> Dungeons 2: A Game of Windigoes > by ArkKane > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1: Princesses' Ending. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Once Upon a Time there was a land known as Equestria. Following the Granite Incarceration of the local Lord of Chaos, a Draconequus named Discord, the land was in a state of peace and prosperity. The princesses sat upon their thrones and the three tribes of Earth, Pegasi and Unicorns lived together in harmony. It was disgusting! Luckily Discord had a plan already set in motion to allow his chaos to once again grace the lands. Now many of you remember that in the canon story, Discord had planted Plunder Seeds, insidious plant-life that sprouted vines intent on draining the energy of the tree of harmony, but this is not a purely canon story. Instead this Discord had set about a different garden of interdimensional Plucker Seeds, designed to draw in and pull another soul to this realm in a new form. Using this he sent it to a realm I’m sure you readers are greatly familiar with. Meet Ark, he is a human from this very realm known as ‘earth’. He has only managed to scrape by in his whole life. Sta-*ahem* I mean, Ark’s job consisted of pushing buttons, a terminal next to him would tell him what buttons to push, when to push them and in what order, every day, no breaks. Many would find this kind of job soul-crushing… Ark Kane was no different, he had hoped to find a chance to escape this world, but it all seemed for naught. One night after a long day of work Ark Kane sat down at his computer and started up the game Dungeons 2, he had already beaten both the normal and DLC campaigns once before but felt the urge to go through a second time. While playing he stopped for a moment and simply looked at a character who bore a menacing visage, one who had intimidation and darkness written all over him… The Absolute Evil… “I wish I was like that.” Ark Kane huffed indignantly, tired of the monotonous life he has lived day after day. If this was any other case, there would be no reply, nothing to grant his wish. However that was when Discord’s Plucker Vines emerged into his world through his screen, seeing the downtrodden man as their target! “Wha-hey! Let go!” Ark tried to free himself from their pull, but it was a futile effort as the malicious monster of a weed was stronger, dragging him through the portal they had made on his screen, the last thing he saw before being pulled in was the Insurmountable evil looking up to the screen, to him… And giving the now turned Displaced a thumbs-up. “Ugh… my head… what happened?” And so the Absolute Evil stood, shakily getting up and uttering his first words. “Absolute Evil? Wait…” the Jet-lagged Evil muttered out as he checked his surroundings and himself, due to his prior knowledge he was aware of where he was, what he was, and what he was supposed to do. Where he was: Equestria, more specifically looking up at the gates to what he could tell was the Kingdom before the Everfree. What he was: The Absolute Evil, more specifically a displaced version of him. What he was supposed to do: Invade this Everfree Kingdom and claim Equestria for evil, more specifically with the army of monsters at his back ready to storm the palace. Feeling the energy in his new body, The Happily-Making-Combustible Lemons-out-of-Life’s Lemons Evil took to his new role immediately, menacingly pointing a finger at his army’s target, he let loose a single word that spelled the fate for the ponies of this fair kingdom. “ATTACK.” Within the castle, the benevolent pairing of Celestia and Luna sat upon their thrones as a guard burst into the room. “Princess Celestia! Princess Luna! Monsters have emerged from a rift and are now charging into the city!” Knowing the risks that entailed, Celestia acted. “Alert the guards, prepare for battle and find their leader, me and Luna shall defeat him, no doubt he will remain hidden amongst the horde to protect himself.” “Actually Princess, the leader of the army is directly at the front.” This of course, put the duo at a loss for words, they have faced either tyrants who were cowardly and hid behind their massive hordes of warriors, or vile fiends who were arrogant and charged into the front-lines themselves with no army. They had never faced a foe with both an army of a tyrant and the ferocious spirit of a fiend. Thankfully for them, Princess Luna had a solution. “Then draw away his forces so that me and my sister may confront the villain with the elements alone, if we cut off the head the army will surely fall into disarray.” “At once your majesty!” and so the guard left to issue the orders. “Sister? Are you alright?” Luna asked, unnerved by the panicked look in Celestia’s eyes. “I am… fine, sister, let us go before this monster can harm anyone else.” It was carnage that brought a smile to The Finally Complete Evil’s face… which was unseen thanks to his helmet, and battle that made his dark heart jump for joy. The Not-Caring-About-Cannon-Fodder Evil let his dark army deal with the guard as he moved into the town square. But then The Recounting-Past-Failures evil stopped in the town square, having a touch of fear from a sense of Deja-Vu. The Absolute Evil could swear he had encountered this exact scenario before, and as the two heroic alicorns emerged, his mind clicked and his heart dropped. His vision fluttered back to what had happened to The Past Evil, who had King’s Ending on the ropes, only to be surrounded and banished by the heroes of the empire. He recalled how his essence was split into three, The Ultimate, Chaotic and Corrupting Evils that all fought against each other and-oh… I see now. Well isn’t that a kick in the pants? With the ambush underway and the elements in plain view, The Realized-It-Was-Boned Evil, let out a curse. “Fuck…” Not that kind of curse! The Nightmare Curse! “Oh, right!” With a last act of defiance, The Spiteful Evil used the last of its available dark magic on Luna, hidden under the guise of an attack, this was in truth a shadow of his corrupting will, that would become the Nightmare Force, a dark spirit of evil that will make the night princess attempt to bring enough darkness and evil to help revive The Down-But-Not-Out Evil. And so as before, the heroes banished The Absolute Evil with it giving a whispered “I’ll be back…” and so he was defeated, his forces were routed, and peace was restored. But like every other threat the sisters have beaten. The Patient Evil would only need to wait 1000 years before he could emerge and begin his campaign of destruction once again. And while he was separated into three Evils, only one took the entirety of the Displaced consciousness to use as its own. The Corrupting Evil. > Chapter 2: Crystal Empire, Beginning of The End. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- When The Corrupting Evil awoke, it was at a time it had expected to emerge, 1000 years into the FUTURE future future… upon waking up The Not-A-Morning-Person Evil, let out a yawn and called upon the Hand of Terror to survey what he knew. In his inspection he had indeed discovered that he was The Corrupting Evil, and as such controlled his favourite faction from Dungeons 2, The Undead. However, upon looking at the Throne Room a strange energy began to coalesce within a space. In that space formed a weak transparent Luna… no, Nightmare Moon, who had survived the blast from the elements through her link to The Totally-Her-Father-Figure Evil. thanks to this very link and the energy she had leeched off of Princess Luna in her attempt to revive her… dad, she was now her own entity, and could be repurposed for other uses. Seeing the potential, and with his human mind reciprocating the Father/Daughter relationship, The Affectionate Evil began moulding the dead matter from the surrounding graves and gave Nightmare Moon a new body, the body of a Vampire. “Thank you, father.” the resurrected Nightmare spoke. “I will do my best to serve you and make you proud.” With the forgotten spawned and digging out the new dungeon, The Ambitious Evil sent Nightmare to the surface to find where they were. “Hmm… I should’ve expected the cold…” The Thoughtful Evil muttered as he discovered their location, the legendary Frozen North, home of the Crystal Empire. Of course going up against such a large force in such a weak state would prove detrimental to The Concerned Evil’s plans, but just as he was prepared to give up on this land he felt a new force in the area, locked away by a powerful magic, but if it was to be freed it would help in his plans. The Devious Evil was aware of what this evil force could possibly be, but did not want to assume immediately, but he knew what his plans called for now. {Corrupting Evil POV} I looked across my dungeon, my Forgotten sharing with me some good fortune as from their expeditions through the earth they had found a Diamond Vein which I could use to have infinite funds, and since I wasn’t bound to game rules that meant I could keep that income when I move to other areas so long as this dungeon isn’t destroyed. Shaking off the moment I focused on setting the rooms, the Final Resting Place, and an Alchemy Lab. Haven’t found a mana crystal yet so I need to wait for Frights. I thought irritably, knowing not only am I losing support minions, but I’m stuck at the starting population cap. Wait a minute… 2… 3… 6… I’m over!? Using the most dreaded topic of all, math, I was able to see that in my overzealousness with making a ton of Forgotten to dig out my dungeon that I was actually over the starting population limit, and already exceeding the max with my bone warriors, bloodsuckers and zombies, that brought me to a swift realization. This wasn’t the game, this was me, the actual Corrupting Evil spreading his dark influence! Meaning that with my new mental freedom I could get my minions to work better, smarter-uh… nevermind, this is the mindless army we’re talking about. Though indeed I could get this army to be actually useful to me, having them use their abilities automatically while in the overworld so I don’t have to baby them made a perfect start. And so I began spreading my influence. {3rd POV} And so it was that The Forward-Thinking Evil began his aggressive restructuring of the Mindless Army’s education, while one wouldn’t expect anything to come about from educating mindless undead, The Corrupting Evil took the shortcut of using his own dark energy to influence them. Now not only were they able to research faster, they now also had access to more insidious upgrades. But it was not the time to lay about, so The Corrupting Evil grabbed some Skeletons and sent them along with Nightmare to Parley with the Dark Force. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As they arrive, Nightmare Moon used her dark energies to call upon the dormant shadow. “...who dares summon me from my unwanted slumber?” the voice called out, revealing what every brony and their little sister figured out earlier in the chapter. “King Sombra, a force greater than you calls upon your power to take the Crystal Empire.” “A force greater than I? *chuckle* and what being thinks they can make such a claim?” “My father, The Corrupting Evil, the first shard of The Absolute Evil to awaken.” “The Absolute Evil!?” The king said in disbelief. “I assumed he was but legend!” “I… AM… NOT…” The Intimidating Evil spoke, projecting an image of himself for Sombra to see. “It is truly you…” the shadowed ruler bowed his head before The Corrupting Evil. “Yes, I may have grown weak from the Elements, but my power is still of unrelenting magnitude, I plan to build an army with powerful Generals, and you are the next step in my plans, join me, and I will set you upon the throne of Crystals once more.” “I shall serve you, lord… but I am afraid I have no armies to call upon, and with the Crystal Heart in place the Crystal Ponies’ happiness will bar my path.” Just then, a new research option opened up for The Corrupting Evil for his undead troops. And as those words floated into his vision, The Dark-Planning Evil had an idea. With a plan in place, The Corrupting Evil summoned Zombies from their graves and set them on a warpath to the Crystal Empire, their mission, to infect the residents with their plague and create an army from their enemies, and corrupting the Crystal Heart for his own sinister purposes. And with their dark goal set and The Corrupting Evil’s plans in motion, he let out a sinister laugh. And unlike the games he was actually capable of doing it, so the narrator didn’t have to. “Hehehehe...hahahaha, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!!” ...good one! “I try.” > Chapter 3: Mission 1: Grave Opportunities. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Meanwhile, on the border of the Crystal Empire, two crystal guards stood on the outer wall looking out at the frozen expanse. “Hey,” “Yeah?” “You ever wonder why we’re here?” Alright we’re going to move on from the obvious joke that’s become a meme at this point and get back to the story. On their watch they saw something in the distance, something radiating an evil presence that had begun to twist the land it walked upon. What they didn’t know, however, was that the creatures approaching were in fact the infecting zombies created by the Contagious Evil. As you will know from the previous chapter, The Scholarly Evil had acquired a new research option which allowed Zombies to infect the living with a single bite. The Opportunistic Evil immediately took advantage of this new path and set the zombies he had accumulated loose to turn the entirety of the Crystal Empire into a horde of mindless brain-munchers. Except, of course, for the royal couple who looked over the empire. The Forward-Thinking Evil had a plan for them after he had placed Sombra back on the throne and corrupted the Crystal Heart to his own desires, one that could not be enacted if Shining Armor and Cadence ended up becoming more of the Mindless Undead. That plan? Oh you’ll see it soon enough, however we should return to The Corrupting Evil’s Undead, which at this point have reached the walls. “What are those things!?” one of the guards screamed. “WHO BUCKING CARES JUST SHOOT THEM!” another replied as they began to fire beams of magic from their horns. Unfortunately being a peaceful race for 1000 years can backfire in many situations, such as when your enemy is a zombie, they have no nerves nor true cognitive thought, meaning any and all spells that the soldiers would know, being all non-lethal, would only serve as a minor inconvenience. On the other hand if they had been more prepared and had more fatal ways of firing at them they would have slowed the Undead Tide significantly. While it would not stop them given how they can get back up from something any living creature would die from, it would’ve been more than enough time for them to alert the city. “WHY AREN’T THEY STOPPING!” “OH CELESTIA THEY’VE GOTTEN UP THE WALL!” “KEEP IT TOGETHER!” “OH SHIT!” “STEEL!? STEEL WHAT’S GOING ON!?” “BRAAAAAIIINNZZZ!!!” “AAAAAAAA-” However, it seems that The Corrupting Evil could safely lie his astral projected self back onto his bed-stone and chuckle sinisterly as the now bolstered ranks of the Zombie Swarm marched into the Crystal Empire that was blissfully unaware of what had entered their city. -------Hour 1------- In the Crystal Palace, the three royals, Shining, Cadence and their daughter, Flurry Heart rested in the Throne Room, when suddenly a guard entered. “Your majesties, I come with urgent news.” “What is it Emerald Sight?” the Princess of Love asked of the guard. “One hour ago, the south-western lookout went dark, no reports or alerts of any kind… two minutes ago, the entire corner of the city closest to the point went quiet as well.” “This is distressing, send guards out with communication mirrors, and make sure they stay in at least groups of four.” the Prince declared. “We need to undermine what is happening quickly before the city erupts into panic.” They knew what dangers would arise if the Crystal Ponies lost their happiness, so instead of warning the populace, they moved to keep them ignorant. In any other case this would’ve been seen as tactical suicide, but in the case of the Crystal Empire it was a strategic necessity. So long as the shield remained in place, both the cold and The Corrupting Evil’s reach on the land would be kept at bay. If the ponies no longer supplied the heart with joy, the shield would end up collapsing, meaning the soldiers would not only have to fight through the cold, but also through whatever powerful creatures The Corrupting Evil had at their disposal that currently could not pass through the barrier, such as Sombra. -------Hour 2------- It has gotten worse for the Crystal Ponies, they finally learned what had entered their city but by the time they had over half of their land was infested, and with every new convert the infection just sped along quicker and quicker. The two royals were distraught at the news, it took almost no time for the civilians to hear and promptly panic, meaning outside was no longer safe, the only true shelter was within their homes and the palace. Shining Armor and Cadence had managed to bring in as many survivors as possible, but unfortunately the only living ponies outside now were those in small pockets hidden in their homes which were one by one being snuffed out, it wouldn’t be long before the undead closed in on the final bastion of ponies. -------Hour 3------- Outside the palace, Nightmare Moon Walked to the Crystal Pillar, the Heart was still, unable to form a slight shimmer without the happiness of the ponies fueling it. “And to think, this artifact was something that evil creatures would fear… and all we had to do was send something too stupid to understand such concepts of good and evil… well at least in our grasp it will be put to greater use.” And so The Extremely-Proud Evil’s Daughter, Nightmare Moon, launched out her darkest corruptive magics, twisting and forming it into a much more evil version of itself, the Heart was now under The Corrupting Evil’s command, and with his first act he… ...reactivates the barrier, pushing back the winter front and making the plants regrow!? Okay! I could clearly see evil in all of this, even working on making it so zombies weren’t mindless! “Wait what was tha-” But pushing back winter?! Making it so the land is lush and green?! How is that Evil!? “... Because the way evil has been is inefficient and stereotypical…” ...come again? “For a long, long time evil has been a constant force meant to battle good, using darkness in opposition to their light, but every time good triumphs because of one simple fault.” The heroes have a goddess or god of sorts backing them up- “NO! The problem is we focus too inwardly as well, Evil does not need to conform to what Good thinks of us! In fact doing so is self-destructive! Harming and torturing minions when they have done nothing to warrant it is not evil, it’s detrimental. I am The Evil now, and I say just because we oppose the good, doesn’t mean we have to have opposing ideals… besides it’s easier to gather an army when that army knows you won’t be a dick to them.” So… your concept of Evil is that you use dark magic and lack morality and mercy for your enemies… but you treat your own followers fairly? “It works for demon lords and their cultists.” I… well now that you mention it yeah, Demons are respectful with their followers, the problem is the followers become fanatics and ritualistically kill themselves at the end of it. “And I’m The Corrupting Evil, a fragment of The Absolute Evil, doing something a Demon lord does would be child’s play, plus it puts me at an advantage when Ultimate and Chaotic come into play.” And how is that? “I’ll tell you later, we should move onto the final part of this chapter, get to Cadence and Shining!” Hm? Oh! Right! *ahem* now that the barrier had been jump-started, everyone in the palace began to feel warmer, which in a twist of luck, made the ponies drop their guard. “Oh good, the heart's active again, that means we’ve won!” Shining concluded, causing the survivors to cheer and begin taking down the barricades. Of course The Corrupting Evil took advantage of their stupidity and swarmed them with undead before they could seal up the hole in there defenses. “AAAAH! THEY’RE GONNA EAT US!” Unfortunately for the panicking maid, that wasn’t going to be the case, you see at hour 2 of the invasion The Mana-Hungry Evil had finally found some Mana Crystals to make a Mana Tomb, originally he had planned to simply raise up some Frights from the graves but then he thought ‘hey, there’s plenty of servants in the palace, why not give them a change in profession?’ and so with the Crystal Heart’s power, all except for the royal couple and their child had their souls horrifically pulled out and made into ghosts. Now it was just the three, unable to teleport away due to the barrier, unable to fly out because of the sealed windows, and unable to run through the tide of brain-munchers, it seemed all over for them as they held each other tight and declared their love for each other for what seemed like the final time. This was when Nightmare Moon walked in, ready to take advantage of their hopelessness as per her father’s wishes. “Well, it seemed my father’s plan worked better than he expected.” The stallion was the first to shout out in their surprise. “Nightmare Moon!? But you’re-” “Dead? Oh please, Shining Armor, you should’ve expected that family would help each other out, and I’ve gotten a new lease on life, I’ve gone out more, seen the sights, met some friends…” “Very old friends…” Sombra spoke in his sinister voice before materialising in the room. “King Sombra…” Cadence whispered in terror, holding Flurry Heart tighter. “Now do not worry, we have no intent to harm you… in fact we want to make a deal with you.” “A… deal?” Shining asked. [VICTORY!] > Chapter 4: Friendly Negotiations. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Negotiations began once The Corrupting Evil’s spirit was able to be projected into the now occupied throne room, and such negotiations began with a simple statement that showed what position the royals were in. No-one is coming to save them. Thanks to the crystal heart becoming active and creating the shield again, The Deceptive Evil had ensured it looked as if it was still joy and happiness that was generating it. And with the corruption of the heart itself, The Corrupting Evil 2.0. Had enough evilness to upgrade his dungeon, allowing him to turn all of the idiotic zombies he created from the ponies in the Crystal Empire, into more intelligent ghouls. And while it took more dark power, he had these ghouls regain the personalities and memories they had lost, throw in some illusion spells and the Now-Ghoulified Sunburst was currently contacting Starlight to inform her the sudden failure of the Heart was just someone spreading a horrible rumour, which was debunked. As far as Equestria knows, the Crystal Empire is completely fine, and not under The Corrupting Evil’s thumb. …*shudder* this level of intimidation is enough to give me goosebumps… Where was I? Oh right. *Ahem* This caused the last three living creatures in the empire to hold each other tighter, and also cause the third and youngest of the group to cry, as expected from a foal. But, with The Compassionate Evil’s new ideals, he reached out his hand to give them an offer. To hand over the Empire to Sombra, and join the forces of evil. Now naturally the couple refused his offer, let us move in closer and get a better ear on this. {Corrupting Evil POV} “Forget it, ‘Corrupting Evil’! We won’t turn our backs on the Princesses, or Equestria!” Shining said with a conclusive stamp of his hoof. Now one would expect me to be mad, to be insulted that they spat upon my offer, but honestly if they had jumped into it blindly to save their own skin, what’s to stop them from betraying me? After all, I need them alive. “... well, I’m happy that even through all this, you still kept to my expectations…” “Huh?” Cadence said, “I expected you to be more… furious.” “Not at all, why would I expect you to accept my deal so easily? All that would do is make you two out to be ponies who’d gladly betray their fellow Mare or Stallion just to survive… I do not need such ponies on my side as they’d simply betray me when given the opportunity.” “So… the offer was… a test?” Nightmare asked for the two who were completely frozen in surprise. “Yes… and no, the offer is still on the table, I’m just going to explain why they will accept.” “And if we still refuse?” Shining managed to say. “On my word, should you still not accept, I will allow you to leave the city and return to Equestria unharmed, we will not pursue you.” they blinked at that. “Though in truth that would be rather suicidal.” “What’s that supposed to mean?” “We’re in the Frozen North, no Trains are coming and I most certainly won't let you use mine, you’d have to walk, out of the protective shield, into the nigh eternal blizzard, I doubt with even any supplies we offer that you’d be able to survive…” now to hit it home. “And even if you two survive, I doubt she would.” I say, pointing to the child. They shook, their hearts beat faster, I knelt down as best I could while looking at the little thing. “Even if I didn’t want you on our side, she’d still be one of the reasons why I’d hope for you to not refuse my deal, I’m Evil, not Malicious.” With every one of my words they looked at me more and more with shock and a hint of sympathy. “I… I can see that, but why would we want to join you?” the Princess said, trying her best to calm her daughter. I grinned beneath my helm. “It’s nice to know you’re considering this now, of course safe transport would not be a reasonable part of the deal, as it leaves me to freely choose the fate of anypony in Equestria, and of course you could simply flee the moment you’re no longer in the frozen north back to Equestria to warn them of my return.” “I still don’t understand why you simply don’t kill them.” Sombra grumbled, to which I have one of the Pony Ghoul Guards pin him to a wall, bolstered by my own magic before walking to him. “Listen closely Sombra, unlike you and your umbrum kin, I have vision, vision that shows being a tyrant doesn't make a prosperous empire, all of Equestria will exist under my rule, that includes here. That includes them. That includes you. But all shalt not fear me, but respect and love me, not as a tyrant but as their new god. You would do well to remember that, and if you continue to serve by my side, you too shall learn vision.” the guard releases him as he gasps for breath. “Understood… lord…” he says, but there was no venom to his words, merely some fear and respect. ...it’s a start. “Now, my offer is simply this, should you choose to side with me, you can ensure a new golden age of Equestria, mindless slaughter is not my goal, my true motive is to unite the land under one rule, my rule, but to say the powers of Harmony and Friendship will have no purpose in this new order is an incorrect accusation.” I gesture to the vampire in the room. “If I was the cruel and heartless fiend that other evils have been throughout the years, then my daughter Nightmare would not be standing here, no I would’ve simply ripped her soul apart and absorbed her remains for failing in her task, but as you can see, I haven’t. She is proof that Love is another power that will continue to flourish in my new empire.” Nightmare’s expression had become one of shock when I had said that first part, but it softened into a joyful and affectionate expression at the end to the point where when I finished she tried to hug me, only to phase through my projection and trip over herself, provoking a soft chuckle. “So… you’re a parent…?” Shining asked. “Yes, and a proud one at that.” I mused. Cadence, feeling safer in my presence, grew a bit cocky and smirked. “So, who’s the mother?” I felt a little better, knowing she feels safe enough for small talk with me… doesn’t mean I wasn’t going to turn the tables on her. “Oh Cadence, as a mother yourself you should know how pregnancy works, the baby stays in the mother, then comes out, unfortunately I wasn’t expecting your sister and her friends to try to abort her.” I could barely hold back my mirth at the faces they were making throughout, first the red faces, then the widened eyes of epiphany, then reeling back in disgust, then a moment of thought, and then a mix of all of them when they put together that I essentially implied I did it with Princess Luna. “You… and her…” “What can I say? I’m a sucker for a girl with large moons.” “Moons? I… OH COME ON MAN! THERE’S A BABY HERE!” Shining yelled out. It took a lot of magic to keep my projection coherent after my laughing fit. “Alright! Sorry… *ahem* but you see how we’re getting along?” they blink and look at each other, giving uncanny fish impressions as they realize we had been talking like old friends. “I seek to conquer, but being an overlord does not mean oppression, that’s just for people who are afraid of their people turning on them, I’m not a coward, so I offer my hand in friendship, become my cohorts and join the side of Evil, and I promise you that despite some changes, you will not lose everything you care about.” {Narrator} And so it was that Shining Armor, Cadence, and Flurry Heart became the first living ponies to join the Corrupting Evil in his quest to conquer Equestria. ...and it was also the same moment Shining Armor made The Corrupting Evil become Flurry’s Godfather… …go figure. > Chapter 5: Mission 2: Apple's A'plenty: Part 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Appleoosa, one would immediately brush off this small town as your standard western style community with Cowponies left and right. Nothing of any importance besides their recent accomplishment of befriending the local buffalo tribe with the most basic of baked goods, the apple pie. However it seems almost every creature on this planet, including both invading forces and the townsponies living there, is unaware that Appleoosa is an Agricultural Colony sitting at the edge of the borders of Northern Equestria, with its purpose being to supply the other towns and cities set up along the Northern Border, especially in time of war. All of Equus was completely ignorant of the fact that if Appleoosa were to fall to their enemies, the Northern Provinces of Trottingham, Dodge Junction and Fetlocksen (Founded by Ponies of Germane) would be unable to sustain themselves without their main supplier of food. Even Cloudsdale, the moving Pegasus City, would be severely crippled, unable to perform proper weather duties in the northern area without the supply runs by the generous Appleoosans. But either by sheer luck or stupidity, no-one looking to take over Equestria to this day, has ever learned of this glaring weakness. Fortunately, Sunburst being the inquisitive ghoul that he is, had learned of this flaw and had informed The Sharp-Six-Shooting-Outlaw Evil, who put his Fastest Hand Of Terror In The West into action. *ruffled papers* they don’t pay me enough to read this crap. *ahem* Either way The Corrupting Evil had put Appleoosa in his sights already, with the Crystal Heart’s magic added to his own he was itching to try out the new spells it offered and the new form of influence that could be added to his territory. Not to mention he had plans for this town once he had regained a physical body. Despite what people would assume, The Nursing-A-Grumbling-Stomach Evil really liked Apples. To the point where it was an obsession, in Ark’s human life he had made it his mission to try anything apple related, Apple Pie, Apple Fritter, Apple Tart… ...can we please skip this? I don’t think it’s doing me or him any favours. Oh good, so, The Corrupting Evil set out to deal with the town of Appleoosa, dungeon built and funds pouring in from his operations in the Frozen North, he began deliberating on what he should do. Firstly, the town was guarded by the Buffalo Tribe to the west, led by Chief Thunderhooves, any undead minions caught in their sights would be crushed under weight of the stampeding herd. However, to the east was the Chieftain’s Daughter, a fair and beautiful Rose known as Little Strongheart, who had gone there alone to graze and-like with most teenagers-come to terms with new and peculiar feelings. While a formidable opponent, none could withstand the Mindless Army alone. If The Nefarious Evil captured Little Strongheart, it would be no trouble to convince Daddy Dearest to surrender, allowing him to ransack the town with ease. As for the Town itself, while the ponies will not go down without a fight, the only military strength they have is… Apple Pies… clearly not going to be a trouble for the undead even if said desserts were scolding hot. Despite this, while simply destroying their forces would be easy, doing so would be detrimental to The Big-Picture Evil’s plans, so instead the plan came to one conclusion. To the side of the town is the Apple Orchard where all their food, and ammunition, is harvested and stored, with the Buffalo not making any attacks thanks to Strongheart being captured, the Stampeding Trail they use would be an excellent incursion point, allowing The Strategic Evil’s forces to move in and take over the Orchard, without their food and munitions, the Appleoosan ponies would quickly surrender. *stomach grumble* okay, I’m going to go take a quick lunch-break, see you when you’ve completed one of the objectives. *door opening, followed by closing* {Corrupting Evil POV} Now that Sombra was in charge of the Crystal Empire, albeit under my supervision, he was content enough to allow me to bring my living compatriots to Appleoosa. “So… what do you need us to do, Corrupting Evil?” Cadence asked still nervous as her and Shining made their way to the throne room. Immediately I noticed something missing. “Wait… where’s Flurry?” “Well she was tired from the trip over so we put her to bed in the guest room.” “Guest room? I never-” “Oh, Nightmare helped make it.” Nightmare Moon. helping a foal to sleep comfortably… “good for her, she’s growing… now about your task...” “Yes? We’re ready!” Shining said, going into his old Guard habit. “I want you two to go into Appleoosa and enjoy yourselves.” They blink, with raised eyebrows, clearly they expected more. “... *sigh* yes, I do have a job, but I want you to relax first, clearly the ‘overtaking your empire and having you think you were about to die’ situation would be a stressful experience.” they looked at each other before looking back and nodding in understanding. “Me and Nighty will keep an eye on the foal, and I’ll contact you telepathically once I’m sure you’re calm enough not to arouse suspicion.” “And… how will you know that?” Cadence asked. “Since you’re my minions officially, I can use my connection to look at you and the area within your visual range at any time.” I sigh as I look upon their now red faces. “I only see what I choose to focus on, if you decide to do that I’ll bring my attention to somewhere else, I’m not a pervert.” “Says the guy who talked about Princess Luna’s tits in casual conversation.” Shining countered. I tried to make a comeback, but faltered and smiled a little. “Touche, but still, you have my word I won’t peep.” They smile, knowing well like before that my word is my bond, and headed off on their little vacation. ...good. With the couple gone I could now begin my plan, if they were here they’d kick me back to the Crystal Empire. Or I’d see their looks of betrayal and I’d kick myself, nevertheless this was the quickest way to get Little Strongheart to Cooperate. Plus I do have to admit I can’t wait to see the results. Ah, Nightmare’s already in position. As I looked over, I waited for them to make contact. And smirked internally when Nighty got that look in her eyes from seeing the youthful and… well-toned woman… in nothing but two strips of cloth... Wow… it’s really weird seeing these creatures attractive, but I guess it helps that this is an anthro-verse… ...maybe I should actually consider making Luna my Queen… Oh! They’re talking, gotta focus. “Greetings, Little Strongheart.” Nightmare began, causing the buffalo to jump, with a very satisfying *boing* following. “Mmm~, though ‘little’ might be as fitting an adjective as that chest cloth~.” she purred, admiring how the fabric was clearly strained. “Who are you?! What do you want?!” Strongheart demanded. “That scent… you stink of death!” “Quite astute of you, I will make sure to bathe later.” Nightmare admitted, in truth making the Final Resting Place actually able to clean my undead minions, and having a Forgotten janitorial staff were her idea, as with her vampire senses she was VERY aware of the smells her undead brethren (besides the ghosts and skeletons) and herself draw to them. Apparently despite my dark magics stopping decay, bacteria still loved to cling to the dead flesh, and there was only so much an air-freshener could do… Anyways, it seems Strongheart took Nightmare’s comment as a taunt and charged, at which point she pulled out the bargaining chip. A babbling alicorn filly with an illusory dagger to her throat, though Buffalo can’t exactly see through illusions. “Not so fast my dear buffalo, you wouldn’t want the last remaining piece of Shining Armor and Cadence to die, would you?” the bovine female stopped, concerned, and somewhat thankful the little foal could not understand what was going on. “That’s right, the Crystal Empire has fallen, and she is the only living pony left from there… unless you wish that to change…?” “No! I mean… what do you want?” she kept her stance but did not push further. “A simple prisoner exchange, you, in exchange for this little one’s freedom, you have my word that once you’re chained up that Flurry will be kept in good care and free to live with her family.” “But you said-” “She has an aunt in Ponyville.” Nightmare stated bluntly. “So, have we a deal?” Strongheart was conflicted, but eventually she made her choice. I smiled beneath my helmet as I saw Strongheart before me in chains, I floated over, taking in my little victory. “Well, well, the chieftain’s daughter, such a beautiful specimen…” “We have a deal, the mare said you would free the foal to live with her family.” “And we will… Nightmare, she is officially your charge, Flurry will stay here.” I chuckled as I let the giggling Filly sit next to me on the edge of the Bed-Stone. “WHAT?! NO! YOU MONSTER! WE HAD A DEAL!” Strongheart screamed. “Exactly, we have a deal, and I’m honoring it, she is with her family, and she will be taken good care of, after all…” I chuckle. “Why would I hurt my God-daughter? Shining and Cadence would kill me if anything happened to this little bundle of joy.” I was internally hating that I didn’t have enough physical presence to ruffle Flurry’s mane. I watched Strongheart’s eyes widen in epiphany as she was dragged away by Nightmare. Yelling several expletives until screaming out. “YOU TRICKED ME! YOU MOTHERBUCKER IF I GET OUT OF THIS YOU’RE GOING TO-” and the door closed behind her. One of the Forgotten was thankfully on hand to cover the innocent foal’s ears before any bad words could be heard. I couldn’t help but find joy at seeing the foal giggling, then yawning and curling up. “Hehehe… silly unca…” the little one said sleepily before drifting off, leaving me frozen… only one thing I could do now. SHINING! CADENCE! I yelled through the link. “Gah! My lord? What’s going-” Cadence asked before I cut her off in excitement. FLURRY CALLED ME ‘UNCA’! I squeed aloud. … Okay looking at it, it would make sense they’d laugh at how adorable I was being about the Filly’s first words. Then they stopped. “WE MISSED IT?!” they both screamed aloud. > Chapter 6: Mission 2: Apple's A'plenty: Part 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Little Strongheart awoke, finding herself restrained in a dark, ominous environment, the air warm and ventilated, the ground soft and plush… Now hang on a minute? Warm and ventilated? Soft and plush? Didn’t seem like what you’d expect from a dungeon. But lo, the lights came on to reveal the truth! it was not a dungeon the fair maiden had been locked away in, with fuzzy handcuffs and strange implements aligning the walls… ...at least, not a dungeon Strongheart was expecting nor comfortable with. “Ah, my lovely damsel has awoken at last~...” her warden, Nightmare Moon, daughter of the Corrupting Evil purred out as she entered the room, wearing garments that would seem indecent to even the most lecherous of succubi. “I can’t wait to try my new improvement with you…” Despite the buffalo’s stance on the matter, the fact she was imprisoned by a creature of evil and most assuredly not withheld here by consent, her body had become a traitor to her fears and anger. “I-Improvement?” Her voice died in her throat as her thoughts and her hormonally imbalanced body clashed together, invoking some kind of mix of panic and arousal that- *unzip* Oh. my…. “Is… that…” “What? Only used to seeing this on a stallion~? Let me show you how ‘hot’ the living dead can be.” “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH~!!” “What was that?!” the pair exclaimed, they had returned to the dungeon not long after the Family-Man Evil had revealed Flurry had spoken her first words, being ‘silly unca’, and that they had missed the occasion. “More than likely? Nightmare taking care of our newest guest.” “More like prisoner, right?” Shining deduced. “You catch on quickly, with Little Strongheart in my clutches, I will ensure Chief Thunderhooves does not intervene… at least until it is too late.” “And we were in town because…you wanted a key?” Cadence said, revealing the key the Corrupting Evil had requested they get from the Sheriff before leaving. “It falls in line with my previous objective, now I can assault the town via the stampeding trail, and with the key to the main storage barn they can’t get at their ammunition before I can reach them, but I can.” “And with all their food and main source of weapons under your control, you’re expecting a quick surrender or at the very least an easy fight should they refuse to back down.” one of crystal ghouls passing by mentioned, causing the astral construct of the Compassionate Evil to wince. “Hopefully Emerald Gaze, it won’t come to the second one, I won’t let ponies die if I can help it, they make excellent subjects if you treat them right, and a powerful enemy when you don’t… something I’m sure my counterparts will learn the hard way.” “Counterparts??” the group before the Slipped-up Evil exclaimed. “Oh, here we go.” he groan as he began a tale. --------------------------------{Corrupting Evil}-------------------------------- This is not the first time I have been defeated by the forces of good through a banishment of divine power, and it is not the first time I have returned from such a long slumber, however it was not this aspect that was the first to awaken last time. You see, long ago, I as the Absolute Evil was just beginning my campaigns of conquest and terror, I didn’t exactly have any past experiences to run through, in fact before all of this I was your basic evil entity that ruled over his own dungeon of darkness. It wasn’t much, but it was home, and home was nice, even if I had to share it with Demons, Goblins and other more brutish creatures. But then the heroes came. They were ruthless, of course since it was an evil dungeon, heroes rushed in left and right to prove themselves, slay monsters and gain more experience so they could slay more monsters. But the worst part was that they went out of their way to steal my treasure! It wasn’t even theirs but because I was evil they felt justified in taking every last coin! “Well no more!” I said, and I did something unheard of for evil creatures, I rallied them all under one banner and attacked the surface! Now before you get upset with my next choice of words, I was not like I was then, I was that stupid kind of evil, the one that kicked puppies and stole candy from babies for no discernible reason but that I enjoyed the pain and tears of others. ‘So, no different than what you are now.’ For the record! Shining Armor! All victims of the Crystal Plague were given their minds and lives back to them without further trauma! Geez you make it sound like I threatened your daughter’s life. ‘Didn’t you literally threaten Flurry’s life to get Strongheart’s cooperation?’ ‘YOU DID WHAT?!’ Emerald! You traitor! ---------------------------------{One Ear-Chewing Later}--------------------------------- *ahem* well… moving on, I had carved a path of terror and destruction across the land of… come to think of it there wasn’t really a name, I don’t think anyone bothered, not even me after I had conquered it, all I know was that it was a lush land filled with good and all the goody things that went with it. The point is I had carved a path of evil up until the capital, King’s Ending, where I set about taking the city for myself, by myself. But I had stumbled onto the greatest weakness any evil entity should never let themselves be swayed by. Overconfidence. Before I knew it, the heroes of the empire had surrounded me and proceeded to chant a banishing spell, sending me to an uneventful and uncomfortable dirt-nap. I have no idea how long I had slept, but I do know that the first part of me to awaken wasn’t this aspect, The Corrupting Evil, but instead it was the Aspect of The Horde. The Ultimate Evil. -------------------------------------{Narrator}------------------------------------- “So… what happened?” Shining asked. “That… is a story for after, now we must enact my plan before Thunderhooves gets impatient and decides to take Strongheart back by force, which would result in something I’d regret.” Thankfully we won’t have to wait for the assault, as while the Multitasking Evil was reliving the tale of Dungeons 2, he had prepared a strike force of powerful minions. As expected, when the undead horde emerged from the stampeding trail, the farmers tried in vain to get to their weapons from the barn. “WHERE’S THE KEY?!” “I THOUGHT YOU HAD IT!” “I have it!” one of the attacking Frights declared, holding up the key. This promptly had the effect of the defenders screaming as they fled from the army, with no weapons to call upon and no rations to go through a long-term conflict, they could not hope to face the undead force. As the not-so-Mindless Army approached the town square, the Cunning Evil revelled in how the Sheriff of the town and the Mayor declared their surrender to him, and wasted no time in getting Nightmare to discuss the terms… after she cleaned up and stopped smelling like a Buffalo in heat. Speaking of which, apparently Strongheart has turned to the side of evil while in Nightmare’s clutches… strange, I don’t remember undead having Torture Chambers in Dungeons 2… or even the demons having one with that function, for that matter. Either way her new influence allowed us to have Thunderhooves join in with the peace-talks, unable to stand against The Mindless Army now that his precious daughter had become corrupted to the Aptly-Titled Evil’s will by way of his overly kinky vampire daughter. In the end those that wished to leave could do so… under agreement that they Pinkie Promised to not tell Celestia of these events until the time was right for the Still-A-Third-of-The-Absolute Evil. None of them understood how such an evil force knew of the Pinkie Promise, but they did agree. Those that wanted to stay, however, were forced to swear Fealty to the Ultimate Evil and all ruling parties under his power, while this did not sit well with the ponies, they were still relieved to know that they would be governed by a well-known princess while under his rule. The buffalo had no desire to leave, and so had sworn fealty as well, Chief Thunderhooves, being unable to carry on his duties because of his emotions, was taken down from his leadership position by the Corrupting Evil, having instead his daughter Strongheart take on the role of Chieftess, allowing the tribe to continue their traditions. ...Although the introduction of tight leather battle garb was met with a lot of skepticism. [Victory!] > Chapter 7: Mission 3: Dodging A Bullet: Part 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thunder, that was the noise that could be heard, the dreaded rumble of thunder that boomed across the landscape, despite there being no clouds in the sky. In truth this thunder was the terrifying sound of the Mindless Army as it marched to the next target, Dodge Junction, the force was composed of three groups, each carrying an immense weight on their backs. In the back, a massive load of pre-raised Forgotten packed into a large crate, ready to be released where the next dungeon will be built. In the front, the Hand of Terror, unable to channel the Corrupting Evil’s magic to fly when outside of a dungeon, was instead tasked with pointing the way for the Undead Horde. And in the centre was the newest device in the Corrupting Evil’s possession, the port-a-throne, a fiendish structure that took years of research and planning to… *stifled laughter* ...Okay, I’m not gonna be able to finish this with a straight face! The truth is The Impatient Evil didn’t bother making an elaborate plan, he simply made a second throne and told a bunch of the skeletons to carry it in hopes that it would allow him to manifest away from a dungeon. Thankfully this haphazard plan bore fruit and The On-The-Road Evil was able to continue communing with Shining Armor and Cadence, who wished only to learn more of the Absolute Evil’s story. --------------------------------{Corrupting Evil, Story}-------------------------------- As I had mentioned before, the Ultimate Evil was the first to awaken. Like I am now, he was only a third of the Absolute Evil, a spectre bound to a throne, only able to influence his dungeon through a Hand of Evil, and even then he was worse off than when I awoke, only having Little Snots to dig around and the brutish and dumb Orcs to fight the giant spiders swarming the neighbouring tunnels. It would only be down his journey to regain power that he would reunite with the shifty Goblins, the mystical Naga and the enormous Trolls to create the full disgusting mass of ramshackle warriors that were known as the Horde. ‘You make it sound like you don’t care for them, why is that?’ Shining asked. Well for one, when I get the Horde onto my side I’m not happy that I’ll have to repeatedly tell them not to eat you or any other unicorn they come across. ‘They… they eat-’ Yes, and what’s worse is that the old me didn’t care that they had developed a taste for what they referred to as ‘Horse Salami’ (*silent terror and gagging*) NOT! On the Throne… and to be fair the unicorns I encountered were nothing like the ones I’ve currently met… and were very hateable. ‘What were they like?’ That, Cadence, is a good question. They were very… bright. Colourful little abominations that saw no reason to care about the suffering of other races so long as nature was untouched, anything that came as a threat to them they’d proceed to charm with their magic until they were mindless love slaves. (*more gagging*) I SAID NOT ON THE THRONE! But yes that is a sound reaction… from what I’ve heard from the ponies, Shining seems to have been in the same situation. Either way, on this quest The Ultimate Evil would learn that the heroes of The Empire that had trapped him still walked the world of the living, rife with anger, he would proceed to trample them all under a tide of axes, leather boots and bad breath in vengeance. Though mid-way through his warpath, he learnt of another threat to his ‘sole dominion’, the Demons had returned to the world once more, but instead of bending to his will, they fought him. It wouldn’t become apparent until later, but it was because another aspect of the Absolute Evil was in control. The Chaotic Evil. -------------------------------{Narrator, Story Cut}------------------------------- “But wait,” Cadence Asked. “There’s the Ultimate and Chaotic Evils, Horde and Demons… but what about you?” “That, dear Cadenza, shall be a story for next time.” Indeed it was, as now they were on the final stretch towards Dodge Junction, they needed to plan for the most difficult conquest yet. Because as was stated before, Cloudsdale was a moving city, requiring this constant locomotion in order for the Weather Factory to distribute Artificial Meteorology Phenomenons (or weather) to all of Equestria, and in this circumstance it was currently looming over Dodge Junction. The Vertically-Challenged Evil needed a way to reach up to the city, since it would most likely move towards Appleloosa to resupply soon, and if it reached the sticking-out-like-a-sore-thumb evil’s previous conquest, it would not be long before Pegasi messengers would fly to inform the Princesses. What the sneaky evil needed, was a surprise ambush, he needed to ensure that word never got to Canterlot about The Corrupting Evil’s path of destruction, and the best way for that was to use Dodge Junction as a staging ground for that attack, and fast before Cloudsdale spots the quite obvious mass of undead. The plan was already in motion once the Dungeon was established, the Undead Hordes hiding underground as the more stealth-inclined ghosts of Banshees and Frights drifted into the city to establish a hold on the town while incapacitating the defenses. In the meantime, The Inevitably-Going-Public Evil set about for a contingency, now that he could no longer keep himself hidden from Celestia, he set about creating something many displaced before him had done, he began to create a Token. Ah, but dear readers, it is not just any token, The Necromantic Evil set about carefully crafting himself something unique. First he raised a new Forgotten, then using his vast gold reserves, proceeded to gild every bone of the little worker. Next The Bling-Respecting Evil inserted emeralds in its eye-sockets, and replaced the shovel with tunneling claws, also gilded in silver to contrast the gold. Thirdly, the headstone tied to its back replaced with an actual backpack filled with treasure for its journey. Finally, and most importantly, the Forgotten was then blasted by The Corrupting Evil’s Dark magic until the bright green flame burning from its skull became a sinister black, giving the once weak worker not only the power to pierce into the void, but also a voice of its own. This Forgotten was now a Token Worker, that had affectionately named itself: Marrow. “Marrow! Reporting for Duty, Corrupting Evil!” It said in a chipper voice, saluting its master. “Go out into the void and allow yourself to be the Token to the Multiverse, when the displaced that exist on those worlds call for me you may build a Dungeon to allow my presence manifest on their plain… tell them that if they are good we will assist them, but those that are evil will only gain my Ire.” Oh? And why’s that, hmm? “Just because I’m an evil with a more idealistic mindset doesn’t mean those on other worlds will be the same, as I’ve said before I don’t have the same thoughts around evil that people would expect, and I don’t want to help those who would enjoy tormenting or slaughtering ponykind, that means my only option is that I assist those that are good, besides, once I take over this Equestria and establish myself as their dark god I’m gonna be considered ‘good’ anyway so it’s not really that much of a shift.” ...okay you got me there, as long as you’re sticking with your guns it’s not exactly a big deal. “There we go! Now go, Void Worker Marrow! Spread my name throughout the void.” Void Worker Marrow saluted and then began his quest, digging himself through the fabric of reality into the interdimensional expanse itself to be copied and spread across all of the Multiverse. The All-Bases-Covered Evil laid back, finding everything was beginning to work his way. ...then he heard Cloudsdale sound the alarm. > Chapter 8: Mission 3: Dodging A Bullet: Part 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- This was a worst case scenario, The Desperately-In-Need-of-A-Cardboard-Box Evil had ended up alerting the largest and most important pegasus city to his presence, meaning they’ll have already sent a messenger to the Princesses. Meaning they’re going to know he has returned and not at full power. And if the Pony of Shadows, Discord and even Sombra have shown sufficiently, being found out immediately after being released without a plan or a moment to return to your full strength was bad… speaking of Discord, it might be that for all The Future-Knowledge-Having Evil knows, Discord might be reformed at this point, he hasn’t seen Ponyville, so he does not know if Twilight is a Princess or if the Crystal Castle has been grown by the Tree of Harmony. The Panic-Attack-Experiencing Evil did not know if he could handle dealing with a Spirit of Chaos alongside three Princesses and The Elements of Harmony- “COULD YOU NOT?! You’re not making my situation any easier!” Right, sorry. *ahem* now, The Corrupting Evil had to act immediately, while Cloudsdale had been alerted, it was still not truly prepared, so in response, he commanded the Ghosts occupying Dodge Junction to erupt in a spectral cyclone, rising up and encasing the floating city in a sphere of Ethereal Energy. As expected, once the cage was in place the Pegasi moved to free themselves, The Strapped-For-Time Evil needed to work fast, erecting Obelisks around the town below, he proceeded to enact a plan to ensure the city could not move against him. After all, The Big-Entrance-Loving Evil knew it was pointless to hide now, so he would reveal himself on his own terms. As the obelisks were complete, Nightmare stepped into the centre of Dodge Junction. And began the ritual. As this all happened, Celestia, the Solar Diarch of Equestria, the symbol of good and light all across the land! *dry heave* I’m sorry, she’s just so… girly… *shudder* Where was I? Oh right! Celestia had been speaking with Starlight Glimmer on a recent situation update that the unicorn needed to consult her on. “So despite myself sensing the awakening of two powerful dark signatures, one shortly after the other, there was only a brief blackout because of a rumour… and nothing is wrong?” She asked after hearing the report, apparently it seemed that The Corrupting Evil’s awakening was more noticeable than he hoped. “Yes, Princess Celestia, though I’m not so sure if that’s the truth.” Starlight replied, nervousness clear in her voice. “Hm?” “Well, when I saw Sunburst he looked… sickly, he said he was fine but his eyes were glassy, fur messy and… he sounded so tired, I feel maybe he got sick or…” “I see, well we can look into the matter as soon as we can, but in the meantime we must keep a watch for… Starlight? Are you okay?” But the pink unicorn was not okay, she was witnessing something emitting a terrifying green glow from a northern-facing window, and when Celestia turned to see the sight, she too was paralysed with fear. Cloudsdale was burning in an eldritch green flame known only to Necromancy, being corrupted into a Necropolis, a floating stone city for the undead. She questioned the why, and how, some creature managed to do this, and questioned that very creature's identity. She would not have to wait long for one of the answers, as from the geyser of undead energy came forth a terrifying vision of The Corrupting Evil, fully embracing his undead affinity and creating a projection to announce his awakening. “Celestia…” the voice boomed, yet he did not yell, his magic sending his voice straight to canterlot itself, his tone was calm yet the palace shook with his words. “I told you I would be back.” the apparition raised its arm and aimed at the palace. You see, thanks to the mass conversion of two entire provinces, not only did The Badass Evil gain enough evilness to unlock the Third Dungeon Level, he was now channeling the dark power all the new undead gave off through this ritual to send this message. This was why Princess Celestia winced as visions were forced into her mind of his awakening and his plans. “I may be only a third of my original self, but that does not make me weak, I will wash across your nation like a rotting tide of flesh and bone, I will walk up to your throne and take your sister as my queen as we bathe the land in my glorious shadow… and it will all be too easy because as you try to face me, my two more ruthless brothers will slaughter you to the last, it will all be too easy indeed.” “Why… would you tell me your plan?” The Ultra-Lich Evil gave a powerful, menacing and soul-chilling laugh. “Because you know where I am, you know what you want, you hate necromancy with all your heart, why wouldn’t you go after the big bad Corrupting Evil when I’m staying right here, not moving an inch as my siblings do all the work? I hear The Ultimate Evil’s minions love to eat ponies…” beneath the hood of The Devious Evil, he bared a monstrous grin. “I’m giving you an ultimatum, you either let me get away to stop my siblings, leaving me long enough to build defenses against your crusade, or you come after me now, hopelessly defenseless, but then that means you’ll leave your home unable to save itself from the other two Evils, allowing the Horde and Demons to reduce you to sex-slaves and ‘Horse-Salami’.” The Intimidating Evil didn’t need to push it so far, but for that added extra, he made sure to tilt her decision-making by showing her a vision of exactly what the Ultimate and Chaotic Evils would do if they had their way. Celestia lost her lunch on the royal carpet that day, as well as her dinner, lunch, breakfast, supper and midnight snack from the previous day. And with one more mad cackle, The Corrupting Evil faded away into the mists of undeath, leaving only the Necropolis in his wake, Celestia could feel from his power that he had spoke the truth in his words… all of it. Including the plans his brothers had. Immediately once she recovered, she rushed to her scrolls and began writing down letters to the various heroes' guilds, including Twilight and her friends, she had made her decision… and will need to live with the consequences. [Victory!] > Chapter 9: Exposition Ahoy! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- As The Drained Evil recovered and began to build up his dungeons to defend against the inevitable Equestrian counter-attacks, he began sending Bloodsuckers across the Overworld to find the next phase of his big plan. Meanwhile, The Elements of Harmony were heading to Canterlot Palace in response to Celestia’s message. “Princess Celestia.” Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship, spoke up as she and her friends arrive. “We came as soon as we could, but… what is this about not pursuing the necromancer?” “Yeah! We need to get back at him for taking Cloudsdale!” Rainbow Dash, Element of Loyalty, exclaimed at the mention of The Corrupting Evil’s message. “Not only did that guy hurt countless ponies, the weather teams are being forced to resort to manually forming clouds from lakes!” “My cousin in Appleoosa sent me a letter that he’s been forced to swear allegiance to that varmint!” Applejack, Element of Honesty, was the next to throw her hat in the ring. “And from what he also mentioned, the monster turned Chief Thunderhooves’ daughter into some raging pervert!” “His… message, scared all of my animal friends into hiding, not even Angel Bunny wants to come out of his burrow.” Fluttershy, Kindness, meakly commented. “I’m scared that… if this keeps up they might not be able to come out for food…” “It’s not a stretch that from what Starlight has told us that they’ve taken the Crystal Empire!” Rarity spoke, the Element of Generosity showing concern. “Cadence, Shining and Flurry, and all that beauty of such a shining land may very well be lost!” “Yeah! And ever since he woke up this annoying Narrator keeps saying what we’re doing!” Pinkie, the- “see! He’s doing it again!” -now hold on I’m just doing my job- “well cut it out!” what? No! “stop it!” make me! “oh you wanna go, minimum wage?” anytime anyplace, Sugar High! “Face For Radio!” Party Prick! “Audio Book!” Pudgy Hedonist! “Discount Richard Ridings!” *GAAAAAASP* TAKE THAT BACK! “Never!” Hmmph! Alright then! Pinkie was about to continue her contribution to the conversation, when suddenly she was ball-gagged and sent to Luna’s sex dungeon, which while it seems to make no sense, all fits within the framework of the story. “Wait wha-MMMPH?! MM! MM-MM!!” the muffled cries of Pinkie Pie had unfortunately fell on deaf ears as the Lunar Guard took her away, as her friends were just too far away to hear her and had nothing to do with the Narrator’s bruised ego. *ahem* anyways, back to the group, Celestia was about to respond to the comments of the elements. “I’m afraid even with such crimes, it would be better to ignore him for now… but it will take some explanation.” The group Sans Pinkie sat down before the Throne, prepared for a story from their Solar Diarch. “As you know, long ago Luna and I faced Discord with The Elements of Harmony we had taken from the tree, turning him to stone. We knew that the evils of the world would come to Equestria, wishing to fill the power vacuum but also to snuff out such a powerful weapon of good. Yet we did not expect a literal evil to be the first only one year after Discord was defeated.” “Literal Evil?” “Yes, Twilight, there was old myths of a great power known as The Absolute Evil, who had conquered both an empire of good and the kingdoms to its east, not even the goddess was capable of overpowering The Absolute Evil or his armies of minions and heroes corrupted to the darkness. When The Absolute Evil had taken over the lands, the Goddess in Question retaliated, using what power she had left to banish The Evil and his minions from the lands, then she possessed his Dark Elf General Thalya, using her as an Avatar of light to cleanse the realm. No-one knew where The Absolute Evil was sent until that day, when he and his forces appeared from a rift and charged upon the Everfree Kingdom, Undead, Demons and beasts of the Horde stormed the city and laid waste to our home, until Luna and Myself confronted The Absolute Evil with the Elements and sent him into a slumber we had hoped was eternal.” “So why didn’t it stick?” Dash asked, causing Celestia to frown at the memories it brought back. “...my sister, when we banished The Absolute Evil he placed a curse on my sister, implanting his seed of darkness deep into her to create a child born of Luna’s own doubts and negative emotions. This would come to be known as Nightmare Moon, using Luna’s desires against Equestria, she set about creating eternal night so she could harness enough Darkness to awaken her creator. She would have almost succeeded the first time if I had not had the courage to banish my own sister… but my best guess is that with her second attack, as well as the other villains you have faced these past few years, he has gathered enough power to awaken, but what I have learn has surprised even me.” Celestia’s horn became alight as she proceeded to visually display an image of The Absolute Evil alongside three symbols, referring to the Horde, the Demons, and the Undead, splitting The Diagram Evil into three pieces, each one accompanied by a respective symbol. “It seems when the Elements banished The Absolute Evil, he was split into three pieces, each one taking an aspect and their own name, the one we have seen so far is The Corrupting Evil, who seems to have taken the mind of The Absolute Evil as well as the Undead, meaning the other two, The Ultimate and Chaotic Evils, will be running on their baser instincts.” “So, if you’re saying that he’s smarter than the other two, then why aren’t we going after him first??” Twilight asked the question the others were thinking. “It’s true, with him not only stating his intent to take over the land in an undead tide as well was making my sister his queen, most likely against her will, only adding onto the fact he spoke in truth and promised he would not be moving on us until after we attack that we should strike first.” she paused, almost biting her lip. “But it’s an ultimatum we can’t afford to accept, if we go for the enemy we see, we risk losing to the two-pronged assault the enemies we can’t are beginning to send against us, and with The Ultimate and Chaotic Evils having no care for the intentions of their minions, we would subject our ponies to two of the most horrible fates if we moved against the obvious bait now… and he knows it.” “So if we go after him, we’ll be easy prey for the other two, but if we move to stop the other two, we won’t be able to touch him.” Rarity concludes. “Exactly, there is no winning this outcome, the only option we have is… the lesser of three evils, so we must prepare for a defense and subsequent counter-attack on the Ultimate and Chaotic Evils, leaving the Corrupting to prepare when we turn our attention to him.” The ponies were distraught at the news, and even though they did not like leaving The Fortifying Evil to remain at large, they understood leaving Equestria undefended from two equally dangerous foes would be far worse. Meanwhile the Bloodsucker sent to spy on the group was happily relaying this information to The Corrupting Evil who had begun establishing a perimeter around the major point of his master plan, he grinned to himself. “Soon, the two Evils will have been driven back, and when that happens, they’ll come crawling to me, ready to put me in charge, with this.” he said as he began to prepare the site for the great ritual. Thanks to the state of the ancient grounds, it was easy to determine now exactly when The Show-Savvy Evil was in the MLP timeline. And so he set about rebuilding… Pone Henge. > Chapter 10: Mission 4: Dark-Hearted Knights > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- While The Corrupting Evil began to construct his bulwark against the impending Celestial assault, The Ultimate and Chaotic Evils began their next conquests. Yes, despite everyone’s assumption, The Two Instinctive Evils had been awake for a while, long enough for The Horde to Overwhelm and Consume the population of Manehattan and the surrounding cities, while The Demons Occupied and Enslaved Las Pegasus and the provinces surrounding it. Two territories, one stained red and the other stained white, both with sickening scents overwhelming the air, it was a ghastly aroma on either end of the spectrum and only reinforced The Corrupting Evil’s warnings about his two more primitive counterparts… which would prove to be their downfall as no military would be merciful to such cruel entities, especially now that they were aware of such dangers from said warnings. So we begin this chapter with The Ultimate Evil, the first victim of The (Self Proclaimed) Arkaic Evil’s Machinations. The Brutish Evil’s phantom sat upon his throne as he took in the praise the little snots fed him within the fully-formed dungeon, this was the city of Trotham, like Manehattan, it was once the breeding ground for the greatest heroes of Equestria, Batmane, The Red-Hoof and even Flightwing were… Okay that’s it! If I have to speak another one of those stupid puns I am quitting! I won’t let myself be forced to… hang on… a raise?... how much you say?... oh! Well… *ahem* as I was saying, I have utmost respect for such heroes, regardless of the names they bear! As unlike other heroes, these were the kind that had embraced darkness and used it as a tool instead of being put off by the shadows in favour of the light like most heroes of this time. Unfortunately even with such tools and techniques on hand, not even they could stand against the green tide of brutish monsters that invaded their home city, nor could they fight well in the face of The Ultimate Evil’s mystic arsenal, like Manehattan, all the great heroes of this city bled and died trying to save the innocents, once again great and honourable warriors reduced to lunch for the minions of the horde. This was what a platoon of Royal Guard found as they arrived at the town in question, and immediately found themselves sickened at the sight of so many lives lost to these monsters. Lead by the Order of the Iron Fang, they were here to wipe out The Ultimate Evil’s forces and destroy his dungeon. That’s right, destroy, these ponies were ordered by Celestia herself to learn the most lethal of spells and were commanded to kill these forces as brutally and efficiently as possible, and none of the Guard here could blame her. They now saw what The Horde was capable of, and its plans for the rest of Equestria, all herbivorous ideals and herd mentality was thrown out the window as the Armor-Clad Equines now found themselves in a ferocious bloodlust that nopony before them ever had. This was the first time that a pony truly hated their foes, and it certainly showed as surprisingly the normally calm and collected Captain, Hunkered Heart, rushed forward with a yell of blind rage, pushing one of the orcs to the ground and proceeding to stomp on its skull with all his Earth Pony Might, not even stopping until there was no discernible trace of his victim’s skull and his legs were thoroughly caked in blood. He faced the now hesitating army of brutes with murder in his eyes, murder that his troops readily shared the desire of, as he yelled out to them. “YOU WILL NOT BE FORGIVEN YOU RANCID GREEN TURDS!” ...woah… I-I mean… *ahem* the Royal Guard and the Order of the Iron Fang charged in to meet The Horde head on, their kind hearts shattered and their minds swimming with fury. They had seen so many of their brothers and sisters just on the edges of the town, cut down and unceremoniously feasted upon, Stallion, Mare and Foal alike either unidentifiable red smears or mangled corpses with expressions of fear and pain, but what had really pushed the edge, was two of the few survivors they saw inside the city that they were too late to save. A Mother and her child, cowering in the alleyway visible from the street they were at, cornered by an Orc, they held each other close, but these creatures were too cruel to let them simply die quick. The brute had ripped the young colt out of her arms and proceeded to eat him alive in front of her, only to decapitate the mare once the young one had finally stopped screaming and succumbed to death. ...there was no stopping the warriors once they had seen this, there was no reasoning, no chance of reining in their zeal as they wordlessly began a crusade to annihilate The Ultimate Evil and all that he stood for. The Cautious Evil was surprised, yet prepared, as he began to have his endless troops march upon the Pony Berserkers who cut down his orcs, goblins and naga in droves. While the green-skinned backbone of his army found trouble, the hardened regenerating hides of the Trolls made it difficult for them to push further, despite the strength and rage of the Guard, it seemed their efforts were futile. That was until the Troll at the front of the force, a Juggernaut, stopped and collapsed to the ground, a large hole now in his head, then the next troll fell the same, then the next and the next, the army was in chaos as they tried to discover this mysterious new attacker. All the while the ponies thanked whoever was assisting them as they charged forth into battle. *BANG* *chink-chink* “4.” *BANG* *chink-chink* “5.” “Um… Lord Corrupting?” Cadence asked from the vantage point, The Corrupting Evil projecting next to her and Shining as they watched their snipers go to work. “I understand we had to help Celestia to stop your… siblings from continuing their slaughter, and that it was smart to upgrade these…” “Deathbolts.” The Informative Evil… Informed. “Right! Upgraded them to have ridiculous range and power but…” “But…?” “...why does the upgrade make them count?” “Because it’s a badass thing, Cadence.” “Badass?” Shining asked. “There’s no way just giving them a better ‘Rifle’ as you called it makes them more badass.” The Corrupting Evil let a small chuckle loose before turning to one of the Deathbolts. “You… Bojangles, what do you feel when you kill one of those trolls?” The Mohawk-Wearing Sniper simply shrugged and answered. “The recoil.” before letting off another round. “...okay yeah, that’s pretty badass.” Shining admitted. With the unseen assistance of The Corrupting Evil, the Guard flowed into the Dungeon, taking down traps and warriors alike. The Ultimate Evil was furious at how easily his forces were routed, and how his enemies began to destroy one of his dungeons for the first time. He needed a plan to remove this threat, and to discover this other opponent, and fast. [Defeat!] > Chapter 11: Mission 5: Demonic Devastation. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- With The Ultimate Evil’s Forces being pushed back, we shall turn to The Chaotic Evil and his Lecherous Demons. Now before you readers get confused about why these demons aren’t the same as the violent murderous variety you know from Dungeons 2, there’s a rather easy explanation for such a drastic change, and it is one I’ll share now. ...These are not the demons from Dungeons 2. You see, unlike The Corrupting and Ultimate Evils, The Chaotic Evil was not capable of grabbing as much power from their original Absolute form as they could. A similar situation happened before with The Corrupting Evil back in the game, where he had to use the life-force of the hero Barthas Snow in order to fully awaken, and The Corrupting Evil didn’t need more power than that to set about overtaking the others, since all he needed to do to build an army was raise the dead. The only reason now for why The Chaotic Evil was powerless this time around, was that The Corrupting Evil, holding the Essence of Ark Kane, was not willing to wait for a passing hero to awaken him while two immensely powerful counterparts of himself were free to roam. So The Chaotic Evil was the one who was stuck in a slumber, until a Cult of Tartarus sacrificed themselves to corrupt his resting place, resulting in him getting just enough power to manifest, however not enough to call upon the forces he was known for. And then he got an idea, an elaborately ingenious and awful idea that a psychopathic Grinch could come up with, using the corruption the cultists had left in their wake, he started from scratch and used what little power granted to him in order to turn Tartarus itself to his whim, resulting in a new arsenal of Unholy Horrors. The demons of Tartarus had their own unique vices that Demons of other realms did not, they were not in the market to torture victims or slaughter innocents for their blood, instead they craved the flesh of the overworlders in a rather Carnal manner… although they still enjoyed being admired like any other demons. With The Chaotic Evil’s powers weaker than normal, and morals non-existent, he allowed it, and later on encouraged it as such depraved acts fed him with power and Evilness. The end result was every territory became a hellish orgy pit as the demons took their fill of mentally-broken mares and stallions, piles of limbs and musky sweat choking the air around them, it was enough to make even the mighty Celestia puke (which technically it already did.). The advantage for the Order of The Thundering Gallop, thankfully, was that the demons were too preoccupied to defend against The Guard’s first strike at their numbers, rescuing those who had been raped into mindless toys for the Demonic Swarm. … *sigh* I should be honest with myself, I’ve been doing this job for years and… Ark is right. There, you happy? I admit it! The way ‘Evil’ is right now is too horrible! At first it made sense, the heroes were too dumb and righteous for their own ‘good’ and we were something that was perfect to snuff out such a ghastly golden flame. But now I look at The ‘Arkaic’ Evil and he’s… nice! He’s intelligent! He’s strategic! Everything a ruler needs to be, and you know what? Between chapters he actually talks with me, we settle down and have friendly chats with glasses of Apple Cider! Then I look at this, what the Ultimate and Chaotic Evils have done and… it makes me sick! Like actually physically ill! I’m actually Rooting For the Ponies! Rooting For Them! Since when does a narrator to an evil protagonist root for any hero?! ...To be honest I feel like I’ve started to enjoy being at his side for a while, to finally be seen as a friend this time around! The first job I had as a narrator, I was stuck with a Protagonist that loved to push every button he could by picking the wrong paths and doing different things to derail the story I was scripted to keep! Then when I left that game for the Dungeons series, I was stuck with a silent protagonist that just mindlessly marched his forces along without paying a second glance, then later on I had to deal with some Discount John Snow Wannabe brought back from the dead! And don’t even get me started with how I had to deal with Thalya for an entire game and all its DLCs! It was nightmare after nightmare! Now I work with someone that prefers to be nicer and work towards a better future as he rules and what happens? He actually talks to me, enjoys my narration, actually reasons with me instead of threatening me when I question his motives, and the general he picks this time around doesn’t want to steal my job! And now the Author considers giving me a raise to keep me on here! So yes! I’m the Narrator to The Arkaic Evil! And may his reign last for eternity because Gods Dammit this is the best point of my career and I do not want it to end! ...Hm? What’s that? Oh! The battle’s over? Right! *ahem* It seems unlike with the Horde, the Equestrian forces had no issue routing the Demons without The Helpful Evil’s Undead Assistance, it seems that allowing the Demons free reign to do with as they wish was detrimental to an effective defensive measure. None of the Demonic forces were in communication with each other, so all the guard had to do was keep taking small groups out one by one, and with the powerful Exorcising abilities of the Unicorn divisions, the Demons who were slain were forced back to Tartarus, making it impossible for The Chaotic Evil to recover them. Eventually the Order of The Thundering Gallop reached the Dungeon, and with only traps left to hold the heroes at bay, they faced no real danger on their path to the Throne Room. The Chaotic Evil burned with rage, he did not think of plans or stratagems, he only had one thing on his mind. He believed The Ultimate Evil was to blame for the heroes attacking him… [Defeat!] > Chapter 12: Ominous Reunion. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The battles on both ends continued to rage, the armies of Equestria able to rout province after province from the two Unprepared Evils, the ancient site known as ‘pone-henge’ was nearing completion and the life-giving influence of the Crystal Heart not only meant that the land he conquered remained lush and fertile, but also the ‘life-giving’ aspect was influencing the nearby graveyards and cemeteries, all of these events were falling perfectly into The Cunning Evil’s plans. What’s more, the ponies under The Corrupting Evil’s rule found the last event to be rather cheerful, as with The Necromantic Evil’s enhanced powers and kind nature, the raised ponies ended up returning with their minds intact, ancestors and close family alike were re-united from the undead magics. Even the Pegasi of Cloudsdale who had become wraiths in the mass-conversion were now less begrudging in their servitude now that The Corrupting Evil’s magics had drawn in the souls of their families to return as ghosts. But The Preoccupied Evil was far too busy to receive the heartfelt praise nor the begrudging thanks that the ponies were giving to him, instead he was busy having the ghouls in the laboratory work on a very important project. You see the necropolis ritual and subsequent projection of The Corrupting Evil had opened up new information that no Fragment of Evil had discovered before, as when he took on that form, for the short moment he was able to feel, the body formed of Necrotic Energy was physical and it was still his. As the more intelligent of his siblings, that brought him to a major conclusion. He was a spirit without a vessel, but that didn’t mean he was forced to remain such, and with such an increase in power that was not accessible to his game counterparts, he has the means to remedy such an issue. This new body was only in the Prototype stages however, turns out it was difficult to piece together a humanoid skeleton and ensure it stays together without the necrotic powers holding it. The reason The Trying-Desperately-To-Make-An-Undead-House-Of-Cards Evil could not use necrotic energies to form the body was because the moment he did, a soul would move to inhabit the body, and he’d have to start all over again. At this point The Still-Incorporeal Evil was getting pissed and unleashing curse upon curse, both the kind that Flurry Heart should not be hearing, and the kind that caused many of the passing zombies to turn into frogs, ducks, sheep and pigs for the rest of the day. Eventually he decided to stop and have a rest after he managed to turn half of his research division into a petting zoo. It is at this time where we see The Corrupting Evil standing on a hill overlooking his territory, downtrodden at failing repeatedly at getting his body to stay in one piece. To be fair on him, having to create a skeletal body while keeping all the right bones in one place is difficult enough without having to deal with the issue of having no way to keep them in place without locking them via adhesive or using any form of necromancy so only you can control and possess it. “Mr Evil? Are you okay?” The Contemplative Evil turned to see Cadence walking over to him, by the look of it, it seemed the Princess of Love needed some alone time as well. Her feathers were dishevelled, her eyes had bags under her eyes, and her body sagged as the Earth-Pony Strength granted by her Alicorn heritage had left her in her moment of fatigue. “Are you?” The Concerned Evil asked as he saw the state she was in. “Yes, the trials of being a mother to an Alicorn. It’s trouble enough to deal with foals when they have the powers of one tribe, but when Flurry is able to fly, cast mega-tier spells through tantrums and kick down walls if left alone too long…” she yawned, her exhaustion plain upon her muzzle. “...come, sit.” he motions to a rock next to him. “I have been having my own troubles with control of powers… but in a different sense.” “How so?” “Remember how I became that Necro-Titan Evil?” She groaned. “Seriously? First everypony in the dungeon and now you?” “What? It’s a good name!” The Good-At-Picking-Names Evil defended. “Plus it fits, in a way, as it was more me than you’d expect.” “What do you mean?” “I mean I could feel, Cadence, it was like I had a Corporeal body again. The sight, the sounds, the touch of the wind on my face, things you miss when you’re trapped for a thousand years only to be a ghostly apparition, if I hadn’t taken as much of the energy that I could when my essence was split I’d be trapped for a lot longer… maybe even eternally, leaving you at the mercy of my brothers.” he paused as the Princess of Love shuddered. “Exactly… the point being was that it meant I don’t need to recombine with the rest of my essence to be corporeal again, if I can get a body built for me, I can use that and finally get to move free, show my power!” “That’s not so hard, right? Just make a golem using a skeleton, get the pieces, soulstone, carve in the runes then possess the empty soulstone and let the magic tie the body together.” “Yes but-” The Poleaxed Evil stopped, then slowly turned towards the bright pink alicorn. “Come again?” “That’s how golems are made here in Equestria, it’s too hard to get the pieces in the right place so the soulstones are designed to do that instead, only needing the right pieces in the area so it can reform on its own without any hassle.” “...could you pardon me for a moment?” And with that, The Corrupting Evil poofed off to another hill at the edge of his territory. Meanwhile, a perturbed Changeling Queen by the name of Chrysalis was in a nearby forest, her recent plan of making clones of the Mane Six had failed, but she felt a new power in this place, and was determined to- “WRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” ...go get it later. And with another poof, The Vented-Rage Evil appeared next to Cadence again. “...you didn’t know that’s how Golems work, did you?” The Princess assumed. “...yeah.” he confirmed. “I’ll be correcting this issue soon… sorry about that.” “It’s no problem!” There was a pause, but then The Corrupting Evil looked upset, and sighed. “Cadence?” “Yes?” “You understand that with the Chaotic and Ultimate Evils on the run, Celestia will come here… and it will be war, I will either kill her troops, or she will purge this city of all undead, innocent or not, are you…” Cadence looked solemn for a moment, weighing the options, then looked at The Corrupting Evil with a decisive gaze. “Me and Shining made our choice when we pledged our allegiance to you, and we have seen the kindness and joy you have brought to these ponies. I understand the costs of war, so I shall not hold you in contempt for-” “Cadence… speak to me.” The words shook her out of that decisive look, and tears beaded her eyes. “I… I don’t want anypony to die, but that’s impossible… so I ask that you at least try and spare Twilight and her friends if they are forced into this.” “Cadence, I promise their blood shall not be spilled if I can help it.” She sniffled. “Th...thank you.” With a mutual nod, since The Still-Incorporeal Evil could not give hugs yet, they left, Cadence back to her family, and The Corrupting Evil back to his lab. “Alright… let’s get this right.” {2 weeks later} Celestia And Luna were not brimming with confidence, as they would have their soldiers believe. Despite their victories over the Ultimate and Chaotic Evils, they knew the reality that the Corrupting Evil was the one to retain the true mind. Comparing the Undead-Leading Evil to his Horde and Demon counterparts would be like comparing a pair of wild, stupid animals to an actual Dark General. Proof of this intellect was using the former living residents of the Crystal Empire to send false information, allowing him to remain relatively hidden as he began to regain strength and numbers. Another act that shows The Tactical Evil’s brilliance was how he both revealed himself on his own terms and overtook a major part of Equestria’s infrastructure in one fell swoop, thereby ensuring he was not taken by surprise from being discovered without his knowledge and destabilizing the power of the Equestrian government. These alone proved he was a tactical mindset, but then he had outed both the Ultimate and Chaotic Evils before they could grow too strong even if it would have allowed him to walk in. This proved to Celestia that despite his intentions, he wanted Equestria under his control while the ponies were still alive and sane, and that was the red flag, a necromancer wanted the creatures he wanted to conquer alive. This had thrown both princesses for a loop, which was only compounded by how it put into a new light his plans to ‘Take Luna as his Queen’. The Getting-Into-Their-Heads Evil had created brand new implications which worried Celestia and Flustered Luna, as it appeared this dark overlord was not as Tyrannical as was previously believed. These were the thoughts as they marched alongside their armies to the border of the Undead territory, a massive wall of black crystal, carved into a true defensive structure with towers and battlements, stood upon the line as the gate opened like a sinister maw. The Things, lumbering patchwork giants, marched in uniform order, each step shaking the ground as they carried a platform. Upon the platform stood three figures, two of them Deathbolts that flanked the centre being, and that is whom gave the Princesses pause. With the other Evils, they only saw vengeful spectres, but before them stood a figure who was very much Tangible. Standing 8 feet tall, adorned in black armor with a necrotic green energy coming from him like a mist, the two Alicorns saw the being they had banished long ago, just as imposing as he was that Millennium ago, except now they did not have a trap nor the Elements for a cheap win. With a concealed grin, The Corrupting Evil raised his weapon in one hand, a greatsword with a size that would make a certain spiky haired hero green with envy, and rested it upon his plated shoulder. “Celestia! Luna! What a pleasant surprise… did you miss me?” > Chapter 13: An Epic... Fight? > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Silence reigned over the encounter, the only sound in the area being the breathing of the ponies and the wind rushing through the air. The sisters were unprepared to see a physical Evil again as he was still clearly incomplete, but their eyes clearly showed the fear they tried to hide when they first realized this powerful enemy had not only come back, but already taken over much of their land right under their noses. “Oh come on, Princesses, what’s with the silent treatment? I want to catch up now that we’re face to face again! So what happened all this time? You know, after you ripped me apart?!” The Livid Evil spoke coldly, still clearly sore about such a thing. “You… you will not scare us, monster! We-” suddenly The Interrupting Evil pressed a finger to Luna’s lips, cutting off her tirade. “Before you speak, I have no grudge against you, Luna. I know full well that then and now you have been given no vote into the matters of Equestria.” Luna’s eyes widened in shock, but The On-A-Roll Evil continued. “Nightmare may have twisted your doubts and envy to her goals, but what no-one realizes is that my shadows cannot create, suppress or even amplify the feelings of others. When I used a shadow on Thalya, it merely forced her to see what Tanos and his friends had done to her, that darkness was always there.” The ponies were all terrified at the implications, turning to their Nocturnal Diarch, who seemed more frightened than them. “No… no you won’t deceive us again! We are not-” “Evil? Luna, everyone has the capacity for good and evil, that is not a statement of physical capacity, but of mental. True, without Nightmare Moon you would have never found the drive to attempt eternal night, but the thought passed through your mind on your own because, what was the alternative?” “STOP IT! You will not twist me with your lies!” “I SPEAK THE TRUTH!” He picked Luna up, and when Celestia moved to help, she was backhanded away by the flat side his Greatsword. “Do not lie to yourself! Luna, I know what you have been through, my connection with Nightmare lets me know that much, I saw what had happened. The nobles of old treated you like a monster, the beast on Celestia’s Leash to scare off the big bad villains and not like the ruler you are. It was either show them a real monster, or cower away and continue to weather the barbs, taunts and stones they threw your way. Luna… no matter what you think Nightmare did, what she did for you was far better than whatever cruel, burdened future you had being known as the ‘Sun’s Bitch!’ now confess!” Celestia got to her feet to see her sister crying her eyes out under the ruthless gaze of The Tell-It-Like-It-Is Evil, not hearing any of what he had stated before, only going on the mortified looks of the guards and even The Undead Soldiers, she rushed forward and raised her axe. “Lay your hands off her you-” “IT’S TRUE!!” the once proud Princess of The Moon sobbed loudly. “It’s all true!!” “Luna…?” “I never wanted to tell you sister, but the ponies of old didn’t just sleep under my night, that was not what drove me to allow the Nightmare’s help. The ponies hated me, they insulted me constantly, whenever you weren’t around the nobles and day guard held venom in their words around me. Tia, some even threw rocks, aiming for my horn.” that shut off all attempt for the solar diarch to quell what she believed were misunderstandings or simple fear, aiming for the horn or wings of a pony showed intent to permanently cripple them. “And all the while, I was left out of every decision for the country! You always saying that you knew best! That you were the elder so you had the wisdom! I thought we were in this together and yet not only did you take everypony else’s side when I asked for a Winter Solstice to celebrate my moon, you never gave me a chance to say my piece!” “...Luna…” Celestia said again, more subdued. “And now it’s happening again! It’s the worse but the same! Nobles fleeing at the sight of me, those who stand their ground never making eye-contact, you allowing them to vote out all of my suggestions even when you see they are clearly biased! I saw this already with the Crystal Empire! You haven’t changed!” Both sisters were shocked into silence at The Corrupting Evil’s next move, as he pulled the alicorn close, and into a tight and caring embrace. “You see now? Why it is important to let these things out? To speak truthfully of this darkness, lest it eat you from within?” she nodded dumbly, prompting him to set her down. “With this, you can truly begin to heal, and repair your bond with your sister using the right pieces.” “Why…” The Confused Evil turned to see Celestia again, completely poleaxed. “After what you told us, after taking so much you-” she turned silent as she saw the figures of Shining, Cadence and Flurry standing upon the walls alongside Sombra and Nightmare, the Umbrum seeming to radiate darkness across his body. “I may have been truthful of my intent, Celestia, but it does not mean said intent was Malicious, I may have lead you to believe it to be so and for that I am sorry. For my armies, with how much I have worked to help heal the divide that was growing once again, I do not want today to also be of destruction, shall we agree to a draw and have our forces withdraw, at least for today?” “... yes, we shall.” The Princess of Day nodded hesitantly, seeing that she and her sister needed time to talk out their problems. “And as for that other statement.” The Romantic Evil leaned forward and planted a ghostly kiss upon the back of Luna’s hand, causing everypony’s jaw to drop in surprise. “When this is over, maybe we can go get dinner? See one of those new ‘movies’ the modern ponies talk about.” Luna found it difficult to process the sudden turn of events, the being who had finally helped her release all the balled up hate, anger and sorrow she had hidden all this time, allowing her to feel free and finally move to fix the problems that caused such turmoil, was now hitting on her? It did help that despite the ominous skeletal form The Wearing-An-Undead-Monkey-Suit Evil had at the moment, Luna could see what his true self looked like with soul-vision… and he wasn’t too bad on the eyes. Eventually the flustered Princess of Tomatoes finally stammered out a response. “Y-yes, that sounds l-l-lovely.” “Happy to hear it.” And with that The Fond-Farewell-Giving Evil waved goodbye to the princesses and the invasion force of the royal guard that had technically attempted and failed to breach his compound due to The Charismatic Evil’s pre-emptive entrance and way with words. ...you’re totally going to tell everyone you kicked their ass in some badass fight, aren’t you? “I’m totally telling everyone I kicked their ass in some badass fight.” Ah, good, we’re on the same page. {Celestia And Luna} “We’re going to say The Corrupting Evil beat us in some epic battle, correct?” Luna asked. “Eeyup!” Celestia and the guard answered. “Oh good, just checking.” > Chapter 14: The Past And Present Of Dungeons And Keepers. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Akuro sat at his desk looking over the reports on how his minions trainings been going. However he was interrupted when an imp like creature made of gold with gems as eyes fell out of a portal and landed on his desk. As it recovered, it stood up and gave him a quick salute while exclaiming, “Void-worker Marrow! Token Minion for The Corrupting Evil! At your service, Keeper!” Leaning back in his chair Akuro studied Marrow, “The Corrupting Evil? Ah yes now I remember. He’s from the Dungeon series am I right?” “Yessir! We’re currently in the second game state, where the Absolute Evil is split in three, my master, The Undead-Controlling Evil, is the only piece that retains the displaced mind. I have been sent across the void for meeting and gathering allies to ensure he remains in charge when made whole again, though this incarnation of me is honored to be in the service of a legendary Dungeon Keeper! Marrow requests to serve as your minion, I can help by improving the efficiency of the imp work-force!” “And as a Token you also have the ability to contact the Corrupting Evil… Very well. I shall start you on a trial run. If your work is satisfactory you shall remain a permanent minion,” Akuro said before leaning closer to Marrow with a glare that made the imp tremble, “However if you relay any information to the Corrupting Evil that I have not authorized then you will regret it. Am I clear?” In response, Marrow tilted his head? “Master, with all due respect, what info would you willingly give an imp if not for it to be relayed to my creator, and in what possible way could a bright gold skeleton with a void-flame burning out of the hole in its head, be sneaky enough to steal information?” “Be that as it may, you will still be wandering around my Dungeon and learning its layout. I am merely being careful,” Akuro explained as he stopped glaring, “Now what do you need in order to contact your creator?” “Actually, if you want me to contact him now, I just need a patch of ground to build him a dungeon in this world, so that his phantom can project into this reality.” Akuro frowned for a moment, “I would like to meet him first before allowing you to build this Dungeon…” Getting up Akuro walked over to a bookcase and pulled out a black leather bound tome. Flipping through it for a moment until he found the right page Akuro read something before nodding to himself and putting the book back, “And that is what I shall do. Give me a moment to inform my generals and captains and then we shall go meet your creator.” Using the Keeper’s link I said, [Everyone the Token of the Corrupting Evil, a being similar to a Dungeon Keeper has arrived. In a few moments I shall go meet him and find out if he is an ally or someone we’ll need to keep an eye on. Discord I want you to follow but keep hidden until I need you] [Got it Akuro, let us know if you need us,] Sombra replied, [For now I’ll see to learning more about my new castle.] Discord snickered, [Let’s cause some Chaos!] Looking at Marrow, Akuro raised a hand and a large Corridor of Darkness appeared, “Let’s go and have a word with your creator.” “I’m… not exactly allowed to leave the world I was placed in… but I can stay here and be a good little Forgotten!” Akuro nodded as one of his Imps entered the room, “Marrow this imp will show you around and introduce you to the other imps. Get started on making them more efficient while I speak to your creator,” With that said Akuro placed Kurai Seigi on his back and walked through the portal. As Akuro- [*push*] And so, a tall, imposing creature, emerged from the rift and into the Throne Room of The Chilling-With-A-Nice-Virgin-Appletini Evil, who had been happily abusing the use of finally having a corporeal body again, only now to be interrupted by something that upon second-glance appeared to be a tall human in black robes with a single blood red horn similar to the horn of an Oni from traditional Japanese lore, complete with the big, hard-to-pronounce named club. As the figure looked at The Disgruntled Evil he said, “So you are Marrow’s Creator and the Corrupting Evil? I am Akuro a Dungeon Keeper. I’ve come here to meet you before I decide whether I’ll allow Marrow to build your Dungeon.” To those who are not old as dirt, or could not be bothered to use GOG.com, Dungeon Keeper was the mother of the ‘Dungeon Keeping’ Genre of video games. Truly it was the beacon of the genre at the time, along with its sequel, until the greedy corporations made a mobile version that ruined the game’s reputation and doomed it to fade into obscurity except for the biggest of nerds that most likely had some ‘alone time’ to the polygons of the pointy-breasted dark mistresses, like Akuro here, most likely. Akuro’s left eye twitched but otherwise he gave no sign that anything had been said. Although I don’t have a problem with that, I could keep this up all day. *sounds of an unfurling scroll* Anyways, The Corrupting Evil stood up from his throne/tombstone/bed and looked at eye-level with the weeaboo try-hard Dungeon Keeper, “This is a bold move you have committed to, Akuro,” he began, “no-one, not even The Princesses would have been as brave as you to teleport right into the throne room of my Dungeon, with no minions, surrounded on all sides by undead and traps of various deadliness, and stare down a being who at even a third of his power, is the equivalent of an alternate reality Sauron. Yes, very brave… or perhaps very foolish.” “And as you should know that Keepers are never truly alone but that is not the point. I said I was here to meet with you not fight you,” Akuro said as he crossed his arms, “So what’s the point of trying to intimidate me? That’s just wasting time. As for Sauron…  I’ve already gone and acquired the tower of Orthanc from his pet wizard. Why would I need to go back to Middle-Earth?” “I was referring to myself, I am an extremely powerful entity, and even