> Ultimate Alliance: Villains of Equestria
>  by PhoenixFlambe
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> The 'REAL' Beginning of the End
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's been one year since the defeat of Equestria's most wanted: Cozy Glow, Chrysalis and Tirek. Their fate has been decided by the two royal sisters and ironically Discord himself. Stoned for all eternity. Thankfully, it seems as though that sentence has been cut short as a mysterious figure in a hooded cloak stood in front of them.

Yellow magic zapped at the statue from the mysterious figure, which slowly unpetrifies the three little baddies.

"Oof!" groaned Cozy Glow as she hit the ground hard. The other two followed suit, groggy from being a statue for a long time.

"Ugh, my head, it's spinning," croaked Chrysalis, reeling from the unpetrification.

"You said it," affirmed Tirek, who was rubbing his head, "Wait, hang on, are we...free?"

"Wait, you're right, we are!" babbled Cozy Glow, who took off and stretched her forelegs, "But... Who freed us?"

"I did," said the mysterious stranger.

"Wait a minute, I recognised that voice," Chrysalis guessed.

"Oh, you do?" inquired the mysterious stranger, who used his front hoof to pull off the hood, "Then I guess I'll be brief, my name is-"

"Nice try, Discord," said Tirek, cracking his knuckles, "Once bitten, twice shy."

"What? Discord? You mean the Lord of Chaos?" questioned Grogar.

"Don't try to deny it!" barked Cozy Glow, pointing her hoof at Grogar in an accusing manner.

"Yeah!" Chrysalis agreed.

"Now then..." grinned Tirek as he strides towards the blue ram. After stopping in front of him, he then quickly threw three alternating hook punches at the ram's face while saying, "This is for deceiving us! This is for humiliating us! And this is for imprisoning us in this wretched stone prison!"

After the third punch, the ram simply turned to face Tirek slowly, giving him an indignant look. Yellow magic then wrapped around Tirek's neck, tightening around it and lifting him off the ground, choking him.

As Tirek struggled to free himself from the chokehold, the other two villains just looked on.

"Yeah, real convincing Discord, you can stop now," maintained Cozy Glow. But the ram simply continued. Both Cozy and Chrysalis side-glanced at each other uncertainly.

"I said, you can stop now," she repeated.

Grogar continued to strangle him, ignoring her words. Tirek's face is turning blue as he struggled for air. 

"I SAID, YOU CAN STOP NOW!!!" she pleaded aggressively.

"You forgot to say please," said Grogar nonchalantly.

"Ugh, pleeeeasse?" she said. 

"Can't hear you."

"Pleeeeasse?" she repeated with a slightly raised voice.

"Louder."

"Pleeeeasse?!"

"Louder! I need to hear you beg!" declared  Grogar.

"PLEASE! PLEASE! JUST PLEASE! YOU'RE KILLING HIM!" Cozy Glow begged.

"Well of course I am," remarked Grogar, as he tossed Tirek hard into the stone podium where they formerly stood. The impact causing Tirek to groan in pain.

"What?! But I said 'please'! I begged! What kind of sick joke is this?!" Cozy hissed.

"Well, number one, this isn't a joke," stated Grogar, "And number two, I don't do 'please'."

"So wait, are you... the actual Grogar?" Chrysalis asked.

"Well of course I am, you numbskulls!" bellowed Grogar, "Who else would I be?!"

"Well, we thought you were some disguised prankster. Oops!" she gasped.

"Care to repeat that?" threatened Grogar, his horns glowing menacingly.

"It's true! Someone was masquerading as you!" beckoned Chrysalis.

"Someone or somepony?" he asked.

"Definitely 'someone', not a pony!" she confirmed.

"Hmm, interesting..." Grogar wondered, "Discord, was it?"

Chrysalis nodded her head roughly.

"Why I oughta-" Grogar trailed off, "Never mind."

"This is no time to argue," he continued, "Now that you know I'm the real deal, you're coming with me!"





"Welcome, to my lair!" said Grogar as he presents what appears to be a skull-shaped cave.

"Ehh.... We've kinda been here before," Cozy informed.

"What? Well then, has it been compromised?" Grogar asked.

"Not that we know of," replied Cozy. 

"We're the only ones who knew about this place," added Chrysalis.

"Well soon, you won't be the only ones," claimed Grogar, as he looked back at them, smirking sinisterly. Grogar then beckon them to follow him in.

Once inside, aside from the familiar interior, there is a huge stone table surrounded by many seated villains, with the exception of one as she appears to be way too big to fit, which caused the trio's jaws to drop. The seated villains then gave them a really cold glare, seemingly as though they were unwelcomed.

Out of the many unfamiliar faces of evil, one of them stood out to the trio's surprise.

"Sombra?!!" Cozy Glow shrieked.

"You again?!" the king hissed.

"Oh, so you know each other," Grogar supposed.

"The three of us, actually," confessed Chrysalis.

"Discord?" asked Grogar, raising an eyebrow.

The trio nodded in affirmation.

*Sigh* "Well, now that we're all here, I guess it's time to introduce yourselves..." said Grogar with a eerie, sinister grin.
> A Villainous Chit-chat
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So let me get this straight, you are a really powerful cosmic being with power that surpasses even the great Discord himself, and you're his ex-girlfriend??" Cozy Glow exclaimed with her eyes wide.

"Eeyup, that's the gist of it," said the huge, colorful, mish-mash of animal parts known as Cosmos, "and you? An alicorn princess? Pffffft-hahahahahaha! That has to be the most funniest joke I ever heard since Discord told me. To be honest, his wasn't funny actually."

Cozy Glow folded her hooves while in flight pouting, "Oh yeah? It happened alright, best forty minutes of my lifetime, before my imprisonment."

"Our imprisonment," said both the former changeling queen and demonic centaur in unison.

*Sigh* "Fine, our imprisonment, I'm not alone here you know?" maintained the filly pegasus.

"Whatever," said Cosmos nonchalantly.

Meanwhile, Queen Chrysalis was having a rather smug conversation with King Sombra.

"So, King Sombra, you have returned," said the smug queen, who was seated with her head resting on her hoof.

"Indeed I have," replied Sombra, unamused by her behaviour.

"What brings you here? What does Grogar want with you? You pompous good-for-nothing?" mocked Chrysalis. 

"Grrr." Her words stung him like a flash bee. "Well I'll have you know that Grogar, THE REAL Grogar had told me everything that happened before. I can't believe that silver-tongued Draconequus has humiliated me not once but twice! I had no idea he was posing as that old goat here." 

Grogar looked at Sombra and gave him a threatening stare. Sombra gulped.

"Anyway, truth to be told, he did flatter me quite a lot. Said I did well enough to cause ultimate despair and hopelessness among the ponies, including the heroes and that pipsqueak dragon. Speaking of which, he actually fell under my mind control like seriously? He's the one whom the Crystal Empire worships and respect and yet was susceptible to mind control? Ha! Some hero he is, I don't even know why I blah, blah blah..."

"Ugh, talkative as usual, me and my big mouth. Oh wait, his is way bigger," grumbled Chrysalis, who was covering her ears regretfully.

On the other end of the table, Tirek was talking to what appears to be a pink, anthropomorphic bird with a staff.

"Sooooo, you're also a draconequus?" inquired the centaur.

"Yes, and I wield the all-powerful Staff of Sacanas! And also manage a interdimensional casino," the birdlike draconequus bragged, whose name is known as Eris, "I do believe you and that changeling visited before?"

"We did? Somehow, I feel like I did and yet I don't recall, weird," pondered Tirek.

"Hmm, might've been a side effect for those who enter and leave," comtemplated Eris, who was stroking her chin, "That, or it could be a different Tirek."

"Anyway, how did you get that staff? I don't think it has been removed or stolen from what I've heard," asked Tirek.

"Oh, this?" said Eris, waving her staff around, "Well, let me tell you, this is the Staff of Sacanas, but not the one you know or have."

"Which is....?"

"It's my world's Staff of Sacanas, not yours," explained Eris, "How I got it is a long story."

"Ummm, I still don't get it," shrugged Tirek. 

"Ugh, trust me, you all won't, being an interdimensional being like Cosmos over there will help you understand more in what we know and do," said Eris, slightly perturbed.

While the villains were talking, Grogar was alone on his personal table, looking at his crystal ball. He studied what was shown to him before grinning and snickering to himself. He then climbed the stairs to a higher platform, announcing what he was going to do next.

"Heed me, my minions. It is time."

The felons stopped what they are doing and gathered at where Grogar is.

"Time for what?" asked Eris, "And we are not your minions. We are all equal in vileness, wouldn't you agree?"

Cozy, Tirek, Sombra, Chrysalis and Cosmos all nodded in agreement.

"Ah, right, partners. Of course," affirmed Grogar, "But soon, we'll have more to join our cause and our vendetta."

"You're gonna recruit more creatures?" questioned Cozy.

"Exactly," replied Grogar, "and you all are gonna help me as well."

"How so?" asked Tirek, folding his arms.

"Well first, I'm gonna summon one to me right now," proclaimed Grogar, as he readies a spell, horns glowing.

As the spell is cast, a black portal appears. It gets wider and wider, and a deep but deafening bellow is heard from the other side.

The other villains just stood there, all awestruck by what is happening in front of them. Only Cozy cowardly hid behind Tirek's foreleg, as the bellow gets more intense.

Suddenly, a giant, black foreleg extended out of the portal. Another foreleg followed, both holding on to the edges of the portal, as if trying to escape it's prison. As it pulled, it's face also came into view. A face that everypony all knew too well. It kept struggling to pull itself free, until with every little ounce of strength, finally did. The portal closed behind them.

The villains walked up to where Grogar is, and examined the shadowy creature, who was rather groggy at the moment. 

"Hang on, this isn't an Umbrum," Sombra spoke up.

"No, you idiot, do you not know who it is?" ranted Chrysalis.

"Yes, it is who you think it is," confirmed Grogar.

"Who?" retorted Sombra.

Grogar just rolled his eyes. "My fellow compatriots, I would like to present, the Pony of Shadows!" he announced, "Rise, my dark friend."

And so the Pony of Shadows did, no longer was he Stygian's darkness, but his own. And there was only one thing that he desired while in Limbo for so long: Revenge. Revenge against his host who rejected him after seeing and finding the smallest of light in the darkest depths of despair. Why did he reject him? They were unstoppable, they were invincible, they were showing their enemies how it feels to suffer from loneliness. And yet, Stygian was having second thoughts, he seeks forgiveness, but most importantly, reconciliation, in the hopes that he can work together with his former friends again and put aside their differences and begin anew. That fool, he doesn't need those ponies, he has him, the Pony of Shadows, the only one that has always been by his side. And now, he threw that all away. He'll never forget this, but for now, he appears to be in an unfamiliar place.

"Where am I? What is this place?" the Pony of Shadows looked around.

"This, is my humble cave," Grogar politely said, "and I just freed you from Limbo."

"You did?" questioned the Pony of Shadows, before exclaiming, "Ha! Why thank you very much err....?"

"Grogar," he introduced, "and the soon-to-be partners below me are King Sombra, Queen Chrysalis, Cosmos, Tirek, Eris and Cozy Glow."

The villains below waved nervously. 

"So, a question," asked the Pony of Shadows, "why did you free me?"

"To induct you into our little league," the ram answered, "join us and we will crush those pesky ponies once and for all, including your former creator."

The last sentence got the Pony of Shadows' attention.

"Alright, you convinced me, I'm in," he smirked.

"Wonderful, now then I have tasks for you creatures to perform."

"You," continued Grogar, pointing at Chrysalis "I need you to gather the rest of your friends."

"What?! How can I? There's none left of my army that stands by me," fumed Chrysalis.

"No! Not your former changeling army," growled Grogar, "I meant your logs."

"What?" said a confused Chrysalis, as she holds out a lilac coloured log, "You mean this?"

"Yes," replied Grogar.

"What does the great and mighty Grogar want with logs?" leered Cosmos.

"Especially ones that she talks to," added Sombra, who caused the whole group to burst in laughter, save Grogar and Chrysalis.

"Hey! Those are my minions!" she snapped back.

"Exactly," agreed Grogar.

"See? He gets it. Wait, you do?"

"Of course," grinned Grogar, "those aren't just any old logs, they were formerly dark clones of our worst enemies."

"Really?" mocked Eris, "Sounds like a science experiment gone wrong."

Chrysalis hissed at Eris, who reeled.

"A ritual to be precise," he corrected.

"What do you plan to do with them?" probed the queen.

"Isn't it obvious?" remarked Grogar, "Bringing them back to life."

"Ah, yes, he is the master of necromancy," complimented Sombra.

"You flatter me, shadow king," acknowledged Grogar, "be grateful that I did this because I need you."

"Tch, of course you do," grumbled Sombra, feeling his pride hurt a little.

"Eris, I need you to travel across time and space to look for worthy candidates for our Legion," Grogar continued. 

"Consider it done," Eris vowed with a bow.

"Cosmos, I need you to stay here and look after this place."

"A-okay," said Cosmos, doing an 'a-ok' sign.

"Tirek and Cozy, I need you to find my Bewitching Bell."

"Let me guess, it's in Mount Everhoof?" Cozy asked snidely.

"It was, until you three idiots lost it!" snarled an angry Grogar, stomping his front hoof.

The trio reeled from it.

"Anyway, you know what to do."

"And what about me?" questioned Sombra.

"Yooooou! Can take a walk in the Crystal Empire."

"Wait, what?" said the confused Sombra, "You've got to be joking, right?"

"Maybe," pondered Grogar, "you could also re-destroy the tree-"

"Wait, it grew back?! Are you kidding me?!"  bawled the pompous king, banging his four hooves on the floor like a spoiled foal.

"I will NOT tolerate this childishness!" barked Grogar, stomping his front hoof hard.

In an instant, Sombra got up, "Okay."

"You can re-destroy that tree, corrupt the Everfree forest, fetch me remains of Queen Chrysalis' throne, set up anti-magic crystals! D'oh, just get out of my sight! All of you, begone!" yelled Grogar, who was really getting annoyed.

The villains said their last piece of acknowledgement before scuttling off.

The Pony of Shadows turned to Grogar, "What will you be doing?"

"Visiting my old friend," he answered, as he opened a portal and went into it, all while laughing sinisterly.
> The Queen and her Cronies
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Bah, why am I listening to that old fart?" Chrysalis groaned, "I am Chrysalis, queen of the changelings, and a queen obeys no one! Mwahahahahaha."

Crowed the queen, as she makes her way to the last location that her former subjects were last seen alive, the Tree of Harmony. And that tree was last located in a cave beneath the ruins of the Castle of the Two Sisters. Good times, she thought. As she entered the cave, she noticed something was off. At the end of the cave, it was filled with nothing but crystals. Where is the tree?!, she thought. But not before noticing something else was amiss. Apparently, the crystals grew past the cave's ceilings, almost as if it was overgrowing.

Chrysalis decided to exit the cave and went directly to the ruins of the castle. When she got there, her jaw dropped. In its place was a crystalline building with what appears to be branches and leaves, also made from the same crystal. It was then that she realised, Wait, did the tree grow into this? If that's the case, then it must be a treehouse!

With that discovery, she smirked a little and proceeded to make her way towards the Treehouse of Harmony. Once she got to the entrance, an entity resembling Twilight Sparkle appeared, blocking Chrysalis' path.

"Halt! Intruder! Identify yourself!" the Twilight lookalike bellowed.

Chrysalis had to think quick, in which she decided to morph into Ocellus, one of Twilight's or rather, the accursed Starlight Glimmer's ace student at the School of Friendship.

"Stop! It's me! Ocellus!" she yelled, hoping that Twilight Sparkle would buy her disguise.

"Oh, it's you, Ocellus," said Twilight Sparkle, relieved.

"Eeyup, it's me alright, I just thought I would play a prank on you sometime," stammered Not-Ocellus, smiling hesitantly.

"Well, you got me good," maintained Not-Twilight Sparkle, "What brings you here, my changeling friend?"

"Well, uh, I think I left something back at the treehouse," she lied, still smiling widely.

"I see, well then, follow me," ushered Not-Twilight Sparkle as she beckoned Ocellus to follow her.

Once inside the treehouse, Chrysalis was utterly amazed by the interior. It was solely made in crystal, including the furniture occupying it. Everything was just so sparkly.

"So, Ocellus, what is it that you're looking for?" asked the faux Twilight Sparkle.

Chrysalis, who was still disguised as the treacherous changeling nymph, snapped out of it. "Well, you see Twilight."

"Twilight? Oh, have you forgotten, my dear Ocellus?" reminded the entity warmly, "I'm not the actual Twilight Sparkle, but the spiritual manifestation of the Tree of Harmony!"

Chrysalis' jaw dropped at the shock of the revelation. Could it really be? The Tree of Harmony has become sentient? Impossible..., she thought.

"What's wrong? You look like you have seen a ghost," asked the concerned Tree of Harmony.

"Oh no, it's nothing," Chrysalis came back to her senses. "I am curious though, why pick Twilight's form out of everypony else? Or creature? Why not Chrysalis?"

