Gallop watched helplessly as Chrysalis wrapped Luster in a slimy cocoon.
“Luster... got to… save her...”
Gallop tried to speak, but his voice turned into a whisper. He tried to get up, but after Tirek's magic extraction he could barely even crawl. He could only watch as Chrysalis launched into the air, getting further away with Luster every second.
“N-no...” Gallop jerked his body up, but it painfully hit the ground a second later. “Luster...”
Defeated, all he could do was wait for somecreature to find them, but in his current state, each second seemed like an hour. Then he heard a pop, and saw a white flash in front of him. Looking up, Gallop stared into the face of the Spirit of Chaos. Discord looked down at the Earth Pony with a look of concern.
“Oh dear, it appears I was too late! Tirek got away with your magic, didn't he?" Discord asked then cocked his head. “Wait… aren't you Luster Dawn’s coltfriend?” His face paled. “Please tell me she was not-”
“Chrysalis… took her!” Gallop choked out.
“We have to help!” River managed to yell.
“I have to get all of you to Starlight,” Discord said. “She can help you regain your strength!”
He snapped his fingers, and suddenly Gallop, his friends, as well as Diamond Tiara and the others were inside the Castle of Friendship. They lay there on the cold crystal floor; Gallop shivered at the touch.
“Starlight!” Discord called. “We need help!”
His voice echoed through the castle hallways. But instead of the unicorn in question, Trixie showed up instead.
“Discord?” she asked.
“Where is Starlight?”
“She and Sunburst went to the Everfree Forest to look for the changeling detecting amulet.” Trixie then noticed Gallop and the others. “What’s happened to them?”
“Tirek took their magic!” the draconequus said.
After a short shock, Trixie nodded nervously. “Follow me!”
…
Minutes later, Gallop was sitting in a chair in the castle potion wing. Trixie levitated a vial in front of him.
“Here, this should help regain your strength. Ever since Starlight learned Tirek had returned with Chrysalis and Cozy, she's been working on a potion to counter that sapping of his.”
The liquid went down Gallop’s throat. He immediately felt his strength returning. Trixie gave a potion to River as well.
“It won’t replenish all your magic, but it will at least allow you to do a few spells.”
But before River could drink it, the door to the room burst open. Starlight and Sunburst galloped inside.
“We teleported back as soon as we heard what happened!” Starlight exclaimed, running towards Gallop. She took him by the shoulders. “Please please please tell me that Luster was not with you!”
Gallop felt tears their way up to his eyes. “Chrysalis took her!”
Starlight clenched her teeth as tears appeared in her eyes as well. Her worst nightmare… the one she’d had ever since Luster was a baby… had come true.
“No! My little filly!” Starlight sobbed.
Sunburst looked at his wife in dread and walked over, wrapping his hooves around her. She buried her face in his chest. For a while the room filled with the cries of a mother.
“I sent her outside when she had just lost her amulet! I knew that Chrysalis had to be behind it somehow! I thought she would have been safer with Georgia! How could I have been so blind? I should have had her stay here with me! Now Chrysalis has her!”
“I’m sorry Headmare Glimmer!” Georgia said after Discord removed a strength potion from her beak. “I couldn’t do anything. Tirek… he just came out of nowhere and drained all our magic. We were helpless.”
Starlight looked at the griffon with teary eyes. Georgia looked back at her guiltily.
“It’s… it’s not your fault… Chrysalis is a cunning foe. They all are,” Starlight said through her grief. “They attack suddenly and swiftly.”
“We’ll get her back, Starlight," Sunburst said. "No matter what it takes. She’s our daughter.”
Suddenly, Starlight clenched her teeth. A red crackle emitted from her horn as her expression turned to one of fury. “If Chrysalis hurts her, I swear I’ll make her regret everything she’s done!”
“Um… would you please give me a strength potion first?” Diamond Tiara asked.
…
Chrysalis carried Luster Dawn in the cocoon until they arrived back at Grogar’s lair. Cozy Glow flew next to her. They landed on their hooves, and Tirek did so as well from his last great leap. Chrysalis set the cocoon on the ground with her magic.
"Hey, you sure she's fine in there?" Cozy asked. "She's not moving! Grogar’s gonna kill us if you hurt her!"
Chrysalis dismissed her with her hoof. "Relax, she's fine. When you're inside a changeling's cocoon it makes you disoriented." Chrysalis grinned, licking her lips. "And easier for us to feed on you."
Cozy gulped. "Um… okay? We better get her to the boss."
They walked inside the lair with their catch. They found Grogar at the main table with Sombra and Sharp Eye.
“We have returned, Grogar!” Chrysalis said.
