Engineer woke with a start, climbing to her feet, she felt pains shoot through her body, the melee with the ponies had left her bruised, bleeding, and with a pounding headache. She fought through the pain, and tried to focus. She needed to get it together and figure out just what the hell had happened.
As she got her bearing, she saw that she was no longer standing in the throne room, and that Soboka, the ponies, and the 'Royal Princesses' were nowhere to be seen. Instead she found herself in what looked like a cave, the walls had a strange orange glow, with staircases leading from the center of the cave, into dark passageways that led who knows where. In the center of the room was an alter with a large orb glowing black and orange. A pool of putrid green water flowed next to her, fed by water flowing from walls, green moss hung from the ceiling giving off a strange earthy odour.
As Engineer looked around, black smoke begun to come from one of the platforms next to her. An old, sickly looking centaur appeared, along with a young pegasus filly. "Who are you? whats going on? where am I?" she demanded of these new arrivals.
The centaur stared her down "We could ask the same of you creature."
The little filly hovered up from the platform, and waved at Engineer, the pony smiled as she asked "Hello my name is Cozy Glow, and this is Tirek. Whats your name?"
Before Engineer could respond, 'Tirek' interjected into the conversation "First its Lord Tirek, and second what exactly are you? I've never seen a creature like you before."
"I'm Engineer, now you answer my questions." Engineer was getting impatient, she wanted answers. Before the conversation could continue, a new figure appeared across the room from another column of black smoke. This newcomer looked like a pony but was taller and with a black and green bug like appearance. Engineer had no idea what kind of creature this bug was.
"Lord Tirek" The Insect pony hissed as she narrowed her eyes at the centaur.
"A Changeling? See she gets it." Cozy Glow rolled her eyes at Tirek stroking his own ego.
"Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings, or at least I will be, when i'm restored to my rightful place." Chrysalis glided down into the center of the room, as Tirek and Cozy Glow made their way down their staircase. "Why did you summon me? What do you want?" Chrysalises horn glowed green as she menaced the pair in front of her, Cozy Glow yelped in fear as she retreated behind the legs of Tirek. "Oh golly, we didn't bring you, I thought you freed us from Tartarus"
"Tartarus? whoever pulled you from there must have been somepony very powerful indeed." Chrysalis glanced around the room, she eyed the Engineer, watching her approach the group. "Was it you creature? Are you the one who brought us here?"
"I have no idea who you people are, where we are, why we are here, or where exactly here is. So that would be a no from me." Engineer hobbled her way into the center of the room, her injuries preventing her from moving comfortably. She was befuddled by the situation she found herself in as she found herself surrounded by these strange, and quite possibly, dangerous creatures.
"Useless fool" Chrysalis snarled "if this creature is not the one who brought us here then who did?" A cackling laugh echoed through the cave, as another pillar of black smoke appeared on a platform above them. As the smoke subsided another pony, this one was a unicorn all black and grey, with a bright red horn, he smirked down at the gathering below him.
"King Sombra? You have returned? Why did you bring us here?" Chrysalis and Tirek prepared their magic, readying themselves for a fight with the newcomer. Engineer was getting really annoyed, her head hurt, she had no idea what was going on, and no one was telling her anything. She was about to interject, to try to stop the situation from becoming anymore confusing, but she was interrupted by a new voice coming from behind them.
"He didn't." The group wheeled around to see a large figure advancing across the rocks dotting the putrid green pool. He walked past the group towards the alter and the orb before turning to address them. "It was I, you may call me Grogar."
Chrysalis and Tirel gasped at the name "The Grogar?" "I thought you were a legend." Sombra joined the group in a flash of black magic "I've heard of you." "Who?" Cozy glow asked, not recognising the name. Engineer decided to remain silent for now, hopefully any questions she had were about to be answered.
"I assure you, I am very real, and you have all been brought here as part of my plan to rid equestria, of twilight sparkle and her friends, once and for all" Grogar chuckled as he explained.
"I am so sorry, but the name Grofar, it just doesn't ring any bells" Cozy glow interjected.
"Grogar!" The shout sent Cozy Glow flying back. "I have been away too long if my name no longer strikes fear into the heart of one so tiny" Grogar spat.
