Episode 1

Villain's Bar

"Goodnight Sister," Celestia said as she passed Luna on her way down the stairs to her bedchambers.

Luna took her post of the night, raising her sparkling moon with a quick glow of her horn. For Luna, tonight would be like any other. While all was peaceful on the planet below, the same could not be said for the moon. For lying hidden on the dark side of the moon lay a large bar like building. The structure had no defining features except for a large wooden door. Above the doorway hung a neon sign.

"The Villain's Bar"

For this was no ordinary bar. Built by Discord himself, and crafted with arcane magic, this place served as hub for the scum of the planet below. Here, they could come and drink away their hatred of all things good in the world. For some, it was merely a place to hang out with others like themselves. For others, a place to forget their most humiliating defeats. Most days were calm and orderly. However, as anyone knows, friday nights are just asking for trouble.

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Gilda drummed her talons on the smooth silver surface of the bar, scanning about the room to keep a close eye on everything going on around her. Despite her original protests about Discord hiring her, she had soon found she liked it. The ability to backtalk and even, if needed, kick someone out of the bar if they made trouble was so rewarding to her.

This particular friday night had started out like many others before. A few changelings had trotted in and ordered love #5. A group of diamond dogs shuffle to their corner were a large table sat for their weekly card games. Another common sight at the bar was a certain ex-king, who would show up to get to drink crystal berry juice and stare blankly about without much purpose.

A black coated alicorn sat at the far end of the bar. Her star sparkled mane drooped over her face hardly majestic looking as she once had been. She would simply sit there staring at the bottom of her glass contemplating things she had done a million times before. Not much of a threat since she had no real form to possess.

Gilda walked over, pulling the cork off a new bottle and poured her a glass of wine. Feeling mischievous, she leaned down looking right into Nightmare Moon's eyes. "Hey why the long face?" She asked.

Nightmare's mane lit up as she stared at Gilda with annoyance. "Do you have to make that joke every time?" she sneered. Suddenly, her magic aura gripped Gilda's throat, lifting her up above the floor.

"Hey lighten up will you." Gilda said gasping for air as the solid energy squeezed around her neck. She knew Moon couldn’t kill her, bar rules after all. Besides, she faced worse in her days.

"I am darkness, I don't lighten up!" she yelled. With a flick of her head, she sent Gilda flying. A loud percussion of glass clattered as she banged against the shelves at the back of the counter.

With no sustained injuries, Gilda got back to her feet. She turned and inspected the shelves. Luckily, they had been reinforced so that nothing would fall off. "Whatever sulk for all I care, I get paid either way," she scoffed as she poured a glass of love for a changeling. She picked up a cloth and polished her golden medallion she wore. As time went by, she wondered where her boss had run off too. As if Discord had read her mind, a flash of light got her attention.

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The dramatic flash faded as Discord, the God of Chaos, appeared in the doorway. He gestured dramatically for a few seconds expecting something. Of course, no one cared, but he didn't mind he had style. He took a moment to glance about remembering the joys of building this place, and on one occasion – rebuilding it. Discord made it clear to himself that after that day he should never invite an ursa ever again.

He stood proud, twirling the cane in his paw as he made his way to the bar counter wanting to chat with his partner of sorts. As he passed a group of changelings, one of them whispered to his friend. "Oh look it's the goody goody, here to mingle with his friends."

Discord stopped dead in his tracks his face contorting in disgust. He turned to face them and without even a second of hesitation he snapped his fingers. The changeling that had spoke up suddenly found himself lifted off the floor and was now hovering above the table. With a quick flash the a changeling plushie landed on the table with a small squeak.

Discord smirked, "Anymore sarcastic remarks you’d like to make, hmm?"

The other changelings quickly shook their heads in unison "No"

Satisfied with his display, Discord walked up to the bar and sat down smiling. "Gilda, a glass of chocolate milk please."

Gilda complied as she poured the glass of milk and turned to face Discord. Her expression was everything Discord had hoped for. She stared at him with befuddlement tilting her head slightly. "What are you wearing?" She said looking at the black and red pajamas.

Discord looked down at his uniform and smiled "Oh this old thing? I just grabbed whatever I could find out of my closet."

"Right..." she replied dryly clearly not wanting to dive further into Discord chaotic nature. “So, how’s your day been?”

Discord drank his milk, making bubbles as he did so. “Oh quite well actually, helped Fluttershy set up a new garden, pranked Rainbow Dash, the usual.”

Gilda’s ear perked at the mentioning of her old friend. “Oh, what you do to her?”

“Oh nothing big, just turned her house into pink cotton candy,” he replied with a snicker. “I turned it back… eventually.”

Gilda let out a small chuckle at the imagery. “Nice.”

Discord nodded, sipping more of his milk. “Oh indeed it was.” He turned his head hearing some laugher from one corner of the bar. The self proclaimed Great and Powerful Trixie sat in her chair, pointing at Sombra annoyed.

"What do you mean Trixie isn’t a villain? Just because I apologized, does not mean I am not a villain!”

Sombra’s deep throated laugh got the attention of every creature near by. “Oh, i’m so scared of a few magic tricks, how sinister. Look everyone, she’s pulling a rabbit out of her hat,” he lifted his hooves wiggling them about in front of him.

Discord chuckled patting Trixie’s head patronizingly. “Well, to be fair, you’re hardly a major player.”

“I took over Ponyville for longer than any of you bozos did!” She jutted her hoof at Discord specifically. Unknownst to the two, Queen Chrysalis had walked into the bar and had approached the heated argument.

“I actually defeated Twilight Sparkle! So how does that not make me a villain."

Sombra waved a dismissive hoof at the showmare’s boasting. “Ha, you had help.”

Trixie groaned. “So what if I used an artifact. As I recall, you tried to use the crystal heart.”

Sombra suddenly shivered. ‘Ugh! don’t mention crystals.”

Before the two could continue, Chrysalis chimed in. “Well i’ll give you credit, getting outwitted certainly beats being defeated by your own food source.”

Discord broke into a laugh. “Pfff. Oh yes, that is the most humiliating way to be beaten,” he looked over at Sombra. “Well maybe being beaten by a baby dragon comes close.”

“Other than handing your enemies their weapons and sitting in your throne and just letting it hit you?” Chrysalis sneered back.

“Hey! You try and dodge the elements, it’s not easy. Besides, hiding the elements wouldn't have made the game fun.”

An impolite, wheezing scoff from another bar patron caught the draconequus’s ear.

He turned to his right and stared at the shriveled up creature in the corner. Tirek still cuffed and seemed to be smirking. Discord kept him under control, only taking him out to the bar a few times just because he felt like it. Betrayed or not, he still made for a good poker partner. “Have something to say?”

With a tired cough, Tirek pulled back the hood of his cloak with a manacled wrist. “Oh, I was just going to say that despite all our losses, I was the one that came the closest to victory. So you all fail in comparison.”

Chrysalis and Nightmare both stared at him, rolling their eyes. Clearly not impressed.

“Well despite my loss, I still have an empire. Oh and I took out Celestia with my own magic.”

Trixie snorted. “You said it yourself. You were given a boost by that love thing.”

“Shut up, minor.” she hissed back.

Trixie stood up, stomping her forehooves into the counter. “Trixie is a not a minor.”

Gildra watched the heated exchange with an amused smirk, before jumping right in. “What’s the big deal if you are a villain or not, not like you have anything to show of it.” She polished her glass before pouring some foaming cider into it.

‘The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn’t have to take this from some lost causes.” She huffs and turned heading for the door.

“Whatever.” Gilda downed her glass in one gulp, and glanced back at the three villains.

Discord puts his feet on the table blowing bubbles out of his hand. “You were saying something, Queeny?”

Chrysalis opened her mouth to speak but quickly stopped herself. “Oh whatever so what if Tirek came closer to victory I’m the better of you three. I mean, Sombra is supposed to be dead.”

Discord shrugged. “You expect me to follow the rules of reality? This whole bar makes no sense, and I love it. What got you all moody?”

The changeling grumbled looking back at her glass. “Someone stole my mane brush.”

“Oh, is that all? I thought this was something important.” He replied thinking of a hair bush song.

“You have it, don’t you? You are always taking my things.”

“Me? Why would you say that?” Discord put his claw to his chest. “I mean, what would I need with a mane brush.”

“Cause you left a calling card.” She tossed the plastic piece of plastic at him it reading in bold letters

Discord found and now lost call 1 888 discord today

Discord chuckled. “Oh forgot I left that there.” he poofs up the mane brush his in talon.

Chrysalis took the brush in her magic before giving Discord a hard smack across the cheek. “Stop taking my things, you’re just like my younger brother.” She groaned before turning and heading out the door.

Gilda turned the music back on as the room soon returned to normal. “Well at least nothing blew up this time.”

Episode 2: Murphy's Dog

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Gilda’s head bobbed gently as she listened to the smooth jazz played by the band on stage.

look all that evil, at least not physically. All she really knew was what Discord had told her. Turns out this Garble fellow tried to harm Spike, Twilight’s little assistant.

Pfff, evil? Yeah right. Oh look at me, I can breathe fire and swim in lava.

A quick cough brought her attention back to the matter at hand as the teen drummed his claw on the bar rather impatiently. “Hello!”

Gilda smirked while idly sauntering over to him. “No need to shout, my hearing is just fine,” she replied idly with her usual snark. “What do you want?”

“Gems, like I said the first time.”

“Hmm, from how growly you say that, I’d swear you were a diamond dog in disguise.” She watched as one of the diamond dog’s ears swiveled to listen in at the mere mention of their race.

Oh, this should be good.

“Hey, I’m no mutt.” Garble snarled back, balling up his fist.

“Hey, who you calling a mutt!”

The diamond dog that was listening in lept out of his seat and landed near the bar with teeth bared, as sharp as the dragon’s.

Gilda had just enough time to notice Discord sitting on his upside down bar stool, munching away on a pawful of popcorn and watching the sight unfold. Popcorn in the claws of a draconequus only meant two things, and given there was no movie planned for tonight, there was only one conclusion. A fight was about to happen.

Grable stared back at the dog, thinking he was more than a match for the squat canine. He even felt confident enough to trash talk his opponent. “Well you of course, what is that a flea collar?” He mocked with a chuckle.

The dog rose from a four-legged stance to his full height, now being just as tall as Garble. “Hey! this was given to me by my mom!”

"Oh, so I guess I can say that your mom dresses you funny, too."

With an enraged snarl, the dog lunged at Garble, slamming a massive paw into the dragon’s chest and sending him flying across the room. A raucous din of braying howls filled the air as the other dogs voiced their approval of the fight.

Garble came down a second later, bouncing off the floor and into a table. The impact caused Sombra’s just completed house of cards to come crashing down.

Everyone in the bar fell silent, and the brothers on stage stopped playing. Gilda hissed. The ex-king had spent the better part of three hours carefully crafting a magnificent spire, only for it to topple in a second. The griffon swore she saw a single tear run out his eye and down his cheek, before they burst back into their usual demonic glow.

They were also smoking.

“Think that’s really funny, don’t ya,” He leered down at the dragon sprawled on the floor.

Grable meeped, his eyes shrinking to dots as all the fight was taken out of him just by glancing into Sombra’s deadly pupils. ‘H-he did it,” he quickly pointed to the dog, hoping for any kind of salvation.

Sombra showed his teeth, the sparkling white fangs emphasised by how he snarled. “Yes, but you knocked over my cards!”

The shadow pony’s horn glowed brightly as he picked up Garble with voracious speed, curling and compressing the teen into a living ball. He then dropped the oversized ball, and against all possible logic, he bounced back up into a waiting magical grasp. Sombra dribbled him a few more times, before his rumbling voice filled the hall.

“Now that my cards have fallen, I am in need of some new… entertainment.”

“Hey! we’re not through with him yet!”

The dog Garble had offended – along with the rest of the pack – galloped over to the scene with teeth bared.

Sombra stopped to consider this development. He wasn’t ready to release Garble yet, but the dogs wanted a piece of him, too…

The ex-king grinned widely. “It looks like a compromise is needed. How about a little game.”

He harshly threw Garble over towards Rover, who wound up a strong paw in anticipation. He let loose, sending the ball back where it had come, easily clearing the volleyball net that Discord had snapped into existence.

Gilda chuckled, watching the poor dragon getting punted about. Oh well, he had it coming to him anyway. The impromptu game lasted until Sombra won a best ouf ot three round. By then, Grable had managed to uncurl and had beat a hasty retreat to the exit, tail literally between his legs. Once the door slammed shut and everyone had a good laugh, the brothers began to play their music once more, returning the bar to its relatively peaceful state – at least for the time being.

Nightmare Moon brushed her bangs out of her face, and took a pull of her glass of milk. “Wasn’t that a bit much?” she asked, still smirking a little.

Discord slithered over, taking a seat while stroking his beard. “Hmm well maybe, but he wasn’t hurt or anything. Well not physically anyway. Besides, I found the act quite amusing and creative.”

From the mare’s washroom, a persistent Trixie leaned out the door, dragging along a trail of toilet paper that was stuck to her forehoof. “Trixie came up with that first!”

A few chuckled as Discord rolled his eyes. With another snap of his fingers, Discord slammed the door against the showmare, sending her back into the washroom like a pinball. “Hey!” A loud crash was heard, followed by a flush.

Nightmare chuckled again. “Why do you let her stay here?”

Discord shrugged. “Well because she’s causing chaos in here. What fun is there in peaceful nights anyway.”

“Wouldn’t hurt if there was.” Gilda mumbled under her breath as she exchanged a full glass of love for a few golden bits.

“Oh hush you, you’re just as much a goody goody as Trixie.” Discord teased.

“Yeah whatever. I just like the bits.” She flipped one with her talon, the coin landing on heads as it hit the counter top.

“That’s not the point,” he facepalmed. “Oh nevermind.” He got up, quickly heading for the washroom.

