Earlier, in Professor Screw’s Lab…
“Oh, but don’t you wish to know about Iron Will’s procedure?” Professor Screw asked curiously.
“I do not care what you do with him. Just make sure that when you’re finished, he will never even think about betraying me again. Do not fail me, Professor.” Sombra said as he once again vanished into the shadows.
“(Chuckle) I would never fail you, my king.” Professor Screw said as he watched Sombra sink into the shadows. “Now, Iron Will, where were we?” Professor Screw asked as he approached the sleeping minotaur with a huge sadistic grin on his face.
As Professor Screw walked over to Iron Will to continue the procedure, he thought that it would be more satisfying if Iron Will was awake and fully conscious for the process. That way, he could observe all of Iron Will’s reactions. With a sinister chuckle, Professor Screw used a small electricity spell, zapping Iron Will awake.
Iron Will woke up with a sudden jolt as he was zapped by Professor Screw’s magic. As soon as Iron Will was awake, he immediately felt a throbbing pain in his head. Iron Will tried to touch his head, but soon found that he was strapped to a chair. In front of Iron Will, there was a mirror which was hanging from the ceiling. Looking into the mirror allowed Iron Will to see a terrifying sight; the top part of his head had been completely removed, leaving his brain exposed.
“Huh!? Where is Iron Will!? What is going on!? Help!” Iron Will yelled as he tried to break free from the restraints.
“There is no need for such a fuss, Iron Will. You are perfectly safe.” Professor Screw said as Iron Will turned to look at him.
“You! Crazy scientist! What have you done to Iron Will!? Let Iron Will go!” Iron Will yelled as he continued to try and break free.
“(Chuckle) I’m afraid I cannot do that, Iron Will. You have betrayed King Sombra. His majesty does not approve of those who go against him.” Professor Screw said as he shook his head disapprovingly.
“Let Iron Will go now, or Iron Will is going to hurt you!” Iron Will yelled.
“(Chuckle) Oh, I don’t think so. The restraints around your body are strong enough to hold even the likes of an Ursa Major back. You will not be hurting anypony.” Professor Screw said as he used his magic to pick up a scalpel. “Now, his majesty did order me to… fix you, however, you still have a chance to correct your mistakes, Iron Will.”
“Get away from Iron Will!” Iron Will yelled as Professor Screw pointed the scalpel at him.
“I’m going to give you one last chance, Iron Will. You can either apologize to his majesty and swear your eternal loyalty to him, or you can sit here and suffer the consequences of betraying King Sombra.” Professor Screw said as he held the scalpel up next to his face and smiled. “So, what will it be Iron Will?”
“Iron Will is not going to be a part of this evil any longer! Iron Will would rather die than continue to do more harm to the ponies!” Iron Will yelled, huffing at the Professor.
“I see...” Professor Screw said as he slashed Iron Will across the cheek with the scalpel, causing the minotaur to yell out in pain.
After cutting Iron Will’s face with the scalpel, Professor Screw used his magic to summon a specially modified muzzle, placing it over Iron Will’s mouth, preventing him from speaking or even opening his mouth.
“In that case, it is time we begun your procedure.” Professor Screw said as he walked over to his worktable, pulling open a drawer.
Out of the drawer, Professor Screw pulled out a syringe which contained some strange glowing yellow liquid.
“This is substance will keep your adrenaline high and constant, ensuring that you will never lose consciousness, even due to blood loss. You will be awake for the entire process.” Professor Screw explained with a sinister grin.
Iron Will’s muffled screams echoed throughout the lab as Professor Screw injected him with the needle, driving the yellow liquid into Iron Will’s body. As Iron Will felt the substance flow through his bloodstream, Professor Screw walked over to his worktable and looked down at the device that he had been working on.
The device was a special type of mind controlling device that would essentially rewrite Iron Will’s brain to only listen to King Sombra, Professor Screw, and the rest of the Rogue. Next to the device was a helmet that had been heavily modified to clamp onto the head of the wearer. On the edges of the helmet were a bunch of screws that would dig into the sides of Iron Will’s head, ensuring that the helmet would never come off. These screws would also severely damaged Iron Will’s brain, taking away his motor functions and replacing them with the will to obey everyone who had authority over him. There were also some straps on the underside of the helmet, just in case. Back to the mind controlling device, on the top, there were a bunch of wires that were meant to connect to the modified helmet. When these wires were connected to the helmet, the mind controlling device would be fully functional and the only thing left to do would be to drive the screws into Iron Will’s brain.
Professor Screw attached the wires to the underside of the modified helmet and once the two were properly connected, he placed it on top of Iron Will’s head. Iron Will groaned and hissed in pain as he felt the cold metal touch his exposed brain.
“(Sadistic Chuckle) Now, you will never think about betraying his majesty again. Say goodbye to your freewill, Iron Will!” Professor Screw said as he levitated a hammer over from his worktable and drove the first screw into Iron Will’s brain.
Iron Will had struggled and fought with all of his might to free himself from this cruel torture. However as soon as the first screw impaled his brain, Iron Will immediately stopped struggling and went completely limp. Drool began to uncontrollably pour out of Iron Will’s mouth as he had essentially been lobotomized. Iron Will was gone…
Sometime later…
Professor Screw hummed to himself as he had finally finished securing the mind controlling device onto Iron Will’s head. After all the screws had been driven into Iron Will’s brain, the device had become fully operational and Iron Will was now completely stripped of his freewill, leaving only a husk of what used to be a boastful, loud, and strong minotaur.
