My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Season 12

by twilightsparkle3562


Episode 27: "The Return of Rita and Zedd, Part 1"

"Are you certain that the ones who formerly occupied this castle are calling for me?" Grogar demanded as he followed Lieutenant Bray down to his workroom. "And how dare you sneak into my workspace without my permission!"

"I'm sorry my emperor, but they were calling for you and I couldn't ignore them!" Bray protested.

"Idiot!" Grogar roared as they walked down the stairs right to the door of his workroom. "That's far enough! You return to your duties at once and stay out of my workroom."

Slamming the door, Grogar let out a small growl as he made his way towards his workroom's lone cauldron. Inside, he could see the water inside of it bubbling and boiling. Looking down into the cauldron and tapping into his bell's powers, he attempted to make contact with the spirits inside. Right away, he recognized them.

"You wish to obtain this castle from me?" Grogar asked in a commanding voice. "A castle that you surrendered to a far greater threat than yourself? Why should I give you this castle back if you can't even protect it yourselves? You don't even have forms to call your own anymore, they were taken from you by the one you failed to destroy!"

The cauldron boiled further in response but Grogar was unfazed. In fact, he could only chuckle to himself in amusement. "Do you honestly think that threats will get you anything you want?" Grogar remarked. "The only one who gives commands around here is me, Emperor Grogar of Equestria! Your palace became mine long ago, and nothing you say will change that fact!"

At that moment, a small geyser of water came out of the cauldron attempting to hit Grogar in the face, only for it to be deflected with his magic.

Angered, Grogar tapped into his bell's powers. "I'll teach you both some RESPECT!" He cried, ringing his bell and the bell's energy went into the cauldron, pulling out four spirits from inside of it. Stepping back, Grogar watched as four creatures formed in front of him, lying down on the floor. One creature was nothing but a skeleton; another was a green monkey creature with gold armor; another was a humanoid creature dressed in brown and the last was a creature of red with silver edging. "Get on your feet!"

Rising to his feet first, the creature of red looked up with a visor of silver on its face, a silver "Z" on his forehead glowing in the light. "Who dares to order me…Lord Zedd?!" The creature thundered.

Grogar stood unfazed at the newly minted creatures that were in front of him, not even as the creature dressed in brown followed suit.

"Order me?" Grogar remarked with a sinister smile on his face. "No creature gives me orders, Lord Zedd. You are in my domain now like I told you before!"

"Whose domain?" The creature in brown asked. "The last I checked, this place was occupied by the Machine Empire before we blew them up, not a blue and overgrown goat!"

"I don't know," The skeleton creature commented, scratching his head in confusion. "Is he a goat? I think he's something different. No goat I've ever seen looks like that."

Going up to Grogar, the skeleton creature attempted to rub his hands against Grogar's fur only to be swiped back. "Hey! Hey! Was it something I said?" The skeleton creature asked in shock. "I mean, no offense but you certainly don't look like a goat…"

"Of course he doesn't look like a goat, you twit!" Lord Zedd interrupted while glaring at the skeleton creature. "He doesn't even belong here! Listen here, Grogar, this is our castle! Get out!"

"Sorry, I have to disagree with you." Grogar laughed.

"Disagree with me?!" Zedd thundered, his body glowing red as he pointed a staff with a "Z" on the tip at Grogar. "I'll make you understand! I'll make you listen! No one defies me and gets away with it!"

Firing a blast from his staff, Zedd attempted to strike at Grogar only for the ram to create a shield spell using his bell's powers. "Impossible!" Zedd cried in disbelief! And Grogar took advantage of the opportunity to use his magic to fling Zedd and his resurrected companions hard against the wall of his workroom, causing books to fall over the floor. "What is this?!"

"Magic that is greater than yours alone or combined with your wife, Lord Zedd!" Grogar snapped, holding out his hoof at them. "And this is but a fraction of it, understood?!"

"What about my magic?" The creature dressed in brown asked, causing Grogar to look at her. "I was practicing magic before I even met Zedd."

"The same is true for yours!" Grogar answered before releasing his magic grip on the creatures and causing them to fall onto the floor with a loud thump. "Get up."