The Tree of Harmony looked at 'Ocellus' weird, "Why would I pick a terrible changeling queen that tried to conquer Equestria while keeping your hive starving?"

Chrysalis resisted the urge to pounce at her, trying hard not to blow her cover. 

"As for Twilight, well, she knows a lot more about friendship, I feel a really strong connection to her. Hence, why I picked her form." the Tree of Harmony continued.

"I see...." understood 'Ocellus', "Anyway, have you seen five coloured logs around here? I know it was last seen around here."

"And how would you know that?" asked the Tree of Harmony skeptically.

Chrysalis was sweating hard, "Oh! Um, one of my friends told me about it!"

"Who, might I ask?" the Tree of Harmony questioned further.

"Uhhhhmm, Starlight Glimmer! She needs it for a school project!" she lied with a rather wide smile.

"Oh, I mean I see, well it's right beside the potted plant, right over here," the Tree of Harmony answered, pointing behind the disguised changeling.

Chrysalis looked behind her and sure enough, there's a potted plant in the corner of the main room. Beside it was five coloured logs, which Chrysalis knew as her former minions. She smirked wide at that as she approach them slowly.

"Well, well, my naughty little children," she taunted softly, "Where have you been all  this time? Sitting in the corner like children you are. You deserved it, for not obeying your creator."

"Ocellus? Is everything alright? Who are you talking to?" quavered the Tree of Harmony, who looked at her weird.

Again, the disguised changeling queen snapped out of it.

"What? Uhh, nopony? Umm, I gotta go now, it was nice meeting you!" said Chrysalis with fake happiness, as she grabbed all of the logs and flown out of the main door very quickly.

Once out of the Tree of Harmony's 'field of vision', she reverted back to her true form and cackled loudly but not loud enough for the Tree of Harmony to hear.

The spiritual manifestation of the Tree of Harmony stepped out of the doorway, looking at the sky.

"Well, I'm glad she got what she came for," the Tree of Harmony smiled innocently.

Immediately after, the 'real' Ocellus came by to the Treehouse of Harmony.

"Oh! Tree of Harmony!" she called.

The Tree of Harmony looked up at her.

"Ocellus? Back so soon?" she asked, slightly confused.

"Oh, umm, it's actually been a while since I last saw you, so I thought I'll come visit," jabbered Ocellus, putting her left foreleg behind her head.

The Tree of Harmony looked at her weird.

"But Ocellus, I just saw you here a few minutes ago," told the Tree of Harmony.

"Are you sure? It could be another changeling, we don't look that much different even with the different colours," Ocellus contemplated.

"I'm sure it was you, you said you needed the logs for some project," the Tree of Harmony stated.

"Logs? Oh! That must be Triceps. He said he needed logs to build a sculpture or something," shared Ocellus, "Maybe he figured you're more comfortable if he looked like me."

The Tree of Harmony pondered for five minutes.

"You know what? Maybe you're right, I guess there's nothing to worry about," concluded the Tree of Harmony, "Now why don't you come in and have a chat with me?"
> The Centaur and the Filly
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tirek and Cozy Glow arrived at the outskirts of Canterlot, scanning the town for any signs of activity or a way sneak in. Grogar had sent them to retrieve the Bewitching Bell, but they had no idea where it was last seen or what happened to it. So they assumed it might be stored deep in the Canterlot Archives that only royalty can access. And that will require sneaking in, which would be easy if Chrysalis was around.

"Well, what now?" asked Cozy Glow, who was fluttering in mid-air.

"Honestly, I'm not quite sure," replied Tirek, stroking his chin.

"Well, can't you just cast a spell on us that turns us into Royal Guards?" suggested Cozy.

"Weeeell..... I'm not good with that magic," Tirek shrugged, "That's Chrysalis' specialty."

"Well news flash, Chrysalis ain't here," Cozy pointed out, "If that wily old goat had sent her as well, the heist would be a breeze."

And as though Grogar had heard it, his voice spoke up, "And who are you calling 'wily old goat'?"

"Gah!" they both screamed, backs against each other and eyes turning towards the source of the voice.

But there was no one here. It was just the two of them and a black bird perched on a tree nearby.

They soon relax, but were beginning to question what just happened.

"Did you hear that?" stammered Cozy Glow.

"I sure did, but I don't see him," confirmed Tirek, who was scratching his head in confusion.

"Maybe somepony is playing a trick on us?" she guessed.

"Or some goat? A bird maybe?" Grogar's voice suggested.

"I don't think I see a goat around, maybe that black bird, yes. Gah!" she yelped.

Both of them turned towards where the bird is. The bird is a common blackbird and it just spoke to them.

"What's wrong? You look like you have seen a ghost," said the blackbird.

"Wha? How?" stuttered Cozy Glow, "How is this possible?"

"Allow me to explain," said the blackbird, as it flies towards Tirek's shoulder.

"Do you notice something off?" it asked.

Tirek, who's closest to the bird noticed a very morbid detail about it. "By Sendak's Arcane, what happened to your eye?!"

On it's left eye or where it used to be is not a normal eye but a miniature crystal ball that Grogar had in its place.

"Excellent observation, you see, I casted a spell to send out a miniature duplicate of my crystal ball to possess any creature I see fit," Grogar explained, "After the possession, not only do I control the creature's mind but also be able to see what it sees on my crystal ball back at my base."

"And also communicate from it?" Cozy queried.

"Yes, that too, but only if I want to of course," he replied.

"Interesting," said Tirek as he stroked his chin, "does it work on 'sentient' creatures?"

"Yes, care to experience it?" Grogar asked viciously.

"Oh no, I'm good, thank you," Tirek croaked nervously.

"Good, now what seems to be the problem?" inquired Grogar who was speaking through the bird.

Both Cozy and Tirek explained about the defenses set up in Canterlot, about how the doors require a special medal, the strong windy mechanism, the anti-magic field made from the remains of Chrysalis' throne, blocked secret entrances and the gaggle of geese as the alarms.

"I see, you sure you didn't made the last part up?" questioned Grogar.

"Nope, that is actually a thing that they did," Cozy shrugged.

"Well in that case, if nothing else, this is child's play," affirmed Grogar.

Tirek snickered upon hearing the phrase, much to Cozy's chagrin.

Grogar, controlling the blackbird, fly towards the city's capital, stopping short near the castle. From there, the orb dislodged itself from the bird's eye, returning it's actual one back and letting go of it's mind, which left it confused at what happened. The orb then floated towards a nearby, unaware guard, forcefully lodging itself into his right eye and taking control of his mind. With his new victim in possession, he then made him walk towards the main castle door.

"Halt! Soldier, where do you think you're going?" asked another nearby guard, who spotted him.

"Sir! May I request permission to visit the Canterlot Archives?" the soldier responded while under Grogar's influence.

"And what for?" the guard responded back.

"I need to make sure the Bewitching Bell is still in safe hands."

"The.... Bewitching Bell?" faltered the guard, "I'm sorry, the bell isn't in the Canterlot Archives."

"Are you sure? Then where is it?" inquired the controlled guard.

"I think it was in the home dimension that the draconequus lived in," he answered, "no one can access that place except for the Lord of Chaos himself."

"Confound it," muttered the guard that was controlled by Grogar.

"Excuse me?"

"Um, nothing! I'll be on my way now!" saluted the victim.

"Well, you're dismissed then," the other guard saluted back.

After a lengthy conversation, Grogar led the guard to a hidden spot where he could dislodge the orb and release control of him. The guard was dazed, and when he came around, he wondered what happened and how did he get there.

The orb floated out of Canterlot and towards where the duo was waiting. Cozy and Tirek upon seeing the orb paid attention to what Grogar has to say.

"Well my fellow compatriots, I've got good news and bad news," begin Grogar.

"What's the good news?" inquired the centaur.

"The good news is you don't have to sneak into Canterlot and be inconspicuous," answered Grogar, "because the bell isn't there."

"How is that good news?!" Cozy shrieked.

"Maybe 'bad' and 'terrible' news would sound better," lamented Grogar, "Anyway, the bad news is, I know where's the real location of the bell."

"Have you gone senile? I think you got both the good news and bad news mixed up," snarked Cozy sarcastically.

"You insolent brat! You didn't let me finish. No wonder your parents hated you," mocked Grogar in response.

"Don't you dare talk about my family life!" she glowered.

"Whatever, anyway the bell appears to be in Discord's dimension," said the ram.

"What?!" cried the duo in unison.

"Are you kidding me?!" shrieked Tirek, "Of all places, and that pesky, annoying Draconequus had to bring it with him. How are we supposed to get there?"

"Well I could teleport you there, but I don't think he likes unwelcome guests," suggested Grogar.

Tirek's ears perked up.

"Hang on, you can do that?" inquired Tirek, "I thought only Discord could access his dimension."

"With Cosmos' help, I could. Turns out Cosmos has the ability to access the Chaos Dimension as well. Being his ex-girlfriend and all," explained Grogar.

"I see...."

"Hmm, I have an idea!" squeaked Cozy Glow excitedly.

"Do tell young one," said Grogar as he listens to Cozy's pitch.

"Alright, so I know professor Fluttershy like the back of my hoof, she knows Discord personally and has a pet bunny, whom I think his name is Angel. Which contrary to his name is anything but an angel."

"And?" remarked Grogar.

"Annnnd? I was thinking if you could disguise us as these two?" she continued.

Grogar put his hoof to his chin and pondered for a bit. "Hmm, very well."

And with that, he casts a spell onto his orb from his end. The orb from the other side rose and from it magic zapped from two sides at the duo.

Cozy felt herself grow big, including her wings while Tirek on the other hand, felt himself shrunk, horns retracting, horse legs and tail growing backwards and ears extending. After a bright flash of light, the duo dropped to the ground.

Cozy was the first to stand up, slightly dazed, and when she came to, she looked at herself and was both shocked and awed at the same time. 

"Golly!" she cried, before covering her mouth in realization that she had a different voice instead of her over-the-top cute one.

Tirek stood up next and looked at himself, horrified at his transformation. He wanted to scream but instead let out a squeak. He was literally hopping mad.

Cozy can only at look at Tirek's pathetic state and snicker.

"Golly, aren't you a adorable little ball of fluff?" she taunted, reaching out to him, only for him to bite her foreleg when she did so.

"Ow! Why you-" she recoiled.

"Enough!" yelled Grogar, who was watching the scuffle from the other side, "There, I transformed you into our worst enemy, now can you please get my bell?"

"Y-yes, Mr. Grogar. Right away!" Cozy beckoned.

Tirek only folded his paws.

"Thank you. Cosmos!"

Both Cosmos and Grogar aimed their magic at the crystal ball, and with magic emanating from the other end, created a black portal at the feet of the devious duo, which caused them to fall inside.





"Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!!"

As they both scream and fall, they hit the ground, which strangely is bouncy and therefore cushioned their impact.

As they both got to their feet and dusted themselves off, they came to realise that they arrived right in front of a house that's in the middle of nowhere. And given that it's the only house in sight, they presume it to be the home of the Lord of Chaos himself.

Both Cozy and Tirek, posing as Fluttershy and Angel respectively, walked towards the front door. Cozy knocked on the door seven times in a musical fashion. After a few seconds, the door swung open, and the Lord of Chaos presents himself. 

"Oh my, what a pleasant surprise!" beamed Discord.

"Yes, um, surprise!" cheered Cozy in faux excitement.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Come in!" welcomed the draconequus into his home.

Cozy and Tirek walked in, inspecting the interior of the house of the trickster. His home is very peculiar to say the least. Most of his furniture is placed upside down, not held by nails, glue or anything. It's just hanging there by itself. The set of stairs is also upside down and seemingly pointless to have as it leads to nowhere in particular.

Discord sat on his couch, the only few things not upside down, and snapped with his fingers to conjure a tea set on the table, which was also set on the ground.

"Tea, Fluttershy?" he asked nicely, as he levitated the teapot towards his cup.

"Thanks, but no thanks," 'Fluttershy' politely replied, "Actually, I have a favour to ask you."

"Shoot," said Discord as he sipped his tea.

"Um, do you have the Bewitching Bell?" she asked nervously.

Discord shot a suspicious glare at her.

"Why yes? Why did you ask?"

"Well, um, Twilight said it would be better if it was in a safer place," Cozy lied.

"Is my home not safe enough?" probed Discord, still showing his suspicious glare.

"Well, if I and Angel can get in, I guess its not?" she speculated.

"Speaking of which, how did you get into my dimension? I thought only I could access it?" prodded Discord, stroking his goatee.

"Oh, um..." stammered Cozy, not sure on how to answer this.

Tirek, who was disguised as Angel Bunny, hopped up and down, trying to get her attention. When she did, she hold her head down to listen to what he has to say. Thankfully, Fluttershy has the ability to talk to animals, a trait that Grogar has apparently replicated during her transformation. After listening to Tirek's proposal, she nodded and turned her head back to Discord. A malicious smile formed on her face as she did so.

"Um, it was the combined might of Starlight, Twilight and Star Swirl, they sent me here to move the bell to a more secure location," told 'Fluttershy'.

"Okaaay, then why is Angel here?" he asked further.

Tirek could only squeak, prompting Cozy to translate it for him.

"Uh, he's here to accompany me," said Cozy in disguise.

"Hmmm, very well," Discord accepted.

"Great! Now where is it?" burst Cozy in excitement.

"Now, now, calm your wings, it's in the kitchen cabinet," Discord pointed.

"Wait, really?" said Cozy, who was taken aback by how simple the answer is.

Discord nodded. Cozy then went to the kitchen and opened the cabinet. Sure enough, there was the bell. Cozy grabbed it with her hooves and made her way towards the front door.

"Thanks for understanding, Discord!" she emitted.

"Anytime, my dear," said Discord with a wave.

"Bleh."

Both 'Fluttershy' and 'Angel' stuck their tongues out in disgust as they exited his home.

"Was it something I said?" he wondered, before materialising a newspaper for him to read.

Ten minutes later, both 'Angel' and 'Fluttershy' peered from the front doorway.

"Um, we could use some help getting back  home," asked 'Fluttershy'.

"Hmm?" Discord looked up, "Oh, was it a one-way trip?"

The duo nodded.

"Well, no problem. Where to?" asked Discord, ready to snap his fingers. 

"On the outskirts of Canterlot," requested Cozy.

"Why not Canterlot itself?" he queried.

"Because," she began, "Canterlot is reinforced with the remains of Chrysalis' throne. Your magic won't work there, remember?"

"Mmm, fair enough."

And with the snap of his fingers, a portal appeared outside behind them.

"Golly, thanks Discord! You sure are the best!" blurted Cozy, as both Tirek and her strode towards the vertical portal.

"I appreciate the compliment!" cried out Discord, as the portal closed behind them.

After a few minutes, he was hit by a faint realization. 

"Why do I sense a feeling of deja vu?"
> The King and Her
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

King Sombra arrived at the outskirts of the Crystal Empire, marvelling at its beauty. Beauty that he will soon corrupt and reshape into his own image, after he conquers it once more. For now, he has to lay low. And while he's at it, he can go ahead and do some bit of reconnaissance at his former home. But before that, he needs a disguise. Surely, he sticks out like a sore hoof and would immediately be arrested on sight, so he needs to be inconspicuous.

His horn glowed, and with that a cloud of smoke swirled around him, masking his transformation. After it cleared off, his appearance changed, but otherwise he's still recognisable only to himself. He now lacks his neck armor, has a lighter coat than before, his mane and tail is no longer ethereal in nature, his eyes green instead of red, his horn looking like a normal unicorn and his crown modified to lack spikes and a muzzle and side guard. He looked like a king from another land.

"Right, now no one will recognise me," muttered Sombra, smirking to himself.

He began to trot towards his former home, eager to study its weaknesses and exploit them. And what better way to do so than in a library? So he went towards that place first.





Once inside the library, he is met with suspicious gazes of other ponies, wary of his appearance. Only the librarian didn't mind.

"Oh my, aren't you a handsome little devil?" complimented the old librarian. 

"Um, thank you?" He smiled awkwardly, not knowing how to react to such words from an elderly mare.

"Hee, relaaaax, I'm just playing with ya," she reassured, "I'm Amethyst Maresbury, how can I help you today?"

"Oh, Miss Maresbury, I'm looking for the history of the Crystal Empire, do you know where it is?" he asked politely.

"Certainly! Follow me," beckoned Maresbury as she gestured him to follow.

Excellent, he thought gleefully, as he followed the elderly librarian.

After passing by numerous bookshelves, Maresbury stopped and took a right turn into the 'History' section. After arriving at their destination, she gestured with her front hoof the books lined up on the shelf.

"What you're looking for should be around here, if you need help getting the high ones, just let one of the helpers around know," informed Maresbury.

"Thanks, but I already have unicorn magic," Sombra replied proudly.

"Indeed you do," acknowledged Maresbury as she straightened her glasses, "Welp, if nothing else, I'll be going now."

When the librarian is out of sight, Sombra began searching for the desired book. When he found it, he grinned and began flipping through the pages in an attempt to find any sort of exploit within the empire.

Just then, a female voice spoke.

"Well, well. If it ain't the King of Shadows."