"Why exactly should I listen to you Grogar? I don't know who this Twilight Sparkle is, and frankly I don't care. My fight is with the Alicorn Sisters, and the dog who betrayed me Soboka." Engineer spat Sobokas name, she was going to make him pay for selling her out, she would make sure of it.
"If you want revenge against King Soboka, I have bad news Engineer. King Soboka has been dead for a long time."
"What are you talking about?" Engineer was confused, how could Soboka be dead? She had just been talking to him a few minutes ago. "Explain" she demanded.
"What was the last thing that you remember Engineer?"
"I remember being sealed in stone by those Alicorn ponies, then you must have freed me and brought me here." Engineer gasped as a realisation came to her "Wait, how long was I turned to stone for a year? A decade?" The Engineer felt ice through her veins as she asked "Have I been stone for a century.?
Grogar delighted in the pain he was about to cause "you were turned to stone over a millennia ago. Everyone you knew is gone, your precious Kingdom has long since fallen apart. And almost all of your work has been destroyed."
"No! That can't be! You're saying that everything is gone?" She was over a thousand years in the future, all the dogs of the Kingdom were dead. Her sorrow changed to anger as she realised that the people that had screwed her over were long gone as well, probably living long happy lives before succumbing to old age. The revenge that she yearned for was never going to be hers.
"Not quite Engineer, for you see the Alicorn sisters, Celestia and Luna, that turned you to stone still live. This Twilight Sparkle is set to be their successor, they have been grooming her to take over so that they can retire."
Engineer mulled over this information in her head. If this Twilight Sparkle was truely the successor to the Sisters, someone who they had poured their time and effort moulding, then she would delight in destroying their work the same way that they had destroyed hers. She grinned at the thought of watching the Princesses, those smug fools, watching as their precious protege was brought low. There was still something she wanted to know "why should I follow you Grogar? What do you bring to the table?"
"Perhaps a demonstration of power is in order" Grogar lifted his hoof to a collar of bells he had around his chest, drawing an orb of yellow magic out of the bells, he blew on it and it split into two one heading towards Engineer and another towards Tirek. As the magic hit Engineer she felt the aches in her body start to subside and the headache that had been bothering her regress, she had been healed. The centaur Tirek faired even better as the magic he recieved made changes to him, he went from being old and sickly in appearance to being younger, larger and stronger, it also caused the horns in his head to grow from two tiny stubs into a respectable size.
As Tirek flexed his new muscles. "Grogar is ancient, extremely powerful, the land that would become equestria was a mere collection of farms and pastures until he, declared himself emperor of all he saw, I remember hearing tales of his tyranny when I was young"
"I have also heard of the first emperor of Equestria, the father of monsters." Sombra added
"I gave life to the foulest of creatures, and allowed them to run wild taking what they wanted and destroying the rest." The orb that sat on the alter displayed images of foul creatures running rampant, burning and consuming all that was before them, and of ponies fleeing in terror at the sight of the devestation, or being chased down and violently killed at the claws of the monstrosities. "My reign was a glorious, fear soaked epoch of darkness in equestria"
"Hah" Chrysalis interjected "until gusty the great rose up and banished you"
"That fool believed taking my bell would defeat me, but she only weakened me temporarily"
"Um, Tirek is really old, no offence you look great, but if he knew about you when he was young, and this Engineer was around over a thousand years ago and she had no idea who you were, it sound life we have different ideas about what temporarily means" Cozy Glow smugly mocked Grogar.
Grogar took offence, flinging Cozy Glow back into the chest of Tirek. "Silence" He demanded "I've spent millennia gathering power, biding my time, waiting for the perfect opportunity to seize control of Equestria. And watching all of you, I've seen each of your humiliating defeats at the hooves of these puny ponies. And do you know why they bested you?"
"Because they cheat!" Chrysalis declared
"Because they are annoyingly lucky" Tirek grumbled.
"Because they are too powerful" Engineer Complained.
Cozy Glow joked "Well i'm just a kid, so."
"It is because they work together, where one is weak, another is strong, and thus unified they are a formidable force. But we will use their own strategy to defeat them."
"What are you suggesting?" Chrysalis demanded of Grogar.
"Its kind of obvious, Insect." "Shut up you overgrown ape."
Grogar leaped forward interrupting the argument. "I suggest nothing, I demand you join me" he slammed a hoof punctuating his point, "and together Equestria will be ours."