“Iron Will, can you hear me?” Professor Screw asked as he poked the minotaur in the chest.
“Yes.” Iron Will responded dryly.
“Good. Tell me, what is your purpose?” Professor Screw asked, pleased with how things were looking.
“Iron Will lives to serve King Sombra. Iron Will listens to King Sombra, Professor, and Rogue.” Iron Will answered.
“(Chuckle) Good, very good.” Professor Screw said, pleased that the device had worked.
Then, before Professor Screw could ask any more questions to the mind-controlled minotaur, he heard two large objects suddenly appear in his lap and land on the floor behind him. Professor Screw turned around to see the dead bodies of two Storm Creatures. At first, the Professor was puzzled by this, however he had no time to come up with an explanation before Sombra emerged from the shadows.
“Ah, your majesty, you’ve returned. I trust everything went according to plan?” Professor Screw asked as he bowed to Sombra.
“Of course it did. Now, how is Iron Will’s procedure coming along?” Sombra asked.
“The operation was a success. My device has removed all of Iron Will’s freewill. He is now completely loyal to all of us. He will never betray you again, my king.” Professor Screw said as he stepped back to show off his work.
“(Chuckle) Good. Before we discuss anything else, I have a new job for you.” Sombra said.
“I await your instructions, my king.” Professor Screw said with a grin.
“First, do you have any duplicating spells in your spell book?” Sombra asked.
“I’ve got a few, yes. Why do you ask?” Professor Screw asked.
“I want you to create clones of these Storm Creatures.” Sombra said as he gestured to the two dead Storm Creatures.
“(Chuckle) I can do that. How many do you need?” Professor Screw asked.
“Enough to cause chaos and destruction to Ponyville and Canterlot. These new Storm Creatures will act as our crushing blow to those ponies. I want them to be stronger, faster, and tougher than the other Storm Creatures.” Sombra said.
“I will see that it is done, my king.” Professor Screw said as he bowed to Sombra again. “Shall I get to work on them now?”
“Not yet. First, we will reunite the Doctor with his mechanical arms. And of course, the Rogue will see what has become of Iron Will. Plus, there is something new that the Rogue will be tasked with.” Sombra said with a chuckle.
“(Chuckle) Yes, your majesty.” Professor Screw said as he walked over to the mechanical arms and held them up with his magic.
While the Professor took care of the arms, Sombra motioned for him to leave. With that, Professor Screw teleported back to the castle.
Earlier, in King Sombra’s Castle…
While Discorded Whooves was pacing back and forth while talking to himself, the rest of the Rogue were keeping to themselves for the most part. Lightning Dust was sitting at the large table with the map of Equestria on it. Flim and Flam were sitting across from her, not really saying anything. The three Rogue members remained silent for a few more minutes before Flim and Flam looked at each other and then at Lightning Dust.
Since Iron Will’s sudden betrayal, the two brothers were curious if Lightning Dust really hated Rainbow Dash so much to the point where she’d risk being killed or punished by Sombra if she ever failed any of her tasks. Because of what Applejack had done to them, Flim and Flam were more than willing to do whatever needed to be done in order to get their revenge. But what could Rainbow Dash possibly have done to consume Lightning Dust with so much rage and aggression? It couldn’t be as bad as what Applejack had done to the Flim Flam Brothers, could it?
“So, Lightning Dust, right?” Flim asked, getting the mare’s attention.
“Ugh, yeah? What do you want?” Lightning Dust asked, already annoyed by the presence of the two con artists.
“Well, we were just wondering, are you really willing to go through with the boss’s plan?” Flim asked.
“Yeah, even if it could mean death or whatever horrible fate has befallen on the big guy if we fail?” Flam added.
“What kind of question is that? Of course, I’m willing to go through with this whole thing! I don’t care what I have to do, just as long as I get to take out Rainbow Dash.” Lightning Dust answered, gritting her teeth at the mentioning of the cyan pegasus.
“What exactly did Rainbow Dash do to you? You see, when the Doctor recruited you, we weren’t there for the entire conversation.” Flam explained.
“Ever since we’ve been here, we’ve heard you say constantly that you despise Rainbow Dash. So, we want to know, why do you hate her so much?” Flim asked.
“Pfft, why do you care?” Lightning Dust asked, shooting an annoyed glance at the brothers.
“Well, we’re all in this nightmare together, aren’t we? We figured it would be best to know why we’re all sticking to this plan.” Flam said.
“(Sigh) Fine, whatever. There are two reasons why I hate Rainbow Dash so much.” Lightning Dust said as she adjusted her position in the seat. “A few years ago, I was accepted into the Wonderbolt Academy. All my life, all I ever wanted to do was become a Wonderbolt. They were my heroes when I was a filly. When I got accepted into the academy, I was so happy. All I had to do was pass the tests and I’d finally achieve my dream and make my dad proud.”
“Why only your pops? What about your mom?” Flim asked.
“My mom has been dead for years.” Lightning Dust said, actually sounding sad for the first time since she’d been here. “Now, shut up or I’m not going to finish my explanation.”
The Flim Flam Brothers nodded in response, agreeing to keep quiet and allow Lightning Dust to finish her story.
