "We almost lost you."
"Well, what happened?" Aaron asked. "How'd you guys save me?"
"Me and Joe." Marty said. "We fixed you up. ...But it seems we used a bit too much of Pixie Dust's magic."
"What's that mean?" Aaron asked.
"Go ahead." Joe said. "Pretend you're throwing a ball."
"I'm not in any condition for a pretend game." Aaron said.
"Just do it." Terry said. "Otherwise, he won't stop egging you on."
Aaron sighed heavily before lifting his claw up. He made a swinging motion, but from out of his hand, a shadowy ball escaped and hit the ground in front of him. He almost jumped when he saw that.
"What just happened?"
"Congratulations, Aaron." Marty said. "You've got superpowers."
"HOW..." Aaron said. "WHAT... WHEN... WHY..."
"I guess that leaves out 'who' and 'where'." Joe said. "Right, Ricky?" There was no response. "Ricky?"
Everyone looked around, but they couldn't see anything else.
"Where's Ricky?" Terry asked. "And for that matter, where's that stinkin' apple?"
Suddenly, they felt a rumble from the ground. They were about to question it when a bunch of Underlings popped out from the ground and jumped the wirewolves. They tried to shake them off, but more of them jumped onto them. They then saw a bunch of figures in the approaching them. At the front, Kul'as was chuckling at his captured prisoners.
"Well, well, well, well, well, well." Kul'as said.
"That's a pretty deep well." Joe said.
"Aaron, I must say, I'm very disappointed in you." Kul'as said.
"How'd you find us?" Aaron asked.
"I smelt the scent of betrayal and followed it." Kul'as replied. "Besides, that light show you displayed earlier wasn't easy to miss. I bet everyone in the Neatherealm saw it. Speaking of which, where's the Golden Apple anyway?"
"Here, sir." Tartus appeared out of nowhere with the Golden Apple in his metal claws. "All yours. And don't you worry about the Shadow Blot. I made it so that he won't bother you again." He passed it to Kul'as.
"What?" Terry gasped. "Did you kill him?"
"More or less." Tartus said. "It doesn't matter now."
Kul'as approached the wirewolves with the Golden Apple in his claws.
"Look at you. You think you're some sort of mighty machines, but at the end of the day, you're just a bunch of mangy curs that need to be put down." He pointed the Apple at them and they braced for impact.
"Oh, man." Terry said. "Guys, if this is our last stop, I just want you all to know. Despite my constant complaining... I hate you guys the least."
The Golden Apple began to glow. But before anything can happen, Tartus spoke out.
"Wait! Why now?"
"Excuse me?" Kul'as asked.
"I mean, why do you have to grant them a swift demise?" Tartus asked. "Don't you think you should savor the satisfaction of destroying them?"
"Actually, I was planning on of making them rust themselves, twist their own joints, and hear nothing but polka music at the same time." Kul'as said.
"Hurting them physically is good," Tartus said, "But if there's anything I've learned, it's that you must also hurt them emotionally and mentally as well."
"Stop questioning our great Kul'as, you metal-armed beanpole with no depth perception!" Creeper shouted. "Only Kul'as can decide how to execute the criminals!"
"Hang on, Creeper." Kul'as said. "He makes a good point. Go ahead, Tartus. How can I do all that?"
"Well, these mutts are from Equestria, and Arcanus wants Equestria. How about you hurt two birds with one boulder and destroy Equestria?"
"WHAT?!" the wirewolves shouted.
"You know," Kul'as said scratching his chin. "That's actually a good plan. But before anything else, we've got an army to address."
When he awoke, Ricky felt a slight headache. He shook his head and looked around. He was in an empty alleyway with no one in sight. He looked outside and saw a familiar castle up the hill.
"Canterlot!" Ricky gasped nearly out of breath. "After all these years... I'm home. How can..." He then remembered. "Tartus! Kul'as! My friends! Everyone's in danger! I've got to warn everyone." He looked and saw a passing mare. He approached her out of the shadows. "Listen, I need to tell you..."
Ricky was interrupted when the mare saw him and screamed loudly. Windows began to light up and ponies looked out. Panicking, Ricky jumped back into the alleyway and ran away.
Ricky jumped left and right for ten minutes before he was sure no one followed him. He breathed heavily and placed his hand on the top of his head. That's when he noticed the clank noise. He looked at his metallic claw before looking at the rest of his body.
"No!" he gasped. "No! I'm still a wirewolf! What's Celestia going to say when..."
"What's going on?" That was a voice that Ricky didn't hear in a long time.
Ricky took a peek around the corner and saw a familiar white alicorn with a rainbow mane and a sun Cutie Mark on her flank. Ricky was petrified when he saw her talking to the same mare earlier.
"What's wrong?" Princess Celestia asked.
"There's a monster here!" the mare shouted. "It looked like some kind of metal Timberwolf."
"Are you sure?" Celestia asked.
"Yes! I think it came from the Everfree Forest."
"Calm down, young one." Celestia said. "I will get to the bottom of this. Now, please, don't scare anyone else. We've all just recovered from the Mane-iac's attack."
