[CANCELLED] The Revival of the Tambelonian Empire

by AlphaWP

Chapter 5: Shadows of Your Nightmares

CHAPTER 5: SHADOWS OF YOUR NIGHTMARES

The heroes were in the Castle of Friendship’s library trying to devise a plan to stop Grogar and the New Legion of Doom. Twilight was sitting at the desk reading multiple books.

“How is it that not only the Legion of Doom and the Sirens are back,” Twilight pondered, “but King Sombra and the Storm King too? We have to find a way to stop them.”

Starlight, who was reading through a pile of books with Trixie and Sunset, got up from the floor and walked to Twilight. “Twilight, from what Tempest told us, they have the Bewitching Bell. If that’s true, Grogar could be planning an attack on Equestria at any moment.”

Rainbow Dash put the book she was reading down and flew up. “We need to stop sitting here and get into the action!”

Applejack pulled her down. “You’re forgettin’ somethin’, Rainbow. We don’t know where Grogar and his minions are hiding.”

Spike, who was looking through the books on the upper wall, accidentally fell off the ladder he was standing on and caused a pile of books to collapse to the floor—that was when Twilight saw—among the books—a book with a sun and moon on it.

Twilight gasped. “Of course! How did I not think of it sooner?”

Spike, visibly injured by the collapse, rubbed his head. “Think of what?”

“The Royal Sisters! They have more experience with defeating villains than anycreature in Equestria.”

Rarity raised a hoof. “Twilight, the former princesses have been resting in Silver Shoals since they retired—how are we certain they’ll help us?”

Rainbow Dash—who was flying—landed to the ground and raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, they’ve never helped us before so why start now?”

Twilight gained a look of shock. “They have helped us before! Remember that time when… or that one moment when…”

Sunset Shimmer chuckled. “They’re like Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna—leaving all the work to the students. You have to love them though.”

Pinkie Pie seemed to be looking into nothing but space and talking to a wall. “Yeah, even though they got a pretty pathetic role in the finale.”

Trixie raised an eyebrow. “Um… who are you talking to? And what are you even talking about?”

Pinkie gained a nervous expression. “Um… Nopony!”

Everyone in the room looked at her for a second, but realized it was just Pinkie being Pinkie and brushed it off.

Fluttershy spoke. “Well, I guess there’s only one thing to do, Twilight.”

Twilight nodded and charged her horn. “You’re right, Fluttershy, let’s go see the Royal Sisters!”

---

The heroes were teleported to Silver Shoals, where they passed through an array of buildings and multiple activity spots. After searching for a bit, they found the sisters around the docks, where Celestia was swimming.

“There they are!” Twilight shouted, pointing to the sisters.

Celestia looked her way. “Twilight! What are you doing here? And with your friends?” Smiling, she exited the bay and levitated a towel with her magic.

Twilight approached her former mentor. “We have a little… situation.”

Celestia noticed that there were others with the Mane Six. “What's going on?” she asked. “It's been a long time since all of you were together.”

Spike approached Celestia. “Someone we thought was a myth… is real.”

Rainbow Dash began to fly. “And he's brought back our old enemies.”

Sunset frowned. “They attacked Canterlot High.”

Celestia became worried. “Who did?” she asked, unprepared to hear what was next.

“Grogar,” Starlight replied.

“And he's brought back the Legion of Doom, King Sombra, the Storm King, and the Sirens,” Trixie added.

“I know this is a lot to ask,” Twilight began, “but we need your help. Is that alright?”

“Twilight,” Celestia calmly said. “After everything you've done for me and Luna… helping you is the least we can do.”

Twilight hugged Celestia. “Thank you!”

Applejack smiled. “Well, that was easy.”

Celestia walked toward a building with doors decorated with a sun and moon. “I’ll get Luna. Something tells me we don't have time to waste.”

---

The Legion of Doom were gathered around in Grogar’s throne room. Sitting on his silver-decorated throne, Grogar stepped down before the villains.

“Villains! It has come to my attention that there is more that we can do to expand our forces. That is why today, we shall bring someone of great importance into our ranks.”

The Storm King arrogantly pushed in front of the other villains and laughed. “Ha! Who could be more important than me?”

Aria rolled her eyes. “Literally anyone else in this room.” Hearing her say this, her sisters gave her a fin bump.

Tirek raised an eyebrow. “Exactly who do we need now? We already have every powerful villain in Equestria! There are no more creatures that could help us.”

Sombra stepped forward. “My Emperor, perhaps the centaur is right. We need no one else to help us. We are fine ourselves.”

Grogar stomped his hoof. “Enough! We are not enough! You are not enough! If we are to succeed in destroying Twilight Sparkle and her friends, we must be as plentiful as possible! That is why I shall awaken a creature of pure fear.”

Cozy Glow levitated King Sombra. “But we already have one right here.”

Sombra frowned. “Let me down this instant!” Complying with his request, Cozy let Sombra down and flew behind Tirek.

Grogar smiled. “Sombra is a creature of shadow, not fear. There is another being I have in mind—one that manipulated the former princess of the night.”

Sombra raised a hoof. “Nonsense! Who could be more fearful than me?”

“Just watch!” Grogar yelled, his eyes glowing red. Activating his Bewitching Bell, Grogar sent a blast of magic before the villains—which formed into a black creature covered in purple goo.