“I met Rainbow Dash on my first day at the academy. At the time, she wasn’t as famous as she is now, so I didn’t really know her. At first, she seemed pretty cool, and we hit it off almost immediately. We were both fast and strong fliers with tough attitudes. Because of that, we were put on a team together and we kicked major tail! Compared to us, all the other teams sucked! We had the best scores and were beating all of the academy records! Things were going so well…... until they showed up…” Lightning Dust said with venom in her voice.
Lightning Dust never forgot about the day that Rainbow Dash’s friends all showed up at the Wonderbolts training academy. There was no way she’d ever forget about it. Afterall it was one of the two times where Rainbow Dash had ruined her life. This was the day she had lost her dream of becoming a Wonderbolt.
“One day the Wonderbolts were having us clear the skies, rewarding each of us a point for every cloud we got rid of. While Rainbow Dash and I were making great progress, I came up with an idea to wipe the floor with the rest of our so-called ‘competition’. I decided to whip up a huge tornado so we could clear up all of the clouds and blow the other teams away! But things didn’t go as I had hoped they would go. We cleared the clouds up right away, but the tornado ended up being too strong to handle and Rainbow Dash and I ended up getting thrown out of it.” Lightning Dust said as she was interrupted once again.
“You were thrown out of a tornado? How in Equestria did you not permanently cripple yourself or even die for that matter?” Flam asked.
“Because I’m the best flier and the toughest mare in all of Equestria. That’s how.” Lightning Dust replied as she gave the brothers an annoyed look. “Anyway, after I bailed out, I saw off in the distance there was a hot air balloon with Rainbow Dash’s friends in it. The balloon ended up getting sucked into the tornado and the basket they were in broke. Rainbow Dash’s friends were falling, and Rainbow Dash swooped in and saved them using some clouds. I’ll admit, it was actually pretty cool how she was able to save her friends.”
*Flashback: Season 3, Episode 7; Wonderbolt Academy*
Rainbow Dash was in the middle of comforting her friends and making sure that they were all unharmed, when Lightning Dust emerged from the crowd of the rest of the Wonderbolt academy cadets.
“That… was… awesome!” Lightning Dust said as she shoved some of the cadets to the side.
“Awesome? My friends could’ve been smashed to pieces!” Rainbow Dash snapped, narrowing her eyes at Lightning Dust.
“Yeah, but they weren’t, right?” Lightning Dust asked nonchalantly as she zipped up into the air. “Can’t say the same for the clouds. We totally wiped them out with that tornado. The other cadets will have to be up there for days to bust as many as we did.” Lightning Dust said as she held her hoof out for a hoof bump.
Rainbow Dash just looked at Lightning Dust’s hoof in shock as she looked back up at the reckless pegasus, shooting her a mean look.
“A hoof bump, seriously?” Rainbow Dash asked as she pushed Lightning Dust’s hoof away. “You made me clip my wing, you sent half of our class into serious tailspins on the obstacle course, you unleashed a tornado that nearly demolished my friends!”
“Yeah, and?” Lightning Dust asked, not seeing what the issue was.
“And I get that you want to be the best; so, do I. But you’re going about it in a wrong way.” Rainbow Dash said.
“The Wonderbolts don’t seem to think so. Afterall, Spitfire did make me the leader and you, the wing pony.” Lightning Dust said, pointing a hoof at Rainbow Dash.
“(Sigh) You’re right. She did.” Rainbow Dash replied as she and Lightning Dust locked eyes with each other.
*End Flashback*
“It wasn’t long after that when Rainbow Dash reported me to Spitfire, the leader of the Wonderbolts. I was kicked out and told that I would never become a Wonderbolt so long as Princess Celestia continued to rule over Equestria.” Lightning Dust said, looking down at the ground with a sour expression. “That’s the first reason why I hate Rainbow Dash so much. She took away my dream of becoming a Wonderbolt. Everything I had worked so hard all of my life to achieve, Rainbow Dash stole it from me.”
“What’s the second reason?” Flim asked.
“A couple years after that, I eventually ran into some other pegasi that had been kicked out of the Wonderbolt academy just like me. I decided to form a group with these ponies, naming ourselves the Washouts. I was the leader, with my two new best friends, Rolling Thunder, and Short Fuse as my co-leaders.” Lightning Dust explained.
“The Washouts? You mean that group of aerial stunt performers that did all those crazy shows with the dangerous stunts?” Flam asked.
“Yeah, that was us. We were a huge hit and everypony who saw our shows became big fans of ours. Things were all going so well, until Rainbow Dash decided to show her face again.” Lightning Dust said, glaring as she thought about the memory of losing her team. “One day, we moved our show close to Ponyville. In no time at all, we had grown a pretty good fanbase in Ponyville. Rainbow Dash ended up coming to one of our shows and we ran into each other. Turns out the only reason she was there was because her little friend, Scootaloo, was a big fan of ours. She was a good kid and I appreciated that somepony actually looked up to me. Heck, she even started a fan club for me.”
Lightning Dust then went on to tell Flim and Flam the entire story of how she had recruited Scootaloo to join the Washouts as a special guest in their next big stunt.
“When I had Scootaloo join us, of course, Rainbow Dash tried to step in and get her to leave the Washouts. Too bad for her, Scootaloo wasn’t having it, and Rainbow Dash gave up. I was going to make that kid a star! Later, when it was time to get ready for the show, I decided that for Scootaloo’s debut, her stunt would be to ride a special scooter that had rocket boosters on the sides, as well as a big rocket to really give her some speed.” Lightning Dust said.
