A long time ago, there was a creature called the Father of Monsters. At the time, no creature knew where they were from or who they were. Just that the magic they were able to wield and the power at their disposal was unlike anything Equestria had ever seen before. They were able to turn the most innocent of critters into the most dangerous of monsters. All while showing no mercy or remorse towards them. Many of the creatures of the Everfree were once harmless animals, until an encounter with the Father of Monsters changed them into the predators they are today.
His name was Grogar and in ancient times, he terrorized the land of Equestria, using his creations to spread fear and terrorize the world. That was, until the day he encountered Gusty the Great. With a small battalion of unicorns behind her, they bravely fought back against him. Yet, even with enough magic that was stronger than a thousand armies combined, they could not easily beat him. That was, until Gusty realized something. The source of his power was not from Grogar himself, but because of an artifact that was hanging freely around their neck. An artifact known as the Bewitching Bell.
With very little time to act, Gusty had her troops distract Grogar so that she could steal the bell while he was preoccupied. The plan, even though it was risky, worked and it robbed Grogar of his strength. Gusty’s bravery provided her and her comrades the chance to banish the Father of Monsters and in doing so, bring peace to the land.
“And yet, even though there is proof that such events did take place so long ago, many questions remained,” Celestia continued, “Even though Gusty had taken the bewitching bell, there was no telling what became of it after Grogar’s defeat. Not only that, but even though the Father of Monsters was gone, the damage he caused and the monsters he created could not be undone. The manticores, chimeras, Cockatrices, Cragadiles and Hydra’s that he created could not be changed back into the various animals that they once were.”
That was a lot for Albedo to process. Though, the story itself sounded vaguely familiar to something that happened in Teyvat’s past. Yet, before he had the chance to fully think about it, another pony at the table soon spoke up. “P-princess Celestia, are you sure that all of this is true?” Starlight asked, “I mean, if I remember correctly, the story of Gusty the Great and Grogar is but a fable.”
“That may be true,” Celestia replied, “But there have been times where many ponies realized that something that was ‘just a story’ turned out to be actually true. A long time ago, many would think that Nightmare Moon was just a story. Yet, that did not stop her from reemerging during the Summer Sun Celebration when Twilight first came to Ponyville.”
Twilight was starting to slowly understand what Celestia meant. However, there was still something that she was confused about. “But how does that relate to Albedo though? I’m… sorry, but I’m having trouble trying to understand.”
The solar alicorn gave Twilight a reassuring smile, before looking back at her former student. “Don’t worry, I was about to get there,” she assured her, before looking to Albedo, “The reason why I brought it up was because I was reminded of Grogar’s ability to take creatures and turn them into monsters when Albedo mentioned about his world and bio alchemy since he mentioned that it involved living things.”
“I can see why you might be reminded of that,” Albedo replied, “Though, personally, while bio alchemy is one part of alchemy as a whole, it’s not something I would want to research. Alchemy is a profession to study life and observe changes in the environment and evolution of species, not force them upon those who don’t want it.”
It was around the time that Celestia heard a door farther into the castle close. At first, she thought that it was Spike closing the door to his room. Though, as Albedo continued to talk and answer some questions that Twilight and Starlight had for him, she felt something brush up against her tail. When she looked down, the princess found herself looking at a young girl that was dressed in red with clovers on their dress and hat. The same girl that matched the description of the one in the picture that she had been given.
She had found Klee. “Hello! You’re so warm and cuddly!”
In that moment, Celestia could only respond with a giggle, “Why hello there, little one. You must be Albedo’s sister.”
“Huh?” the little girl spoke up, tilting her head in confusion, “You know big brother?”
By now, Albedo had noticed that Celestia seemed to be occupied by something, for they were not paying attention when Twilight and Starlight were speaking. “Is everything alright, Celestia? You seem… distracted.”
The solar princess could only turn her head and smile for a moment, “You can say that. While you were talking just now, I happened to have a little visitor.”
Shortly after she said that, the alchemist noticed an all too familiar face climb up onto Celestia’s chair and give off a cheerful smile while they were snuggling against Celestia’s mane. “There you are, big brother! Klee made a new friend!”
“K-Klee, what are you doing?!” Twilight asked as she stared at the young girl with a look of horror on her face. After what she had seen when they were in the Everfree Forest, she was afraid that the same thing was going to happen in front of the princess that was her teacher for so many years.
“Big pony’s mane and tail is so soft and warm like a blanket, so Klee wants to snuggle with it!” the young girl joyfully proclaimed, which just had Celestia giggle.
“She reminds me of you when you were her age, Twilight,” the princess replied now. Something that made Twilight pupils shrink with horror as the alicorn really hoped that anyone did ask about that.
Unfortunately, that did not turn out to be the case, “… Okay, I have to ask. How exactly does Klee remind you of Twilight? I mean, there aren’t really a lot of similarities.”
“Well, she reminds me a lot of when Twilight was just a filly and I had recently taken her on as my student,” the princess answered Starlight’s question, “During the first couple of days, I noticed that Twilight herself was feeling rather homesick and it was affecting her with her studies and her sleep. So, I came to comfort her and, at the time, she saw my mane as a blanket and wanted to snuggle with it. Something that Klee’s doing right now.”
Immediately, Twilight’s face was flushed red with embarrassment. It was one thing to remember such a moment, but it was something else to have a memory that you would see as rather embarrassing end up getting shared by Princess Celestia to not only her guests, but also her former student. She was lucky that Spike wasn’t around at the time that they were talking about this, or else he would chime in and end up making the situation worse.
“Hehe!! Brother, look! Her face is red!”
Klee might’ve not used any of her bombs at that moment, but to Twilight, it felt as if any form of patience or self control she once had was blown to pieces and sent flying out the nearest window.
???
For too long, he had waited. For too long, they had waited for the right moment to break free of the chains that bound him. Centuries had passed since his power was stolen and he was banished, but now was the perfect time to return. He felt the power that he had used so long ago resurface, but from another creature. If he was going to fulfill what he desired though, they needed to reclaim the source of their power.
He needed the bell… he needed his vision.