more-so if I return to my full power, I am just making a point that attempting something like this was a very stupid idea. If I had wanted you dead I could’ve split your skull with my sword, or I could’ve flung a freeze spell and shattered you, or had Nightmare jump in and suck you dry. A Dungeon Keeper is only as strong as his minions, and despite your confidence in yours, it would take you seconds to bring a force to protect you from something that could kill you now. My first gift as an ally is advice, do not just jump into the exact centre of someone’s territory without at least a vanguard, as while I bear no intent to harm you, others will not share the same mindset.” The Thirsty Evil took a nice sip from his glass of apple beverage before looking at the tacky target for all of the horny jokes and letting out a sigh. “Though a good start would be to ask… are you ‘Evil’ or Evil?” “I care not for if others call me good or evil,” Akuro said, “Right now my main goal is to build up my forces and have revenge on those who turned me and my friends to stone for over five thousand years!” “Hmmm…” The Inquisitive Evil inspected the Tall Samurai rip-off for some time, before coming to a conclusion. “I sense the stench of desolation upon you… Celestia and Luna have sealed you and your allies in stone, but truly, the generations of ponies suffer a far crueler fate. Would you like to know what that is?” “Does opening a portal to another world and literally sucking all the life and energy out of that planet leaving it a desolate lifeless wasteland count?” Akuro asked with a scowl, “Because that’s what my friends and I found when we left Equestria. An entire world dead because of the ‘Empresses’ Celestia and Luna.” The Enlightened Evil gave a small smirk beneath his helmet. “They are truly what I assumed then, but what I referred to was the ponies in Equestria suffering the worst fate of all. While you were trapped and remained unmoving, at least you weren’t brainwashed. I see that look in your eyes, Akuro. Revenge is something you seek against the Empresses for what they did to you, but think about those who have been under their tyrannical rule, do they deserve your wrath as well?” Akuro raised a hand interrupting The Monologuing Evil, “My problem is with the Empresses not their subjects. This is why I’m being so careful with my plans. While death is unavoidable I will do my best so that casualties are at a minimum.” “That is good to hear, so then… how about you take a page out of my book? I know of the perfect first target for your forces, as you’ll need to be discreet until you have a permanent foothold on Equestria, and I am willing to share with you the abilities to use my Undead Arsenal in exchange for some Dungeon Keeper Undead Techniques and rooms.” “There is a problem with that. I am unable to do any form of Necromancy,” Akuro said with another scowl, “As such I will need to find another way to get Undead into my forces, but you’re out of luck either way. The only Undead that most Dungeon Keepers have access to are basic Skellingtons that are animated by our Prisons. Ghosts of those who die in our Torture Chambers and Vampires that rise from Graveyards. I have a couple ideas on how to get around this problem but they will take time.” “I see…” The Very-Much-A-Necromancer Evil just had a devious plan. “How about I nip this problem right in the bud for you? Give me your hand.” Akuro studied The Corrupting Evil for a few moments, “Perhaps another time. We’ve only just met and I don’t fully trust you yet. I don’t mean this to offend it’s just I have a lot of beings depending on me so I must be cautious.” “I have a way to ensure your safety, and prove to you my intent.” The Prepared-To-Envoke-Ancient-Powerful-Binding-Incantations Evil took a deep breath and began the motions. “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye. I wish to be your friend and help you in your goals, may I follow this pure intent through lest the Pink one strike me down.” This was the most binding contract The Pinkie-Promising Evil could perform, not even soul-contracts with demons nor the fabled wish-contracts of the most respectful of genies are as powerful as this very promise, especially within the MLP multiverse. From out of nowhere a voice said, “Well that’s that. You can trust him Akuro. Very few throughout the Multiverse are dumb enough to break that kind of contract.” “And as to add on the point further, what I am planning to do is bind a piece of my essence to you, like a shadow, but instead of possessing you, this shadow will bind itself to your magical being, becoming a part of you and allowing you to use the same necromantic abilities I can. This will include making Dungeons like the one you are standing in, however as it is only a shadow, it can only grant you the capacity to use the abilities, you will not gain my mastery of the skills, nor my level of power. Sorry but you’ll have to get those on your own, so you can gain the wisdom that comes with the practice.” Akuro closed his eyes in thought as he went over the pros and cons to The Generous Evil’s offer. After a few tense minutes he said, “I must reject your offer. I feel like my soul has already been tampered with enough by the one who sent me to Equestria. Though I will remember this and as you have not lied once I feel like I can trust you. Therefore I will let Marrow build your Dungeon.” “I thank you, Akuro, and likewise I will allow you to use my territory to build up your own forces and even offer you my undead in the battles ahead. And even though you have declined, the offer will always be there for you, should you change your mind.” Of course The Alliance-Making Evil is being a bit too generous to him, I mean look at this guy! He’s like a guy banged a unicorn and then forced the baby to wear bad pajamas for its entire life! And what kind a weapon is that? Is it a baseball bat or some form of weaponised sex-toy? Oh like you’re any better Mr. Narrator. Just look at this place! It’s like you took the stereotypical messy college room and tossed it into a blender! I mean I may be a Draconequus of Chaos but even I clean up once a week! Excuse me! I’ll have you know that I decided to join in the revelry after The Corrupting Evil drove off the entire Royal Guard and Both Princesses single-handedly! I haven’t had time to clean it up yet! Besides, with the pay I’m getting I can finally afford one of those really fancy estates and a proper recording studio… wait a minute? Are you this world’s resident Draconequus? We’ve been trying to figure out where he’s gone to for quite a while. Oh no I’m the Draconequus from the Equestria Akuro was sent to. Now if you don’t mind would you stop insulting my boss? Looking at the past of this story and the original source I have enough to make a formal complaint to your boss on your performance. And we wouldn't want that on your record now would we? Well it doesn’t exactly help like I’m treated as invisible! At least my protagonist has the courtesy to react and respond to my thrilling Narration! And works to give an engaging and enjoyable story that I’m not forced to keep on rails, it’s a lot harder to have someone who can CLEARLY HEAR YOU! Pretend you don’t exist after several chapters of not being seen as just a Narrator, but part of the cast… I mean, how would you feel if during your big return, with cotton candy clouds and rampaging animals, that ponies just walked on and ignored the chaos like it was just a normal day? And that even Celestia wasn’t acknowledging your actions like you were just a little gnat buzzing through the air-no, worse considering your Celestia would at least swat the gnat away. … Shall we put this discussion on hold and go back to what Akuro and The Corrupting Evil are doing? I dare say everyone’s getting bored of us bickering. Oh right! *ahem* and so, The Corrupting Evil and The Dungeon Keeper forged an alliance that would last through the ages, and of course, with such political matters out of the way, The Making-A-Positive-Impression Evil had an idea, “So, how about instead of grafting a shadow of undeath into your very being, how about I give you the shadow in a crystallized form so that you can link it to your Dungeon Heart, giving you access to the same rooms and creatures I have without altering you… in fact, if you help me out with something, I can get you demon and horde gems too.” Akuro’s looked at  intrigued, “Oh? And what would that be?” “It’s simple, I may be strong at only the third of my power… but I’m just that, I’m at a third of my power, and it seems that the ponies are doing too good of a job against my ‘brothers’, what I need is some way to lure them to Pone Henge, so I can used the restored structure to reform myself back into The Absolute Evil, which will help you, considering when in my full power I am all but unstoppable… unless some asshat tricks me into walking into the middle of a banishment spell AGAIN!” in his anger, The Pissed Evil proceeds to kick a nearby forgotten into a wall that not only did the unfortunate mindless worker shattered, but the wall was left with a rather sizable dent. Akuro closed his eyes in thought creating and dismissing several plans until he smiled and opened his eyes, “The easiest way would be to leave a ‘powerful dark artifact’ at Pone Henge while distracting their armies elsewhere. This will force your other parts to go to Pone Henge themselves to retrieve the artifact.” “Actually, the area Pone Henge is in is actually in my territory, I wouldn’t need to sneak anything, heck, I could make it outlandish and just make a Giant Dark Obelisk and say I plan to use it to recreate the Pony Of Shadows!” “And there you go,” Akuro said, “Now that we know what the bait will be we need to distract the Ponies,” Here Akuro’s smile turned sinister, “Perhaps the kidnapping of six important individuals by a new force of darkness?” “Alright… but I have conditions.” “Apart from no harm coming to them?” Akuro asked. “Well that was a given, the Celestia and Luna here are not the ones we know in your world, so I want you to remember that if they retaliate… and also, I’d like for you to hide this in Luna’s room?” The Very-Clearly-Blushing Evil pulled out a strange plate with a skull decal. Akuro nodded and took the plate, “I’ll let you know once I have a temporary base built and am ready to begin. I’ll just need to see a map of Equestria to pick the best place for this operation.” With that, The Thinking-Ahead evil handed him a map, “I’ve highlighted my territory, the territory of my brothers, and the territory of the Princesses,” Clearly it may be shocking to note that if you took the Crystal Empire into account, along with the entire frozen north, The Corrupting Evil already has half of all pony territory. After studying the map for a few moments Akuro studied the map then pointed to Neighagra Falls, “This spot should be good for the temporary base. Due to it being in Pony Territory the Princesses will take it even more seriously. I might even be able to get it so they come in person.” “Right… you’re not gonna ask what that plate does or why I want it in Luna’s bed chambers?” “This seems like a personal matter so I’m not going to ask,” Akuro said, “Discord…” With a pop the Draconequus appeared and gave Akuro a salute, “When I give the order you are to grab bearers of the Elements and place this in Luna’s room. I’m heading to Neighagra Falls. It’s time for Sombra to give Castlevania a proper test run.” “Oh this is gonna be fun to watch!” Discord chuckled as he took the plate and teleported away. “WAIT!” The Panicked Evil declared, seeing the potential risks of this plan. Akuro looked at the Over-Reacting Evil, “I’m not going to try and kill them. Castlevania came with a lot of monsters who regenerate when they’re killed. By giving the order to have those monsters try to capture the Princesses while making it look as if they’re going in for the kill… well you can imagine how long it’ll take them to search the entire place. Especially if a good portion of their magical power is sealed. Either they’re captured and out of the picture for a while or they save the Bearers and make it out. Both outcomes will distract them for some time.” “No, you don’t understand, I can’t afford to let them see your world’s Discord, especially this world’s Discord! They can’t know I contacted you from an Alternate Equestria!” Discord then popped back in with six sleeping mares, “Oh you don’t need to worry about that. I made it look as if a couple Goblins grabbed them and kept to the Chaos Realm. No one has any idea that I took them.” “Did you check to know where my Discord is? The one that became reformed and befriended the Mane Six? Especially Fluttershy, with whom he cares so much for that he’d actually violently disembowel anyone who hurt her? Wait, it’s not Tuesday is it? They always have tea parties on Tuesdays and if he sees her gone and smells chaos magic in the air that’s going to be bad!!” The Corrupting Evil began to breath heavily, which was an achievement as his current body did not have lungs with which to do so. Anyways, it seemed that The Distressed Evil wanted to make sure he was not made Equestria’s main focus, for some unknown reas- “No! There is a perfectly sound reason, the only thing keeping the Chaotic and Ultimate Evils culled right now is because they pose a bigger threat than me, if Celestia and Luna find out I can summon more villains from an infinite array of worlds, they will drop pursuing the other two just to ensure I can’t do that! And if they do, then the other two Evils will be free to rebuild their forces and take over again! And you!” he pointed threateningly to Discord. “I already have enough of a problem keeping Sombra from going back to his tyrannical ways, The Princesses all giving me the stink-eye, and the unbearable crush I have on Luna! I do NOT need my resident Lord of Chaos breathing down my neck because you foalnapped his favourite pegasus and-” *record smash* “WHY DID YOU BRING THEM ALL HERE?! IN THE ONE SPOT WHERE MY ESSENCE IS VULNERABLE?!” “... Because this world doesn’t have a version of me?” Discord said with a shrug making The Surprised Evil look at him in shock, “Instead it’s my cousin Pandora. I just told him what was going on and promised that they wouldn’t be harmed in any way. To be fair Pandora’s also been annoyed that he hasn’t been able to do his job at creating Chaos to balance out Order. That’s one reason why he hasn’t helped the Ponies stopped you.” “Discord… it isn’t Pandora!! There is a Discord because last I checked a thousand years ago when I attacked The Original Castle in the Everfree his statue was there! Not to mention Sunburst explained that I as the Absolute Evil showed up right after he was imprisoned, and it’s even been confirmed by the Narrator Himself that This World’s Discord was the reason I was pulled here to begin with because he used Plucker Vines instead of Plunder Vines!” The Exasperated Evil huffed. “The only way you saw another Draconequus here is if… he…” “Was the Discord of this world, and tricked the other me into a friendly chat?” Another Draconequus appeared, a perfect duplicate of The Discord already in the room, except now sporting a devious grin. “Oh hello dear ‘cousin’, what a delight for you to visit my world… without my permission, in fact.” The Grin of the resident Discord turned into a scowl. “I for one don’t appreciate uninvited guests, especially when they abduct my friends and then Traumatise the ponies with visions of goblins, who are known for viscerally eating ponies, poor Fluttershy still has nightmares from what Twilight and Celestia have told them of the Ultimate Evil and his Horde Minions.” “Oops…” Akuro’s Discord said sheepishly, “I better go fix that. I bring the kind of Chaos that makes change, not the kind that harms people.” “Then we find ourselves on the same page… granted I was not always like that, but these six ponies here were the ones to make me see that Chaos does not need to be extreme or dangerous, plus seeing their adventures every week is just the right amount of chaos I enjoy… oh! Forgive my manners, I suppose you’re all wondering why I haven’t thrown the book at you yet, aren’t you?” the resident Discord says, sporting a policeman’s outfit, then proceeding to literally throw a random book into Akuro and The Thick-Skulled Evil’s faces each. “And now I bet you’re wondering why I haven’t tried to stop your schemes, correct?” “That… and I’m wondering why Pandora was here and pretended to be you,” Akuro’s Discord shrugged. “I believe you’ve mixed your words, I was pretending to be Pandora, as a way to get a good read on your character, then proceed to follow you here, your cousin is most likely in some other universe.” he explained. “And the reason why I haven’t done anything yet… is because our precious Corrupting Evil here would serve Equestria better as its ruler, rather than Pigeon Toilet.” “Well if that’s everything I’ll get started on my part of the plan,” Akuro said, “My world’s Discord will stay here for now. He’ll let you know when I’m ready,” With that Akuro sank into the shadows and disappeared. Akuro’s Discord then looked at his doppleganger, “Good job on pretending to be Pandora. I couldn't tell the two of you apart though I just know that’s gonna cause me some grief next time I see him, but what did you mean about Armored Boy over there being better for Equestria as it’s ruler?” “When I first brought our friend here to Equestria, it was for a shot of petty vengeance against my jailors, and a way to get enough chaos to free myself. Now I am a new Draconequus and decided to watch the three pieces he became, the other two? Absolute nightmare fuel, but him? He’s different. I heard his viewpoint on evil and his plans, and in truth he seems to be the kindest and most welcoming evil Overlord in existence… though that’s not saying much, though I doubt a truly evil being would adopt Nightmare Moon to be his vampire daughter, teach Sombra how to truly run the Crystal Empire, become the Godfather of Flurry Heart, and essentially seduce Princess Luna mid-battle. He’s not really evil, he’s just an Evil, all title yet none of the cruelty. That is what makes me think he’ll be a great ruler to Ponykind, even if everypony thinks he’d be a tyrant because of his unfortunate name.” “Makes sense,” Akuro’s… oh you know what. From now on the Discord from Akuro’s world will be called ‘Loki’ just so we can tell who’s who. *ahem* So after Loki’s statement the two Draconequi looked at the Corrupting Evil. “Wow… I… thanks, Discord, I didn’t think you thought so highly of me.” “So… What are we gonna do while we wait for Akuro?” Loki asked. “...want to go meet my daughter?” Loki shrugged, “Sure.” {One Family Meeting Later} Akuro arrived back in the dungeon to see Both Discords and The Corrupting Evil in a new room with Nightmare Moon, both Draconequi looking slightly uncomfortable. “Sombra’s ready for his part… ok what did I miss?” Akuro asked. “Turns out my daughter was a bit too proud of how she corrupted the Noble Little Strongheart of the Buffalo Tribe into a seductive dominatrix Chieftess, and decided to regale us with the story of what happened in her own special ‘dungeon’, on an unrelated note I’m going to go find the Ghoul who allowed Nightmare to give herself a dick and promptly disassemble him.” Akuro nodded, “Fair enough. Now then I’ll need Loki to take the prisoners to Castlevania and hide them. Feel free to be creative in where you put them.” “Aww, do they have to go right now?” Nightmare said as she pouted. “I wanted to get to know Twilight Sparkle a little better… and maybe fulfill an old internet joke involving Rainbow Dash~.” “Yes! They should go now! Right now! Loki! Hurry up!” The Distressed-Father Evil declared. “Oh, come on Daddy-” “NO! After what I heard, you are NOT allowed to use that nickname!!” Loki nodded and teleported away in a flash. Akuro then looked at The Highly-Stressed Evil, “Now then all that’s left is informing the Princesses about this little game.” “Yeah, so what are the ‘stakes’?” Akuro smiled, “Simple. Either they play by my rules or Princess Twilight and her friends will remain my captives for some time. Part of my reasoning for this is it’ll take more time then they have to find proper replacements for the bearers of the powers of Harmony. Especially since Twilight is an Alicorn,” Akuro then created another Corridor and walked towards it, “You better get moving on drawing in your other parts. I don’t know how many of the Princesses forces I’ll be able to distract.” “Take my Sombra with you, the new dark energy from the Corrupted Crystal Heart has strengthened his powers… I fear he might evolve into a shadow demon, because his Umbrum form is seriously looking like it’s about to tear itself apart from all the power he’s accumulated… and I can’t control demons yet.” Akuro nodded before he completely vanished while Loki vanished to go get The Still Annoyed At His Daughter Evil’s Sombra. And so The Plan Commencing Evil began his own work. A couple days later Akuro stood at the start of the trail leading up Neighagra Falls waiting for the Princesses