Doing as they were told, the four villains reluctantly rose to their feet. "I know who you all are," Grogar declared. "You used to occupy this castle before you abandoned it. Even after you took it back from the Machine Empire you left it behind and let it fall into decay. That is how I found it when I brought it here from your world long ago."

Grogar then turned to the creature dressed in brown. "You were Lord Zedd's servant…Rita Repulsa! You later married him. And you were both Rita and Zedd's servant, Goldar!" Turning to the green monkey creature in gold armor, Grogar studied Goldar closely before turning to the skeletal creature. "And you are Rita Repulsa's brother, Rito Revolto!"

"Uh, hi?" Rito nervously chuckled. "I mean, I guess we owe you a debt for bringing us back to life. But uh, my sis is right, this was our castle. It's not like we meant to leave it behind."

"Well you'll be happy to know that upon being gifted this castle, I studied your history and your failures to defeat the ones known as Power Rangers!" Grogar explained. "It helped me to bide my time while my powers slowly returned." Storming over to a bookshelf, Grogar snatched a red book off the shelf and opened it up, much to Rita's shock.

"Hey, take your hooves off of that!" Rita cried in protest. "That's my diary! It doesn't belong to you!"

"Diary? Is that what it was?" Grogar remarked while laughing in amusement. "Interesting. But whatever I claim is mine, your diary now included!" Looking into the diary, Grogar read each word that was written in it. "Now let me see, what have we here?"

Outside the laboratory, Lieutenant Bray stood outside trying to listen in on what was happening when King Sombra came down the stairs. "King Sombra!" Lieutenant Bray cried, saluting Sombra as he arrived. "The spirits have been summoned and…"

Before he could finish his sentence, however, Bray was teleported away by Sombra, leaving the former king of the Crystal Empire to listen in on what was going on. But Sombra wasn't alone for very long.

"What are you doing?" Sombra heard a voice that belonged to Queen Chrysalis ask as she came into view. "I felt something magical and powerful coming from down here."

"You have no business being here, changeling," Sombra ordered in a quiet voice. "Leave at once."

"Oh come on, Sombra," Chrysalis whispered, wrapping her green armor covered forelegs around his throat. "When changelings like me detect something…" Using her magic, Chrysalis teleported Sombra away as Tirek and Cozy Glow joined her.

"What's going on?" Cozy Glow asked.

"Silence!" Chrysalis hissed in a hushed voice. "It seems Grogar has brought more recruits into our ranks."

"What?! More recruits?" Tirek whispered in confusion. "Don't we have enough already? Those sirens we brought onboard haven't proven useful yet. Even that idiotic Storm King was more helpful than they've been so far." But Chrysalis merely chuckled.

"I'm serious!" Tirek protested. "We've got enough as it is."

"All the more to betray when the time comes," Chrysalis laughed, activating her horn. "Wait here!" Turning herself invisible, Chrysalis quietly walked through the door of Grogar's workroom, much to Cozy Glow and Tirek's surprise.

"How does she do that?" Cozy asked her father figure, who could only shrug his shoulders in equal confusion.

Now inside of Grogar's workroom, Chrysalis silently watched as Grogar interrogated his new recruits.

"And it says here that you tried to ransom the Power Rangers' parents for their power coins, Goldar," Grogar remarked while looking into the diary. "But not before piloting your zord, Cyclopsis! Oh and Lord Zedd, it says here that despite being disappointed in your wife's failures, you were smitten by her. Your combined histories are most fascinating, and quite amusing too."

"Enough!" Lord Zedd cried while pointing at Grogar. "I refuse to listen to any more of you exposing our past mistakes!"

But Grogar didn't listen. "And that's not all," The ram continued. "Prior to your greatest victory, you destroyed the ninja power coins after turning the Power Rangers into little children. Amazing how you could have them on the ropes and yet still they found a way to defeat you."

Grogar then closed the diary and dropped it on the floor as he watched Rita pick it up. "Well, you'll be happy to know that I have some news that might be interesting to you," He began, finally explaining his motives. "A prisoner of mine that was freed under my nose not too long ago."

"Who?" Lord Zedd inquired, before Grogar snatched the diary away from Rita again and opened it back up to a particular section. Getting to the section he was looking for, Grogar showed them three sets of pictures: A gold power coin; a falcon and a blue humanoid figure.

