In the prison of Tartarus, the Lord of Chaos descended to the solitary, followed by Fire Punch who asked:
"My Lord, but what are we doing here? Don't tell me you're going to release another of your villains from the solitary."
"What do you think?" the Lord of Chaos asked, descending the stairs.
"But you've opened two of the cells and the villains who were there have failed" Fire Punch said, continuing to follow his master. "Don't you think you should use one of your normal villains? There’re still so many to choose."
"At the level we are, Fire Punch, I need more than simple villains" the Lord of Chaos replied, nearing the end of the staircase. "Besides, you've only seen the Sirens and Arbor’s power. There are still many more villains even more powerful and more fearsome than them. Like this one."
The Lord of Chaos stopped in front of the cell that had Purple Smoke’s cutie mark.
"Who's in there?"
"Somepony with the perfect combination of intelligence, wickedness and madness I need to conquer this world and dominate the hearts of all ponies... literally."
"What do you mean with..."
But Fire Punch didn’t finish, as the Lord of Chaos began to open the cell. It took only a few seconds until the door crack and tear apart. Smoke remained in the air for a few moments before a figure appear. Then an imposing female voice said:
"Finally, it's going to be OFF WITH THE HEAD!"
And an unicorn mare appeared. Her coat was pinkish and its mane had varied tones of red and was very well-arranged with a golden crown adorned with red hearts. She was dressed in a red gall adorned with playing cards on the hems and on the collar. She also had a heart-shaped mark in the corner of her mouth.
The imposing figure of this mare and his cry made Fire Punch startle and placed slightly behind his master.
"Ah, but what a pleasure to see you again, Queen of Hearts."
"Well, I can't say the same, your honor" the Queen of Hearts replied, without lowering his aplomb. "What took you so long to release me?"
"I'm terribly sorry, but I had to be cautious" the Lord of Chaos answered. "If I released all those who are in the solitary, certainly there would be the chaos that I love so much, but it would also make the Generals of Order and the Princess of the Light Kingdom to take action. Don't you think it's much better to use the element of surprise seeing by my point of view?"
"How can I know what it's like to see from your point of view if I’m not you?" the Queen of Hearts asked.
"Of course, you're absolutely right" the Lord of chaos said. "But let’s moving on to more important things."
"Where do we go next?" the Queen of Hearts asked.
"Oh, my Lord, are you sure when you said she was the perfect combination of intelligence, wickedness and madness?" Fire Punch asked to his master. "I mean, I don't disagree with the part of the wickedness and madness, but I don't know with the part of the intelligence."
"What are you saying, your sample of... anything?" the Queen of Hearts screamed to Fire Punch that gave a little scream of fear and began to retreat, while the queen advanced to him. "Do I look stupid? Do you think just because I'm a beautiful and splendid queen that I have no brains?!"
Fire Punch had retreated so much that he hit against one of the walls of the solitary, wishing only that the division was bigger so he could retreat more. He had never met anypony who fucked almost as much fear as the Lord of Chaos.
"It's better you show me more respect or it's OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!" the Queen of Hearts shouted.
Shaking, Fire Punch tried to enlist his master’s help:
"My lord, don’t you will help me?"
"I'm thinking about it" he replied, looking at his fingernails.
He left the Queen of Hearts terrorize Fire Punch for a few more seconds before saying:
"My dear Queen of Hearts, I believe that it is better to save his head. After all, you will need his help if you want to help me and, at the same, get your revenge. Fire Punch will be happy to help you."
"I will?" Fire Punch asked.
"He will?" the Queen of Hearts asked at the same time that Fire Punch.
"Of course he will" the Lord of Chaos said. "He is a bit clumsy and don’t think too much, but he's a sufficient helper. I'm sure he will be a great... knave."
"Don't tell me" the Queen of Hearts said, with a thoughtful air, turning to Fire Punch. "Well, whatever. It can be."
She drifted away from Fire Punch (much to his relief).
"I hope you will be very useful as a knave... Fire Punch. Otherwise it's off with your head!"
With Fire Punch trembling before the Queen of Hearts’ threat, she asked in a more relaxed voice and with a smile:
"Did you understand?"
Fire Punch waved and then the Queen of Hearts said, watching him:
"But, first, we have to take care of your clothing. If you're going to be my knave, you have to have the proper presentation."
And having said that, she carried she horn with magic and launched a magic beam that hit Fire Punch. When he was by himself, he was wearing a red armor with three rows of hearts in the front and he also had a heart-shaped mark on his right eye.
"As always, my queen, your taste is impressive." the Lord of Chaos said, while Fire Punch looked at his new look. "But, now, it's time to start with everything."
And he gave a slight chuckle.
