Solaria stood in front of the former nobles before her. They had spread out in a half circle to await the first orders of their queen.
"There is a nexus of magical energy near here." She spread her wings and hovered above the ponies. "We had built a device on top of it long ago, but that has most likely been lost to time. The device must be rebuilt so that we could use it to fight well."
She beckoned a unicorn forward, then descended in front of him and touched her horn to his. There was a spark between their horns, and he winced slightly.
"This spell will help you track it down. Lead the others there, and send me a signal when you find it."
As the unicorns went searching for the magic nexus, Solaria applied a simple disguise to herself, concealing her wings under an illusion spell.
"Oh hello there. Welcome to Golden Oaks."
The new visitor looked around at the shelves before her gaze stopped to rest on the mare who greeted her.
"Quite a place here. When I asked where the library was, I didn't think it would be inside a tree."
"Thanks. This is one of the more unique libraries in Equestria because of that. I'm Twilight Sparkle, the librarian here. Is there anything I can help you with?"
"Yes. I was wondering what information you had on the Elements of Harmony and their bearers."
"Oh, of course! Do you want the history of the Elements? I've got a book on that, but if you want to know more directly, you can just ask me and my friends."
The visitor stepped a bit closer.
"You?"
"Of course. I'm the bearer of Magic. If you want to know about Loyalty, we'd have to catch Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy lives in a cottage over that way." Twilight pointed off in that direction. "She's the embodiment of Kindness. Applejack's probably still at the market selling apples, and if she isn't, she's probably back on the farm harvesting them. Rarity runs the Carousel Boutique, and she'll probably try to give you a new dress if you visit; her element is Generosity, after all. And if I had to guess, Pinkie's probably working at Sugarcube Corner, but nopony can really predict anything she does."
"Does she regularly coat new visitors with confetti and cake batter?"
Twilight chuckled. "Sounds like her."
"Element of Laughter?"
Twilight nodded.
"In that case, thank you."
"Oh you're wel-"
Before Twilight could finish, the visitor touched her horn with her own, causing her to drop to the floor, asleep.
Solaria entered the cavern, finally able to stretch her neck upwards after ducking under the low ceiling of the tunnel. As she entered, she set down the bags she was wearing and removed her disguise spell.
It was here. Clearly, it had been broken once, but it could be repaired in little time. The most important items, the stone tablet and the power enhancement crystals in the walls, were still intact. The materials required to build those had not come easily the first time it was built. The stones with the concentration runes merely needed to be engraved again and put back in place.
Immediately, they set to work. Construction was slow, and the ancient nobles were not particularly pleased to be reduced to menial laborers. They only needed to remind themselves, however, that their plight was only temporary, and that this would only serve to restore their power.
Finally, the work was complete. In the center of the floor was a stone ring, each stone engraved with arcane runes beyond the understanding of any in the room save Solaria herself.
She looked at all of them, pleased with their work.
"Very few mortals have rested their eyes on this device," she announced. "The energy of the realms that you used to bring me back still hangs in the air. This" -she rested a hoof against the stone tablet beside her- "will bring your nightmares to life."
"Your majesty, if I may ask... what is that thing?"
She smiled as if she had been waiting for just such a question.
"It was said that Alexcanter the Great once looked on the world and wept, for there was no territory left to conquer."
She laughed. It began as a chuckle, but evolved into a mocking roar of laughter reserved only for those who had witnessed something utterly foolish.
"He barely conquered a fraction of the land.
"Nevertheless, his pitiful results are beside the point. My children and I knew that we would eventually reach such a fate ourselves. One day, we truly would look across the world and find that there was none left to claim. After all, what else would one expect from such lifespans as ours?
"With this, however," she gestured towards the the ring in the middle of the floor, "we could conquer world after world without end. We could truly be the rulers over everything. With this, we were prepared to subjugate creation itself.
"Behold-"
She twisted a knob under the tablet, causing the newly restored runes around the ring to glow -
"The Worldseeker."
She paused, although whether it was for dramatic effect or simply to catch her breath, the others couldn't tell.
"Did you think you experienced a nightmare the night before I was reawakened? You felt realms colliding with each other. What you saw was rare indeed, only experienced once every few millennia. A hundred worlds, perhaps even a thousand, passed through each other that night. For a moment, in your dreams, you experienced the horror of being another form of yourself. For only a few hours that night, your mind and your nearest alternate self's mind were one and the same.
"You are faithful, but you are few. Tonight we shall draw warriors from the wells of time and space itself. We shall bring forth the very nightmares of this people."
One of the unicorns stepped forwards.
"We can do that?"
"Indeed. Alas, there is but enough energy to seek out only a few. Fortunately, I've been getting to know the locals in the town nearby. Thanks to them, I now know the most powerful and dangerous ponies in this world, and I know exactly who it is they fear."
With that, her horn glowed, and the crystals in the tablet rearranged themselves. A sphere of translucent light opened above the ring, and with a cold wind and the hiss of the void, out stepped...
...
...the Bearer of the Element of Laughter...
The nobles glanced back and forth between Solaria and the party mare. She said she wanted power. She couldn't possibly have made a mistake, could she?
The alicorn, however, was completely unfazed by this strange occurrence. She nodded, then turned to one of her followers. "Give me the saddlebags I brought."
From the bag, she retrieved what appeared to be a lottery ticket and gave it to the Element Bearer. While the followers exchanged confused glances, Pinkie simply nodded, and began pulling knives out of her mane and tail.
Her excited smile never changed.
With the glow of her horn, the Mother summoned the remaining Element Bearers, one by one. To each she have some object or instruction.
Finally, the nobles realized what she had done. She had summoned the ponies who would know exactly what would be necessary to defeat the element bearers of this world.
Some of them rubbed their hooves together, while others looked cautiously to the newcomers.
The time had come.