Grogar's Return
"Ugh! I swear, these joints get worse every day!" Grogar's steps were heavy, and it was clear from the way he'd wince every now and again that his walking wasn't exactly the most pleasant of experiences. But in spite of this, the ancient goat somehow managed to look, of all things, fairly relaxed, even smiling to himself as he walked along the familiar path back to his home. "All this time, all this exile, and I think a vacation was probably the best idea I've ever had." He chuckled, looking up at the welcome sight of his home. Though any other creature looking upon his lair would probably feel nothing but terror. To Grogar, there was no greater sight, and as he sighed he continued to walk towards it. Once at the main entrance, he stopped, giving himself a quick stretch, though always making sure not to go too far with it, lest his old bones just crack under the strain. "Well, it was nice, but now it's home sweet home."
Unfortunately, his good mood, or at least as good a mood as Grogar was capable of feeling, was not to last, as he took one step inside and his eyes widened. "...What. Is. THIS?!?!" He had come back expecting this place to be exactly as he'd remembered it. Instead, he saw a plethora of damage and wear that definitely hadn't been here before. It was as if somecreature had come along and just blasted holes everywhere for no reason. Grogar dismayed at the wrecked sight of his abode, seething and snorting as his mind raced to consider who could have done this. "I live in the middle of an evil swamp, hundreds of miles from even the closest of dwellings! Who could have just come along and done this?!" Then, after just looking around, his anger began to subside. He exhaled deeply, finding a nearby chair and just slumping himself upon it. "You know, a quiet return. That's all I wanted. Come home and rest. But no, apparently even that is asking too much!"
"I know you look old, Grogar, but you needn't sound it as well."
Grogar again snorted, glancing to the side to see the sudden arrival of a mare, smiling to him as she emerged from the shadows. The old goat frowned to her. "Am I to assume you are responsible for this, Gusty? A little bit of mischief to ruin my day?"
Gusty, known to Equestria as "the Great" shook her head. "No, that honor goes to those who took up residence here in your absence."
Grogar's eyes narrowed. "Who would dare take the home of the Father of Monsters?"
Gusty shrugged. "Oh, just a trickster whose trick came back to bite him."
Her old foe paused here, thinking on that cryptic remark, before slapping himself in the forehead. "...Discord?"
Gusty nodded. "Discord," she confirmed.
Leaning back, Grogar groaned with tiredness, ever showing his age. "Uuuuuuuuuuuuugh! Dare I even ask what his little plan was this time?"
The newly-arrived mare took on a mischievous smirk as she began to trot towards him. "You're not gonna like it."
"I can handle it," Grogar assured her.
"It'll put you in a bad mood," Gusty added.
"I'm fast getting there already, Gusty!" Grogar warned her.
Sighing, the mare shrugged. "Well, Discord disguised himself as you and gathered a bunch of other villains together in the hopes of artificially creating a 'final challenge' for the alicorn Princess who was slated to take over Equestria. But then things went wrong, and they used his, er, your bewitching bell against him, draining him of all his powers. Then they empowered themselves and went on a rampage, after which they were beaten and turned to stone. Oh, and your bell was rendered useless on top of everything."
Grogar sat there, having taken in all of that story, and his left eye twitched a little. "I...see."
Gusty looked at him warily. "You, er...you doin' okay there, bud?"
Grogar took a deep breath, then exhaled. "I'll...be fine."
A chuckle from Gusty. "Wow, you really have mellowed out after all this time."
Her former enemy looked around the wreck that was his home. "Thousands of years in exile have taught me many lessons, Gusty, not the least of which is accepting when I'm just plain done. I had my chance at the top, and thanks to you I lost it. Being out here, forgotten, made me realise just how little it really mattered to be a cause for nightmares and monsters."
Gusty raised an eyebrow to him. "Gee, way to make a gal feel guilty why don't ya?"
Grogar actually managed a smirk to that. "I take my pleasures where I can." Then, as he turned to look at her again, he found, to his surprise, that she was carrying over a tray with a pair of teacups. Setting it beside him, Gusty took one for herself, blowing on it lightly before taking a sip. Grogar considered it, then took one of his own. A single gulp of the drink did wonders for calming his nerves. "Ah! A long journey really should end with one of these, shouldn't it?" He then glanced to his companion. "If you'd have told me all those thousands of years ago that the two of us would have tea together one day, I'd have called you mad."
Gusty giggled. "And I'd have called you worse." The two shared a laugh, and after taking a second sip, Gusty stared at her reflection in what remained of her drink. "I doubt Tirek or his little cohorts are enjoying the end of their villain days as much as you are right now."
Grogar took only a moment to understand what she meant, and looked to her with some surprise. "Tirek? Vorak's little boy? He was one of Discord's group?" A dry laugh escaped him soon afterwards. "Heh, I always knew that kid would end up in a bad way, given how much his Father talked about him."
