//------------------------------// // Part 22: Hot for Teacher // Story: MLP: The Magic of... Music? // by The Bricklayer //------------------------------// Everfree Forest: The Tree of Harmony It was with great urgency and even greater confusion that the Mane Six rushed towards the Everfree Forest and the location of the Tree of Harmony, where they had given up their Elements in exchange for the abilities known only as Rainbow Power to defeat the mad centaur Lord Tirek who was stealing every sort of Magic from every sort and type of pony, even the Princesses were not safe from his magic stealing abilities. Even when Twilight Sparkle herself took on their magic and engaged in an epic battle that destroyed her home, the Golden Oaks Library, it wasn't enough. It was only with the unlocking of the Chest of Harmony that the powers to defeat Tirek were discovered and he was defeated at last and cast deep into Tartarus, deeper then the dark necromancer lord King Grogar or King Sombra even and all the ponies whose magic he had stolen was returned to them. But it was not without a loss. The Golden Oaks Library was destroyed, and Twilight was left without a home, that was until Applejack and the Earth Ponies of Ponyville teamed up to restore it with their Earth Powers giving Twilight her beloved home once more. Twilight had never been so grateful to the Earth Ponies of Ponyville and especially her dear friend Applejack for what they had done for her. The Tree Of Harmony, a many branched tree made out of crystal loomed over the ponies in it's hidden cave, with the Elements of Harmony still right where they left them in their specific places in the Tree. Six Elements, one for each pony, each with it's own necklace (Or Tiara in Twilight's case.) They were, in order, a Balloon for Pinkie Pie, a Lightning Bolt for Rainbow Dash, a Gem for Rarity, an Apple for Applejack, a Butterfly for Fluttershy, and lastly, a spark of Magic for Twilight. "I'm curious." Rarity began in inquiry. "What kind of threat is so bad that we need the Elements of Harmony once more. I mean, we already defeated the Dazzlings, so what's left for us to face?" She asked curiously. Rarity was right. Nopony present knew just what exactly Princess Celestia needed the Elements of Harmony once more for, and nopony wanted to question her, but it was obvious that whatever the threat was, it was very grave indeed. "Ya got me Sugarcube." Applejack answered to Rarity's inquiry. " But whatever it is, I'm sure Princess Celestia has her reasons." "Well, whatever we're facing, we can beat it. We're just that awesome!" Rainbow proclaimed with gusto, and nopony bothered disagreeing with her bragging for once. "Ya got that right Dashie!" Pinkie exclaimed happily. "It doesn't matter if it's Nightmare Moon, Discord, Lord Tirek, or even the Dazzlings again, we can beat anypony who dares stand against us!" "Yeah, that's the spirit Pinks!" Rainbow exclaimed, agreeing with her friend and partner in pranking. "Nothing can stop us!" "Awfully confident, aren't we?" Rarity commented in a dry tone of voice. "Can you blame us?" Rainbow responded in an equally dry tone of voice to the fashionista pony. "No... I guess not...' Rarity admitted. Rainbow had a point. So far every threat that they had faced had been defeated by them, and Rarity admitted privately to herself that there was probably nothing that they couldn't stop. One by one the ponies took their respective Elements from their respective branches on the Tree and put them on. Rarity, Rainbow, Pinkie, Fluttershy and Applejack put on their necklaces while Twilight did the same with her tiara. Now, they were ready for whatever threat they had to face... Canterlot General Hospital: Emergency Ward Meanwhile, at Canterlot General Hospital, Shining Armor was still in recovery, both physical and mentally from his battle with Grogar and the loss of all his men except Flash Sentry. It had affected him greatly, and he still blamed himself from his battle with Grogar that resulted in the death of all but one of his men. Now, he lay in his hospital bed, thinking over his losses and watched by his mother and father, Twilight Velvet, and Night Light Sparkle who watched him in his recovery bed, dearly hoping he'd recover sometime soon from the trauma that he suffered. "Oh dear Celestia, poor Shining, losing his men like that..." Night Light whispered, in mental agony from his son's pain, with his wife being in the same way. "There there dear." His wife said to him in a comforting manner and laying a hoof on her husband's shoulder. "Shining will get better, we just got to pray to Faust and hope he recovers." "B-But what if he doesn't? What if he never recovers?" Night Light asked, sobbing now in response to his son's pain. Flash Sentry watched from the doorway, he too hoping his commander recovered from his trauma that he had suffered. "Now that's enough of that!" A familiar and welcoming female voice said to both of them. it was Shining Armor's wife, and the Sparkle parent's daughter-in-law, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. At once Flash Sentry saluted to the only pony who was higher in rank then Shining Armor himself. "Cadence, thank Faust you came!" Twilight Velvet exclaimed at once, happy to see her beloved daughter-in-law. She hoped with her help, Shining would finally recover from his trauma. "C-Cadence...?" Shining whispered, finally speaking at last. His body was wracked with pain, but that didn't stop him from embracing his wife that he had married so long ago. "I came as soon as I heard what happened. I'm so sorry my love, I promise those men you lost to that bastard necromancer Grogar will be given a proper soldier's funeral. This I swear." Cadence promised, but Shining still had something to say. Despite all the reassurance he'd been given by both the Royal Sisters and Flash Sentry, he still blamed himself. "I... I don't deserve to go to that funeral. It's my fault that they're dead!" Shining said, now sobbing uncontrollably. But Cadence was having none of it. "Now stop right there!" Cadence suddenly shouted, tired of her husband blaming himself for something that was not his fault. "Did you kill those men? NO! You didn't! It was Grogar's fault, and Grogar's alone!" She continued, and with these words, from his wife Shining finally saw sense. His mental pain was over, and now he only wanted