• Published 18th Jul 2020
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Luster Dawn: New Days of the Magic of Friendship - SamSwordsman123



Twilight wants to break the curse of immortality to pass with her friends. But first she must find a Successor to take her place. Can she do it or does Equestria need her to stay? What tests await candidate Luster Dawn as an ancient villain returns?

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Chapter 24 The Father of Monsters

Luster and her friends walked out of the Treehouse of Harmony. Behind them also came the CMCs, Diamond Tiara, Honeytart, and Bladerunner. Their magic had been restored, likely meaning that Tirek had been defeated. They looked around and saw the battle appeared to be over, but there were many wounded and lost ponies. It was a horrible sight that made the Future Five and the others tear up.

Starlight spotted them. Luster was relieved to see that her family managed to survive.

“Mom? Are you alright?” Luster asked as she galloped over.

“Yes,” Starlight said, hugging her daughter.

At that moment, there was the sound of a pop! Flurry Heart appeared beside them. There were several members of the Crystal Guard with her.

“Am I too late?” she asked. “Where is the enemy?”

“Flurry Heart, we managed to defeat the monsters and villains. They’ve been taken care of!” Starlight said.

“Oh, thank Celestia. But where is my aunt?” Flurry looked around.

Starlight looked down. “Grogar, he took her and her friends! His face appeared in the sky and then a lightning bolt shot at them, and they were gone.”

“Come on, Discord! Can’t you summon them now that your chaos magic is back to full power?” Spike asked the Draconques.

Discord kept snapping, but nothing happened.

“I can’t summon them!”

“What? You’re the Spirit of Chaos! Nothing could be more powerful than you!” Spike said.

“Except friendship!” Discord pointed out.

Twilight looked at him… the Father of Monsters…. the First Emperor of Equestria… Grogar glared back at them with a pair of blood-red, evil eyes, and a wicked grin on his lips. This was it, the true final battle for Equestria. Twilight knew this was going to be more challenging than anything she had ever faced before. She could practically feel Grogar’s power, as though his magic filled the atmosphere. Dark clouds formed above them, like when Grogar sent them the message when he announced his return. Lightning crackled, and Twilight feared what might come. Fluttershy shuddered.

“Welcome, Heroes of Equestria,” Grogar greeted them. “Prepare to meet thy doom!”

Rainbow Dash laughed in her cocky manner. “Doom? Twilight took on Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow by herself! If you were hoping to be able to beat us, you should have done it twenty years ago when Discord pretended to be you!”

Grogar’s smile turned upside down. “That imposter shall soon pay!”

Fluttershy glared at him. “When he gets here! He’ll-“

“He won’t be able to help you!” Grogar interrupted. “I’ve put a protective enchantment around this area to prevent his chaos magic from summoning you away. I will turn him to stone as you and the Royal Sisters did long ago! But he shall also be trapped not only in the stone, but also in his worst fears!”

“No! Please don’t hurt my husband!” Fluttershy exclaimed.

“I don’t think begging is going to change anything with that ram!” Rarity said, pointing to something lying on the ground. It was the body of a filly, though its hair was white like an old mare’s.

“That’s right!” Grogar stated. “Do you really think the Father of Monsters grants mercy to his enemies? No! All of the pony kind and other species in Equestria shall bow to me! They will be my slaves and bring me wealth; I shall have all the gold, jewels, and everything! The dragons shall be left crying without their gems! I shall have ponies and other creatures fight each other to the death to entertain me! And foals shall give me their life forces as this one did!” He pointed to the body.

“You… you stole that filly’s life force?” Twilight asked, horror-struck.

“That’s right!” Grogar said as he ran a hoof through his hair. “I’ve stolen the life force of many foals for many millennia as I watched… waiting for the time to come to take back my kingdom. It’s how I’ve survived!”

With Grogar grinning, a mix of dread and silence filled the air. It twisted pony faces into unnatural grimaces that showed everything from disbelief and shock, all the way to utter disgust. Only one face remained different. Rainbow's squinted eyes went from the body on the floor towards the smiling ram, and her teeth clenched. Her twitching cheeks were like a foretaste of the fury burning inside of her. She was like a mad bull ready to smash him to pieces!

