• Published 11th Jul 2020
  • 3,423 Views, 707 Comments

The final challenge - Dianabel



The Legion if Doom and Grogar finally make their move, bringing disharmony to Equestria. It´s up to the mane 6 and their allies to save Equestria.

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Chapter 5: The emperor takes his throne

Grogar stared at the ponies with a serious look. Every creature in the room was paralyzed. They didn´t know what to do. Nopony dared to speak aloud. They only spoke in whispers.

“So that´s him…” Applejack muttered.

“He´s much more menacing than I could ever imagine…” Twilight replied.

Everypony had heard of Grogar and his actions over the land that would be later called Equestria. They also knew how he looked like, thanks to the illustrations in the books. But the descriptions that the books provided weren´t able to define the fear that arose inside when you looked into his eyes. Eyes that commanded respect and obedience with threat. Not only were the eyes what made Grogar´s stare frightening, but the seriousness in his expression as well. Just like the books said, Grogar was a silent ram who barely smiled and showed no other expression than a cold and sharp seriousness.

“What a creep.” Rainbow said.

“Indeed he is, darling. Indeed he is.” Rarity replied.

“Oooh, I can´t look at his eyes…” Pinkie shrinked.

Instead of commenting, Fluttershy paid attention to Grogar´s eyes and eyebrows. There was a familiar aura in them. They strangely reminded her of Discord´s. Could that mean something?

Fluttershy couldn´t come to a conclusion. Grogar´s voice interrupted her thoughts.

“If you have something to say, say it aloud. So that I can hear you.” he said to the mane 6.

Twilight and Applejack gulped. Grogar started walking towards the scared ponies, but first, he had to make his way through the villains. The three villains ignited their horns, ready to defend themselves, but Grogar restrained them to the wall before they could put up a fight. No matter how hard they tried to escape with their magic, they couldn´t destroy Grogar´s. The ram talked to them without looking at them in the eye.

“I´ll deal with you three later. Spiteful traitors like you are not worth my time.”

With each step he took, Grogar got closer and closer to the mane 6. The princesses teleported themselves to block his way. They ignited their horns.

“Step. Back.” Luna ordered.

Grogar stood still. He smiled and raised his eyebrow.

“Didn´t you hear my sister? Step back!” Celestia repeated the order. “Or I´ll make sure that your receive a worse punishment than banishment!”

“Is this a family thing? Putting on brave faces and threatening me as if that would back me down?” Grogar scoffed. “You know better than that.”

Both sisters frowned.

“We meet again, Celestia and Luna. You´ve grown a lot since the last time we saw each other.”

Cadence widened her eyes.

“You know each other?”

Grogar smiled at Cadence.

“You must be Mi Amore Cadenza, better known as Cadence. Ruler of the Crystal Empire, the kingdom that Sombra wanted to retake. I knew he was going to lose, but a part of me wishes that Sombra would have won. I much prefer the Crystal Empire under Sombra´s control.”

Cadence frowned.

“Answering to your question, I did know Celestia´s and Luna´s mother.” he looked at Celestia and Luna with hatred and rage. “A self-righteous, stubborn and impulsive mare who got herself in business she wasn´t invited to, which got her killed by the same ponies she `freed´!”

Celestia and Luna gasped softly. After hearing those words, Twilight realized who Celestia´s and Luna´s mother truly was.

“Yes. You two and Starswirl were right about your mother´s fate. I did warn her, though obviously, she didn´t listen. She never listened to anypony but herself. I witnessed her death in my orb. And let me tell you this, I had never felt so much satisfaction and sweetness until I watched her in pain and giving her last breath.”

Celestia clenched her teeth in rage while Luna glared at him.

“But you´re forgetting a small, yet important detail.” A voice behind the princesses told him.

Grogar raised his ears. He looked behind the princesses, getting a view of Twilight and her friends.

“Aaah, Twilight Sparkle. We finally meet face to face.” He said as he approached her, getting the princesses out of the way in the process. “What is that small important detail?”

“That same mare defeated you.” Twilight said.

Every time he was reminded of his defeat, Grogar would feel humiliation and rage inside. He would have blasted Twilight at that moment without hesitation. But he also knew it wasn´t the moment, so he simply scowled and clenched his teeth.