The sudden voice caused Sombra to jump a little.

"Gah! W-who are you? And what do you want?"

In front of him was a hooded figure, who continued speaking, "Come on, don't you recognise your old friend?"

As she said that, she proceeds to remove her hood, revealing herself to be a purple unicorn with arctic blue eyes and mane.

Sombra only looked confused at her, "Uhhh, who?"

"Ugh, do you have holes in your brain or did the whole world conquest thing get to your head?" she groaned.

"Uh, what world conquest?" denied Sombra, "I already have a totally peaceful kingdom as evident by my crown on my head."

The unicorn mare stepped closer to him, Sombra backed away, sweating profusely.

"You can't fool me, I know all about you since we were foals," the mysterious unicorn divulged.

Sombra only looked more confused, "What? Since we were foals?"

"Goshdarnit, it's me! Radiant Hope!" she announced.

Sombra pondered on the name for a while, "Hmmm, nope, doesn't ring a bell."

"Grrr, you know what? Forget it, why do I even bother trying?" Radiant Hope lamented as she took her leave.

"Wait!" Sombra stopped her. "Who are you and how do you know about me?"

Radiant Hope turned back to look at him, smirking a little. 

"After all these years of failed attempts at taking over the Crystal Empire, you still want to know where you began?" she questioned.

Sombra nodded, "Yes."

"Very well, for I shall show you the day you changed for the worst!"

As she said that, she casted a spell from her horn that formed into a sphere of magic. Sombra peered into it, an image beginning to form, revealing what appears to be a smaller version of himself and Radiant Hope in a grassy valley. 





One thousand years ago, three months after Sombra and Radiant Hope first met.

"And when I grow up, I wanna be king! Just like what the Crystal Heart says!" young Sombra announced proudly.

"Yeah, yeah," a filly Radiant Hope groaned, "And I'm your Princess."

"Right?!" cried out Sombra excitedly, as he turns towards her, "It's like, the Heart was showing our destiny, that we were meant to be together!"

"Oh pffft, don't get too ahead of yourself," she smirked, "For all I know, maybe I'll be a nurse instead. And totally not married to you."

Sombra smirked back, "Just you wait, I'll not only make you mine but also the empire! You'll see!"

"Mmhm," she hummed, "By the way, you seemed....different than before."

"How so?" Sombra asked, tilting his head.

"Well, you see..." Radiant Hope began, "When I first met you, you were, how should I say this? Quiet and lonely. A lot of other foals bully you because of that. And, I won't stand for it! Hence, I decided to befriend you, for I too am different, just like you."

"Over the past few months, you were opening yourself up. From shy and lonely to proud and confident. It's like you were a totally different pony from whom I've first met."

Sombra smiled at her brightly.

"Well, if it wasn't for you, I could have grown to despise this world," he began, before his expression turned grim, "Nopony likes me, cares about me. So why should I care for them?! I wanted to show them how I feel, loneliness, rage, despair...."

Sombra's grim expression suddenly disappeared as it was quickly replaced by the smile he had before.

"But now? Not anymore, because thanks to you, I now no longer feel bad. In fact, I feel like I can do anything I want! So thanks for sticking by me."

Radiant Hope blushed at the last sentence, "It was nothing, really."





"And little did I know, that you really did become a different pony. You became arrogant, pompous, rebellious and selfish. As time went on, you went against Princess Amore, crystallised her, shattered her even. I tried to stop you time and again, but you didn't listen. And as such, I gave up. It seems you have descended too far into madness to stop," shared Radiant, as the magic sphere dissipates. 

King Sombra listened to her story intently, looking at the floor as he did so, feeling a tiny sense of regret.

"When you took over the Crystal Empire and cursed it, I let it happen," she continued.

This caused Sombra to snap out of it and  look up at her.

"Wait, what?"

"During your hostile takeover, I actually figured out how to defeat you," informed the purple unicorn.

Wide-eyed, Sombra exclaimed, "Then, why didn't you stop me since you have the solution?"

"Like I said," she smirked, "I gave up, why should I? It's not my place being a hero, and therefore not my place saving the empire."

"So you just let the empire sunk because of your negligence?!" Sombra shouted.

"And you're not a lost cause?!" she retorted.

"Shhhhhhhh!!!!"

Everypony around them shushed, telling the two to keep quiet. They both then exited the library.

"You know what? I've said my piece, I am done with you. Go and do your world conquest shtick, I don't care, just, leave me alone," cried Radiant, as she trotted away from Sombra.

"Radiant, wait!" pleaded Sombra as he reached out with his hoof.

But it was too late as she disappeared from view. Sombra ran at her direction, but she was nowhere in sight.

For the first time in his life, he felt lost, sad, and angry at himself, not because of his failures in conquering the Crystal Empire, but because he had let somepony down. Was it destiny? Fate? Or something far more sinister? Who knows?

Sombra went to look for a bench to sit on, so that he can sulk. There was one isolated enough, so he took a seat there. Just then, a voice spoke up.

"Sombra. Hey, Sombra! What are you doing?"

"Gah!" yelped Sombra, as he looked to where the voice was.

On his left, a small, similar sphere of magic appeared beside him. On that sphere, an image formed, showing Grogar's face.

"What are you doing? Sitting around here like that?" Grogar asked.

"I'm....coming up with a plan!" lied Sombra, "Besides, what are you doing here? Ponies could see you!"

"Well good thing you picked a quiet place huh?" remarked Grogar, "Listen, I have a task for you."

"Grrr, why don't you do it yourself? I'm quite busy here."

Grogar eyed him threateningly, "Oh are you now? Then allow me to pick a more....quieter place. If you catch my drift."

Sombra knew what he really meant and so he complied.

"Ugh fine, what do you want?" he questioned caustically.

The image on the sphere began to shift, now forming what look like strange coloured seeds.

"These are Plunderseeds, Sombra. Bring them to me!" demanded the ram.

"Annnnnd where can I find them?" Sombra asked further.

"Somewhere deep inside the Everfree forest, there should be some remaining."

*Sigh* "I'll go get them," the king replied, defeated.

The magic sphere floated away as Sombra  makes his way towards the empire exit, setting out on his quest to find those seeds.
> The Bird-onequus and her Legionnaires
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So how about it? Will you join me?" asked Eris, extending her hand towards the large bull in the cage.

"Yeah! Let's go smash some stuff!" cried the bull in response.

Eris used that same hand to facepalm herself.

"For the last time Longhorn, you can't just go around smashing things, it'll attract attention and we don't want that," seethed Eris, who was getting annoyed by his thick-headedness.

"But don't you want to be taken seriously? If anything, this 'Grogar' sound like a wuss," Longhorn scoffed, folding his forelegs.

Eris turned around and created a portal using her Staff of Sacanas, before saying, "You know what? Forget it, I'll go find some creature else that hasn't hit their head too many times."

And with that, she stepped through the portal before it closes on itself.

"Hey! I'll have you know that I used my head uhhhh..... Many times than you can count! Just you wait."





"Your majesty, I hear that you're in need of resources. Perhaps, I can help," proposed Eris.

In front of her are three anthropomorphic bees the same size as Eris. One was wearing goggles and a red aviator hat. The second was tough-looking with a red vest and eyepatch complete with a mohawk hairstyle. And finally, the last one was dressed regally, wearing a pink royal mantle, a silver crown and what appears to be a lilac-colored top too big to fit her rotund stature. That bee was the queen of her hive, sitting on a throne in between her two subordinates.

"Sting, Pointer, what do you think?" the queen asked her minions.

The bee that was dressed like a pilot, Pointer, stammered uneasily, "W-well, I don't know, can we really trust her?"

The other bee, who was tough-looking, named Sting, said without signs of faltering, "One does not simply enter our hive, you either have guts or you're foolish. But since you're here, let's hear it."

Eris took a bow, before making her proposal.

"Thank you, ahem. Queen Bumble, I want you and your forces to join Grogar's alliance."

Queen Bumble, Sting and Pointer's mouths are agape with aghast.

"Grogar? I've heard of him from my great grandmother Honey's tales," recalled Bumble.

"And h-h-he's a-a-alive?!" Pointer stuttered in terror.

"You're lying, it's not possible," said Sting, who detached his stinger and pointed it at Eris threateningly.

"Woah, easy now," chuckled Eris, who raised both her hands up in response, "i wasn't finished."

Sting put his stinger down, but not his guard or reluctance.

"Well? Go on," he ushered.

"Right, anyway, if you join us, Grogar will will be sure to reward you with all the resources you need, all he needs is your cooperation," proposed Eris.

"And if we refuse?" inquired Bumble.

"Trust me, you wouldn't want to know," insisted the draconequus.

The queen thought for a moment. 

"Very well, we will accept, but on one condition."

"Name it," said Eris.

"I will have full control over my own hive, my army is not his to command," appealed Bumble.

"As you wish," Eris said with a gentleman's  bow, "when you're ready, head to the cave in the shape of a skull, we'll be waiting."

And with that, she created another portal with her staff, before walking into it.





On the other side of the next portal, she stood in front of what appears to be a giant doghouse made of stone. And occupying it is a large dog statue, that appears to be breathing and moving. 

"Crunch the Rockdog," she muttered under her breath, careful not to wake him up.

"The sole guardian of the Diamond Dogs," she continued, "Has a collar with a special gem on it."

She tiptoed quietly towards the Rockdog, to get a better look at the collar he's wearing.

"The Heart Stone," she said, looking at the pink, heart-shaped gem that was attached on his collar, "a gem of infinite kindness, compassion and love."

She then sneered, "To fill what would be an empty, cold and soulless statue."

She used her staff to manifest a hammer and chisel on her other hand. Putting her staff away on her back, she began to use the tools to carefully dislodge the Heart Stone from the Rockdog's collar.

After many near misses of waking him up, she finally dislodged the Heart Stone, holding the gem in her hand and raising it up high. 

"Finally, it is mine."

She then kept the gem in her pocket.

"And now...."

Eris breathed in hard, before hollering out loud.

"WAKE UP, YOU OVERGROWN ORNAMENT!!!"

And just like that, Crunch had a rude awakening.

"HLBBLBLGHAGBL, what? Who dares disturb Crunch?" he bellowed menacingly.

"I did," Eris said nonchalantly.

Crunch moved forward to get a better look at the little draconequus.

"Hmmm, and what is it that you want that prompts you to interrupt my nap?"

"I have a simple request," she proposed, "join Grogar's league."

"And why should I do that?" Crunch inquired, his stern expression unwavering.

"Simple, Grogar can help you get back what you lost," Eris began, a small smirk forming on her face.

"What...I lost?" he wondered.

"Your Heart Stone."

"My wha-"

Crunch used his paw to feel his collar, noticing that something was missing.

"My Heart Stone!" he said frantically, "Where is it?!"

"I'm sorry to say, but the ponies, they took it away from you while you were sleeping," lied Eris.

"What?! They dare?! No one takes from Crunch! No one steals from the Diamond Dogs! I'll make them pay! When I see them, I'll turn them ALL to stone! Every. Last. One!"

That's the spirit, she thought, "So how about it?"

"Where can I meet this Grogar?" demanded Crunch.

"There's a skull-shaped cave somewhere in a swamp, meet us there and we can discuss," she explained.

"Raaaaagghhh!!!" Crunch roared, "The ponies are gonna regret this!"

While Crunch ran away, Eris took one final look at the Heart Stone she's holding in her hand.

"Like taking candy from a baby," she said, before conjuring a portal to walk through.





Eris found herself standing in front of the large gates of a castle made of ice, shivering from the frigid winds in the snowy lands. She prepares her staff to cast a spell on herself, giving her an aura of warmth to fight against the bitter cold.

Once she feels better, she kept her staff on her back, and proceed to shout at the top of her lungs in an attempt to call out to someone.

"HELLO THERE!!! IS KING CHARLATAN AT HOME?!"

After a few minutes, a booming voice spoke. 

"YES! IT IS I, KING CHARLATAN OF THE SOUTHERN KINGDOM OF PENGUINS! WHAT BUSINESS DO YOU HAVE WITH ME FOR COMING ALL THE WAY INTO THE SNOWY TUNDRA?"

"I GOT SOMETHING TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT. MAY I COME IN AND SPEAK WITH YOU IN PERSON?" she yelled.

For a few minutes, there was silence, before the king spoke.

"Very well, you may proceed."

The gates open, and Eris makes her way inside the kingdom, heading towards the castle itself. While strolling through the place, she gets looks from other penguin civilians, which irked her quite a bit.

"What are you looking at?!" she yelled, causing the perguins to promptly look away from her.

Eris arrived at the front entrance of the ice castle, guarded by two buffed penguins in uniform, one wielding a spear and the other wielding an axe. Both weapon edges are made of ice while the handle is wooden. Eris wonders if they might melt while fighting outside their home country.

The guard with the spear spoke first, "Are you the one our Highness wants to speak to?"

"Yes," she simply replied.

"You may proceed," said the axe-wielding guard.

The door opens, and Eris makes her way inside.

After a while, she made it into the throne room. Sitting on the throne itself was King Charlatan, a large, rotund penguin with both feet and beak blue in colour. He was wearing a light green shirt with dark green pants, and also a grey overcoat with blue cuffs and collar, finished with a crown on top.

"Hi," she waved, before noticing someone hiding behind the throne the king was currently sitting on.

"Who's that?" asked Eris, pointing at the creature behind the throne.

"Hmm? Edgar! What did I say about greeting the guest?!" reprimanded Charlatan.

The small creature shows himself from his hiding place, revealing himself to be a young penguin, also wearing a crown on his head.

"Pardon my son's rudeness, but could you introduce yourself?" the king asked politely.

"Certainly, I am Princess Eris, and I'm here to warn you of a grave danger," she began to lie.

"Danger? Elaborate," queried Charlatan.

"Well, you see, there was once a great empire known as the Crystal Empire, once ruled by the benevolent King Sombra. Until, he was overthrown by a cunning couple consisting of a unicorn and a pegasus, the latter which ascended into an alicorn princess now too powerful to stop. And they plan to have their unrightful stolen throne passed down to a demonic spawn that's their alicorn daughter. And we need your help."

"We?" he inquired further.

"Ah yes, I almost forgot, I and some vil-, I mean allies I've gathered are working together with Grogar to help liberate not only the empire but also the lands that are stolen from him."

The King could only look in disbelief at what he had heard, before saying, "That...that's awful! How could the ponies do such a thing?"

"Only a few untrustworthy ones," said Eris with faux innocence.

"Well if they think they can just push us around like that, then they are horribly mistaken!" the king snarled as he rose from his throne, "They will have to face the icy wrath of King Charlatan!"

"Oh they will," muttered Eris under her breath, smirking in triumph.

"By the way, nice statue," commented Eris who pointed at the duck statue on her left with her thumb.

"Oh that ain't no statue my friend," pointed out Charlatan, "That is what happens when I'm angry. Anyway, I'll be off now to make my preparations."

"Oh um, right, meet us at a skull-shaped cave, we'll discuss there," said Eris, who was surprised that this duck statue was once something else.

Turning back, she created another portal and walked through it.





On the other side of the portal, was a dark and spooky cave. It was dimly lit with torches, emitting a enchanting green flame. The torches appear to line up into a path, so she followed it.

At the end of the tunnel, there appears to be a cavern filled with bookshelves and most importantly, lots and lots of open treasure chests filled with gold and jewels. 

Eris walked forward to one of the treasure chests, taking a scoop of gold coins into her hand and letting it flow down her fingers.

Suddenly, a loud and booming voice spoke, echoing throughout the entire cavern.

"WHO DARES ENTER THE DOMAIN OF THE JEWEL WIZARD?!"

"Gah!" yelped Eris, who hid behind a rock.

From the shadows, a gray pony with a fluffy white beard emerged. He was wearing a red wizard outfit, complete with a hat and cape. He had a stern look on his face.

"Show yourself, intruder!" demanded the wizard.

Eris, initially shaken, stepped out from behind the rock, dusting herself off.

"Hi, my name is Eris, and I would like to-"

"ARE YOU HERE TO STEAL MY JEWELS?! IF SO, I WILL MAKE SURE YOU BURN IN AGONY, AND LEAVE YOUR CHARRED CARCASS IN FRONT OF THE ENTRANCE AS A WARNING TO THOSE WHO DARE TO ENTER MY DOMAIN!"

As the Jewel Wizard shouted, his body slowly and gradually morphed into a gigantic dragon, his voice deepening and shaking the cavern.

Eris looked on bewildered, before pleading very loudly, "No, wait! I'm not here to steal anything! I just came here to make a proposal!"

The Jewel Wizard shrank back into his normal form, curious about the proposal. 

"Speak, before I shall make my words come true..."

*Gulp* "Umm, okay so, you like jewels, don't cha?" she cajoled.

"Yes? That's why I have stashes and hoards of it. Why?"

"Well, if you join me and Grogar's alliance, I know just the place where you can have all the shiny stones you want. Gems, crystals, you name it," she bargained.

The Jewel Wizard stroke his beard in thought.

"Hmm, interesting. Very well, now where can I meet this Grogar?" he asked.

"Inside a giant skull-shaped cave, would you like a map? I got plenty of those," offered Eris.