“You...” Rainbow Dash hissed through her teeth. “I'm gonna make you pay!” She launched like a missile in Grogar's direction, initiating the final confrontation.

“Rainbow, be careful!” Applejack called.

The Pegasus flew around Grogar at blinding speed. He watched her with rotating eyes. Rainbow struck him, causing him to grunt. Frowning, he put up a shield of his yellow light. Rainbow Dash struck it with her hoof.

“Hiding behind a shield already, huh?” she taunted, looking him dead in the eye.

Only for him to release the shield in a burst of energy.

“Whoa!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she flew back.

“We gotta attack him together!” Applejack said. “Gives us better odds!”

Pinkie Pie appeared in a monster costume.

“You ready to party, Daddy?” she asked. “Well, prepare for the main event!”

Grogar frowned at the absurd act and lit up his horns again, as though about to fire. Pinkie Pie dove under the rocks littering the ruins of the lair. The ram shouted in fury and stomped the ground, sending out an enormous shockwave that caused most of the other Mane 6 to lose their footing and Pinkie to fly up into the air from her hole! Grogar shot his magic at her, she screamed as it came at her, even she could not dodge in midair.

“Pinkie!” Rainbow Dash yelled.

She flew in and caught the party pony just in time to prevent her from getting hit by the beam. Applejack got up to her hooves and charged. She spun her lasso and managed to get it around Grogar’s neck as he shot at Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. The cowgirl pony tried to pull Grogar and distract him from using his magic. It worked - he stopped shooting at the other two. Unfortunately, even Applejack was not strong enough to take the ram down. He lifted her into the air and spun her around with her own lasso. However, Twilight and Rarity seized the opportunity to fire at him. The lavender and blue beams hit the Father of Monsters, sending him off his hooves.

The Mane 6 came together as Grogar slowly got back up.

“Yeah, that’s right! We rule!” Rainbow Dash said.

“Let’s finish this!” Twilight said.

She gathered rainbow energy from her friends. They glowed white, at the same time, Grogar glowed black as he called upon the magic of corrupted friendship he’d gotten from his Bewitching Bell. The rainbow of friendship clashed with the rainbow of darkness, rocking the entire area. For a moment it was unclear which rainbow would emerge victorious. Then Grogar’s pushed theirs down, and the Mane 6 screamed as they got hit.

Twilight’s eyes widened as she got to her hooves. All of her friends were down on the ground after being struck by Grogar’s magic. The evil ram laughed.

“No! Girls!” she screamed desperately as tears filled her eyes. "They couldn’t be-”

“It seems all the magic of your friendship will be your undoing!”

Twilight narrowed her eyes and tried to call upon all the magic she could. But without her friends, the Princess of Friendship had nowhere near as much power as before. They were able to fight Grogar evenly together, but alone she stood no chance. Grogar sent a dark rainbow out like before; it sent Twilight’s beam back and hit her. She fell and was not able to rise again.

Twilight thought Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow were strong when they’d had this monster's magic. But it had been divided among them. This was all in one vessel, and the bell he’d stolen back absorbed the energy from her own friendship magic when she’d hit those other three and stripped them of his power. Now her greatest triumph was going to result in her ultimate defeat.

She could only watch helplessly as Grogar approached her, a yellow orb forming above his head as he grinned evilly.

“Equestria will be mine!”

In the Castle of the Two Sisters, Luster, her friends, and family all looked up at the sky. Dark clouds were forming again.

“I hope Princess Twilight is going to be okay,” Luster said.

Starlight looked at her daughter. “I’m sure she has everything under control. She’s always came out on top in the past.”

“Not true,” Trixie said. “We had to save her when Chrysalis nabbed her and her friends! And it took all of Equestria to come to the rescue against the three of them!”

Luster’s worry intensified. Seeing his marefriend's face drowning in doubt, Gallop walked up to her and put a foreleg around her neck.