The ram frowned. “That is Emperor Grogar to you! Address me properly, or I shall make you suffer!”
Chrysalis shivered. “Um… as you wish… Emperor Grogar. I have Starlight Glimmer’s daughter as you commanded.”
She placed the cocoon holding Luster on the table.
Grogar looked inside at the trapped mare and smiled. “Excellent. Now… it is time I make my move at last.”
The ancient ram sorcerer lit up his horns, shooting magic into the sky. Storm clouds began to form, lightning crackled. They then began to move all across Equestria while the Legion of Doom watched with wide eyes.
…
Twilight stood outside in Canterlot with Spike. She had just gotten the terrible news that Chrysalis had managed to take Luster. The message was like a jab to the heart, filling her with pain and concern.
“Oh, I’m so worried, Spike!” Twilight said. “Celestia knows what Chrysalis will do to Luster now that she has her!”
“I know Twilight!” Spike said. “She’ll probably want to torture her! Drain her of love and stuff! Or maybe… maybe she’ll just decide to destroy her outright!”
“Don’t say that!” Twilight said. “I couldn’t bear the thought of my student suffering!”
She looked at Ponyville within the distance from her balcony. Starlight was probably just as if not more worried than her. But as she looked in that direction, Twilight saw something else. Dark clouds were forming, coming fast.
“Is that a storm coming?” Twilight asked. “We aren’t due for one! Call some Pegasi!”
They did, but the Pegasi were not able to stop it. The storm just pushed them back and proceeded to cover all of Equestria. Twilight watched from her balcony. The scene reminded her of the day the Storm King’s forces had attacked. Was this another invasion? She could feel the dark magic in the air. It seemed to be calling her, urging her to stay and watch. Below, she saw Canterlot ponies coming out of their homes and looking up as well at the clouds.
Then suddenly, a face emerged in the clouds, the face of a ram.
“Citizens of Equestria! Hear me! I am Grogar, your rightful Emperor!”
Many ponies and creatures gasped at the sight, not only in Canterlot, but in Ponyville, Manehattan, and many other locations. For all of Equestria saw the image. Twilight’s mouth fell open. She had heard the tale of the dreaded Grogar. An evil ram sorcerer who ruled land countless millennia ago before it was even named Equestria. Discord impersonated him when he’d united her three worst enemies against her. But she never thought that she would ever have to face the REAL Grogar. She assumed he was long dead. Then she remembered, Starcutter told her that he was still around and that Grogar been controlling him using the Ruby of Reign. She had not believed the sword pony then as he was a criminal that usurped her niece at the time.
“I have a message for Princess Twilight!” Grogar said. “You will return my Bewitching Bell to me! If you do not… then your student will suffer.”
The image of the ram vanished and was replaced with Luster Dawn trapped in a green cocoon looking as though she were sleeping.
“Luster!” Twilight screamed.
The image changed back to Grogar.
“You have two days to agree! If you don’t deliver the bell, then I shall allow the changeling I freed to do as she pleases with her!” Grogar threatened. “I’m sure you know her… as well as her teammates that helped in the abduction.”
Now Twilight saw Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow.
“Is Twilight able to see us right now?” Cozy asked. “I can’t tell!”
“All of Equestria can see you!” Grogar’s deep voice sounded from out of the shown image.
“Hey! We’re back!” Tirek said with a wave and an evil chuckle.
Chrysalis gave a wicked grin. “I told you we would always return, Twilight! Nothing short of destruction will ever stop us!”
Twilight frowned. She had harbored a deep resentment for Chrysalis ever since she’d first met her. The former queen of the changelings, in their first meeting turned her brother and friends against her. Twilight had slightly been to blame, of course, not gathering proper proof for her accusations towards Chrysalis when she disguised herself as Cadence, but Chrysalis was a master manipulator as well.
Grogar returned in the image once more. “Two days, Princess! Meet them in the place where you last defeated them. If you do not, I shall consume her lifeforce!”
The image in the sky vanished, though the clouds remained. This was bad. An ancient villain was back, and her student was captured.
…
The Council of Friendship gathered in Canterlot. For the first time in a long time, Starlight was among them. She made her way to the city as soon as she saw Grogar’s message.
“We have to give Grogar his bell. It’s our only chance to get Luster back!” Starlight said.
“I never thought that he was actually still alive!” Discord said. “When I was posing as that ram, I said he’d been waiting, biding time, waiting for the perfect opportunity! It looks like it was all true! Oh, I’m able to copy the exact personality of the creature I transform into when I use that power! Sometimes I hate it when I’m right!”
“This is really bad!” Fluttershy said.