"Pay attention to the blue creature," Grogar ordered. "Does he mean anything to you?" Immediately, both Rita and Zedd realized just who Grogar was talking about!

Looking at the picture that they were told to look at, Zedd and Rita immediately recognized who the figure was. "Of course!" Lord Zedd answered. "It's the great sage, Ninjor! But…we destroyed him on Eltar along with his pathetic friend Auric the Conqueror!"

"Yeah," Rita added, the memory still fresh in her mind. "How could he be held prisoner by you, Groger?"

"Grogar, you fool!" Grogar corrected in a loud voice. "And while you did destroy his body, his spirit was wandering the galaxy. I took him prisoner and restored him to life because he had powers that I hoped to one day use."

"You mean the ninja powers?" Zedd asked, much to Grogar's surprise. "What do you wish to use them for?"

Closing the diary again and throwing it back on the floor, Grogar merely glared at Zedd with a slight amusement. "To conquer Equestria, my former kingdom that is rightfully mine," He declared. "But in order to do that I need to find the power source of these coins, which is where you come in!"

"Where we come in?" Goldar asked, looking at Rito in confusion.

"Yes," Grogar answered. "I need servants familiar with these particular powers to retrieve them for me, and you four are going to do it!"

Before Zedd or Rita could reply, Grogar teleported them alongside Goldar and Rito (along with himself) out of his workroom while leaving the diary behind.

Having seen everything, Chrysalis picked up the diary after turning herself visible and immediately opened the door for Tirek and Cozy Glow to come in. "It appears that Grogar is after powers that might help us in the end," She informed her comrades. "Look!"

"What is it?" Cozy Glow asked.

"It's a diary," Chrysalis answered. "And it's about the previous rulers' time in this castle! Grogar showed them this particular section," She pointed to the picture of the coin, falcon and the humanoid creature. "According to the diary, these three pictures symbolized one of their greatest victories."

"Whose victories?" Tirek asked, a slightly confused look on his face, much to his girlfriend's irritation.

"The ones that Grogar brought back, Tirek!" Chrysalis groaned. "Now pay attention, both of you! If we get our hooves and claws on whatever is being sought after, we can overthrow Grogar and then all of Equestria together! No one will ever be able to tell us what to do ever again."

"That's great!" Cozy Glow declared in excitement, only to come back down to reality. "Um, where exactly do we get these powers?"

Just then, Tirek had a thought come through his mind as he looked at the blue humanoid figure. "Wait!" He pointed at the picture of the blue humanoid figure. "Look at this! This figure…I recognize him!"

Suddenly, the three of them began to have flashbacks of when Discord had been punished after he had been captured by Grogar and exposed as a spy.

"Yes!" Chrysalis gasped. "That's the figure Discord helped escape! The creature named…Ninjor!"

"Ninjor?" Cozy Glow commented. "What a weird name."

"Well, what else does the book say, Chrysalis?" Tirek anxiously inquired. "Does it go into any detail about this Ninjor creature or how we can use the powers Grogar wants from him?"

Carefully, the trio studied the book, hoping to obtain the powers Grogar was seeking.

Meanwhile, Grogar had teleported Zedd, Rita, Goldar and Rito into the throne room that had once belonged to them. Zedd was astonished to be back in his former throne room but did not like the look of it at all. "What have you done to my throne room?!" He hissed at Grogar. "It looks nothing like how we left it!"

"You mean our throne room?" Rita corrected as Grogar walked up and sat down on his throne.

"And this is my throne now!" Grogar declared, much to Zedd's annoyance. "So you'd better get used to seeing me in it unless you wish to have your new lease on life ended."

Feeling intimidated, both Goldar and Rito got down on their knees and worshipped Grogar, much to Zedd and Rita's annoyance.

"Get up, you fools!" Zedd angrily demanded as his entire head glowed red. "Don't bow to him! You still bow to me!"

"They are doing the right thing," Grogar smirked in reply. "Now pay attention to the mission that is about to be assigned to you. I have little patience or tolerance for those who fail me."

Tapping into his bell's powers, Grogar showed the four new recruits the human world. "This is where you will be going to," He explained to them. "The objects you need to recover for me reside in this world."