"I don't do ours, I only do mine" Sombra teleported onto the alter staring down Grogar as he continued his rant "I will take back the Crystal Empire on my own, and I will destroy any pony who gets in my way."
Grogar responded to this rebellion by grinning at the proud King "such confidence" he condescended. He casually hopped off the table "Go, try to take back your kingdom, I'll send you there myself. If you prevail, you may keep it, but when you fail you will submit to me"
"And if i refuse this deal?"
"Then I will return you to the darkness from which you were summoned."
"Fine! But this is a waste of time, as I will crush those who defy me, I will defeat all who get in my way, I-" Sombras pontificating was interrupted by Grogar impatiently teleporting Sombra, who was carried away by the glowing yellow magic as a cloud of black smoke.
"I advise the rest of you to prepare to work together" with that Grogar trudged back across the rancid water, disappearing into the darkness of the cave.
"Well, working together sounds a lot like making friends so, you three are in luck because I know all about that." All Cozy Glows bragging got here was getting flicked across the room by an unimpressed Tirek.
Engineer looked across at her new, I guess colleagues. "This has been the weirdest day in my life." She felt a grumbling in her stomach "Does this place have a kitchen? I haven't eaten in a thousand years."
After exploring the caves that they were now to call home, they had located what could be described as a kitchen. It was surprisingly well stocked with a wide variety of fresh fruit and vegetables, baking supplies, and tinned food. There was no meat in stock, which didn't bother the others as they didn't eat animals, but Engineer had grown up eating meals prepared by the personal cooks of King Rex, and as such had always enjoyed an omnivores diet.
Tirek, Cozy, Chrysalis and Engineer were all sat around a table in the kitchen. They had found some food that they had found acceptable and were all digging in to their respective meals. Tirek was enjoying a plate of fired eggs with a side of baked beans, Cozy was digging in to a salad that she had prepared, Chrysalis was enjoying a large bowl of ice-cream, and Engineer was making do with a pile of sandwiches filled with some stuff from a jar called 'peanut butter'. Her meal was no grilled rabbit with salt and lemon but it was filling enough for a lunch.
Through their meal they had not said as much as a word to each other aside from a snide remark about a choice of food. Engineer decided to see if she could break the ice. "So, I get why Tirek is here, big magic centaur, Chrysalis is a powerful changeling, but I don't get Cozy Glow, what use do we have for a little filly?"
"Well Engy maybe it has to do with me almost draining all the magic from Equestria" Cozy said giving Engineer an innocent smile.
"Engy?"
"What? you cant expect me to keep calling you Engineer can you? Engy can be your nickname" Cozy seemed excited by the new nickname that she had come up with.
"I'd rather you didn't call me that." Engineer felt that she didn't need a nickname.
"Okay Engy I won't" Cozys smile started to morph into a smirk as she felt that she had gotten under Engineers skin.
"Seriously stop it" Engineer was starting to get annoyed by the little brat.
"Whats wrong Engy? Are you not enjoying your food Engy? I could give you some of mine if you'd like Engy?" Cozy was giggling, she was enjoying this opportunity to torment someone.
Engineer stood out of her chair pointing at cozy across the table "Stop calling me that you little brat, or else I'll rip your wings off!"
Chrysalis groaned at the fight at the dinner table "Can you children stop fighting? I haven't had access to Ice cream in ages, so I would like to enjoy it in peace."
"I'm not a child, bug, so don't refer to me as one" Engineer sat back down returning to her sandwich and trying to ignore Cozy making faces at her from across the table.
"How old are you exactly?" Tirek spoke through a mouthful of food.
"I don't know exactly I was found as a young child in the mountains by King Rex, so I don't have an exact number" Engineer didn't remember anything before living with the Diamond Dogs. "But I was found roughly fifteen years before I was turned to stone, so assuming I was between one and two when I was found i'm sixteen or seventeen."
Tirek scoffed, a bean flying out of his mouth, "So it's worse than you being a child, you're an angsty teenager."
"How am I angsty?" Engineer asked quite insulted.
Chrysalis Interjected "Before you answer can you please swallow your food, its disgusting to talk with your mouth full."
