…
Previously on "My Little Pony"
…
Hopper: Your softness and compassion will be your demise. How else do you think Celestia and Luna prepared you to take their place, huh? Did they ever tell you that sometimes lives must be sacrificed in order for something to pass? It's unfortunate, but that's life.
Twilight Sparkle: You're not dealing with one supreme ruler here! You're dealing with six worthy co-rulers, myself included.
Hopper: Unless you want to see this young changeling fall, you'll give us Chrysalis, now!
Starswirl: Admit it, fiend. You've lost! We must leave no evidence of the Dark Fortress behind, it cannot be allowed to continue to exist.
Grogar: THEY KILLED HIM! THAT'S WHAT THE PILLARS DID! THEY TOOK MY PRISONERS AND KILLED GRIMLORD!
Hopper: Pony! What did you do?!
Twilight Sparkle: Please, let Spike go! My little brother is innocent!
Celestia: LET THEM GO! OR IT'LL BE YOUR WINGS THAT GET PLUCKED!
Starswirl: You stay here and be there for Twilight. She'll need to recover from this. We'll handle the situation in the Changeling Hive.
Celestia: Starswirl, please be careful.
…
…
With the emotionally unstable Twilight in her hooves, Celestia flew as fast as she could to Canterlot Hospital. The more Twilight cried, the more dire the situation seemed. Upon arrival at the hospital, Twilight was immediately admitted.
Celestia, Luna, their parents and Twilight's friends were left waiting outside Gentle Gust and Gentle Breeze's office.
"Come on, come on," Rainbow Dash muttered, pacing back and forth in the waiting room while looking up at the clock. "She's been in there for quite a while. How long is this going to take?"
"We have to be patient, Rainbow," Applejack sighed, placing a hoof around Rainbow Dash's shoulder. "Twilight got really shaken up back there, and both Gentle Gust and Gentle Breeze need to assess her condition."
Those words did little to help Rainbow Dash or any of the other ponies in the room feel any better.
But I understand how we all feel right now," Applejack went on. "I mean, that was dirty what that bug did…prayin' on Twilight's emotions like that…threatenin' to pull off not just her wings but…"
"I'm wondering how Chrysalis was freed from her prison," Pinkie Pie spoke up, interrupting Applejack. "I mean, it's like she just got up and walked away all by herself. Isn't stone not supposed to move?"
"Something must have happened while we weren't looking," Rarity guessed. "A beastly beast must have freed that trio of terror, giving them life again. You don't think it was Discord again, do you? Because if it is I'll…"
But at that moment, the door opened and out stepped Gentle Gust, sighing deeply and removing his glasses. Concerned and troubled by this, both Celestia and Luna rose to their hooves.
"How is she?" Celestia asked in a concerned tone while walking over to the elderly pony.
"Honestly…" Gentle Gust sighed as he wiped down his glasses. "I don't think in all our years of being therapists, we've ever seen anything like this."
"Of course you haven't!," Fluttershy protested in an assertive tone while flying over to Gentle Gust. "They tried to pick her wings off as well as Spike's wings! They were truly without hearts to threaten such things!"
All Gentle Gust could do was sigh in sadness and solidarity for his royal patient.
"Well, the good news is we've managed to start getting a picture on what's happening here," He spoke up. "These changelings you speak of…who were they and why were they rogue?"
"From what I was able to find out, it seems they were changelings fiercely loyal to Queen Chrysalis," Celestia explained while solemnly looking back at Twilight's friends. "It seems that after Chrysalis was overthrown, they escaped and vowed to do whatever it took to restore her to the throne. And that meant taking hostages and resorting to actions that even Chrysalis might have balked at."
Sighing deeply once again, Gentle Gust brought Celestia into his office and she saw Twilight lying on her back on the sofa with Gentle Breeze holding her left hoof.
"Twilight's calmed down a little," Gentle Breeze spoke up while looking up at Celestia. "I've…already sent for a phlebotomist to come up for a blood sample to check for nerve agents in her bloodstream. These attacks have been occurring with alarming frequency, which is deeply troubling."
Concerned, Celestia walked over to Twilight who weakly looked over at her mentor with tear stained eyes. "How…could this happen to me, Celestia?" Twilight whispered and whimpered. "It just…happened so suddenly. Hopper threatening to pull off my wings and then…" She trailed off, unable to bring herself to complete the sentence.