“Wait, you were going to have a filly ride a rocket powered scooter?” Flam asked.
“Yeah, isn’t that dangerous?” Flim added.
“Of course it’s dangerous. That’s kind of the whole point of the Washouts, we do dangerous stunts and tricks for ponies’ entertainment. Now I’ll admit, the rockets I used were untested, but hey, it was meant to add to the danger and excitement of the stunt. The kid tried to back out, but I managed to convince her to live up to expectations she set for herself when she became the president of my fan club. Things went according to plan after that… until suddenly they didn’t.” Lightning Dust said as she began to explain how Scootaloo’s stunt had gone wrong, ending with how she had been flung into the air by a rope attached to the rocket scooter.
“Hold on a moment, how did you survive that?” Flim asked curiously.
“Gee I don’t know, maybe it’s because I’m a pegasus and I can fly.” Lightning Dust said as she looked at Flim like he was the biggest idiot in all of Equestria. “Anyway, after that, word spread about the incident involving Scootaloo and the Washouts were forced to cancel all future shows. My Washout friends all left me, and I was all alone because of Rainbow Dash. Those are the reasons why I hate Rainbow Dash so much and why I’m willing to stay in this group. At this point I have nothing left to lose aside from my life. If I have to keep killing ponies in order to take out Rainbow Dash, so be it. I don’t care. The only thing I care about now is making sure that Rainbow Dash pays for ruining my life.”
As Lightning Dust finished her explanation of the root cause of her hatred for Rainbow Dash, the Flim Flam Brothers could sort of understand why Lightning Dust was so committed to making Rainbow Dash pay. From what they had just heard, Lightning Dust was just another pegasus who had dreams of becoming the best, and Rainbow Dash seemingly came out of nowhere and started to crush all of Lightning Dust’s dreams.
“So, now that I’ve told you my story, why don’t you two tell me yours?” Lightning Dust said to the two brothers. “Why are you two here and is it really worth sticking with this messed group that we’re in?”
“Well of course it’s worth it! Afterall, the boss promised us a huge reward of money if we get our jobs done!” Flam said proudly.
“What about Applejack? I thought you all wanted to get rid of her, just like I want to get rid of Rainbow Dash.” Lightning Dust said, raising her eyebrow.
“We do.” Flim said.
“Oh yeah? Why? What did she do to you?” Lightning Dust asked.
Flim and Flam turned to look at each other as they thought about how they should respond. They figured that since Lightning Dust had told them why she hated Rainbow Dash and why she was willing to stay in the Rogue, despite the risks of being severely punished for failing, it was only fair if they told her their reasons too.
“Well, much like how Rainbow Dash ruined your life, Applejack also ruined our lives. Ever since we first met her, Applejack has constantly been getting in the way of our business plans and ruining our careers. At first, we didn’t really let that stop us from continuing our lives. However, there was one thing the Applejack did that caused something bad to happen to us.” Flim said.
“Do you know about the Friendship Journal that was written and published by Applejack and the rest of her friends?” Flam asked.
“I’ve heard about it, but I’ve never actually read it. I’m not gonna waste any of my bits on some stupid book that tells everypony the adventures those six losers have had.” Lightning Dust said.
“Well, it was that very book that ruined our lives.” Flim said as the two brothers began to tell their story.
*Flashback: Sometime after Season 7, Episode 14; Fame and Misfortune*
Flim: A couple years ago, things were going quite well for us. We were still running the Gladmane resort and business was good. We had no knowledge about this Friendship Journal that had been published by Princess Twilight at the time. During the summer, we had made a lot of money and we decided to take a trip back home to tell our dear mother about our success.
Flam: It’s important for you to know a bit about our family before my brother continues. Despite what you may think, my brother and I did not grow up with riches. Quite the opposite in fact. Our family was very poor and every day we all struggled. I suppose you could say that we were dealing with poverty.
Flim: Yes, however it wasn’t always like this. Back when we were just little colts, our family was living a somewhat decent life. We weren’t rich but we certainly weren’t poor either. Father used to be a salespony for a little shop our family owned. Mother didn’t have a job; she just stayed home and took care of us. All of this changed, however, when father discovered the joys of gambling and conning. After that, our family started to do well financially. Mother did ask father how he had seemingly begun to bring in more money, but he never told her it was by gambling and conning.
Flam: Flim and I did end up finding out by accident when we stumbled across our father conning one of his customers. Father told us that while what he was doing was in a way, bad, it could bring happiness to our family. Father made us promise not to tell mother and we agreed to keep it a secret. Things were going well, until one day when father didn’t come home…
Flim: Turns out one of father’s scams had gone wrong and one thing led to another, and father was accidentally killed in a scuffle. He had been pushed onto the road and got run over by a heavy wagon. When the authorities came to our home, they told us about father and that apparently numerous reports had come in that he had been the biggest con artist in our little town. Mother was heartbroken and we lived in poverty ever since.
Flam: We spent most of our lives doing anything we could to make some money for our dear mother. Somehow, mother managed to keep us educated and once we were old enough to move out, we decided to dedicate our lives to helping our mother live a good life. We tried to make honest money by working different jobs, but no matter what we did, we just couldn’t make enough money.
Flim: It was then that we decided to follow in our father’s path and become con artists. Would you know it, we had started to make it big! We made good money and mother was happy. We soon moved out of our little town and began to travel throughout Equestria, making money using our incredible skills. Every time we’d make a big profit, we’d send some of it back to our mother.