Discord snapped up a party hat for no apparent reason, setting it upon his head. “Oh by the way, I decided to invite one of my old pals over today.”

Gilda blinked, leaning against the countertop. ‘Oh, you’re not bringing Medusa over again, are you? Last time, she got everyone stoned.”

Somewhere by the stage, a changeling did a rimshot, snickering.

Discord waved his paw in the air. “Oh no, someone else. Murphy should be here any moment.”

Sombra and a few others gasped audibly, and the music on stage screamed to a halt.

“Not him! anyone but him!” Chrysalis ducked under the table, pulling a random changeling into a hug for protection. Her juttering of the table legs caused Sombra’s two layered house of cards to come crashing down again.

Discord chuckled ‘Oh come now, you’re all overreacting.” He rolled his eyes while looking at the door.

“you’re kidding, you’re kidding, right?” Nightmare asked while rapidly downing her glass.

Gilda raised an eyebrow, having never seen or heard of this named creature before. “Who’s Murphy?”

Before Discord could answer however, the main door squealed open, revealing a tall bipedal creature, his body obscured by the dark blue cloak draped over him. The shoulders were decorated in golden lines swirling about in the light. The room remained eerily quiet as he walked further inside, staring left and right at the dwellers.

If one were to look straight at him, they would see no face to be found, for his body was black smoke held together by unknown means. the void constantly shifted with grays and black as two crimson red lizard eyes watched from within. With no physical body, his feet made no noise, the only sound to be heard being his dog trailing behind, panting happily.

Discord looked down at the rather tiny dog Murphy had brought. It was adorable to be sure Fluttershy no doubt would have wanted to pet it all day.

Murphy let out a cough and glanced at Discord with his mute expression. “Gosh Discord, I feel so welcome,” he rolled his eyes seeing every creature giving him a cautious glance before sitting down at the bar.

“Them? Oh, they are just overreacting.” He glanced back at the tables seeing Chrysalis still hiding. “Pfft. And you call yourself a queen.”

Flim began a gentle piano beat to fill the odd silence that had befallen the bar. Eventually, the rest of the customers settled back into whatever they were doing before. A lamp randomly fell over a moment later, knocking out a diamond dog.

Gilda poured Murphy a glass of ice water. “So why’s everyone so skittish around you? Other than the fact you look like death,” she seemed rather unaffected by the appearance or at least showed none on the outside.

“I’m true chaos, my dear,” he replied with a deep gravely voice that came from within his non moving void under the cloak. “I’m neither good nor evil, but ponies tend to think of me as bad luck.” His drink vanished upon contact with an unseen mouth, turning into vapour. “Have you ever heard of Murphy’s law?”

‘Sort of, although what a strange phrase.”

“Everything that can go wrong, will go wrong,” he laughed. “it’s all about… perspective.” He gestured with a flick of his cloak towards the dog that had been knocked out just mere moments before. Rover looked quickly around, and when he thought no one was watching, snatched the dog bisket from the others pocket.

Gilda drummed her talons, giving a blank look in return. “I don’t get it. They do that all the time.”

“Yes, but was it bad luck or good?”

Discord chuckled as he watched Gilda work her beak up and down as she struggled to find an answer. At the same time, a bug just happened to fly into her mouth.

“Gah! bug.” she coughed, quickly rushing off to get a drink. Murphy let out a snicker before lifting his dog to his lap, gently petting with his hand.

Discord smiled while watching the critter pant happily. “So what’s the puppy's name?”

“Karma,” he simply replied, continuing to pet his pup.

Unbeknownst to the two, Gilda had returned, suddenly commenting from the blue. “Isn’t Karma a b–”

Discord shushed Gilda by quickly putting a claw up to her beak. “Hush! Do you want this story to be set to teen?”

“Quiet!”

Murphy chuckled, amused by the phrase. “Oh come now, it’s true she’s the cutest little bitch. Yes she is.” Karma barked happily.

“Gah.” Discord peeked into a book for a short while before coming out. “Okay we’re safe for now. Phew!”

Gilda just looked at him confused. “You’re as random as Pinkie Pie sometimes.”

Discord laughed again as Trixie ran up groaning angrily. ‘That was the joke? that’s not even that funny.”

Murphy looked back at the unicorn, confused. “Joke? whatever do you mean?” If he had a mouth, he would have smirked.

Trixie humphed and turned walking towards the door, unaware of the bar of soap she was heading for. Discord opened the door with a wave of his hand just as the great and klutzy Trixie stepped on the bar and began sliding uncontrollably towards the door. She let out a screech as she flew down the aisle, unable to stop. With one last ditch effort, she grabbed the doorknob with her hooves only to cause it to slam behind her when she left.

Karma could only watch as the vibrations ran across the floor, jingling the table Sombra had moved to. His eye began to twitch as his carefully placed layer came down once more. With the fury of a tiger, he flipped the table over in a rage – flinging his forehooves into the air and falling to his haunches.

“WHY!!!”

Episode 3: Room Mates

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Gilda poured herself a glass of her favorite fizzy drink, chugging it down like a pro before letting out a burp that any champion would call gold worthy. A changeling guard perched on a barstool offered her a high hoof at the astounding feet. The griffin returned the gesture before looking around the mostly empty bar.

The idle sound of pool filled the air as Trixie and Chrysalis played. Suffice to say, it was a rather slow night, causing Gilda to be bored out of her mind. She thrived on the randomness that happened on most nights to keep her entertained, and with no such source of distraction she reflected on a few things

After spending a week or two working in the bar, she had noticed a pattern of visitors that were always present no matter what. The visitors in question being both Sombra and Nightmare Moon. Granted, both were supposedly dead in one way or another so that raised even more questions about Discord’s odd powers that he possessed.

Despite not having a kingdom, Sombra insisted on wearing this crown and blood red robe. Nightmare moon was much the same way, sporting her sharp looking hoof shoes and black as night regalia. It was like both were showing off for no reason, not that they had anything to show for it.

For a few brief moments, the only sound to be heard was the soft jazz playing over the speakers. This silence only to be broken by Sombra glancing at Gilda and clearing his throat.

“Another cup of bubbling blood,” he ordered, narrowing his eyes before setting his now empty glass down.

“What is the deal with you and this wine?’ Gilda questioned as she poured the fizzy red wine into the narrow crystal cup.

“Don’t question my tastes, feather brain,” he hissed, narrowing his eyes seeming to be an very sour mood tonight.

“Esh, what’s got you going tonight?” Gilda asked, not affected by the insult as she adjusted her white apron.

Nightmare let out a chuckle smirking. “Oh, he’s just cranky cause my reading aloud of my favorite novel kept him up last night.”

“You did that on purpose!” His eyes flared with emerald fire as he glared daggers at the creature of the night. His snarl showed off his rather sharp teeth.

“Pfft. Of course It had a purpose. It was to get back at you for swapping my shampoo.”

A smirk spread across Gilda’s face and she snickered, finally figuring out the mystery. “I take it you two share the same room upstairs.”

“Yes, unfortunately.” Nightmare hissed. “He talks in his sleep.”

Sombra huffed and pointed his nose up. “Do not.”

Nightmare put her head on her hooves as if sleeping, and in a mocking tone played out a scene. “snore, crystal heart, snore old friend, snore betrayed” she rolled her eyes.

Gilda tilted her head while resting it against her hand on the table. “What is she going on about?”

The dead king glared back at Nightmare and smashed his hoof upon the counter.. “None of your business! My backstory is personal, you know!”

“Aww, does Sombra have a heart.” Nightmare sneered with a mischievous smirk.

Before either of them could start bickering again, a bright flash of light blinded the villains and barkeep as Discord appeared. He took a seat between the two ancient evils, this time adorned with a monocle and red top hat.

“Oh settle down you two, can’t we just be good Frenemies?” He asked, pulling them closer.

“No!” Both of them shouted, shoving themselves away from the ever chaotic draconequus.

Discord merely chuckled and took a glance at Gilda. “So how long have they been bickering for?”

Gilda poured some ice water for herself. “Ugh, they’ve been at it all night.”

He once more pulled the two villains into a bear hug much to their dismay. “How about we change topics then? Like to, oh... how you both arrived here.”

Nightmare groaned. “I’d prefer to get my own room over that.”

“Not happening”

“Ugh fine!”

Sombra rolled his eyes, crossing his hooves. “Not like I got anything better to do.”

Discord smiled deviously, booping Nightmare’s nose. ‘How about Moony goes first?”

“Don’t call me that!”

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Nightmare Moon, the spirit formally known as just The Nightmare, was now dead. Her cause of death, a bright beam of rainbow light thanks to the all powerful Elements of Harmony. But how could she be dead if she was still standing on solid ground?

All around her was pure blackness, a void of nothing. No substance, yet her hooves were felt up by something she couldn’t see. After a few moments passed, she began to hear the faint sound of music, a slightly upbeat trumpet followed by an underlining piano. As her eyes glanced about for the source, she could feel her heart beating in her chest and soon spotted the plain wooden exterior door in the distance.

Her hooves made no noise against the featureless surface as she walked towards the door. The music steadily grew louder as the faintest of light leaked out of the bottom of the doorframe. When she was no more than fifteen hoofsteps away, she saw the slimming neon sign that indicated that whatever this place was, it was open. With nowhere else to go, she entered, feeling the warmth the interior brought with it.

As she stared at the bar’s wooden interior, she cleared her throat, standing tall and commanding. “Who ever brought us here, reveal thyselves.” She demanded, slamming her hoof upon the counter once she had approached it. While she was grateful to whatever had saved her life from the elements, she still felt she needed to get back and wreak her vengeance upon Equestria.

Then suddenly from the shadows, Discord himself slithered out smiling. “Welcome Nightmare Moony” he teased, dancing his way over.

“Discord! how art thou free of stone prison?” She lit her horn and tried casting magic upon the beast, but alas, it seemed he was immune to anything she could muster up. Discord seemed to mock her silently, standing a mere few feet away.

“Oh you’d like answers wouldn't you? Although, it may not be ones you like to hear.”

“We do not have patience for your games, anwer us!”

He let out a chuckle, his voice bellowing off the walls. “Well if you must know, you were defeated and Princess Luna is restored to what she was. As for you, well I plucked you out of oblivion so I’d have something to talk too.”

Nightmare cursed under her breath. “That blasted unicorn got the elements working again, she will pay!” She spun around and ran for the door. She swung it open only to ram her face right into a brick wall. “What is the meaning of this, send us back! Now!”

“There’s nowhere to go Moony, just get used to it.”

“Don’t call me that!’

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Gilda raised an interrupting claw. “Wait, you had this place for that long?”

Discord nodded crossing his arms. “As a matter of fact, yes I have. You try not letting your imagination go wild while trapped in stone. So Moony and I had alot to chat about till I let new members in.”

Nightmare mumbled under her breath, taking a sip of her drink.

Gilda blinked “Wait, if you were stoned, how in the world could you manage to make this place.”

“LIke I said, the power of imagination.” He put his hands above his head forming a rainbow as they part.

“Yuck, how cheesy,” Gilda commented, sticking her tongue out.

“Anyway, how about you, Sombra? Care to share your story.”

“You still have yet to explain why I have to share a room with that witch,” his hoof jutted towards Nightmare Moon.

“Bub bub, all in good time. Care to tell the class your story now,” Discord teased.

Sombra rolled his eyes, amused as he cleared his throat.

---------

Pain.

Unimaginable pain.

It was all Sombra could think about, besides his utter rage as the wave of crystal heart energy ripped him apart atom by atom. The fractures in his body felt like splinters, digging in deep to the most sensitive of nerve endings. The sensation was utter torture as his vision was flooded with pure white light. The next sensation was similar to fire as his body exploded, warmth overcoming every part of him until there was nothing.

Moments passed as the now dead king felt weightless, in an endless limbo like the last burning ember of flame from a candle. He could feel just the tiniest bit of his magic still remaining, but useless to him in his broken state. In fact, he wasn’t sure how he was even aware of such a thing at this moment. Wasn’t he dead? If this was the afterlife then it sucked big time.

The silence persisted for a while until a slight muffling could be heard. It was hard to make out at first, being distorted so much. He couldn't open his eyes, for he had none at the moment – another puzzling aspect of this sensation he was feeling.

Slowly but surely, he could feel his body regenerating. First came his head, spreading down from his horn like a growing vine. He felt his nose twitch and wiggle but his eye still remained closed as the feeling spread along his cheek and down forming his neck. The process continued in this fashion as more of his body became alive. As everything began to feel stable again, his heart thumped to life once more and he gasped as he let in a breath of air.

His newly formed legs collapsed beneath him, causing him to fall flat on his face upon the cold hardwood floor. He groaned, laying there for several moments as he let his mind catch up. “Ugh, w-what happened?”

His question seemed to be ignored by the creatures near by. “Told you it would work.” Discord said, looking over at Nightmare.

The night princess simple rolled his eyes. “I don’t see why you had to resurrect such a being as him. Even we are scared of the shadows.”

Discord ignored the groan from the weak unicorn on the floor. “Pff, he’s not really a threat anymore. Besides, capes are cool.” He poofing purple cape around his neck, said cape looking a lot like Trixie’s.

Sombra eventually got his his hooves, staring up at the much taller alicorn before him. His eyes stared into the flowing starry mane finding it pretty. Nightmare glanced back at him showing off her fangs to intimate. “Oh nice teeth but i still demand to know what going on.”

“Oh nothing, just me saving your life so I can have a poker buddy.” Discord puts his arm around Sombra. “Care for a drink.”

“What is this poker you speak of? And no, I don’t want any.” he shoved Discord away glaring daggers.

“So I guess you’re a sober Sombra.” Discord joked ‘Welcome to the Villains bar.”

---------

“Really, that’s it?” Gilda snorted. “Lame.”

“What were you expecting? An epic battle between good and evil.” Discord put his arm over Sombra again, the once powerful tyrant in return pushing him away again.