The creature opened its eyes to reveal dead, white pupils. “Freedom!”

The villains were appalled by the gooey monstrosity—Grogar was thrilled.

“Welcome, spirit,” Grogar said, his voice echoing throughout the castle, “to the city of Tambelon!”

The spirit looked behind itself and smiled. “Emperor Grogar. We have long awaited your return, master.”

Sonata gagged. “Ugh! It’s all gooey!” Adagio and Aria both put their fins over her mouth.

Adagio smiled nervously. “Please excuse them, they’re idiots.”

At the same time, the Storm King was whimpering at the sight of the creature. “Why is it looking at me funny?”

Tirek grabbed him by the arm. “You’re supposed to be a king! You cannot be scared of a little goo.” The Storm King only continued to whimper.

After the other villains were finished with their reactions, Cozy Glow flew up to the creature and touched it—before wiping the goo off her hoof. “So you’re the creature of fear?”

The spirit snarled and looked at the Legion of Doom. “Who are they, Lord Grogar?”

“Your new comrades! We all share a common enemy—Twilight Sparkle—who must be destroyed!”

The spirit smiled. “Then we shall work together with these villains to achieve our goals. Once we find a new host, we shall become powerful once more!”

“Good, then the battle shall be in our favor.”

Sombra approached Grogar. “Emperor, forgive my intrusion, but I do not trust this creature. There’s something… unsettling about it.”

“Nonsense, Sombra. If we are to be victorious, we must be as plentiful in numbers as we can. That reminds me of a creature who almost destroyed the original bearers of the Elements of Harmony!”

“The Royal Sisters?” Cozy asked.

“No. The Pillars!”

Grogar activated his magic again and opened a portal to Limbo. Out of the portal, a black alicorn creature with white eyes appeared before the villains. It was the Pony of Shadows—albeit in his weakest state.

“Where am I? Where are Star Swirl and the other Pillars? Where are those six ponies and their friends? Why am I so weak?”

Grogar approached the Pony of Shadows. “You are somewhere you are needed. And the reason you feel weak is because you lost a great part of you.”

The Pony of Shadows charged his horn. “What? Who is there? Show yourself!”

“Stand down. You are in the city of Tambelon, and I am Emperor Grogar.”

“Grogar?” the Pony of Shadows asked happily. It was as though he was excited to see an old friend. “My old master.”

Cozy Glow whispered to the Legion. “Wait, the Pony of Shadows knows Grogar?” The other villains shrugged.

“The Pony of Shadows served me during the Bell Wars,” Grogar replied, seemingly hearing Cozy. “After my defeat, he wandered Equestria and ultimately inhabited Stygian for 1,000 years.”

The Pony of Shadows kneeled to Grogar. “My lord, I am weak. If I am to defeat the Pillars and these new heroes, then I shall need power.”

Grogar charged his bell. “If it is power you desire, it is power you shall receive!”

From Grogar’s bell, a blast of black and yellow magic surrounded the Pony of Shadows, who began to emit orange and yellow fire from his coat.

“So. Much. Power!”

The Nightmare Spirit frowned. “What about us? Can we have power?”

Grogar smiled. “Yes! I have just the thing in mind!”

Aiming his bell at the Nightmare Spirit, Grogar sent a blast of magic at them. Out of the blast appeared two different alicorn mares. One was black with a cosmic blue mane and purple eyes and wore light blue armor. The other was white with a flaming mane and yellow eyes and wore orange armor. The two laughed.

Seeing their army nearly complete, the Legion of Doom laughed sinisterly.

Grogar smiled evilly. “Soon, master, you will be free.”

Comments

[nightshroud96]

Glad the royal sisters are now involved and such.

Wonder what will be touched on for Luna's dark powers given the Nightmare spirit is here?

[NightFlame389]

There is literally only one problem I have with this.

Multiple times have characters referred to Grogar as a myth, while in the actual series, Discord says the words “Now they have all of the real Grogar’s magic” or something like that, implying that at least Discord knows he was real at one point.

I also realize that there’s that whole thing in the description about plot holes and headcanon

Anyway, all that aside, the premise is very cliche *makes terrible attempt to hide a fic that does almost the same thing except the heroes are the ones who are gathering the army for the final showdown*. I mean, all the remaining unreformed villains team up? That’s literally MLP S9/MLB S2 finale Heroes Day/my entire story idea section of brain.

[AlphaWP]

11099933
Now, I do understand that Discord mentioned the real Grogar, but in this story, the ponies believed Discord was only "pulling a Discord" and that the magic the villains had was simply that: dark magic from an old talisman. In this universe, the Bewitching Bell was simply believed to be an item created by an ancient race called the Troggles. So, they would believe that Discord was lying about Grogar being a real figure.

As for the heroes and villains gathering together, I understand that can be a cliche in movies and books. In this story, I have a greater purpose for all of this. The characters coming together is simply a way for Grogar to use them in order to inevitably free his master. As for the heroes, they are coming together because the final battle will require multiple forces on both sides. I have big plans for these characters, and that plan can only be executed if they are all together. Just wait and I promise that what I have planned will blow your mind.

[NightFlame389]

11102351
Approximately how far are we into the story? Probably not too long, given how far along it already is

I’m guessing Orthodox isn’t gonna help Grogar

[AlphaWP]

11103202
We're about a third of the way in.