“So that means…” Rarity said in shock.

Pinkie gasped profoundly and held Celestia´s and Luna´s faces.

“Gusty the Great is your mother?!”

“They didn´t tell you, did they?” Grogar addressed to the mane 6. “Of course not. They claim to love her mother so much, but they never mention her name. And why is it, you may ask. Because they believed they would be safee if they kept their family a secret. Unlike you, I defended my lineage with pride, even if that was dangerous.”

Celestia and Luna felt ashamed.

“And unlike you, they didn´t commit atrocities and ruled with honour.” Twilight defended the princesses. “They were chosen. You took it by force.”

“My reign wouldn´t have lasted thousands of years if I had used friendship as a form of government.”

Grogar looked down on her. His piercing eyes intimidated Twilight. She took a few steps back. Grogar´s bells and eyes glew. Twilight remembered that fear made Grogar stronger. So, she stepped forward and looked at him with determination.

“Friendship is the reason why Equestria has been attacked so many times.” Grogar continued. “I don´t know why you value it so much.”

“Because friendship makes you stronger.” Twilight said firmly.

“Friendship makes you weak.” Grogar replied. “It´s what got Gusty killed.”

“I´m afraid I have to defer.” Applejack interposed between Twilight and Grogar. “You claim that friendship is weakness, yet we´ve defeated villains dozens of times by using friendship! Do you deny it? Be honest. I´ve heard that you don´t have the reputation of being honest.”

“Quite the contrary. I value honesty as much as you. I am an honest ram when it´s convenient.”

“You didn´t answer my question. Do you deny it?”

“I don´t deny that you defeated villains by using friendship. It´s a strong force that I don´t underestimate. But it´s also a weakness. It makes you trusting of others, giving a perfect chance to the enemy to attack you. That´s what made things easier for Cozy Glow and Tirek.”

“But you trusted those three to retrieve your bell!” Applejack pointed at the villains.

“I never trusted them! I knew those three were backstabbers from the moment I brought them to my cavern. Which is the reason why I always have a backup plan. That´s the difference between teamwork and friendship. Friendship requires an emotional connection and teamwork doesn´t. And that same emotional connection makes you gullible and too honest.”

“You said you appreciated honesty.”

“I do. I always appreciate an honest subject. But lying helped to reach my goals.” he sneered at Applejack.

Applejack clenched her teeth.

“Have you got no morals, you sicko?” Rainbow Dash flew over Grogar´s head.

Grogar illuminated his horns and restrained Rainbow against the ground. Rainbow tried to get herself free, but Grogar´s magic was stronger.

“Be careful with flying over my head, pegasus. When you see your emperor you bow, you don´t look upper the leg. Besides, you should be grateful your kind is still here. During my rule, I wiped out almost every pegasus. I could do it with any pony species if necessary.”

The ponies got seriously worried by that statement. Grogar released Rainbow from his magic.

“Gusty actually asked me this on an occasion, and I told her this: There are values I hold dearly. Your element is an example. When you´re in a position of power you always expect loyalty from those you rule. But the thing with my morals is that I don´t always apply them to myself. Specially if they interfere in my goals.”

“You´re sick.” Rainbow muttered hatefully.

“You know what´s the funny thing? You´re scolding me for being immoral, but you´re not so different from me. Need I to remind you that you almost traded your friend for a book?”

Rainbow was going to respond but kept her mouth shut. She knew that he was telling the truth. She looked down in shame.

Rarity stepped in to defend her friend.

“Ok, it´s true. We admit it. All of us have gone against our elements from time to time. But that´s because we´re not perfect! In fact, unlike you, we take repentance for our bad actions!”

“Oh really? Have you ever felt any remorse every time you took advantage of Spike´s feelings for you to get him to do something for you?”

Rarity gasped.

“I- I…”

She sighed in defeat. No matter how much she justified herself, that wouldn´t change the fact that he was right. She caressed her hoof in shame.

“Don´t worry, I´m not calling out on your actions for being immoral, like all of you are doing. You could achieve great things with that attitude. But instead you choose to be generous. Sometimes I don´t understand you, really.”

“Of course you don´t. Monsters like you never see the beauty in generosity.” Rarity replied back.