Nightmare huffed. “As much as we love to tell stories, there still is the matter of our room.” she adjusted her mane.

Sombra seemed distracted for a moment while watching Nightmare before looking back at the chaotic king. “Yes, what will it take for us to have separate rooms?”

Discord tapped his chin as the two stared at im with the faintest of hope. Gilda found this whole situation amusing, seeing as she handily spotted the possible crush Sombra had on Nightmare from a mile away. Not that she was one for romance. After a moment, Discord replied with a snicker. “Hmm, nope! Not going to happen.”

“What!” Both villains exclaimed with wide eyes.

“I’ve made my mind up. You too just have to learn to get along. Chaos is more fun that way.”

The two groaned deeply, facehoofing as the music once more played over the radio. Discord smirked as he walked into the back room. “Oh ain’t I a stinker?”

Episode 4: Sirens

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The now typical fare of slow jazz flowed smoothly through the lively air as Gilda hummed along to the beat. Unlike the past few, slow nights, the bar was full of activity and the griffon was trying to absorb every second of it. Many a drink had been poured and meal served, and the latest visitor was a changeling who had just ordered some love-infused milk with some sugar cookies on the side.

Luckily – despite the large turnout – things had remained civil. The atmosphere was vivacious enough to keep the barkeep stimulated, while not having to worry about sweeping up broken glass and lost teeth after hours. It was a nice respite from the usual chaos, she had to admit. As the changeling sauntered away with his order, Gilda found herself without any patrons to serve.

So she took a gander at a nearby happening that was serving as her entertainment of the night. A loud clack signified that a game of pool was in progress, and a laugh of triumph told her who was winning.

“Haha! The Great and Powerful Trixie has sunk another two balls in one go!” After giving herself a golf clap to the joy of her inflated ego, the unicorn spun her que in the air and smirked at her opponent. “Victory is clearly in my hooves!”

“As if, pony! I can easily win this!”

Rover leveled out his stick, taking aim at a striped ball of his choosing. With narrowed eyes, he licked his lips and pulled back his cue. “Six ball, middle pocket.”

With his shot announced, the dog lightly tapped the cueball, sending it rolling towards the target. An audible clack rung out as the white ball stopped, and the striped six began its roll. It missed its mark completely, bouncing off the side next to the pocket and jumping across the table. Rover gasped as he realized his mistake far too late, watching helplessly as his ball bounced into Trixie’s last solid. That ball happily rolled into its far left pocket, taking home the win for its player.

“Haha! The Great and Powerful Trixie wins again! Now pay up, mutt.”

The dog muttered something under his breath before pulling a small bag of bits out of his pocket and setting it on the table. “Lousy magic pony.”

Gilda snickered as she watched Rover come over to the bar and sit down with a huff. She already had a glass of water ready. “Better luck next time huh?”

“Oh shut up birdbrain,” he snarled back, baring his teeth before taking the glass of water and chugging it down. Gilda ended up rolling her eyes and kept cleaning up the counter. He’s just as lousy with insults as he is at pool.

Chrysalis, who was also sitting on a nearby barstool, looked up from her magazine while stretching her neck. The hairstylist magazine must have had something that tickled the queen’s fancy, since the design on the open pages morphed its way onto her head. But something else was on her mind.

“You know, I’ve been thinking. For a bar that caters exclusively to villains, we sure have a lot of minor antagonists hanging around.”

“Ants? I don’t see any ants,” Rover commented, looking down at the floor for any signs of the insects.

The queen let out an exasperated groan. “Not ants, you simpleton. Antagonists are ponies who get in the way of the hero. They are… hmm... second class compared to true evil.” A smirk spread across her face.

Rover dragged an annoyed paw down his muzzle. “Don’t call me things I don’t know the meaning of.”

Chrysalis chuckled. “It's kind of hard not to.”

Nightmare Moon, who was neighboring Chrysalis and heard the queen’s exchange, leaned over with a hoof in the air. “Huzzah!”

The changeling leader mirrored the gesture, returning the hoof bump with another genuine laugh.

Rover grumbled something incoherent as he hopped off the stool to rejoin his packmates. With the mutt out of her hair, Chrysalis leaned up against the bartop and rested her head upon her hoof. “Pfft, when will we get some real villains in here?”

Nightmare nodded in reply. “I know, right. Only got like, four real ones here. Well, except for Tirek. But he’s just a shriveled up shell of himself, so he hardly counts.”

“I heard that!” a disgruntled Tirek shouted from across the room, his shackled hands busy dealing out cards at the poker table.

Gilda laughed. “Hey, I may not be evil, but i’m still pretty rad.”

“And using outdated lingo,” Chrysalis mumbled under her breath, scowling as the music on the radio changed to bad boys. As if on cue, Discord appeared between the two grumbling mares and pulled them into a hug.

“Oh don’t you worry, my malicious little friends. I just arranged for some new meat to arrive this very night. Did I mention they got great pipes, too? Oooh, so good.”

Gilda raised an eyebrow. “You know this is a non-smoking bar right?” she reminded him, even though she knew he was perfectly aware.

“What? Oh no, no, my dear griffin, not those kinds of pipes at all.” He perched himself atop an empty stool and cast his eyes on the main entrance. “In fact, they should be arriving any minute now.”

---Sirens---

“Ugh! We're lost, aren’t we?”

Aria Blaze didn’t bother to hide her disdain. Rather than being happily curled up on the couch in front of the television, she was out in the chilly evening air, walking block after block to get to, well, wherever she was being led to.

“No!” Adagio Dazzle shot back, her usual style carrot colour hair looking just as frazzled as her mindset. “It’s not my fault if these directions are so… ugh, convoluted.”

She looked at the map once again, confounded by the directions. They took them all over town, in every direction possible, some even taking them in complete circles.

Completely fed up with the useless map and constant pestering from Aria, Adagio threw up her hands in defeat. “Ugh, fine! We’re lost! You happy!?”

“There it is.” The last siren, Sonata, pointed to the glowing neon sign just two buildings down. “How did you not spot that?”

Their leader groaned, clenching her fists. “Oh shut up! Let’s just get inside, i’m too thirsty to argue.”

Adagio trudged up to the building that she knew wasn’t there just five seconds ago, and stared up at the neon sign.

“Villain’s bar, huh? Strange name but eh.”

Without a second thought, she pushed the oaken door open, only to be stopped dead, her jaw dropping at the sight before her. Her sisters were immediately at her back, also stunned into silence.

The new pub in town wasn’t filled with humans as they were expecting, but it was teeming with life. About two dozen assorted creatures were sitting on the stools, hiding out in darkened booths, or gaming at the tables. Only one word was on Adagio’s mind as she took in all the mythological species drinking and chatting up the night.

Equestria.

Sonata pointed over Adagio’s right shoulder at one of the tables that housed several insectoid looking ponies. “Wow! Are those changelings?”

Aria peered over her leader’s other shoulder and blinked her eyes several times. “Yeah you’re right, they are.”

Adagio was forced to jump back when a serpentine creature thought long dead poofed into existence an inch from her face. She couldn’t jump far due to her cohorts standing behind, though, and she somehow kept her footing while the other two fell into a heap on the doorstep.

Aria was the first back on her feet, using Sonata as a ledge to push off of. “Damn it, Adagio! Watch where… you’re…”

Once Aria was also silenced, Sonata pulled herself up and let out a quiet woah at the sight before them.

With the three displaying some sense of order once again, Discord didn’t miss a beat and extended his talon. “Ah, you must be the sirens I’ve heard all about.”

Adagio struggled to find the proper words to voice her mind. “I… you… t-this is impossible! You’re a statue in the Canterlot garden!”

It may have been millennia, but even she remembered the chaos he caused. She made to leave, but a paw wrapped around her shoulder and held firm. He used the claw to boop her on the nose.

“I used to be. But now, I’m free. Reformation and all that jazz.”

Discord’s grin broadened as he took in the sight of Aria and Sonata. “And you brought the whole gang as well. But wait, something is off.”

The chaos god took a step back, taking a moment to look at humans as everyone else in the bar did the very same.

“Yeah, there’s no tacos.”

Adagio slammed her palm into her face as Sonata kept looking around the bar, as if she expected to find the elusive food sitting on one of the stools.

Discord rubbed his chin. “No, no, that’s not it, but close. Oh!”

Discord lifted his talon into the and snapped a claw. A blinding flash of light followed, causing many a patron to drop their mugs and rub their eyes. When everybody regained their vision, they saw the odd-looking bipeds now transformed into ponies, with their coats and manes surviving the transition.

The now earth ponies examined their new forms, each one a little tipsy on four hooves after so long. Adagio was the first to complain.

“Really? You couldn’t have changed us to our… oh I don’t know, our serpent forms?”

“Oh, but where is the fun in that? He idly replied while snapping a pair of shades into existence and placing them over Adagio’s eyes. “Besides, these forms are much more adorable, especially after seeing all the fanart.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Fanart? What? Ugh, nevermind. Where’s the booze?”

Adagio followed Discord’s pointed claw to the bar, where the sole griffon was mixing drinks. She shoved the draconequus out of the way and awkwardly trotted over to an empty seat. After pulling herself onto the stool, she crossed her hooves and addressed the hybrid.

“Hey, what do you got?”

The griffon paused her restocking efforts and spun to meet the newcomer’s eyes, sizing up the fresh pony. After a few seconds of eagle eyed examination, she shrugged. “Eh, whatever you want. Discord’s got pretty much everything here, even meat.”

As the griffon drummed her claw on the bartop in apparent boredom, the other two sirens approached from behind their leader, but opted to remain standing. There was few seconds of staring at the brown griffin with the rebel charm to her, before Aria harrumphed and spun to face the barroom while Sonata continued to watch her dumbly.

“I’ll have what he’s having.”

Adagio’s hoof pointed toward Sombra, who was chugging down his coffee like liquid which foamed madly with streams of white fog escaping from the mug and trailing down to the floor.
“You sure? That’s some pretty strong stuff there.” Gilda remarked while picking a foreboding looking bottle from the shelf and pouring out a shot of the concoction.

“Yes, bird. I want a challenge.”

“Well, can’t be any worse then when she tried vodka. Remember that Adagio?” Sonata laughed. “You were passed out for, like, two hours.”

“Do you have to keep mentioning that?” Their leader grunted while staring down into the glass of frothing liquid.

She picked it up with her hoof, only having a moment of hesitation before slamming the shot back with a noisy gulp. Despite how hot the drink looked, it felt like an icicle sliding down her throat. Her face suddenly contorted and small twitches overtook her form. They immediately stopped, only for an uncontrollable muscle spasm to force her face into the counter.

The group in the immediate vicinity watched the now motionless mare for any signs of life. After a few silent seconds, her head shot up sharply and with a maniacal grin she shouted.

“Wooo! That’s some strong stuff!”

Gilda balled a talon and reached out for an equivalent of a fist bump. “I gotta admit, I thought you’d be out for at least an hour. Guess you’re not a wimpy pony after all.”

Adagio’s mood darkened. "Pony? Do you seriously not know who we are?”

“Should I care?” Gilda shot back as she examined her nails nonchalantly.

“We’re the Sirens. We lure ponies, and more recently, humans under our spell with our singing and feed off conflict. Hell, if it weren’t for us, Equestria wouldn’t even have some of the music styles it has today.”

A sudden laugh interrupted Adagio’s explanation, and she looked to her left to see the dark coated alicorn who had been blending in oh so well. Her ethereal mane and tail looked remotely familiar, but the siren couldn’t place where. The alicorn was looking her way with a raised glass.

“I thought you looked familiar. My ex-host defeated you if i’m not mistaken, thousands of years ago.”

Adagio was even more confused now about who the alicorn was, and her inebriated state wasn’t helping matters. “Host? W-who are you?”

Nightmare Moon stuck her head up in a proud stance. “I am Nightmare Moon, Queen of the night. At least I used to be, until I was defeated and ended up in this infernal place,” She glanced at the other two ponified sirens. “I took control of Princess Luna for some time, that is why I remember.”

Aria stopped watching bar happenings and took a closer look at the nightmare. “Oooh, now I remember you. Nice mane by the way.”

“Thank you. I do try to look as menacing as possible.”

With some of the wierdness of the situation wearing off, the other two sirens took a seat. Aria ordered a drink and a snack, and Sonata looked out towards the rest of the pub for any activity of interest. The changelings she had spotted upon first entry all kept to themselves in their corner, with what she assumed was their queen neck deep in a game of poker with them. Judging by her stacks of chips, she was well and truly above her underlings.

The atmosphere of the place was both inviting and imposing. It may have been a meeting place for all of Equestria’s villains and a hub of evil, but that didn’t mean it had to be that way. Everyone there seemed to be civil, and enjoying each others’ company. But that all came to a screeching halt when she heard the voices coming out of the restroom.

“Trixie will not give you her cookies. Get your own!”

An aqua unicorn with a wizard’s cap on her head was backing out of the restroom with a bag of cookies in her magical grasp. Trailing right behind her was a tall red dragon with greedy, outstretched claws.

“Pfft, why should I when I can just take yours.”

He made a swipe at the bag, only for Trixie to whirl about with a glare and a lit horn. “Back. Off.”

Garble laughed and wriggled his sharp claws mockingly. “Ha! What you going to do, pony? Throw sparkles into my face.”

The drink that Adagio had so brazenly drank a minute ago must have had some after-effects, for the voices of Trixie and Garble – and only them – hit her ears sharply. Ordinarily, she wouldn’t be troubled by petty squabbles, but something had been awakened in her mind. Why sit back and just absorb their negative energy when she could intervene, help the pony, and have some fun in the process.

With her mind made up, the siren slid off her stool and stealthily made her way towards the quarreling pair.

“Trixie will do way more than that, fiend! You’ll bow before the glory of her magic!”

