//------------------------------//
// Chapter 212: Triple Trouble? 
// Story: My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic: Stallion Edition 
// by SuperPinkBrony12 
//------------------------------//

High atop the peak of Mount Everhoof rested a cave that few knew about and even fewer could ever hope to reach. Ravaged by powerful gusts of wind that made the already below freezing temperatures feel even colder and harsher to the unprepared, neither pegasus flight, earth pony endurance and stamina or even the magical capabilities of unicorns could hope to penetrate this secluded place. Which is why it had been chosen long ago to house a great treasure. It was thought by the pony who had hidden it (none other than the mighty Gusty the Great of legend) that no creature alone would ever possess the power needed to reach the summit, let alone enter the cave and retrieve that which was housed within: The bewitching bell of Grogar!

And that assumption had proven true, no creature alone could make it to the top. But what Gusty couldn't have anticipated (and neither could anypony else for that matter) was that a team of evil creatures would seek out the bell resting at the peak. And by working together they had managed to slip past all the defenses and retrieve the bell. This team was a trio of villains who were calling themselves the Legion of Doom: Queen Chrysalis, Lord Tirek, and the Storm King.

With the bell now firmly in their possession, the trio of evil smirked and gloated with triumph. "That actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be," The Storm King commented as he held up the bell. It was rusted and worn but it seemed to still emit a faint glow to indicate it had retained its magical properties. "So this is the bell Grogar wanted us to retrieve? Hardly seems worth expending all that effort for something so unsightly."

Tirek growled. "You barely did anything! I had to do all the heavy lifting! Though I must admit you were more of a help than I thought you'd be," He spoke, having a newfound appreciation for the creature. "Unlike Sombra, I can see why you earned your title of king."

The Storm King seemed to blush. "I can't tell if you're being sincere or if you're just trying to flatter me. But either way I like it. It's nice to know a mad genius is appreciated."

But all of a sudden, an exhausted Chrysalis bellowed out! "No! Betrayal!" The eyes of her fellow villains soon turned to her as she explained. "I can see what's happening, and I don't like it! Tell me you two don't recognize that tingly feeling deep down inside. I know you do, don't lie to me!"

Tirek and the Storm King both shifted and seemed to squirm. "I... thought it was just the adrenaline high." Tirek confessed.

Chrysalis snarled. "You fools! Don't you see? It's friendship! It's beginning to take root in you both, and I won't allow it! I saw how friendship corrupted my hive, turned my subjects against me. I'd sooner be thrown back into Tartarus than see it happen to creatures who should know better."

"You mean, I might end up like my foolish traitor of a brother?!" Tirek realized as he let out a gasp! "Just the thought of it makes me sick!"

And the Storm King sarcastically declared. "Oh goodie, mushy pony stuff. Just what I always wanted."

The former queen formed a toothy smile. "You see? If we continue to work together like this, pretty soon we'll be friends. And then what?! We'll have no reason to oppose those pathetic ponies. In fact, they would accept us into their ranks as 'allies'."

"No! Not in a million years!" The Storm King protested! "I will never reduce myself to working with those inferior equines!"

But Tirek squirmed. "But what are we supposed to do? Grogar ordered us to work together so we could retrieve the bell and stop pestering him all day. Are we to tell him our mission was a failure because of this?" He took the bell from the Storm King. "I mean, we did accomplish what we set out to do."

Using her magic, Chrysalis took possession of the bell. She eyed it, take notice of the faint cracks caused by the decades, no centuries worth of abandonment. Yet it still glowed and shimmered. An idea embedded itself into the crafty changeling as she began to scheme. "I don't trust that old goat. He knows more than he lets on. Think about it. He was able to bring us all together, and possessed the power to bring King Sombra back from the grave. Yet the moment Sombra proved to be unreliable, Grogar refused to step in and save him. Instead using Sombra's demise to force us into obeying him. Who's to say we won't all meet the same fate if we inevitably continue to listen to him?"

"So are you proposing we lie?" Tirek asked the changeling.

Chrysalis nodded. "Exactly. Let him think we're still his loyal servants who live only to obey him. Let him think we couldn't succeed in retrieving that which he most desires. Meanwhile, we'll secretly work on our plan. And when he's lowered his guard and the time is right, we'll betray him. Then we'll each be free to pursue our own goals. I for one wish to regain control of my hive and put that no good traitor Thorax in his place! And I suspect each of you have your own goals and would care nothing if my personal vendetta."

The Storm King willingly admitted. "Honestly, I just want my army back. Can't do much of anything when I'm an army of one," And then grinning from ear to ear he declared. "And I do so enjoy a good backstabbing, especially when I'm the one doing it."

Tirek then spoke up. "I'm guessing that the inevitable betrayal calls for using Grogar's bell against him. But how will we hide it from him without him noticing until we're ready to use it?"

"Leave that to me," The former queen smirked with a sadistic grin. "As a changeling, hiding is my specialty. I know how to hide right under the noses of others. Grogar won't suspect a thing."

"And once that old goat is out of the picture, Equestria is ours to do as we please with!" Tirek declared! And then he, Chrysalis, and the Storm King all jointly laughed together.