"Shh, you don't have to explain it all to me, Twilight," Celestia whispered back, stroking her protégé's mane. "We all know what they tried to do."
Like a good princess, Twilight had more important matters to focus on. "How's…Ocellus?"
"She's fine," Celestia answered. "Luna placed her in Starlight's care until this is all resolved. She's also notified your parents that you're here, in the hospital, recovering. And Starswirl and the Pillars are going to stop the rest of the rogues."
Twilight was relieved to hear such news. So much was going through her mind, and as the phlebotomist pony walked in with a butterfly needle, Twilight was asking herself two questions: How could Chrysalis have escaped when she was encased in stone? And how could I let the pressure get to me? My friends were with me.
"You're going to feel a small pinch, Princess Twilight. I need you to hold still, please." The phlebotomist gently spoke up as Twilight felt the needle go into her right front foreleg.
…
Meanwhile, Starswirl and the Pillars stood on the outskirts of the Changeling Hive, trying to figure out a way to get inside and stop the rogue Changelings.
"From what we understand, my friends," Starswirl declared as he looked through his telescope, using a locator spell to allow him to see what was going on. "The reformed changelings are being held in the throne room. There's a…dopey looking changeling seemingly in charge."
"How many hostages are in there?" Somnambula asked Starswirl.
"Possibly between fifty and one hundred," Starswirl answered as he lowered the telescope. "Thorax and his brother Pharynx are among the hostages. It seems that the dopey changeling isn't too much of a threat. He should prove easy enough to take down."
"Leave him to me, Starswirl," Rockhoof declared, brandishing his shovel. "That laddie won't stand a chance against me and my shovel! I'll make short work of him, I guarantee it!"
"Except if we attack him now he could easily call for backup," Mage Meadowbrook cautioned. "What we need to do is to try and get him and the rogues either out in the open or weakened. I used up all of that poison on the Dark Fortress. And I ain't about to just whip up more!"
"We don't need the poison, Meadowbrook," Starswirl remarked. "I have a transformation spell that should help us all get inside the hive undetected. Be forewarned though, I haven't used this since before we left for limbo. So who wishes to go first? There is a chance it could backfire."
It took a moment before Somnambula bravely stepped forward. "I'll go, Starswirl. I have hope you won't let us down."
Activating his horn, Starswirl chanted in old ponish as magic from his horn enveloped Somnambula. Unfortunately, the bright light of the magic was powerful enough to be seen from the hive.
"Hey, what's that, Molt?"A rogue changeling, beckoning Molt to get off of Thorax's throne and investigate.
But just as Molt approached the edge of the hive, the bright light disappeared as mysteriously as it had arrived.
"Ah, it's probably nothing," Molt replied, brushing it all off. "Relax, Hopper and the others will be back soon enough. And anyone in their right mind would be foolish to try and engage us now."
"It must have been a spell," Pharynx whispered to Thorax, having seen the light from afar. "Do you think it could be Princess Twilight and her friends, here to rescue us?"
"I hope so," Thorax nervously replied. "I really hope so, for all our sakes."
Back at the edge, Somnambula had been transformed into one of the rogue changelings, much to Starswirl's delight.
"Hmm, not bad," Somanmbula remarked, looking at her temporary form. "Do you think it'll be enough for the rescue operation, Starswirl?"
"It should be," Starswirl nodded and he turned to the other pillars. "Mistmane, you, Flash and I will also disguise ourselves as the rogues. The most important thing is for them to believe that their comrades have returned."
Nodding in reply, Mistmane and Flash prepared themselves for Starswirl to cast the transformation spell on them. The light from the spell was bright enough to be seen from afar again, even as Thorax.
"It's definitely them," Thorax whispered to his fellow hostages. "Twilight and her friends are coming for us!" Hearing this from their leader gave the captives hope for their freedom. Little did they know that their rescuers would be far different from what they were made out to be.
…
…
Meanwhile, Twilight's blood sample was collected and the Supreme Princess of Equestria was once again resting comfortably.
"Twilight?" Spike asked as he peered into the room from behind the door. Turning to the elderly doctors he asked. "Can we…can we see her?"