In the Canterlot castle, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were at the end of one more royal meeting.
"Well, finally, one more meeting ended" Princess Celestia said, while signing the latter document she needed to sign.
"You're absolutely right, sister" Luna agreed, also signing her final document. "I think I'm going to get some sleep before my duty of the night."
But the throne room door opened and a guard came and reported to the two sisters:
"Your Highnesses, a representative of a far country and her companion had just arrived and want a meeting with you."
"It seems that we speak too soon, little sister" Celestia joked.
"But who is this representative?" Luna asked.
"Well, there's only one way to know" Celestia replied, turning then to the guard. "You can let them in."
The guard waved and then withdrew, returning later with two ponies wrapped with capes. One of them came forward and said with a female voice, making a bow:
"Your Highnesses, but what a pleasure to meet you. I hope I haven't come at bad time."
"Of course not" Celestia answered, leaving her throne and going to the mysterious Mare. "It's a great honor to receive somepony from a distant country and establish a new friendship. I just want to know which so mysterious country is yours. "
"Oh, it's a land full of wonders!" the mare exclaimed.
Suddenly, the mysterious mare lifted her hoof and entered it in Celestia’s chest, penetrating it magically. Celestia moaned in pain when the mare’s hoof got in.
"Sister!" Luna exclaimed, turning to the guards who were there. "Guards!"
The present guards prepared to attack the mystery mare, but her escort put himself in their way and beat them quickly. Luna intervened, launching a magic beam against the escort, but he managed to dodge, jumping back, something that made his hood and reveal his identity: Fire Punch.
"You!" Luna cried.
Fire Punch laughed and said:
"Surprised? Well, I understand. But, now, I think you should worry about your sister."
Luna turned to Celestia, seeing the mysterious mare getting off her hoof from her chest and pulling out what seemed to be...
"My heart..." Celestia said, gasping.
She tried to attack the nare, but she jumped back to get away.
"Stop" she ordered to Celestia.
As if she were compelled to obey, Celestia stopped.
"Sister" Luna said, wanting to her edge.
"Stop, Luna” Celestia said, making her sister to stop, without stopping to look at the mysterious mare. "You still don't get it. There's only one pony able to rip the heart out of somepony in this way, besides Purple Smoke. How are you... Queen of Hearts."
The mysterious mare smiled and withdrew her cape, showing that she was indeed the Queen of Hearts and starting to give her manic laughter.
"That's right, princess" she said to Celestia. "It's a shame you have figured that out too late."
And she laugh maniacally.
"Your..." Luna started.
She began charge her horn. Fire Punch tried to stop her, but the Queen of Hearts said, without giving up from her smile:
"If I were you, Princess Luna, I would think twice before you do that you're going to do or I will gladly make her heart be slaughtered entirely what will make Princess Celestia be killed. Wow, I liked the sound of this."
So Luna, due to the fact that the Queen of Hearts had in her possession the heart of her sister, she gave up the attack she was planning to do.
"Perfect" the Queen of Hearts, starting to approach Celestia’s throne, taking with her Celestia’s heart with her magic. "Now I think I'm going to sit in my new throne."
She sat down and said:
"It's not really my style, but it's nothing that it can't be change."
"You're not going to get away with it" Celestia said.
"When the Generals know what you're doing, they will stop you" Luna added.
"And I can't wait for that to happen" the Queen of Hearts said. "You know, I want to talk to them about something, especially with that despicable who thinks he's better than everyone else."
"Are you talking about Purple Smoke?" Luna asked.
"No, I'm talking about the Mad Hatter’s dormouse" the Queen of Hearts answered sarcastically. "Of course I'm talking about Purple Smoke! That idiot... He dared to take my own heart and use it to defeat me. Well, now, I have a bargaining chip."
And she laughed, as she watched to Celestia’s heart.
There was movement and more guards came in, ready to face the threat that had appeared.
"Allow me, Your Highness" Fire Punch said to the Queen of Hearts.
"Don't bother, my knave" the Queen of Hearts repied. "I know how to deal with them in the best way."
And she laughed, while approaching to her Celestia’s heart.
"Celestia, my dear, will you do the honors?"
Celestia tried to fight against the Queen of Hearts’ desire, but it was an impossible task, as she held her heart. So Celestia, using her magic, arrested the guards who have been caught by surprise by the fact that they have been attacked by their own princess.
"Good girl" the Queen of Hearts said to Celestia, with an evil smile.
"You're going to pay bitterly for what you're doing, your sample of queen" Luna said to the Queen of Hearts.
"If you weren’t helpful, my dear, I would tell you to be careful with the words or it would be off with your head" the Queen of Hearts. "But I need to deliver a message to Purple Smoke. Tell him I want my heart. Only in this way you can take back sweet Celestia’s heart. And if he tries to use it against me, he has to think again, because my master is protecting me."