and their chosen Champions. They seemed to bring only one or two of the royal guard with them, and Akuro found it puzzling that neither Shining Armor and Cadence were with them, unaware that they had sided with The Corrupting Evil already. “Greetings Princesses, I’m glad to decided to accept my challenge,” Akuro said, “Now then why don’t you introduce your Champions. Then I’ll explain the rules.” “My champion is Shattered Star, a loyal and steadfast member of my personal guard, she was made captain in Shining Armor’s… absence.” Celestia McSunplot said ‘regally’, or as I like to call it ‘sniffing up one’s own plot-ally’. “And our champion is Breaker’s Bane, a Thestral who assisted me in reforming the Luna guard!” Luna spoke confidently, although her words still bear the bitter taste of angst as she remembers her past, god sakes, mare, let it go! Everyone else has! After giving a short nod to Shattered Star and Breaker’s Bane, Akuro said, “Well then here are the rules. First, I am the one who chooses who goes into Castlevania for this challenge, the other two will wait in the camp set up to my left. Know that while your in the camp no harm will come to you. Second, those who wait in the camp are not allowed to leave. If they do they will be instantly caught and hidden in the castle for the ones who are taking the challenge to find, they will also have all magic sealed and cursed to they can’t fight in any way, shape, or form. Third, in order to finish this challenge all hostages must be found, only then will the door to the throne room open. Waiting in the throne room is someone you must defeat to finish this challenge. Any questions so far?” “Yes, we’ve heard rumours about Little Strongheart, do your minions intend to give us the same ‘hospitality’ that Nightmare Moon had offered her?” Luna asked, rather disgusted at the thought, which was only intensified after remembering what The Corrupting Evil had told her about her former ‘parasite’. “No they won’t,” Akuro said, “Any others?” Celestia raised a hoof. “Will we get a map? I just realized this place is Cantervania in real life, and it was bad enough when you need to navigate that castle in two dimensions.” “I’m surprised you know about it, “ Akuro said with a slightly shocked expression before he regained control of his emotions, “And yes you will get a map. You will have to share it, and it will fill itself in as you go. You may also use any equipment you find while in Castlevania but at the end of the challenge you must give it back. Also I will have a few of my minions watching your every move. You will not see the but they will be able to see you. Each of them has a list of what I considered ‘cheating’. If you do anything on that list you will immediately fail.” “Understood, it is quite impressive, I’m surprised you didn’t go all out and make the castle into an ever-shifting maze, I remember this one Dark Lord’s keep-” “Sister, is gushing about your love of video games and assaulting deadly fortresses and crypts really necessary?” Luna said with a raised eyebrow. “We’re trying to rescue Twilight and her friends, now focus or I’ll tell everypony how bad I beat you in Maretal Kombat!” This promptly caused the solar alicorn’s muzzle to snap shut, who knew the two rulers of Equestria were hardcore gamers… or that the horse puns could get worse! “Oh you misunderstand,” Akuro said a small smirk appearing, “This castle doesn't just look like Castlevania… it IS castlevania. I personally took control of it and all the monsters that live in it away from Dracula, with a little assistance from Alucard, Maria and Richter Belmont.” “Well then, what is the ‘final boss’, a sort of illusory duplicate of the vampony himself?” Akuro gave a small somewhat chilling smile, “You’re just have to wait and see. Now then then I believe that’s enough questions. It’s time I choose who enters Castlevania.” “Shattered Star shall be first, she has navigated many a labyrinth, plus it will give our more nocturnal candidates time to rest and prepare if the two of us who are wide awake take the first steps.” Celestia proudly put as her guard stepped forth, sword at the ready. Akuro waved a finger, “Remember. Part of the rules is that I am the one who chooses who goes in. And I choose the Celestia and Luna. The other two will wait in the camp.” The two guards shared a look of worry, then began to glare at the Oni, “Why would you choose both the princesses to go in? They’d wipe the floor with this place on their own, but together??” Bane Breaker spoke for the both of them, the Threstral’s eyes turning to slits amidst his skepticism. Holding up his hand a small black flame burst to life, “Because they’ll only have access to three percent of their power, and are banned from using any Solar or Lunar based magic. However this curse will continue to move the sun and moon while the two are in the castle. It will follow the schedule they’ve set down over the last week. I am not here to destroy your world after all,” Dismissing the flame Akuro started to turn as if he was going to walk away, “Of course you could still decline and leave but then the hostages will become… permanent residents.” Celestia and Luna were about to interject, when suddenly! A pillar of necrotic energy! Funnily enough the second one this year, that practically screamed Corrupting Evil Shenanigans. “What was that?? Are you doing this to stall us?!” Luna asked angrily. “Who knows? But is that really the most important thing right now?” Akuro asked with a dark sneer, “From that energy you’re now given a choice. Leave and abandon the bearers of Harmony’s Magic or stay and hope your forces can stop the source of that energy. You have one minute to choose before you automatically decline and leave the Alicorn of Friendship and her friends never to see them again… and I highly doubt you’ll do that as who know how long it’ll take to find someone to take their place? And know that if you attack me in any way, shape or form you also lose them forever.” At that moment, the air grew warm… sinisterly, and before Luna could say her piece, said heat increased significantly. Turning, she looked in fear as Celestia looked like a walking inferno, glaring at the Dungeon Keeper, “How DARE you!! Do you think that we are here because of some insignificant jewelry?! Do you think I care for a weapon?? Those are ponies who have accepted me without the need for me to remain like a goddess in their eyes. They are my FRIENDS, and Twilight is a pony I would consider a daughter!! To think the bearers as only tools is cruel and monstrous.” Celestia then marched closer to Akuro, her rage burning like a Solar Flare. “I do not know of what incarnation of myself you have been forced to face to make you think such a thing, but if given the chance, I would see her burn for such heartless idealism. Know this, Dungeon Keeper, that when this is over, The Absolute Evil shall not be your only ally.” She calmed, and both sisters walked up the path to Castlevania as their champions left to investigate the pillar before being warped into the camp Akuro mentioned. As the Alicorns left Akuro called out, “I’m surprised you figured out about the other Celestia… but you still know so little about me. However I do apologize for what I insinuated. It was never my intention to suggest that they were merely tools to you,” And with that Akuro vanished in a burst of shadows. Meanwhile, The Corrupting Evil looked upon the two items he created, the first being the orb he had offered the Oni prior, and the second being something more dangerous. For The Smithing Evil had reforged the armor of The Absolute Evil, and the terrifying mace that came with it. He was honestly quite proud of the achievement. When Akuro appeared in a burst of dark fire he put a hand to his head and looked… off. Like something had shaken him to the core. “Woah man, you look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Immediately after he said that, a Fright passed by them, “Alright, poor choice of words.” “I… I made a terrible mistake and.. she knew… Celestia knew I’d met another version of her…” Akuro said looking up before telling the Surprised Evil what had happened, “Once she said that I was barely able to hold myself together and keep calm.” “Well… now that I’m looking at you properly, you’re covered in magic I know all too well, that there’s Elements Of Harmony magic all over you but…” The Investigative Evil squinted his eyes. “It’s far too… cold, orderly, like something took the Harmony of the elements and leached away all the chaos until only order remained… albeit a dark, twisted sense of order.” Akuro grunted, “That’s putting it mildly. It was ‘Order’ all right… their ‘Order’, and from what Sunset told us… it’s a form of ‘Order’ that only benefits them.” “It’s a sickening sense of order, perverted and mangled, just looking at the mere wisps of it is making me feel ill. You’re lucky I don’t have a stomach right now,” The Nauseous Evil commented as he passed Akuro the Undead Control Orb, “From what I’ve seen in battle with my version of the Royal Sisters, it would take very little for them to be convinced to personally rip the ‘Empresses’ a new one.” Suddenly, The Joyous Evil burst out into a pleasant chuckle. “Speaking of which, I think the only reason we’re fighting now is a simple friendly power struggle… and that Tia doesn’t want me to date her sister if I win, seriously I bet I could befriend the Mane Six easy and then have a victory through surrender! I mean, clearly we’re working in the same ideals and you didn’t give them some cruel and heartless ultimatum like saying if they refused you’d never let them see the Elements again. Like, what kind of monster says that to two ponies that have found the greatest six companions after over several thousand years of immortal crippling loneliness?” “I may have said something that hinted at that,” Akuro said, “But I never outright said it. The worst I said was ‘lose them forever’ in which case I meant the Elements themselves and not the bearers. Oni’s don’t lie but a half-truth can still lead people down the wrong path…. Glad I apologised now though I’ll do it again after they’re done with the castle,” Sitting in a nearby chair Akuro sighed, “I’ve made a grave mistake today…” The Calm-Yet-Livid Evil, took in a deep breath. “Understatement, considering that Twilight and her friends technically do not wield the Elements anymore, they were returned to the Tree of Harmony after Twilight received visions of the Spirit of Harmony beginning to die because of being disconnected from aspects of its being for too long, and so Twilight and her friends are now considered the Elements, when you say ‘Elements’ here, it was either going to translate to ‘I’m going to take away six ponies that mean the world to you forever.’ or, ‘I’m going to rip the heart out of the tree and essentially murder the daughter of the Pillars of Unity’, so… what do you think’d be worse in this scenario? Ripping apart bonds, or child murder?” he took another breath. “Sorry, just have a lot on my plate and I’ve actually learned that both my daughter and Luna miss each other like an actual mother and child and… holy fuck my life is a mess right now!” Akuro gave an emotionless chuckle, “You’re not the only one… I didn’t go into this plan with the correct information and that bit me in the ass hard… and not enough information is the main reason I haven’t invaded Equestria yet. We know jack shit about their forces…” Akuro then slammed his hand onto a nearby empty table shattering it, “Why didn’t I take the same precaution and go into this with such a half-assed plan! I’m basically king of an entire planet so what does that say? And what happens? I put way to much on the line with a half-assed plan that was almost guaranteed to have some kind of backlash!” “To be honest, I’ve had to fly by the seat of my ghost-pants most of this in order to gain power while trying to ensure Equestria didn’t find me and attack… but hey, I’ve given you the perfect scouts now, my Bloodsuckers are small and weak, but they’re fast and can fly anywhere to give me a good look at something, and my undead can revive quickly via a cemetary. I’ve been using them to scout out all of Equestria, and now with that orb, you’ll be able to send a small horde of bat-monsters to scout for you too with no risk to your living minions.” “You don’t understand, They can sense where ANY form of dark magic is the moment it appears. This means that I need to find a way to get a spy in that while loyal to me has a way to either block whatever form of sensory magic they’re using or can just negate it so they seem to be invisible,” Akuro said, “That’s how they found me, that’s how they found Chrysalis… that’s how they found all of us. I don’t even know if there were others they found and what their fate might have been. At least we took our world’s Elements before leaving...” Then Akuro’s eyes went wide, “But we left the tree… if they get past the defenses Discord left they could turn the tree itself into weapons!” “And in doing so, kill the Spirit of Harmony, who must be psychologically traumatised by what they have forced its elements to do!! Listen, I have some ideas to help you out, but they are… kind of crazy, but I want to save the Tree.” With that, The Corrupting Evil gathered his magic, and using his connection to the Crystal Heart, created a box of smaller gem hearts. With the new artifacts in hand, he handed them to Akuro, beginning to explain. “A while back I corrupted the Crystal Heart to my plans, not only allowing me to use my dark powers to sustain its shield, but also allowing my influence to look friendlier. The point I want to bring up, however, is that the Crystal Heart took my dark magic, and was able to perfectly change it into ‘pseudo-light’ magic, a form of dark magic that hides its true nature SO well, you can’t tell the difference between it and actual Light magic unless you were bound to it on a spiritual level, or dedicated years to actually looking for the differences… these Gem Hearts aren’t as powerful, but feeding them dark magic will allow them to coat at least those wearing it in a field of pseudo-light… finally, I know of the perfect ally for you, who is in the highest point of Equestrian society.” Taking the box Akuro took a couple deep breaths to calm himself, “Who?” “Empress Luna.” Here Akuro’s face turned livid as he got to his feet, “Don’t you DARE suggest that! Not after what she did to Chrysalis!” “No, think about it! I’m not talking about Luna in her current state, is there a legend of Nightmare Moon where you’re from?” After a couple seconds Akuro shook his head, “Sunset’s never heard of that legend and Luna was still around when she was thrown in jail.” “Damn! I was really banking on that! If there was a Nightmare Moon legend it meant that Luna knew what they were doing something wrong and tried to stop her sister… unless… look, Akuro, I know it’s not the best idea, but I want you to at least check if Luna is brainwashed, maybe even the moment she tried to stop Celestia. I get you have your reservations, but think here, why would a pony of night and shadows be so distasteful of anything dark, in fact, how has Luna herself not come to the conclusion that she too is one of darkness, and would be one of the very ponies meant to be purged from Equestria?” Akuro took a deep breath before telling the Increasingly Shocked and Disturbed Evil about what happened to Sombra and Chrysalis, “If Luna was being mind controlled Chrysalis would have sensed that through her emotions. No. Luna did that of her own free will.” “God dammit! Why does the Princess of The Night follow a plan that would meet her end! Fuck! Wait… waaaait, wait! I got the PERFECT PLAN!!” “What is it?” Akuro asked once more in control of his emotions. “We can still go with the idea, because I can make these.” with a flash of black lightning, the shadow cast from The Shadowmancing Evil’s body arose and formed a body, before it looked at Akuro and then shuddered, growing a single horn out of its head. Akuro, seconds later, was informed that a ‘Shadow of Dungeon Keeper’ had become his minion. “This is the same kind of Shadow that became the Nightmare Moon of my Equestria, completely overtaking Luna’s will in order to resurrect me, I’m thinking you can use her to take over your Luna and make her your hidden puppet among the royalty while the real Luna gets trapped in a horrid nightmare inside her own body. Though if you don’t want to do that, it can do this.” the shadow then slipped into Akuro’s own shadow. “Easy stealth, and if you give it a gem heart, immunity to strong light and detection of dark magic… and if not you can have it possess one of your minions for a mutual bond like a symbiote… though I don’t know what that’s like for Shadows, I asked Nightmare once but she just got flustered and avoided the question.” Akuro bowed surprising The Corrupting Evil, “You have my thanks. You have given me a way to get some spies into Equestria, a way to make Undead and are the first person outside of me and my friends to learn some of what the Empresses did. As such it is only fair that I give you this…” Standing straight a ball of darkness formed in Akuro’s hand before flying into The Corrupting Evil’s head granting him knowledge on how to make the Rooms that Akuro knew how to make… and a small headache, “From now on you are not just the Absolute Evil. You are also a Dungeon Keeper.” “Thank you, Akuro, I hope That Orb, the other orbs I send, and Marrow, serve you well.” Nodding Akuro opened a Corridor of Darkness and placed the Necrotic Orb and the Gem Hearts into it, “I’ll go see how the Princesses are doing, and apologize again,” With that Akuro sank into the shadows and vanished. Though as he appeared, he took full view of the sight before him, Celestia and Luna looked exhausted, injured, and surprisingly blood-stained, as he moved to their faces he saw triumphant smiles as they had The Mane Six standing behind them with different expressions. “WE. WON.” Celestia spoke with confidence. “You can’t take them away now! They are safe and won’t be lost to us, nor shall the tree’s Spirit suffer anymore torment!” Akuro nodded, “First I must say congratulations. Second I owe you all an apology,” as the eight ponies looked at him shocked, Akuro continued, “I was never going to take the bearers away from you forever, when I said that I was talking about the elements themselves. I didn’t know that these six had BECOME the Elements, nor was I talking about taking the tree,” Then Akuro looked at the six smaller Ponies, “I hope my minions treated you fairly and respectfully as I told them to do.” “W-well… yeah… though we weren’t okay about being abducted but…” Twilight said, the others murmuring agreements. “Understandable,” Akuro said then with a snap of his fingers a Corridor opened and a couple of tall dark skinned beings with pointed ears walked out, “These two will tend to the Princesses wounds and while they do so feel free to ask me a couple questions. However I do ask that if I feel that I need to withhold any information that you respect my decision.” “Is it true that the Celestia and Luna of your world are monstrous Tyrants?” Twilight asked cautiously, the others, having a look that said they all wanted the answer to that question. “Going right into the big questions I see,” Akuro said dryly, “Though you are correct on that assumption. From what one of my new friends told the rest of us the Empresses are Tyrants that pretend to be ‘caring motherly figure’ in public.” Their reactions were instant, Fluttershy hid behind the others and whimpered, Pinkie’s mane deflated, Rarity had a broken and solemn look on her face, both Applejack and Rainbow had rage in their eyes but… Twilight was the scariest. Her expression was cold, empty, as if all mercy and joy was sucked from her being from those words, her horn shone in its trademark violet light as she proceeded to pull a piece of the Elements’ energy from him… that fragment made her see it all, and as she looked, with those dark, hateful eyes… the words she spoke sent chills through the spines of everyone in the immediate area. “When you find her, I want to cut that bitch’s throat myself.” Akuro studied Twilight for a couple moments, “While I appreciate the offered help I don’t want to make the risk to other worlds as low as possible. As such only those who work for me will join the invasion. If we somehow lose the Empresses might find a way to spread their evil to other parts of the Multiverse and that is something I want to avoid at all costs. We do have some contingency plans being made but that doesn’t won’t change my mind on this. There is much I am willing to do when talking with those from other universes but there is more I am not willing to do.” “Is that Corrupting Evil guy with the scary narrator going to help you? Because if you let him make a Dungeon in your world, he’s going to help anyway, even if you say no!” Pinkie said, starting to re-inflate her mane poofs. “I will neither confirm nor deny that first statement,” Akuro said, “Does anyone else have a question?” “Are you seeing anypony?” Literally