"Of course. She should have recovered enough by now." Gentle Gust nodded as Spike and the rest of Twilight's friends came into the office.
Weakly turning her head, Twilight smiled as she saw her friends gathered around her. "Hey everypony, are you...doing okay?" She weakly whispered.
"We're much better now that we know you're alright!" Pinkie Pie declared and hugged Twilight tightly, only to pull back when she pressed on the bandaged wound from the blood sample. "Oopsie! Sorry about that."
"It's okay," Twilight sighed. "I could use a hug from you right about now. But…to tell you the truth, I don't know what happened to me. All of a sudden I just collapsed. Hopper threatening to pull off my wings as well as yours, Spike. Do you…do you think this is part of my…PTSD, Gentle Gust?"
Without any hesitation, both therapists nodded their heads up and down, confirming Twilight's fear.
"It was indeed your PTSD, Twilight," Gentle Breeze confirmed. "Through your sobs, both of us can confirm that your Post Traumatic Stress Disorder did kick in. It's just how your mentality reacted to the threats this Hopper made upon you. His threats dug up memories you'd long tried to bury."
Right then and there, Twilight began to feel more and more dismayed with herself. "Then…how can I prevent this from happening again? If I'm to be a ruler in capacity, I can't break down in a time of crisis."
"Remember, that there is no cure for PTSD, Twilight, only treatment," Gentle Gust advised. "We can help you learn strategies to keep it at bay and under control should it resurface, but we can't cure it. There are things that even magic and science can't do."
"Then what part of being a princess should I not do if there's something that's going to affect my mental health?" Twilight cried. "Should I confront the enemy head on like I did just recently? My fires and I, we confronted each threat head on and survived each time."
"Yes, that's true," Celestia remarked. "You have all done well with each danger that was thrown at you. But the enemies you are fighting are more dangerous than anything Luna and I have ever faced…especially now that Grogar has returned."
"What?! Grogar?!" Twilight gasped in dismay! "But it can't be! I…I thought he was just a legend! There...there's even a book written about him….Gusty the Great was the main character. And then Discord pretended to be him that one time. He can't be real!"
"But he is real!" A voice spoke up, revealing to be Cosmo as he and Galaxia stepped into the office. "Just like us. It's because of him that we went missing and our subjects feared the worst. If not for the bravery of Starswirl and the pillars, we wouldn't have been able to escape to tell you this."
A series of gasps befell the six princesses upon seeing the long absent king and queen of Equestria before them in all their glory!
…
Back at the Changeling Hive, the disguised Starswirl and four of his fellow pillars flew towards the hive, much to the delight of the other rogues who seemed to suspect nothing.
"Hopper!" Molt gasped, hastily coming towards what he assumed was his leader. "You're back! Has Princess Twilight agreed to free our queen?"
"She has," Starswirl spoke up, talking in Hopper's voice thanks to the illusion. "I threatened to take off the wings of the young changeling and her dragon assistant, and she complied in a heartbeat."
Naturally, Ocellus' parents were horrified to hear this. "You dare threaten my daughter?!" Her father retorted, rising to his feet. "I swear that if you laid even one hoof upon her, I'll…"
"Relax. She's unharmed, at least for now," The disguised Starswirl spoke up, glaring at the light blue colored changeling. "Perhaps when our queen is returned to the throne, she'll spare the young one's life. Of course, I can't say the same about yours. Those who betray the rightful ruler of the hive face only one outcome!"
"So, what do we do now, Hopper?" Molt asked.
"Our queen is on her way as we speak," The disguised Starswirl replied. "Rejoice, my brother and sister changelings! At very long last, our most beloved sovereign will be coming home to us again, soon to reclaim the throne that is rightfully hers!"
The rogues cheered wildly, the hostages did not. Little did they know that Rockhoof and Mage Meadowbrook had taken up positions at the south ends of the hive, ready to assist in the evacuation of the hostages.
However, as they rejoiced, Molt couldn't help but notice that the other rogues weren't cheering. "Hey, uh, Manderbill?"
Molt asked, flying over to the other rogues. "How come you're not cheering? Aren't you guys excited for our queen's return?"
Not wanting their cover to be blown, the disguised pillars tried to find words to answer Molt. "Yeah, yeah," The disguised Flash Magnus hastily answered while smiling nervously at Molt. "Of course, we are. It's just a lot of work needed to be done to make this happen, right?"