“Now you’re starting to get on my nerves!”

“Hey! How about you pick on someone your size!”

Garble’s eyes narrowed as he stared down his new challenger. “Another pony?” he grinned smugly. “Please, you guys bruise like grapes. I could take a dozen of you!”

To emphasize his point, he balled his fist and pounded it into the other hand.

“Trixie doesn't remember you saying that when Sombra swung you around like a rag doll.”

“Quiet you, no one asked for your opinion,” he snarled while spreading his wings.

Adagio was now standing tall on her rear legs. “My, my, someone is on quite the ego trip. Typical guy behavior. Let me guess, athlete?”

She couldn’t help the smirk as she witnessed the dragon’s fists clench. Oh, did I hit a nerve? She wondered as she crossed her forelegs.

Instead of a wasting any more time on a useless retort, Garble charged forward showing his teeth. “You’ve asked for it!”

Adagio stood, nonplussed, until the last moment. When the dragon was almost on her, she dropped her forelimbs and bent her legs, lowering her center of mass as far as possible. Garble tried to strike first with a blinding swipe of his red claws, but she easily dipped her head under the attack and enveloped the dragon in her forelimbs.

With a huff of exertion, Adagio stiffened her back legs as she bodily lifted the dragon off of his feet and threw him over her shoulder like yesterday’s garbage. She couldn’t see the look of shock on Garble’s face as he tumbled through the air, nor could she see him landing on the house of cards, which promptly came tumbling down, but she did hear a satisfying thud. After a second, she turned around to survey the damage.

The dragon was sprawled out on a table, a bed of playing cards beneath him, and a pissed of emperor who may or may not have wanted to commit murder at that time sitting right there. Guessing that the situation was resolved, Adagio wiped her hoof on her coat and grinned wryly.

“You were saying?”

Before Sombra could get in any hits of his own, Garble vaulted off the table and onto his feet. He was now literally huffing and puffing, with little jets of smoke blowing out his nostrils with each breath.

“No way I’m letting a pony show me up again!”

With a roaring battlecry, he once again charged, and Adagio prepared to throw him once more – into the bar this time. She was pleasantly surprised when he slid to a stop just out of reach and made a wild right hook.

So he does know how to fight, the siren thought as she let the fist sail over her head while driving a hoof into the underside of his exposed elbow. Too bad he’s still gonna lose!

Having been in the human world for quite awhile, Adagio and her cohorts had spent some time learning the various hand to hand combat styles the world had to offer. She knew every martial art imaginable, and how to inflict the maximum amount of damage with minimal effort. She didn’t know exactly where a dragon’s pressure points were, but judging by Garble’s reaction to various jabs at elbows, knees, and other locations, her knowledge of human anatomy translated over quite well.

Despite the thick scales, her lightning quick hits were doing a number, taking the dragon down from prideful fury and leaving an unbalanced and uncoordinated mess behind. After a few more punches, the big bully was thoroughly spent, barely staying up on quaking legs. Adagio would have called it there if she was alone and not under the influence, but the cheers and howls from the crowd that had amassed around the fight and her own arrogance demanded some kind of finishing move.

Dropping down on all fours, she stretched out one leg at a time, getting each limb warmed up. After working out the kinks, she rocked back on her hooves and took aim. Suddenly shifting her weight forward, the siren balanced on her forehooves and pivoted on the spot so that her primed rear legs faced the target. She let loose with both hooves, connecting with Garble’s chest with an audible crack and launching him clear off his feet. This time, he slammed down onto the hardwood floor, sliding into the base of a table and banging his head on the legs.

Confident the dragon was truly down and out, Adagio took the time to catch her breath as the whole bar shook in an uproar of various shouts, howls, and screeches from the amassed audience. After a few seconds with only a pitiful groan coming from Garble, the crowd dispersed back to their original doings.

Nightmare Moon banged her hoof on the bar, laughing deeply. “Oh what a show!” She raised her glass up and chugged it down.

Discord nodded in agreement. “Oh yes, very well done. That teenage dragon just doesn’t know when to quit.” He watched as Garble struggled to pull himself up to a table while mumbling curses to himself.

Adagio rubbed her hoof to her chest and went back to sit down, Aria delivering a high hoof for her show that she gladly returned. She stopped midway through her stride though, taking a second glance at the showmare she had just saved. “If this is a villains bar, then why is she here? She doesn't exactly scream evil.”

“Hey!” Trixie huffed “If Trixie wasn’t a villain, she wouldn't have been invited here.” She took a seat by the bar, watching the Flim Flam brothers setting up the stage for karaoke hour.

Adagio wasn’t convinced in the slightest. “Yeah, I’m not buying it. You were more of a pawn than a villain.”

Trixie ordered a drink while huffing again. “Well oh whatever. Trixie is powerful in her own right. Trixie doesn’t even know you, so you’re opinion means nothing to her.”

Adagio shrugged. “Pony or human, she’s still got that same old personality.”

She ignored any more of Trixie’s objections and strolled back to the bar and retook her stool, her other two compadres retaking their seats to her left as well. She glanced over at the night queen once again, this time to ask about the broody soul who lurked in the far booth.

“So who’s the black stallion in the cape?”

Nightmare didn’t even need to look to know who Adagio was referencing. “You mean the one with an odd obsession with making card houses? That, my agressive little pony, is ex-King Sombra. My… roommate.”

The slight pause caused Adagio to smirk. “He is kind of cute isn’t he?” She sipped some ice water, and curled her smile more.

In a completely uncharacteristic move, Nightmare swallowed her drink wrong and was beset with a coughing fit. Once she got her throat clear, she sputtered madly.

“What? Why would anyone think him as cute? Ha, he’s not even handsome.”

The other two sirens caught on to their leader’s little game as Blaze spoke up. “Oh? Then why were you looking at him like that just now?” she asked, seeing Nightmare tighten her magic grip on her glass ever so slightly.

Discord hung upside down from behind as he commented on the conversation. “Oh those two argue all the time like a married couple. I’m surprised they aren't dating by now,” he teased as Nightmare gasped and groaned.

“Why must you insinuate that I have crush on the likes of him!” she spouted, only to see Sombra run by with smoke spewing out of his ears for some reason and swiftly disappear into the restroom.

“So you do have crush on him! I knew it,” Adagio chuckled.

“It’s totally obvious,” Sonata chimed in. “We see it happen, like, all the time.”

“Wha… but… Gah!”

Nightmare Moon slammed her mug onto the bar, and with a brief flash, she was gone from sight. With her secret figured out, the sirens smiled collectively as their leader leaned back slightly on her stool.

“I don’t know about you, ladies,” Adagio looked over at her cohorts. “But I think I’m going to like it here.”

“Agreed.”

“Me too, but I still wish it had tacos.”

Rather then get irritated with Sonata over her obsession with tacos, both Aria and Adagio burst into laughter, Discord joining in as well. They laughed because, after so long, they had found the perfect spot to hang out at – with natives of their own world to boot. They would visit many times in the future, Adagio was certain of that.

Episdoe 5 Heart Warming Season

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If the bar had any windows, or existed in any physical plane of reality, Gilda just knew she would see snow falling outside. Hearth’s Warming Eve was just around the corner – the particular holiday being so popular in fact that not even non pony races could avoid it. Gilda didn’t dislike the jolly carols and all around happiness, despite how ridiculously cheesy it could get at times. The griffon had fond memories of Hearths Warmings past with Dash back in the day, and she knew that there were much worse and embarrassing things to sing than Deck the Stalls. She couldn’t say the same for the rest of her kin, who were fixated on a different aspect of the holiday.

All griffins loved bits, and around this time of year ponies were just suckers who would hoof over bits for any kind of nicknack they could get their desperate hooves on – no matter how shady the quality might be. Most griffins preferred selling dolls oddly enough, although those were sturdy due to them doubling as test dummies for little hatchlings to pounce on. Ancient hunting habits died hard, but hey it built character.

Much to Gilda’s surprise, Discord had decorated the bar with various streamers and tassels, turning the usual theme of browns and greys into a vibrant green and red. There were also various tablecloths with colours ranging from purple to snow white. It was festive for sure, and a welcome sight if she was to be honest. Most of the usuals even seemed to naturally smile with happiness, which was a pleasant change due to a smile most of the time meaning somepony was cooking up some great new evil scheme. She wasn’t sure what they had to be so happy about, but whatever the case, she had gotten used to it.

A light chill blew through the front door as the queen of the Changelings stumbled in, bucking the door closed behind her, a loud thud shaking the front decorations as she did so. She had a loose, slightly lopsided smile on her face and an unsteady gait that all but confirmed that she had already been hitting the bottle. However, as the insectoid approached the counter, Gilda’s fine tuned hunter's senses found that she sure didn’t smell the part. The indifferent griffin had seen a lot of things over the last few months, but this was something new. A drunk changeling.

“Wow, never seen you so buzzed,” Gilda chuckled while pouring some foaming pink liquid into a shot glass and sliding it to Chrysalis with practiced ease. She continued to watch as the changeling stared about in a half daze before abruptly knocking on the bug’s head. “Hello! Equestria to bug butt!” she sneered while drawing her claw back.

Chrysalis’ eyes went from their glossy daze to an icy glare in an instant, her slit pupils daggering into Gilda’s own with annoyance. Unlike any other time where the changeling queen would seethe with fury if anypony poked fun at her, her anger quickly subsided and she retained her aloof state.

“Oh, sorry bird brain, just so – hehe – into the holiday,” she donned a sly grin as her hoof nudged the glass in front of her.

“Ponies are such saps this time of year. Mmm – all that love to reach out and snatch. It’s like a month long feast. Almost as good as Hearts and Hooves day. Oh, we Changelings just love those holidays,” she licked her lips, letting out a sigh of blissful content while leaning on the bar like a lovestruck mare. “Hehe – if you catch my meaning.”

“Careful, all that holiday love might make you fat,” Gilda jested, narrowly avoiding a swipe from the queen’s viper like hoof. She let out a chuckle while shuffling down the bar to watch the other patrons idle about with their various activities. It seemed even the Diamond Dogs were enjoying the holidays, despite said national holiday having nothing to do with them. Those runts of the litter probably enjoyed all the bones the griffins would leave behind after a feast. A smirk crossed the bartenders beak, the ponies were so missing out on some good grub being mostly herbivores.

The queen chuckled again, plonking her glass upon the counter. “Oh you’re the one to talk bubble butt.”

she smirked seeing Gilda’s glare intensify as if hunting prey. This battle of wits however was surely in her favor. It may have been Discord’s little hang out, but here she was the top of the food chain as far as she was concerned. Those pesky Sirens may have been a close second, though a challenge was always welcome.

At that very moment, as if those harpies could hear her very thoughts, the unmistake orange mare leaned against the counter, scaring the living daylights out of any bar patron unlucky enough to be in her immediate vicinity. Adagio smirked and swished her tail. “Are we talking about the holidays and food?”

Gilda regained her cool in a flash before anyone could notice and put her claw upon the table. “Where did you come from? I didn’t even hear you come in,” she glanced around soon seeing Aria Blaze on Chrysalis’ left. The two sisters appeared to have jumped on the festive bandwagon as well, and were both sporting red stocking caps with a fluffy white fringe at the base and a puff of the same on the tassel. The griffon wasn’t too keen on the more fashionable side of the holidays, but if creatures as powerful as sirens deemed the hats a worthy statement, then who was she to judge.

“That’s because we’re Sirens, and we’re very light on our feet – er – hooves.” Adagio then groaned. “Seriously though, why these lousy pony bodies instead of our mighty Siren forms. At least then we’d actually look menacing.“

Aria snatched a glass of root beer from Gilda’s waiting talons and took a few sips. “I don’t know, but I kind of like it.” she clanked the mug onto the oak counter and noticed the twinkling string of lights snaking its way across the top of liquor racks. “Oh right, Heart’s Warming. Been away so long that I nearly forgot what that was.” A joyful laugh escaped her lips and the same drunkish look found its way upon her face, the very same one that the bug queen had a few minutes ago.

“Hmm not quite as filling as the other world though,” Adagio replied while pawing at the ruby around her neck. “You wouldn’t believe how materialistic human beings can be. We can walk around toy isles listen to whiny six year olds argue with their parents over some cheap plastic toy that they would surely get bored of given enough time.”

“Oh? From what I heard you’re power was destroyed. So what are those?” Gilda, with a quick practiced swipe, managed to snatch the necklace Aria was wearing and began to examine the blood red ruby surrounded by the thin golden band.

“Hey! Give that back you lousy pigeon!“

Aria dragged herself halfway onto the bar and fiercely reached out with her hoof, only for Gilda to take a few steps back out of reach. If she wanted it so badly, she would have to clamber the rest of the way over the countertop, which would only give the griffin time to dodge more.

“Not until you tell me, or maybe hand over some bits,” she laughed mockingly while turning the pendant in her talons like a trained jeweler.

Having enough of the shenanigans unfolding before her, Adagio lightly tapped the bartop with a hoof – just enough to get attention. “If you really must know, griffon, Discord gave them to us.”

Gilda laughed, tossing the gem in the air before catching it in her talon again. “Yeah right, as if he would give you your powers back without some catch.”

Aria was about to speak up again but her leader cut her off with a simple raise of her hoof. “Yeah, not exactly happy about it, but at least we have the ability to absorb negative emotions so we don’t age. Mortality is such a fragile thing.”

Chrysalis, who up to that point had been a simple observer of the situation, downed the last of her drink and threw in her opinion. “Ha, I see that you use their own selfish greed to feed yourselves. That is quite diabolical.” She paused and looked around noticing somepony missing. “So, where is your third wheel?”

“You mean Sonata? She in the bathroom. Lets just say holiday food doesn’t agree with her and leave it at that,” Aria commented, rolling her eyes as she took another gulp of her drink. She glared at Gilda once again, clenching her teeth. “Now give me back my necklace,” she hissed.