"Cel..." Ricky was about to call out until he saw his claw again. He then looked at a cracked mirror and was terrified at what he saw: his reflection, which was shown in every shard cracking in the window. He realized the flaw in his plan and took one last good look at the alicorn.
"I'm sorry." he whispered before leaving.
Then, Princess Celestia widened her eyes and looked back. She didn't see anyone there. Princess Luna then caught up to her.
"Is something wrong?" Luna asked.
"I thought I just heard..." Celestia said. "...Never mind. Let's go."
Back in the Neatherealm, an entire assembly of Underlings gathered up in dozens of rows and lines. They looked up and saw Kul'as standing in front of a few others, including Tartus and Creeper in the middle, and the wirewolves in the back tied up.
"My Underlings!" Kul'as announced. "Do you know why I stand before you?"
"Because they can't see you if you're behind them!" Joe shouted. Kul'as began to growl.
"Shut up, Joe." Aaron warned.
"I am here to give you an official address! Kul'as announced.
"If they want an address, they just have look at the mailbox out front!" Joe shouted.
"I mean it." Aaron said.
"Devastate.
"Yeah, I prefer to live too." Terry said.
"I swear," Kul'as said, "If you don't stop with your wretched jokes and shut your mouth, I will tear your throat out!"
"Ugly says what!" Joe said quickly.
"What?" Kul'as asked.
"Nothing." Joe chuckled rolling his eyes away. "Okay, I'm done."
Ignoring him, Kul'as returned to the microphone. "My minions, for far too long, we've been at a deadlock with that second-rate weakling, Arcanus, and his army or Changelings. Now, we have the power to obliterate and humiliate him. And tonight, we will destroy him after we destroy his chances at Equestria."
"WHAT ABOUT THE CHANGELINGS HE SLIPPED IN?!" a random Underling shouted.
"WHO SAID THAT?!" Creeper shouted. "REVEAL YOURSELF AND PAY FOR QUESTIONING..."
"Now, now, Creeper." Kul'as said. 'That's a good question. And the answer..." He held up the Golden Apple. "Is this. Observe."
The Golden Apple began to glow and a yellow light escaped from it. The light covered all the Underlings. Suddenly, most of them began to make pain noises. They grew an incredible size and their appearances changed into monstrous forms. They looked more savage than before. The only Underlings who didn't change were changed back to Changelings.
"What's going on?" one Changeling asked.
"I don't know." another replied. "And I can't change into... whatever they are!"
Kul'as leaped from his balcony and landed in front of the frightened Changelings.
"Don't worry." he said. "I won't kill you, and it's obvious you can't turn into my new Underlings. So here's what I want you to do: go to Arcanus and tell him that I'm going to be leaving for a little while, just to destroy Equestria. Will you do that, please?"
The Changelings nodded before they flew away. Kul'as chuckled evilly and used the Apple to levitate himself above them.
"And now, we prepare for our invasion! First, Equestria will feel our wrath, then, we go after Arcanus! He will suffer for all the times he got the jump on me! It's payback time! HAHAHAHAHAHA!
"When you're born in the shadows
You get an affinity for vice
Remember how the old saying goes
You finish last when you're nice"
"All hail Kul'as" the Underlings sang being mutated,"
"All hail Kul'as"
"We conquer 'til the job's done" Kul'as sang,
"From now until forever
Arcanus thinks he can pull a fast one"
"But it's clear you're more clever" Creeper sang.
"YEAH" the Underlings sang,
"It's payback time
It's payback time
Now that we have surpassed our prime
It'll be quite a song with the death toll chime
It's payback time
It's payback time
All hail Kul'as
All hail Kul'as"
"So now, with the Apple in claw" Kul'as sang,
"The worlds are mine for the taking
And this just opens the door
It's our future in the making"
"YEAH" the Underlings sang,
"It's payback time
It's payback time
Now that we have surpassed our prime
It'll be quite a song with the death toll chime
It's payback time
It's payback time"
As the song continued, the wirewolves observed as the entire Underling race was mutated into horrific monsters.
"All right, minions!" Kul'as announced. "Gather 'round! Here's the plan...
"Before Arcanus can hear of my rise
We'll be opening the gate
And when we get back, he'll finally realize
HE'S ALREADY TOO LATE"
"IT'S PAYBACK TIME" the Underlings sang,
"IT'S PAYBACK TIME
NOW THAT WE HAVE SURPASSED OUR PRIME
IT'LL BE QUITE A SONG WITH THE DEATH TOLL CHIME
IT'S PAYBACK TIME
IT'S PAYBACK TIME"
"IT'S PAYBACK TIME" Kul'as sang,
"THE BEGINNING OF THE END"
"IT'LL BE QUITE A SONG WITH THE DEATH TOLL CHIME" the Underlings sang,
"IT'S PAYBACK TIME
IT'S PAYBACK TIME"
"IT'LL BE QUITE A SONG WITH THE DEATH TOLL CHIME" Kul'as sang,
"IT'S PAYBACK TIME
IT'S PAYBACK TIME"