//------------------------------//
// The Twist and the Tomb 
// Story: Phantom War VIII: Return of the NLR and Mephiles' Alliance 
// by Danny Eclipse 
//------------------------------//

3 Weeks later...

I was on approach in on my shutter; the Rogue Shadow. My ship; the Soulless One, was destroyed during the attack of the Battleship along the border (From the Chapter "Betrayal"). So; I have to wait until I can make myself a new fighter. ME and Rainbow were heading to the meeting that Charming was so immediately wanted. When we arrived, the landing ramp lowered and both me and Rainbow got off the ship and began to head to the meeting room.

Not much changed since the NLR's return. The Equestrian Empire has increase defenses around Canterlot and the Phantom Consortium along with Thrall's Horde have a fleet ready to repel any enemy attacks. Cyber has a plan already ready for the invasion. Speaking of Cyber; he has located the Dark Map in the deserted and managed to get the data WITHOUT disturbing the sleeping dragon from within. It was just another piece of the puzzle. Cyber has Twilight heading to the Crystal Knight Temple to get another dark map and told her to kill off all Jedi from within and make sure to take the corpses and Clover's Coffin onto a supply ship and transported back to him. I'm just waiting for the right moment to get to the 4th dark map. Cyber, himself, is heading to Argonian Territory to extract the data of the 5th and final dark map.

When we arrived; we see the other members there.

Charming said "Wonderful; let us start."

Luna asked "Care to explain why you called us so urgently; Charming?"

Charming looked towards Cadence "Cadence... show the data we have recently found."

Cadence pulls out a datapad, plugs it into the computer hologram and the curtains lowered as a hologram played. It was data coordinates of a dark map! I managed to hold back the urge to gasped in shock. However; Cyber (telepathically) gasped in shock.

Cyber said with panic telepathically "This is bad... this is so very very bad!"

'At least we have our 4th set of coordinates. I'll send it to Twilight so she can give it to you. We will have our plans done faster.' "Charming. What is this? This looks like coordinates of something."

Charming replied "We found some sort of device that acts like a map underneath the Crystal Empire Palace. We never noticed it before and we managed to talk to some sort of machine that told us that it was created by Mephiles and that the map leads to Mephiles' Ultimate Weapon; The Dark Forge."

Celestia replied "I heard of nothing about this... Dark Forge, back in the dark days of Mephiles."

Charming answered back "We talked to the machine and while his information was limited; he did tell us that the Dark Forge has a weapon known as the Dark Reanimation Control. It allows Mephiles to restore the physical bodies of the dead back to their nature in their youth and before their death. The thing about this, though, allows Mephiles to controlled the Reanimated Minions like puppets and they are forced to do it without question. And not to mention; the Dark Forge is a powerful battle station; maybe even more powerful than the Death Star."

"We can't spare resources looking for this... Dark Forge. We are busy protecting Equestria from the NLR and Garrosh."

Charming replied "But maybe a small team can leave Equestria to look for the Dark Maps. There are five in total and we can use them to help us locate this Dark Forge."

"Then do what? You can't control the dead! Only Mephiles can!"

Charming answered "I was thinking that maybe Danny could..."

"ME!?!"

Chrysalis added "Make sense since he is Mephiles' Heir."

"But what if I can't!? What then!?"

"Then we destroy it to make sure Mephiles can't use it; should he return at all." Charming replied

Cyber shouted in panic in my mind "Eclipse; you need to find a way to evade the destruction of this weapon! If we lose it; our way to raise an army will be lost! This will all be for nothing!"

"What if... what if I use Unicron's Blood; Dark Energon? I can control any machine with my will and with Unicron's domination; the Dark Forge could be used for... other means."

I see Primus' medallion glowing.

Charming answered, speaking for Primus "No. Primus has pointed out to me that you could use the Dark Forge against us; should you turn against us."

In anger; I got up from my seat and pounded the table in fury.

"Have I showed you no true trust brother!? I helped you, supported you, and gave you all sorts of help and this is the thanks I get!? No trust from my own brother!?!"

Charming replied; almost like begging "Danny-"

"NO!!! I refuse to help you track down these Dark Maps! If you don't trust me; you don't trust the alliance between the Vampony Empire and its allies! And not to mention; I'm sure the Phantom Consortium will not support you in this uproar!"

Charming replied "Primus has never led me wrong."

"Oh! So you trust a Cybertronian God who is no more than your adviser than your own brother!?" I turned to the door. "I knew this would not work! By this action; the Vampony Empire will NOT support you for this act of distrust! I will NOT work with a King who has doubt of his relation; his brother alone!"

Rainbow gets up and we began to head to the door.

Rainbow added "Charming; as Queen of the Vampony Empire, I leave Equestria with my husband. I hope you can think next time about your show of distrust."

Both me and Rainbow left the meeting room. We heard argument of the distrust as we left. I mentally smirked; knowing that I sparked distrust among the Alliance, breaking it apart.






Dusk's POV






Later...

I was arriving to the hanger of the Super Star Destroyer. The Alliance was breaking up. First Danny and Rainbow walked out on Charming and the Alliance, then Chrysalis and Meta walked out as well for the same reason of Distrust. Even Brutalight was having doubts about Charming after his show of distrust. I, myself, hated the fact that Charming trusted Primus more than he did for Danny. I starting to think that Charming is showing his trust colors of distrust. Anyway; me, Charming, Luna, Applejack, Sunset, and Shining are going to the Crystal Knight Temple to visit Clover the Clever's Tomb to pay our respects and hopefully get the coordinates of the Dark Forge there.

Anyway; I was arriving when I see everyone there. We got aboard the ship and began to make our departure.





We arrived to the location. However... we were too late.