“Everything’s gonna be okay... I hope.”

Luster frowned at him. “If you want to boost my spirits, don’t stab your inspiring words in the back!”

“Luster, just have faith!” Georgia said, trying to cheer her friend up.

“Yelena not like the look of the sky,” the yak said.

“Well, it can’t get any worse!” River said.

She had to jinx it!

Lightning struck the area around the ruins of the castle. Discord was hit first, his body turning to stone as he was. The surviving ponies screamed as bolts chased them. Luster put up a shield in time to prevent herself from being hit. Her friends remained close to her as she made the force-field bigger to cover them as well. The storm raged for several seconds, then he appeared in the sky again. Grogar looked down upon Equestria, but this time it wasn’t a message in the clouds. The ram’s face materialized from the clouds themselves like a dark stormy shade.

“Your Princess has been defeated!” he said.

“Aunt Twilight?” Flurry asked in horror. “No! Impossible!”

“No creature can protect you now!” Grogar stated. “She lays defeated before me! See for yourself!”

The cloud Grogar opened its mouth and everycreature saw Twilight battered and on the ground alongside her friends with the physical Grogar looking smugly in their direction. She was alive and breathing, but that was a small comfort. Seeing her defeated was enough to crush any hope that remained. Their greatest hero was beaten!

The shade of Grogar closed his mouth and laughed.

“Now… you shall feel my wrath!”

The shade shot another lightning bolt down, though it didn’t hit any creatures. Instead, it fired at the Treehouse of Harmony. The shining structure lost its shine, a scorch mark visible on its crystal roof.

“Now… the structure of harmony shall not trouble me in any way!” Grogar’s image said. “Equestria will be mine!”

It cackled evilly then flew off, sending lightning bolts down upon the land as it moved. No doubt there were other shades like this one in various parts of Equestria doing the same thing.

“I guess this is it, huh?” Trixie asked. “Twilight’s defeated! Grogar just destroyed the Treehouse of Harmony! We’re doomed!"

There was silence. Everycreature looked down. Luster was unable to believe this.

Then she heard a voice call her.

Luster...

The voice was weak, but Luster could hear. She looked around and saw the Treehouse of Harmony appeared to be flashing.
Gallop. Georgia, River Song, Yelena...

Each of Luster’s friends heard their name being called and looked in the direction of the tree.

Come to me...

The Future Five hesitated, then walked over to their place of refuge, which was now dark. As they set foot on the crystal structure, it shined brightly. Then the Spirit of Harmony appeared… not in the form of Princess Twilight like it had for the Young Six, but in the form of a white alicorn with a sun cutie mark. Luster recognized the pony.

“Celestia?” she asked.

The spirit shook its head. “I’m the spirit of the Tree of Harmony, or treehouse now. But my time has come, as Celestia and Luna’s did. My role in protecting Equestria is over. I gave the ponies of this land symbols to believe in… but now they must find the strength within to stand against evil for themselves. The sun rises, as does the moon, a star will die, but another shall be born. The sun has set on Twilight Sparkle’s time as the protector of Equestria.”

“But… does that mean that… she’s going to…” Luster couldn’t finish.

“She very well could,” Astral Celestia said. “But there may be hope yet. Unless Grogar is stopped, all of Equestria will suffer. He must be stopped by a new group of heroes… and that task falls to you five.”

Light from the Treehouse of Harmony shined and flowed into Luster. She rose into the air, her mane sparkling and her eyes glowed bright white.

“I have given you what remains of my power, Luster Dawn,” Astral Celestia said. “With this and your friends, you may have a chance to stop Grogar. Now go!”

And the five friends vanished in a flash. They reappeared in another place. Luster didn’t recognize the ruins of Grogar’s lair, for she had been kept in the cocoon by Chrysalis. But she did recognize him even though he was younger as he watched his storm strike across Equestria. He then turned to Princess Twilight, who lay on the ground, too weak to fight back.

Grogar sent his message across Equestria, showing Twilight and her friends defeated, Twilight’s vision was getting blurry. She could not remain conscious much longer. Even if she could, she was in no condition to fight the Father of Monsters. The ram looked at her.