Gusty sighed. "Yeah, he got put away about...three times now, I think. You'd think he'd have learned his lesson the first time, but I guess not."
Grogar nodded. "Some lessons are learned the hard way, little pony." After a quick pause, he looked back to her. "Dare I ask who the other compatriots were in this little plot of Discord's?"
A mischievous smile on the part of Gusty followed. "A Changeling Queen and a disgruntled little pegasus filly."
Grogar blinked slowly, and then bellowed out a loud laugh that echoed all throughout his lair. "Ha! That Discord sure knew how to pick em! Tirek and a Changeling Queen I can get, but getting played by a filly too? Ha! Oh, that must have stung!"
Gusty too joined in on the laughter. "Not as much as how his friends reacted to what he'd been doing, I hear."
After his laugh calmed down, Grogar nodded a few times. "I can imagine. Hard to believe Discord actually managed to make friends after all this time. I always figured him for the perpetually selfish type."
Gusty looked to him slyly. "Oh, I hear he eased off a bit after one of the ponies who formerly beat him managed to work her way into his heart. Sound familiar, old goat?"
Grogar rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes, I saw the parallels already, Gusty. No need to point them out."
Another giggle from Gusty. "I'm just teasing. In truth, I'm glad we managed to get past all that nastiness from way back when. It's been good having you as a friend, Groggy."
Grogar frowned. "It would be even nicer if you didn't keep using that nickname."
A quick shrug and smirk from his companion. "You know you love it."
Then, after a long pause, Grogar looked to her with curiosity. "I never quite understood that about you, Gusty. So much of your life was spent around beings like me. Monsters, evil overlords, the occasional dark spirit. So little of your life was around ponies, of those of your own kind. Why?"
Gusty, for all the confidence she'd displayed before, suddenly found herself at a loss here. She stared at her tea cup, which had long ago been fully drunk, and just thought on that for a while. After a time, she smiled. "I guess...it's just who I am. I never really fit in with other ponies. I liked them well enough, but I never felt like they were where I belonged. So, out I went, seeing the world and meeting creatures they'd have only dreamed of."
Grogar smirked. "Or had nightmares about, in my case."
Gusty nodded to him. "Or that, yes. Honestly, I felt more at home with strange beings like you or the windigos than I ever was around my own people."
The ancient Father of Monsters considered that. "I suppose that's why Equestria has naught but legends about you at this point."
Gusty's smile returned. "I know. I chanced a quick visit into Equestria again recently. Most ponies have never even heard of me, and those who have just think of me as a myth. If ever there was a pony who knew I really lived, they're long gone now." She sighed deeply. "And I'm fine with that. A story can inspire more good than a flesh and blood person sometimes." As her earlier smirk resumed, she glanced to Grogar. "I hear you yourself had much the same reputation among villains."
Grogar snorted. "Fine by me. Let me be forgotten. If my legacy is that of a story that mares tell their foals at night to make them behave, then I suppose I can think of worse ways to be remembered." He too now smirked. "Besides, if any of them ever get it into their heads to come out here and see the 'empty' lair of Grogar, then at least I'll have the satisfaction of seeing the looks on their faces when they realise just how 'gone' I really am."
The two shared another laugh together, and when Gusty wiped a tear from her eye, she looked to him enthusiastically. "Okay, even I would be willing to allow a moment of villainous gloating from you on that one!" After the two laughed again, though a bit less this time, Gusty glanced around, and even she, with her comparatively upbeat personality, couldn't help but recognise that they had a bit of work to deal with. "So...I imagine you'll want to get on and fix your house now?"
Grogar sighed, his shoulders slumping. "Well, it's not gonna fix itself, now is it?"
Gusty looked around, then developed a rather uncharacteristically wicked grin. "You know, if you're in need of extra building materials, those baddies I mentioned are currently made of stone right now."
Grogar looked to her, shocked and impressed in equal measure. "That's a bit dark for you, isn't it?"
Gusty shrugged. "Hey, if I can influence you, then you can influence me. That's how friendships work, remember?"
Naturally, Grogar rolled his eyes to that. "And there's the friendship speech! I just knew it was coming sooner or later!"
Smiling to him, Gusty reached over and gave him a quick pat on the shoulder. "Awww, you know me so well, Groggy!"
"...Ugh."