"Thanks, but I wouldn't want to trouble you, I got a spell for locating it instead. I presume you need to be on your way?" he questioned.

"Wow," Eris clapped in amazement, "you wizards, evil or not, have amazing foresight! Welp, I must be on my way now! Ciao!"

And Eris turned behind to walk into the portal she conjured, seeking for new members to join Grogar's Legion.





In the lands far from Farasia, lives an exiled zebra who was dressed rather sharp. In a hut far away from prying eyes, this zebra was listening to the upbeat music of the legendary Knight Shade, who has since retired long ago. His peace of mind was disturbed when there was loud knocking on the door.

*KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK*

Now who could that be, he wondered. He was all alone, is he not? He was exiled, is he not? Who would go as far as to visit him in an isolated place. In fact, how do they know he was there? To answer all of these questions, he went to the front door and opened it. In front of him was a pink bipedal creature, wielding a staff in one hand.

"Who are you?" he asked in a deep voice.

"I'm Eris," the creature spoke, "I would love to have a chat with you."

Intrigued, the zebra invited her in. 

20 minutes later.

"So, you wanted me to join your group of felons?" asked the zebra.

"Something like that," answered Eris as she sips her tea, "I have heard that you were a master thief back in the day. Under the alias of..... Black and White Shadow?"

"Tch, it's Monochrome Shadow for your information, and yeah I was. Why?" he inquired.

Eris puts her teacup down and started walking around the room.

"You are not some ordinary thief," she began, "Your heists have left a trail, a trail that only adept magic users can detect."

She then pointed at him.

"You used dark magic, didn't you?" asserted Eris.

The zebra's eyes widened for a bit, before showing a smug smile.

"My oh my, guilty as charged. Yes, I used dark magic to slip through every nook and cranny there is," he confessed, "What about it?"

"Your skills could be useful to us. Join us, and you'll be rewarded even more than what you've taken. Do we have a deal?"

The zebra pondered for a bit, before saying, "Deal, where do I meet him?"

"In a skull-shaped cave, somewhere in the middle of some swamp, you'll see a lot of dead trees there."

"I gotcha," the zebra acknowledged as he's preparing to leave.

"Adios muchachos," waved Eris as she goes through another portal.

But before she went through, she asked a question to the zebra. 

"By the way, what's your name?"

"Oh right, I forgot to introduce myself," said the zebra, "You can call me, Zeb."





"Trust me, if you let me join your Legion, I'll give you my army!" a voice said.

Eris looked unamused as she sat under an apple tree. She picked up a funny-looking apple.

"Did you not hear me? Do you want me to shout into you're non-existent ears? I'm Bad Apple! Conqueror of the orchards! The bane of oranges! The terror of the lemons! The saviour from doctors! That pink and green one from my kind has betrayed me! And I got a bone to pick wit- Wait, what are you doing? No, please, I'm sorry if I sound annoying! I promise I'll keep quiet! Besides you won't eat a sentie- AHHH! AHHHH! AHHHHH! IT HURTS! MY BODY! NO PLEASE!!!! AHHHHH!!!!"

Eris crunched and munched on that apple until only the core and mustache was left, before proceeding through another portal. 





"So you are inventors?" asked Eris curiously.

"Yes, yes!" said a female bipedal mammal.

"Wanna see?" insisted the male half, who was willing to guide Eris around.

"Why, certainly," she accepted, "Umm, what are your names again?"

"Gock," answered the male.

"Gluda," answered the female.

"And together, we're the Gizmonks!" they both announced.

"Right, because you make gizmos" acknowledged the unimpressed Eris, "So, shall we go on with the tour?"

"Yes, yes!" yelped the rather excitable Gock, "Follow us, Gizmonks!"

And so they went into a cavern of sorts, where a lot of inventions was made and held. Most of them don't seem useful to Eris, but nonetheless, they've proven to be expert engineers, all they need are the right blueprints. And a bit of compliance.

"Okay, I've seen enough, you're in. Just meet us at our lair in the middle of a swamp. It's a skull cave the shape of a ram, you can't miss it," she declared.

"Really?! Oh boy, oh boy! Gluda! We're in! We're in!" cried Gock.

"I know! I know!" cried Gluda, "We're gonna be useful! We're gonna show them off to every creature! Yipee ki yay!"

The two of them held each other's hands and spin around and around, while Eris just rolled her eyes and went through a portal behind her.





On the other side of the portal, she appears to be in some sort of prison. To each side of her are a row of cells that houses the prisoners behind iron bars. All unicorn prisoners behind them have a ring on their horns, most likely preventing them from using their magic to escape. Something Eris is about to do soon.

As she walked through the rows of cells searching for the prisoners she is looking for, all of the inmates she went past gave her intense glares, not fazing her one bit. After finding who she was looking for, she squatted and introduced herself.

"Hello my little ponies, what might your names be?"

The three prisoners Eris was looking for glared at her.

"What do you care?" answered the red unicorn rudely.

"And how did you get here?" asked the khaki-coloured unicorn with the frazzled mane.

Eris feinted a state of shock, holding her chest as she stands up.

"My, my, so.....savage! I like that in ya. You're different from the others. Tell you what, I'm gonna bust you out, and you're gonna join my alliance," she stated.

"What's in it for us?" questioned the blue unicorn, who looked like he was from an alt band.

"I've seen you....do really vile things, and almost succeeded. What if I tell you, you can finish what you started at a guaranteed rate?" entreated Eris.

The three unicorn prisoners looked at each other before looking back at her, curious as to what she has to offer.

"That's right, join my forces, and you can become alicorns as you've always wanted to be," offered Eris.

The unicorns looked again at each other, smiling and grinning at the thought of that.

"Deal! We're in. Oh and we forgot to introduce ourselves, I'm Zappityhoof," said the red unicorn.

"Goldcap," said the khaki unicorn.

"Decepticolt," the blue unicorn replied.

Upon saying his name, a maniacal laughter is heard behind Eris followed by some snorting. Eris turned around to face the source of the laughter. 

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! *snort* snort* That never gets old."

"And who do you think you are?" wondered Eris.

"Who do you think I am?! I am Marine Sandwich! Ex-celebrity chef who got utterly humiliated by that conniving hillbilly!" introduced the rather crazy grey mare.

"So?" Eris retorted, not interested in the ex-chef at all.

"So? So?!" snapped Marine Sandwich, "You wanna know how I ended up in this prison?"

*Yawn* "I thought you were gonna talk about your scars, which are clearly mental," dismissed the sarimanok.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. But let me tell ya, I want revenge on that unscrupulous redneck, so I'm proposing to join you as well!" begged Marine.

Eris stroked her chin as if in deep thought, before proclaiming, "Yeeeeeaaah, no."

"What? Why?!" barked Marine as she grabbed the bars, "I can help! I'm also an engineer! I can make weapons!"

"Sorry, but I already have someone for that. Two actually," Eris shrugged, "Besides, you don't look menacing enough. Even a filly would have you beat."

"Why you!" Marine growled.

Eris conjured a spell using the staff, removing the three unicorns' magic inhibitors from their horns.

"Alright, I need to get going now so I'll be brief, when I cast that spell, you will be metres away from that complex. At the same time, I'll be at another place searching for more allies. Find a skull-shaped cave on the map, that's our hideout, capiche? Good. On my mark, get ready," announced Eris as she prepares the spell.

As she raised the Staff of Sacanas, it glows, followed by a bright flash that blinded nearby inmates, including Marine Sandwich. When they came to, they were gone.

"Just to let you guys know, I think Autofilly is a way better name than Decepticolt," spoke Marine to the guys that already disappeared.





Eris teleported to an apparent underground cavern. In front of her was a vast ocean, its surface just below the rocky shore line. Eris walked closer to it, before cupping her hands around her beak and yelling, "O' MIGHTY OCEAN MASTER! I CALL UPON YOUR NAME AND WISH TO SPEAK TO YOU!"

After a few minutes, a pair of eyes popped out from the ocean. A voice coming from it.

"Who dares come to this isolated place and speak of my master's name?"

"Me, my name's Eris, and you are?"

"Crank, I serve my master, Squirk. You wish to see him?" inquired the pair of eyes.

"Yes, I'll make him an offer he can't refuse," reassured Eris.

"Okay, I'll be right back," said Crank.

The eyes sunk back into the water, as Eris waits patiently for his master to come.

After ten minutes, the ocean was bubbling. From the bubbling spot, a red spiny, bulbous, barnacle covered head rose, Eris noticed a red gem embedded on his head, just above his eyes as he was about to open them. Squirk moved closer to the shoreline, bringing out and resting his tentacles on them. Aside from his enormous head, he had a pair of fins to each side of it almost in a ear-like fashion. No visible mouth is seen, and yet he spoke.

"You call for me stranger? I am Squirk, former ruler of all underwater kingdoms, until the lot of them overthrew me and exiled me to this forsaken place."

"All underwater kingdoms?" Eris wondered aloud, "So you're an emperor of some sorts?"

"Yes, something like that," acknowledged the octopus, "Crank! Would you please step outside and keep an eye on her? I do not want her performing any funny business as we negotiate."

"As you command, sire," said Crank as he stepped out.

Crank is a rather large purple lobster slightly smaller than any adult pony. His claws are slightly spiky as his back. His feelers replaced his non-existent mouth and his eyes have white bushy eyebrows that signifies his age.

He stares at Eris menacingly, preparing to fight her as commanded by his master. However, Eris was unfazed.

"So," began Squirk, "you came here for a proposal, what kind?"

"Simple, join Grogar's legion and he'll reward you back your rightful empire," explained Eris.

"Hmm," Squirk stroke his non-existent chin in thought, "simple indeed, and how would I know there's no double-crossing from you or this Grogar?"

"Jeez, you're that paranoid aren't ya?" jeered Eris, "By engaging alone, we'll only lose, by working together, we're unstoppable! Nothing can stand between me or you."

"Hmm, very well," accepted Squirk, "Where can I find him?"

"Unless you can breathe on land, he's at a cave the shape of a goat skull, there's no water bodies from what I see," sneered Eris sarcastically.

"I see, worry not, for the Flashstone on my head can allow me to alter the world and even other creatures according to my will however I want," Squirk bragged about the gem embedded on his head, "And in this case, I will give myself the physiology of land creatures, soon they'll all bow to me!"

Squirk closed his eyes, concentrating on the magic of the Flashstone. The gem glows and a magical aura engulfed him, before dissipating. Squirk's body physically looks the same, although it can be assumed he's now able to walk on land and breathe some air, something a normal cephalopod are incapable of doing.

"It is done, I'll meet you there. Crank! Come with me."

"As you wish sire," Crank obeyed.

"Sire-to-be, I will, hahahahahaha," laughed the former sea king.

Squirk sank beneath the ocean surface, Crank following suit.

"Impressive," said Eris, amused at the show of power Squirk demonstrated, before stepping through another portal.





As soon as Eris stepped out of the portal, she was immediately greeted with a spear pointed at her throat.

"Halt! State your business before I plunge this really deep," threatened a brown, bipedal lizard dressed in a tunic.

"Put your weapons down, Rep, let me deal with this intruder," affirmed what appears to be a humanoid cat dressed as a gyspy.

The lizard, who was known as Rep, complied and put his spear down. Eris relaxed a little.

"Now then, who are you and how did you get into my house?" asked the cat lady.

"Just a slight miscalculation of my teleportation powers," answered Eris, "I'm Eris and where in Equestria am I?"

"You're in the basement of my home in the middle of Klugetown," replied the cat lady.

"An Abyssinian in the middle of poor Klugetown? How did that came to be?" guffawed Eris, gesturing wildly, "By the way, you haven't told me your name."

"Oh silly me, where are my manners? I'm Katrina, and this is my husband, Rep."

"Hello there," waved Rep.

Eris was amused at this revelation, not expecting even the lowliest of Abyssinians to marry someone from Klugetown.

"That is your husband?" she snickered, "How did it get to this?"

"Well, it all started three years ago," began Katrina, who was having a flashback.

"I was once an Abyssinian citizen, who was loved by many as a great and powerful sorceress. I performed amazing feats of magic, the kitties all in awe at my power. I was living the life, many suitors want to marry me, all of which I reject. I had wealth, fame and love. What more could I ask for? That is, until that one fateful day when the Storm King attacked. That beast destroyed my home and took everything away from me! I and my fellow Abyssinians had to flee and take shelter while the King and Queen tried to hold back the invasion. Whatever that happened next, we were liberated, but not for long. The previous King and Queen decided to abdicate and passed their throne to their idiot son, Meowmeow, and his first decree is to ban all magic. All because of some trauma he can't get over! I was found and exiled away from Panthera, not getting to keep what was mine originally! I found my way to Klugetown, and from there, I became a fortune teller. Let me tell you, the prices are not gonna be cheap. As I was strolling through the streets of Klugetown, I was ambushed by some unruly bandits, after hearing that I was loaded with a huge fortune. Then suddenly, jumping in front of me was my then-partner Rep, wielding his spear and telling the bandits to back off. He scared them off, before reaching out with his hand and asking if I was alright. Thankfully, I was unscathed, and something about his bravery resonated within me. So we went out together, even volunteering to help me out with my magic shows alongside my fortune telling. Eventually, even in this rather rugged place, we married, and the citizens of Klugetown cheered and cried. Mori pretty much becoming a fountain much to my amusement. And here we are."

Rep, after hearing her flashback almost cried, shedding a single tear as he wiped it away. Meanwhile, Eris who was just standing there was less than amused, wanting to get to her point as fast as possible.

"Nice story, but anyway, back to why I'm here. I can help you win it all back," proposed Eris.

"What? My old career? I'm past that now. I'm happy here and I don't want to go back," huffed Katrina, turning around and folding her arms.

"Well, fine. But if you join me, I can help you get back at that moron who ruined your whole life, you don't need to be that famous sorceress once more. This isn't about your old life, it's about revenge."

Katrina's ears perked up and she turned slowly back to Eris.

"He's the one who took away your career, he's the one who took away your beloved home, and he's the one who kicked you out of it. Don't you wanna get back at him?"

Katrina's eyes seethed with fury after hearing those words. She tensed up. Rep looked at her worried.

"Join my forces and we can help you liberate Panthera from that tyrant. You can even bring your husband along and once you won, every Abyssinian will see you as a hero. Down with Meowmeow! Down with his regime! Down with his tyranny!" shouted Eris as she raised her staff several times in line with her ranting.

Finally, Katrina couldn't handle it anymore. She bursted, screaming at the top of her lungs as a surge of magic that's been building up within her shot straight towards the sky, piercing through her house and leaving holes on the floors and ceilings. After a while, she calmed down, breathing heavily after the energy release.

"Wife! Are you alright?" Rep rushed to her aid, concerned.

"Pack your bags, gather your weapons and belongings, I'm gonna exact my vengeance onto this vile King," declared the sorceress, "Soon, he will know how it feels like to lose everything!"

"But Katrina-" protested Rep.

"My decision is final, husband. Eris, where do I meet you?" asked Katrina.

"I'm glad you asked, meet me at a skull-shaped cave in the middle of an isolated swamp, my friends will be there as well," answered the sarimanok.

"Very well. Rep!" called Katrina.

"Your wish is my command, wife!" affirmed Rep as he saluted.

"See you there soon."

"As will I," agreed Eris, as she conjures a portal behind her and walked through it.





Through the portal, she stood on a rock, which was floating in the middle of lava. It was sweltering, so Eris was sweating like crazy, so she had to cast a spell around her so that cool air flows within her range.

Much better, she thought, now where was I? Ah yes.

"Lava demon, I call for you!" Eris yelled at the top of her lungs.

After silence for a few minutes, the ground trembled. Eris steadies herself as she almost lost her balance. Rising from the lava right in front of her is a very large humanoid creature. Its head saurian in shape, its entire body made out of lava. When it finished rising, it opened its eyes, which are glowing green in colour. Those eyes stared intensely at the bird creature in front of it before it spoke in a deep voice.

"Hmm?" it hummed, "What's a creature like you doing at my place? No one, and I mean no one has dared to traverse to my place and make it out alive."

Eris stood up before dusting herself off.

"Greetings. I am Eris, and I came here to make a simple request."

The lava demon laughed, before proclaiming, "What makes you think I obey anyone? Lavan bows to no one but himself. For I, control this domain and the power of all things fire!"

"Including lava?" added Eris.

"Yes, of course," necessitated Lavan.

"Well anyway, my league could use your lava powers against those pesky ponies," began Eris.

"Ponies? Hmm, I haven't heard of them for a while. Not since those five princesses banished me here," dictated Lavan.

"Well, they're gone now, it has been years isn't it since you've been dormant?" cajoled Eris.

"Has it? I've been slumbering for many years until you woke me up. Now give me one reason why I shouldn't just melt you," threatened Lavan as he reached out for Eris with his bare, searing hands.

"Woah, woah, woah, woah, hear me out!" begged Eris as she raised her hands, "By working together with me and Grogar, we can beat those ponies. Even the princesses don't stand a chance."

Lavan retracted his hand back and thought about it.