"Why do you refer to it as 'this world'?" Zedd inquired. "We know what this world is!"

"Apparently you don't know enough to see that this world is where magic from my kingdom ended up! This palace now resides in a world separate from your own!" Grogar snapped as they cowered at his bellow of rage. Just then, they were treated to the vision of Ninjor standing next to two former enemies of theirs.

"What are they doing there?!" Rita cried in fury. "Zeddy, are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

"Yes, Rita!" Zedd seethed, his entire body glowing red. "It's that meddlesome Tommy and Katherine!"

"I should have known they'd be involved, it seems they're always a thorn in our side." Goldar remarked.

"Yeah," Rito added with a grin. "Although I will admit that Kat certainly has gotten more…"

"-Zip it, Rito!" Rita snapped, raising an arm over her brother's skull. "Don't make things harder than they already are."

"Sorry sis, jeez," Rito grunted before turning to Grogar. "Go on, you old goat. You were saying?"

Ignoring Rito's ignorance, Grogar proceeded with his briefing. "The items that I seek are in the world that Ninjor is now in," Grogar continued. "I want you to return these items to me ,or else!"

"Or else what?" Rito asked, much to Rita and Zedd's further frustration. "What? I was just asking him a question!"

"You see," Grogar smirked while looking right at Zedd. "You aren't the only one with a pet, Lord Zedd."

"What do you mean?" Zedd asked in confusion. "Since when did I ever have a pet?"

"You did for a while, Zeddy," Rita replied to her husband. "When we had the Falconzord caged."

Acting on those words, Grogar stamped down on the floor three times and a few moments later, the four new recruits were greeted by the sounds of growling as Scarface made his way into the throne room, followed by the Sirens who were holding Scarface by a leash.

"How is my pet?" Grogar asked.

"He's his…usual self," Adagio Dazzle answered as Sonata Dusk held onto the leash. "Always thinking of his next meal."

"If that's what you say he's thinking of," Sonata Dusk whimpered, her legs shaking with the sounds of Scarface's growling. "Can we go now, please?"

"Not yet," Grogar declared, much to Sonata's chagrin. "For I have to set an example for your new comrades."

"Them?" Aria Blaze asked while pointing to Zedd and Rita. "Who are they?"

"I am Lord Zedd, emperor of all that is evil!" Zedd snapped. "And you will address me with respect, young lady!"

"We may look like humans but we're really sirens at heart," Adagio declared, seemingly unafraid of Zedd's comments or behavior. "Besides…" As she spoke, Adagio and the other sirens feasted on the negative energy that Zedd was producing. "We could use a snack."

Confused, Zedd turned back to Grogar, who motioned for Sonata to release Scarface from the leash.

"You see, Lord Zedd," Grogar explained as the grizzly bear approached Zedd, sniffing him all over. "My pet here has one job…to dispose of whoever is of no use to me."

"Ha! Your beast doesn't frighten me," Zedd declared to Grogar. "Why, I shall use my staff and…"

"Zedd, no!" Rita cried as Zedd prepared to power his staff. "I mean, maybe this Grogar knows what he's doing."

"Is that so?" Zedd remarked. "You're afraid of this…this…monster that you'd wish Finster could have created to defeat the Power Rangers? I have no fear and you certainly should not have any fear either! Go ahead, Grogar! Use your pet if you dare! With my powers he won't be your pet for much longer."

Grogar could sense the growing defiance that Zedd was displaying, and immediately began thinking of a way to make Zedd see things his way.

As Grogar was explaining his mission for Rita and Zedd. Chrysalis, Tirek and Cozy Glow were still in Grogar's workroom and trying to figure out what they needed to do to get what they wanted.

"It says here that Ninjor used to reside in a place called the Temple of Power that was located in the Desert of Despair," Cozy Glow commented as she read what was in the diary. "He created the original dinosaur power coins to be used against the forces of evil as well as the ninja power coins. And yet both sets were ultimately destroyed. Golly!"

"Temple of Power?" Chrysalis remarked, immediately becoming smitten with what she was hearing. "Sounds like my kind of place. Next to my hive of course."

"What else does it say?" Tirek asked Cozy. "Anything useful, like a location for this 'temple'?"