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- ArgonMatrix · 3.7k words · 491 8 · 9k views
- Michigan J Frog · 1.2k words · 90 0 · 3.9k views
- deadpansnarker · 2.9k words · 181 9 · 4.1k views
- ThePinkedWonder · 1.9k words · 105 4 · 2.8k views
- James Pwyll · 4.2k words · 256 4 · 4.4k views
- James Pwyll · 1.4k words · 61 1 · 2k views
- Askre · 11k words · 34 0 · 1.1k views
- Matthais Unidostres · 2.6k words · 65 3 · 1.9k views
Stats
Page generated in 0.211 seconds
Total duration
668 users online
811,388 hits today, 1,872,792 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Just a very old mare and an even older man shooting the breeze over a cup of chamomile tea.
Ok, this was nice
Nice. I like this sort of villain-hero dynamic. When all's said and done, don't you have more in common with the creature you've spent millennium fighting than anyone else?
Though... how Gusty is still alive is a mystery...
I see she chose not to mention the fool who tried to go it alone. A smart villain knows the list and follows it. Grogar knows he is beat and just wants to spend his twilight years in peace.
Who is Gusty?
I love your placement of G1 Gusty.
Every now and then authors manage to work G1 heritage into a story and actually make it fit well.
9947562
A G1 character I believe. Back in season 8 there was a book on the babysitting EP in Cheerilee's school that was about Grogar and Gusty. It was our first introduction to G4 Grogar even if it was just a book cover much like EQG Tirek is currently only a game cover and game.
This was just wonderful!
I read the summery and was expecting a laugh. I read it, and immediately liked, faved, and started to follow you as an author.
9947562
A friend of Megan Williams.
And really, the legacy you can leave can be quite pleasing, no matter how small. Those two did get reasonably immortalized with the impact they left. Twilight undoubtedly knows about Gusty, and perhaps she did look up to her when she was younger, as the hero that she'd happen to become, and she is the ruler of Equestria.
Heh, that would be a bit more constructive than the "turned to gravel and spread throughout dangerous forest," as I've seen done elsewhere, wouldn't it?
...Good short story. Maybe elaboration would do it a favor, maybe not, but it serves well enough as a one-shot.
9947538
In lieu of any other explanation...
m.quickmeme.com/img/1e/1e316e8b30384c27aa347055973c419a658e6673e630d193304482261ef5de28.jpg
9947562
G1 character, and as for her G4 incarnation, she bested the real G4 Grogar, and one way or another, Grogar was (and is, going by canon) defeated for a long time, which is pretty impressive, seeing as he stayed defeated since presumably quite a ways before Celestia herself was born.
derpicdn.net/img/view/2019/5/23/2046879__safe_screencap_gusty_frenemies+%28episode%29_spoiler-colon-s09e08_bell_female_grogar%27s+bell_gusty+the+great_mare_pony_silhouette_unicorn.jpeg
derpicdn.net/img/view/2019/4/16/2014396__safe_artist-colon-vale-dash-bandicoot96_grogar_gusty_the+beginning+of+the+end_spoiler-colon-s09e01_spoiler-colon-s09e02_bow_crystal+ball_duo_e.png
And that's a great guess as to her appearance in G4, based on G1, and her color scheme in that. Maybe she also had an ethereal mane to go with her magical power, going off of the history lesson Discord gave with the flowing mane, maybe not; it was possibly a bit stylized, after all, in regards to that, and her horn.
LOVED (the real) Grogar's chat with Gusty. As other reviewers have already said, just two old enemies who became the closest thing each has to a friend.
Also as other reviewers have already said, I love the stuff about an old villain knowing when he's been beat and opting to spend his time in relative peace. Oddly enough, I could easily see this being a good companion piece to your one-shot with Celestia and Sombra. The thought of Gusty and Grogar meeting Celestia and Luna (after they both retired) as well as Sombra (when he has ALSO opted to retire in peace) has the potential to be a downright entertaining one-shot.
Excellent job on the exchange, characterizations and general wrap-up in all the right places.
Hilarious! Surprised Discord didn't sense Gusty there
So basically Discord broke into an old man's house while he was out and co-opted it as his evil lair?
Yeah, that sounds right.
This is rather adorable. Now... would it be weird to say that I feel bad for Grogar after coming back to find that his home got trashed?
Pretty good, I hope we get to see a sequel with the mane 6 come to check out the lair only to find Grogar and Gusty fixing it up.
The REAL Grogar returns...
images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/35513cbf-2a38-4bff-8151-cd3401045409/d6mtypw-fb978831-1d82-44ba-9962-b9ec1c2142d2.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJpc3MiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwic3ViIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsImF1ZCI6WyJ1cm46c2VydmljZTpmaWxlLmRvd25sb2FkIl0sIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiIvZi8zNTUxM2NiZi0yYTM4LTRiZmYtODE1MS1jZDM0MDEwNDU0MDkvZDZtdHlwdy1mYjk3ODgzMS0xZDgyLTQ0YmEtOTk2Mi1iOWVjMWMyMTQyZDIucG5nIn1dXX0.v3YL1izFjb9oizsDKnBSlbqwwbljzdZTFPWxnKjiQQ0
Eats all the pony souls.