"Hmm, I have heard of this Grogar, a necromancer and a powerful sorcerer of unknown strength... Hmm, very well," agreed Lavan.

"Excellent!" squealed Eris, "Trust me, this alliance is worth it, just meet us at a skull cave in the swamp."

"I will," replied Lavan, as he turned around and walked away.

"By the way," Eris wondered, "how would you get there without, you know... burning everything in your path?"

Lavan turned his head around to look at her.

"Don't worry, I can harden my body so that I won't be spewing lava everywhere I go, collateral damage avoided."

"Phew," Eris wiped the sweat off her forehead, it appears the spell is fading away, "Last thing we need is attention."

And so Eris conjured a portal once more, going through to recruit more members for Grogar's deadly alliance.





Eris stepped into yet another cavern, this time looking for an object containing the ally she wanted to recruit. She has heard that he was imprisoned after being betrayed by a pony he made a pact with. Since then, that prison was kept in the darkest depths of the caverns. No creature has ever traverse there as it was too dangerous. Until that one bold sarimanok came.

After exploring for quite a while, she finally found it. In front of her was a flight of stone steps curving into a platform with a stone pedestal. On top of that pedestal is a golden bottle engraved with markings and a cork sealing it shut. Eris climbed the flight of stairs until she reached the top. From there, she took the bottle from the pedestal as it was unguarded and examined it. After that, she opened it.

Immediately after, a strong force pushed her back onto the platform floor. Eris watched as a tornado emerges out of the bottle violently. Slowly, the tornado slows down to reveal a dark, cloudy figure. The figure had no legs, but two arms as usual like most creatures. Its head is narrow, had a pointy chin, a long red nose and two black horns growing from each side. In addition, it appears to be wearing some sort of black vest made from the same material that makes up this creature, as though it were part of it.

The cloudy creature raised his arms and stretched himself before opening his eyes to reveal that they are red.

It spoke in a calm, chilling voice, "Ahhhhh, it's been so long since I roamed free. Who is foolish enough to release me from my prison?"

"I did," spoke Eris, "and I did it with full intent to release you."

"Is that so?" the cloud demon wondered aloud, "Oh, forgive me for my lack of manners, I'm Erebus."

"Eris," she introduced herself, "You must be that cloud demon that ran a concert before, yes?"

"Indeed," said Erebus, "every single concert me and my friends ran was all to gather the shadows that I can consume so that I can grow stronger. And once I am supreme, no one can stop me.

Eris listened with intent as Erebus continued with his story.

"And I would have become one, if it wasn't for the betrayal of one of my partners..."

"And who would that be?" asked Eris curiously.

"Knight Shade...." he growled.

"That pony wanted to become famous but the one thing standing in his way was his unfortunate name. Everybody laughed at him, I felt sorry, so I wanted to help him. And help he did get. He signed a pact with me, and if he ever betrays me, he was gonna get it. So me and my friends went to steal some shadows, Knight Shade was the main singer, an attraction, all of the mares seem to adore him. I gave him everything he wanted. And what do I get? Betrayal, nothing but that. We were getting along well, we were unstoppable, we were famous! And one day, he developed a guilty conscience and not only did he seal me in that cursed bottle but also depowered me and return all those shadows back to those ponies!"

"And here we are," Eris chimed in, "for the same thing."

"Hmmm, what happened to you that you think freeing me would accomplish?" asked Erebus.

"I once owned a casino, it was once my empire! Any bad guy from any universe or point in time can come in and do business. Except Discord, he's on my blacklist. But anyway, I had everything until those intruders came in and kicked me out, of my OWN place! You know what humiliation feels like?"

"Indeed," acknowledged Erebus, "we are the same. Let's cut to the chase, you want me to join your forces, how big?"

"Huge," answered Eris, "You read my mind, all you need to do is to find a goat-shaped cave, that's where we hang out."

"I shall be on my way," declared the shadowy demon, "But first, I would like to meet an old friend if you can guess."

And with that, Erebus floated away, laughing maniacally as he ventured out of the cave.

"Alrighty then, only a few more to-"

Suddenly, she was interrupted by an orb of Grogar's face materialising right in front of her, startling the sarimanok.

"Eris! Have you gathered my minions yet?" boomed the ram.

"Jeez, you startled me. I'm almost done, just a few more and we'll have the most deceptive, deadly alliance ever. Oh, and for your information, we're not your minions. We are your partners, are we not?"

"Yes, yes," replied the sorcerer nonchalantly, "I get it, just hurry it up a little, we'll prepare for tomorrow. They won't know what hit 'em."

"Understood, supreme leader," expressed Eris.

"I appreciate those words you gave me," grinned Grogar, "Oh, before I leave, can you do me one more task?"

"What is it?" inquired Eris.

"Fetch me the remains of the Storm King."
> The Ram and his Old Friend
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

At last, it's been so long, he thought. Many years had passed since his last humiliating defeat against Gusty the Great. He has since risen back and will not be defeated again. He'll make sure of it. Now he's back, with not only a large deadly alliance but an army. The ponies won't see this coming. But first, he needs to see an old friend of his.

Trudging through a cobblestone path, he comes across a deserted graveyard. Entering through it, he begins to look for a certain tombstone. Searching for around half an hour, he finally found the one.

HERE LIES BRAY, TRAITOR OF DONKEYKIND AND A WILLING SERVANT TO EMPEROR GROGAR

"Why hello there, willing servant of mine. Or perhaps, there's this tinge of regret you may have? All you are doing is trying to earn my respect for all I have done are nothing but planning and almost vaporizing you. Maybe I was a bit harsh on you. Anyway..."

Grogar's horns lit up as he begins to cast a spell. He zapped it at the tombstone, and the latter is engulfed in yellow magic aura, reaching deep into the buried soil.

Emerging from it is a bony foreleg, grabbing at the soil as it struggles to pull the rest of itself out. Once fully emerged, the donkey skeleton began to grow masses of tissue out of seemingly nowhere from the inside, slowing regenerating into a full-bodied adult donkey. The resurrected servant only known as Bray opened his eyes and looked around at where he was standing before looking at himself to realise that he should not have been here.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, old friend," chuckled the necromancer.

"That voice... It can't be... It's not possible..." trembled Bray.

"The one and only. Now come my lackey, we have a world to conquer."





When Grogar came back to his own headquarters along with Bray, he witnessed that it has been packing with villains of all sorts, shapes and sizes.

"Excellent Eris, you did well," commended Grogar.

Eris, who was sitting at a stone chair, looking at her claws and holding her staff in another hand looked up and rose from her seat.

"The pleasure is all mine, Emperor Grogar, although we have a few latecomers..."

"I can wait, in the meantime, would you like to introduce your new partners to me?" asked Grogar politely.

"Certainly, ROLL CALL!" Eris announced loudly.

One by one, the villains introduced themselves, including two shadowy beings in the shape of ponies, a floating mass of dark cloud with arms, two Storm guards, three bird-like creatures with dog heads, a Thracian ruler and a earth pony with a green coat, red eyes and a white mane tied back into a short ponytail.

"I'm Queen Bumble, and these are my finest guards, Sting and Pointer," said the queen bee while gesturing to the bee soldiers behind her.

"Crunch, guardian of the diamond dogs, not sure why I feel angry today..."

"King Charlatan, I will help you liberate your forces from these vile ponies!"

.......

After a brief moment of awkward silence, Eris whispered some words into Grogar's ear.

"The both of them? Okay, yes. Ahem, continue," stuttered the ram.

"I am Squirk, and this is my lackey Crank."

"Lavan, I can't wait to get back at them," thundered the lava demon.

"I'm the Jewel Wizard, I loves jewels. Yeah, that's all I have."

"The name's Zeb, I was once a master thief before I retired."

"Ah yes, steal from the rich and give to the poor, am I right lad?" laughed Charlatan.

Zeb only looked at him with a unamused expression on his face.

"Katrina, former sorceress at Panthera before they ousted me. This is my husband Rep of Klugetown."

"Hi," Rep waved.

"Gock!"

"Gluda!"

"And we are the Gizmonks! We makes stuff!" they both chimed.

Hmmm, engineers. They'll prove useful to my cause, thought Grogar.

"I'm Zappityhoof, and these are my friends, Goldcap and Decepticolt."

Immediately after the blue unicorn's name was uttered, the entire room was filled with laughter, save for Zappityhoof and Goldcap.

"You got to be kidding me," Decepticolt grumbled.

"Anyway, we, the Pseudocorns, have a dream. Of becoming alicorn princesses."

Again, the room was filled with loud laughter.

"Hey! I think it was ambitious! We almost managed to become one thanks to Cosmos' teachings," snapped Zappityhoof.

"I did? I mean of course I did!" boasted Cosmos.

"A divine being of malice teached three lowly unicorns of dark, ritualistic magic? Maybe you aren't so bad after all," said Grogar, who was impressed.

"I'm Shrock, and this is Krock and Chock, and we are the Raptorians," said the red bird-like creature with fancy hair, "We used to work under Princess Porcina of the Pig Kingdom, but we left her as we are tired of being bossed around."

"And honestly," Chock, who has a mop hairstyle, added, "We don't give a darn about how beautiful the princess looked."

"And actually, she's horrendous no matter how much makeup she puts on," finished Krock, who's head truly resembles a dog.

"Well now, by working with me, I assure you, you'll all get bragging rights, I promise you," entreated the ram.

"Oh boy, finally!" Shrock cheered, "No more bathing her, no more doing her hooves and no more berating us!"

The thin cloud creature was the next to speak, "My name is Strife, and I served under the Storm King."

"Emphasise on 'served'," one of the Storm guards spoke up.

"Silence! You are nothing but lowly guards to expend upon!" shrieked Strife, pointing his finger accusingly at the guard who taunted him.

"Said the right hand man who betrayed his master," the guard retorted back.

Patience waning bit by bit, Grogar zapped at the ground in between the two to break up the fight.

"Enough! Now's not the time to fight, we have to work together. You! Storm guards, what are your names?" he asked with a thundering voice.

"Oh um, I'm Ralph, and this is my friend Sam. We used to work under the Storm King as well before we had to take up minimum wage jobs in Klugetown," the more feisty guard replied.

"Oh don't worry about that, soon your pay will be even higher, perhaps even prestigious. Anyway, what about you, weird green pony?" inquired the ram.

The green pony looked at his hoof until he heard Grogar call for him. He then stopped what he was doing and stepped forward, raising his right foreleg to his chest as he presented himself.

"I may look... strange... as other ponies had said, but you may simply call me Beezen. I am nothing but a humble businesspony."

"Something tells me that this is far from what he claims, I can feel it," commented Cozy Glow, who felt chills running down her spine.

"State your business, Beezen," declared Grogar.

"You could ask me more politely but anyhow, I owned or rather, formerly owned a factory that manufactures magic paint. Any surface the paint coats will make that surface or even non-living objects as a whole come to life. Pretty neat huh?"

Grogar only looked on unimpressed, "And what use do I have for magic paint? Art?"

"Ah, you misunderstand," claimed Beezen, "For there is art everywhere in the world around you. You can create anything, you are their creator, and when they try to resist, they can't, for they lack any sort of intelligence or sentience."

Grogar put a hoof to his beard and pondered for a bit, reconsidering his views on Beezen.

"Very well," answered the necromancer, "Perhaps, you do have a point. Nonetheless, if you have deceived me, I won't hesitate to vaporize you."

"Trust me, you won't regret this."

"Next!" yelled the ram.

An elderly greyish pony stepped forward and raised his right forehoof.

"I am King Diomedes of Thrace, and I want to assist you in purging friendship from our lands!"

Grogar, usually stoic and unflinching, was actually surprised by what he heard. Nevertheless, he regained his composure just as quick.

"Well then, do elaborate, your Highness," Grogar mused.

"You see, friendship, IS A DISEASE!" proclaimed Diomedes loudly.

Chrysalis gasped. "You think so too?! Finally, someone gets it!"

"Friendship makes us soft, and if we're soft, how do we defend our lands from being conquered?!" he boomed, "Just  look at the Sun and Moon Princesses, not only are they weak, but they also chose an even weaker and inept leader! They even corrupted my daughter! I had no choice but to lock her up in her own room."

Cozy looks taken aback by what she had heard.

"Um, by locking her up, you mean grounded right? Cause I get that a lot," she inquired.

"I don't know what 'grounded' means but yes I indeed locked her up."

"Oof," Cozy puffed.

"Interesting. Very well, Diomedes, you are now an invaluable ally to all of us. Together, we shall create a better world for every creature," dictated Grogar.

"I shall do only what's best for my citizens, whether they like it or not. I'm never wrong," bowed the Thracian King.

Grogar then pointed to two shadowy beings in the shape of ponies.

"You two, state your names."

The two shadowy ponies were hideous from head to toe, although one of them stepped forward while also shape-shifting into a more normal form that's tolerable to look at.

"Hello, I'm Rabia and this, is my wonderful daughter Ira. We are both Umbrum, I am their leader. Finally, I'm also the mother of Sombra. Isn't that right my son?"

Upon hearing that, Sombra tilted his head with a confused look on his face.

"Mother? I don't have a mother," he scoffed.

"Really? You don't remember us? Not even your childhood where you've been nothing but chastised, isolated and ousted from other ponies?" asked Rabia.

The memory of what he saw in Radiant Hope's vision appeared in his mind, breaking his composure a little. For the first time ever in a thousand years, he felt a sense of loss and despair.

What's this feeling, I don't even, he wondered to himself.

"No, I don't remember, you're lying! I am the King of the Crystal Empire! It is my destiny!" Sombra shouted, not showing his fear in front of the others.

"No, your true destiny is to let darkness envelope all," implored Rabia, who is flying towards his direction and encircling him, "Have you ever wondered why you were even made in the first place? Why you didn't have parents? Why you were different from other ponies even though you look like a unicorn?"

Rabia's words pierced through his heart, now he's shuddering and shivering a little. But he refused to snap, refused to break down. All should fear Sombra, not the other way around. And yet, he couldn't deny that everything that he thought he knew about himself was one gigantic lie. Was he not the king he was born to be? Was he even a unicorn? Did he always had a friend who genuinely trusted him? Many of those thoughts were swirling in his head, it was dizzying. The once indomitable king is starting to lose his composure. Then came one final sentence from the Umbrum leader's mouth.

"Sombra, I really am your mother."

"No.... It can't be, it's not possible!" wailed Sombra.

"Search your feelings in that black heart of yours, brother. You know it to be true," cajoled Ira, flying to stand beside her mother.

Sombra tried as he may to hold back his tears, but to no avail. He finally broke down and shown his weakness to all the other felons around him. As such, he also felt embarrassed about it.

"Golly, that's one way to make him snap," commented Cozy.

"Compared to you, I didn't even think it was possible to tick him off," added Chrysalis.

"Do Umbrums even have feelings other than hate?" Tirek speculated, also surprised that Sombra, a creature born out of nothing but darkness to be even capable of feeling sadness.

Grogar trotted up to Sombra to smack him in the face with his forehoof.

"Ow! That hurt more than my dispelling!" cried the King.

"Now's not the time to show weakness you imbecile, I cannot afford an ally that loses to feelings," informed Grogar, "Know who your enemies are, they never cared about you all because you are weird and different."

"Hey! I'm not weird! Just....different...." rebutted Sombra.

"Of course you are! Now tell me, how does that make you feel?" asked Grogar calmly.

"Angry?" the shadow king answered.

"And what do you do when someone makes you angry?"

"Start an angry mob?"

Grogar smacked him a second time.

"No! You exact revenge! You take out your anger on those who have wronged you. Show them no mercy," preached Grogar.

"Yes, you're right, I am Sombra, I am the king! I was destined to rule over the Crystal Empire! And now they will bow to me! Kneel before Sombra! I shall tell them, kneel!" bellowed Sombra, his resolve now restored.

"Excellent, now Eris, is that every creature?" asked Grogar.

"Almost, there is one more. He should be coming in 3, 2, 1..."

As the countdown hits zero, a cloudy creature rushed in, carrying a sack that seems to be moving on his back.

"Whew! I apologise for my tardiness, but I did say I will bring a friend along."

As Erebus said that, his eyes darted towards a zebra he knew too well.

"Zeb?" asked the cloud demon.

"Well, well, if it ain't my old friend, Erebus," replied the zebra, "How's that bottle for you, comfy?"

"Well not exactly, but in many, many years, you'll get used to it," shrugged Erebus, "Anyway, the reunion isn't over yet, I've brought someone you may know all too well."

Erebus then dropped the sack on the stone floor. Wriggling out of it was a white  earth pony with a peach coloured curly mane and wearing glasses.

"Pah! Who is uncouth enough to try and dare to- Gah!" yelped the earth pony, who stumbled back onto the stone floor upon seeing the villains in front of him.

"Wait a minute, is that.....Svengallop?" questioned Cozy Glow, surprised by that revelation.

"Wait, that maniacal filly, that insect queen, and that demonic centaur?! How? What's going on?!" Svengallop panicked, unsure of what he was witnessing.

"Well ha-cha-cha! Even better! I've missed you, Knight Shade," taunted Zeb.