Molt had his suspicions.
"Odd," He remarked. "What, did you guys feed on too much love or something?" Then he turned towards the changeling that he thought was his brother. "Uh, Hopper?" He asked, causing the other rogues to stop cheering. "You seem to be... not yourself."
"W-what do you mean?! W-why do you ask?!" The disguised Starswirl stepped back, trying not to have his cover blown.
"I don't know," Molt commented. "For some reason, you sound rather forced in your excitement. I can detect it."
At that moment, Starswirl realized his cover was about to be blown and he needed to do something fast!
"Tell me the truth, Hopper…if it's really you," Molt asked again, but the disguised Starswirl didn't answer. "Okay then, how about I do this?!" Opening his mouth, Molt began to absorb whatever love was inside of Starswirl's disguise!
Realizing that he had no other choice, Starswirl fired a blast of magic from his disguised horn and sent Molt flying into a wall! Dropping his disguise, Starswirl turned to face the hostages.
"Follow me, quickly!" He shouted to them. "We're going to get you out of here!"
"Rogues, don't let them get away!" Molt shouted to the other rogues, but the other pillars dropped their disguises as well while Starswirl led the hostages out of the throne room.
Snarling, Molt turned his attention to Starswirl and flew right towards him! But Mistmane, Somnambula and Flash were expecting this and quickly subdued Molt. The rest of the rogues tried to help, but Mistmane fired a freezing spell that froze the rogues right in their tracks.
"Where's my brother?!" Molt demanded of the wizard.
"He's in Canterlot," Flash Magnus retorted with a snarl. "Which is where scum like you are going…now get up!"
With the changelings being led to safety, Starswirl and the remaining pillars gathered the rogues together. Casting a teleportation spell, they teleported them to Canterlot and into the dungeons where they would be dealt with later.
"Is every changeling safe?" Starswirl asked, much to the shock of Thorax and Pharynx.
"Who are you?" Thorax asked Starswirl. "I've never seen you before."
"I am Starswirl the Bearded, leader of the pillars of old," Starswirl answered, much to Thorax and Pharynx's bewilderment. "You and your subjects should be safe now."
"Thanks, but…where… where are Twilight and her friends?" Thorax inquired. "Shouldn't they have been here to deal with this?"
Gathering all of the pillars together, Starswirl answered Thorax's question.
"She's…had a personal crisis." Starswirl informed Thorax, trying to not upset him the wrong way.
…
Back at the hospital, Twilight and her friends looked up at the two rulers of Equestria that recently returned from their mysterious disappearance.
"King Cosmo?! Queen Galaxia?!" Twilight spoke up. "Impossible! You disappeared without a trace over a thousand years ago! You said so yourself, Celestia!"
"That's because Grogar kept switching us back and forth with a villain called Grimlord," Cosmo explained. "He wanted to make it difficult for anyone to find us and he succeeded…until now that is."
"Thanks to Starswirl and the pillars as well as our children, we were freed from our prisons and Grimlord is dead!" Galaxia firmly added.
Looking intently at them, Twilight and her friends realized that there was more to this story than met the eye.
"But what about Grogar?" Applejack asked. "What makes you think he's real and not some kind of silly little story? I
remember Apple Bloom had to read his story in school once."
"Yeah, but then again, A.K. Yearling is Daring Do and we all thought that Daring Do was a fictional character," Rainbow Dash remarked, before realizing her mistake. "Oops! I mean…"
Cosmo and Galaxia just snickered and grinned.
"Wasn't that hard to figure out. The two were remarkably similar," Galaxia explained. "We were able to keep an eye on everything you and your friends did for the land in our absence, Princess Twilight. And you have our sincerest thanks for it."
Just then, Twilight's parents came into the office and dashed to their daughter's side!
"Oh my precious baby!" Twilight Velvet cried, hugging Twilight tightly. "We came as soon as we heard the news."
"I'm…fine now, Mom," Twilight sighed as Velvet stepped back. "It was scary, my third attack in who knows how long."
"How are you, sweet pea?" Night Light asked, also hugging his daughter.
"Watch my foreleg, Dad," Twilight groaned, the pain in her foreleg still fresh. "I had blood drawn from there."