“How do you know all those things anyway?” Pinkie asked aggressively while poking Grogar´s forehead. “Have you been spying on us or what?”

Everypony raised an eyebrow at her friend.

“It´s pretty obvious by this time that he´s been spying on us, Pinkie.” Rainbow told her.

“He literally said that he witnessed Gusty´s death in his orb.” Applejack added.

“I have witnessed every event in the history of Equestria. Its foundation, its attacks, the many times you saved it… EVERYTHING.” Grogar emphasized. “It´s a good way to know your enemy´s weaknesses. It gives you the opportunity to hit them where it hurts them the most.” Grogar smiled evily.

“Ow, that´s outright mean!” Pinkie exclaimed annoyed. “Although, that´s something that a good villain would do, I´ll give you that.”

“Pinkie! Don´t compliment him!” Twilight scolded Pinkie.

“Like your unicorn friend, you have lots of potential.” Grogar said to Pinkie. “You´re full of ideas, that can come in handy. But you waste it in parties and other ridiculous things.”

“At least I use it for good. I make ponies laugh! They have a great time thanks to the work I put into my parties.”

“Are you sure about that? Hasn´t it occurred to you that all those laughs are fake? That deep inside ponies don´t like you or your jokes and are just pretending so as not to hurt your feelings?”

With each word Grogar spoke, Pinkie´s courage went down. Her ears dropped and her eyes filled with fear. Everything he said were thoughts that came to her mind from time to time. They were her biggest insecurity. She was scared at how this ram was so good at manipulating and bringing anypony down. Thankfully, this wouldn´t work on her, but how many ponies did feel what Grogar told them? Did he ever pull this trick on Gusty? Because if he did, Pinkie couldn´t imagine the pain she went through while fighting Grogar.

Grogar´s bells flickered. He smirked as he watched them glow.

“You remind me of a creature I know. Great talents wasted in silly stuff.”

“And you hold that creature captive, do you?” a voice from above said.

Grogar´s ears perked up. He looked up and saw Fluttershy flying beneath him. She landed in front of him.

“Aaah, you must be Fluttershy. I know you´re the quiet one, but I was wondering when you were going to speak up.” Grogar told her.

“Where is he?” Fluttershy insisted.

The ponies looked at each other.

“You think he has Discord?” Twilight asked her friend.

Fluttershy nodded.

“Discord looked pretty worried, so he couldn´t have disappeared without a reason. I asked the villains, but they didn´t know where he was. Nopony else could have him except him.”

Grogar walked towards Fluttershy. He wore a malicious grin on his face.

“That´s correct. I´ve captured your dearest friend.”

Grogar was surprised by Fluttershy´s face. Unlike her friends´ case, she wasn´t pretending not to be scared of him. She stood there with lots of genuine determination. A determination that was combined with anger. The ram was a little intimidated deep inside, but he didn´t show.

“I know you´re trying to do your stare thing to scare me. It won´t work.”

“No. This is the face I make when somepony is trying to hurt my friends. My stare only works on animals. Still, I can see you´re intimidated.”

“I am not intimidated.”

“Yes, you are. The fact that I´m not scared intimidates you. I can see it in your eyes.”

Grogar widened his eyes in surprise. His bells and eyes stopped glowing. This mare was more insightful than everypony thought. Maybe that was why her famous stare on the animals was so intimidating. Those apparently innocent eyes were actually seeing a creature´s soul. Still, Grogar knew that she wouldn´t win the game.

He smirked and put his hoof under her chin. Fluttershy clenched her teeth and frowned at him.

“You´re a clever mare. I admire that.” His smirk turned into a glare. “But you haven´t outwitted me.”

He released Fluttershy´s chin. He walked to the throne´s room door, not taking his eyes off Fluttershy.

“You´re not afraid of me, that´s true.” he said as he reached the door. Then, he picked up a chain with his magic. “But I know you are afraid of what I might do to him.”

He pulled the chain and brought Discord into the throne room. He pulled so hard that he made the poor draconequus fall to the ground. Fluttershy´s eyes filled with tears when she saw her best friend´s state. He wore a collar tied to a chain, like some slave. There were some scratches and bruises around his neck. He looked very tired and spiritless, opposed to his energetic and enthusiastic self.

“DISCORD!” she yelled as she flew towards him.