You'd think Gusty would like current Equestria as non-ponies are becoming more common.
This was great. Headcanon accepted!
The enemy of my enemy is my friend as they say and that certainly applies here. Grogar and Gusty play off each other so well and as I read through this, I imagined them speaking in my mind, reminiscing over old times, and on occasion, throwing a wise crack at the modern world. Gusty being alive and well though... hmmm... yes, that does make sense.
That was a fun read, I would not mind reading more
9948154
I wholeheartedly agree, but I also think the question, "Do I not defeat my enemy by making him my friend?" is much more appropriate than "enemy of my enemy" is.
Then Grogar filed a lawsuit against Discord for identity theft and defamation.
9948415
LOL
A fascinating take on the true Grogar's attitude after so long. Though if he made a friend, that's hardly surprising.
That said, way to leave everypony in the lurch, Gusty. Just because you're a myth these days doesn't mean you can't lend a hoof now and again.
... Or she only got back to her friend's home after hearing about the Battle of the Bell. That works too.
Please do a sequel with this.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
9948098
Based on how she talked about being around creatures other than ponies? Yeah, probably.
After a hard day of cleaning up Grogar stepped into his old bed chambers his eyes growing wide
"WHAT IN SCORPANS PLOT HAPPENED IN HERE!
He retired to the couch in the den, If only rocks could burn.......
Wow! This was surprisingly fun. I was expecting it to be all dark and depressing, but I actually like this.
9948029
I don't think so...? It doesn't seem weird to me, but then again I'm pretty weird so you might get a second opinion.
This was amusing.
Gusty: He also brought back Sombra--
Grogar: Purely to just watch him die again.
Gusty: How did you know?
Pinkie Pie: Because the show writers loves to bully the little edge lord!
Grogar: Let's just say even a being as old as me knows enough not to argue with the powers of the pink pony.
See I would avoid using the statues because if it ever wears off you have one hell of a mess to clean up.
9951439
You mean like the Storm King?
I always wondered what happened with him. The credits are non-canon (because there also was the Hippo queen who doesn't exist outside of Pinkie's mind) and all the princesses had been released from their stone prison. The Storm King was hit by the same spell and then shattered on the ground.
So we have three possible ways:
1) He remained being petrified -> most likely the canon ending
2) His destroyed stone body just disappeared without leaving any traces behind -> the child friendly ending
3) He became flesh and broken bones again and someone had to clean up the mess -> the dark but logic ending
9951864
I’ve seen it as a plot point in the Dragon Quest series that a man trying to heal his village of petrification couldn’t because by the time he found the cure all the statues had been eroded over years by rain and winds.
9951999
So as soon as the statues are too damaged, they can't be turned back?
I only know one other example and it’s the dark theory. In Dragon Ball Z, one villain, Dabura , was able to turn others into stone by spitting on them. A few of the heroes had been petrified and when to younger heroes found them; they accidently broke one statue, Piccolo. After Dabura was killed, all statues had been turned back, including Piccolo.
Luckily for the heroes, Piccolo was able to heal himself. Otherwise it would have been messy
I think in the case of the Storm King, the most likely answer is, that his wasn't turned back. He died and his body stayed petrified. Maybe they later put it into a grave or something because I doubt that the princesses would have revived him.
Seriously, from all the villains our ponies have fought, they only killed two: King Sombra and the Storm King.
Tempest made a wise decision to help Twilight; otherwise the kill counter would have been raised by two instead of one
They both had been wannabe kings and both tried to enslave ponies. All other villains, even those who tried to kill ponies, had either been forgiven/reformed or punished. Guess trying to take away a ponies freedom is always punished by death
9952183
Really the lesson here is choose any title other than king and the ponies will let you live. You may have to spend an exceedingly long time as a statue or on the moon, but you will live to see another day in a millennium or so.
9952350
One wrong decision and he will be killed because he's a king
Poor Thorax
That was a delightful read. I'd love to see more, maybe even Grogar meeting his cosplayer.
9947538
Sometimes the people we hate the most can be the very people we end up getting along with once we dial the hate down.
Awesome story. Loved it! Nice seeing Grogar and Gusty together.
Maybe he could ask Princess Twilight money to repair his lair? After all it was Discord plan the reason it need to be repaired
I was thinking to myself... You know how 'All Hail the King' ended with the whole 'The Real manderin, Mr Slatery, He's not happy about being impersonated" and I thought Huh, I should work something like this into my King Sombra as Iron Man fic...
Gusty is a cute.
Amusing
Grogar and his old nemesis sharing a few laughs, I love it.
Aww, this was so cute.