“...Fine.” Gilda lazily tossed the pendant back into the mare’s hooves and took a seat, crossing her talons on the countertop. “Not like I wanted it or anything.”

“Well, now that we gotten that settled,” Adagio rested her forehooves on the bar and scanned her eyes about the room, easily picking out something odd. “Where are the two love birds?”

“Who?” Gilda titled her head, not quite getting what the siren was implying.

Aria chuckled. “Sombra and Nightmare of course. What, are they already in bed?” Her comment was followed by a woot from Chrysalis laughing at the dirty humour.

“As if, I’d have felt something by now if that were the case,” the queen gestured to the far corner were the two so called lovebirds were having an all out hoof wrestle with several Diamond Dogs betting their gems on the winner. “Those two have been at it for an hour, simply amazing.”

“A show of strength to the female, definitely a first base,” Adagio snickered, leaning on the counter again as she watched the battle of wits. “You know, we used to set up dates just for laughs, then introduce a third element just to cause friction. You’d be amazed what a male will do when having to chose between two gorgeous females.”

“Ha! a mare after my own heart!” Chrysalis high hoofed her neighbor. “Truly this is a fine season to celebrate.” Just as she put her hoof down, her posture slipped, causing her to topple off her stool and onto the floor below with a crash. The group around her broke into laughter, clinking glasses together.

“Are you sure you’re sober,” Gilda taunted, looking over the counter as the bug picked herself off the floor.

“Shut up,” Chrysalis groaned, rolling her eyes before sitting back down on her stool, trying her best to hide her embarrassment.

Meanwhile, the crowd of dogs and Changelings kept cheering on the combatting duo. Nightmare Moon’s slitted eyes gazing into Sombra’s with vigor while letting out little grunts as their hooves shook from the monumental endurance. Any normal pony would have tapped out by now, but these two were different. Being dead had it advantages.

“You sure have quite the stamina for a unicorn.” Nightmare pushed harder, gaining a little lean towards her side only for the king to push back to even it out.

“And you,” Sombra grunted, “Are a stubborn mare.” He managed to lean Nightmare’s hoof to the right, smirking a little as he made some headway. “Would have expected you to give up half an hour ago.”

The dark alicorn’s eyes stared deeper somehow with determination, a smirk upon her muzzle. “Oh why is that? Is it because i’m a mare?”

She pushed back against Sombra’s hoof, admiring the flexing muscle along his shoulders. It was hard to deny that under that tacky armour of his there was quite the physique.

“No, it is because you are as inflexible as the stone you were imprisoned on,” Sombra smirked, clearly playing some kind of mind game. That was something else to admire about him when he wasn't in that dribbly stupor of his.

“Ha! and you are about as stubborn as a child who tantrums when they don’t get what they want,’ Nightmare countered, staring into those fiery eyes of his.

Sombra once again pushed, gaining the advantage, his eyes narrowed in determined focus. “Oh, you are one to talk miss I didn’t get enough attention,”

The crowd kept cheering as NIghtmare roared. A sudden burst of inequine strength pushed Sombra hoof over to her side at nearly a seventy-five degree angle.

NIghtmare grinned with fangs exposed, holding her position. All it would take would be one final shove to put that smug grin off his face and show him his place. Her hoof shook wit her rage.

“You, you-”

She was about to speak but the King cut her off. “Don’t know the power I possess?”

Nightmare’s eyes went wide before narrowing quick as whip. Her hoof slammed her opponent's hoof into the table with a gratifying thud and denting its surface. She peered into his shocked expression yet saw his pride as he snickered even in defeat. Even as the crowd cheered and exchanged betted bits and gems, the queen of the night rose to her full stance and glared silently for a few moments before mouthing “This isn’t over.” With a huff she turned and walked away soon departing up the stairs.

Rover whom had wandered over to the bar during the end, looked at the sirens, titling his head. “Why pony mad if she won?”

Adagio laughed, finishing off the glass of root beer she been drinking. “It would take too long to explain. Let’s just say the game is afoot.”

Rover blinked dumbly a few times before shrugging and moving back towards his pack, the group hearing him mutter as he did. “What do feet have to do with anything?”

Sonata wondered over after finally recovering from her upset stomach. Upon ordering an ice water she turned to her compadres and noticed the clear signs of scheming upon her leader’s face. “Oh? What did I miss? Don’t tell me they kissed.”

Adagio leaned back and rubbed her hooves together. “No, not yet but I think we just found ourselves a new hobby,” her grin went ear to ear before pulling her allies closer. ‘This is going to be fun.”

Gilda strolled to her own stool and sat down taking a sip of wine. “I guess Discord was right. A little chaos does make the day go faster.”

Guys Night

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It was an ordinary and unremarkable night at the bar as the large group of ponies and other species gathered around the central poker table. The smooth grey surface was cluttered with the assortment of poker chips, cards and an nemours variety of snack foods. A single lamp hung above casting a bright contrast upon each of the villains face. Tirek’s chains clacked together as he shuffled the deck unable to take his eyes off the two empty seats that still waited for their patrons to arrive. He stared over at the draconequus bartender raising an eyebrow. “Are we expecting somepony new?”

Discord adjusted the purple and white suit he was wearing before nodding. “Oh indeed, we are. Two new male villains in fact. I”m sure they will liven up our abode. They aren’t no antagonists either, they are the real McCoys.”

Film smirked sipping his apple cider. “Well it’s about time we got some more male villainy.”

“I agree, Flim,” Flam commented, taking a quick look around the table at the other patrons already thinking of ways to outsmart them. “I mean the mares outnumber us three to one, not very good odds.”
“I am not be sharing my room with any more ponies,” Sombra hissed. “Nightmare is hard enough to deal with.”

“Oh really? I heard you two were getting along just fine,” Tirek teased, while making sure each of them had their cards including the two still unoccupied chairs.

The dark unicorn hissed once more, crossing his hooves in denial. “Why must you guys always bring up my...crush.”

“If there was any more crushing, you’d be under a rock,” Discord laughed. “Now who’s ready to meet some new frei…” he paused looking at all the glares directed at him about said word as if it was some forbidden word that could bring about the end of the world. He just rolled his eyes and continued. “Partners in crime.” With a cough, he pulled a microphone down from nowhere and spoke into it his voice amplified over non existent speakers. “Our first guest comes from a conquered faraway land, enslaved Equetira for a single week, and got broken into a dozen pieces. The one, the goatly, Storm King!”

A spotlight appeared above the first empty chair followed by a puff of smoke engulfing it. As it cleared, a tall and gray slender ape-like figure eyed the other figures around him. He stroked his white beard raising an eyebrow once the whole situation sank in. “You know,” he started, taking time to look at all the various ponies. “I could have sworn iwas dead a moment ago.”

Discord moved to the other side of the table, now in full view of the self entitled king. “Oh you were Storm, but death never stopped anypony. Just ask current company.” He let out a chuckle as he pointed to Sombra. Said unicorn hissed back at them.

The Storm king ears perked up as he watched the glowing eye liner. “Wow, how do you do that eye thing?” He made flowing gestures near his eyes.

“Dark magic.” The king was quick to reply, taking a sip from his cup before licking his fangs.

“Alright, that’s cool. Anyone want to tell me how i got here?” He let out a chuckle. ‘Cause the last thing i remember, I was having my own magic tossed back at me before i could encase some meddling ponies. I mean, who knew that the pony I betrayed would immediately backstab me, who could have see that coming.” The cloven hooved king blinked as the group look at him a few raising their eyebrows with bewilderment.. “What? Is there something stuck in my teeth?” He smacked his lips while feeling around with his one finger.

Discord muzzle narrowed grabbing the chair with ah firm grasp before turning it around like a swivel. His eyes glowed a deep red as he locked eye contact with the storm king. The chill that could be felt was like the windigo’s own soul baring down its entire essence upon the newcomer. “Before you ge get any ideas, let me make one thing perfectly crystal clear. Do not betray me...you will regret it.” His claw pressed against the grey chest never breaking his gaze as the other stallions watched the intimating sight.

“Uh y-yeah no problem boss.” Just by the way he was twitching, Discord could tell he was trying not to shake in fright. He preferred respect of course, but weaning in new comers was the fun part.

Quick as a flash, Discord’s smile returned and turned the chair back towards the table. “Excellent, with that out of the way, let’s more onto our next new patron shall we?” The group of villainy all nodded their heads watching as the next chair became illuminated by the phantom light. The Storm King looked over as well as Discord spoke into his microphone. “And now, from the far reaches of limbo, comes a being of pure shadow simplely known as The Pony Of Shadows.” His voice echoed as the light surrounding the empty chair began to flicker and rippling like waves on the ocean. Soon a black mist rose up from the floor oozing over hte seat as a body began to take shape. Within seconds, a deep laugher was heard followed by featureless white eyes opening staring at the group while a smile formed on its face.

The Pony of Shadows laughed, spreading out its dark massless wings. “Well, it would appear I have been freed once again.Who was the fool this time?” A deep laugh bellowed from his throat no doubt sending shivers down the spines of those around him, well most anyway.

“Oh I wouldn’t call myself a fool, I prefer trickster most of the time,” Discord said with a sly smile, now standing across the table. He danced a playing card around his talon.

The Pony of Shadows raised an eyebrow at the l bizarre creature before him and the amalgamation of body parts as if the universe itself couldn’t make up its mind when creating it. The chaos of it made the shadow being pause. “I have been imprisoned for aeons. So what mad power of magic created you? I’ve never felt anything so powerful.”

“Oh I do my best...and worst,” Discord smirked. “The name is Discord, Lord of chaos.”

“My, what a pretentious title. But surely any being capable of liberating me from limbo deserves some respect.” The shadow figure eyed the members at the table once more. “What pretell is this meeting I have been summoned too?”

Sombra munched on a potato chip giving a quick glance. “A Guys Night,” he simply said, watching the smoke shift about on its seat.

Shadow raised a non existent eyebrow. “A what?”

The Storm King pulled over one of the drinks from the table and smirked. “You know, hanging out, bonding. Come on, how do you not know?”

Shadow glared. “As i recall, my ex-host didn’t have much of a social life.”

Discord smirked putting his paw on the shadow’s shoulder. “Well that my new friend is about to change.”

“You would be wise to just let me out and spread my darkness over the helpless ponies.”

The lord of chaos threw back his head and laughed. “Oh Nightmare Moon said the same thing when she first came. Needless to say, you are not going anywhere.”

Shadow rose to his hooves flaring his smokey wings and glared back into Discord’s eyes. “We’ll see about that.” Quick as a whip, the beast flew to the front door thrusting it open. He didn’t seem deterred by the vast black nothingness beyond as he rushed out determined.

The smirk on Discord’s muzzle went ear to ear as he watch the picket watch he’d acquired ticking on by. The group wait fo the outcome as the chaotic king tapped his chin. “3..2...1” slam!

A large burst of air blew the door open nearly scattering the cards upon the table as Shadow flew in and gasped eyes wide as dinner plates. “What! That’s impossible! I flew for hours.”

Sombra leaned back in his seat dropping his glass as he burst into laughter. He could tell this newcomer was going to be a blast to get under the skin. Well, if he had skin. “He did warn you.” The ex-king really hoped that Shadow would end up as the new target of Discord’s chaos. instead of him.

Discord gave the shadow being a condescending pat on the back his smirk constant. “Well, it was a good effort. At least you tried”

Shadow’s glare intensified as he pushed away from Discord. “Don’t you dare patronize me!”

“Or what pretell will you do? Hmm? I have all the power here and all you have is to blow around like the hot air you are.”

The Storm King took a sip from his new drink and looked over slouching his arm over the backrest of his seat. “It’s true, empty threats get you nowhere, got to show them you mean business.”

Shadow’s jaw dropped as the air became silent for a moment as he tried to think of a retort. Reluncently, he submitted an took his seat back at the table. “Fine, so how’s does one play this game?”

Discord enjoyed one last laugh before sliding back into his chair. This little spurt of chaos was just the beginning, he could feel it. I wonder how he’ll react to Nightmare Moon.

Chronicles of Chrysalis

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----Day before the Royal Wedding----

The Queen of the Changelings beamed confidently with a large glass of love in her right hoof contemplating her next words carefully. Sh. Raising from her soon she turned to face her changelings Groening with confidence. to face her fellow changelings while “My hungry subjects, soon we shall invade Canterlot and all of Equestria love will be ours for the taking.” She raised her glasses into the air for her toast to her no doubt unfailable plan of using that Princesses lover as a weapon. It was perfect, nothing could go wrong.

Tipping back her mug, the glowing drink running down her throat tingling the entire way. She slammed the mug down on the counter and smiled more. “Victory is assured.”

“Ha, as if,” Gilda scoffed, playing with a shiny bit in her claws. Given the so called invasion was for Equestria and not the griffin Empire, she really didn’t care that much. Sure they could invade the griffins, but with the state the empire was in there wasn’t all that much to take

Chrysalis stared back at the griffin with her own smirk. “Oh, and why not? Those ponies are fools. I could act totally unlike my target and they would never notice the difference “

“I thought the entire point Love changelings was to blend in.”

“Pff, whatever. I shall have my victory and all those ponies will feed our hive for years.”

The changeling gathered around all raised their glasses chugging away as they praising their queen for her clever plan. .

As the queen celebrated, Discord poked his head out from behind the counter smirking at Gilda. “I bet you ten bits her plan will fail. “

Gilda tapped her chin thinking it over. Although, she had a feeling she was going to lose anyway.“ alright , but you pay me 20 if it fails epically. “ At least then she get some bits for sure.

“ deal. “

Sounds of groaning changelings, along with their frazzled queen filled the room. To Discord , it sounded like A symphony of karma. With a swift pull he slid across the main floor, putting his paw around the injured Chrysalis. “I guess you hit a brick wall with your plan.”