When he heard Fluttershy´s voice, Discord´s ears perked up. He looked up and gasped when he saw Fluttershy flying. Although he was glad to see her ok, he was deeply scared for her, since he knew better than anypony what Grogar was capable to do to her. He reached his eagle claw out to her.

“Fluttershy, no!” he exclaimed.

And as soon as he tried to warn her, Grogar took Fluttershy with his magic, paralyzing her. He dragged her right in front of him.

“The throne´s mine again. And as long as I´m in the throne, you are forbidden to come near him or talk to him again. He´s my son, not your friend! Is that clear?”

Everypony, including the villains, gasped.

“Wait. WHAT?!” Cozy thought aloud.

“Discord´s his son?!” Tirek asked confused to Chrysalis.

“Talk about a dysfunctional family.” Chrysalis whispered in Tirek´s ear.

The mane 6 looked at Discord in utter shock.

“This is getting so confusing!” Pinkie Pie complained as she stretched her ears. “First, Gusty the Great is Celestia´s and Luna´s mother, and now Grogar´s Discord´s father? DID I MISS SOMETHING?!” Pinkie grabbed Rainbow´s face with her hooves. “Now what, are you related to Commander Hurricane?”

“Is that true?” Twilight asked him.

“You´re his child?” Applejack asked him too.

Discord couldn´t dare to look into their eyes. He panted as he glanced around the room. He felt a huge panic inside his heart. Grogar approached him and held his chin.

“Obviously you didn´t tell them about me. Are you that ashamed of me? I created you, I raised you. After all I´ve done for you, is this how you repay your father?”

Discord hit Grogar´s hoof.

“Don´t you dare get that familiar with me! Since when do you consider me your son, huh? I was just some slave monster for you to control! And I´m sure you still see me that way.”

Grogar beamed.

“Categorically. But you´re still my son.”

“I am not your son.” Discord emphasized.

Grogar slapped Discord´s cheek. Fluttershy gasped. Her heart filled with rage, and that rage took over Fluttershy´s mind.

“Who do you think you are?! What gives you the right to treat my best friend like that, huh?! Mean old goat!”

Grogar´s ears perked up. Celestia and Luna gasped. Discord´s jaw dropped, literally. Cadence, Twilight, and her friends clenched nervously their teeth.

“What did you CALL ME?!” Grogar asked as he turned around and channelled magic through his hoof

He twisted Fluttershy´s wing. She closed her eyes and complained.

“I´ll let you know that you´re not dealing with a common villain.” he told her menacingly. “You´re dealing with the first emperor of Equestria! The Father of monsters! I won´t let an insolent pony insult me like that! I AM A RAM, NOT A GOAT!”

“You´re nothing but a coward.” Fluttershy replied with a glare.

“SILENCE!”

He twisted Fluttershy´s wing even more, making her whimper. Discord couldn´t bear to see her in pain. So, after attaching his jaw to his face, he ran to Grogar.

“Stop it!” he exclaimed angrily.

Grogar turned around and kicked Discord´s stomach, sending him against the wall. Twilight opened her wings and zapped at Grogar. The ram moaned, freeing Fluttershy in the process. Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow and Pinkie went to assist her friend. Twilight landed between her friends and Grogar.

“What is wrong with you?!” Rarity asked very angrily.

“Is your wing ok, sugarcube?” Applejack asked Fluttershy.

The pegasus raised and lowered her wing. She moved her feathers one by one. She felt some pain but it didn´t last. She turned to Applejack.

“I´m fine.” she said with a sweet smile.

“Don´t you dare hurt my friends again!” Twilight told Grogar while igniting her horn with more intensity.

Grogar chuckled.

“I´m afraid that was nothing, sweet princess. I´m capable of doing worse things to your friends.” His expression turned serious. “But now is not the moment. Not without my bell.”

He turned to the villains. They gulped when Grogar stared at them. During the stay at his cavern, they had upset Grogar many times, and they knew perfectly how scary he would get when things didn´t go out as he planned. But it was mostly frustration. This time it was different. His eyes were shining and burning in rage. This was the angriest Grogar they had ever seen. And the angrier he got, the scarier he was.

“You three used my bell, and you have carried with yourselves along Equestria and many kingdomes. WHERE IS IT?!”