"Oops. Sorry, honey." Night Light blushed and stepped back.
"Mom, Dad," Twilight spoke up once the pain subsided, directing them to the former king and queen of Equestria. "This is King Cosmo and Queen Galaxia, Celestia and Luna's parents."
Suddenly, both Twilight Velvet and Night Light gasped loudly and immediately bowed down!
"The king and queen?! In the fur?!" Night Light cried out, filled with dread and admiration "Twilight, you didn't tell me that you personally knew the former king and queen of Equestria."
"I didn't," Twilight replied. "I just only met them. Believe me, it may seem like it's so fast, but…"
At that moment, the phlebotomist pony returned to the office, beckoning Gentle Gust and Gentle Breeze to come to the door and proceeded to hand them a scroll containing Twilight's blood test results.
"We have your blood test results, Princess Twilight." Gentle Gust spoke up, clearing his throat while looking at the results.
"Really? That was fast!" Pinkie Pie remarked!
"What are they?" Twilight Velvet asked as Gentle Gust took the scroll and sat down at his desk, reading them over. "Tell us, what are they?!"
"Well…" Gentle Gust spoke up. "It appears that…"
"That what?" Celestia asked in a concerned voice.
"Twilight, we…found nerve agents in your bloodstream that are behind your latest breakdown." Gentle Breeze informed everyone.
The entire room fell deathly quiet upon hearing those words.
…
…
"Nerve agents?!" Twilight Velvet cried out once the shock had worn off! She pulled Twilight close with her magic and embraced her daughter tightly (though mindful of the wound from the earlier blood draw). "In my daughter's bloodstream? Are you sure?"
"We're very positive, Mrs. Sparkle," Gentle Breeze replied. "Supposedly, the nerve agents were activated not just from your recent breakdown, Twilight, but from the one before that."
A look of worry befell upon Twilight's face upon hearing what was said.
"You mean…from when Shining Armor lashed out at an old bully at Flurry Heart's birthday party?" Night Light asked. "Then how come they weren't activated when Twilight had this happen before her coronation?"
Realizing that they were not in the right place, Cosmo and Galaxia stepped out of the office to give Twilight and her family and friends the privacy they needed.
"Because the case was low despite the circumstances, the nerve agents weren't necessary when Twilight was already under enough stress as it was," Gentle Gust explained. "Apparently, it had to take this most recent encounter with the rogue changelings to make those long buried agents come to life."
"Then whatever shall we do?!" Rarity asked in a worried voice. "Is Twilight going to have to abdicate the throne? Demote herself?"
"No!" Twilight fiercely protested. "I won't step down from the throne! But this might mean something."
"What kind of something?" Fluttershy asked.
"That we can't just go into danger alone like we used to do," Twilight guessed, sighing deeply as she laid back down on the sofa. "Especially on the level that Hopper and the rogue changelings were on. If your parents say that Grogar is real, Celestia…then we're going to need help."
Celestia wanted to try and help her most faithful student, but didn't know how to address this statement.
…
At the same time, from up on the moon, Chrysalis was taking a break from training Grogar's donkey soldiers when she noticed Grogar at his crystal ball with the other members of the Legion of Doom gathered around.
"Where have you been, Chrissy?" The Storm King snarled, motioning for Chrysalis to come forward. "We were just watching some free stuff. Boy are you missing out!"
"Then why didn't you tell me about this sooner?!" Chrysalis demanded!
"You were too busy teaching those donkeys," Cozy Glow remarked in an unconcerned tone. "Teaching them how to fight when the time comes."
"Whatever," Chrysalis muttered as she joined Grogar and the others. "What is it you're watching?"
"It appears," Grogar replied. "That a group of your former subjects took an entire race hostage to secure your release. It was... quite amusing to say the least."
Grogar then proceeded to show Chrysalis her loyalists taking command of the Changeling Hive and attacking Twilight and the others in Canterlot Castle.
"Hopper and Molt!" Chrysalis remarked, much to the legion's surprise. "I should have known they would do something like this. In their minds, they think I'm still frozen," Chrysalis then produced a sinister smile when she had a further realization. "Which goes to show that there are those subjects of mine…who still love me for who and what I am."
But Tirek wasn't smiling like Chrysalis was. For he looked down at the crystal ball and saw King Vorak and Scorpan standing at the statue.