“We had a darn hard time taking on Chrysalis and the other two by themselves,” Applejack said. “Now we have to deal with the father of all monsters?”
“Yeah, that was supposed to be our final battle for Equestria!” Rainbow Dash said.
“There will always be darkness in the world,” Twilight said, repeating something she’d told the evil trio before defeating them. “New villains, old villains. It's always there, just as there is light to meet it.”
“Maybe it won’t be too hard?” Pinkie Pie asked.
Everypony frowned at her.
“What? You never know!”
Twilight sighed. “We faced our worst enemies long ago. But this is Grogar- we’ve all heard of him. His legend still lives today. Gusty the Great faced him thousands of years ago and only managed to defeat him by taking away the Bewitching Bell.”
“And he wants it now so that he can have all his power back,” Rainbow Dash said.
“But we can’t just give it to him!” Rarity said. “He’ll use its power to destroy Equestria!”
“If we don’t give it to him, he’ll hurt Luster! You can’t expect me to leave my daughter to him! Who knows what she’s going through right now!” Starlight said.
…
Luster lay chained within a cell in the villain’s lair. She opened her eyes and took in her surroundings. The rocks around her cell were orange.
“Where am I? How’d I get here? Wait- it's coming back to me!”
Chrysalis had abducted her!
Suddenly there was the sound of hoof falls nearby. Luster cringed; it was Chrysalis coming to torture her! She closed her eyes, not wanting to look.
“Luster!” a familiar voice called.
Luster peeked a little bit, and to her amazement, saw her mother outside the cage.
“Mom!” Luster exclaimed, walking to the cell door. “You came!”
Starlight smiled, her loving motherly smile. Then it turned to an evil grin, and she opened her mouth, Luster felt what little strength she’d managed to regain slip away. She then collapsed on the stone ground of the cell. The creature posing as Luster’s mother then revealed her true form, Chrysalis grinned down at Luster.
“Oh, the love a child has for their parent is great. Though they say the love the parent holds for a child is the greatest of all!” the changeling said as she looked at Luster. “I wonder how it would taste if I were to turn into you and drain Starlight’s love?”
“You… stay away from my mother!” Luster threatened.
Chrysalis laughed. “You think you can stop me as you are, little pony?”
Luster didn’t reply, she knew the answer. Without her magic and being unable to move at all, she stood no chance.
“Perhaps if Tirek returned your magic, it would prove to be quite a show,” a deep voice said.
Another creature walked into Luster’s field of vision. It was a blue ram with a red collar around his neck. Behind him walked Tirek and Cozy Glow, who had been turned back to her regular peach coat.
“Who…. who are you?” Luster asked.
The ram smiled at her. “I am Grogar, First Emperor of Equestria, and Father of Monsters!”
Luster’s eyes widened. She’d heard of Grogar recently. The sword pony Starcutter claimed to have been mind-controlled by him. Of course, she also knew him from the legends.
“I’ve been watching you, Luster Dawn. The daughter of two gifted Unicorns and the star pupil of the current ruler of Equestria!” Grogar said. “I think I could make use of a talented Unicorn such as you.”
“W-what?” Luster was confused.
“Would you perhaps consider defecting to my side?” Grogar asked. “I have gathered many villains together to form the commanders of my army of monsters.”
“Then it was you who freed these three!” Luster exclaimed, looking around at the trio of villains.
“Yes, Chrysalis and her teammates have abilities that are useful to me,” Grogar said. “You could be as well. I lost my inside pony in Starcutter. You could be a perfect candidate to replace him being close to Princess Twilight herself!”
“Not a chance,” Luster snapped. “I’ve been kicked out by my mother twice because of you! I would never serve a monster like you!”
Grogar chuckled. “It won’t be as though you have a choice.”
…
The next day at sunset, Twilight and her friends, as well as Starlight, Sunburst, Trixie, and Discord, stood in the meadow where the trio had been defeated years ago. Discord held the Bewitching Bell in his mismatched claws.
“Are you sure about this, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked.
Twilight nodded. “We can’t risk Luster’s life over the bell!”
“But if we give it to Grogar there will be a lot more lives lost!” Rainbow Dash said.
“Grogar would probably do something even worse to get it back if we refused,” Twilight reasoned.
“Yes, as old as he is, I’m sure he knows quite a few things,” Discord said. “Create enough chaos like war, gather energy from that chaos and you could use it to create a portal into my realm. That would likely be his plan if we were to refuse.”
“We’ll defeat him and the others… somehow,” Twilight said.