Grogar pressed their wrists with all his strength. The villains moaned in pain.

“It´s in the castle! It´s in the castle!” Cozy yelled. “Please stop!” she begged.

“Well, I don´t see it anywhere!” Grogar replied back.

“The dragon and the baby alicorn took it!” Tirek added.

“And where are they?”

“We don´t know!” Chrysalis exclaimed. “They landed in front of the thrones and they fell underground. They could have escaped, and we don´t know it!”

Suddenly, Spike and Flurry popped up at the door.

“Hey, Twilight where do I-” he asked while showing the bell, but Flurry gave him a nudge, making him stop talking. Then, she pointed at Grogar.

“Ow! Hey, that hurt! What did you-”

Spike stopped talking when he saw Grogar. The ram was as surprised as he was. He stopped hurting Chrysalis, Tirek and Cozy, and turned around to face him. He looked like he was about to murder Spike for having his bell. The little dragon quickly hid it behind his back. He laughed nervously.

“Surprise...” he mumbled.

Grogar illuminated his horns to bind Spike and Flurry to the wall, but before his magic could reach them, Flurry ignited her horn and made Spike and herself disappear. Grogar yelled out in frustration. The bell was so close to him and in a matter of seconds, he lost it again.

“Without your bell, you´re nothing, Grogar. Surrender.” Twilight ordered.

Grogar grinned.

“Do not underestimate me, princess. Go find some evidence in the tree of harmony, if you don´t believe me.”

The ponies gasped.

“The tree…” Twilight muttered very concerned.

“What did you do to it?!” Rainbow asked angrily.

“Oh, I paid a little visit.”

“THAT´S IT! You´re going to regret this!” said Rarity as she ignited her horn.

The rest also prepared for the fight.

“No. You will.” Grogar said menacingly as he ignited his horns.

“Wait!” Celestia exclaimed. She and Luna flew in front of Grogar, acting like a shield to the mane 6. “Why are you fighting them?”

“Because they are an obstacle to my plans. Isn´t it obvious?”

“I didn´t mean it like that. You don´t have anything personal against them. It is my sister and I who you hate the most. Fight us, instead!”

“What?” Twilight asked to Celestia. “No!”

“Sacrificing yourselves to protect them, huh?” Grogar said as he raised an eyebrow. “So noble from your part, yes, and a tempting offer too. But in order to get to you, I have to get rid of them.”

Grogar was going to take a step closer to the mane 6, but Luna threw a ray of her magic in front of him. Grogar stepped back and glared at Luna

“I´m sorry, but you´ll have to get through us first.” she told him coldly.

“And through me too.” Cadence joined the royal sisters.

“No, Cadence.” Luna blocked her way with her wing. “This is between us and him.”

Cadence wasn´t comfortable with the idea of leaving them behind, but she nodded and joined the mane 6.

Despite Luna´s warning, Grogar didn´t change his mind.

“Let me through.” he ordered dryly.

“No.” Celestia said.

Grogar stepped forwards, but Celestia stopped him by zapping at him. Grogar yelled. That´s when he lost his patience and started to fight the two sisters. They threw zaps at each other, but they avoided them with great skill. Grogar´s zaps were so powerful that they destroyed the room each time the princesses dodged them.

Just when they started to fight, Twilight opened her wings to assist the princesses. Her friends followed behind. Cadence stood still, not sure of what to do. Taking advantage of the fact that Grogar wasn´t looking, Discord decided to reach the mane 6 to prevent them from fighting him.

“What do you think you´re doing?!”

“We´re trying to help them!” Rainbow replied.

“You can´t defeat him. He´s too powerful!” he warned them. “If he zaps you, you could get seriously hurt.”

“So what are you suggesting?” Applejack asked.

“Leave!”

“No way!” Pinkie exclaimed.

Twilight shook her head refusingly.

“No, no. I can´t”

“I´m begging you. This is for the best!” Discord´s voice was desperate. “We need you in a perfect state to defeat Grogar. Besides, improvising isn´t a good idea when it comes to him. You need a plan to attack.”

“Discord´s right.” Cadence approached them. “You need to leave.”

“See? Your sister in law agrees. Now that we´re talking about you, Cadence, you should go to the Crystal Empire. I´m sure your husband would appreciate it.”