"Father, do you think that maybe Tirek may no longer be inside the statue?" Scorpan asked. "If Queen Chrysalis isn't in there…"
"Whoever took him will suffer the full penalty of the law!" King Vorak angrily interrupted. "And once Tirek is found, the one who aided in his escape shall join Sendak in the work camps! Speaking of Sedak…"
Before anything more could be said or seen, Grogar deactivated the crystal ball.
"My father is a worthless creature," Tirek sighed. "As is my brother. Nothing would satisfy me more than to see them both bow down to me after all the humiliation and betrayal they put me through! They deserve no less."
"And with patience, Tirek, that will come to pass," Grogar remarked, walking towards his balcony. "However, now that Grimlord is dead, we are on our own if we hope to take back Equestria for ourselves."
"Personally, I think we should find someone else willing to help us out, Grogar," Cozy Glow suggested, flying over to the goat. "There must be a creature who wants to conquer Equestria as much as you do. Grimlord can't be the only other one besides our little group, right?"
Suddenly, at that moment all saw what appeared to be something flying towards them at a high level of speed!
"Incoming!" The Storm King screamed in fright! He jumped into the air and ducked behind Grogar's throne for safety!
But the incoming object instead went sharply down and landed on the moon with a loud, shattering rumble!
"What was that?!" Lavan cried, trying to be careful not to fall over and cause the castle to burn to the ground.
Rushing to his telescope, Grogar looked to find the source of the object! After a few moments he discovered the smoldering wreckage of something in front of the castle. "Sombra!" He bellowed, getting his second-in-command's attention. "You, Tirek and the Storm King go investigate the object and bring it to me. Understood?"
"Yes, my emperor!" Sombra replied. "Tirek! Storm King! Follow me!"
With three of his legion going to inspect the object, Grogar and the others could only wonder what was in the cards for them now that Grimlord was dead.
…
Meanwhile, Twilight was discharged from the hospital and brought back to her castle in Ponyville. Hearing the news that there were nerve agents in her bloodstream left Twilight and her close relations to wonder what was next to come.
"Twilight?" Spike asked as Twilight sat in her study, trying to collect her thoughts. "Celestia wanted me to tell you that Thorax wants to press charges against Hopper and the rogues for what they did."
"Thanks, Spike," Twilight replied as Spike walked into the study. "In fact, have Thorax deal with the rogues himself. I'm sure he'll deal with them accordingly."
"Sure, we can have Tempest bring them to the Changeling Hive first thing in the morning," Spike declared. "If that's what you want, though I'm sure that Thorax has his own brand of justice he wishes to use on them. Furthermore, you'll be happy to know that Ocellus has been returned safely to the hive."
Taking her attention off of the book she was reading, Twilight looked back towards her royal advisor and little brother.
"You're still thinking about what was talked about today, right?" Spike guessed.
"Yeah," Twilight replied, a look of pain on her face as she walked up towards her bedroom. "Two things came out of this today, Spike. One, there are nerve agents in my bloodstream that now activate in the most stressful of circumstances. And the other is that Chrysalis, Tirek and Cozy Glow have escaped to who knows where! I…I have a feeling that what has happened is only the beginning of what is to come, Spike."
"You mean, like war?" Spike asked as he fought back a gulp.
Twilight nodded. "Yes, war, Spike. Equestria must be ready to defend itself from Grogar by any and all means necessary."
"Well, everycreature came together fighting the Legion of Doom," Spike spoke up. "They can do it again if they have to, right?"
Instead of responding, Twilight climbed into her bed and pulled up the sheets. "If history serves me right, Spike," She sighed. "Grogar is the most dangerous enemy Equestria will ever face, and we have to be ready. I have to be ready! I mean…who can we find to help us fight what's to come?"
But then suddenly, the entire castle shook wildly, causing Twilight to fall out of bed and onto the floor!
"What in Equestria was that?!" Twilight cried as she dashed towards her telescope and looked out towards a pillar of smoke in the distance.
Neither Twilight nor her friends and fellow princesses realized the help that they were about to get. And meanwhile, on the moon, Grogar was about to get a new ally of his own.
Equestria would soon enter a period where there would be more to things than meets the eye. War was indeed coming. But not the kind of war any in Equestria could've foreseen.
…
…