//------------------------------// // Episode 1: "Of Wars and Graduations, Part 1" // Story: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Season 12 // by twilightsparkle3562 //------------------------------// … … Twilight Sparkle was angry. She was angry that she'd lost a battle with Equestria's most feared enemy in their first face to face encounter, she was angry that she and her friends could have done better. But most of all, she was angry at the fact that a leader of a nation had been so stubborn and unwilling to accept help. And that, in the end, had severely handicapped efforts to fight Grogar. "Vorak!" Twilight grunted as she slept in her bedroom at the Castle of Friendship two nights after the battle in the Distant Lands. "Why couldn't you just…?" Opening her eyes, all Twilight could do was lie in bed. She couldn't sleep, the recent memories of the battle in the distant lands still fresh in her mind. Letting out a loud groan, she climbed out of bed and began to pace back and forth across her bedroom. "Out of all the stubborn creatures I've met," Twilight seethed. "How could you have been so stupid, Vorak? Thinking that you could handle Grogar on your own? If you had only just shut up and listened to us…" Disgusted, Twilight walked over to her bedroom window and looked out over the co-capitol of Equestria, Ponyville. "I can't let this happen again," She declared. "Grogar has an advantage over us now because of one stubborn old king who was so pigheaded, it's like our alliance with the Maximals means nothing!" The frustration building up inside of her, Twilight groaned loudly and went back to pacing back and forth. … From down the hall, Celestia was asleep in her room when she could hear the hoofbeats of her daughter figure going back and forth. Rising out of bed, Celestia donned a bathrobe and proceeded to walk down the hall. Her body was still stiff from being frozen by Megatron but tried her best to not let it slow down her ability to be there for Twilight. "Twilight?" Celestia asked in a quiet voice as she knocked on the door quietly. "Twilight? Are you okay in there?" Hearing the sounds of her mother figure made Twilight stop pacing and a look of guilt immediately came onto her face. Opening the door, Twilight saw Celestia on the other side. "Oh, sorry Celestia," Twilight apologized. "I didn't mean to wake you up." "It's alright," Celestia sighed as she entered Twilight's room. "I couldn't really sleep myself anyway. My body is still feeling stiff from being turned to ice by Megatron. We all made the mistake of underestimating Grogar's Predacon allies." Shutting the door to her bedroom, Twilight joined Celestia in sitting down on the edge of her bed. Her eyes weighed down by heavy bags from lack of sleep. "Actually, ever since the battle," Celestia confessed. "I've been really worried about you, Twilight. It seems like you're taking this a little too personally. Yes, we lost the battle and we lost an ally. But we haven't lost the war yet. If we can learn from the mistakes of our last battle, I'm confident we can still defeat Grogar in the end." Twilight could see that she was about to get this kind of lecture from her mother figure again and took a deep breath. "But I have to take it personally, Celestia," She explained, her eyes locked onto the floor of her bedroom. "I'm the supreme princess of Equestria. Everything that happens in this war falls on my shoulders. And…I don't know…maybe I should have been tougher on Vorak. I mean, what would you do if you dealt with somepony or somecreature who refuses to drop their ego even when their land comes under attack?" Celestia felt that Twilight was beginning to struggle with her mental health as a result of the loss of Vorak's kingdom and the lack of sleep. "We have to stand together, Celestia. Regardless of what happens. It's the only way we're going to win this war! Our remaining allies need to be in sync with us one hundred percent!" Then, immediately, Twilight began to get slightly choked up with emotion. "I don't…" She cried with tears forming in the corners of her eyes. "I can't imagine losing this war under my watch, Celestia. What am I going to do?" Letting out her emotions, Twilight buried herself in Celestia's chest leaving the elder alicorn with only one option that she had. "Twilight," She said tenderly as Twilight sobbed. "I think maybe we should consult Gentle Gust and Gentle Breeze. Why don't we see them in the morning?" Nodding, a tear-filled Twilight accepted Celestia's suggestion as she continued to silently cry in her mentor's chest. … … The next morning, Twilight found herself at Canterlot General Hospital where she was in the office of her two personal therapists. The lack of sleep made her feel weak and tired and it showed in her body language as a phlebotomist pony drew blood out of her foreleg. "All