"Hold up, this guy, who has managed countless pop stars, is the legendary pop star of Rock 'n' Roll Knight Shade himself??" Cozy gasped.

"Well, cat's out of the bag, no pun intended miss kitty," stated Svengallop, "but yes I was the one and only Knight Shade."

"But before that, he was a phony pony full of baloney known as Pony Baloney," Erebus chimed in.

Suddenly, the entire room was filled with loud laughter and wheezing. Only Svengallop wasn't part of it, covering his face in embarrassment.

"At least my name is cooler than that!" commented Decepticolt.

After the laughter subsided, Grogar spoke up, "You serious?"

"Oh absolutely," chuckled Zeb who put his hoof around Svengallop, "As a really young colt, he despised the unfortunate name his parents gave him, and as a result was bullied for it. I feel bad for him really. Never was he accepted into any job because of it, and that's where he found us...."





"...And here we are, the band's back together again," finished Zeb.

After a lengthy story detailing Svengallop's rise and fall from fame, Grogar then made an announcement.

"If that is every creature here, then I shall introduce to you a few more allies to our cause, Eris, Chrysalis and Sombra! Have you brought what I needed?"

The three of them stepped forward, each carrying the items Grogar requested.

"I got the logs."

"I got those Plunderseeds."

"I brought the remains of the Storm King."

Upon hearing of this familiar adversary, Katrina spoke up.

"The Storm King? The one who conquered my homeland and countless others? He's...dead?"

"Not for long," dictated the necromancer, "For I shall bring him back, stronger than ever."

Some of the villains gasped, others awed and oohed.

"But first, I shall start by recreating a twisted and most vile version of our most hated and mutual enemies. Chrysalis! The logs, put them down."

Chrysalis did as Grogar instructed, and with that he began to cast a spell on it.

The logs glowed with a corresponding bright light, blinding some of the villains that they had to shield their eyes. They floated above the ground and the light from them extruded, forming what appears to be limbs, tails, their heads and other appendages exclusive to their corresponding race.

After the spell completed, the new equine beings slowly descended back onto the ground. Eyes initially closed before slowly opening as they reawaken from their once long slumber.

"Is that?" Cozy began in awe.

"I don't believe this," Tirek continued.

"My children, they live!" Chrysalis yelped in excitement.

"Your what?!" the filly and centaur replied in surprise.

In front of the villains were nearly identical doppelgangers of their worst enemies. The only differences are their coats being less saturated, some of the colouring such as from their cutie marks being off colour, and they're also wearing clothing coloured in black. The duplicate alicorn is wearing some tattered footwear and a scarf, the unicorn is wearing a cape, the blonde earth pony is wearing a black stetson and a bandanna, the not-so-shy pegasus is wearing a headband and also some tattered footwear, the unhappy, fluffy maned, earth pony is wearing a tattered bandanna and a ribbon tied at the base of her tail and finally, the overconfident pegasus wears both tattered neckwear and all four footwear on herself.

"Where? What's going on? Are we, living again?" asked the off colour alicorn, who is obviously the leader of the group.

Just as Chrysalis was about to greet them, Grogar shoved her aside, much to her chagrin. He then approached them to introduce himself.

"I am Grogar, former ruler of the now gone Tambelon, I have brought you back from your....vegetative state. To say the least."

While slightly insulted by that remark, the faux alicorn kept her cool.

"Well thanks, Grogar. But pray tell, why are we here anyway? Because I ain't planning to serve that insect once more."

Chrysalis was about to lash out at the Twilight Sparkle clone for her insolence but both Cozy and Tirek restrained her.

"Oh, you won't be working under her, you'll be working with her. Here in this very alliance of ours, all are equal in the playing field," Grogar assured.

"Is that so?" asked Mean Twilight, uncertain.

"But of course, join us, and I'll grant you anything you desire," entreated the ram, who extended his hoof towards her, "So what do you say?"

Mean Twilight thought about the offer for a moment before extending her own hoof to accept it.

"You got yourself a deal, what do you say girls?"

"Anything you say," deadpanned Mean Pinkie.

"Alright! I'm gonna mess them up real good," exclaimed Mean Fluttershy, clapping her hooves together.

"Gems?!" squealed Mean Rarity, who seemed overexcited.

"No way, ain't gonna be part of that," complained Mean Rainbow Dash.

"What she said!" agreed(?) Mean Applejack.

Mean Twilight simply rolled her eyes at her subordinates' shenanigans, before saying, "Basically, they said yes."

"What?! You can't be serious?!" exclaimed Mean Rainbow.

"What she said!" Mean Applejack agreed(?) once more.

Mean Twilight beckoned for her 'friends' to huddle up for a private meeting.

"Look, Rainbow I get it, that's who you are but honestly, looking at you AJ, we aren't strong enough even on our own to rise up to Grogar so until then we need to work together, even with these guys, understood?"

The rest of the Mean Six nodded in agreement including Dash and Applejack.

"Alrighty then," concluded Mean Twilight as she turned back towards Grogar, "We're in."

"Excellent," acknowledged Grogar, "Oh and one more thing, don't ever even think about betraying me, I brought you back with my magic, I can also easily undo it. Understand?"

Twilight nodded in silent agreement.

"Great, now then. Eris! Bring me the remains of the Storm King."

Grogar commanded Eris to drop the remains on the ground and with that, his horns glowed and he began to cast a spell on it.

The dust and debris glowed yellow with Grogar's magic, each shattered piece moving and reforming back into the shape of the Storm King's being. A symbol also appeared beneath the statue's feet. Lightning struck its head from above. A strong gust of wind blew around the cavern. During all of those events, Grogar was chanting an incantation. The villains all look at the necromancer and his magic in awe, bewildered by his sheer power. 

After what seemed like nearly half an hour, the glow on the statue has faded, revealing the Storm King in flesh and blood. His frozen expression of fear subsided, as he realised what has happened.

"Am I?" quavered the Storm King, wiggling his fingers to make sure that he was indeed alive and well, "I am! Yeehaw! The Storm King's back, baby! Back from the dead! Woo, woo woo!"

As he yell in triumph, the Storm King performed his victory dance which consisted of him pelvic thrusting. Chrysalis and Tirek had to cover Cozy's eyes by stretching their leg/arm over her face but Cozy just peeked over them.

"But wait, who would revive this really handsome and amazing yeti such as myself?" entreated the Storm King.

"It was me, Grogar, I was the one who brought you back," announced the ram.

"Is that so, Grogar? Because if you're thinking that I'm simply gonna bow to-"

"We aren't bowing to him," Sombra cut him off, "We are working together. But trust me, it ain't worth it pal."

"Tch, well fine, by the way you have a lovely little group here. What's your name little filly?" the Storm King prodded.

"I'll introduce you to the rest later," beckoned Grogar, "Right now, I'm also here to tell you that aside from reviving you, you can now also use the storm magic that I have bestowed upon you."

"I'm sorry, what?" quavered the Storm King.

"I'm saying during the process which I have revived you, you have also been blessed with super powers. You can control the weather like your namesake now," explained Grogar.

"Really now? We'll see about that."

The Storm King began to point his finger at a stalactite hanging above Svengallop. A bolt of lightning suddenly shot straight from his fingertip, striking at the stalactite and causing it to fall. Fortunately, Svengallop managed to sidestep, yelping in fear as he did so.

"Hohohohohoho! You see what I just did?!" exclaimed the Storm King, surprised at what he himself had just done, "I can shoot lightning!"

"Indeed," said Grogar.

"So tell me almighty Grogar, what else can I do?" asked the Storm King.

"Well.... That's it, you control the weather," Grogar promptly replied.

The Storm King's excitement suddenly dropped.

"That's it? No teleportation, super strength or invulnerability or anything?"

"Nope."

"I don't believe it. No, seriously, I really don't believe it. Surely there's more to this than being a weatherman right?"

Grogar only shook his head in response.

"Welp, in that case, this calls for one thing!"

"Oh not this again," Strife facepalmed.

"What? What is it?" Queen Chrysalis asked.

"He's gonna do a-"

"Montage tiiiiiime!" Storm King interrupted.

All the other villains, including Svengallop, groaned in cringe.

"Storm King, I do not have time for this!" insisted Grogar.

"Ha! Who's to stop you from reaching my true potential?!" trilled the Storm King, pointing his finger at the ram. "I can speak from experience, looking at you, Cloudy Strife."

Strife simply groaned at the remark.

"Ugh, fine. But you won't find any more abilities beyond that," grunted Grogar.

"EXCELLENT!" proclaimed the Storm King, "Let's do this!"





"Okay, test one, super strength," said Cozy, who was holding a clipboard and a pencil in both hooves. Upon putting it down, Storm King was dancing around, twirling his fists before raising them in the air and thrusting his pelvis.

"Storm King!" Cozy shouted, getting his attention.

"Oh right!" said the Storm King, who proceeded to punch a boulder that was delivered by Tirek. Needless to say, the thing he broke was his fists as he retracted it in pain.

"Oooooooowwwwwww!!!!!!" he screamed.

Cozy simply rolled her eyes before striking through the words.

"Test two, flight."

The Storm King stood on top of a skateboard ramp, built swiftly with wood by the Gizmonks. Storm King then run down to the opposite side to catch some air and jump. But it was barely even a gap between his feet and the inclination before he came crashing down into the platform, breaking it.

The next test involved durability, and Cozy held a bat, ready to swing at the King. She did so, hitting his crotch. He felt intense pain instead, grabbing his crotch and falling on the floor. Cozy snickered before bursting into laughter at his misery.

Soon after he recovered, he then tried using an axe to chop his arm off. Grogar who was just passing by immediately noticed it and swiftly used his magic to move the Storm King's limb out of the way, the axe slicing his fur instead. Storm King, bewildered at his lack of durability and a close shave, then make eye contact with Grogar. The ram growled at his idiocy, while the Storm King made an embarrassed smile in response.

"Test four, laser eyes. Storm King, I'm pretty sure he did not give you laser eyes," grumbled Cozy Glow.

"What?! Of course he did! Watch."

The Storm King then stared hard at a barrel. But try as hard as he may, he can't shoot lasers from his eyes. So he hid his hand behind his head and zapped at barrel, making it seem like he did so. Cozy did not buy it and instead striked through the corresponding words.

"Test five, teleportation."

"This is my favourite part!" chortled the excited Storm King as he hid himself in one of two boxes placed on the floor.

"But what he doesn't know is I'm also gonna test if he has fire immunity by pouring some gas on the box and lighting it up," murmured Cozy as she did so.

Five minutes passed, Cozy was slightly worried she may have burned him alive. Fortunately, the Storm King broke out of the box, but not before screaming while he's set ablaze. Cozy cringed at the sight.

After the tests are complete, the Storm King then stomped in front of the other villains, still on fire thanks to Cozy.

"You're kidding me right?" said the unamused Storm King, "Is there anything else I can do besides shoot lightning out of my hands?!"

Right as he said that with his arms outstretched, rain came pouring down on him, extinguishing the flames.

"That, and you can transform your body into electricity and water at will. I told you, you are blessed with the power of the storm," insisted Grogar.

"Wait, so....."

Then the Storm King had an idea.

"KAZAM!"

Upon uttering the word, lightning struck him and he transformed into a living bolt of electricity, zooming around the room before going back to his original spot and transforming back.

"Hahahaha!" he laughed, "Ooh, how about this? Water!"

His body then transformed. While he retains his shape, his body is now made out of water.

"Come on! Anyone wanna hit me?" the Storm King beckoned.

"As you wish," obliged Grogar, as he prepared a spell to fire at him.

"Wait, no, wait! I-I was just kidding! Ahhhhhhh!!!!"

But the spell simply phased through, leaving the Storm King unharmed.

"I'm... I'm alive?"

"You can say that again," answered Grogar.

"I'm aliiiive, baby!"

"You can stop now," pleaded the ram.

"Okay so, now that that's done, what's next?" asked the Storm King.

"Oh, my favourite part. Allow me to demonstrate why I'm the Father of all monsters. Sombra! The Plunderseeds," demanded Grogar.

Sombra did as Grogar instructed and set the seeds on the floor in front of him. Grogar teleported in a cauldron and a few flasks and vials and a table plus a place to put the cauldron on.

"I need water, Storm King," Grogar requested.

"Alrighty then, KAZAM!" bellowed the Storm King, as he creates a rain cloud over the cauldron.

"At some point, I really need you to stop saying that," grumbled Grogar.

"Aww, loosen up a little will ya? Ya grouch."

Ignoring that remark, and after the cauldron is filled up, the rain cloud dissipates, and Grogar proceeded to fill the cauldron with strange liquids from various flasks and vials. Taking a ladle with his magic, he began to stir the mixture together until it was bubbly and boiling. He then levitated the Plunderseeds before plopping them into the cauldron as well.

"What are we watching here? A cooking show?" Sombra asked sarcastically.

"This ain't no brew nor stew, but something better. Behold!"

As Grogar uttered that word, he began to step back. The concoction bubbled and boiled more violently. After a few seconds, a beam of light shot straight to the ceiling. Winds began to blow around the place. The dastardly rogues can only look at the might of Grogar's magic in awe as the light beam began to settle down. For a few minutes, there was eerie silence.

Suddenly, what appeared to be a leafy branch shot straight out of the vile mixture grabbing the rim of the cauldron and pulling itself out. When it did, out comes what appeared to be a flower that hasn't bloomed yet. When it opened itself,  it revealed a slimy maw that screeched really loudly. All the other villains cringed in disgust at the abomination.

"What in Tartarus is that?!" Svengallop exclaimed with his jaw dropped.

"Are those, mutant Plunderseeds?" asked Cozy.

The mutant Plunderseed monster then pushed its entire self out of the cauldron, standing on its other pair of branches as feet. More and more followed out of the cauldron, to what seemed like an endless army of them.

"Correct, but I think 'mutant Plunderseeds' sounds a bit bland and unoriginal. I think I'll instead call them, the Flores," said Grogar.

"Now come, rest up, all of you," commanded the ram to his allies, "Tommorow will be a day of reckoning. They won't see this coming."
> Evil Rising
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The birds are singing, the wind is blowing, Cozy felt like she had a really good nap. She is in for a rude awakening however, as that wind smelled nasty as it's blowing in her face. That rancid air caused Cozy to slowly open her eyes, until it came face to face with what appeared to be a one-eyed giant spider monster.

"Gah!" shrieked Cozy as she rocketed straight into the ceiling before coming back down on her bed. After seeing stars, she then snapped out of her stupor. The monster was still here, but it didn't attack. Confused, she then decided to leave the resting chambers, the monster following after her, much to her chagrin.

Upon leaving the room, she looked at what's happening around the main area at Grogar's Lair. Villains of every kind are seen chatting around. The Storm King had also apparently discovered his ability to control the wind. Using it, he created a mini-vortex to swirl Svengallop around, humiliating him. The other villains who watched only laughed at his misery.

"Woah! Put me down you dolt!" begged Svengallop.

"Well, if you say so," said the Storm King.

He then intensified the vortex, increasing the force and sending Svengallop straight into the ceiling. Unfortunately for him, he crashed down hard on the stone floor head first, causing a huge concussion on him. The rogues only laughed even harder.

"Alright, enough playing around," berated Grogar, "it's time for battle preparations."

"Would you like some heavy metal to get you riled up?" suggested the Storm King.

"NO!!!" yelled the ram.

"Well okay, seems like you're riled up already."

"Anyway," began Grogar, "I would like to introduce you to an old companion of mine, and it seems like the filly has met him already."

"That ugly thing?" spat Cozy as she pointed at the spider monster behind her.

"He is no 'thing'!!! His name is Ahgg, and he is one of my best creations to date, exhibiting high intelligence and extreme loyalty only to me. I tried releasing him, and for some reason he really wanted to stay with me. So I did and now he is what I would call my right handed servant." bellowed Grogar.

"Wasn't I your right hand?" questioned Bray.

"You are my second-in-command," clarified the necromancer.

"Sure didn't treat me like one," mumbled the donkey.

"Would you like to speak louder, my second-in-command?" threatened Grogar, his horns glowing menacingly.

"Nope! No, sire! Everything's okay and dandy!" said Bray, quickly shaking his head in fear.

Despite this, Ahgg growled at him, ready to pounce at any moment.

"No, Ahgg, be patient, I still have use for him," commanded Grogar.

Ahgg obeyed, retracting back his stance.

"Anyway, all of you gather up! It's time for a briefing," hollered the ram.

"Ugh, I hate briefings, why don't we just go Leroooy Jenkins! Worked for me," drawled the Storm King.

"You shall learn that the mind can vanquish the sword. After all, you and the others failed because you don't think," mocked Strife.

All the others looked angry at him for the remark. Except Grogar, who wholeheartedly agreed.

"He's right my allies, he speaks wisdom. And that is why I have a plan."

With what he said, he shot a beam of magic at his orb, the object emitting a hologram of the map of Equestria.