To be exact, it had been a mountain. A very big and unrelenting mass of rock that gave her a punch to the face upon impact. It turns out that being blasted out of Canterlot like a bug missile didn’t leaned to controlled flight. Chrysalis hissed and swatted away his hand before wincing grabbing her side which was mummified in bandages. She grabbe her glass of love gulping it down with a quick motion. “That insufferable princess, everything was going perfectly.”

“Well except for when Shining Armour put up that shield that trapping you inside and your hive outside.” Discord retorted, getting a glare in return.

“There was nothing during recon that mentioned that Twilight had been foalsat by Cadance. It’s all her fault.”

Gilda leaned over the counter and gave Discord a light jab with her claw laughing. “Hey you need to pay me my bits.”

Discord scoffed playfully patting chrysalis’ on the back. “Oh? I don’t think she lost that badly. “

Nightmare stared up from the book she’d been reading and laughed. “You lost to the very thing you feed on. That’s got to be the most ironic thing to ever happen to you. “

Chrysalis sneered back showing off her fangs. “ if I wasn’t feeling pins and needles right now you’d be sorry.“

“ oh please, “ Nightmare smirked. “You are all bark and no bite. Besides my fangs are much bigger. “

Discord using his very stretchable arms pulled himself around the two bickering mates and smiled. “ now, now let’s not fight we are uck friends here are we not.”

“Ha as if and I thought you’d be just as revenge driven as I am over the elements they did after all put you back into that stone prison. “ Chrysalis quipped back sipping another shot from her glass.

“Pff; if I really wanted to win I’d have hidden the elements far away where they’d never find them. I mean really Celestia password was 1234. It was just begging to be played with.

“ if Trixie may had her two cents about the Canterlot wedding ,” Trixie said , trotting up with her usual cape draped over her form. “ Your evil monologue has inspired Trixie. “

The queen powered up from her glass tilting her head to listen. “Oh, and how so?”

“ Trixie shall declare her challenge to Twilght in front of Everypony. That is once I get enough bits to unleash my plan.”

“Care to bet?” Discord asked, jabbing an elbow into true hugs side.

“Ha, no way. Knowing you you’d probavly already know rhe outcome “

“Well seems there still some smarts in you afternoon. “

“You still owe me my bits pay up. “Gilda grunted persistently sticking out her claw.

As bits exchanged hands, chrysalis stood up straight and looked at her hive. “Youll aww my next :scheme will go on without a hitch. “

“Great I’ll be sure to invite Murphy. “

-Hours after the changeling hive fell -

Trixie ducked just in time to dodge one o the bar chairs as it sailed over her head splintering as it hit the wall behind her. She peeked out from behind the pool table squeaking. “Trixie will not stand for this,” she said, shaking a bit as Chrysalis eyes glowed red with fury.

“Why shouldn’t I annihilate you?! You and your friends destroyed my hive.” The queen shot another bolt of green energy at the unicorn listening to the yelp that escaped the pony’s mouth. A part of her was enjoying the cowering Trixie was doing. If made her feel powerful again. However, before she could destroy one of the better pool tables in the bar, Discord appeared wearing a black and white striped shirt and a whistle around his neck.

The shrill whistle echoed across the room causing a few diamond dogs to cover their ears. “Hey now, no death battles with lesser villains.”

“Hey!” Trixie protested, ducking behind the table quickly before the queen could fire off any cheap shots.

Discord laughed putting his claw to his chest while Chrysalis glared. “But she helped ensure my downfall.”

“Wasn’t that Thorax?” Discord asked with a knowing smirk. The bar attendees watched as the angry bug let out a high hiss charging across the room before leaping over the pool table with fierce speed. Trixie yelped covering her face to avoid the wide open mouth full of those sharp fangs. But before those monstrous teeth could pierce her great and powerful flesh, a trampoline appeared between the two. Chrysalis had no time to react as she sank into the surface before being sent rocketing over the patrons and landing face first into a penalty box. The doors shut tight. The snarling bug continue to kick against the walls of her prison, but it was clearly no use the cage refusing to budge an inch.

“Thanks for the save, Discord, “ Trixie sighed.

“ it’s no problem. I have to keep the peace somehow. Besides, blood takes forever to get out of the carpets “ Discord retorted, clapping his hands together as if shaking off dust. “If you knew she was going to be mad, then why did you come?”

“Why to celebrate of course. “

Gilda leaned on the counter with a mischievous smile. “Griffins love a good brawl, but even I found that a bit much. “

Chrysalis let out another hiss at Trixie. “You’ll see my next plan will work. You shall all pay. “

“Want to bet?” Trixie asked pulling out some bits.

Chrysalis’s eye twitched as she smiled a little unhindered. “ Twenty bits says my plan works “

“ Very well., easiest twenty bits Trixie has ever made. “

—-Hours After the failed clones—-

“ stupid, stupid. Stupid. “ Loud thuds echoed around the bar as Chrysalis repeatedly slammed her head against the oak table her eye still twitching. “Evil minions ha! They only ruin everything “

Discord peered over filing his nails without a care in the world. “Well, I could have told you evil doppelgängers wasn’t going to work. Even if I did them better “ He paused checking his handy work. “ was more discorded /selves , but still. “

From the queen’s left came a deep chortle. “Defeated by your own creations. I didn’t think you could sink any lower. “ Sombra amused.

“Not to mention being beaten by Twilight Sparkle’s double. Trixie finds that quite amusing. “ Trixie said , sipping her bubbly drink. “You still owe Trixie her bits.“

Chrysalis swayed her hoof around copying Trixie with a mocking tone. “Oh yes I’ll go collect them right away from my Treasury , oh wait you helped Thorax take that too. “

Nightmare kept watching. Greatly amused licking her fangs “Nest thing you know, you’ll be defeated by yourself. “ Her second round of laughter was cut short however as Discord smirked. “ What are you smiling about. “

“Oh just about what next week’s theme is .” Reaching behind the counter, Discord pulled out an advert and slapped it down on the table for the villains to see.

Chrysalis’s eyes went wide. “Oh you have got to be kidding me!”

Episode 8: Dimensions of Evil

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The great bar of villainy was a buzz of activity with many new voices bouncing off the walls. If any creature were to take a look around the room, they would have sworn they were seeing double. Or in two cases, triple. Discord sipped at his drink watching as the event unfolded before him.

Chrysalis scowled at her other world counterpart sipping her pink liquid. “Stop laughing, it’s not funny.”

The queen’s counterpart smirked with pride wearing a name tag on her chest that read, “I'm Chysi two” As annoying as it was, the changeling ignored it not wanting to give Discord the satisfaction of a reaction. “So how does it feel to be defeated by our very food source?” She mocked.

The original hissed flaring out her wings. "If not for Starlight Glimmer," Chrysalis spat, "you would have been defeated just like me. To think that all it took was one little time travel experience to achieve victory."

Chysi laughed harder. “Oh, I was referring to the wedding. But I guess I'm just the lucky one then. None of your plans ever worked.”

Chrysalis slammed her glass down upon the counter giving her counterpart a shove. “Oh and how exactly did your plan not result in the sun and moon still moving?” She asked, having only thought of such falts in her own master plans in hindsight.

“Well, if you must know. I modified the pods Celestia and Luna were in. They dream as if nothing is wrong and keep doing their duties. Whenever they move the sun and moon in their dreams, the magic moves them in the real world.” Chrysi smirked.

“And how exactly did you manage such a feet without Luna noticing she was dreaming? She is the Princess of dreams after all.”

Chysi paused staring at glass sloshing it around some. Her jaw opened to speak but quickly closed. “You know...i’m not really sure how she never noticed.” She replied, raising an eyebrow. “And how did you manage to stop Luna in her dreamstate?”

Chrysalis was just as fish-faced as her counterpart as she tried to think of how but came up with nothing. “I don’t know how they did that either. Odd how the world works.”

Chysi reached over to the bottle and filled both of their glasses with a laugh. “Well, here’s to being lucky,” the two raise their shots and clinked them together before chugging.

Meanwhile, across the room at another table.sat three regal dark blue alicorns. One looked very much like Luna but was wearing red shoes and her petrel was similar with red shades to it as well. Even her cutie marks were just as corrupted. The fiendish mare never seemed to stop smirking as she glances swapped between the two Nightmare Moons across the table. “So one of you succeed while the other failed?”

If glares could kill, the original Nightmare would have ended the evil Luna counterpart’s right on the spot. “You just never had to deal with the elements and their bearers.”

Luna scoffed adjusting her horns. “Well, Sombra was just as annoying. Always resisting. Never could let me and my Sister have our fun.”

“Sister and I,” Evil Nightmare remarked taking a sip from her mug.

The Prime NIghtmare rolled her eyes. “Oh? Since when are we grammar nazis?”

“Well, not everything my sister did was annoying.” Evil Nightmare scowled.

Luna rolled her eyes. “Well, now you’re just splitting hairs. Clearly, I am the better one.” She raised her head up high posturing proudly.

Pah, you don’t need you’re sister anyway.” Nightmare scoffed. “Banished Celestia to the moon when I took over.”

Prime Nightmare raised an eyebrow turning to face her double. “And how pray tell did you manage to banish her without the elements?”

Her double laughed showing off her fangs as she grinned. “I don’t need such artifacts to do such feats. I”m just that good. No pony challenges me.” Turning back to her counterpart, her eyes glowed pure white. “I am the true Queen of the Night! And you are just a failure.”

Prime Nightmare’s mane flared up as she stood glaring back. “How dare you!”

“I dare, I am everything you are not. You're better.” The double chuckled with pride flaring out her wings.

Prime NIghtmare stomped her hooves extending out her own wings in response. The tips of her plumage turned black with smoke as she lunged at her target. “Come at thy!” With a mighty screech, the Nightmare surged ahead slamming her double and sending the two flying across the room. The sounds of splintering wood soon followed as they collided with one of the large tables cutting it in half on impact.

Her double was quick to react as she raised her hind hooves thrusting them onto the original’s chest and hurling her upwards. A rapid burst of magic followed throwing Nightmare away and crashing against the bar. Gilda watched the shelves rattle slipping on a helmet as the original took into the air diving toward her double with fangs bared.

As the two continued to brawl, Discord for the safety of the patrons teleported the two into a caged wrestling ring where the stage used to be. The combatants didn’t seem to notice or care as they kept on throwing around punches and kicks spells sparking across the iron bars. A crowd soon formed around the arena exchanging bits as the battle raged on.

At yet another table, the two Sombras were idly observing the brawl the original watching Nightmare’s form fly around. The more successful Sombra wore a name tag with “King Sombra “ on it. The original had argued he deserved the king label more than the other, but Discord had been quick to point out how the original had been the one shattered into a million pieces.

King Sombra stared back at his counterpart. “So you were saying?” He gestured with his hoof taking a swig from his mug.

”Well as it turns out by the time I had broken free, this pink princess had erected a shield around the city.” Sombra huffed. “Something about love or something.”

King Sombra rubbed his chin. “Yes similar to the Crystal Heart. That damned artifact is the pain of my existence.” He licked his fangs. “So clearly you went under the shield?”

“Under it?” Sombra titled his head.

“Yes, under it,” King Sombra rolled his eyes.”We can become a shadow and go under the ground. It wasn’t a full sphere.”

Sombra opened his mouth to retort but stopped as he processed the thought. “Douh!” He groaned.

“Haha, well when I broke in I took command of my subjects with my elements.” King Sombra said, setting the full head helmet on the table.

“Oh wish I had thought of that?” Sombra picked it up in his hooves turning it around as he looked at the various metal bits and felt the strong magic within it.

Just as he was examining it, Trixie came over staring around with confusing. “Have any of you seen my hat?”

Sombra smirked getting a devious idea. “No, but you can have mine!” With a quick thunk, he slammed it onto Trixie’s head. The mare let out a squeak unable to even let out a word before the visor on the helmet glowed green. The two kings chuckled as the mare stood there with a slump awaiting orders.

King Sombra patted Trixie’s back. “See, isn’t this better than some door mind tricks?”

“But I like my doors and stairs,” Sombra mumbled. “What is a better defense than an endless staircase?”

“Ah stairs, good times.” King Sombra replied leaning back. “Drone fetch us fresh drinks.“ He gestured with his hoof watching Trixie trot to the bar methodically. “Ah, it’s good to be king.”

As the droned Trixie made her way up to the bar, Evil Luna took a seat next to the Pony of Shadows with a mischievous grin. “So tall dark and smokey, come here often?”

Shadow’s eyes narrowed huffing as he crossed his hooves. “I am a being of pure darkness entrapped within this damned bar. So yes, I come here often!” He shouted flaring his wispy wings.

“Oh lighten up smokey, I'm just teasing.” Evil Luna laughed leaning over to nudge his side only to pass through Shadow and fall onto the floor with a thunk.

Shadow laughed staring down at the sprawled princess. “I guess you could say you are falling for me?” He smirked.

Gilda laughed drinking down her cup of coffee peering over at Discord with a smirk. “So any more crazy ideas floating around in that head of yours?”

Discord’s grin grew across his face waving his pawed hand. “Oh, you’d be surprised.”

Episode 9: A Minor Problem

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The bar, unlike most nights, was quiet as most of the patrons had left for the night or the few who had lodging had gone upstairs. Sitting around one of the larger tables sat what could be considered the core members of the Villains Bar. Chrysalis, Sombra, Nightmare Moon, Tirek, and of course Discord himself all had drinks along with small clipboards. Although instead of their being a list of meeting notes, there instead were random doodles sketched on them.

A still helmeted Trixie mindlessly refilled Sombra’s cup as Discord smiled at the gathered evildoers. “Good evening Everyone,” Discord said sipping a glass of chocolate milk. “ we have something important to discuss. A new villain is coming but there’s just a small problem.“

“What, are they some sort of antihero? Or recently turned goodie-goodie?” Tirek asked putting his hands together.