revenge for what had been done to those under his command. "T-Thanks." Shining whispered to his wife. "I really, really needed that." The couple embraced once more, but Shining soon broke away due to the pain. His mental pain may have been over, but his physical pain still wasn't over yet. But with time, and recovery, he would be ready for the upcoming battle... Canterlot Castle: Throne Room Now, the Mane Six had rushed as fast as they can via a powerful teleportation spell from Twilight to Canterlot Castle's Throne Room to meet Princess Celestia and see why exactly she had requested for them to once again take up the Elements of Harmony. There she sat in her Royal Throne with Luna by her side, looking serene as usual but if you looked closely you could detect a certain worry in her eyes. "Ah, Twilight, good." She began in a hurried tone of voice. "You and your friends came as fast as you could, and you brought the Elements of Harmony just as I requested." "Forgive me for asking, but why did you need me to bring the Elements of Harmony?" Twilight inquired curiously. And so Celestia began to explain. "King Grogar the Necromancer... He's returned." She began, and told the tale of Shining's pain and woe. Twilight almost at once became worried for her brother's safety. "Shiny? In the hospital? Faust above, I hope he's okay!" She said, and took a few calming deep breathes to relieve her worries, just as her teacher had taught her. She knew Shining would be okay, he just had to be. She also knew of Grogar, from her many books. She'd heard of his infamy, and powers, but there was one thing she didn't know. One thing Celestia had kept secret, in fear of losing her subject's trust. "Forgive me, but who's this Grogar dude?" Rainbow asked. Suddenly there was a loud explosion and the Throne Room doors were thrown open, shattered into splinters with two Royal Guards thrown aside from the force of the explosion. There stood Grogar, no longer made of shadows now that he had escaped from Tartarus. His eyes glowed yellow with demonic power, and fury was etched on his face. "So, you never told them about us?" Grogar asked sarcastically. "I'm disappointed, my love." "Y-Your love?" Luna asked in surprise. "What have you been keeping from us? And so Celestia began to explain her own tale of pain and woe. "Grogar..." She began. " He was my student, no, not just my student. Over time, we fell in love, but his lust for power corrupted him and I was forced to banish him to some of the deepest depths of Tartarus." Celestia explained sadly, tears rolling down her face as she explained . Pain was etched on her every feature, this tale of hers obviously pained her greatly to explain. Memories came flashing back to her as she explained to the ponies her and Grogar's past. This was during the time after Luna had been banished and become the Mare in the Moon and during this painful time, Grogar was Celestia's only form of solace and happiness. The Past... "I love you Grogar, more then any other being I've ever met." "And I love you too Celestia, like the sun you embody you brighten up my every day." And then came the painful memories. The ones where Grogar was consumed by his lust for power, and where he started practicing the dark art of Necromancy. "Grogar, why? You know these dark arts are forbidden by law! You know what they'll do to you. If you don't stop I'll be forced to banish you! Grogar, I love you, so I'm begging you! Please, stop!" But of course Grogar wasn't listening. He had become far too consumed with his lust for power, like Luna transforming into Nightmare Moon before him. He had read books, dark and powerful books on the dark art of Necromancy. Celestia continued to plead, but to no avail. "Please Grogar, I've already lost my sister! I don't want to lose you too!" "Sorry "My Love", but the Grogar you knew is gone! Only King Grogar the Necromancer remains!" Then, with great pain and tears streaking down her face Celestia knew there was only one choice remaining to her. Like Luna before her, she had to banish one of her only sources of happiness. "I'm sorry..." She whispered, and began to recite an ancient spell. With a mighty scream of rage, Grogar was sucked into a dark swirling pit into the ground and sent on his way to Tartarus. Tears continued to stream down Celestia's face. She had lost another that she loved... "So that's our tale." Grogar growled in fury and rage at his former love. " You banished me into a pit of hell for over 900 years, after we loved each other for 100 years of happiness!" "I... I had no choice! You became consumed with your dark powers!" Celestia shouted, now furious with herself for ever loving Grogar and letting him escape his imprisonment in the deepest depths of Tartarus. "And now, we will be forced to stop you once again. I'm sorry my love, but I cannot let you continue your reign of terror once more!" "Wow, you have bad luck with love don't you Princess? First this Grogar dude, and then with Twilight as well." Rainbow Dash laughed, in spite of the dire situation. Celestia looked confused, with the rest of the Mane Six groaning before answering in unison "Don't ask." Grogar could only laugh long and hard. It was an evil laugh, one that would send chills down anypony's spine. "Who?" He laughed. "You and your "Elements of Harmony"? You know perfectly well they won't be enough to stop me!" He proclaimed. "We'll just have to see about that! My Little Ponies have never failed before, and they won't fail to stop a damned monster like you!" Celestia exclaimed angrily. "But you're alone in stopping me. Remember my powers?" Grogar asked. " I can bring anypony back to life, and make them work for me. I've got a fiddle of gold against your soul that I'm better than you!" He proclaimed, quoting the famous line from the Charlie Daniels song "The Devil Went Down to Georgia". Then came a familiar and welcomed voice that Twilight was only too happy to hear asking "Who says they're alone?" Two figures, familiar in shape and form stepped into the Throne Room. There stood Sunset Shimmer, wings flared and a tiara on her head with a sun on it along with Sonata Dusk, wearing a necklace with a musical note on it. They, like the Mane Six had unlocked their Elements of Harmony, the secret ones, Redemption and Music and now, with all eight Elements assembled, the final battle was about to begin...