Starlight and Luna immediately cornered Sanies and were ready to attack. Sanies just chuckled.
"Luna," Sanies said with false courtesy, "How is retirement?"
"What are you doing here? The Elements should have banished you for good."
"I expected the Elements to send me to oblivion as well, but it appears that Fate had other plans for me." Sanies tore a hole through the nothingness to show what appeared to be a rock hidden away in the mercenary's trousers as the mercenary was busy chopping ponies into itty-bitty pieces. "Speaking of which, I'm also surprised this one is still alive even though I distinctly remember incinerating him centuries ago. Guess I'm not the only one that's very difficult to kill."
Luna conjured up a spear and pointed it at Sanies, which resulted in Sanies chuckling.
"Do not worry, princess. I didn't come here to fight. I thought we could come to an alliance."
"And why should we trust a remorseless monster such as yourself?" Luna said.
"You have someone named 'Discord' for an ally. I think trusting someone who tried to destroy the world and remake it in his own image doesn't sound that far-fetched in comparison to having the Lord of Chaos for a friend. Speaking of which, I'm surprised you didn't bring him on board with you. He would have easily solved your problem with a mere finger snap."
Luna immediately put away her spear and her and Starlight reverted to a normal standing position.
"Continue," Luna said.
"Since you all are on a quest to take down Kronos, I figured I could be of service to you. Especially considering how my master told me everything about Kronos' plan."
Sanies woke up to his master grinning down at him. Amusingly for his master, this was one of those rare times he had seen Sanies spooked.
"Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty!" Sacanas said in an energetic tone.
Sanies then looked down and noticed he had changeling hooves in place of his claws.
I have so many questions on my mind right now, Sanies thought to himself.
"I know," Sacanas said with his horns glowing, indicating that he was reading Sanies' mind when he thought that comment, "But I'm betting the top one is 'What the Tartarus is he doing here? I could have sworn I have killed him'!"
"You got me."
"Well, there's this time-travelling unicorn named Kronos. He is what one would refer to as a Time-Turner and he wants to collect the seven Seals of the Planets for their unlimited power, as any good villain would do, so he went back in time and saved me from that exact moment where you killed me. He said he needed a diversion so the princesses and their forces don't meddle in his plans so he brought me here with some alien invaders to try and take over the world. But of course, not everypony is going to be fighting the aliens so we are going to take care of any independent factors by luring them into a maze and trapping them in a fantasy land that you will provide!"
"And why should I help you and this Kronos you speak of?" Sanies asked.
"Because he has offered us some of that power in return."
"You do know he will betray us, right? At least, that's what I would do."
"That's exactly what I'd do as well. But the thing is, along with those Seals, there is also the Fish of Knowledge that would grant you a fraction of what power the seals have. For if knowledge is power, then an alicorn...am.."
Sacanas then said "IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!" in a low gravelly voice before inhaling through his nose.
"Was that over the top? I can never tell! Anyways, you stay right here and get acquainted with your new changeling form while I go and get my staff back. While I could easily suck the magic out of everyone in Equestria, I thought I might save it for Celestia."
Sanies took Sacanas' advice and looked for something shiny to use as a mirror. He noticed that not only did the changeling body he was inhabiting have a striking resemblance to an alicorn, but it also had what appeared to be a literal piece of him dangling from its neck.
"Well, that explains it."
In the present, Sanies was explaining to Luna and Starlight how he was still here despite the Elements defeating him the last time he and Luna had met.
"While the Elements have expunged me from your form, it appears a part of my consciousness was still in that bit of rock wrapped around Chrysalis' neck. However, they have weakened me to the point that I could only influence her at best. Clearly, she did not take kindly to having a voice in her head commanding her so she took off that part of me and threw me at the mercenary, though not by intention." Sanies said before letting out a little chuckle "A pity really since, if I had known Grogar would have returned and recruited Chrysalis to his little party, I would have liked to have stuck around. Anyway, for reasons unknown, the mercenary decided to pick me up and place me in one of his pockets. And so here we are."
"I'm very certain Captain Goodking ejected the mercenary into space," Luna pointed out.
"I believe the rock must have fell out of his pocket at some point while he was on this ship. Either that or I simply, for lack of better words, 'jumped ship' and latched myself on to Starlight. So, which of you fine ladies want to help me take care of Kronos?"
"I admit, I'm not familiar with these Seals of the Planets that you speak of. But if Kronos was offering your master a share of the power, why do you intend on betraying him?" Luna asked.
"Personally, I don't think our goals would align. Also, despite me betraying my master and the one formerly known as Storm King, I have never been betrayed before so I do not intend on getting betrayed now."
Sanies walked closer to Luna. Luna still clearly didn't trust Sanies and neither did Starlight, but if he was apparently willing to help them, they'll have to take that chance.
"Since I don't have much of a corporeal form anymore, and I have mentioned that the Elements have weakened me, I'm going to need someone to act as a time-share, for lack of better words."
"We allow you to control us? You're out of your mind."
"First of all, I only need one of you. And second, it's only for temporary moments in time."
Sanies moved towards Starlight while grabbing her face and slightly stroking it.
"While I would have taken her, something tells me that, regarding her affinity for mind-control magic, none of you would be permitting that. Honestly, looking inside her head, I'm surprised Sombra managed to control her so easily. Then again, he taught Sacanas everything he knew and Sacanas passed it on to me."
Sanies moved back towards Luna.
"But you are an all-powerful alicorn. Well, almost all-powerful. You're not your sister, after all." Sanies chuckled at that last statement, knowing that if it weren't for Celestia tapping into her dark side all those years ago, he could have easily won that fight. Fragmented memories from Chrysalis' mind popped into his head, showing her and her changeling forces capturing the princess. He wondered if the reason why a mere bug managed to best Celestia is because she was holding back.
What pathetic weakness, Sanies thought to himself.
Sanies flew backwards and then sat down to give the two ponies some time to think. To him, it doesn't matter which one would allow him to enter her head because they both have their own unique benefits, which Sanies had gladly pointed out to the both of them.
"So," Sanies said, clasping his front claws together, "Who's it going to be?"