Flam: Now, back to what my brother was saying earlier. We went back home to visit our mother and to bring her some of the profit that we had earned running our little business in Las Pegasus…
Flim and Flam were happily trotting along the road in their old hometown, carrying a large wagon behind them. It had been quite some time since they had last visited home. Soon, the two brothers spotted their family home off in the distance.
“Ah look brother! There is the house!” Flim said, pointing over to the house.
“Yes! Mother will be waiting for us! She said she really wanted to see us about something.” Flam replied with a smile. “Maybe she wants to congratulate us for landing a good job in Las Pegasus.”
“Maybe so! Come brother! Mother awaits!” Flim said as the two brothers quickened their pace.
After a few minutes, Flim and Flam arrived at their old house and knocked on the door. The doorknob was suddenly encased in a magical glow as the knob twisted, allowing the door to open. Excited to see their mother, Flim and Flam quickly picked up a bag of bits they had earned and headed inside the house.
“MOTHER! We’re back!” Flim and Flam exclaimed as they ran inside the house.
The Flim Flam Brothers were immediately taken aback as they saw their mother. She was sitting on the couch, wearing a black robe with her makeup seemingly ruined from crying. As she looked up to see her two sons, her mood immediately switched from being sad, to being extremely angry.
“HUSH! BOTH OF YOU!” Flim and Flam’s mother shouted, catching the brothers by surprise.
“Mother, what’s wrong?” Flim asked, adjusting his hat.
“What’s wrong!? WHAT’S WRONG!? THAT’S WHAT’S WRONG!” Their mother yelled as she pointed at the table in front of her.
On the small table in front of the couch, was a small book, which was the Friendship Journal that Twilight and her friends had published not too long ago. Pages had been torn out of the book and were left scattered on the table. When Flim and Flam looked to see what was on these pages, their spines shivered, and their blood ran cold. The pages that been torn out, were pages that depicted Flim and Flam and all of their scams and dishonest ways of getting money. All of these reports had been written by none other than Applejack.
“You rotten pair of thieving degenerates! How could you?!”
“M-Mother, please, let us explain.” Flam started before their mother cut him off.
“You’ve become just like your father! A lying, scamming, con artist! Is this where all of your money has come from!?”
“Mother, please, we were only trying to-!” Flim began to say before he too was cut off.
“I don’t want to hear it! All these years, you’ve both lied to me! I thought my sons were out there doing good things for Equestria! But I was wrong!”
“Mother, we only wanted to take care of you! We didn’t want you to live in poverty anymore! There was no other way!” Flim said, desperately trying to reach his mother.
“Take care of me!? You’ve given me money that is tainted with the sins of your father! You’ve scammed ponies and tricked them into giving you, their bits! You’ve both become a pair of greedy monsters! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE NOW!”
“Mother please no! Don’t say that! We were only trying to help you!” Flam pleaded as he fell at his mother’s hooves.
“I’m not your mother! I have no sons! You’re both dead to me! Just like your father! GET OUT! NEVER COME BACK! I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU CON ARTISTS AGAIN! GET OUT!”
“Mother! Please don’t do this to us!” Flam begged as he started to cry.
“GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT!!!”
As Flam desperately tried to cling to his mother, Flim quickly pulled him off of her as she actually tried to break a vase over Flam’s head. They ran out of the house just as their mother had thrown something at them. Once the brothers had slammed the door shut, they just looked at each other, shocked and broken by what had just happened.
Flim: While we stood outside our home, mother opened her window and screamed to everypony that we were criminals and that we were harassing her. We were chased out of town and never came back. Since then, we have no idea what has become of our mother, but all we know is that she no longer cares for us. All we ever wanted was to help her and give her the life she deserved. It was a very painful moment in our lives, and we agreed to try and bury the memory so we could focus on our business. This worked for quite some time as we went back to our normal lives. The memory only came back to us when the crazy doctor recruited us and when we encountered Applejack at that village.
Flam: Because of what Applejack wrote in that book, we lost our mother. We were banned from ever returning to our hometown, under the penalty of being thrown in jail for our crimes. We tried to write to our mother, but she never responded to any of our letters. Of all the times Applejack ruined our lives, this was the moment where she had crossed the line with us. We can never go back home now. We can never see our beloved mother again. We will never have a family again. Because of Applejack, our mother disowned us and lost all the love for us…
*End Flashback*
“That is why we are here. Even if we have to do things that are too far for us, we will do it if it means that we can make Applejack pay for ruining our lives.” Flim said.
“Huh… well I can’t believe I’m saying this but, I’m sorry about that. Even when my dad found out about the things I had done, he just gave me a stern talk. He didn’t disown me.” Lightning Dust said, showing genuine sympathy for the Flim Flam Brothers. “I can see why you two hate Applejack so much now. I’d want her to pay too if she caused me to lose my family.”
“We’re glad we can all understand each other.” Flim said.
“That’s right. Afterall, we’re all in this together, whether we really like it or not.” Flam added.
As the three members of the Rogue shared a glance of approval and respect for each other, Discorded Whooves suddenly flew over to the table they were sitting at and landed on the opposite side of the three Rogue members. The Doctor looked completely insane and the smile he was giving didn’t help at all.
“What are you three talking about?” Discorded Whooves asked, peering into the eyes of the Rogue.
“Oh great, Doctor Creep is here.” Lightning Dust said as she rolled her eyes.