"Okay, listen up, and I mean you all listen well, cause if I ever witnessed even a single blunder, you won't like what's coming for you next. We have many different territories to lay siege on. Our main target is where the ponies live, Appleloosa, Canterlot, Cloudsdale, the Crystal Empire, Dodge Junction, Fillydelphia, Manehattan, Ponyville and so on so forth. The others are Yakyakistan, the Dragon Lands, Griffonstone, the Changeling Hive-"

Chrysalis tensed upon hearing her old homeland, "Ah yes, my old home. Where my people betrayed me."

"Indeed, as I was saying, the Changeling Hive, the Breezie Village, Dimondia, Aquastria, Klugetown, Hippogriffia, Seaquestria, Abyssinia, Ornithia, Caninia and Farasi."

"So basically, the whole world," Tirek stated.

"Correct, I will divide you into many teams, each of you assisted by my army and my monsters, we will all launch a swift, surprise attack. And I will also put some of you as ambush units. It will be a lightning war. No pun intended, Storm King."

"Awwww," said the Storm King as his face drooped.

Grogar then conjured a wooden pointer and begun pointing at the target locations.

"Sombra, Diomedes, Bumble and Charlatan, I'm sending you to the Crystal Empire, I need you to help liberate the crystal ponies from their tyrannical rulers."

"Absolutely, it will be a piece of cake, crystal cake," Sombra affirmed with a bow.

"Don't ya worry, pal, I'll save them! Justice will be delivered at their doorstep!" Charlatan hollered, raising his flippers triumphantly.

"Aye, I knew they shouldn't have allied themselves with the Princess of Friendship," scowled Diomedes.

Grogar then discussed the next target which was the seabound place of Aquastria.

"Squirk, I'm going to send Crank to Aquastria, where he lies in ambush, my sea monsters will follow suit as well, I need you for the main target of Ponyville, in which you will also ambush them. Once you're done, come to Aquastria to assist Crank and after that, both of you march towards the joint lands of Mount Aris and Seaquestria, the Raptorians will provide air support."

"Such wise words, almighty Grogar, surely you are the best strategist," commended Crank.

"Hey! I thought I was your boss!" snapped the kraken, who glared intensely at his minion.

"Don't mind him, he flatters me. Anyway, Erebus, Svengallop and Zeb, you're my main units to attack Ponyville. Give them one heck of a show if you know what I mean."

"You read my mind brother. We are reunited together at last, aren't we Knight Shade?" taunted the Zebra.

"Oh no....." murmured Svengallop, who was very hesitant in carrying out the plan.

"Tirek, Chrysalis, Storm King, Ralph, Sam and Strife, you will land an assault on Canterlot, Storm King will provide a strike from above thanks to his new powers and the new ship the Gizmonks had made for you."

The Storm King gasped in glee, squishing both his cheeks at the thought of a new ship given to him.

"For me?? Aw you shouldn't have. You hear that, Strife ol' buddy pal? Just like the old times!" he added as he hugged his former second in command.

Chrysalis, Tirek and Strife all groaned.

"This is the one who conquered many nations?" questioned Tirek.

"Conquered?" the penguin king interjected.

"Oop, I mean liberated, yes," the centaur corrected himself.

"Heh, yeah. I bet he couldn't tie his own shoes as a kid," mocked Chrysalis.

"Hey! I will let you know... I don't wear any shoes!" declared the Storm King proudly.

The three baddies groaned a second time, also rolling their eyes in addition.

Grogar then pointed with his pointer at the cat and lizard couple.

"You and Rep shall subjugate the savage Diamond Dogs of Dimondia, after which you shall proceed with the help of a few fellow beasts of mine to Caninia."

"Great, I never liked those filthy dogs anyway," agreed Katrina.

"You sure you want to do this my love?" asked a worried Rep.

"At this point, I've already lost everything, what more could I lose?" sighed the sorceress.

"Lavan and the Jewel Wizard will hit the shores of Farasi, bring the heat to them."

"These fools will burn!" roared the lava demon.

"And why should I care? No reward, no work," the Jewel Wizard complained.

"You want jewels huh? Well first of all, there is a castle in Zebrat, where its treasury is most likely stored, you can raid it and take as much as you want. And second, I'll be giving you these," advised Grogar as he handed a set of five jewels to the wizard.

"What are those?" asked the Jewel Wizard.

"I've made these during my original reign over the lands that shall soon be known as Equestria. I've poured the raw energy and power of the five elements, the red Stone of Wrath grants the user to channel their anger and rage into fire and brimstone. The blue Stone of Acceptance channels your willpower into a fluid liquid state of water. It can also become a solid state of ice as you harden your heart. The yellow Stone of Compliance grants you geomancy, the ability to shape the ground you walk on into a weapon, like bending the earth. The purple Stone of Pride grants you the power of the tempest, the weather will bow at your command, not even the pegasi or the flying creatures can stop it," explained the necromancer.

"Ooh, can I have that?" asked the Storm King as he reached towards the purple jewel that the wizard was holding in his hoof.

"No! Mine!" snapped the greedy wizard as he flicked his hoof away from the yeti king.

"What he said, those are meant for his to use only. Besides you already have the power of the storm. Anyway, and finally the black Stone of Dread, its dark powers will create the most horrifying nightmares one has ever seen. You can become fear itself that way."

"I see, hehehehehe...." the Jewel Wizard cackled, "Now I shall be the only great and powerful Jewel Wizard there ever was!"

"Not like anyone else became one," commented Cozy, who rolled her eyes.

Grogar then pointed at the three shadowy beings that were the Pony of Shadows, Rabia and Ira.

"You three will darken the skies of Ornithia, bring your umbrum army with you."

"Ah, finally! With my return and our combined powers of pure unfiltered darkness, this battle will be legendary! All shall tremble in fear of the Circle of Shadows," guffawed the Pony of Shadows who then laughed.

"The Circle of Shadows, what a great name," agreed Rabia who nodded.

"What about the Shadow Strikeforce?" suggested Ira.

"That works fine too, dear," the umbrum mother nodded at her daughter in agreement.

"Cosmos and Eris shall head to Abyssinia. Show them why your powers should be feared. Also, Crunch, I need you to head towards the Technotitan Basin to deal with those Guardians, I do not want them to interfere with our battle," said the ram to those three.

"I have a question, why is this kitty heading towards the places I am placed in charge of defending?" asked the Rockdog.

"Kitty?! Me?! A kitty?!" scowled Katrina at the remark.

"I can explain. About that Heart Stone, I suspect one of those greedy Diamond Dogs stole it, we need Katrina to bring them in for questioning," lied the treacherous sarimanok, trying to keep Crunch in line.

"Why those ungrateful mutts! After all I did to protect them, this is how they treat me in return?! Rrraaaaagh!!!" yelled Crunch, pounding at the ground violently, causing a tremor that shook the room.

"Stop it! If you want to unleash your fury, do so when we commence our plans!" thundered Grogar.

"Ahem, and finally, the Mean Six over there will sow up discord within the other pony nations. After all, they can't put their faith in their heroes if they are incompetent, bad and downright rude."

Twilight put a hoof to her chin at the thought of Grogar's plan.

"Sounds devious, they won't know what hit them till it's too late. Hehehe..." she snickered.

"Beezen has already laid the foundation this morning, all he needs is a signal, which will come from me. And finally, Ahgg and I will assist with the main forces at Canterlot. Now then, any questions?" the ram finally finished.

Cozy Glow raised her hoof, still hovering and fluttering her wings at the long briefing she was subjected to.

"And what do I do? Can I be an alicorn again? That taste of power is too sweet to just not have." the pegasus filly asked.

"You? An alicorn? Don't make me laugh!" cackle Zappityhoof.

"You aren't old enough and shouldn't even be having one to begin with, let us have that power instead almighty Grogar!" begged Goldcap.

"Oh yeah?!" Cozy snapped back, "Well y'all just crazy marechilds who is too old to be playing gods. And even a stallion here wants to be a pwetty lil' princess!"

"Hey! For your information, I, Decepticolt have a dream, to be the first male ruler of Equestria! Surely, there's one other individual that shares it," the blue unicorn proudly declared.

Everyone except his friends, Svengallop, Diomedes and Grogar all laughed at him.

"Grrrr!!! What? Can't I dream? Why is it always me that's been laughed at?!" fumed Decepticolt.

"Silence!" hollered Grogar, "That's enough, all of you! Anyway, those three are right, I do not trust you with any alicorn powers of sort."

Cozy Glow pouted, crossing her front legs.

"However, you have the ability and skill to manipulate. You will go and assist the Mean Six in whipping up fear among the races. United they stand, divided they fall they say. And dividing them shouldn't be difficult for you am I correct?" said the ram.

"Hmm, yeah, you're right, there is one problem though."

"Which is?"

"I'm a wanted criminal now, everyone and I mean everyone is going to recognise me upon seeing my face!"

Grogar stroked his beard in thought.

"Hmm, you're right, I can fix that for you," offered the necromancer.

With his pair of horns glowing, he began to cast a spell at Cozy. While she yelped at first due to initial shock, the spell wasn't actually painful. It then began to do its work, changing from top to bottom her appearance. Her mane became a golden yellow, her coat an even more vivid pink. Her freckles even disappeared. Otherwise, her stature remains completely unchanged.

After her transformation, she begin to inspect herself. "Great, now I look like my twin sister."

"You have a twin sister?" Tirek asked.

"I've given you all I will," said Grogar, "Don't mess this up. Speaking of which...."

Grogar then extended his hoof as if to expect something. "My Bewitching Bell, where is it?"

"Oh golly, about that Grogar...." stammered Cozy.

"We have run into a few complications...." added Tirek.

Grogar then slammed his hoof into the ground in anger.

"Complications?! What complications?! I demand to know!"

"It's... a long story...." the pegasus filly quavered as she begins to explain a very completely untrue and long tale of how she and Tirek failed to retrieve the bell.

Upon hearing this, the ram screamed in fury, aiming and zapping at the stalactite above Svengallop. The stalactite dropped but fortunately for the showpony, he reacted quickly and dodged out of the way, causing the rock to impale the ground instead.

"You two idiots have one job! One. Job!" the ram screamed before he sighed, "No matter, I have some power left to do this."

With intense concentration, Grogar began to cast yet another powerful spell. Demonstrating his abilities as a necromancer, his eyes glowed white, lightning began to strike from above. Everywhere around the rogues, skeletal arms begin to dig themselves out of the ground. Upon fully pulling itself out, it revealed that it belonged to the skeletons of unknown creatures. Some are huge and bulky, but most are slightly bigger than Cozy herself. In their hands wielded various weapons: swords, crossbows, clubs, shields, spears and many more.

"So this is the power of Grogar," said Chrysalis in awe.

"All that without the bell," added Tirek.

"What even is he??" concluded the trio's sentence with Cozy.

"Creatures from all over the world! And allies of many nations!" bellowed Grogar, "Behold, my army of undead Troggles! Nearly invulnerable, you can never put them down for they will rise, rebuild and come back from every and any defeat!"

"With our prowess, might, sorcery and cunning, we will depose of the ponies once and for all! Monsters! Heed my command, and destroy them all! Show them why you're created and your true purpose!"

At the orders of Grogar, the Troggle army began to march out of his hideout and into various lands of Equestria, beginning the subjugation and conquest.

"Oh right, I almost forgot," added Grogar as he casted another transformation spell on the Pseudocorns.

This time, their colours didn't change and instead they began to sprout magnificent wings, which matched their coat colours.

Upon transformation, the Pseudocorns began to look at their newfound wings in absolutely glee, before proceeding to take off in flight.

"Woohoo! I have wings! You got wings! We all got wings!" cheered Zappityhoof.

"Finally! We have become REAL alicorns!" added Goldcap.

"My dream has been realised!" finished Decepticolt.

"Tch! Amateur wannabes," Cozy pouted as she folded her front legs.

"I have blessed and entrusted you with great power, you three will be sent to an isolated part of Equestria, where my old friends live. Send them a 'greeting' they'll never forget," said Grogar as he smirked ominously.

"Now then, any questions before we head out?" he asked.

Cozy Glow raised her right hoof and waved it intensely.

"What is it, young filly?" questioned the ram, who was visibly irritated.

"Uh, Mister Grogar? Can I go the bathroom? I've been holding it in since that long briefing you gave," requested Cozy Glow.

"You need to what?!"

"I need to go and do my business!" she wailed at the top of her lungs.

"Actually, I need to go too," Chrysalis agreed, also raising her right hoof.

"And me," said Eris as she raised her right hand as well.

"Ugh, fine, anyone else?" the necromancer sighed.

Almost nearly half the group raised their right appendage as well.

"Grrrr..." growled Grogar, "Go! Anyone who needs to use the bathroom, it's at the cavern right over there. I conveniently split the two rooms accordingly. You have fifteen minutes before I drag you all out of there."

With the warning Grogar had put in place, the villains quickly made haste.





In the ladies, only three are left. They are Chrysalis, Eris and Cozy Glow. The three finished at the same time and exited from their stalls.

"You girls really lost Grogar's bell?" Eris asked as she washed her hands.

"It was difficult to obtain it the first time, so who's to say it'll be easier?" Chrysalis replied, also washing her hooves.

"Meh, fair point, see you outside."

When Eris exited, the two are left alone, now able to carry out a private conversation.

"Is the bell hidden safely, small one?" inquired the changeling queen to the filly.

"Eeyup!" affirmed Cozy Glow, "The bell's hidden in a place where that wily old goat wouldn't even think to check!"

"Excellent," smirked Chrysalis as she licks her lips devilishly, "With the bell in our possession, Equestria will be ours once more! And these fools won't be able to stop us!"

"Correct," nodded Cozy, "besides I hate having to share with more of these guys."

Cozy then tried to exit the washroom, but Chrysalis stopped her.

"Ahem," coughed Chrysalis.

"What?" asked the filly.

"You gonna wash your hooves?"

"Noooo..... Cause I'm evil," teased Cozy Glow as she makes her exit.

Chrysalis looked on in surprise before going back to her reserved state.

That's truly evil indeed, she thought to herself.
> The Calm Before the Storm
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

On a fine and warm morning, stood the Princess of Friendship on the balcony of the Canterlot Castle. One year has passed since Twilight's ascension to the Canterlot throne, and now she overlooks the entirety of Equestria. Of course, as a Guardian of Harmony, she wasn't alone. Her friends Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Rainbow Dash will stand by her side wherever and whenever the need arises.

Together with Spike and them, they formed the Council of Friendship, which has now expanded thanks to Spike and her many friends reaching out to the other nations. Aside from the ponies of three kinds now also includes the hot-headed dragons, the headstrong yaks, the compassionate changelings, the fiery kirins, the gallant griffins, the noble hippogriffs who are also the fun-loving seaponies, the determined buffaloes, the stalwart deers, the playful Abyssinians, a race of anthropomorphic cat people, the dazzling diamond dogs, a friendly herd of the abadas, watery kelpie and zebras, the temperamental and tiny Breezies and the high-soaring Ornithians, Celaeno's race of anthropomorphic birdmen.

About three months ago, Twilight has sent her friends on four different expeditions to other parts of the world. The mission was to connect with the other kingdoms to establish a strong bond and diplomatic relations between them.

Applejack, Zecora, Rockhoof and Tempest Shadow were sent to Zebrat, Zecora's original homeland in the faraway country of Farasi. Upon docking at the port of Zebrat, the group were greeted by Zecora's original group of friends. They consist of two abadas, two water kelpies and a zebra. Dust Devil was the brown abada with blazing super speed, Cactus Rose was the lime green abada who can speak to plants, Medley Brook was the cheerful wavy-haired kelpie, Crystal the sassy, punk-haired kelpie and finally, Marini, the zebra with the pink streaks in her mane. The latter also being the mayor of her hometown. While unsettled and distant at first, Zecora has since warmed up to her old friends and has since being trying reconnect with them.

Next up, the second group consists of Capper, Discord, Pinkie Pie and Trixie. These guys were sent to Capper's old home, the capital of Panthera. Since the invasion of the Storm King, the current ruler of the place, Meowmeow Cat has since outlawed magic and turned the entire city into a police state regime, coupled with anti-magic technology of their own that prevented even the great and powerful Lord of Chaos, Discord from using his powers. Initially arrested on sight and failing to convince the king otherwise, the group were rescued by Capper's old pals. Shadow was the black cat leader, Max the silent muscle, Admiral Fluffington the most dapper of all, Molly the kid and to Mr Dapperpaws' own surprise, his old buddy Chummer, who gained an eyepatch while trying to oppress the regime. After discovering the tyrannical king's ulterior motives, Capper and friends had brought a stop to his plans and since then the king was arrested and nowhere to be seen again. Currently, a new government was to be reformed and revised by Shadow to be able to rule with fairness once more.

The third group of Rarity, Big Mac, Maud Pie and Meadowbrook were sent to Caninia, Dimondia's hidden sister kingdom to resolve a friendship problem between the two opposing rulers of the split and divided kingdom. One of them were occupied by the stern Katherina Proudpaws, the reserved Indiana Embereyes, and one of the twin golden labradors, Fiona Floppyears. The other was ruled by a compassionate Jennino Lanternlight, the optimistic Moonbeam Twinkletail and the other golden labrador twin, Ambrosia Muffinbuns. Both sides have conflicting interests, but thanks to the efforts of Rarity and her group, they were able to get the royal sisters to reconcile. Furthermore, they've since stayed in Jennino's castle due to the old one collapsing out of age and disrepair. Currently, both the Abyssinians and Diamond Dogs are setting up a peace treaty while Spike attempts mediation and reconciliation between the two rival races. It was a rocky road for the little drake though Twilight has faith that he can do it. Spike promised that he will never let her down and will be by her side till the very end. Until then, it was a work in progress.