We see a Droid Control Ship hovering over the Crystal Knight Temple. The Temple, itself, was ablaze.

Charming asked "Does Twilight already know about the Dark Maps?"

"Impossible. She would have shared that information to you. I think someone could have told her."

Luna asked "Perhaps a spy was amongst our mists?"

Charming looked at Luna "Are you suggesting Danny?"

"NO! My Father would not feed information to the NLR!"

Shining said "Well; he DID leave the alliance. Him and his empire disconnected themselves from Equestria. Perhaps he joined forces with the NLR?"

I looked at him; my eyes glowing brightly.

"Don't you dare talk about my father like that or I'll kill you here and now!!"

Shining asked in a low and dangerous tone "Is that a threat?"

"If you are going to talk about my father like that; I might as well disconnect my hive from the Alliance and end it forever! Then I'll join with the Vampony Empire and declare war on the Crystal Empire!!"

Sunset asked "Since when this tension and a need for violence occurred? I mean; sure, Charming didn't mean to show distrust to Danny. All he was doing was saying what Primus thought of the matter."

I looked at her.

"Shut your mouth Sunset! Charming should have kept Primus' opinion to himself! Now look at where Charming has led this, now, poor excuse of an Alliance! The Changelings no longer support the Alliance! The Vampony Empire disconnected itself from the Alliance! Now the Crystal Empire and the Primal Changelings are on a thin thread; tension brewing and getting ready to go to war the moment the thread cut itself! And not to mention but the Alliance between the Equestrian Empire and the Phantom Consortium is on a thin thread as well! So tell me Sunset; what is your opinion on the situation! I'm pretty sure that whatever you say here and now will affect this very alliance! So please; enlighten me about your thoughts about this! I'm dying to hear them!"

Charming shouted his order "Enough! We need to group up and do whatever we can to save what remains of our Jedi Soldiers."

I looked at Charming and nodded. The sooner this is over, the better. The shuttle landed and we ran off the ship. We began to look around, seeing no Jedi Soldier bodies to be found. But we did see tons of Battle Droids, Super Battle Droids, and some Dwarf Spider Droids. We destroyed droids here and there and we eventually made it to the entrance of the Tomb of Clover the Clever. The entrance was guarded by Super Battle Droids, Droidekas, and Magnaguards.

Shining said "Twilight is defiantly here. And she is, no doubt, after the Dark Map."

Charming counted to three and we went into battle. It didn't take long to defeat the droids. They head down the Tomb. While they were looking all around, they came across what looked like a battle. There were Battle Droids, Super Battle Droids, and even Droidekas on the ground with some weird droids. We went even further and found more droid corpses. We made it into a giant room when we began to hear words. It was Twilight!

Twilight was heard saying "-I got the data, that is just another step into winning this war. So; when will the 'Spy' give you the data Charming got?"

The voice replied, it was the same distorted voice from before.

The voice replied "He already has it and transferred it to me. I've already gotten the last piece of the puzzle. All I need now is that data from that Dark Map and we will have all the pieces of the puzzle. And at last; I can have the location of the Dark Forge."

Twilight said "And once we have the Dark Forge; we will be unstoppable."

The voice replied; reassuring her "Correct. But it requires a power supply. Maybe the dark matter below Canterlot."

Twilight asked "Is that why you wanted the entire NLR and Garrosh's forces to attack there?"

The Voice replied "Not only that. My spy knows what we else we need. He can retrieve the object we need to free Mephiles from his cell in Tartarus. The very object that Celestia created to make sure that Mephiles NEVER returns from Tartarus. Mephiles spirit endured the spell and managed to get loose. However... Mephiles has warned me and my spy about his minion's betrayal."

Twilight asked "Are you referring to Arcaan?"

"Indeed. Mephiles already knows he will betray him and will, no doubt, go to Charming and warn him of my presence." The voice said.

Twilight asked "Is he a threat?"

The voice replied "He knows little of Mephiles plans but his information about Mephiles' allies is quite... valuable. I think he should be terminated."

Twilight asked "Does he know the identity of the spy?"

The voice said "No. Mephiles has been keeping all of his allies in the dark. But enough about Arcaan; did you retrieve the remains of Clover the Clever?"

Twilight said "Indeed. I transported it through the shortcut and hidden passage that was built. Her remains will be in your collection of dead Jedi Soldier corpses. I hope this weapon is not just a legend."

The Voice reassured Twilight "It is not. My spy has reported that Charming learned that the weapon is, indeed, not a legend. Charming will realized that with this weapon being used against him; he will be facing old enemies who will be wanting revenge."

Twilight said "I heard you mention something about Slade earlier. Is he one?"

The voice hesitated its reply "...Not really. Slade may be the Son of Discord but I do not trust him. However; there is something rather... disturbing."

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked.

The voice replied "I searched for certain ponies but their remains... are not in their grave."

Twilight asked "Who?"

The voice took a defense "Not of your business. Before I leave; there is something you may want to know."

Twilight asked "Yes?"

The voice ordered "Take care of your guests that are listening on this."

The transmission ends and Twilight turned to where the group was. The group came out, their weapons ready. The two Jedi Hunters with Twilight grabbed their lightsabers.

Twilight ordered "Kill them."

The Jedi Hunters attacked them while Twilight fled to the hidden passage and closed the door and jammed the door. The group combated the two Jedi Hunters and managed to kill them. When they did; the roof began to shake.

"Twilight is going to burry us alive here!"

We began to run out of the Tomb. We managed to get out in the nick of time. We got out of the Temple and see the Droid Control Ship leaving the sector and entering slipstream.

Sunset stated "Our enemy was always a step ahead of us. What now?"

Charming replied "Now? We prepare for their arrival."