“Ah, hello there, Doctor. We were just explaining to each other why we’re all here and why we are willing to stay with the boss.” Flim responded as politely as he could.
“Ah, let me guess, your hatred for Rainbow Dash, and you two; your hatred for Applejack?” Discorded Whooves asked.
“And the ‘smartest pony in the room’ award goes to… Doctor Creep.” Lightning Dust said in the most sarcastic tone she could muster.
“(Evil Chuckle) You know, Lightning Dust, I don’t really appreciate the disrespect that you’ve been showing me since we all became the Rogue.” Discorded Whooves said as he leered at the pegasus.
“Well, I’m sorry, maybe I just don’t like getting constantly hit on by somepony who’s the equivalent of an insane maniac.” Lightning Dust snapped back.
“(Evil Chuckle) You will show me some respect, Lightning Dust. I am your leader after all.” Discorded Whooves said as he gave her a creepy grin. “You keep playing hard to get, but you’ll come around. Mares like you always do.”
Before Discorded Whooves could continue to make this whole situation very awkward and uncomfortable for everypony else, especially for Lightning Dust, Flim and Flam decided to see what the deal with this mad doctor was. Afterall, they really didn’t have a clue as to why he was in the Rogue or why he was willing to stay.
“Say, uh, Doc, why are you here?” Flam asked, hoping to steer the Doctor’s attention away from the very disturbed Lightning Dust.
“Yeah, I don’t think you’ve ever told us why you’re doing all of this.” Flim added, backing his brother up.
“Yeah, Doc, care to tell us your riveting tale?” Lightning Dust asked, scooting away from Discorded Whooves.
“(Chuckle) I suppose I could tell you a bit about myself. I won’t tell you everything, only the parts that I consider to be the most important for you to understand who I am and why I am here. How does that sound for you?” Discorded Whooves asked.
Flim, Flam, and Lightning Dust all nodded in response, giving the Doctor the all clear to begin his story.
“(Evil Chuckle) It’s important for you all to know that in the world I came from, Discord hadn’t been reformed by Fluttershy. He remained his evil self and wreaked havoc throughout Equestria. Everypony did everything they could to stop him, but no pony was able to defeat Discord. I tried to stop him as well, but things didn’t go so well for me. Discord caught me off guard and warped my mind, allowing me to become who I am today. Sure, at first it seemed like a horrible thing, but I soon realized that Discord had opened my eyes to the truth. He helped see that no matter what we did, we would never win. Discord would always find a way to come out on top and bring our world closer to crumbling and shattering forever.” Discorded Whooves explained.
“So, Discord still hasn’t been stopped in your world?” Flim asked.
“No, to this day he is still tormenting my world. I tried to use one of my brilliant inventions to travel back in time to stop him, but no matter what I did, Discord was always one step ahead of me. It began to drive me mad, and he tormented me. As if that wasn’t bad enough, I also had a family to take care of; my two daughters, Amethyst Star and Dinky, and my wife, Derpy Hooves, who I loathe with every fiber of my being.” Discorded Whooves said, growling at the mention of Derpy’s name.
“You had a wife? Pfft, yeah, sure.” Lightning Dust said, baffled at the thought that this creep actually found a mare to settle down with.
“Why did you hate your wife?” Flam asked.
“Because she is a stupid, pathetic, klutz of a mare! Every time I would try to save my world, she’d always get in my way! She’d always say that my way was wrong and that it wouldn’t save us. Like she knew any better! She just wouldn’t leave me alone!” Discorded Whooves shouted, banging his hoof on the table. “All I wanted was to save my world from crumbling! If my world is destroyed, I will die and I will lose my two daughters! Even though they have been tainted by their mother’s genes, they are still my own flesh and blood!”
“So, how did you end up here in our world?” Flim asked, not really bothered or surprised that this Doctor was from a different universe.
“Our good friend, Professor Screw somehow managed to come to my world. He attacked me and everything went black. When I regained consciousness, I was in the body of a different Doctor Whooves. Professor Screw told me that much like my world, this world is also going to start crumbling. Now normally I wouldn’t care about a world that isn’t my own. However, the Professor told me that this is the primary dimension. If this world is destroyed, all reality will follow. Professor Screw promised me that if we can destroy this world but rebuild it again, we can stop the endless cycle of destruction and my world will be saved.” Discorded Whooves explained.
“Destroy the world and rebuild it again? That’s ridiculous.” Lightning Dust said.
“(Chuckle) Oh Lightning Dust, you have so little knowledge about the universe.” Discorded Whooves said.
Then, before anypony could say anything else, Professor Screw suddenly teleported into the room. Behind him, held in his magic, was the mechanical arms.
“Greetings all of you, I am pleased to see that you’re all here.” Professor Screw said.
“Literally no pony missed you.” Lightning Dust muttered under her breath.
“Give me back my arms, Professor! I’ve waited long enough!” Discorded Whooves said, his wings flaring out at the sight of his mechanical arms.
“Very well, the arms are yours.” Professor Screw said as he dropped them to the floor.
Without hesitation, Discorded Whooves flew over to the arms and secured the harness before locking the arms into place. With his mind reconnected to the arms, the bottom two arms lifted the Doctor into the air as he relished the joy of having these mechanical arms back in his possession.
“Yes… YES! (Evil Laugh) I trust that you’ve fixed the issue with these arms?” Discorded Whooves asked.
