> The Ultimate Evil > by Orkus > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > A Great Evil Comes to Ponyville > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Muahaha! Hah! Hee-hee, hahahahaaaa!" Veigar continued to laugh in as maniacal of a way his high-pitched voice could muster. "Huahahhua! Eeeheheheeee! Hah! Hahaha!" "Veigar, what're you laughing at? Can I join in?" Lulu, who was skipping beside him through the enchanted woods, her shoes tapping on the stones that lined the ground, asked. The male yordle shifted a sideways glance at her with his hidden, glowing, yellow eyes, before looking forward again. "I'm getting ready to make an impression on the locals! They need to know exactly what kind of yordle they're dealing with..." he replied, poking his blue-cloaked chest with a thumb from the large metal gauntlet that adorned his right hand. "Also, no." "Aww! You're no fun sometimes," the fae sorceress complained with a chuckle, bumping her frisky body on his armored shoulder, sending him off-balance. Narrowly catching himself with his staff, Veigar, grumbling to himself, resituated his oversized hat. The two had been walking on a path in the middle of these woods for almost a half-an-hour, and their surroundings didn't appear to be changing that much. The birds in the trees were singing their pretty little songs, fuzzy squirrels chittered playfully as they dashed around looking for nuts, the wind that whistled through the leaves and grass possessed a quality of complete optimism... all this feeling of happiness and mirth made him sick! "So... how much longer?" he asked in a bored voice. "About as long as a sunflower's stalk!" she responded cheerfully. As she spoke, Pix; a small, purple fae sprite the manic female yordle was always accompanied with, flew up from behind her hat. Beating his butterfly-like wings and letting out a small, inquisitive chiming noise, he flew toward Veigar, and perched on the collar of his cloak. Veigar proceeded to swat him away in an annoyed manner. Pix saw this as a challenge, and quickly flew directly back into the yordle's face with a buzz. Now angry, Veigar batted his gauntleted hand at the sprite again, his voice changing to a hissy fit of mutters and growls. As the two fought like children, Lulu pranced to a grotto just ahead, humming a small, joyful tune, a twinkle of pure mischievousness shining in her vivid, green eyes. "We're here!" she sang out, spinning around on the tip of one of her shoes like a ballerina. Veigar and Pix instantly stopped their squabbling, and looked over at her; the latter of whom flew at his long-haired friend and landed on the tip of her tall, pointed cap. Looking over, Veigar saw Lulu was standing beside an old oak tree; its multiple leaves bearing an orange shade, and its black bark holding a gnarled complexion. "So... this is it?" he inquired as he neared her, tapping the base of his staff on the stone ground. "This tree is what's going to lead us to another world? The world I'm looking for?" "Yoouuu betcha!" she said, speedily booping him on the nose with a finger. Reluctantly ignoring what she did, he walked up to the tree, his metal shoes clinking on the ground, and rubbed his gauntleted hand across its surface. "It doesn't seem special," he mumbled. Lulu giggled, placing her own hand, much smaller by armor-covered comparison, on top of his. "Just wait and see..." she whispered to him. As she spoke, a bright, purple, vertical crack of light began to form underneath their combined appendages, causing both to pull them back. Within moments, the crack grew in size until it resembled the portal Veigar quickly realized it was, big enough for a yordle-sized character to enter. From behind his dark, fearsome visage, Veigar smiled a toothy, malicious grin. "Yes!" he shouted in a triumphant tone clenching his fist with a squelch of metal. "Now our invasion begins! Hahaha!" As the sun had risen from a red glow to a yellow orb in the morning sky, Princess Twilight Sparkle awoke with a yawn. Pushing the covers on her bed back, she fluffed out her wings and groggily left her bed. The purple alicorn's hazy, sleepy mind soon became clear as she trotted through her castle, looking for her dragon assistant, Spike. "Spike!" she called out, cupping a hoof to her mouth to enhance her already-echoing voice. "Spike, where are you?" Walking into the main chamber, where the table possessing the cutie map was, surrounded by several thrones, Twilight noticed a piece of paper had been stuck to the tip of her own throne by a strand of tape. Promptly using her magic to grab the piece of paper, she pulled it off of the rocky chair, bringing it up to herself afterword, and saw there was familiar writing on it. Fluffing her wings out again, she began to read. Dear Twilight, I just wanted to tell you that Pinkie Pie came by early this morning asking for help with baking some of her heart-shaped cupcakes for Hearts and Hooves Day. She said it was because her oven broke down from being loaded with too much food. Since I didn't want to bug you, I went with her, and I should be back before noon. Yours truly, Spike. "Oh, that's where he is," she smiled, before coming to a surprised realization. "Wait, it's already Hearts and Hooves Day? I must have forgotten. Oh! That means Cadence and Shining are coming over! Wonderful! I wonder if they figured out a name for their baby yet..." Just as she clapped her front hooves together in glee, a noise that could only be described as an electrical discharge began behind her. With a confused expression, she slowly turned around, and her face widened in complete surprise. It was as if a literal tear in the fabric of reality had been made in the middle of her home. A long, purple glow in the shape of a crack or slit had formed, and sparks of pure magic had begun to deflect off of it in an unstable manner. "Huh?" Twilight wondered to herself, scratching her head with a hoof. "What in Starswirl's beard is that?" The tall slit slowly widened, and before she knew it, it had expanded to nearly four feet in width. Before she could react, a short, stocky shape bearing an absurdly tall and wide hat, a staff in one hand, and a large, metal, claw-like gauntlet in the other, suddenly jumped through. All the startled alicorn could do was watch as it began to speak upon exiting the fissure. "Look upon me and despair, puny beings of this new, undiscovered world!" the small creature roared out in more of a demented squawk than anything actually intimidating, shaking his large, iron fist for emphasis. "Your new overlord is here, and he comes bearing the gift of destruction! Muahahahahaha!"