Sacanas observed Stygian from afar, wondering what he can do to corrupt him again. If Princess Eris had difficulty corrupting Stygian, how the Tartarus is he going to fare any better?
"Come on, Sacanas, think!" Sacanas thought out loud to himself "What can I do to convince Stygian to return to the darkness again?"
"Perhaps I can help" a borderline demonic voice said. It was a mix between a feminine if commanding voice and a deep, but raspy voice. Sacanas turned around and noticed the changeling queen behind him. The queen had green glowing eyes and was wearing a rock necklace, with the rock glowing green as well.
"Curse it all, Sanies! Would you please stop sneaking up on me like that?! Especially when you do it in a form that's not your own."
"I admit taking over Chrysalis' mind is more difficult than I thought, but couldn't you have given me the Alicorn Amulet instead of handing it over to my previous host?"
"Speaking of your previous host, is it me or does the queen sound a little bit like Trixie?"
Sanies just rolled his eyes, or rather Chrysalis' eyes. He then walked closer towards where Sacanas was standing. Both Sanies and Sacanas gave each-other an annoyed look.
"You know, you're lucky I took the time of day to drag your shattered flank from Tartarus and trick the queen into wearing a piece of you thinking it was similar to the Alicorn Amulet!"
"And you're lucky I haven't betrayed you again.....Yet."
"Sooooo, how do you intend on helping me, 'oh great Lord Sanies'?"
"Watch and learn, master."
Sanies then used the changeling body he was occupying to turn into Star-Swirl the Bearded. While looking for Stygian, Sanies took a detour to remove the Alicorn Amulet from Trixie, who was left comatose as a result of Sanies and Sacanas' machinations. Although, in order to do that, he would have to temporarily control Trixie to get her to take it off. While putting it on, he thought to himself about how easy it would be to destroy Sacanas right now. But he decided to pass on that idea, thinking it was better to bide his time rather than act impulsively. With the amulet's magic mixed in with the changeling's magic, it should be easy for Sanies to use the power that would normally be far beyond his current vessel's capabilities. After finding Stygian's position, Sanies used a combination of changeling magic and the amulet's power to create a portal right beneath Stygian, sending him plummeting into the Hollow Shades. Sanies then jumped into the portal himself. Noticing what Sanies just did, Sacanas decided to follow suit.
SMACK!
When Stygian came to, he realized he was in the Hollow Shades, which quite naturally reminded him of some really bad times. Times where he was at his weakest, but that was nothing in comparison to what Stygian saw in front of him.
"You know Stygian, I now understand why you wanted our power."
In front of Stygian was Star-Swirl wearing the Alicorn Amulet. And behind him were the other pillars, who looked as equally corrupted as Star-Swirl.
"Why would we need to protect all of Equestria when we can have it all? The only way for there to be peace is if the entire world was plunged into darkness!"
Stygian couldn't believe what he was seeing! This has got to be one of Sacanas' tricks! There's no way that Star-Swirl and the pillars would succumb to the same darkness he once did! He didn't want to believe it.
"Join us, Stygian! You will be just as powerful as we once were. Wasn't that what you originally wanted?"
"No! This is all a trick to fool me into embracing the shadow once m-AGH!"
Stygian noticed that Star-Swirl has blasted him with a bolt of magic that managed to singe one of his legs. Star-Swirl just looked at Stygian menacingly, with his eyes glowing red from the amulet and a wearing a sickening grin on his face.
"Did that feel like a trick to you, Stygian?"
Star- Swirl and the other pillars chuckled at Star-Swirl's rhetorical question before advancing even more towards Stygian. But before they can do another attack, Sacanas decided to pause time for a bit. Clearly, the hamster-ball looking time spell wasn't the only time spell Sacanas knew, plus he knew a Time Turner that taught him certain things about time that were yet to be written about in the magic books.
"You know, it really is adorable that you try so hard to resist the power you once held. I mean seriously, it must be torture!"
Sacanas then showed Stygian a mirror
"There are two options presented to you right now. Option 1 has our corrupted legends over there tear you a new flank-hole, and Option 2 is giving in to the power you once had."
Stygian can only stare at the mirror, which had a reflection of the Pony of Shadows looking back at him
"What's it gonna be, Stygian?"