“For the most part, yes. However, you will need this.” Professor Screw said as he tossed the special remote to the Doctor, who caught it using one of the upper arms. “I installed an inhibitor chip on the arms to prevent them from taking control. However, they can still fight your commands so you will use this remote to discipline the arms should they ever try to take control.”
“(Growl) You mean these arms will still try to defy me! You old fool!” Discorded Whooves yelled as he grabbed Professor Screw with one of the upper arms. “I should have known! You can never do anything right, can you!?”
As Professor Screw was snatched up by the mechanical arm, he didn’t even try to fight it. It did hurt as the metal claws gripped his body tightly, but the Professor didn’t care as he knew it would be over soon. The Professor was right, as before Discorded Whooves could hurt him or try to kill him, Sombra emerged from the shadows. Seeing the Doctor once again attempting to hurt the Professor annoyed Sombra as he was fed up with these childish games.
“ENOUGH!” Sombra yelled, his powerful voice echoing throughout the room. “Doctor, put him down, now.”
Startled by Sombra’s sudden appearance, Discorded Whooves glared at the Professor before he reluctantly released him.
“Now, if you’re all done messing around, I would appreciate if I had your undivided attention.” Sombra said, looking at the rest of the Rogue.
“Of course, boss! My brother and I are all ears!” Flim said as the two brothers bowed to Sombra.
“Yeah, what they said.” Lightning Dust said as she nodded to Sombra.
“Good. Now, as I’m sure you’re all wondering where Iron Will is. Well, these is no need wonder anymore, because he’s right here.” Sombra said as he used his magic to teleport Iron Will from Professor Screw’s lab to the castle.
When Iron Will was teleported into the same room as everypony else, the Rogue were able to see the state Iron Will was in. He had multiple cuts along his body, and he looked as if he had beaten by a blunt object. He was once again wearing his gauntlets, but that wasn’t the first thing that everypony noticed. For one, Iron Will moving around like he was totally brain dead, and on his head, he was wearing a strange looking metal helmet.
“As you can all see, Iron Will has been fixed. No longer will he try to go against me. In fact, he can no longer think for himself. His brain has been damaged enough to where we can properly order him around without any issues. Professor Screw has fitted him with a special device that controls his mind. The Iron Will that you all knew before is gone.” Sombra explained, presenting Iron Will like he was some incredible achievement.
“Oh… g-gosh…” Lightning Dust said, completely shocked at what Sombra was implying.
“H-Hey, Iron Will? Big guy? Can you hear me?” Flim asked as he walked up to the minotaur.
Iron Will didn’t respond as he just made a strange groaning sound, with drool spilling out of his mouth. Flim and Flam shuddered at the realization of what had happened to Iron Will.
“(Evil Chuckle) Let this be a lesson to the rest of you. If you aren’t going to do your jobs, either I will kill you, or I will make you do your jobs. Do you all understand?” Sombra asked, taking a menacing step towards them.
“Yes sir! You’re not going to get any complaints from me!” Lightning Dust said as she saluted to Sombra.
“Like we told you, boss. The Flim Flam Brothers will always stick together, and we’ll always obey your commands!” Flim said as he also saluted to Sombra.
“Whatever you want us to do, we’ll do it, boss!” Flam added as he too saluted Sombra.
“Your wish is my command, master.” Discorded Whooves said as he nodded to Sombra.
“(Evil Chuckle) That is very good, because I have a new mission for you all.” Sombra said.
“Good! I’ve been aching to get back out there and get my hooves dirty.” Discorded Whooves said as he rubbed his hooves together.
“For your next mission, you’re all going to Manehattan.” Sombra said.
“Oh Manehattan!? Sweet! I’ve always wanted to go there!” Lightning Dust said, excited that not only would she get to see the big city, but she’d also get to cause some mayhem.
“Manehattan!? Why that’s the perfect place for us to be, brother!” Flim said to Flam.
“(Laughs) You got that right, brother!” Flam replied.
“(Chuckle) While I’m sure you’re all excited about your mission, you should know that this time, your goal is different. Unlike your previous mission, your task is not to kill everypony. If you want to kill any ponies, go ahead, I don’t care. However, this is your mission.” Sombra said as he used his magic to project an image of an earth pony above the table map of Equestria.
The earth pony mare that Sombra had projected above the table, was white with a two-tone almost cyan mane and tail. The mare wore a white-bordered lavender sailor collar with a red tie and a tri-shade hairclip in the back of her mane. Her cutie mark was a lavender hat with a scarlet feather. This was Coco Pommel, the pony that had befriended Rarity in Manehattan sometime before Tirek had made his grand return.
“This is no ordinary pony. This is a special friend of one of Twilight Sparkle’s friends, Rarity. She runs a boutique in Manehattan. You will find her and use her as a hostage. When Twilight Sparkle and her friends arrive to save the day, go crazy, do whatever you want. Your first two missions were meant to announce your presence to Equestria. Now, you will show everypony how much of a menace you can all be. You make your own calls but remember what your purpose is as the Rogue.” Sombra said.
“Yes, King Sombra.” The Rogue answered.
“(Chuckle) Good. The day after tomorrow you will go to Manehattan. Professor, unless you finish the previous task, I have given you, you will not go with the rest of the Rogue. Now, I have some things to attend to.” Sombra said as he sunk into the shadows.
“I shall be on my way as well. I must complete a job for his majesty. Behave yourselves now.” Professor Screw said as he teleported back to his lab.
