The Legion of Doom woke up in the middle of a desert. Grogar and his team were surprised and blown away at the environment. There were skeletons of ponies and uncommon creatures everywhere. The sun was shining bright and high in the sky.
“Where are we?” Cozy asked.
“It seems we are in a desert...somewhere.” Grogar replied as he looked around.
“Ahhhh!!! Skeletons of dead ponies!” Cozy cried. She flew and hid behind Tirek’s beard “Why is this place so creepy?!”
“Bah! Get a grip! This place doesn’t look scary at all! Nothing can scare me that easily!” Chrysalis bragged.
“Never mind this uncouth environment! The real question is what was that creature? That...Slash he calls himself.” Sombra spoke. Grogar breathed deeply as he once again had to mention his familial rival.
“Slash is my younger brother. We were both wielders of all-powerful magic. He and I never got along while growing up.” Grogar replied, lowering his head in sadness.
“How can you two be brothers? You’re a ram, and he is a panther.” Tirek observed. Irritated, Grogar turned his head toward him.
“I can ask the same of you, Tirek! You’re a centaur, and your brother Scorpan is a gargoyle. Care to explain that?” Grogar roughly asked.
Tirek realized his mistake and backed down. Of course, he had no desire to talk of Scorpan. “Sorry, I just thought it was strange. That’s all.” he admitted.
“Very well. Forgive me, I faced a lot of backlash and lambasting because my people of the ancient times were victims of his notorious crimes...crimes greater than my own evil deeds. Since then, I didn’t ever want to speak of him to anyone. If you really want to know, he isn’t my brother by blood. I was...adopted by our mother.” Grogar explained.
“WHAT?!” the villains gasped.
“It’s true. She was a lovely creature. When she saw I was a young kid, she realized the potential I possessed. She took me under her wing and educated me on everything I needed to know, including necromancy. She taught me hundreds of thousands of ancient spells, invented my Bewitching Bell, and gave me the motivation to take over everything I saw in pre-Equestria.” he continued.
“So she taught you how to be a creator of monsters or something?” Cozy asked.
“Correct. Thanks to her teachings and motivation, I became the most ruthless, powerful, daring, and fearless Emperor she raised me to be! She had so much magic in her. Seeing the good son I was to her, she rewarded me by endowing every bit of dark magic within my bell so that I could create an innumerable army of monsters. Even to this day, I am eternally grateful.” he grinned to himself as he reflected on his childhood and memories.
The villains were impressed by his development and growth. But the thought of Slash and family members drove their curiosity and wanted to know more. As they were walking with no destination in mind, they took the opportunity to ask him. “If I may ask, what about your father? How did Slash handle your presence when you were a foal?” Chrysalis asked. Sombra, Tirek, and Cozy were equally as anxious to know.
“I never knew my father. No one ever told me of him.” Grogar nonchalantly answered. “As for Slash, he...” he paused as he started, after a full millennia, to be slightly emotional. He fought back the tears and tried to keep his serious demeanor. “He just hated me. Obviously, he was envious of my abilities and power. As you heard from him, I was my mother’s favorite child. Every time he did something wrong, she scolded him harshly. When I did something wrong, she either overlooked it or only gave me a slap on the wrist. He took it to heart.”
“So she basically spoiled you, didn’t she? That’s what it sounds like.” Sombra concluded.
“Even I can understand this since I was a mother of the changelings. I gave my children equal punishments for their wrongdoings. No more, no less.” Chrysalis concurred.
“You must have been mommy’s good little boy, huh, Grogar?” Cozy teased. All eyes then shot at her deadly glares, especially Grogar’s. Caving in to their hard stares, she backed off, “I’m just teasing! That’s all! Sorry if I offended you.”
“Don't worry about it. Anyway, Slash wanted the power to create monsters so much he had to take drastic measures to seize that power. Before my mother died by means of which I have no clue, he corrupted hundreds of artifacts with his dark magic in a vain attempt to gain the power of creativity. He even robbed my own people while blindly pursuing that goal. He robbed, maimed, and even killed to get what he lusted for.” Grogar seriously informed. The villains gasped at the mention of his evil deeds.
“Later on, he was arrested for his crimes and was sent to Tartarus.” He then turned to Tirek. “Your father, King Vorak, charged him with these crimes since Slash was trespassing on his kingdom. There were reports that he assassinated some of the officials of the kingdom, one of whom was...your uncle.” Grogar grimly said. Tirek stood in shock at what he heard.
“WHAT?! He was the one who murdered my uncle?! I always wondered what happened to him! No! No!” Tirek cried before he started to sob and bend to his knees. Cozy drew near to comfort him.
“I am sorry for your loss, Tirek. Slash was in-prisoned for five hundred years. How did he escape, I know not. How was he able to learn more spells such as opening a portal, generating electricity, and breathing fire, I do not know. So don’t ask me.” Grogar said.
“But why should we care about his crimes anyway?! Haven’t we done similar things as well when we tried to destroy Twilight and her friends?” Sombra asked with a raised eyebrow.
“He is nothing like any of you four!” Grogar retorted. “You all may have done evil in Equestria, but my brother has done much worse, even things that the young should not even hear or know! Those evils that are not worth mentioning.”
“I’m all ears! I’m a villain too, you know!” Cozy said. Grogar glared at her. Cozy then thought about it. “You know what? Never mind.”
“You might have a point, Sombra; however, this Slash is capable of doing something beyond our imagination. Anything that can end our lives. You saw his intense hatred toward us. I don’t care if he destroys those worthless ponies, but I care enough to take him out of the way! It’s too personal now. He will pay for killing my uncle.” Tirek growled, clenching his fists.
“And once we defeat him, we’ll take back Equestria and rule it for ourselves!” Chrysalis exulted.
“Yeah! Twilight Sparkle will be finished once and for all once we’ll be through with her and her stupid friends!” Cozy added, evilly grinning.
“Then there’s no time to waste! Grogar, what shall we do now?” Sombra asked.
“We must find a way out of this barren wasteland, take out Slash before he causes any environmental damage, and then conquer Equestria for ourselves!” Grogar declared. The villains cheered as they had a new objective to get them back in course.
But they were immediately interrupted at the sound of a magical explosion. It sounded so close that they looked around to see where the sound came from. Then they looked behind Grogar, “Grogar, behind you!” Cozy warned, pointing at the newcomer.
As soon as the ram looked behind him, he widened his eyes in shock. “No... it cannot be!! Is that you? GUSTY?!” he shouted.
“Long time, no see, Grogar. We meet again.” Gusty spoke in a battle stance and glaring.