set, honey," The phlebotomist pony declared as she bandaged up the puncture wound and left with the blood sample. "Good job as always, brave princess." "Thank you." Gentle Gust said to the phlebotomist pony as she left before turning his attention over to Twilight. With her blood drawn, Twilight weakly turned her head over to her two therapists. "I can't understand it," She sighed with a combination of sadness and frustration in her voice. "Why wouldn't he just accept help? Vorak is dead and his kingdom is lost to Grogar because of it!" Looking down at the notes that they had taken so far, Gentle Gust and Gentle Breeze both could understand the frustration that their royal patient was going through. "I mean," Twilight groaned. "Everyone has to do their part! I…I had to strain myself to create a shield for the love of Celestia! Did I see Vorak do anything? No! All he could think about was punishing Tirek! And look where it got him in the end!" "Hmm," Gentle Gust sighed as Twilight took a sip of her hot cocoa. "Twilight, it occurs to us that maybe… you're continuing to set a high standard that everycreature needs to follow. And it may be a standard that's impossible for some creatures to maintain. I'm sure Vorak had his reasons for refusing help." "Rather poor reasons if you ask me," Twilight bitterly remarked. "Sure, he was partially responsible for turning Tirek into the creature he is today, but still…that's no excuse for what happened. Because he wouldn't listen to us we were sidelined and straddled, too busy fighting with him to really focus on fighting Grogar and his forces." "All we're trying to say, dear," Gentle Breeze pointed out. "Is that not every battle you fight is going to be won. Plus, you may not fully understand the reasons that Vorak had for going into the fight alone." "But he had to accept our help, guys," Twilight protested, looking at her therapists. "Vorak's kingdom had a very low army and if he had gone in alone, the battle would have been a lot worse. His kingdom could have been wiped off the map and it was because of our intervention that some of the kingdom is left standing…albeit now in possession of the Predacons, giving them a base to launch attacks on Equestria." Letting out a ragged sigh, Twilight dropped herself back on the couch. "But why should I be thinking about this now? He's dead and there's nothing I can do about it. I can't bring back the dead like Grogar can. I mean sure, Grogar lost the Storm King but that's a drop in the bucket compared to what we lost!" … Outside the waiting room, Celestia, Luna, Starlight Glimmer, Spike and the rest of Twilight's friends were all listening in and reflecting on the recent downfall of Vorak's kingdom. "To be honest, y'all, I can't blame Twilight for bein' so hard on herself," Applejack remarked, throwing her hat onto the carpeted floor. "I mean…we're princesses for cryin' out loud, we can do better than this." "Exactly," Rainbow Dash added, while wincing in pain from her injured wing. "I mean, going up against Chrysalis, I should have beaten her! There was no way I should've lost! Where did we go so wrong?!" "Well, now you know how I feel sometimes," Starlight remarked. "Just be thankful that you are still alive, Rainbow Dash." "Well it's clear to me that Grogar's far too powerful. If only we had a better strategy, instead of relying on that unhelpful Vorak." Rarity suggested, before Pinkie Pie interrupted her with a huff. "Tell me about it, sister!" Pinkie grumpily snorted. "That grumpy old centaur didn't deserve any help. I offered him a party cannon, but no!" "If not for him I wouldn't be looking the way I am now. Some ally he turned out to be in the end." Rarity finished, looking at her bruised self in a small hoof held mirror. "I can understand all of your frustrations," Celestia commented. "And you should know that Luna and I are thinking of bringing in additional help." "What additional help?" Rainbow asked. But before Celestia could answer, Gentle Gust stepped into the waiting room, motioning for Celestia and Luna to come inside, leaving the six mares in the waiting room to wonder just exactly what the two sisters had in mind. … Meanwhile, at Grogar's base on the moon, Scorpan sat in a cell in the dungeons along with several other captured centaur and gargoyle soldiers. All they could do was reflect on what could have been had they defeated Grogar's forces and defended their kingdom successfully. Alas, that was not to be the case. Just then, their solitude was interrupted by the sounds of hoofbeats coming down the stairs and Scorpan looked to see his own fur and blood standing right outside the cell. Immediately, a disgusted scowl came onto the gargoyle's face. "So here you are, oh brother of mine," Tirek said quietly as Scorpan looked up at him while attempting to walk over with his feet chained by two ball