“It's time to end this!”

His entire body was surrounded by darkness as he prepared to deliver the killing blow, but then…

“Get away from the Princess!” a familiar voice shouted.

Grogar’s attention was drawn away. Twilight weakly turned her head in the direction of the sound as well as her vision continued to blur. Luster stood there with the four best friends she’d made in Ponyville some time ago. Twilight then lost conciousness.

Luster and her friends stood before Grogar who looked at them in surprise.

“How are you here?” he asked.

“The Treehouse of Harmony’s spirit went into me after you destroyed it!” Luster explained. “It brought my friends and me here.”

The ram frowned. “That harmony plant is certainly persistent. But it is a fool if it thinks a bunch of young creatures can stop me!”

“Well, we’ll just see about that!” Gallop stated before he saw something. “You injured Rainbow Dash! I idolized that pony, you know!”

“And you’re responsible for Starcutter taking over Ponyville and the Crystal Empire, right?” River Song asked.

“That’s right!” Grogar said. “What of it?”

River suddenly growled. Her kirin mane started to burn, her blue coat turned black as her Nirik form awakened, and she spoke in a deep voice.

“Now I know who really deserves my rage! You made me and a lot of other creatures kill ponies! You monster!”

Nirik River charged at Grogar, leaving a trail of fire behind her that narrowly missed Princess Twilight. The Father of Monsters was caught off guard by the swift and powerful attack. River managed to push him back, her fiery body causing him to yell in pain as she touched him.

The sight surprised Luster and the others. But Georgia quickly spotted the danger that River’s Nirik form posed not only to Grogar but also the wounded ponies laying near him.

“We’ve got to get Princess Twilight and her friends away or they might be burned!” she said.

The griffon flew over and picked up Fluttershy’s unconscious form before flying away from the fire. Yelena and Gallop both ran over, with the yak managing to put both Pinkie Pie and Applejack on her back while Gallop did the same with Rainbow Dash. Luster, meanwhile, levitated Princess Twilight and Rarity away. They put the protectors of Equestria a safe distance from the fire just in time. Grogar’s initially difficult struggle with the Nirik was over and he coated himself in a black aura before proceeding to punch River Song with his hooves. She grunted and was thrown back, her flames vanishing as she returned to her kirin form. Grogar suffered no new burns from his counterattack, and those River inflicted on his fur healed.

River got to her hooves as Luster and the others joined her.

“Let’s get him!” Luster said.

“Yelena ready to smash this ram!” Yelena said.

“For Rainbow Dash and the others!” Gallop said.

“We can’t let this monster hurt anycreature else!” Georgia declared. “Let’s end this once and for all!”

They charged. Gallop galloped ahead to attack Grogar swiftly, closely followed by Georgia, who extended her claws. He sent them both back with a wave of magic. Yelena was next, she jumped high into the air, trying to land on Grogar with her immense yak weight and crush him. The ram vanished, teleporting somewhere out of sight.

“Where Grogar go?” Yelena asked.

They looked around wildly. Then a bright yellow light shined down on them from above. For a second it seemed to be over… but Luster’s horn moved and lit up of its own accord, producing an enormous white shield that blocked the ram’s surprise attack.

“What?” Luster asked.

Then a voice spoke in her head. I'm here.

The Spirit of Harmony had intervened on Luster’s behalf and protected them all!

“I won’t be able to do that for many more times! You have to end this quickly, Luster Dawn,” Harmony said.

Grogar was in the air, floating about in an aura of his magic. He looked surprised at how the shield blocked his attack. Then River Song shot at him, hoping to take advantage of his distraction. It hit him, causing him to scream out in pain. Then his gaze lit up in a fury.

“Enough!” Grogar shouted.

Darkness surrounded him again and he shot it at River Song, who was thrown back. Georgia flew up at the flying ram, only to be knocked down with another attack. Grogar turned, bringing his magic upon the rest of the creatures on the ground. Yelena was hit instantly. Gallop tried to outrun it but was caught. Dust filled the air.