Cadence nodded. She ignited her horn.

“Good luck, girls.” she said before she disappeared.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy reached her hoof to the collar to free Discord´s neck.

“Don´t!” he tried to warn her.

When Fluttershy touched the colour, a black and yellow magic touched her hoof, burning it a little.

“Ouch!” complained Fluttershy as she removed her hooves from the collar.

“It´s surrounded by his magic. Neither you and I can´t take it off.” he explained sadly to Fluttershy while holfing her hoof. “Only he can.”

“I can´t leave the princesses alone!” Twilight exclaimed.

As he was fighting, Grogar saw Discord talking to the main 6. He also noticed that he was holding Fluttershy´s hoof. He frowned and decided to attack them. He threw a ray of magic against them. Since it happened so fast, Celestia and Luna couldn´t do anything to avoid it. The only thing they could do was gasp and watch. The mane 6 closed their eyes and hugged each other. Luckily, nothing happened to them. When they opened their eyes, they understood why. Discord had created a force camp around them. He was holding it with his claw and paw while panting. He looked back and smiled cockily at his friends.

“They´re not alone.” he told them.

Everypony except Twilight smiled tenderly at her friend. The alicorn was still uncertain about leaving.

“Discord, undo the force camp!” Grogar commanded angrily.

Discord maintained the force camp. He looked at him with hatred as he panted.

“Do it! NOW!” Grogar insisted while yelling.

Seeing that Discord did not respond as he wished to, Grogar ignited his horns and electrocuted Discord with his magic by the collar around his neck. Discord fell to the ground while complaining, undoing the force camp. Fluttershy gasped.

“Discord!” she exclaimed as she tried to reach him. However, Rainbow and Applejack held her back.

Discord panted and woke up slowly. Once he was standing in two legs, he smiled at Fluttershy tenderly.

“I´m fine.” he whispered. “I´m fine.”

Fluttershy smiled back at him.

Meanwhile Luna reminded Grogar that they were still in battle by scratching his neck with his magic. Grogar was going to hit her in return, but Celestia defended her sister by creating a force camp.

“Thanks, sister.” Luna whispered in relief.

Celestia smiled in reply, but that smile didn´t last. Grogar took both with his magic and threw them against the wall. Grogar laughed while he approached the two of them.

“I´ve waited thousands of years for this moment. The moment I finally end up with her legacy.”

Fortunately, a yellow magic hit Grogar´s back. He yelled in pain. He turned around and saw Discord floating with a smirk.

“Nah, I think you´ll have to wait a little longer.” he told Grogar.

Grogar ignited his horns. Discord closed his eyes, getting ready for the electrocution, but the princesses attacked Grogar before he could do anything to Discord. And so, the battle consisted on Celestia, Discord and Luna against Grogar.

As he was fighting, Discord noticed that the mane 6 were still in the castle. He growled in frustration.

“Go. NOW!” he told them.

Twilight´s mind and heart were at a huge competition. She knew that the logical thing would be to leave, but she couldn´t bear the thought of leaving Celestia and Luna with that monster who wanted to kill them. Her indecision paralyzed her from acting. But her friends had already made up their minds.

“Twilight, we need to leave.” Applejack told her.

“I can´t.” Twilight replied.

“You have nothing to fear. Discord´s by their side.” Rainbow reassured Twilight.

“But Grogar´s more powerful than Discord! They won´t hold him for much longer.”

“Which is why we need to leave!” Rarity insisted. “Equestria needs us.” she laid a hoof on Twilight´s shoulder. “Please, darling.”

“We can think on how to help them once we have a plan.” Pinkie said. “I have so many ideas right now.”

“I know it´s hard, Twilight. I do.” Fluttershy laid a hoof under Twilight´s chin. “I don´t like the idea of leaving Discord behind with Grogar. But I know that this is necessary. If Discord understands it, the princesses will too. Everything will be ok, I promise.”

Twiligth looked at her friends with tears. She sniffed, gulped and nodded. She took a quick glance of the princesses as she ignited her horn. She was sobbing.

“I´m so sorry.” she said with a broken voice.

Her friends hugged her tightly. Twilight smiled at them. In a matter of seconds, the six friends disappeared in a flash.