chains. "The gargoyle who betrayed me to Starswirl the Bearded many, many years ago. And now the tables have turned. I trust you like the accommodations?" "You heartless…" Scorpan growled as he touched the bars with his claws. "You killed our father, didn't you?!" "Of course I did!" Tirek answered, much to Scorpan's irritation and anger. "He didn't deserve to live after all he did to me. And if you cared at all you would see it my way." "You defied him, brother! He had no choice but to oppose you!" Scorpan countered while shaking the bars. "If you'd only kept your mouth shut and listened to reason, everything would have been different." "Well it's become different, has it? not" Tirek chuckled slightly. "I am now free from my father's shadow, all thanks to Grogar." "If only Mother were alive…" Scorpan murmured. "Well, she isn't now!" Tirek remarked. "Remember that Father tormented her as well, blaming her for the way I turned out! The grief consumed her from within." "Oh, if I ever get out of this situation, Tirek," Scorpan growled. "I will make sure you pay dearly for this. Pay for upending our family and sending our kingdom into ruin!" Rather than listening to his younger brother, Tirek began to turn away. "Don't you dare turn your back on me, Tirek!" Scorpan cried. "Oh no, Scorpan," Tirek whispered as he started to walk away. "Perhaps you should never have turned your back on me!" Letting out a loud roar, Scorpan shook the bars of his cell in rage. "IS THAT A CHALLENGE?!" He yelled. But Tirek was unfazed. "Temper, temper, Scorpan. I wouldn't dare dream of challenging you now." "And why not?!" Scorpan hissed. "Because as far as brains go," Tirek remarked, turning back around to face his brother. "I got the lion's share. And when it comes to brute strength…I'm afraid you're at the shallow end of the gene pool. So we both know who would win." Becoming more and more angry, Scorpan watched as Tirek turned his back and walked away from the dungeons. "I hope you like the accommodations here, Scorpan," Tirek said as he left. "Because they will be your new home, forever. Attempt any escape, and you will end up just like Father!" Once Tirek was gone, Scorpan sighed deeply and sat back down in dismay, accepting his new surroundings. Emerging from the dungeons, Tirek took in a deep breath after his brief visit with Scorpan. And no sooner did he emerge from the dungeons than he was greeted by Grogar, Sombra and Sendak as they emerged from Grogar's throne room. "Ah, Tirek," Grogar remarked. "I trust you paid the prisoners of war a visit?" "I have, my emperor," Tirek answered, bowing to Grogar. "And I also warned Scorpan what fate awaits him should he dare to escape." "Excellent," Grogar laughed while gesturing for Tirek to rise. "And I'm sure you'll be happy to know that I have employed your mentor as our trusted advisor." Delighted to hear this, Tirek turned towards Sendak. "He shall be advising us on how to fight our battles," Sombra declared, also looking over to Sendak. "Of course, I myself never used an advisor during my reign in the Crystal Empire. But in this case, I shall make an exception for the sake of my emperor." "It's good to be with you again, Sendak," Tirek declared, touching his mentor's hands. "After all this time." "I am doubly honored, my student," Sendak replied while smiling warmly at Tirek. "You have come back to me and have mastered what I tried to teach you in your arrogant youth." "Now with your father's former kingdom in the command of Megatron and the Predacons," Grogar declared as they all began to walk away. "The time has now come to proceed to our next…" Suddenly, Grogar felt his bell starting to glow and immediately ran back into the throne room with Sombra, Sendak and Tirek following right behind! Racing towards his crystal ball, Grogar looked down to see what was happening. "My emperor, what is it?" Sombra asked as Grogar inspected the ball. "What do you see?" Grogar began to see three different dragon-like creatures start to manifest before his eyes. One was yellow; one was purple and one was blue. Opening their mouths, the dragon-like creatures released soundwave-like noises on a small village of ponies. Seeing these creatures, Grogar turned back towards his comrades. "They are alive," He said to his comrades. "The sirens are alive." "The sirens?" Sendak asked. "The creatures that formally absorbed negative feelings to nurture themselves? I thought they were only myth." "Don't you see?" Grogar protested. "With the Storm King no longer amongst our ranks and Megatron now running the Predacons in Vorak's former kingdom, this would be a perfect opportunity to recruit the sirens to our legion. We won't need the unreliable Predacons, we can leave them to their own devices to keep those Maximals at bay. The sirens shall be all the extra strength we need." Just then, the crystal ball