Finally, the last expedition takes the final group to Ornithia, home of the bird people and Captain Celaeno's original homeland prior to the Storm King's invasion. The group involves Celaeno, her pirate crew, the secret agents Bon Bon and Lyra, the brash but loyal Rainbow Dash and her Wonderbolt captain Spitfire. What initially was a simple task turned complex when Celaeno met the king and queen of Ornithia and their family. They were King Thaumas and Queen Ozomene, their son, Prince Aello with his wife Princess Zephyra and Princess Ocypete. Her, Aello and Ocypete were friends since childhood, the latter apparently about to get engaged with Prince Huginn, a raven. Initially suspicious of the black-feathered prince, Bon Bon and Lyra snuck and followed after him to his private chambers where it turns out, he was never a real prince, and the upcoming engagement was part of a bigger setup by some unknown party. After the agents reported to Celaeno, which the parrot captain then fought and nearly died from the treacherous faux prince, he was discovered by the royals and Rainbow's gang and has been imprisoned ever since within the dungeons of Ornithia. After the whole ordeal, Celaeno and Ocypete made up and became lovers after Celaeno revealed her feelings for the African Eagle princess. Thaumas also apologized for causing trouble for the parrot  back in the day and since then, quite recently, Celaeno, her crew, the king, queen, their daughter-in-law and her childhood friends have begun their own personal voyage, leaving the kingdom in charge by their own captain of the guard.

Throughout all the expeditions, Twilight and her friends all discover one thing. A Tree of Harmony, or rather, four more of them. Furthermore, they aren't really the Trees of Harmony as they actually have different names as stated by Ocypete when she and Rainbow's group went deep into the castle chambers and discovered ancient markings engraved on the chamber walls. The lands of Farasi has the Tree of History, the former twin kingdoms of Caninia the Tree of Family, the Tree of Purpose in Abyssinia and finally, the Tree of Love in Ornithia's kingdom. Funny enough, the latter tree was the thrones where the Ornithian family sat on, with Celaeno being a part of the third pair of lovebirds, represented as Hope and Perseverance. Just like the Elements of Harmony, the rest of the other trees too had bearers. Those were, Zecora and her old friends, Capper and his pals, the six royal diamond dog sisters and Celaeno and the Ornithian royal family.

Twilight wonders if she, her friends, the Pillars, her students and the four chosen groups can be Guardians of the Elements, could the rest the world too?

Throughout her journey as Celestia's protégé, she has came to learn the most valuable lesson of them all. Friendship truly is magic. And she's going to share that with the rest of the world.

As her mind ponders, a high-pitched voice called out to her from behind. It was Spike, Twilight's dragon companion and appointed personal advisor and mediator of many neighbouring nations.

"Twily!" Spike called.

Currently, he's attempting to mediate peace between the Abyssinian Cats and the Diamond Dogs. It was a rocky road, but Twilight has faith he can do it.

Hearing his voice, the Princess of Friendship turned around to face him. Accompanying him are Twilight's friends, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Rarity. Star Swirl the Bearded and her personal bodyguards Tempest Shadow a.k.a Fizzlepop Berrytwist and Flash Sentry were also present with them.

"Spike! Girls! Star Swirl! And my self-appointed bodyguards! You're all here! And only my BBBFF can call me that Spike, you know that."

"I know, I just wanted to surprise you. And besides, aren't I part of your family too?" said Spike.

Twilight giggled.

"Of course you are! But not just mine, but theirs too! It's like we're one big happy family!" she exclaimed.

Applejack shuddered, remembering when she had to take care of her huge "family".

"As much as I don't wanna take offense to that, that thought of what happened when you tried to share your Friendship Journal still shakes me," seethed Applejack.

"None taken," grinned Twilight as she sweeps her hoof in the air, "besides, what more can a friend ask for?"

Pinkie then extended her front legs around the entire group as she pulls them in for a big, tight, embrace.

"How about a really big hug?!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie.

Tempest and the rest struggled against the squeezing group hug.

"Can't....breathe...." gasped the black-suited unicorn.

"Oops! My bad!" apologised Pinkie as she lets go.

The group gasped and wheezed as they catch their breath. Spike then had something to say to Twilight.

"Today's the big day," he said, "it's also your big day."

"It sure is," Twilight nodded, "the day when the power of friendship triumphs over the forces of darkness!"

Everypony and Spike cheered.

"Although.... Do you think....? That it could have went differently?" continued the princess.

"Whatever do you mean?" questioned Applejack.

"I mean, is there any other way than petrifying these three felons?" asked Twilight.

"Twilight," answered Applejack with a serious expression, "they're bad guys, it's what they do. Not all of them can change or want to."

"I know, it's just.... What they did was unacceptable, but have we ever asked why they did it? Do we even know where they came from?" asked the princess again.

"Twily," Spike replied, "Sombra tried to mind control the entire population into his expendable army, Chrysalis tried to tear my wings apart, Tirek wanted to drain magic and destroy Equestria with it and Cozy Glow wanted to weaponize friendship and rule under her iron hoof! It doesn't get more simple than that!"

"I don't know...." doubted Rarity, "I can't put my hoof on it but back when we fought Sombra when he returned, I feel this small glimmer of light from him. Like, some sort of sparkle."

"A small sparkle in the heart of a pony who's heart is as black as night? Now there's something you don't hear every day," quipped Flash, "I bet he isn't even a normal pony at that point."

"You know, Twilight does have a point," agreed Fluttershy, "I mean, in spite of everything Discord did, no matter how bad or how many times he's done it, I still have faith in him."

"Your faith must have been misplaced," said Tempest with a smug look on her face.

The other ponies and Spike glared at her, unamused at the quip she made.

"Okay fine, bad joke. But I am inclined to agree as well. Had it not for your compassion, Princess, I would be resting in pieces. Literally."

"I can't just stand there and watch you perish, Fizzlepop Berrytwist. I had to do something, " affirmed Twilight.

"And for that, I'm forever in your debt," thanked the orchid unicorn.

"I can also see the good in you, you are not the ruthless lieutenant you think you are, you are just...lost," Twilight reassured.

"But still, I ask and specifically requested to be punished accordingly. Starlight did too. But instead, you....threw a party?"

"A don't-worry-we-won't-hold-it-against-you-no-biggie-no-takebacks-and-we-forgive-you party!" yelled Pinkie excitedly.

"To this day, I still feel regretful of what I've done. So does Starlight and so does Sunset. I don't think I really deserve this. This position as your personal bodyguard. What if I betray you?"

"That's an if, but what matters is you're one of us now."

"I know....but still, sentencing a filly to stone? What if it had been Apple Bloom? Applejack's little sister?"

"Now hold up, leave my sister out of this!" retorted Applejack.

"Anything can happen! How are we so certain it won't? Can't we like use a foresight spell or something?"

"Much like time travel, I'm afraid spells like these or similar are forbidden," answered Star Swirl, "In that case, we can only hope for what's coming."

"Twilight, I'm just wondering, have you done a background check on Cozy? Did you call her parents? What do they think?" Fluttershy asked.

Twilight only looked down and sighed, before saying, "I would love to, but I don't even have a trace as to who they might be, I can't find information anywhere about them."

She sighed again before continuing, "We'll worry about that later. For now, we have an event to tend to."

"If you say so," accepted Fluttershy.

Before anypony could react, Twilight ran and jumped off the balcony.

"Catch you later!" she exclaimed excitedly.

"Twilight!" exclaimed the group in horror as they ran towards the edge of the balcony.

Rising from beyond the fence was the Princess of Friendship herself, flapping her wings and only smiling dorkily at them.

"Relax girls, and guys, did you forget that I have wings now?" reaffirmed Twilight as she did a twirl to show them off.

"What, pffft, of course I know that, I wasn't scared or anything, I'm just worried," said Rainbow Dash.

"Thanks Rainbow, race you there?"

"You betcha! I'm always up for a challenge!"

With that said, the blue fast pegasus and the nerdy alicorn then raced to the ground level of the castle grounds. Meanwhile, the rest of the group simply head back and took the stairs downwards, happily chatting away.





In front of the statue of the Terrible Trio laid a podium with a microphone for the princess to speak into. Gathered in front of the podium was a huge crowd of many ponies and other creatures of different kinds. They were busy chatting away until Twilight, her friends, Star Swirl and her bodyguards Tempest and Flash arrived. Both Rainbow and Twilight made a fancy landing, aweing the crowd before them. The purple alicorn then trotted up the stairs of the podium to make her speech, more confident than the previous ones she gave before.

"Fillies and gentlecolts! Bovines and reptiles! Cats and dogs, avians and other magical creatures out there! Welcome! To the Second Anniversary of Evil's Demise! Here, we celebrate the day we and the entirety of Equestria defeat the three dastardly villains that threatened us time and again!"

The crowd cheered.

"For those new to this celebration, let me break down to you the three of the worst criminals one by one, starting with Chrysalis."

The audience cheered again.

"Queen Chrysalis, a dark changeling whose selfishness knows no bounds. She tried to steal love, replaced all that you know and love and worst of all, she used her own kind like chess pieces to further her goals. They're expendable to her. No mother should've done that!"

The crowd then booed, including the reformed changelings and excluding some of the mothers that attended this event.

"Ouch, way to rub it in like that," whispered Rainbow Dash into Applejack's ear.

"My mom ain't like that, I think," the country mare replied hesitantly.

"No offense to the moms out there. Including you mom! I love you!" assured Twilight brightly.

"Next, there's the greedy centaur Tirek. He tried to take all of Equestria's magic! And ate it!"

The crowd gasped.

"And once he did, he was going to use it and destroy everything in Equestria!"

They gasped again.

"He even manipulated the Lord of Chaos into siding with him!"

Three of the mares in the crowd then fainted from the shock overload.

"Thankfully, it was due to the efforts of me, my friends and even Discord that we've made up and gotten back on our side that we prevented this. This is his final retribution," said Twilight as she pointed at the statue behind her.

The crowd cheered once more.

"And finally, the most vile of all. Cozy Glow. She manipulated with disturbing efficiency the entirety of the three pony races to go with her and yet against each other and took away the land's magic as well. Friendship is not power. It's a skill we need to have in life and is not to be abused. We taught her that the hard way and for that she's imprisoned with her co-conspirators in stone. And with that, the land of Equestria is safe once again! Hip hip hurray!"

The crowd was silent this time, with only the sound of crickets chirping instead. The purple princess was slightly surprised at the lack of reaction.

"Ooooookaaaaaay.... But we saved Equestria and ensured peace! Right?" she announced, hoping to get some creature cheering at her.

Instead, a unicorn mother only snapped at her.

"Is my foal gonna be alright?! Will he be sent to Tartarus if he gets bad grades??"

"Or painting on the walls??" a pegasus father shouted.

"Or drooled in your coffee??" an earth pony mother yelled as she lifts her drooling baby filly in her hooves in the air.

Twilight reeled back at the comments they made before asserting, "What?? No! They're just foals!"

"Then why's she in here?? Had it not occur to you that you could just send her for corrective training and contact her parents?" a stallion asked anxiously.

"I.... Didn't have a choice! And besides, I don't even know who her parents are!" retorted Twilight.

"Not even Celestia nor Luna would do that no matter how stern or cold they look!" shouted another stallion.

"Are you sure about that? Cause I heard it really was the princesses and that dastardly draconequus who imprisoned them!" claimed another.

Every creature including Twilight and her friends all gasped in shock.

"Who told you that?!" demanded the Princess of Friendship.

"Weeeeeell, a little filly told me. She's a pegasus with curls like that statue over there. Only without the freckles and that her mane is blonde and not light blue."

"Hold on," said Fluttershy, "I think I've seen her in the School of Friendship before. I think her name is Cr-"

But before Fluttershy could finish, she was cut off by a blast of raw magic aimed at the statue, destroying and crumbling it into dust and pieces.

Everyone looked at the rubble in utter shock. Twilight gasp in sheer terror, thinking that with the statue demolished, the Legion might be dead.

"Nononononono, no, no no!" trembled Twilight, "The statue! The trio! It's....gone.... Who would do such a thing?!"

"I would," growled a deep voice from behind the crowd.

Twilight Sparkle and her friends looked beyond the audience as they themselves turned behind to see who that voice was. And when they all did, they couldn't believe their eyes.

Standing menacingly behind the crowd was a sight they fear all too well. There stood Lord Tirek, Queen Chrysalis and..... Grogar? The crowd dispersed, screaming in terror and running for their lives once they saw them.

"It can't be...." shuddered Star Swirl.

"Is that...." continued Tempest.

"Discord?! Are you serious right now?!" fumed Fluttershy.

Grogar, Tirek, Chrysalis, Twilight and her friends all look at her with a confused look on their faces.

"How many times must I teach you to always think before you do something drastic?!" continued the peeved yellow pegasus, "You've already freed three of the worst villains out there just to boost Twilight's confidence when it was already going smooth!"

*sigh* "Look, I know you're better than this, Discord. I know it's in your blood and nature to cause mischief among the community. But for once, I think you need to tone down on the ways you've been causing it, because it is doing more harm than good. I know you can do so much better than this. You just have to....try, you know?" pleaded the cream pegasus.

Instead however, Grogar simply zapped at her with a magic bolt, sending her tumbling into the ground.

Twilight and her friends gasped in shock at the sight of Fluttershy getting hurt, before turning to the villains with disgust on their face.

"Discord! Have you gone bananas?!" yelled Rainbow Dash, "I get that you want the trial to be immersive but, that's just too much! Even for you!"

Suddenly, the real Discord popped out into the scene, visibly irritated at the commotion.

"Crimeny! What's with that racket out there?! And who's been calling my name?! Oh..."

It was at this moment that both the eyes of the draconequus and the ram had met. Locked into each other's gazes, one had contempt, the other filled with fear.

"Uh, Discord? Please tell me this is all a big joke?" Rainbow asked, hoping to be rhetorical.

"This is no joke," answered Grogar confidently, "I, Grogar, Father of Monsters and soon-to-be Emperor, have returned!"

The heroes gasped, stunned by the revelation that the one and only sorcerer Grogar has returned from the unknown he was banished to. Fluttershy, still hurt from the impact, slowly got up. She too, gasped when she saw both Grogar and Discord at the same place, at the same time. Realisation immediately hit her.

"Is that?" the yellow pegasus asked.

"Fluttershy, I need you to immediately fly as far and as fast as you can to Ponyville. Keep the children and citizens safe, especially your animal friends," requested Twilight, grim and serious.

Fluttershy saluted to the princess and immediately took off to Ponyville, heeding her orders and promising not to let her down.

Chrysalis hissed and snarled at Fluttershy flying away and was about to give chase until Grogar stopped her.

"Leave her, all the pieces have fallen into place. Do not screw this up," said Grogar as Chrysalis nodded in affirmation.

"Fizzlepop, Flash, go and rally the guards, Star Swirl, tell Stygian to send a message to my brother and sister-in-law to launch a call-to-arms, the rest of you, stand by me, we're in for a fight of our lives," Twilight continued.

Upon hearing Tempest's real name, the villains did a spit take and laughed very hard.

"Fizzlepop? Seriously?" Chrysalis asked in amusement.

"As if pony names couldn't get more ridiculous!" added Tirek.

"Ugh, after this, I want a name change, remind me to book an appointment with Mayor Mare. Flash, with me," commanded Tempest.

"Aye, aye, captain," saluted Flash as both he and Tempest retreated to the Canterlot castle.

Star Swirl nodded, before finding a safe spot to relay the urgent message.

Both the Mane Five plus Spike and the villains stand off against each other. Tirek and Grogar cricked their knuckles and neck respectively. The heroes assumed their battle stance. Both stared down at one another for what seemed like an eternity before one of them broke the silence.

"So these are Equestria's champions? They don't seem to live up to Gusty and her cohorts," taunted Grogar.

"Gusty was a great mare! And we'll try not to disappoint," declared Twilight.

"You may have many allies, but I'll say this is fairly even," grinned the ram.

"Oh yeah?! You and what army?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Why don't you take a look around yourself?" answered Grogar to the rainbow-maned mare.

As if on cue, bony, skeletal arms popped up from the ground. The arms belonging to Grogar's undead army then try to push themselves out from the underground, carrying their weapons with them before proceeding to surround Twilight and friends.

"You just have to say it, do you?" said Spike, who was unamused.

"Oh, uh, no matter, we can handle a pile of bones, right gals?" asked Rainbow Dash who blushed at the slight miscalculation.

"Rainbow Dash, this is more than 'a pile of bones', whose to say there aren't more?" retorted Applejack, who's as unamused as Spike was.

Twilight took a deep breath, before proclaiming, "Well? Do your worst, come and get some."

"We will, get them," ordered Grogar calmly as the battle commence.