At the School of Friendship it was the middle of the night, but Ocellus jolted awake with fright! Her eyes fluttered open and she soon sat up in bed, shaking and sweating! It took her but a moment to recognize her surroundings and realize what had happened. "It was... it was just a dream," She said to herself while panting. "But... it felt so real."

The very next day, the troubled changeling was first in line to see Counselor Starlight when the mare had opened her office. She was glad that Counselor Starlight was still around for right now. There was talk of her being groomed as a possible vice headmare or even just a consultant once Prince Shining Armor took the throne in a few months (if all went well).

Starlight took the news of Ocellus' dream/nightmare quite well. She was quite used to this sort of thing by now. "Wow! That must've been quite a dream, Ocellus. You say that you've been having these sort of things before?"

Ocellus nodded ever so slowly. "Y-yeah, Counselor Starlight. And every time it's always with me in the perspective of Chrysalis," She then confessed. "I... think it might be some kind of mental link to her. I thought I'd dispelled it long ago thanks to my friends. But now that these dreams are happening, I fear it might have returned. That it might be trying to tell me something, intentionally or unintentionally. And I don't know who I can trust about what I think I know."

"Well, you can trust me, Ocellus," Starlight sincerely vowed. "This information could be important considering you and your friends mentioned coming back here because of a dream," And she added. "I'm not exactly a dream expert like Princess Luna, but I have read that dreams can sometimes be our fist warning sign. If you dreams involve Chrysalis, they could be trying to warn us about something she's doing."

"But... she's in Tartarus, isn't she?" Ocellus inquired.

At that, Starlight gulped and confessed. "You didn't hear this from me, and I'm going to insist you keep mum about this, but a security sweep of Tartarus was conducted not too long ago. It was discovered that both Queen Chrysalis and Tirek had disappeared without a trace. We don't know where they are or how they were taken. But they're out there, still at large. The only reason ponies don't know is because the princesses insisted against it. They don't want a panic on their hooves during this time of transition."

The young changeling gulped and swallowed hard. "Then... what can we do?!"

Starlight looked around. "Well, I could pass word along to Shining Armor and see what he thinks. He's still Captain of the Royal Guard for the time being, so security detail is still within his jurisdiction," To reassure the frightened Ocellus, she added. "If it makes you feel any better, I won't mention your name to him. Although I don't think he'd do anything to you even if he knew about this... link of yours. Even at his worst I don't think he'd harm a child without reason."





So it was that Starlight passed on word indirectly about Ocellus' vision to Shining Armor, taking care to omit the exact nature of how this possible warning might have come to her.

The news that Chrysalis might have surfaced at last was equal parts relieving and concerning for the prince. But in order to verify this (least he raise the risk of false alarm), he had to fly out to the only trace of civilization anywhere near the alleged sighting: A small outpost a ways from the summit of Mount Everhoof. An outpost that housed only one pony: An elderly earth pony stallion named Rusty Bucket.

Rusty Bucket served as "Guardian of the Mountain", meaning it was his job to maintain the outpost and serve as an early warning system for any dangers to Equestria. And also to aid any travelers that might seek to pass through the dangerous mountain (it was forbidden for anyone to travel to the summit, the weather conditions alone made it impossible). He sported a rusty red coat, a dark white mane and tail with white streaks similar to the snow around him, and amber eyes that looked dim but not completely void of sight.

Inside the small wooden hut that served as the outpost, Rusty Bucket talked over a crackling fire about a mysterious visitor who had passed by just a few days earlier. "She was a pegasus filly. She said her name was Cozy Glow. And I remember she had a pinkish gray coat, moderate scarlet eyes, a curly mane and tail a pale, light grayish arctic blue and light arctic bluish gray in color, and a cutie mark depicting a rook." He confessed.

Shining Armor nearly gasped in surprise! "But that's impossible! The real Cozy Glow died a long time ago!" The memory of Cozy's demise was still fresh and vivid in his mind. He could remember cradling her body in his hooves before she had faded away, as if though she had never existed in the first place. And he knew now that her spirit had departed to the afterlife. So barring an unlikely resurrection there was no way for the filly to have returned to life.

"So I wasn't imagining things when I felt there was somethin' off about her," Rusty Bucket realized. "The strangest thing is, not long after she first came through here and tried to befriend me, she came back. And the next thing I knew, I got blindsided by someone and knocked out cold. I thought I heard something about getting to the top of Mount Everhoof, but there's no way that would've been possible. No one's been to the summit and lived to tell the tale."

"Until now!" Shining realized but decided against saying it out loud. After all, he had only a vision he had learned of from somepony else. And as much as he believed that such a "dream" wouldn't happen for no reason he also knew that it alone wouldn't justify a rapid response. Still, he made a mental note to bring this up with Princess Luna (and Princess Celestia for that matter) the next time he was called in for royal training.

Yet even the young alicorn and heir to the throne couldn't have known or suspected what was going on with Chrysalis. He couldn't have known about her "alliance" with the other villains to bide their time until they could grow strong enough to overthrow Grogar.

But Grogar himself was aware. He had seen all these developments through his crystal ball, though he had feigned ignorance when his Legion of Doom reported back to him. "If they think they can outsmart, they'd better think again," He thought to himself. "Because when all is said and done, I alone will be the one to come out on top. Those foolish enough to get in my way will either bow to me, or be destroyed!"