Discord gets red alerts in his home about Cerberus falling asleep. Princess Celestia had asked Discord to place a spell on Cerberus to ensure that Tartarus' best defender won't succumb to anything remotely similar to Midnight Sparkle when she came. Discord calls his clone to inform the Princesses and all of United Equestria about the state of Tartarus.
The clone receives Discord's call and informs all leaders to Castle Central for an emergency meeting. After ten minutes. Princess Celestia, Luna, Shining Armor, Ember, Prince Rutherford, Gilda, Princess Skystar, Pharynx, and Tempest arrive in the meeting room. They wonder if it's about the strange anomaly that occurred a few days ago.
The clone of Discord walks into the meeting room, keeping his cool and composure to explain the reasoning for the meeting. Everyone gasps in surprise at Cerberus' sudden comatose state. Many theories come to mind for possible threats that can ascend to rapid power of dominance within the vault of Tartarus. Princess Celestia and Luna mention many artifacts, relics, items, forbidden spells, scrolls, and books they confiscated throughout a dark time in Equestria. Every other creature besides Discord shows a level of concern with more possibilities that a new threat can unleash more power than Midnight Sparkle.
Neighsay and Twilight (Sci-Twi) enter the meeting room. They are representing District Ten. Everyone gazes at the two walking in and ponders if Neighsay and Twilight have uncovered anything useful or discovered the perpetrator that caused Cerberus to succumb to slumber.
"After many days and nights of scouring all files based on Equestrian History, Twilight and I conducted the only villain that can pose a new threat upon our lands."
"His name is Grogar," Twilight (Sci-Twi) finishes Neighsay's statement.
"Grogar..." Princess Celestia places her hooves on her face in horror while remembering the tyrant when she was small.
"Before our power rose, Grogar laid waste to Equestria. He's known as the Father of Monsters. All we mentioned could be key to his new rise in power," Princess Luna states.
Dead silence filters the air with every creature, hearing tales of Grogar's wrath and how the world was shrouded in darkness and despair. A world that no one wants to relive. Princess Luna, Ember, and Shining Armor requests for a few delegates of United Species to join them on their quest to investigate Tartarus. Neighsay, the First Master of United Species, accepts their request and will package a team to go forth.
Twilight (Sci-Twi) is unsure about allowing Spike to go with Princess Luna, Ember, and Shining Armor. She's aware that Spike has become as strong as Fairy Dragon during the beginning stages, but her motherly instincts come into play. Neighsay believes Spike is more than capable due to watching his practice runs during their training sessions. The team Neighsay put together are Spike, Garble, Smolder, Sunset Shimmer, Gallus, Adagio, and Ocellus.
"Please, be careful, Spike," Twilight (Sci-Twi) worryingly expresses. She doesn't want to be controlling of Spike but would hate to hear him suffer an injury of some sort.
"Twilight," Spike inhales deeply. "There's no reason for you to worry. I'm learning and thinking creatively with my magic as Fairy Dragon would. Also, I'm with friends and family. It's not like I'm going in alone."
Twilight (Sci-Twi) exhales deeply. "Very well," She pulls Spike for a hug. "Be careful and mind your surroundings."
"I will," Spike smiles at Twilight (Sci-Twi).
"No need to worry, Twilight. We got his back," Smolder and Garble said, placing their claws on Spike's shoulders.
"Onward to Tartarus," Neighsay commands.
Princess Luna, Ember, Shining Armor, Neighsay, Spike, Smolder, Garble, Gallus, Adagio, Sunset, and Ocellus travel to Tartarus. On the way there, every creature felt cold and not in a good way. They sense the darkness of evil drawing near. Princess Luna and Ember are concerned with their kin for protecting Tartarus alongside Cerberus.
After an hour of traveling, everyone sees Cerberus outside. The doors are flayed open with many Royal Guards and Dragons succumbing to whatever spell Grogar unleashed. Princess Luna, Shining Armor, and Sunset gallop to investigate what spell Grogar used on them. Ember is irate that her Dragons have fallen victim to Grogar's spell and wants to tear Grogar apart. Limb-by-limb.
"Grogar used a somnolent spell on these defenders," Princess Luna confirms to everyone present.
"A what?" Garble and Gallus are confused about the type of spell Luna mentioned.
"It's a sleep spell that can last for a few hours or days, depending on the stability of Grogar's prowess," Sunset clarifies while using her magic to examine a Royal Soldier's heartbeat. "They are alive, which is good news."
"What about the Dragons?" Ember asks Princess Luna.
"Judging from the usage of the spell, the Dragons have taken critical damage. Dragons could be asleep for a week to a month," Princess Luna says after analyzing their bodies.
"A month!?!" Ember panics. She flies up to her Dragons and tries to wake them up with her Dragon Scepter. The magic within does not wake up any Dragon she sees. She roars angrily, which startles some of her friends. "I'll kill that freaking Ram!"
"Calm down, Ember," Smolder approaches her Empress. "We will exact retribution another day. Right now, we need to see what Grogar might have taken during his trip to Tartarus."
Ember breathes her blue flames, melting a boulder in anger. She then takes a deep breath to calm herself. "Alright, let's venture inside Tartarus."