“Well no they are still evil to the core.” Discord rolled his paw.

Before Chrysalis could ask her question, A sudden movement from behind her made her jump in fright. “Hey, are you bringing in Tempest. I mean sure she may have betrayed me, but she was quite the scamp.”

Nightmare Moon’s eyes narrowed getting amusement out of the bug queen’s expression. “No, she isn’t evil anymore.” She paused, “you were not invited.”

“Pfaw! Who am I to miss a party?” Storm said waving his hand around. “Besides, you let the bird and blue pony stay here.” He tried to take a seat only for Chrysalis to pull the chair away.

“I happen to like our bartender,” Tirek remarked.

Discord smirked sipping from his glass. “I have my reasons for keeping Trixie around. She amuses me.” His grin grew. “It’s that right Trixie?”

The great and mind-controlled Trixie nodded standing still as a statue. Sombra glared at the Storm King before smirking. “Take him away,” he declared to Trixie watching his drone move emotionless to the overgrown ape.

“H-hey wait, we can talk this out,” he said, squeaking as Trixie magic scooped him up. He flailed as much as he could as he was taken away from the table like some naughty child. “I demand you put me down!” The others just laughed as he was shuttled away up the stairs.

During the awkward silence that followed Nightmare Moon’s gave a glance over at Sombra impressed by his commanding tone. His musculature wasn’t half bad either. Plus she had to admit that cape was sort of cute in a childish sort of way. Clearly, her armour was better and provided far better protection. She gave a slight cough. “So, who is this new villain.”

Discord drummed his claw on the table. “Hmm, well her name is Cozy Glow.”

Tirek made a fae. “Uck, that sounds like a pony name.”

“That’s because she is. There is just the small issue of her being a minor.”

“Who cares if she is a small villain,” Sombra said cluelessly. “The flim-flam brothers are just as small.”

Chrysalis hissed rolling her eyes. “He means she is a child, you idiot.” She took a sip of her drink. “That does raise the question of why you’d let a child in here of all places.

“Well,” Discord started, pulling out a book and skimming through pages. On the front of the book read Big Book of Spoilers in large red ink. His eyebrow raised as he scanned the words. “Let’s just say she’s quite the trickster and one with words.” He then laughed as he closed the book with a mighty thud. “And she strikes fear into creatures with just one word, Golly” He emphasized the last word with a high pitched voice.

Nightmare Moon laughed. “Is that so?” she rubbed her chin. “I do hear that foals can be quite devious. Clever little buggers.”

“Yes indeed, the only issue is this is a bar and minors can’t have alcohol.” Discord stated, reading from a document.

Tirek rolled his eyes. “So? Just don’t give the squirt any of the adult drinks. Since when do you care about the rules? Is that yellow pony rubbing off on you,” he said giving a knowing smirk.

Discord glared snapping his claw making a pie pan appear filled with cream before smacking into Tirek’s face. “I’ll have you know I do have some standards. And not intoxicating children is one of them.”

As the pie filling dripped off Tirek’s face, the centaur gave a deadpanned look wiping his hand across his eyes. “You know I’m right though. Just don’t let her get those drinks problems solved.”

Discord tapped his chin. “Oh, I do have one way to keep her away from any of those drinks even if she fast-talks the other creatures.”

“And you’re sure this filly isn’t some protagonist? I highly doubt a mere child could reach Villain statues.” Chrysalis said giving her drink a stir.

“Oh, you’ll see in good time,” Discord laughed. “Besides Tirek is pen pals with her. Isn’t that right?” He looked to Tirek with a smirk.

Tirek sputtered,” How did you know about that?”

“I may or may have not peeked into your room and might have spotted a certain reply laying on your writing desk,” Discord said waving his paw in small circles. Numerous glares were fired his way as he rolled his eyes. “I am your landlord after all. Can’t have some super scheming going on.”

Tirek cleared the pie from his face before crossing his arms. “So you must be fully aware of what she is up too. Hence why you are going to invite her here.”

“Oh am I that easy to read?” Discord asked, his head transformed into an open book. “I didn’t know you read Ancient Zebra,” he mocked.

The others leaned in as Tirek replied, “Don’t play coy with me. I fully intend to help her with her master plan and watch those ponies precious magic disappear.”

“Wait, if that magic goes away that makes me unable to change forms,” Chrysalis hissed, baring her fangs.

Tirek scoffed. “So, I don’t care about some bug,” he mocked. “Where is that fly swatter.”

Discord flies over to Chrysalis quickly putting a paw on her shoulder to keep her from leaping out at Tirek. “My you are sure of yourself. It’s a shame too. Can’t wait to see the fireworks.”

“Whatever do you mean? As you said, she can wrap ponies around her little hooves. They’ll never see it coming until it’s too late.”

Discord laughed putting a paw to his chest. “Oh, I thought the same thing when I broke free. The ponies would fall to my will I said. Nopony will stop me. It’s the same thing we all thought, and look where that got us.” He gestured around the whole table grin wide as it could be. “Face it Tirek, we are all destined to fail. It’s the nature of good and evil.”

Tirek huffed out of his nose. “Fate bah, you can’t talk me into giving this up. It’s too perfect.”

Discord leaned close to the Centaur staring eye to eye with him. “Oh, by all means, keep trying. I wouldn’t’ have a series without it.” With that, he rose up to hover above the table clapping his hands. “Well, that’s all I got for this meeting. I’ll bring her by when it isn’t passed her bedtime.”

As the rest stood up, Tirek’s eyes narrowed at Discord. “We’ll see how she does won’t we.” With that, he trotted off towards the stairs finding the room better than that cell in Tartarus. At least he’d get to see Cozy Glow in person soon enough.

Episode 10: Warm and Cozy

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Cozy Glow did her best to keep up her usual cheerful façade as she glanced upwards at the god of chaos. Just the other day she’d found the crystal caverns beneath the School of Friendship the perfect place to set up her master plan. Given the amount of power Discord processed, it was only natural to worry about his possible interference. Just another price on her chessboard to deal with. “Golly, nice to meet you Nr Discord. Hope you didn’t come to mess up Headmare Twilight’s schedule.”

Discord smiled back at her idly putting his paw on his hip.” Oh of course not. At least, not today that is,” he remarked, before leaning down abs bopping the filly’s nose. “I’m actually here for you.”

To the filly’s credit, she did a pretty good job at not flinching away. “Oh, whatever for?”

“Nothing major,” Discord started as he got eye to eye with her. “It’s just that I know what you’re up too “

Cozy’s wings twitched ever so slightly but she recovered fast. “Gosh. How did you know I was going to make brownies for Professor Applejack?” She lied.

Discord chuckled as he tapped his chin. “Oh bot that. The other thing.” He scooped her up which made the pegasus worm around. “And I know just where you belong.”

Cozy eyes went wide.”What lets go of me. You’re crazy. You’re-“ Her ramble was cut short as they teleported appearing in Doscord’s bar. “What?”

Discord lowered the filly into one of the tables watching as she looked around. “You belong with us.” He exclaimed gesturing around the large room.

Cozy was quick to notice all the various creatures along with the well-stocked bar. “I don’t know what you're up too but I won’t fall for some dumb illusion.”

Her eyes were quick to fall upon Tirek as the centaur spoke. “Give it up Cozy, he knows our plan “

Cozy jaw opened and closed for a few moments. “What plan. I’m just an innocent filly. This game isn’t very fun Discord.” Surely if she played along long enough she’d be able to fool him.

However, her hopes were dashed as Discord shook his head. “Come now little Cozy, we all know it’s all an act. You intend to drain all the magic of Equestria for yourself.” Discord grinned snuggly.

“Grr, well you can't stop me. I’ll- I’ll tell Fluttershy you were mean to me.”

Discord proceeded to laugh as he wiped a tear from his eye. “Oh but that’s the fun part. I don’t intend to stop you.”

“What this had got to be some sort of trick,” Cozy said snarling before picking up the glass of sofa that had appeared before her.

Tirek spread his arms out as he spoke. “He doesn’t think our plan will work. Something about fate or something.” He rolled his left hand.

“Ha shows what you know. Friendship is power. Those foals will do anything I say.” Cozy's grin widened as she sipped her drink.

“Well if you say so. Welcome to my Villians bar. You’re welcome to come and hang out.” Discord declared with a flash of sparkles.

It was only then that the filly noticed the others around. She jumped some when she saw Queen Chrysalis and even Nightmare Moon. “Oh golly abs o thought you were reformed Discord “

“Well, the drains are a bit upon the air.” Discord said as he floated upwards.

“Tricks others with manipulation. I like her already,” Chrysalis added.

“Wow, I remember hearing stories about the wedding. Were you really the princess for a while?”

“Of course I was. That is how I was able to get all of Shining Armour’s love.”

Cozy sips her drink as she nodded. “Yeah, but why were you beaten by your own food source?”

The queen’s eye twitched. “Shut up.” She grunted.

Cozy eeped a bit before taking another glance around the room. “Wait a second. If all the changelings are good now. Then who are they?” Her hoof gestured towards a table with four black Chitin changelings sipping some pink liquid.

Discord slithered over to Cozy “Oh them! They are LARPing.” He explained.

“They’re what?” Cozy blinked tilting her head.

Chrysalis spat on the floor. “They are pretending to be evil.”

“All hail the queen!” One called out towards her.

“Shut up grub!” Chrysalis hissed back showing her fangs.

“But mooom!”

“Don’t you mom me. You chose to betray me. Deal with it.”

The changeling shifted on his seat. “Does that mean you don’t want your mother's day gift?”

The queen rolled her eyes. “Fine.” Getting off her seat, she trudged over to them. Even being evil She still wanted some motherly attention.

Cozy just tilted her head more at the random events that had just occurred. “This is weird.”

Golda began to loach from behind the bar. “Haha, welcome to the club.”

Glancing over, Cozy eyes lit up. “Hey, you’re one of Rainbow’s friends. She talked about you.”

Golda rubbed a talon to her chest puffing it out some. “Oh yeah? Probably said how awesome I am.”

The filly nodded giving in the air. “Oh yes, the coolest Griffin she’d ever met.” She moved a bit closer looking at the batoid bottles. “So maybe as such a good friend you could let me taste one of the adult drinks?”

Golda shook her head crossing her forelegs. “No can do Discord forbids it and I sure wouldn’t serve stuff to a minor.”

“Oh, not even apple cider? I hear it’s really good.” Cozy asked, going another big smile to try and charm her way to get what she wanted. How’re er, Golda stared back as solid as a cockatrice.

“No, and whether scheme you're probably thinking of to get some probably won’t work either.”

“Oh, we shall see,” Cozy cooed before fluttering away and soon landing at the table Tirek was at. “Wow, you sure are scrawny.” She blurted looking at the loose chains.

“Oh well not everyone can be super buff without magic,” Tirek remarked taking on the size of the filly. “For some reason, I thought you would be bigger.”

“Well, I am just a filly, Nr Tirek.” She glanced at the door. “So if you're not locked up in your cage, why don’t you just leave out the door?”

Tirek let out a sigh tugging the tip of his nose. “It’s unfortunately not that easy. Discord l’s power is an absolute here. You only leave if you’re allowed to.”

“Gosh, you don’t think he’d keep me here do you?” Cozy asked peering at the Game of solitaire upon the table.

Tirek put his hands together. “No, at least not yet. You’re not in a prison.” He gave a glare towards his unofficial warden.

“Well, I don’t care what Discord says my plan is sure to work. I shall be Empress of Friendship hehe!” She laughed for a few seconds clapping her hooves. A moment later she leaped into the air at the sight of King Sombra approaching.

The former king looked at the filly holding onto the rafter with amusement “A mere child taking over Equestria, now that is rich.” His laughter showed off his impressive teeth.

Cozy glanced down with a frown. “Yeah well, it took a single foal to nearly destroy the Crystal Empire.”

“May I remind you that abomination was an alicorn of all things,” Sombra remarked.

“Yeah well, one day I’ll be an alicorn just you said and see.” Cozy shot back.

Sombra slowly walked away laughing once more. “Oh, that will be the day I’m sure.”

As Cozy landed back onto the table to help Tirek with his game, Discord flipped through a script smirking to himself. “Won’t she be in for a surprise later.”

Episode 11: What's Upstairs

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Cozy Glow sat at the bar sipping on her cold glass of soda as her mind went over her plans. Her ears flick as the sounds of the Pony of Shadows trying to do karaoke that Flim and Flam had set up. He wasn’t half bad in her opinion. Then again, she was only a filly so what did she know about musical tones. Her gaze scanned around the room her eyebrow raised as she noticed that the regulars didn’t seem to be present. “Hey, Gilda, where is the bug queen and Tirek? Doesn’t miss NIghtmare sulk here too?”

Gilda shrugged as she idly filed her claws. “Eh, probably upstairs I guess.”

“Oh? What’s up there?” Cozy’s eyes were drawn to the oak staircase in the back of the room.

“Bedrooms mostly,” Gilda replied, not seeming to care about the conversation.

“Oh, you must have a bird’s nest up there,” Cozy teased as she flutters into the air now wanting to investigate.

“What no! That’s a stereotype,” Gilda blew some hair out of her eyes.

Cozy giggled heading to the stairs. ”But you’re not denying it,” she sang, finding herself undeterred from going up the staircase towards the large double dark oak doors. Pushing the doors open, she was surprised to see sunlight shining down from a large glass dome ceiling supported by elegant marble pillars. In the center of the atrium had a silver fountain with a statue of Discord upon the top. The filly found it kind of pretentious, then again it was his place. Along the wall closest to the door, she spotted a few couches along with a long coffee table. A few magazines lay upon it. ON the opposite side of the fountain several doors stood each decorated differently.

“Reminds me of a hotel lobby,” Cozy muttered as she flew over to a red door with a barbell upon it. Hearing the sound of grunts from inside, Cozy pushed the door open and saw what looked like a miniature gym. Laying upon a bench was Tirek lifting the smallest weights he could manage in his skinny state. “Golly Tirek, you sure you can handle that.”