“No!” Luster shouted as she lost sight of what was happening.

Then she herself was hit! Luster fell to the ground in front of Princess Twilight and her friends. Grogar took Luster’s own friends in his magic and threw them all in the same direction. He descended to the ground while Luster looked at him with wide eyes. She knew it was hopeless; his power was too immense. There was no way she thought she could beat him.

“There may be yet a way!”

Luster took a deep pained breath. Grogar began to glow in the darkness as he looked upon his foes, preparing to finish them all with one final attack.

Get up Luster, this is your time. You must save your friends… but you must know… it will cost you.

Cost me? Luster thought. Cost me what?

Are you willing to sacrifice everything? For the sake of your friends?

Luster hesitated, taking in what Harmony said. She thought back to the times she’d had with her friends, playing Buckball, them comforting her after Starlight threw her out, their trip across Equestria, fighting alongside each other against Starcutter, dancing with Gallop, him kissing her...

Luster closed her eyes and opened them again in determination as she got up, her body aching. She glared at Grogar, her horn glowing yellow. Then Harmony shared with her a secret spell, the same spell Twilight has used to absorb the dark magic from Luster mere hours ago.

The Father of Monster’s red orbs looked into her golden eyes.

“Let your demise be the final word in the story of harmony!”

A dark rainbow flew from Grogar toward Luster, who put up a powerful shield with Harmony's aid. The darkness pushed against it as Luster’s friends opened their eyes.

“Luster,” Georgia said trying to reach out.

River Song attempted to get up, knowing had to help Luster, but she couldn’t.

Grogar stepped closer toward them, still shooting his rainbow of darkness.

“You are nothing! A mere unicorn is no match for my power! I am the Father of Monsters!” Grogar declared.

Luster grunted. “And I… am the daughter of Starlight and Sunburst! Student of Twilight Sparkle, and a friend to all these creatures! I will not allow you to harm any of them!”

Luster suddenly lowered her shield and the Rainbow of Darkness hit her in the horn as she cast the absorption spell, taking in a level of dark magic that was sure to claim her life. Her horn glowed brightly as it absorbed the magic. She began to levitate as Grogar watched with wide eyes, even as he continued to throw darkness at her. White light shined from Luster and her friends, who also began to levitate with her, then Grogar’s darkness vanished, and the light grew brighter.

“This can’t be!” Grogar exclaimed. “How can you defeat me?”

“Through the power of friendship!” Luster said. “I have actual friends, unlike you, Grogar! But I needed a little extra spark to be able to perform a rainbow laser. Seems you gave that to me. Well… back at you, you monster!”

And Luster sent a bright rainbow laser at the Father of Monsters, who screamed.

“No! No! Nooooooo!”

Grogar dissolved into dark mist as the power of his corrupted and now purified rainbow was turned back on him. Dark energy exploded into the sky, hissing intensely before extinguishing and the sky turned a lovely blue. Luster and her friends dropped slowly back to the ground. She turned around and gave her friends one last smile and they rose, about to tell her good job… then she glowed white… and vanished with a snap.

When Twilight awoke, she saw to her relief that her friends were alive. Luster’s friends were still there, but she was not. Grogar was also gone.

“Princess Twilight!” Georgia exclaimed as she lay over her.

“Where’s Grogar?” Twilight questioned as she got up.

“We defeated him!” Georgia said. “Luster was putting everything she had into shielding you and the rest of us. Then she suddenly turned his own magic against him somehow! But now she’s… she’s gone!”

Twilight felt her horn suddenly radiate magic. She let out a gasp and wide grin of relief as she realized what it meant. Luster was it! With a spell she’d learned from the forbidden archives, she entered the area filled with flowing light—the place where she herself had received her alicorn wings from Celestia all those years ago.

Luster was looking around frightfully.

“Luster!” Twilight called out to her student.

Luster looked in her direction. “Princess!”

She galloped up to Twilight and embraced her mentor. “Where are we? Are we… dead? I thought I’d defeated Grogar.”