Luna didn't want to leave her sister, but Celestia told her:
"Luna, go!"
"But, sister..."
“Go! I'm fine."
So, Luna, without another choice, took flight and went out.
"Okay, now let's get to more important matters" the Queen of Hearts in a serious tone, passing then to a more exciting one. "Decoration! I was thinking in a red hearts decoration in... well, the whole castle. And I also want a more sumptuous throne. I see you don't have a taste as sublime as mine, dear Celestia."
"Excuse me, Your Highness" Fire Punch said, placing himself in front of the staircase to the throne and making a bow.
"What?" the Queen of Hearts asked. "Can't you see I'm planning the decoration of my new castle?"
"I know, my queen, but I want to give you some advice that I think you will enjoy very much" Fire Punch said.
"This better be good, or else is..." the Queen of Hearts began.
"Off with my head, yes, I know, but believe me when I say it's important" Fire Punch said. "Knowing our enemies as I do, and I know them well enough, they will find a way to beat you."
"Don't tell me..." the Queen of Hearts said, thoughtfully.
"But I know of a perfect way to get around this complication" Fire Punch said.
"So, what are you doing here?" the Queen of Hearts asked. "Go take care of it."
"But I'm going to need backup" Fire Punch said. "To do what I'm planning, it takes more than a pony."
"Very well" the Queen of Hearts answered.
She turned to the guards and charged her horn with magic, invoking then a number of tentacles to the guards, and used these tentacles to penetrate their chests and rip their their hearts off. After this, they were engaged by light and, when it was cleared, the guards began to rise, all wearing armors that were either red or black with a number and suit recorded in their helmets.
"My own card guard" the Queen of Hearts said. "And, with their hearts in my power, all of them are loyal to me."
"You should be ashamed" Celestia said. "How dare you do this to innocent ponies."
"Shut up!" the Queen of Hearts ordered, order that Celestia followed without alternative. "You just say whatever I want. You, take her to the dungeon."
A pair of guards who were turned went to Celestia and took her to the dungeon.
"Okay, it's time to take care of the rest of the guards, conquer this damn city and keep all these hearts" the Queen of Hearts said. "Oh, there's so much to do! I can't wait for tea time!"
In the Light Kingdom, Twilight was sitting on her throne taking care of issues with Golden Paladin when the alarm started to play and quite loud.
"Oh no" Twilight said. "Not again."
"I was waiting for this" Golden Paladin said. "We both know that the Lord of Chaos doesn't like to waste time."
"Go get the others" Twilight said. "We have to know what threat is as soon as possible so we can respond and defeat this new villain without causing too much damage."
"Yes, Your Highness" Golden Paladin replied.
But when Golden Paladin was preparing to get his siblings, the gates of the throne room opened and a guard said:
"Your Highness, terrible news."
But before he finished, Luna entered the throne room and said, advancing to Twilight:
"Twilight Sparkle, Celestia and Canterlot are in terrible danger."
That left Twilight stunned.
"What?!" she asked. "But what happened? Is she all right?"
Luna tried to respond, but she was interrupted by Purple Smoke that entered in the throne room and took his corporeal form.
"So, what's the big emergency?" Purple Smoke asked. "Some ugly monster? Or a mad villain trying to conquer Equestria on behalf of the Great Master?”
"The Queen of Hearts" Luna said.
Golden Paladin and Purple Smoke hold their breath hearing that name.
"I get it, the last" Purple Smoke said.
"Damn, this is really bad" Golden Paladin said.
"But who is the Queen of Hearts?" Twilight asked.
"Somepony who is as dangerous as crazy" Mirror Coat answered which appeared coming from one of the mirrors of the throne room. "She ruled a world adjacent to our called Wonderland. There, magic is much more intense and the logic is completely different."
"The Queen of Hearts ruled their world in a quite severe and egotistical way" Golden Paladin continued. "In part because the Lord of Chaos managed to make her succumb to his influence. But she was dethroned by her own daughter and exiled to here where she began to cause problems."
"Well, that was until I defeat and arrest her in the solitary" Purple Smoke said.
"So this is one of the villains of the solitary" Twilight said. "Luna, what happened?"
"The Queen of Hearts appeared in disguise, together with Fire Punch" Luna told.
"Fire Punch?!" Twilight repeated. "But what has he to do with this?"
"It looks like he is her Knave of Hearts" Luna answered. "They pretended to be representatives of another country. We didn't realize who they were until it was too late. The Queen of Hearts ripped out my sister’s heart."
"What?!" Twilight asked horrified, standing up.