"Well, Ninjor was approached by the Power Rangers for the ninja powers after the original dinosaur powers were destroyed by Rito Revolto," Cozy went on reading. "According to what was later discovered, the ninja power coins were based on six animals that were spirits waiting to be released: The falcon, the frog, the crane, the wolf, the bear and the ape. Together, these spirits were the basis for the six Ninja Zords that were, in turn, descendants of their ancestors: The Shogun Zords of Zordonia."

The more that was being read, the more that the three villains were beginning to imagine themselves wielding the power that was described in the diary.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Tirek asked, the gears in his head turning.

"Yes, to finally have a chance to play by our own rules?" Chrysalis added. "To finally have a chance to get rid of Grogar once and for all?"

"Golly, I love a good backstabbing!" Cozy Glow laughed, only to be interrupted by the sounds of a doorknob turning.

Acting fast, Chrysalis casted her teleportation spell on herself and her companions, disappearing just as Sombra and Lavan entered the workroom.

Suddenly, Lavan noticed the diary and picked it up off the floor. "King Sombra!" He cried out! "Look at this!"

Immediately, Sombra grabbed the diary from Lavan and realized that something was amiss. "I should have known," He hissed. "Grogar is going to want to hear of this at once, Lavan!"

Back in Grogar's throne room, Zedd continued to hold his defiance in the face of Grogar's pet bear.

But to Grogar, Zedd needed to be disciplined and there was only one way to get him to see sense. "Scarface!" Grogar commanded, catching the bear's attention. "Kill Rita Repulsa! She is of no use to us."

Acting on his master's command, Scarface turned his attention away from Zedd and over to Rita. "Nice…nice teddy bear," Rita whimpered as Scarface moved closer and closer towards her. "You don't want to eat me! I'm not completely cooked!"

But Scarface didn't back down.

"Scarface doesn't like it when his food doesn't agree with him," Grogar declared before turning back to Zedd. "Just like I don't like it when my minions don't agree with me!"

At that moment, Scarface let out a loud roar that made Rita scream in fright!

"Call him off now, Grogar!" Zedd demanded as he dropped his staff, moving toward his frightened wife.

"Oh I will, but only when you agree to my commands," Grogar answered while grinning from ear to ear. "The choice is yours, Lord Zedd."

Just then, Scarface reared onto his hind legs, preparing to pounce on Rita.

Not wanting to lose his wife, Zedd was left with no other choice. "Wait! Stop!" He shouted, even catching Scarface by surprise. "You win, Grogar. We'll do what you want."

"Excellent," Grogar laughed, before turning to Scarface. "Scarface, stand down at once." Doing as he was commanded, Scarface backed away from Rita.

Terrified, Rita ran over to her husband and hugged him.

"Very good, Lord Zedd," Grogar smirked with a sadistic grin. "You and your minions shall do my bidding. Get me what I desire and you shall all be rewarded. Fail me, and you shall all become a feast for my pet."

The mere presence of Scarface left Zedd with very little options. "You won't get away with this, I swear" Zedd declared pointing at Grogar.

"Bold words, Zedd," Grogar laughed. "But I have ways to make my minions obey me no matter what." Just then, Grogar tapped into the powers of his bell and released a mind control spell on his castle's former occupants. Immediately, they were left staring in a hypnotized manner with sickly green eyes for a few moments.

"What is your wish, o Master?" Zedd asked in a monotone voice.

"Go and retrieve the power coins, the falconzord and the great Ninjor from the humans," Grogar instructed. "And do not fail me." Then with a flick of his foreleg, Grogar sent Lord Zedd, Rita Repulsa, Goldar and Rito Revolto away from the throne room to carry out what needed to be done.

Soon, the four villains found themselves lying on the grounds of a forest in the world where the Ninja Powers were believed to be hidden.

"Where…where are we?" Rito asked as he blinked in confusion.

"I think…I think we aren't in Angel Grove anymore," Rita answered. "This is Earth, but not Angel Grove."

"Well, let's do what Grogar wants us to do, because I refuse to become food for a bear. And I despise the idea of having to be brainwashed into serving someone! I should be doing the brainwashing, not the other way around!" Zedd declared as Grogar watched from his crystal ball with a sinister smile on his face, determined to complete his goal by any means necessary!