Soon a dark cloud came bearing the minions of Grogar atopo it. Somehow it was able to support Tirek, who held Luster’s limp form. Cozy Glow grinned at them. Seeing her in this grown-up form weirded out all of the other ponies as they were not been expecting it.
“You have the Bewitching Bell?” Chrysalis asked.
Twilight nodded. Discord stepped forward holding it.
“No funny business, Discord!” Tirek warned, levitating Luster. “Or I’ll send her flying!”
Discord nodded and set the bell down on the ground. Cozy Glow flew down and picked it up in her hooves before flying back up to the cloud.
“Now… give me back my daughter!” Starlight said in desperation. “Please, Chrysalis, I beg you!”
The changeling looked at her archnemesis.
“I like you begging. Bow before me, Starlight Glimmer!”
Starlight gulped and stepped forward before lowering her neck.
“Please, just give me my daughter back! Don’t harm her!”
Chrysalis smiled. “That is quite pleasing to see. You shall have your daughter back. Enjoy your time with her while you can! One day soon, we will fight again. And this time, only one or neither of us will walk out alive!”
She took Luster in her magic and levitated her down to Starlight who took over and set Luster down gently.
“Luster!” Starlight screamed in worry as she stood over her before glaring at Chrysalis. “What did you do?”
“Me? Why, nothing! Though I can’t speak for Grogar!” Chrysalis said before turning to her teammates. “Let’s go!”
They flew off on their clouds with the Bewitching Bell, leaving Starlight with her returned daughter.
…
Looking at the bell, Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow knew their window of opportunity was closing fast. The cloud carrying was moving far quicker than any of them could on their own.
“We need to act fast!” Chrysalis said. “Lord Tirek!”
“Right!” Tirek said, taking hold of the bell from Cozy Glow.
He shot it with the spell they used to cause it to absorb magic and held it so that it sucked in the area directly above them. Though there was no creature there, it could still absorb any magic sent. Chrysalis gathered a powerful amount of green magic to her horn. It practically oozed as though it were liquid. This was her ultimate spell for eliminating an enemy when she needed to. She shot it into the bells arc as it searched for magic to devour; it hissed and absorbed the spell.
Chrysalis grinned. “Now, when Grogar absorbs the magic for himself, he will be poisoned with mine.”
…
Starlight looked at her daughter as Luster lay asleep in bed in the Ponyville Hospital. She stayed by her side, keeping her hoof on Luster’s as hours seemed to roll by. Morning came and Luster’s friends entered her room.
“Oh! She’s back!” Gallop said.
He tried to run over to her but could only manage a light jog. All of Luster’s friends were still weakened from Tirek draining their magic. Strength potions allowed them to stand and walk normally, but not much else.
“Luster?” Gallop asked.
“Is she alright?” Georgia asked what they all were thinking.
“She’s had her magic drained, but she seems alright according to the nurses,” Starlight informed them. “We don’t know when she-”
Suddenly, Luster took a deep breath and opened her eyes.
“Where am I?” she asked, looking around. “Mom? Guys?”
“Luster!” River Song exclaimed.
“You’re awake!” Georgia said.
“Luster, okay?” Yelena asked.
“I think so,” Luster said as her friends gathered around her.
“I’m sorry we couldn’t come for you, Luster,” Gallop said. “I wanted to go and save you but-”
“There was nothing you could do in your state. Any of you,” Starlight said. “Luster! Oh, I was so worried! How do you feel?”
“I’m fine, Mom,” Luster said before shuddering. “Grogar was… really scary.”
“You saw him?” Starlight asked.
“Only for a little while,” Luster said. “The last thing I remember, he shot me with a spell of some kind and it was really painful.”
She tried to get up out of bed but cringed and clutched her side.
“You still need time to recover!” Starlight said, resting her daughter back on her bed. “I’m just glad you’re back in one piece! Luster, I’m sorry for kicking you out… again! If I hadn’t done that, Chrysalis might not have taken you!”
For a moment, Luster’s eyes sparkled with anger and she frowned. Seeing this, Starlight expected her to yell and tell her off, but it all went away as suddenly as it appeared.
“They would have figured something out eventually regardless,” Luster said. “It’s okay, Mom.”
Starlight smiled. “I’m never going to send you away again! You and your friends are staying here until Tirek is defeated. That alone will restore your magic completely. For now, you just get some rest. Come on every creature. We need to give Luster some space.”
Starlight led Luster’s friends out with a smile on her face. She had her daughter back safe and sound. Grogar, Chrysalis, and the others were out there. But as long as Luster was safe, that was all that mattered to her.
Luster, meanwhile, grinned evilly.
“You’ll soon feel really sorry for sending me away… Mom!”