Tirek gulped down his food before continuing "Lets see, you're out solely for revenge without any thought to what comes after, meaning your thinking emotionally not logically, you had almost had a breakdown when you were talking to Grogar, and you are immature enough to get angry at a kid teasing you over a name of all things. So yeah, I don't know what kind of creature you are, but I know an angsty teen when I see one."
"Listen here Tirek, I don't have plans because all of them were destroyed by Celestia and Luna so first I'll destroy them and then I'll figure it out from there. And the reason I'm getting angry is because Cozy is so damned annoying" Engineer scowled at Cozy across the table which Cozy replied to by sticking her tongue out.
A loud clang was heard as Chrysalis dropped her bowl on the table, the contents of it now consumed. She let out a pleasured sigh "that was good, so Engineer what exactly did you do to earn being locked in stone?"
"Made the greatest magical weapons and armor the world had ever seen" Engineer was relieved by the change in topic, she always liked to brag about her creations.
Cozy piped up from across the table "How did you get into that?"
Engineer sat back in her chair and put her feet on the table "Well when I was young I was exploring the castle and came across the forges, I don't know why but it all just made sense to me, I annoyed the smiths to death with questions, and found myself working there. I just started creating things that astounded the other smiths, the way they did things were slow and formulaic, I experimented and mixed different materials, magic runes and enchantments. Soon I was making weapons and armor for the Kings army, my stuff was so good it earned me the name Engineer."
"Why was your stuff so good?" Cozy was sitting forward in her seat enjoying the story.
"Well part of it was creativity, as well as having hands with opposable thumbs helped" Engineer wiggled her fingers to display their dexterity. She took the last bite out of her third sandwich breaking her thousand year fast.
Cozy floated up from her seat and landed on the table "Well now that we've all eaten, I think we should all pick out our rooms and then meet back up by the glowing orb for some teamwork exercises, sound good?" She earned chorus of grunts from the rest of the group and they all filtered away from the kitchen.
Engineers was surprised by the amenities that were available, an on suite bathroom with a functioning shower, a large king sized double bed and a large wardrobe offering lots of storage. She found it odd this cave that was her new home was so well prepared. She was disappointed when her found where Grogar expected her to be working, the forge was located in a spacious room close to her new bedroom, it lacked the tools that she was used to and had a small and unimpressive stock of materials. If Grogar expected her to arm him and the rest of the gang, she would need a lot better resources than this.
She took the opportunity to shower and get a change of clothes before making her way back to the main room. The rest of the gang were there except for one. "Do any of you know where Grogar is? I need to speak to him about my new forge."
Tirek looked up at the Engineer as she descended the stairs "I haven't seen him since this morning, strange that he bring us here and then leave like that."
Cozy flew up from the ground "All right now that everyones here let's work on our teamwork exercises, everyone gather together in a circle and hold hooves or hands."
The rest of the group reluctantly gathered together and cringed as they interlocked their hands and hooves. Chrysalis growled "Now what, I don't enjoy holding hooves with a pony"
"If we are going to be working together we need to respect each other, so the way this is that we go in a circle and say something nice about each others species. I'll say something nice about, um, Engineer what is your species called?" Cozy asked innocently.
"I don't know, I never found out where I came from."
"Oh sorry, right now I'll say something nice about Engy, Engy you say something nice about centaurs, Tirek you say something nice about changelings, and Chrysalis you say something nice about ponies."
"Never!"
Before a fight could breakout they heard hoof steps coming from the entrance of the cave and saw that Grogar had returned. "Let us hope the four of you will be enough for my plans."
The gang quickly disentangled from each other, hoping that Grogar hadn't seen their little exercise.
"And what of King Sombra?"
"Did he succeed?"
Grogar approached the orb scoffing at the questions. The orb showed an image of six ponies engulfed in a glowing aura of magic, their eyes glowed as they shot a beam of magic at Sombra, they watched as Sombra was blasted and disintegrated by the blast of magic. "I'd say he gambled, and lost. But at least he can serve as a warning to those who doubt continuing with my plans, unless, any of you have doubts."
After seeing the morbid display from the orb the gang were too nervous to raise any objections,
"Uh not I!"
"Nope!"
"I'm good!"
"Love the plan!"
"Then we shall join forces and work together to bring Equestria to its knees!" As Grogar started bellowing in laughter the gang joined in nervously. As their laughs echoed through the caves, Engineer thought to herself that this was not going to end well.