began to reveal that the sirens began to transform into three different humanoid creatures in another world amongst the same creatures. "My emperor!" Sombra cried. "What is…what happened?" "Starswirl must have banished them to another world," Grogar declared. "A world whose inhabitants are similar to those humans we attacked to seize the Predacon traitor, Waspinator. But the world the sirens are in seems to be more advanced." Realizing what he needed to have done, Grogar began to come up with a plan. "I want them brought to me," Grogar ordered. "Tirek, Queen Chrysalis, Cozy Glow and yourself shall retrieve the sirens and bring them back here." "Why us?" Tirek asked. "Because you have already proven yourselves to work together," Grogar answered, remembering how they'd used his bell to nearly conquer Equestria. "If you could work together once, you can do it again." At first, Tirek was slightly hesitant, but realized that any act of defiance would result in him becoming food for Scarface. "Bring them to me at once!" Grogar commanded. "As you command," Tirek hesitantly answered. "My emperor." Once Tirek left the throne room, Grogar turned towards his second-in-command and his new advisor. "My emperor," Sendak advised as Grogar returned to his throne. "You must remember that they will change forms upon entering this strange new land you will be sending them to." "Of course I am aware of it, Sendak," Grogar retorted. "They will have to blend in amongst those two legged creatures, but it is a risk that I'm willing to take if it means I get to conquer that other world as well. I sense that there is Equestrian Magic leaking into that world, ripe for the pickings." Just then, Grogar began to get himself an idea as he looked over towards his cauldron. He needed a team of specialists familiar with taking on humans and in his mind, there was only one group that could do just that. … … Back at Canterlot Hospital, Celestia and Luna joined Twilight in Gentle Gust and Gentle Breeze's office as the two elderly therapists continued to work with Twilight on her latest anxieties. "How is she?" Celestia asked as she and Luna sat down next to Twilight. "Well, I think that Twilight here could be suffering from what we know as…survivor's guilt," Gentle Gust answered. "Do you know what that means, Twilight?" "It's a… a mental condition that occurs when a pony believes they've done something wrong by surviving a traumatic event when others did not," Twilight guessed, much to the confusion of Celestia and Luna. "I mean, after my diagnosis before the coronation, I did a lot of research into mental therapy and mental illness." "You certainly read a lot, Twilight." Luna remarked with a slight chuckle. "I mean, I just feel guilty that I failed my first big test as supreme princess, just as much as my friends failed their first big test as princesses," Twilight explained. "All I can think of is, what could have been had everything gone our way?" "I can tell you from experience Twilight," Celestia explained, causing Twilight to look at her. "That you can't win every battle you fight. Sometimes, we all have to accept defeat as it is, no matter how painful the consequences. I learned that the hard way when I banished you to the moon, Luna." Remembering how dark of a moment that was, Luna nodded in solidarity with her older sister. "But we can try and reduce the number of defeats compared to victories, Twilight," Celestia continued. "We can start by adding more allies willing to fight alongside us, and who share our belief in defeating Grogar and his Legion of Doom." This made Twilight feel slightly confused at what Celestia was trying to say to her. Then she suddenly began to realize exactly what Celestia was trying to imply. "You don't mean…?!" She gasped, slightly jumping back from her mother figure, who nodded her head up and down in confirmation. … Back in the waiting room, Starlight and the rest of Twilight's friends were also wondering just what Celestia and Luna were trying to get across to them. "What does Celestia mean by more help?" Rainbow Dash questioned. "Haven't we got enough allies to fight Grogar? We have the yaks, the dragons, the griffons, the hippogriffs, the changelings, the kirin and even the Maximals if they're not too busy fighting the Predacons." "Perhaps it could be that we need to get in touch with more creatures, Rainbow Dash," Rarity suggested, trying to apply makeup on her bandaged face. "So that we don't end up in situations where we look like this." "But who else can there be to help us fight Grogar?" Applejack wondered. "We already have more than a dozen or so allies, not to mention the pillars themselves and Celestia and Luna's parents if they're willin' to fight. Who else have we yet to round up or ask?" It didn't cross their minds, but both Starlight and Spike each began to have a very good