“You did,” Twilight assured her with a nuzzle. “You turned the Magic of Friendship against him. You’ve proven that you are ready.”

“Ready? Ready for what?” Luster asked.

Twilight smiled and sung the exact same song her mentor sang to her when she’d become an Alicorn.

You've come such a long, long way
Images showed a variety of times around them from Luster’s past.
And I've watched you from that very first day
Luster saw her birth, with Starlight holding her as Twilight, her friends, Sunburst and Trixie watched.
To see how you might grow
Now they saw filly Luster using her magic to use the amulet that could control the sun and moon as part of her entrance exam. She studied and eventually returned to Ponyville where she made her friends.
To see what you might do
An image now showed Luster and her friends battling Starcutter.
To see what you've been through
Luster and the others comforting River Song after her traumatic experience and Luster’s own brief descent into villainy after being brainwashed by Grogar.
And all the ways, you've made me proud of you
The final image showed Luster sending Grogar’s own magic back at him and destroying him. Twilight then finished her ballad.
It's time now for a new change to come
You've grown up and your new life has begun
To go where you will go
To see what you will see
To find what you will be
For it's time for you to fulfill your destiny
Then she cast the spell, light emerged from Luster and levitated her into the air. They returned to Equestria with Luster now having a pair of wings. She unfolded them before her friends who marveled at the sight just as Twilight’s friends had done long ago.

Once again, Twilight stood in Canterlot Cemetery. Her friends and Council of Friendship were all by her side. The battle against Grogar claimed the lives of many ponies. Gallus led the city's defense while she’d gone to the Castle of the Two Sisters. He looked sadly at the bodies of those defenders he’d lost. Grogar’s monsters proved formidable, though they’d managed to achieve victory, it was not without sacrifice. Twilight looked upon the bodies of her own parents. Twilight Velvet and Night Light were lost during the battle when a monster attacked their home. Flurry Heart looked at her grandparents as well as Starcutter. Her captain’s body was transported here from the Crystal Empire after their victory. Cheese Sandwich lay among the bodies as well. He was one of the casualties in the battle at the castle. Pinkie Pie wore a mourning outfit, her mane was straight, her pink turned gray, Lil Cheese was by her side.

Twilight took a breath. “The battle with Grogar is over, and it has been the most difficult and bloody battle Equestria has ever seen. We’ve lost more ponies to that ram than in all the other conflicts combined. Equestria has likely faced the greatest threat it ever could… and it has taken much from us. We’ve lost friends, families, and loved ones. Most of us are lucky to be alive now.”

Pinkie Pie cried out loud while every other pony made sad expressions.

“If not for a certain pony, I would have been lost as well. We’ve lost many creatures in this battle, but from it, we have gained a new princess. Luster Dawn, my top student, went to Ponyville some time ago to learn friendship, and now, she stands before us… a Princess of Equestria!”

Luster stepped up on to the stage in a dress of bright gold and a crown on her head.

“I know we will all need time to mourn, but we must also acknowledge the good things around us as well as the bad,” Twilight said. “My heart aches for all the creatures we lost, but I must let my student know that I’m very proud of her for her heroism in the battle against Grogar. Without her, he would have conquered us! All hail Princess Luster Dawn!”

“Hail!” the voices of the creatures in Equestria spoke as one and they bowed to their new princess.

Twilight smiled. Her plan was nearly complete. Luster had proven she was worthy - now she just needed to wait for the time to give Luster the throne and power.

Author's Note:

Well, it's finally over! Almost, still got two chapters left to post for this. Grogar is destroyed, but there’s still one last enemy to deal with. The curse of immortality. Well, those chapters are already mostly written out from the old version of the story. I will definitely be making some changes to them though since I had the Grogar battle mentioned in one of them as a flashback. But it shouldn’t take too long. I might even do both of them at once the next time. This final battle was largely inspired by Rey vs. Palpatine in Rise of Skywalker, with Grogar bringing a storm down on Equestria and Luster sending his own power onto him.

Last updated, 11/26/2023.