Princess Luna leads the way inside Tartarus. Ember, Smolder, Spike, Gallus, Adagio, Ocellus, Sunset, and Neighsay are feeling unnerved by the presence of Tartarus. Princess Luna and Shining Armor remain calm from the many times they ventured to Tartarus. It's eerie and gives Tartarus the definition of Hell by seeing many contained creatures suffering due to the lack of magic and life.
"It looks sick," Spike sees a Bearbee slumping onto the edge of a cage.
"The lifeforce of many creatures you see before you were drained by Midnight Sparkle," Princess Luna painfully explains. "Midnight Sparkle overexerted the Demon Curse when she first used it here. Discord tried using Grogar's Bell to give them their magic power, but it's tainted with Demon Curses that caused them to be sick. We don't have the magic power to restore their health. Discord tried, but his Chaos Magic does not work well with Demon Curses. It magnified their sickness even more."
"They're dying? Why not end their suffering?" Gallus asks Princess Luna.
"It's Midnight Sparkle's curse. Since she technically didn't die, we can't end their suffering. So, they have to ride it out until their day arrives to leave our world."
"That's horrible," Ocellus said. She looks at a cockatrice that's vaguely asleep.
"I feel uncomfortable being here," Spike sees other creatures contained while walking with his friends. "Get me out of here!" Spike starts to panic.
"Calm down, buddy," Smolder holds Spike to calm his senses.
"No kidding, this place is..," Garble is lost for words while seeing many creatures suffering in their cages. Garble can't muster enough courage to keep moving.
"How are you holding up, Gallus?" Adagio sees Gallus shaken by the Dragons and Royal Guards on the ground motionless.
"We fought Midnight Sparkle, and yet. I'm terrified about this Grogar! Does that make sense?" Gallus asks Adagio.
"Fear of the unknown gets the better of many creatures. I'm aware of Grogar's capabilities. If he and Midnight Sparkle were to fight, Grogar would best her."
"That's not helping!" Gallus shouts.
"However, Grogar is only one creature. We are many. We can defeat him working together," Adagio smiles lovingly at Gallus.
"You may want to take back your statement, Adagio!" Sunset shouts.
"Oh, why is that?" Adagio questions Sunset's theory.
"Look!" Neighsay points at the empty cage that Lord Tirek was confined in.
"That's not good," Ember said.
"It belongs to Lord Tirek. With Lord Tirek joining forces with Grogar, this is quite a quandary," Princess Luna states.
"Where's the vault?" Spike asks Princess Luna.
Princess Luna gallops to the vault. Everyone else follows in pursuit; They see the fear and panic on Luna's face. Upon arrival, Princess Luna screams in terror.
"What?! What!?" Every creature behind Princess Luna is prepared for battle.
"He.., he..," Princess Luna is lost for words.
"What?" Shining Armor steps in and witnesses the missing artifact. "Oh, no."
"Can someone explain what the worry is about?" Neighsay enters the vault. Everyone else enters and sees the two lackadaisical.
"Why are they staring into oblivion?" Ocellus scours what forbidden scrolls, relics, and books the vault has.
Spike inhales. "Guardian Dragon Roooooooooar!" Spike unleashes his Sparkling Green Flames on Princess Luna and Shining Armor, snapping them out of their trance.
"It burns! It burns!" Shining Armor drops and rolls the fire out.
Princess Luna does the same and turns to Spike. "Have you lost your mind!?" Princess Luna snorts at Spike.
"Why are you silent, and why are you scared!? What is it that has you spooked?" Smolder asks, defending Spike for his actions.
"Do you not see the empty space of the vault?" Shining Armor barks at Smolder.
"There are many spaces. Be more specific," Gallus said.
Princess Luna sighs. "There was one item more dominant than any of these scrolls combined in this room. It's called Eternal Cataclysmic Scepter."
"According to legend, that staff is more prominent than Grogar's Bell. The magic within is unparalleled to all magic in Equestria. I want to say even all the magic Dragons can now use."
Every creature gasps in horror after hearing Shining Armor's comment. A relic mightier than all Dragons combined is serious. Princess Luna is in disarray, unsure how to tackle the situation. Right now, it's clear to inform every leader at Castle Central. Princess Luna uses her magic to teleport to Castle Central. From there, she requires the medical clones of Discord to pick up the defenders of Tartarus as they require emergency medical attention. The medical clones waste no time traveling to Tartarus for extraction and back.
"I'll take my guildmates back home. Many preparations need to be addressed moving forward. We may be the only creatures to stop Grogar's ascent from dominating the wills of all creatures," Neighsay said. He has a feeling Harmony may appear in the guildhall with vital information later today.
Neighsay, Spike, Smolder, Garble, Gallus, Adagio, Sunset, and Ocellus leave Castle Central. They are heading back to District Ten. Smolder nudges Spike's shoulder to grab his attention.
"What's up, Smolder?" Spike turns to Smolder.
"What's with Guardian Dragon?" Smolder is intrigued by the name.
"Well, my counterpart is known as Spike the Fairy. Fairy Dragon. So, I decided to give myself a name that lives up to the hype. Guardian Dragon. So, I'm Spike the Guardian Dragon. Cool, huh?"
Smolder smirks. "It is cool since you've invented the name. Guardian Dragon. I can get used to saying that."