guess on who could join their war defense. At that moment, the door opened and Gentle Breeze gestured them all to come into the office with Twilight, Celestia and Luna. "What's up?" Applejack asked as they walked in. "Well, it seems that Twilight s suffered a mild mental breakdown as a result of the recent battle." Gentle Gust declared. "I guess it's not surprising," Twilight sighed to her friends. "Given my mental state. This probably would've happened even if we'd won the battle in the badlands." "Um, I hate to be a bother, darling," Rarity protested. "But you seem to have mentioned that we need to have additional help. Or rather, that's what Celestia and Luna were suggesting, no?" "We do," Luna replied. "There is one other pony whose help we can use. Although maybe pony isn't the right word to describe her." "Don't leave us in suspense!" Pinkie Pie cried while jumping into the air slightly. "Who is it?! Who?!" Taking a deep breath, Celestia revealed the pony's name. "Sunset Shimmer." Twilight and her friends gasped in shock at what they had just heard! … … "Sunset Shimmer?" Twilight gasped to Celestia and Luna. "But why? I mean, she's got her own world to protect!" "Yes, but what Grogar might have planned could drag Sunset's new home world into her old home world in terms of the war," Celestia answered. "Because of the fact that there is Equestrian Magic in Sunset's world. And if Grogar learns of this he's sure to stop at nothing to try to claim it for himself, regardless of who he has to hurt in the process." For several brief moments Twilight began to pace back and forth, trying to process the fact that Sunset Shimmer would need to be pulled away from the human world. Then she got a thought in her brain. "And if he claims it for his own, then he will have a bigger advantage over us." She declared. "What can we do?" Starlight asked. "I mean, you and I can go into Sunset's world and try to reason with her, Twilight. Maybe she'll listen to us if we plead hard enough." "It may not be as simple as you think, Starlight," Celestia warned. "Sunset has grown accustomed to her new world, and I'm afraid getting her to leave it won't be easy." "I will try and convince her myself," Twilight firmly declared. "If there is anypony who can try and get her to open up, it's me. She trusts me even more than she trusts Celestia now." "I'll go too! Sunset and I are a lot alike, and we clicked during our time together in the human world." Starlight declared. "I think it would do you some good, Twilight. A chance to put the recent battle behind you and focus on the future." Gentle Breeze suggested, causing Twilight to turn back to her therapists. "It will do me more than just good, Gentle Breeze," Twilight declared. "It will help Equestria win more victories against Grogar." With her visit over, Twilight left the office with her friends behind her while Celestia, Luna and the two therapists looked on. … A little while later, back at the Castle of Friendship, Twilight, Spike and Starlight stood in the mirror portal to Sunset's world with Celestia, Luna and the other standing behind them. "I can't believe that we're going back to Sunset's world after all this time." Starlight remarked as she stared at her reflection in the mirror. "And who knows what Grogar might have planned if he gets his hooves on Equestrian magic in there?" Twilight wondered, also looking at her own reflection as well. "We're gonna have to be on our guard in case Grogar and his legion try to interfere. And even if they don't there's a pretty good chance we'll get caught up in another one of Sunset's misadventures with Equestrian magic. It seems like there's always something going on that she needs my help with." Activating her magic, Twilight turned on the portal and taking a deep breath, prepared herself for the journey that she, Spike and Starlight would undertake. Before they stepped forward however, they turned back to their friends. "Twilight…be careful," Celestia said in a worried voice as Twilight went over and hugged Celestia tightly. "And come home to us soon." "I will, Celestia," Twilight replied as they broke apart and Twilight hugged Luna as well. Then, Twilight turned to the rest of her friends. "Don't worry, I'll be back soon. The rest of you tend to your injuries, and keep in touch with Waspinator and the Maximals. Even if they'll be busy keeping the Predacons at bay, we'll need them to keep the balance of power from tipping toward Grogar any further." Touched, the six ponies embraced each other in a group hug for a brief moment before Twilight joined Spike and Starlight. Taking a deep breath, she turned to them. "All right," She declared. "Let's go." Walking together, the two mares and young dragon walked into the mirror to begin their important task of recruiting Sunset Shimmer into the war against Grogar! … TO BE CONTINUED …