Once Sombra and the Professor had left the castle, the rest of the Rogue looked at each other, mischievous grins plastered on their faces.
“Oh boy! This is going to be so much fun!” Lightning Dust said as she rubbed her hooves together.
“Yes, Manehattan will be our playground to do as we please.” Discorded Whooves said as he opened and closed the claws of the arms.
“You know, I think we could do more than just hold a simple hostage. I’ve heard that the bank in Manehattan is one of the biggest and most loaded banks in all of Equestria!” Flam said with a greedy grin.
“You’re not seriously thinking about robbing a bank, are you? We’re not petty thieves you know.” Lightning Dust said as she felt all of the excitement drain out of her.
“Well, the boss did say we’re supposed to be total menaces, didn’t he? Plus, are you really going to say no to some free bits?” Flim asked.
“Yeah, and once this whole thing is over, you could use some of those bits to start up a new group of fliers or something.” Flam added with a grin.
“Eh, you’re right. I’m not gonna turn down free money. Plus, if this can annoy those idiot ponies, I’m all in.” Lightning Dust said.
“You got that right, Lightning Dust!” Flim said as he gave her a grin before turning to Iron Will. “What about you, big guy? Are you in?”
“Iron Will crush everything! Iron Will cause destruction!” Iron Will replied as he flexed his muscles before returning back to his idle state.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” Flim said as he stepped away from the minotaur.
“(Evil Chuckle) Look out, Manehattan, here we come…” Discorded Whooves said as the Rogue all laughed.
Elsewhere…
Sombra had emerged from the shadows, finding himself in a small cave close by his little castle. After making sure no pony else was around or near the area, Sombra took a deep breath and closed his eyes. After a few seconds, Sombra’s eyes opened wide, glowing their bright green color.
“Gather.” Sombra said as he entered the Void.
Once Sombra was in the Void, he waited patiently for the arrival of what he considered to be his three greatest assets. Seconds later, the shadowy translucent forms of Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow all appeared in the Void. Understandably, the terrible trio were shocked to be back in this strange place as they hadn’t been expecting it.
“What? This place again?” Chrysalis said as she looked around at the emptiness of the Void.
“We’re back in the Void! That means… (Gasp) Hey King Sombra! It’s so good to see you!” Cozy Glow said as she looked over to Sombra.
“Ugh! Can you shut up!? You make me want to rip my own ears off!” Tirek said as he groaned.
“How about you shut up, you big oaf!” Cozy Glow snapped as glared at Tirek.
“I have a suggestion, why don’t you both shut up!?” Chrysalis yelled before Sombra began to chuckle, getting the trio’s attention.
“(Chuckle) Glad to see that you three are getting along nicely.” Sombra said before he put on a serious face. “Have you retrieved Grogar’s bell yet?”
“(Nervous Giggle) Well, not yet b-but we’re almost at Mount Everhoof!” Cozy Glow said, hoping Sombra wouldn’t be upset.
“Hmph, well you’re all certainly taking your time with it.” Sombra said as he shrugged. “No matter, I am pleased that you’re at least making some progress.”
“Well did you summon us just to check on your progress? Or did you need something else?” Tirek asked, wanting to get this meeting over with.
“As a matter of fact, Tirek, there is something else.” Sombra said. “I have something very important to tell each of you. However, I think I will wait until you have retrieved Grogar’s bell.”
“Aww but King Sombra, can’t you just tell us now if it’s really important?” Cozy Glow asked.
“I could tell you now, but I won’t.” Sombra replied with a laugh. “Go, scale Mount Everhoof, bring me back Grogar’s bell, and then we’ll talk.”
“(Laughs) The ease of this task is laughable.” Chrysalis said as she grinned confidently at Sombra.
“(Evil Chuckle) I’m sure it is. Dismissed.” Sombra said as Tirek and Chrysalis disappeared from the Void.
“King Sombra? If we manage to bring the bell back, can I ask you for a favor?” Cozy Glow asked nervously while still trying to look brave.
“A favor? (Chuckle) Retrieve the bell, then come ask me again.” Sombra replied.
“Okay! I promise, we’ll get that bell!” Cozy Glow said with a huge grin on her face.
“Very good. Dismissed.” Sombra said as Cozy Glow disappeared from the Void.
Once he was left alone in the Void, Sombra chuckled to himself. He had complete faith in the terrible trio, and he would gladly wait for their return with Grogar’s bell.
Meanwhile, in a forest near the bottom of Mount Everhoof…
Once Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow had left the Void and were back in the real world, they all looked at each other, nodding before they continued their journey to Mount Everhoof.
“If King Sombra thinks that this job will prove to be difficult for us, he is greatly mistaken. We’ll get that bell, no problem.” Tirek said as they walked through the forest.
“Yeah! Let’s go get that bell!” Cozy Glow said as she did a loop in the air.
“Climb a mountain and retrieve a bell that once belonged to a powerful monster? This will be easy.” Chrysalis said as they continued their walk to Mount Everhoof.
After some time of walking, the terrible trio arrived at a clearing. From there, they were able to see Mount Everhoof. The mountain was tall and looked very intimidating from a distance. The terrible trio just stared at the big mountain, realizing that they might have just jinxed themselves with how easy this task would truly be.
“Well, it sounded easy…” Chrysalis said as the three continued to stare up at the mountain.
It was pretty clear to the terrible trio now that this task would be anything but easy…