Tirek raised the small barbell into the air glaring at the filly. “Are you calling me weak child?”

“No, of course not, I'm just making sure my friend doesn’t hurt himself,” Cozy replied with her syrup sweet tone. “Did Discord give you all this?”

Tirek rolled his eyes, keeping up his exercise. “We aren’t friends, more convenient allies.” He did another five lifts before he looked at her again. “And yes, Discord did give me this room.”

“Well, it’s a good thing you are here instead of in Tartarus. Getting mail to you was hard.”

“It’s a shame that Discord won’t let me stay here full time,” Tirek sat up taking a swig from a water bottle. “Why don’t you go bother Chrysalis or something,” he said waving his hand to the door.

“Hmmm, okay,” Cozy chimed before flying out and heading toward a door with a rocky texture. The filly watched as several holes on the door would open and close slowly. Unsure of how to open the door, the filly instead waited for a big enough hole to appear before jumping through landing on a hard rock floor. The room towered overhead being two stories tall and celery bigger on the inside than out. The chandelier hanging from the ceiling was decorated with small hanging green pods glowed with luminescent light. The light greenish walls were covered in more changing holes. “Wow, creepy,” Cozy strolled inside further hearing a buzzing but can’t see where it was coming from.

Before the filly could even react, a shadow passed over her before a loud hiss was heard. The next thing she knew Cozy found herald pinned on her back with the piercing glare of the changeling queen filling her vision. When the child was done her little yell Chrysalis spoke. “What are you doing here?”

Cozy heart raced for a moment, and if not for the fact she’d used the bathroom recently, she probably would have peed herself. Getting back her nerves, the filly grinned wide innocently. “Hey Chryssi, I just thought I’d come by and look around.”

Chrysalis rolled her eyes. “You weren’t invited,” she said stepping off of the filly watching as Cozy fluttered into the air.

“Well gosh, there wasn’t anything stopping me from coming in really. You sure have a nice place.” Cozy said, doing her best to look cute.

“It will do,” the queen rolled her hoof. Now, what exactly are Tirek and you up to?”

Cozy quickly flew over to one of the oil paintings upon the wall taking in the landscape. “Oh, that’s a secret. I couldn’t possibly tell.”

Chrysalis laughed, “Ha as if children can keep secrets. I just sense how eager you are right now.” The queen strolled over. “So tell me, what are you so hyper about hmm?”

“Well,” Cozy started pausing for a second to let it linger. “I found this large cavern under the school that’s connected to the tree of harmony. It’s perfect!” She rubbed her hooves together gleefully.

“Discord refuses to tell me what’s going on but he says your plan won’t work. He said the same thing about my plans when they failed as well,” Chrysalis replied, flicking part of her mane.

Cozy scoffed looking at the little ponies in the drawing. “Oh Discord just being a mean party pooper. He doesn’t want me to win or else he’d,” she paused as the bug queen glared at her as if she was planning something. “Oh look at the time!” She peered down at her watchless foreleg before darting to the door and sliding through an opening just as Chrysalis tried to reach out to grab her. Not wanting to be caught, she hurried along towards a door with two symbols upon it. The first one was a red curved horn while the other was Nightmare Moon’s cutie mark. Grateful it wasn’t locked, she darted in and shut the door taking a few deep breaths and once calmed down she glanced about seeing the room lit by blue flaming torches casting harsh shadows on the wall. The room was decorated like an old-time castle with stone walls and carpets. Her ears flick as she heard arguing along with the sound of a piano being played.

“Must you practice now?!” Sombra voice boomed

A few notes followed a few mixed up. “Yes I need a hobby, and I can’t focus with you yelling at me!” Nightmare hissed not seeing the filly poke her head into the doorway.

“I'm trying to read.”

“Well go read out in the lobby,” Nightmare huffed

Before the two could go on any further, Cozy fluttered up towards them. “Hey there!” She chimed.

Nightmare Moon turned her head toward the filly eyes flaring white for a moment. “You foal! How dare you enter my domain.” Her voice boomed, blowing the pegasus back until she stopped.

Cozy shook her head recovering from her momentary daze. “Hia Nightmare, Sombra, how are things?” she asked.

“Fine, I suppose,” Sombra rolled his eyes. “Are you even supposed to be up here?”

“Why not?” Cozy asked eyes peering at the large axe hanging on one wall. “I just want to make friends.”

“Friends just slow you down,” Nightmare Moon replied, swirling her mane about.

“Oh no no no, Headmare Twilight says Friends make you stronger,” Cozy said, her grin growing. “Ponies do what I ask cause they think they’re my friends.” The filly rubbed her hooves together. The more friends the more power!” She let out a cackle Nightmare seeming impressed.

“Ah, manipulation, lovely,” NIghtmare said with her own wide smirk.

Sombra scoffed moving over to a couch to sit down. “I would just mind control them, bend them to my will!”

“Why puppet their minds when you can command them by fear alone,” Nightmare declared as Cozy moved to the door.

“Golly, you two are just perfect for each other aren’t you?” Cozy grinned mischievously.

“We are not!” They both shouted back as the filly opened the door to leave.

“Hehe if you say so,” Cozy replied before heading out and making her way back down into the bar below.

Upon taking a seat at the main bar, Discord strolled across the tabletop being the size of a large action figure. “So what did you think?”

Cozy tapped her chin and smiled once more. “Very...cozy.” Feeling Discord nudge her in the shoulder, the two burst into laughter at the joke.

Ice cream Club

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“I feel ridiculous,” Gilda grumbled, crossing her talons over the red and white striped shirt she had been made to wear. Along with the matching hat and apron, she fit right in with the current setting. Replacing where the shelves of drinks and snacks usually stood were numerous tubs of ice cream. The bar’s oak wood was coloured a bright white with a candy floss glass top. Each table was covered in a white table cloth making the bar more welcoming, as odd as that may be for a bar for villains.

Discord laughed skating across the countertop on ice cream cone skates. “Oh come now, I’m just spicing things up a tad.”

Gilda rolled her eyes twiddling with the ice cream scoop in her talon. “You could have spaced it up with a Mexicolt burrito party.”

“Well not everyone can eat meat here. Besides, I think Pinkie Pie had the right idea.” With A leap off the counter, Discord did a double flip in the air before landing with a crunch as his cones crumbled. Snapping his claw, he materialized a matching outfit onto himself Just as patrons started to flow in.

Chrysalis strolled over her head held high as her eyes scanned the shelves. “So what is Discord up to this time?” Flicking hair mane out of her eyes, her gaze fell upon one tub that had a pink heart on it.

“It’s ice cream you dork,” Gilda said leaning her talon upon the table. She’d serve these dweebs whatever ice cream they wanted, it was just a job after all. Gilda wasn’t the biggest fan of it herself.

With a flick of her hoof, Chrysalis bops Gilda on the beak. “A cat in desperate need of catnip,” she taunted taking her usual seat at the bar. Taking a second look at the tub, she pointed to it, licking her lips. “Hmm, I shall have that Hearty Loveberry.” Once Gilda had scooped out a bowl, the queen took a small bite. Her eyes went wide as she let out a happy little coo as she took another bite. “Mmm, it tastes like honeymoons.”

“Is that something that I’m too young to know about?” Cozy Glow asked, having just arrived mouth practically drooling at all the ice cream.

Gilda's smile grew laughing as Chrysalis coughed a little. “Well if it isn’t the silver-tongued filly.”

“Golly, I didn’t know there was an ice cream party,” Cozy squeed, the filly practically buzzing from the excitement. No silly parents to tell her not to eat too much before supper or nag her to brush her teeth. Not that she needed to be reminded, a perfect smile was all part of her facade. A cavity simply wouldn’t do. The filly planted her hooves upon a stool as she scanned the tubs making a rather cute scrunched face as she tried to choose what she wanted.

While the filly tried to choose, Sombra trotted on up dragging his tongue over his fangs as he admired the treats. Gilda smirked. “Let me guess, Crystal Beery?”

Sombra laughed while taking his seat. “No, for I desire the evilest, the most devious of flavours. A flavour that makes grown stallions weep, and little fillies tremble.” Green smoke flowed from his eyes as he continued to chuckle. Leaning closer to Gilda, his smile widened. “I want...black licorice!” From somewhere beyond the walls thunder roared.

Various gasps sound out around the room including Cozy who scrunched up her face. “Ew gross!”

The Storm King stomped his hand on his table. “Ha, he’s lying. No one likes that stuff. No way he is going to eat it.”

Sombra continued to chortle. “Tremble mere mortals haha!” Taking the spoon in his magic, he waits for the bowl to be set before him before taking a bite. Suddenly, his eyes went wide, his body starting to twitch. A moment later, his tongue hung out his head spasming before abruptly slamming his muzzle in the countertop and collapsing the floor in a heap.

While a few of the patrons laughed at the king’s misfortune, Nightmare Moon moved up next to Sombra giving him a light kick in the gut. “Pffft, drama queen,” she muttered, the irony not lost on her at all as she took her seat.

“So, what are you going to have?” Cozy asked, having not made up her own mind just yet.

“It has been such a long time since I’ve had ice cream,” Nightmare rubbed her hooves together.

“Oh? I thought the moon was made of ice cream,” Cozy teased sticking out her tongue.

Nightmare huffed rolling her eyes. “No, of course not.”

“Made of cheese,” Sombra sputtered with a bit of drool.

The queen on the night just thumped him in the chest again “Oh har har.”

Gilda drummed her claw on the counter looking towards Nightmare. “Let me guess, rocky road?”

Nightmare Moon playfully swats Gilda’s beak with her ethereal mane. “Close little bird, I wish to have cookies and cream.”

Cozy continued to hover as she listened and watched as Nightmare was served. “Oooh, that’s a good one but I still don’t know,” the filly tapped her chin groaning at her indecision. Spotting Tirek trotting over, she smiled. “Hey Mr. Tirek, what are you going to have?”

The centaur took his seat, the chair creaking beneath him. Resting a hand on the counter, he replied. “Starberry.” He smiled, amused by Cozy’s response.

“What? But that’s not evil at all.” Cozy put her hooves to her cheeks in a gasp.

“Woo said anything about ice cream being evil? It’s mostly sugar,” Tirek gestured with his hand to all the tubs. “Ponies love the stuff,” he added, soon taking a bite of his treat.

As the various patrons got served, the main door opened as a bright light filled the doorway as a new figure strolled in. Her long white legs caused her to tower over the rest of her mane, a fiery blaze flickering like embers in an unseen breeze.

Nightmare glared before looking back at Discord. “Discord! What is Celestia doing here?!”

Chuckling, Discord slid over to the dark princess putting his paw around her and gestured towards the other alicorn. “This is Daybreaker!” He declared dramatically as thunderclaps were heard. “Celestia’s dark side from Starlight Glimmer’s dreams to an alternate universe,” he seesawed his claw back and forth. “Give or take. I’m sure you two will get along...eventually.”

Daybreaker glanced about the room admiring the dark oak theme and resembling a wooden cottage of sorts. “How homey,” she muttered moving over next to Nightmare moon and nudging her orange shoe on her shoulder. “Hello, sister.”

“We are not sisters,” Nightmare spat, taking another bite of her ice cream.

“We might as well be,” Daybraker replied, giving a playful swat on the back of Nightmare’s head.

While patrons laugh at the interaction, Cozy had landed on the counter kicking her legs over the edge. “I like her,” she chimed with a smirk.

Daybreaker’s eyes were slowly narrowing as she looked at the filly. “And what exactly is a filly doing in such a dangerous place?”

Cozy rolled her eyes in response. “Pfft, this place is harmless besides I’m a villain too.”

“And pray tell, what makes you so devious?”

Cozy Glow’s grin widens. “Golly, where do I start? Twilight thinks Friendship is for making friends. But I learned that if you are super nice and manipulative ponies that they will do whatever you say.” She rubbed her hooves before fluttering up to Daybreaker’s ear and whispered her plan.

Daybreaker’s grin spread wide the more she listened soon laughing maniacally as Cozy finished. “Now that is true power! Ponies are but pawns to your will.”

Gilda rolled her eyes as she twirled the scoop. “Cozy Glow is crazy. Then again, who isn’t in this place.”

“I don’t know, you seem pretty normal to me Gilda,” Cozy replied.

“I’m here for the bits. Better dump than Griffinstone at least.” Gilda grumbled before looking at Daybreaker seeing the alicorn scan over the flavours. “Wild guess, you want hot fudge?”

The fiery alicorn rubbed her chin tapping her hoof upon the table in contemplation. A moment later, she smiled. “Hmm, a tempting offer but I know exactly what I shall have.” Dramatically leaning forward into Gilda’s beak she smirked. “I shall have...cheesecake flavour.”

Nightmare Moon suddenly burst into laughter baning her hoof upon the counter. “Haha, yes you are definitely Celestia’s dark side. Even you can’t resist the allure of cake.”

Sombra stirred faintly. “I like cake.”

Instead of another kick, Nightmare lifted the dark stallion to his hooves and put a hoof to his lips “shhh.” Placing him on one of the stools before looking back at Daybreaker and Cozy Glow. “So have you made up your mind yet little filly?”

Cozy Glow got her hooves and nodded. “Yeah, I think I got it now.” Turning to face Gilda she pointed. “I shall have Vanilla with sprinkles.” The filly was unsure why she heard ponies facehoofing behind her.

The Villains Bar

by Zubric

Episode 1

Episode 2: Murphy's Dog

Episode 3: Room Mates

Episode 4: Sirens

Episdoe 5 Heart Warming Season

Guys Night

Chronicles of Chrysalis

Episode 8: Dimensions of Evil

Episode 9: A Minor Problem

Episode 10: Warm and Cozy

Episode 11: What's Upstairs

Ice cream Club