"Don't worry, princess" Golden Paladin calmed. "It's not what you think. The Queen of Hearts has the power to rip the hearts of the ponies without killing them, because the heart is still attached to the body."
"The problem is that whoever has the heart of a pony can control his or her actions and can have in his or her hooves the pony's life to whom the heart belongs" Mirror Coat continued.
"And that's how I managed to win her" Purple Smoke said. "With my ability to mimic talents, I imitated her magic and ripped her heart. Needless to say, as it was much easier to arrest her after that. Although, in order to achieve this, I had a lot of work, to tell the truth."
"And that's exactly what she wants in exchange for Celestia’s heart: her own heart" Luna said.
"You mean this?" Purple Smoke asked, invoking a box and pulling out a heart. "I kept it around when the Lord of Chaos began sending the villains from the solitary. What was well thought because now we can beat that crazy Queen, given that we can control her."
"I'm sorry to ruin your moment of happiness, Purple Smoke, but the Lord of Chaos assured to the Queen of Hearts immunity to her heart" Luna said.
"What?" Purple Smoke asked. "It can't be."
He tried to use the Queen of Hearts’ heart, but it seemed he couldn't, because he was a little disappointed and said:
"Oh…"
"It seems that we have no other choice" Golden Paladin said. "We have to abide by the Queen of Hearts’ requirement."
"Yes, but she must be up to something" Purple Smoke said. "I know her pretty well. Furthermore, I doubt the Lord of chaos have released her only to retrieve her heart."
"You're right" Golden Paladin said. "Probably, this serves only to release her from our control."
"I don't care" Twilight said, coming down the staircase of her throne. "We have to save Celestia."
"She's right" Luna said. "We have no time to lose."
Golden Paladin mused for a few seconds and said:
"Okay, Purple Smoke, you're going to take care of the exchange. The fact that you can turn into smoke allows that the Queen of Hearts can't rip your heart out. But the fact that she might be up to something that's what upsets me. We must draw up a plan."
In Ponyville, Twilight's friends were having a picnic on the edge of Ponyville.
"Oh, I miss our picnics with Twilight" Rarity said, while levitating a cup of tea. "Without her, it seems that things are not the same."
"I understand you perfectly, Rarity" Applejack said, while eating a slice of apple pie. "But Twilight have lots of responsibilities in the Light Kingdom. After all, she's the princess."
"But she's got like six Generals to give her coverage" Rainbow Dash said, eating a sandwich. "I bet that should not be difficult to find the time to come to Ponyville."
“Rainbow Dash, we're talking about a kingdom that's been petrified by centuries" Rarity said, taking light swallows of tea. "I bet there must be a lot of work to do.”
"Rarity is right" Fluttershy said, while passing the hoof through her belly that was increased in size from day to day. "Twilight is our friend and I'm sure she would come to see us if she had time."
"The Lord of Chaos is trying to have revenge against her and take over the world" Applejack said.
"Oh, and don't forget that we also had a large role in his defeat, which was also his greatest humiliation" Pinkie Pie said, balancing on her snout cupcakes that were stacked on top of each other, throwing them in the air and then eating them one by one. "I wouldn't be surprised that he aimed one of his attacks against us again."
"It's amazing how the most stupid of you can say the most rational thing" a voice said.
They all turned and saw Fire Punch at a certain distance, displaying a wicked smile.
"Fire Punch" Applejack said, while she and the others raised up.
"How are you?" Fire Punch asked. "We don’t see each other in person since the Light Kingdom was recovered."
"You mean when we beat you and your master" Applejack said.
"Details, details" Fire Punch answered.
"Speaking of details, what's up with the new look?" Rainbow Dash asked, in a mocking tone, looking to Fire Punch’s armor and heart mark. "You decided to try new things?"
"Why?" Fire Punch asked. "Envy?"
"Not in a million years I'd be envious of somepony so disgusting as you” Rainbow Dash answered.
"Really, whoever designed that must have a lot of bad taste" Rarity said.
"Girls, you should be more careful" Fluttershy said, nervously. "After all, he is... followerof the... Lord of Chaos."
"You should hear your little friend" Fire Punch said. "Taking into account that I was assigned to help a new villain who is very different from all those who you faced."
"Oh, do you think you intimate us with that?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I'm going to show you what I do to cockroaches like you."
And Rainbow Dash took flight, preparing to attack Fire Punch. But that's when two pegasus card guards showed up and arrested Rainbow Dash against the ground.
"But..." she began as she tried to break free, but in vain. "Let me go!"
The others tried to help Rainbow Dash, but they found themselves suddenly surrounded by other guards. Fire Punch laughed and said:
"Girls, allow me to introduce my new guard: the card guard. Now, in the name of the Queen of Hearts, you're under arrest. "
And he laughed.