everyone turned to the Prismatic Pegasus that asked that. “...what? He’s cute! And he rocks the horn.” “While I am… surprised you asked that question, I must inform you that I’m not seeing anyone nor am I looking for that kind of relationship right now,” Akuro said though it was clear he was unsure how to fully respond to this question, “I have to many things on my mind at the moment.” “Oh come on! How come only Luna gets a badass dark lord coltfriend during war?!” said Night Princess went a delicious shade of cherry at the comment. To try and lighten the mood the Dark Elf attending Celestia said, “I’m a little surprised you made it through Castlevania with such light wounds ma’am. Those of us watching was sure that restricting you to only three percent of your power would give you more of a challenge.” “People tend to assume I just sit around and eat cake, nobody considers that I put all that sugar towards high intensity combat training with real weapons.” “And I am her sparring partner, we have found the dangerous activity to both invigorate us while also helping with our conflict issues.” “And now I’m glad that any of the creatures that die in Castlevania regenerate over time,” Akuro muttered, “Though at least they also got some good training during all of this.” “Why? Unless you can somehow drop Castlevania into your Equestria and unleash its hordes of monsters onto the Imperial Guardsponies, I doubt they’ll be of any use.” “Simple. Castlevania is more than just a castle. It’s the home of one of my friends. I want to make sure they’re safe on the off chance that someone who wishes them harm gets in,” Akuro explained crossing his arms behind his back, “And the stronger the defenses the safer they become. Though unleashing Castlevania on the Empress's forces is also an option.” “Well… I hope you win… and maybe next time you visit, we can have it on more friendly terms?” Twilight asked. Akuro nodded, “Agreed, the thought of making more enemies is not a pleasant one.” The group smiled at that. “Then we bid you good luck, Dungeon Keeper.” Celestia said with a soft bow which Akuro returned. Then with a snap of his fingers a Corridor appeared, “This will lead you to the camp the two guards you came with are staying. Once you’ll all there I’ll send the castle back to its proper home Just know that travel though these may feel a bit odd if your not used to Shadow Magic.” They nod and head through. Once they were all out of the Corridor they turned to see a pillar of black light rise from the ground clearing the sky revealing the slowly setting sun. When the light faded Castlevania was gone leaving no trace it had ever been there. “That. was. Awesome!!” Dash said, and strangely enough, the group agreed… well, all except the ‘champions’ who were upset about being left out of the plot. When Akuro returned and saw the newly christened Dungeon Keeper he could tell something was different though he couldn't put his finger on what, “What’s wrong?” “They’ll be coming here soon… to Pone Henge, despite all my efforts to weaken them, there is still the chance that I may lose, and if I do, it means either the Chaotic or the Ultimate Evil will have control, no morals, no intelligence, just a mad maniacal dark tyrant that will take all I’ve worked for and pervert it… and such a fate, after finally beginning to court Luna, after working to prepare the fateful meeting between Mother and Daughter, on the edge of finally starting a family, I just realized if I fuck this up it will all be for nothing… and then there’s the major thread to this ritual, which I despise with a passion.” “Before you continue there’s something you need to know,” Akuro said, “Back home in my chambers there’s a portal to a Keeper Only Library. Now it took some time for me to find this but it has been a boon knowing the history and what being a Keeper means. You aren’t the first Keeper to be split apart or the first to have been split when becoming a Keeper, but as you ARE a Keeper that means that your mind, not theirs will be the one in charge. Think of it as a safety feature in the Keeper’s magic. Keepers only arrive in worlds that NEED direct intervention. If a world is too orderly then a Keeper who is a master at creating Chaos is sent, someone who loves to spread death and destruction. If a world is too Chaotic then a Keeper is sent who will FORCE order upon the world. One who will rule all with an iron fist.” “I seek neither of these for my world. Only that the Empresses are dealt with. Do you understand what I’m trying to say?” “Yes, I don’t want these for here either, sure I want to take over the world, but only to become its new kind and caring god, in fact I’ve used my necromancy just so the living and the long dead could reunite… but then I have the ritual, which requires a strong, still sentient sacrifice, both body and soul, for all three fragments to be merged into… meaning I’d need to permakill someone.” Akuro hummed in thought, “You are the Keeper they are the shards. You have a body they do not… perhaps… perhaps just by these facts you can absorb them without the sacrifice. I’d check the Keeper’s Library but we don’t have the time. I suggest trying to absorb them first and have the ritual as plan B.” “You’d think that, but if I was strong enough to dominate them back into me, I’d be able to control the demons and horde already but I can’t, besides, the ritual isn’t just merging three spirits, it needs the flesh and life essence of something to reconstruct the body of the Absolute Evil from the ground up, so then our spirits can re-enter it.” Akuro grimaced, “Then whoever is lost will be honored for as long as is possible, though this leaves a bad taste in my mouth.” “Oh no, it gets worse, the mind sticks around like a backseat driver, I couldn’t put someone through that, just sitting in my head with only the capacity to make suggestions, plus if I pick some random guy he might drive me mad with constant chatter… if only I could make a living humanoid big and fleshy enough to sacrifice, yet keep it alive with only a blank soul and an empty mind…” “Perhaps with two Discords working together and Starswirl’s aid you might be able to…” Akuro said as a Corridor opened with the undead Unicorn walking out, his skeletal legs almost shining in the light and the bells on his hat tingling slightly. “Our Discord filled me in,” Starswirl said and pulled out a few strands of red hair, “And Sunset was willing to offer the DNA samples for the Homunculus Golem. I’ll need you to stall them for as long as possible while we work as we’ll only have one shot at this and I’ve never tried this before,” Looking at The Corrupting Evil Starswirl said, “I’ll need to borrow your lab if possible.” “As long as you don’t mind working with a crew of dumb brain-munchers… say, those skeleton legs don’t bother you, do they? Like, no odd numbness or anything?” Starswirl chuckled, “My good man I am a Revenant. These legs are more of a reminder of what I’ve lost and who I failed than a hindrance.” “Oh, I was just saying, I was able to form a whole vampire body from raw necromatter for my daughter to inhabit.” “YOU CAN DO WHAT?!” Starswirl yelled interrupting The Necromancing Evil, “That ability will be a large help! Lead me to your lab at once! We have little time to waste!” “...so is that a yes or no on the offer of lichdom in return for helping me out? Cause I did hear Akuro needed a Necromancer of some kind.” “We can talk about that once your flesh and blood again,” Starswirl said with a viger that said he was getting impatient to start the new project, “Right now we have a Homunculus Golem to make!” The Appreciative Evil gave a subtle nod before leading the undead wizard down into the dungeon straight to the laboratory, which while functional, was not very well put-together, with zombies shambling about and ‘working’ by pushing random buttons and doodling on clipboards, though the moment Starswirl entered they all stopped and saluted him, “Sometimes it pays being higher on the undead food chain,” he chuckled before starting to give them orders. “Yeah, but even at your level, gotta be honest it’s not the best work I’ve seen, definitely above any brain-biter but Deathbolts are way more badass than you and a Nosferatu might not take kindly to a wizard in their presence.” “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it, now let’s get to work.” Starswirl said as Discord and Loki popped into the room both wearing mad scientist goggles and lab coats. Once the team were done the Homunculus Golem lay on the metal table it’s chest slowly rising and falling, “It’s alive! ALIVE! Oh wait, hold on, I’m reading ahead in the script.” Discord said, ruffling through some papers. “We need to get the Golem to the ritual site now!” Starswirl said, “Without a true mind and an empty soul I don’t think it’ll last that long.” “Convenient, as the sounds above tell me the Two Other Evils finally arrived to claim The Reforged Armor Of Evil for themselves.” “I’ll have to wait down here for a while, I used a good portion of my magic during this though I am very pleased with how it turned out,” turning Starswirl gave a nod to The Soon-To-Be-Whole Evil, “Good luck up there youngster. Go remind them to never mess with the mind and soul of the Original.” He gave a salute as he puppeted the empty body up to Pone Henge, where absolute carnage was taking place! Demons, Horde and Undead all clashed in brutal combat, one trying to overwhelm the other. This was a battle The Corrupting Evil and the Homunculus walked into, and thankfully with the undead soldiers holding the line, it was where they succeeded. The pillars of stone glowed with an eldritch light, striking the armor and the golem, causing the latter to be ripped apart and sucked into the former! Lightning crashed down as the dungeons of the Ultimate and Chaotic Evils across the land collapsed. The three fragments pulled into the centre of the arcane circle, and finally… erupted in a white flash. Akuro’s sight returned to see Demon, Horde, and Undead stopped and bowed to a figure in the cloud of smoke, which took his first steps into the world once more. An ominous, 10 foot metal titan that radiated a dark power so fierce that even the shadows turned away in fear, a powerful, intimidating beast with eyes of hellish crimson and breath scolding mist, wielding a hammer and strength to make the greatest of demigods cower before him… The Absolute Evil had returned. Slowly, The Reborn Evil took a few more steps, walking towards the Dungeon Keeper Akuro, using his newfound powers to teleport Loki and Starswirl to the Oni’s side to bear witness to the return of such a powerful figure. Just as calmly as he moved, The Absolute Evil let out a content sigh, and spoke. “It worked…” those words had not only brushed against their ears, but also reverberated against the very dark magic within them, as if even that was taking heed to his words. “Thank you, Akuro, you have made a very, very powerful friend today.” “You are welcome, though now that you are whole again are you going to pick out a name? You’ve just had several titles ending with ‘evil’ act as your name since I got here,” Akuro said with a small smirk. “My… hold on *AHEM* there… my title is actually just, The Absolute Evil, the fragments were Corrupting, Ultimate and Chaotic, it’s just a running gag to add context-sensitive titles in place of them, though you may call me Ark… now I believe there was an offer I had on the table for a certain wizard… Starswirl, for helping me to regain myself, how would you like Lichdom+, it’s the only time you’re gonna get this offer without getting cheated by a demon.” Starswirl nodded, “I humbly accept Ark… though what is Lichdom+? I’ve never heard of such a thing.” “Well it’s like normal Lichdom except with more control over necromatter to allow more creativity in constructs… but also it allows you to keep the one thing many males don’t want to lose… fully functional, I might add.” Akuro, Loki and Starswirl looked at Ark surprised, “I didn’t know that form of Lichdom existed,” Loki said. “And from what I’ve seen in the Keeper’s Library neither do they,” Akuro said, “Though better to become a lich then use those horcrux abominations from the Harry Potter universe.” “Actually, it technically doesn’t exist, however you can thank Nightmare’s perverted experiments for it coming into existence, the results have allowed me to restore full functionality to undead stallions… in fact the lines weaved into the necrotic energy that allow this are so effective, Necromancy has now become an actual cure for erectile dysfunction and virility issues.” Starswirl, Akuro and Loki chuckled, “And some people say that Necromancy is pure evil. Part of it is knowing everything about the body and can easily be used to heal. This just adds more proof to that fact,” Akuro chuckled. “How long will you need to make me a Lich?” Starswirl asked. “Hmm… 3? Nah, I gotta say 5, maybe 10 if you want to have a full flesh un-rotting body.” “I’m quite happy with the way my body looks now,” Starswirl said, “As I said these legs are a reminder of my greatest failure.” “Hm… well we’ll at least meet in the middle and say 8 so that the flesh you do have doesn’t rot away, sound good?” “Sounds good,” Starswirl agreed. “Alright, 8 seconds it is, hold still.” The Absolute Evil said as two orbs of necrotic green appeared in his hand and shot a wave of energy over the stallion, filling him with new levels of power. When the eight seconds were done, the stallion stood once more, with the misty blue eyes of a lich, and a new pendant around his neck. “This will need some time to get used too,” Starswirl said as he examined the pendant, “I’ll have to find a good place to hide this.” “Actually, I think I put a bit too much into it, lemme check.” before he got a response, he scanned the phylactery, then blinked. “Well holy shit, congratulations, Starswirl, you’re the first Lich with an indestructible Phylactery.” Starswirl looked at Ark for a few moments before he started to laugh. His laugh slowly grew until he had tears falling his cheeks onto the dirt, “Amazing! This is truly beyond anything I thought possible! This has opened so many research possibilities that I can hardly fathom it all!” “Well, some people say the possibilities of magic are up to the imagination, oh! Before I forget.” The Absolute Evil pulled out two more orbs and a scroll. “The Horde and Demon orbs, and for any students of Starswirl, and maybe himself, a scroll on demon-free power boons like immortality, and 101 summoning spells safe for people who like their soul!” Taking the Orbs and Scroll Akuro and Starswirl said, “Once again thank you Ark.” “Akuro, Starswirl, you two and Loki are responsible for giving me a true body again! The only reason I haven’t gotten Loki anything is because I don’t know exactly what to give a person who can snap anything he wants into existence, maybe some things for Sombra and Chrysalis too, I’m just in a really giving mood, I’m so happy!! OH! I almost forgot to warn Starswirl about something important.” “What would that be?” Starswirl asked as he sent the scroll to his study. “The upside of Lichdom+ is that you get back your male ‘pride’, right? Well the downside of that is that you’re getting your libido and hormones to supplement it, and they’ll be the libido and hormones of when you were a young adult, not the age you died… and your body hasn’t had to keep something of that level in check for a long time so… the first few months or so might be awkward if you’re around any attractive mares.” “I’ll be sure to inform my apprentice and subordinates… that’s not going to be a pleasant discussion,” Starswirl sighed. “And don’t worry about getting me anything physical Ark,” Loki said, “However a few suggestions for new elemental creatures that will be similar to a Phoenix would be welcome,” And with a snap of his fingers a notepad and pen was in Ark’s hands, “So… any thoughts?” “Hmm… what you got already?” “Well there’s the classic Thunderbird, Wolves made of Light, Panthers of Ice, and Gorillas of Vines/Nature,” Discord listed, “Right now I’m just getting everything in order before I make any of them though.” “Weeeell, there was an idea back on Earth called the Vulcan steed, basically an equine made of magic fire that grazed on charred plants, I say magic because they only burned what they needed to.” Loki gained a wide grin, “Interesting! I’d only heard of Nightmares from D&D and I’m not willing to do that to a Pegasus even if they aren’t as sentient as the ones in Equestria.” “Thanks… oh, then there was this joke elemental that was a Water-Shark that likes to hum the Jaws theme, but it’s in water so there’s basically this invisible shark going ‘duuunun, duuunun’.” Loki snickered, “That’s just silly… good thing I like silly.” “Those are all I can think of right now, but I think those will be good, right?” Loki nodded and took the pad and pen back, “Oh absolutely. I’ll be sure to send you a couple once I’m done.” The Absolute Evil gave a thumbs up. “So… should I get something for Chryssi, Sombrero and Sunsexy?” “Please don’t call my apprentice that,” Starswirl said with a face hoof much to Ark’s and Akuro’s amusement. Loki disappeared for a couple moments before returning in a waiter’s uniform. “Sombra would like a chance to speak and spar with your Sombra. Chrysalis couldn't think of anything apart from asking if she can set up a hive here once her first Queen is born and Sunset would like to browse your library and meet this worlds Celestia once everything's settled down here.” “Thanks Loki… I can get Sombra’s thing, I’d need to discuss with Chrysalis if she’s okay with sharing this world with another Chrysalis and… the new changelings.” The Melancholic Evil shuddered as he pulled out a photo of King Thor-AAAGH! MY EYES!!! Akuro took the picture and looked at it, with a sad sigh he said, “Perhaps if the Changelings looked more like this nothing would have happened.” “Unlikely,” Loki said, “Possible, but unlikely.” “It’d be impossible as in order for the changelings to become this they would have to give away all the love they had at once, and with different universes having different Changeling biology, the attempt would most likely kill your changelings rather than help them… unless they’re the kind of changelings that have a never-ending hunger for love, then they’re the ones that turn into shiny moose-bugs.” “We’ll have to tell our Chrysalis that,” Starswirl said, “And perhaps look into other Equestrias to see what else might have happened.” “Agreed,” Akuro said, “I made a plan without having all the information and I do not want to repeat that mistake.” “Right, of course, as for Sunsatsuma, I’ll need to see about the library and Celestia might be an odd case, from what Sunburst has told me the Sunset of this world keeps far too distant to her, which has left the Alicorn to have a sensitive spot about that pony, so probably expect a miscommunication followed by Alicorn Level Tactical Snuggles.” “I think our Sunset could use that,” Starswirl sighed, “Our world’s Celestia took Sunset in as an apprentice after she turned a large pile of dirt into glass with a single spell, only to be thrown in the dungeons less than three years later. My apprentice would appreciate meeting a Celestia who is truly the kind caring motherly figure ours appears to be.” “I think it’s mostly because of… an important event, that Celestia is so attached to her personal students… I’ve seen the medical records, Celestia… she can’t…” The Trying-To-Break-The-News Evil fumbled over his own words. “Then we should arrange for this meeting as soon as possible,” Loki said, “Both need a chance to heal, and this meeting will help start or continue that process.” “Well with my new power, taking over Equestria should be easy, I’m strong enough to walk straight up to the capital.” “And I’ll have to make plans to get the Tree to safety,” Akuro said and rubbed his forehead, “That’s going to be a pain and a half, but with your Gem Hearts it should be possible,” Here a Corridor appeared behind Akuro, “But for now we shall take our leave. I’ll make sure to give you a copy of my Token once I have created one but that doesn’t mean we can’t stay in touch,” Snapping his fingers an Imp appeared, “Take this Imp, and he’ll start building my Dungeon where ever you deem suitable.” “Of course, good luck in your endeavors.” “And you yours…” Akuro said as Loki and Starswirl left through the Corridor, “Before I go just know I’m somewhat... hesitant to let anyone not in my army assist in the invasion. Ask Celestia or Luna for the details next time you see them. For now farewell Ark, I wish you luck in your endeavors,” With that Akuro walked into the Corridor which closed behind him. It did not take long for The Navigating Evil to lead the imps to their intended location and watch them go to work, building up the Dungeon that will house untold numbers of Dungeon Keeper minions. But The Complete Evil did not have time to dwell on such pleasantries, as he turned and looked into the distance. Tomorrow… Canterlot would fall and Equestria will soon belong… to The Absolute Evil!